Top 5 EV News Week 32 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 32 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – XPENG PLANS NASDAQ IPO

Yet another EV startup is going after the hot money thrown by US investors at the EV sector. Xiaopeng Motors (Xpeng) is planning an IPO on the NASDAQ later this quarter. The Chinese EV startup is also busy with a funding round to raise $300 million before floating on the American bourse. Some reports show that Xpeng will get part of the funds from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

Xiaopeng Motors emerged from a C+ funding round in July, where it secured nearly $500 million from a consortium of funders, including Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia China. Xpeng also obtained US$400 in November 2019 from smartphone maker Xiaomi and other investors. The US listing, which is expected to raise around $700 million, is arranged by Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and JPMorgan Chase.

To date, Xiaopeng Motors has completed ten rounds of financing since its establishment in 2014. Investors include Alibaba, IDG Capital, Morningside Capital, and CICC Capital.

Xpeng currently has two EV models for sale in China, the G3 compact SUV, which has been available since 2018, and the recently released P7 sedan. Xiaopeng Motors has already sold 4,698 vehicles this year, which include 477 of the new P7 EV. If successful, Xpeng will be the third Chinese EV startup to list on US bourses in the past two years, joining NIO (NYSE: NIO) and CHJ Leading (NASDAQ: LI). Kandi (NASDAQ: KNDI), which has recently announced that it would sell some of its EVs in Texas, has been listed on the NASDAQ since 2007.

Xpeng Ev models top 5 ev news week 32 2020

TOP EV NEWS #2 – YUDO REFRESHES EV STRATEGY

Yudo revealed its refreshed EV strategy on the 6th of August at Xiamen, Fujian. The new plan spanning over the next five years includes a new platform to be unveiled in 2021.

Yudo will commence its five-year plan by launching upgraded versions of its existing π1 and π3 series at the end of August. Established in 2015, Yudo New Energy has been an early entrant to the EV market, with great things expected from the company as a result of its early-mover advantage. However, the EV start-ups fortunes changed as a flood of exciting new start-ups such as Hozon Neta, Xiaopeng, NIO, and Ideal edged it aside. To date, Yudo has only sold around 400 cars this year.

Lin Mi, CEO of Yudo New Energy, said that the company is developing a modular electric and autonomous platform with a price range between 100,000-150,000. The first model, equipped with a Level 2 self-drive system, will be unveiled in Q1 2021, after which it will ramp up to full autonomy by 2025. The company further aims to have three EV brands under its banner, including a brand dedicated to commercial electric vehicles.

The new platform can accommodate affordable small to medium cars with multiple drive modes. Yudo will also expand to Fuel Cell technology and hope to have a pilot project up and running by 2021 and reach full-scale production of FCEVs by 2025. The company is also exploring the development of a new lithium-sulfur battery with a higher density.

 

Top 5 EV news Week 32 2020 Yudo new ev strategy

 

 

TOP EV NEWS #3 – LORDSTOWN REVERSES ONTO THE NASDAQ

Lordstown Motors, named after the GM plant it acquired in 2019, announced that it is going public through a reverse listing into a special purpose acquisition company, Diamond Peak (NASDAQ: DPHC). The ticker code of the new company is “RIDE,” and the company will be re-named to Lordstown Motors Corp. This is not the first time that reverse mergers have been used to take EV manufacturers public, both Nikola and Fisker has used the process recently.

Lordstown has its roots in another NASDAQ listed entity, Workhorse, from which it leases the technology to bring its first full-size electric pickup, the Endurance to market. The market value of Lordstown Motors Corp after the business combination is set at $1.6 billion based on a $10.00 per share PIPE price.

Lordstown, which had to secure funding to complete the acquisition of the plant from GM, can now proceed with the production of the 27,000 pre-orders for the Endurance it has already received. Lordstown valued the pre-orders at $1.4 billion.

Lordstown Diamond Peak reverse merger

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW EV MODELS LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

DS opened the order book for its flagship model, the DS9 this week. The DS9 is produced in China and shipped from there to other markets. The DS9 is available in four trims, the Rivoli, Opera, Montmartre, and sports version, each with Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance system as standard. The DS9 Plug-in Hybrid’s powertrain consists of a 1.6T petrol engine with a maximum power of 215 horsepower, and when combined with the electric motor produces 250 horsepower. The maximum EV only speed of the DS9 is 135km/h (84mph). For detailed specs of the DS9 PHEV, please go to the model page here.

DS9 Top 5 EV news week 32 2020

FAW will open the order book for the latest electric compact SUV of its recently rebranded Besturn brand, now Bestune on the 12th of August. The Bestune E01 is aimed at a young generation of buyers.  The E01 is equipped with a dual 12.3-inch LCD instrument panel and multimedia screen. The power system of the E01 has a max output of 190 horsepower with a maximum torque of 320 Nm. Find detailed specs of the E01 here.

FAW Bestune E01 pictures

The Geely Geometry C is officially launched this week. The Geometry C sells from 139,800 yuan and is available in a 400km (250mile) and 550km (343mile) version. The aircon system includes PM2.5 filter, ION air purification, and AQS filter, which combined kills 95% for particles with a diameter of 0.3um, the same as an “N95 mask”. Customers can choose between leather and fabric seats. For detailed specs and comparing the Geometry C to other models, please go to the model page here.

Geometry C Top 5 EV news week 32 2020

TOP EV NEWS #5 – CADILLAC LYRIQ UNVEILED

GM’s luxury car brand, Cadillac unveiled its first EV on Friday (Cover Image). I will try not to be critical, but the Lyriq is yet another example way Tesla is valued at what it is currently. Legacy automakers, such as Cadillac, are putting forward cars that will be launched in three years’ time but with EV technology that competes with Tesla models of three years ago.

Not a lot of data was made available of the Lyriq Crossover EV since it is unveiled as a show car, which is 85% of what the final model will be. Cadillac announced that the Lyriq would go into production by the end of 2022 and available early 2023. The Lyriq is aiming for a range of 300miles (480km) with a 100kWh battery pack. The Tesla Model X currently achieves 325 miles (520km).

The Lyriq’s battery pack is the new GM Ultium battery with NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) cells that use 70% less cobalt than current GM batteries. The charging system of the Lyriq consists of a 19kW onboard charger and has a 150kW fast charging capability. The current Tesla Model X is equipped with a 250kW fast-charging system.

What the Lyriq will not have in EV technology in 2023, it tries and makes up in bling. The Cadillac Lyriq EV has a new road noise-canceling technology and a 33 inch-diagonal advanced LED display. In terms of Advanced Driver Assistance, the Lyriq has GMs Super Cruise autonomous system.

Cadillac Lyriq EV Showcar Top 5 Ev news week 32 2020

 

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Top 5 EV News Week 31 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 31 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – A SUCCESSFUL IPO FOR CHJ AUTO

In my Week 29 Top 5 EV newsletter, I reported that CHJ Automotive (“Leading Ideal”) filed a prospectus to raise a $100 million on the NASDAQ. The company floated its shares on the 30th of July under the stock code “Li” at $11.5, which saw it raise over $1 billion. The price closed up 43.13% on the day at $16.46, giving it a market cap of $13.917 billion, slightly lower than its compatriot, NIO’s US$14.42 billion market value.

The company proved that it could efficiently apply its funding, bringing its first model to market with as little as 1 billion US dollars. To date, the company has raised over two billion dollars and will use the current injection to develop its L4 autonomous driving platform, strategic expansion, and the development of new models.

Leading Ideal is one of the success stories in the current EV start-up environment. The company has already sold over 10,000 units of its large range-extended SUV, the Ideal One, which was launched in December 2019. In contrast to NIO, Leading Ideal has already achieved a positive gross profit margin while holding a large cash reserve.

Previously company founder and CEO Li Xiang disclosed that 50% of the capital of Ideal Auto is invested in research and development, 30% in the plant, and less than 20% in personnel and marketing.

In Q1 2020 Leading Ideal already achieved a gross profit of 68.288 million yuan, which it expects to double in Q2 2020. The Q1 gross profit margin is 8.01%. Li Xiangzeng set a goal for the company of being cash flow positive within five years, and not be depended on external funding for its growth. He further targets a 20% share of China’s new energy vehicle market by 2025 and be a leader in autonomous driving. In 2019 Leading Ideal developed its own operating system, called Li-OS.

The company plans to bring a second large SUV to market in 2022 and further plans to develop mid and high-end SUVs priced between 150,000 and 500,000 yuan. Like Tesla, Leading Ideal has also adopted a direct sales model and had 700 sales and service personnel 21 retail stores, 18 distribution centers, and 17 service centers throughout China, enough to support a sales target of 100,000 vehicles.

“Li” is certainly a stock to keep a close eye on.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – KANDI TO LAUNCH TWO EVs IN AMERICA

In 2018 Kandi partnered with SC Autosports to launch the K22 and EX3 in the USA. The Chinese KANDI, which is also listed on the Nasdaq (NASD: KNDI) acquired in SC Autosports in 2018 as Kandi America, but to date have not delivered on initially planned K22 and EX3 launch. This week Kandi America announced that it would hold a virtual event on the 18th of August to launch two models in the USA, initially focusing on the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

The two models that will be launched on the 18th of August are the K23 MPV and K27 city car, which will be the cheapest EV in the USA, priced at $12,999 after incentives. The K23 MPV is priced at $22,499 after federal tax credits and have an estimated range of 180 miles (288km), while the K27 with its 17.69kWh battery can achieve a 100 miles (160km). The vehicles are available pre-launch for a refundable deposit of only $100. Interestingly enough Kandi sold a K27 model in China in 2018, which looks vastly different than the one now introduced to the US market.

Kandi‘s fortunes lagged after being an initial top seller in the Chinese small EV segment in 2017. As a reflection of its performance, the company’s share price has been struggling until now but jumped over 300% on the announcement.

The jump in Kandi’s share price is another testament to investors’ craziness rushing head-on into anything EV related. It is yet to be seen how US consumers’ biasses towards range anxiety, Chinese cars, and their safety aspects will play out for Kandi. It is a proper Pig market out there as greed rather than sensibility prevails, similar to the rush and subsequent flight from Nikola, a company that has yet to produce a production vehicle. 

Kandi K22 and K27 now available in America

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW MITSUBISHI EV STRATEGY

One by one, the chickens are coming home to roost for failing to see the shift to the electrification of the transport sector. After announcing horrific results for a second year running, the rumor mill has been churning that Mitsubishi will exit the European market.

This week Mitsubishi presented a new strategy, which sees the Japanese company culling one of its popular ICE models, the Pajero, and indeed partly exciting the European market in an effort to slash costs. The new strategy also shifts towards electrification as the company will introduce a new electric Kei car offensive.

Mitsubishi is retreating to its base as the company announced that it would freeze the launch of new models in Europe, essentially killing the anticipated launch of the new Mitsubishi Outlander on the continent in 2021. Mitsubishi still plans to bring a new Outlander to the ASEAN market in 2022, as well as a plug-in version of the Eclipse Crossover and a new EV for the Chinese market.

In 2019 Mitsubishi announced that it would partner with Nissan in reviving its Kei car range popularised by the i-Miev early in the previous decade. This week, the company announced that it gave the green light for the investment of 8 billion yen (ca $76 million) in its Mizushima plant to produce a new range of Kei-cars. Kei-cars are light automobiles, or city cars, and are the smallest highway-capable vehicles.

Mitsubishi EV strategy

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW MERCEDES T-CLASS

Mercedes announced that it is bringing a new small van to market which will also be available in a pure electric platform. The new small van is named the T-Class and will be developed in cooperation with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. The T-Class designation stands for efficient room concepts.

According to Mercedes the T-Class is created for the families and active leisure enthusiasts and will be available from the first half of 2022. The T-Class offers a spacious interior suited for a range of uses, including ride-hailing and tourism applications. The new T-Class has wide-opening sliding doors on both sides of the vehicle. No further specifications or designs related to the electric vehicle platform or the design have been released to date.

Mercedes have one other vehicle in the small van segment, the Citan, which is targeted at commercial customers. Mercedes announced the electrification of the Citan in 2019.

Die neue Mercedes-Benz T-Klasse: kompakter City Van für Familie, Freizeit und BerufThe new Mercedes-Benz T-Class: compact city van for families, active leisure enthusiasts and work

TOP EV NEWS #5 – NEW EV BRAND FROM POLAND

In 2016 the Polish Government, through four state-owned energy companies, created ElectricMobility Poland to develop the countries first indigenous car brand and establish itself in the EV sector. The company was founded with 70 million zloty.

Auto manufacturing is the second-largest contributor to the Polish economy, but none of the brands are Polish owned. The Polish Government aims to aggressively electrify its transport sector and targeted 1 million EVs on its roads by 2025. This plan received a boost in the past week with the unveiling of the new car brand by ElectricMobility Poland. The new brand is called Izera, inspired by the Izera Mountains on Poland’s border with the Czech Republic. The company plans to open an assembly line in Silesia in southern Poland, by the middle of 2021.

During the launch, the company presented two prototypes, a hatchback, and crossover. Both cars are fully electric, which is said to be developed on a third-party platform. Although now indication has been given on who will supply the EV platform for Izera’s ambitions, talk is that it could either be the new PSA eVMP platform or even licensed from Tesla.

The prototypes were designed by the Italian firm Torino Design with the help of the Polish designer Tadeusz Jelec. Headline specifications released at the launch indicated the Izera targets a range of 400 km (250 miles) and acceleration to 100km/h in 8 seconds. Izera also plans to make its cars available throughout Europe. 

Izera ev from poland

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Top 5 EV News Week 30 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 30 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – ANOTHER EV STARTUP IPO

Last week I reported on failed Chinese EV startups and highlighted Neta, Hozon Auto’s EV startup, as an exception. This week at the Chengdu Auto Show, Neta announced that it is kicking off a 3 Billion yuan C-Series funding round and intends to go public in 2021 with a listing in China. Neta has already sold over 16,000 cars since the launch of its first model, the Neta 01 in 2018.

Currently, Neta produces the Neta 01 A0 class SUV, already on its second generation and the Neta U compact SUV, launched earlier this year. The company recently announced that its third model will be the Neta V, yet another SUV. The Neta V will be launched in Q3 2020, sofar, the only visual clue we have to the new car is the sketch below on the right. The Neta V is expected to have a range of 401km (250miles) on the NEDC testing cycle.

Neta also released teaser images of its third concept car, the Eureka 03, a luxury four-door coupe, developed on the Neta HPC platform. Neta revealed that the ultra-thin power battery structure, wide-body, and transparent cockpit design of the Eureka would contribute to an elegant and sporty appearance.

Neta IPO and funding round

TOP EV NEWS #2 – JEEP’s FIRST PLUG-IN MODELS

FCA Group launched the plug-in versions of its Renegade and Compass models this week. The plug-in models of the popular SUVs will be identified with the 4xe denotation. The Jeep Renegade 4xe and Jeep Compass 4xe, the first electrified models of the brand, will only be available in the EMEA markets, not in JEEP’s home market, the USA.

The electric drivetrain of the 4xe models consists of an 11.4kWh battery, which delivers a range of 50km (31 miles) WLTP, paired with a 60 hp (45kW) electric motor mounted mid of the rear axle. The C02 emissions of the 1.3T petrol engine and 4xe drivetrain are less than 50gm/km when driven in hybrid mode.

Although maintaining the same design cues as the ICE versions of the Compass and Renegade, JEEP 4xe models are identified through a blue colored “JEEP” badge. The 4xe drivetrain also presents the driver with a new six-speed transmission selector and an updated Selec-Terrain control with eAWD modes.

The Renegade and Compass plug-in hybrids will be available for order from September in Europe in three trims, a “Limited”, “S,” and “Trailhawk.” The plug-in hybrid models are available in two power options, a 190hp (140KW) in the Limited and 240hp (180kW) in the Trailhawk and S versions. For the full specs, please go to the dedicated model pages by following the links of the models in this article.

JEEP 4xe models pictures

TOP EV NEWS #3 – JAC VW RECAPITLIZED

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (JAC Motors) and VW Group finalized the recapitalization of JAC Volkswagen in line with the agreement reached at the end of May whereby VW became the majority owner of the company.

The increase in capital will be used to develop five new electric vehicles and increase the plant capacity to 250,000 units per annum by 2025 and 400,000 units by 2029. The partnership produces the SOL EV brand currently.

JAC VWs capital, which stood at 2 billion yuan prior to the recapitalization, is now 7.356 billion. The capital contributions by JAC and VW Group are made pro-rata to complete Volkswagens ownership increase to 75% of the electric vehicle manufacturing entity. VW Group is one of the first international companies that took advantage of the Chinese Government policy change on foreign ownership of vehicle producers.

The amount VW Group injected in JAC VW is 5.217 billion yuan, while JAC Motors contributed 1.285 billion yuan. JAC VW will also apply for a 1.29 billion yuan 2 years credit facility to meet its operational requirements.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHENGDU AUTO SHOW

One of the few auto shows to be held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic is currently on. The Chengdu Auto Show, one of the four A-class auto shows in China, is currently running from the 24th of July to the 2nd of August. The show allowed the opportunity for various companies to physically introduce new models, rather than digital reveals as has been the norm for most of the first half of 2020.

Some of the new models showcased for the first time are the new ORA compact SUV (codenamed ES11), SOL (JAC VW) E40X, and AIWAYS U6ion. Please follow the links to the dedicated model pages for detailed reviews and specifications.

New ev models at chengdu

Some auto manufacturers also officially list new models for sale at the event.

Buick listed the Velite 7 pure electric SUV, which is expected to be a look into the new BOLT EUV, and the Velite 6 Plug-in Hybrid EV. The Velite 7 EV is priced from 179,800 yuan to 199,800 yuan after subsidies, while the Velite 6 PHEV goes from 159,800 yuan to 179,800 yuan.

Buick velite models at chengdu auto show

Other vehicles listed included:

  • Dongfeng Citroen (Fukang) listed the C5 Aircross Hybrid from 234,7000 to 264,700 yuan.
  • SAIC Roewe R ER6 listed from 160,000 to 220,000 yuan.
  • NIO EC6, a coupe of the NIO ES6, available in various range options priced between 368,000 and 526,000 yuan.

New cars listed chengdu

 

TOP EV NEWS #5 – MERCEDES eVITO TOURER LISTED

Mercedes listed the 421km (263miles) eVito Tourer in Europe, priced from €53,990. The 2020 eVito Tourer offers a vast improvement over the previous model, which only achieved a maximum range of 186 km (116 miles), and had no DC fast charging capability.

Charging the Mercedes eVito Tourer is done through a charge port located at the front bumper left of the vehicle. Charging the eVito Tourer takes 10 hours through the 11 kW onboard charger for home and fast charge in 45 minutes to 80% when charged at a 110 kW DC charging stations.

The eVito Tourer can accommodate up to nine people and is available in a long and extra-long version. The eVito long version measures 5140mm (202.2 inches) in length, while the extra-long model measures 5370mm (211.2 inches) long. The 150kW electric motor achieves a top speed of 140km/h (87.5mph), which can be improved to 160km/h (100mph) as an optional extra.

 

Mercedes evito tourer

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Week 29 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 29 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – HARDSHIP FOR CHINESE ELECTRIC VEHICLE STARTUPS

With over 200 EV startups in China, we always expected there would be casualties, but we never expected that it would be the result of a pandemic. Nevertheless, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 epidemic is sowing havoc under prominent electric vehicle startups in China. In Week 27, 2020, I reported on the financial difficulties at BYTON, but in recent weeks the pains of more EV startups came to light.

Like Byton, Bordrin Automobile, founded by Huang Ximing in 2016, has not paid its employees for several months. A recent shareholder meeting saw the company stranded without direction, and its CFO, Yi Xiaochuan, resigned. The only way forward is for the company to be closed, and a new company formed under the leadership of Bordrin’s HR director, Zhang Chang. The new company is depending on it attracting capital. The new company will limit its headcount to 300 employees, and employees will share in the shareholding if they forfeit some of their salaries to keep the overheads low. Recent efforts by Bordrin to sell the IP to its B31 EV platform has not attracted any interest.

This week, Saleen Automobile filed papers against its state-owned shareholders for breach of contract, resulting in the company not being able to pay salaries. According to a letter to employees by Wang Xiaolin, the Chairman of Saleen, the startup’s trouble stems from nonperformance by these shareholders, despite demands for them to contribute to capital as agreed.

Zotye Automobile has also not been able to pay its employees for the past seven months. Zotye has been a top-selling EV producer in 2017/2018 with the Zotye E200 but has failed to build on its success as new entrants started competing in the small car segment. Sales for Zotye’s car dropped 90% from 2018 to 2019, to only 21,224 units. Further trouble for Zotye comes from the financial difficulty of its parent, the Tie Niu Group, which is rumored to have filed for bankruptcy, a claim denied by Zotye.

Evergrande New Energy, the owner of Swedish carmaker NEVSKoenigsegg, battery producer Shanghai Carnegie New Energy, and electric motor manufacturer Netherlands Tate Mechanical & Electrical Co, was also caught off-guard with a considerable debt book going into the pandemic. Evegrand bet heavily on electric vehicles with the acquisition of the four entries in 2019. This week Evergrande spun out its EV business into a new structure under Evergrande New Energy Vehicle (Guangxi) Co., Ltd, with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan. To survive, the new unit plans to mass-produce its first car in 2021. The Hengchi 1, will be listed under the new EV brand named Hengchi and debut within the next couple of months. 

Financial hardship is not limited to EV manufacturers exclusively, but also battery manufacturers. The Chinese battery manufacturer Guoxuan Hi-Tech announced that it expects its net profit to drop by around 90% in H1 2020. Fortunately, the drop in revenue does not put Guoxuan HiTech on the critical list as it supplies batteries for the popular Hongguang MINI manufactured by SAIC-GM-Wuling.

On a positive note, I leave the article with a cover image of the new Hozon Neta U. Neta is ranking third among emerging EV companies in 2020, with sales of over 5000 units for the year to date from the Neta 01 and the Neta U. Neta plans to bring five models, covering the A0 to A+ segments on its HPA and HPC EV platforms.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – INVESTOR FRENZY FOR EV EXPOSURE IN THE USA

On the flip side, investors in the USA are in a frenzy for any exposure to electric vehicles and associated technologies. Companies that are already listed, such as Tesla. Nikola and NIO are rallying well above rational levels. This week Fisker Inc also announced a potential listing to take advantage of the hipe. Even struggling, Karma Automotive raised $100million from US private equity firms and plan to raise a further $300 million.

Another Chinese EV startup, CHJ Automotive filed a prospectus to raise funds on NASDAQ. The Chinese EV startup is targeting to raise $100 million and have the stock code “LI.” The funds raised will be mainly used for new product development, capital expenditure, including production equipment, and working capital.

CHJ Leading Ideal Motors revealed that it plans to launch a full-size SUV in 2022, which will be equipped with a new-generation range-extending system. The CHJ Leading Ideal One SUV surprised the market with a successful launch, already selling over 10,000 units. According to the prospectus, the company sold 2869 vehicles in Q1 in 2020, generating 850 million yuan, which equaled a gross profit of 68.3 million yuan (8% profit margin).

The financial information in the prospectus shows that the startup showed a net loss of US$344 million in 2019 and US$10.89 million for Q1 2020. Leading Ideal holds cash and cash equivalents of US$149 million. The shareholding structure is divided into two classes of shareholding, Class A shares, and Class B shares. Class A shares correspond to 1 vote, and Class B shares correspond to 10 votes. Class A shares cannot be converted into Class B shares, and Class B shares can be converted into Class A shares. Currently, CEO and founder Li Xiang is the largest shareholder, holding 115,812,080 Class A shares, 240,000,000 Class B shares, 25.1% of the shares, and 70.3% of the voting rights. Wang Xing and Meituan hold 332,664,073 shares Class A shares hold 23.5% of the shares and have 9.3% of the voting rights.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NISSAN ARIYA UNVEILED

Nissan unveiled the Ariya pure electric SUV, the Japanese automaker’s first new electric model since the Leaf and E-NV200 in the early part of the previous decade. Nissan based the new electric SUV on the Ariya Concept revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2019, and developed the EV on the new Nissan-Renault-Alliance platform. The design thinking behind the design of the Ariya is Nissan Intelligent Mobility. The Ariya will launch by mid-2021 in Japan and available in two range options, each with a choice of either a 2WD or AWD powertrain.

Nissan claims a range of up to 610km (381 miles) for the 2WD 90kWh battery version, based on the Japanese WLTC test cycle. The drivetrain of the Ariya 90kWH AWD produces 290kW (389hp) with a torque of 600N.m (443lb.ft), achieving a top speed of 200km/h and accelerates to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds. The twin electric motor AWD system, dubbed “e-4ORCE”, manages power output and braking performance for a smooth and stable ride. The Ariya is equipped wth ProPilot 2.0 Advanced Driver Assist System and ProPilot Remote Park. The system uses seven cameras, five millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic sonar sensors.

The Ariya is the first Nissan model that is equipped with Over the Air firmware updates. The OTA system is called Remote Software Upgrade and utilizes a dual memory bank system for receiving updates on the go. Drivers interact with the Ariya by saying “Hello Nissan” or “Hey Nissan.” The display interface consists of two 12.3 inch displays oriented towards the driver in a wave-like shape.

Pricing for the Ariya starts from around 5 million Japanese Yen, which is 41,000€ or $47,000. Nissan will launch the Ariya in Japan first, with deliveries expected from mid-2021. I can only assume that the USA and other markets will only see first deliveries late 2021 or early 2021.

View the detailed specifications for all four Ariya model versions on the dedicated model page here.

Nissan Ariya pictures

TOP EV NEWS #4 – BUICK PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO THE BOLT EUV DRIVETRAIN

Buick in China this week gave further insight into the drivetrain for the upcoming BUICK Velite 7, which is expected to be the same platform for the BOLT EUV expected next year. The BUICK Velit 7 Buick is the first model built on GM’s new electric vehicle platform.

The new Buick eMotion electric drive technology used in the Velite 7 consists of a 288 cell LG-Chem lightweight battery pack with a battery capacity of 55.6 kWh. The electric motor delivers a maximum power of 130kW (174hp) and torque of 360N.m (255lb.ft).

Foam is used to isolate the thermal diffusion between the battery cells to relieve the cell’s expansion at the end of its life and comply with IP67 safety requirements. The battery management system of the liquid-cooled battery pack allows operation between 25 ~ 55 ℃.

Buick Emotion platform top 5 ev news week 29 2020

TOP EV NEWS #5 – WORKHORSE C-SERIES DELIVERIES START

NASDAQ listed Workhorse (Stock Code WKHS) started deliveries of its C-Series all-electric step van through the transportation and logistic company, Ryder System. The Workhorse C1000 is available through Ryder’s ChoiceLease and SelectCare product lines, and for short-term rentals.

Ryder is placing the first batch of Workhorse C-1000 step vans through its peer-to-peer truck sharing platform, COOP, which connects fleet managers to businesses that are looking to rent vehicles. The C1000 is also available for longer-term leases to the Ryder customer base with service and charging capabilities available out of Ryder’s eleven-facility charge network across California, created in partnership with In-Charge Energy.

The Workhorse C-Series are powered by a modular battery pack system, which provides between 35 kWh when equipped with two module battery and 70 kWh in its standard four-module configuration. The Workhorse C-Series is built with composite lightweight material, saving 4,000 lbs in body weight compared to a competing internal combustion van. The 70kWh C-1000 delivers nearly 100 miles of range at 37 MPGe.

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Week 28 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 28 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – PRE-ORDERS FOR LEVC VN5 OPENS

The Geely owned LEVC, previously London Taxi CO opened the order book for the LEVC VN5 eCity range-extended electric city delivery. Deliveries for the right-hand-drive version of the VN5 starts in Q4 2020 with the left-hand drive to follow in March 2021. The LEVC VN5 comes in three variants, a Business, City, and Ultima trim. The LEVC VN5 eCity has a zero-emission range of 58 miles (93km) and a range extended.

The LEVC designed the VN5 eCity around the needs of delivery and service teams. The rear wing doors can each open 90° or 180°, permitting flexible use of the load compartment, which can take two Euro pallets. A wide step grants easy access for a person or cargo to the rear compartment and comes with preparations for installing drainage or floor ventilation systems. The flat floor is ideal for the installation of cabinets or racking systems. The electric delivery has a payload of 830kg and a further 100kg on the roof.

The interior of the VN5 electric van comes with Dual-Zone climate control as standard, three Driver Profile settings that enable the driver to tailor the van’s seating, audio, and drive settings. A high definition 9-inch touch screen infotainment system in the center of the dashboard is standard and comes with DAB and Bluetooth. The fully customizable interface ensures every interaction is optimized for ease of use. Start & Stop system improves operational efficiency and convenience in busy urban environments.

The LEVC VN5 comes ready to accept geofencing technology, enabling the vehicle too automatically modify its operating settings based on its current location, saving the operator any emissions charges when entering a low-emission zone in an inner-city area. The two-stage regenerative braking energy recovers energy by capturing much of the vehicle’s kinetic energy while braking to convert it into electricity to maintain the battery charge level – helping the driver go further and reduce wear on brake pads. The service intervals of the VN5 is once every 40,000 km or 25,000 miles, making operators more productive and saving operating cost.

The LEVC VN5 electric van can be leased from £493.92 per month based on a Lex Autolease Contract Hire (without maintenance) over 60 months/20,000 mile pa with nine months’ initial payment. The VN5 purchase price range from £46,500 to  £52,500, subject to OLEV approval allowing for a 20% discount up to a maximum of £8,000. The LEVC plat in Antsy, Coventry has a production capacity of 20,000 units per annum.

wattev2buy Top 5 EV news week 28 2020 LEVC VN5 pictures

TOP EV NEWS #2 – AUDI Q4 E-TRON SPORTBACK REVEALED

Technically identical but individually styled is how Audi describes the Audi Q4 e-tron Concept revealed at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2019, and the SUV Coupe revealed today. The production version of the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback will go into production in 2021.

Like the Audi Q4 e-tron, the e-tron Sportback will be available in an AWD and RWD version. The Sportback is 10mm longer than the Q4 e-tron, and the fastback styling allows the Q4 e-tron Sportback to have a drag coefficient of 0.26 compared to the 0.27 of its sister model. The virtual driver display consists of a new large-format head-up display with augmented reality function. The 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen is positioned above the center console and tilted towards the driver for ease of operation.

The headline specifications for the Q4 e-tron Sportback is:

  • RWD Range 500km / 312 miles
  • AWD Range 450km / 282 miles
  • Max Power AWD 225kW / 302hp
  • Max Torque AWD 470N.m / 347lb.ft
  • Battery 82kWh
Compare the technical specs for the Q4 e-tron SUV and Q4 e-tron Sportback on our model pages.

The Q4 e-tron will be the seventh series production electric car by the manufacturer when introduced in 2021 and is based on the VW Group MEB platform. Audi plans to have 20 all-electric vehicles in its fleet by 2025 to achieve a 40% share of its total sales.

Audi q4 e-tron sportback concept

TOP EV NEWS #3 – BESTSELLING SUV GOES ELECTRIC

Volkswagen is giving Europe’s best selling SUV, the Tiguan, a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The Tiguan is one of the best selling SUVs globally, selling more than 900,000 units in 2019, and over six million to date. Unfortunately for customers in North America, the VW Tiguan PHEV is only available for the European market. A plug-in version of the longer wheelbase VW Tiguan L-GTE is available in China since 2019.

The Tiguan eHybrid is equipped with a 13kWh battery, which delivers a WLTP range of 50km (31 miles). The 85kW (114hp) electric motor allows a zero-emission top speed of 130km/h (81mph). The total system power output is 180 kW ( 241 hp ).

The VW Tiguan eHybrid PHEV comes with the VW Travel Assist advanced driving assistance system, allowing for assisted driving at speeds up to 210km/h. Other technology improvements in the new model are the third generation MIB3 modular infotainment matrix, offering online connectivity, and Tiguan’s new IQ.LIGHT – LED matrix headlights. A 480-watt sound system by audio specialist Harman Kardon is available as an optional extra.
No pricing for the Tiguan eHybrid is available yet, and sales in Europe are expected to start in the latter part of 2020.

VW Tiguan eHybrid PHEV pictures

TOP EV NEWS #4 – OTHER MODELS THAT TOOK A BOW THIS WEEK

It has been quite an active week as we some EV newbies bringing their first models to market and existing brands upgrading older models or showcasing new models. Newbies Mapel Auto and Skywell introduced their first models this week, while Great Wall’s ORA and SEAT lifted the veil on new models. SAIC MG brought a new version of an older model to market.

SAIC MG listed the 2020 MG 6 PHEV on the 10th of July. The MG 6 plug-in hybrid has been around since 2017, with the new version being the second generation. The 2020 MG 6 PHEV is equipped with a 1.5T engine and permanent magnet synchronous motor, and a 10-speed EDU intelligent electric drive gearbox. The latest version is 9mm longer than the 2019 model and is equipped with an active liquid-cooled battery pack that delivers a pure electric range of 70km. The combined fuel consumption of the MG6 is only 1.1L/100km.

SAIC MG6 phev 2020 pictures

SEAT held a press conference confirming the 2021 launch of the SEAT Cupra el-Born and released some electric car images, which is based on the VW ID3. The Spanish company revealed limited information on the el-Born, which was first introduced at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2019. The el-Born is fired with an 82kWh battery pack with a nominal capacity of 77kWh, which will provide a range of 500km / 313mi. With the exclusively developed DCC Sport package, the el-Born can accelerate to 50km/h in 2.9 seconds. The e-Born will be assembled at the Zwickau plant.

SEAT Cupra El Born pictures

Great Wall’s ORA brand listed the production version of the R2 Concept EV unveiled in 2018. The ORA R2 is listed as the ORA Baimoa, which means “White Cat.” The Baimoa was designed by the Great Wall Japan Technology Research Corporation Yokohama styling room, with the from resembling the face of a cat. The ORA Baimoa is available in two range and power versions. See the available specs here on the model page.

Ora R2 Baimao WHite cat ev images

EV newbie Skywell is opening the order book for the ET5 on the 18th of July. The mid-sized SUV has a range of 500km / 313mi. The only other information we know now is that the car is 4700mm long and has a wheelbase of 2800mm, and the battery has an energy density of 170Wh/kg.

Tianmei Skywell ET5 EV SUV Pictures

Maple Auto launched its first EV the Maple 30x small SUV at a starting price of 68,800 yuan after subsidies. The 30x is based on the Geely Vision X3. The electric motor of the Maple 30x produces 70kW power and generate 180N.m torque. Performance-wise the 30x has a top speed of 120km/h and accelerates to 50km/h in 4.5 seconds. The 160Wh/kg has a range of 306km / 191mi.

Maple Auto 30x ev pictures

TOP EV NEWS #5 – HYUNDAI FUEL CELL TRUCK COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE

Hyundai shipped the first ten from a consignment of fifty units of its Fuel Cell 36ton heavy-duty truck to Switzerland. The South Korean manufacturer is planning to produce 1600 units of the XCIENT by 2025. The XCIENT can travel 400km / 247mi on a single charge with its 190kW hydrogen fuel cell system. Hyundai is also busy developing a 1000km tractor unit.

Hyundai XCIENT FCEV Truck pictures

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Week 27 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 27 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – BYTON IS DEAD, LONG LIVE BYTON

The future of one of the most anticipated luxury EVs now seems dark. The Chinese EV startup, Byton, dismissed most of its staff at its operations in mainland China. Operations if California and Munich are also affected, each only retaining around ten employees. Although not dead, the company has gone back to the drawing board with a small team to assist management and shareholders to access its future.

Byton opened its first experience store in Shanghai in January 2019 and planned to start selling its first cars at the end of 2019. Byton was on the verge of testing the first pre-production models of the M-Byte when the Covid-19 related stoppage halted the company’s progress.

Byton announced at a general staff meeting that it would pay its employees the arrears of March wages before July 10, and the salary for April, May, and June will be paid in stages as soon as possible. For employees who took the initiative to resign from June 30 and completed the resignation before July 3, Byton will pay their unpaid remuneration in full, but the quota is “limited.”

Since its launch in 2017, Byton has completed four funding rounds, raising around 8.4 billion yuan. Byton North America, based in Germany, has started bankruptcy filing procedures.

Byton-Experience-store-opened-top-5-ev-news-week-4-2019

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW EV MODELS AND MODEL UPDATES

SAIC Wuling is listing three small electric cars this month. The first two are in collaboration with GM through the SAIC Wuling sub-brand, Boajun. The three-seat Baojun E300 and four-seat Boajun E300 Plus are priced below $10,000. The other small EV by SAIC Wuling coming to market this month will be the cheapest EV around, priced below $5,000. The Wuling Hongguang electric car will reach the market by the middle of July.

SAIC Wuling small ev price

Pre-orders for the first model from SAIC’s new high-end R EV brand, the Roewe ER6 opened this week. The SAIC Roewe R ER6 comes equipped with SAIC’s new SKYEYE biometric system whereby a driver can start the vehicle by just brushing his face. The Roewe ER6 has a range of 605km (NEDC), for a detailed review go here.

SAIC Roewe ER6 pictures

The Changan CS55 E-Rock pure electric SUV will be launched in July. The E-Rock is available in a 403km and 605km battery option, priced from 164,900 yuan to 205,900 yuan after subsidies and discounts. Potential buyers can earn discount points through sharing details of the CS55 E-Rock on social platforms. The E-Rock looks similar to the CS55 combustion version.

Changan cs55 e-rock pictures

The Jonway subsidiary China UFO unveiled the FEIDI Q pure-electric delivery van, available from September 2020. Chinese couriers deliver over 60 billion parcels a year, and a delivery vehicle delivers around 200 parcels a day, traveling 200km in urban areas to do so. The FEIDI Q offers class beating safety in the form of a reduced full-load braking distance of 42.7 meters, compared to 50 to 60 meters by its peers. For more details go here.

Feidi q ev delvivery van pictures

TOP EV NEWS #3 – BYD LAUNCHES IN EUROPE

Earlier the year, BYD announced that it would expand its electric vehicle range to the European market. In May 2020, it partnered with the Norwegian firm RSA to distribute its cars in the Scandinavian country. Europe is the most exciting market for electric vehicles, giving Chinese EV manufacturers a golden opportunity to promote their brands.

Last month Chinese EV startup Aiways delivered the first batch of its U5 SUV to Corsica. The first EV to be introduced by BYD is the pure electric BYD Tang SUV. BYD will also target commercial applications through the introduction of an electric panel van, a 7.5-tonne rigid truck, a 19-tonne rigid truck, and a yard tractor.

At a launch event in Oslo this week, BYD and RSA launched the BYD TANG EV. The Tang’s launch in Norway is seen as a pilot project for further expansion to other European countries. The BYD Tang will sell from 599,999 NOK (ca $63,000) and be fitted with the new Blade battery, which increases safety.

BYD Tang EV for europe top 5 ev news week 27 2020

TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHINESE STATE-OWNED OEMs JOIN TO CREATE EV TECHNOLOGY

The Stata-owned vehicle manufacturers, Changan, FAW, and Dongfeng this week, brought their planned EV technology JV to life with the formation of two companies in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. The three OEMs together command around 30% of the Chinese vehicle market.

The three OEMs formed two companies referred to as the T3 Technology Platform Company to develop autonomous and electric platforms within five years. Talk of the partnership goes back as far as 2017. The Joint Venture was formalized in December 2018 with the signing of the “T3 Technology Platform Company Joint Venture Cooperation Intention Agreement”. The JV has a registered share capital of 16 Billion yuan ($2.264Bln).

The shareholding structure consists of:

  • 3.125% Changan Automobile – 500 million yuan
  • 25.0% FAW – 4 billion yuan
  • 25.0% Dongfeng – 4 billion yuan
  • 25% Jiangning Economic Development Technology – 4 billion yuan
  • 21.875% Military Equipment Group

T3 platform top 5 ev news week 27 2020

TOP EV NEWS #5 – VOLTA TRUCKS SECURE PILOT PARTNERS

Swedish electric truck startup, Volta Trucks, signed up some of the leading delivery companies in Scandinavia, Bring, and Posten to pilot its Zero electric truck in 2021. The 16ton Volta Zero electric truck will operate between urban mail and parcel pick-up and drop-off locations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

The Volta Zero is developed as a clean and safe truck for urban use and will be custom manufactured to clients’ needs and contracted to customers through an innovative “TaaS” model.

In January, Volta announced that it would commence pilot operations in London and Paris. At the time, Carl-Magnus Norden, co-founder of Volta Trucks, said, “Heavy Good Vehicles are a significant contributor to pollution in urban areas, and due to archaic, clunky designs, these have also grown to become some of the greatest safety hazards to pedestrians and cyclists. Innovation within transportation is underway, but the logistics and retail industries, though willing to change, are moving slowly due to a lack of good alternatives and so struggling to keep up with new regulations. Making it easier for fleet operators to go electric and improve the safety of the vehicles they use, we see that we are able to speed up the pace of positive change, to ensure safer and less-polluted cities.”

The Bring VP of logistics, Per Öhagen, said: “By 2025, our goal is that all our vehicles and buildings will be emission neutral. To reach that goal, partnering with companies like Volta Trucks are crucial. To be the first pilot user of a Volta Truck in Scandinavia sends a clear message of our sustainability intent, and we look forward to a good collaboration to develop the emission-free trucks of the future.”

Top 5 EV news week 27 2020 Volta zero

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Week 26 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 26 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – CALIFORNIA PUSH THE WORLD TO ELECTRIC TRUCK FUTURE

The California Air Resources Board unanimously voted in the world’s first electric truck standard, giving truck manufacturers a clear signal to change. Since California is one of the Top 5 economic regions in the world, the vote will surely drive the adoption of electric trucks throughout the world.

Like the Electric Vehicle standard in the State, the rule sets zero-emission truck sales targets for OEMs from 2024 and ends in 25 years with a 100% zero-emission fleet goal.

Shifting the world to electric trucks is the final nail in the coffin of combustion vehicles and a carbon-based economy. It is estimated that by 2035 the ruling will bring 300,000 electric trucks to Californian roads. The other upside of the rule is that it saves the State $9 billion in health cost and support job creation in the thriving EV industry, which generated nearly 300,000 jobs in the State already.

When one looks at what has transpired since California introduced its EV sales targets for passenger vehicles, we can safely say that the electrification of the global truck market received a significant boost.

Top5 EV news week 26 2020

TOP EV NEWS #2 – EV MODELS LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

BYD announced the pricing for the Han EV, which will be listed early next month. Pricing for the Han range between 230,000 and 280,000 yuan after subsidies, around $35,000. The BYD Han is the first vehicle in the world to be fitted with Huawei’s 5G technology and uses BYDs DiPilot advanced driving assistance system (ADAS). The Han is available as a plug-in hybrid and a pure electric, but for the first time, BYD styled the BEV and PHEV differently from each other.

Top 5 EV news week 26 2020 BYD han price

BAIC launched the Beijing X7 PHEV along with the combustion model this week. Altogether, the Beijing X7 is available in 8 versions, of which three are plug-in hybrid versions. The Beijing X7 PHEV SUV is priced between 184,900 and 216,900 yuan while the combustion versions start from 104,900 yuan. The Beijing X7 SUV is developed on the BAIC BMFA platform and is equipped with Level2 driving assistance.

Beijing X7 Top 5 EV news week 26 2020

Buick revealed more information and pictures on the upcoming Velite 7, which is expected to be a close resemblance of the Chevrolet Bolt EUV due next year. The latest details show that the Velite 7 EV, shown in the cover image above, has a wheelbase of 2675mm (105inch) and a 10inch central control screen. The Velite also offers ample cargo space and 20 other internal storage spaces with a total volume of 38.75 liters (1.4 cubic ft). The rear luggage compartment accommodates 363liters, which can be increased to 1331 liter by flattening the rear seats.

Buick velite 7 images interior

Cadillac released a teaser image of its Lyriq pure electric crossover ahead of its August 6 launch.

Top 5 ev news week 26 2020 cadillac lyriq debut

TOP EV NEWS #3 – OPEL EV LINE-UP GAINS TRACTION

Fortunately for Opel lovers, the German automaker’s acquisition by the PSA Group gives them a wider selection of EVs to choose from than what they would have had if the company stade in the GM stable.

Previously Opel sold the Ampera plug-in hybrid sedan and the Bolt EV, branded as the Ampera-e, but now that company has access to the PSA Group’s CMP platform. The CMP platform allows Opel to electrify its complete line-up. Already Opel offers two pure electric options, the Ampera-e, which it still sells for GM, and the Corsa-e and one plug-in hybrid, the Grandland X SUV. Earlier the year, the company started introducing its electrified commercial vehicle line-up, the Zafira-e Life and Vivaro-e, which will be followed by the Combo-e in 2021. This week Opel introduced the Mokka-e, its pure-electric compact SUV.

The Mokka-e has a range of 322km (201miles) WLTP and a 100kW (134hp) electric motor and will be available early 2021.

Top 5 ev news week 26 2020 Opel

TOP EV NEWS #4 – BRITAIN ADVISED TO FAST TRACK EV PUSH

In the UK, the Committee on Climate Change published its 2020 Progress Report, recommending to fast track the 2040 ban on internal combustion vehicles (ICE) by eight years.

The Committee feels that a 2032 goal is achievable due to the advancement in technology and progress by the auto sector over the last three years since the 2040 proposal was first made. The Committee also called for an upgrade of electricity distribution infrastructure. Furthermore, the report stated that the rollout of a charging station network should be facilitated throughout the country, including workplaces.

Some criticism from the industry suggested that the 2032 goal is too tight, taking into consideration the challenges in transitioning the commercial vehicle sector to electrification in only 12 years.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – AMAZON ACQUIRE AI RIDE-HAILING STARTUP

In a move that could be seen as a shot across the bow of Uber and Lyft, Amazon on Friday acquired autonomous ride-hailing startup, ZOOX.

ZOOX was founded in 2014 to develop a level 4 autonomous passenger car from the ground-up, is acquired by Amazon for an estimated $1.2Bln, according to the Financial Times. Uber and Lyft took the cheaper path to autonomous vehicle development, attaching AI drive systems to commercially available vehicles. Ultimately developing purpose-built cars is the better option, but much more difficult and costly. ZOOX raised around $1Bln to achieve its goal.

According to Amazon, the acquisition is to assist the company in bringing its ride-hailing vehicle program to fruition the company made no mention if it will use ZOOX’s technology for its logistics demands. The transaction is not the first for Amazon; it also owns an AI driving system company, Aurora, who is developing self-driving technology for trucks.

top 5 ev news week 26 2020 zoox amazon

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Week 25 2020

Top 5 EV News Week 25 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – LYFT TO GO ALL ELECTRIC

Ride-hailing company Lyft this week committed to a plan for it to transition its fleet to be 100% electric by 2030.

Without mentioning how much the plan will cost, the company said it would work with auto manufacturers to reach its goal. Like Uber, Lift drivers are only contractors to the company, using their personal cars to supply ride-hailing services. Thus, these gig workers expected to fork out the capital or lease cost associated with the vehicle and its operation.

To me, this is not such a big news story rather than proving what this platform and thought leaders such as Tony Seba have been saying all along. The lifetime of an electric vehicle is around five times that of a combustion vehicle, making it the obvious choice for heavy users such as Lyft riders. It is not strange to see more and more electric cars around airports where many of these gig workers operate.

Tony Seba, in his book Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation, predicted that by 2030 car ownership will drop by 80% and that most passenger miles will be done by ride-hailing and other alternative mobility solutions. Tony Seba also tied the disruption purely to a financial decision.

The other impetus for the decision to change its fleet to electric is regulatory. For long ride-hailing companies have claimed that they provide a cleaner footprint than private road users, which are now being dispelled by various studies. City and state regulators are seeing ride-hailing companies as a low fruit for reaching clean transportation goals, and are in the process of planning EV mandates for these operators.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – A WEEK FOR ELECTRIC PICKUPS

There is certainly a lot of activity around the topic of electric pickups recently, which will be no different this coming week. Ohio base EV-startup Lords Town Motors will launch the Endurance Pick-up this Thursday.

Founded by ex-Workhorse CEO, Steve Burns, started Lordstown Motors in 2019. The start-up took over the GM plant for the Chevrolet Cruze in Lordstown, Ohio. A deal with Workhorse whereby the company leases the intellectual property for the Workhorse W15 introduced in 2017 enables Lordstown Motors to bring a vehicle to launch so quickly. NASDAQ listed Workhorse (NASDAQ: WKHS) gained a 10% shareholding in Lordstown Motors and will receive a royalty on the first 200,000 units sold as payment for the lease of the IP.

But all is not as it seems, Lordstown needs to raise capital to pay for the plant and its conversion, and the deadline is at the end of August 2020. After an initial payment of $20 million by Burns, GM still holds a mortgage on the plant of $40 million.

In related news, Ford will unveil the combustion version of the F150 this week, two years ahead of the electric version.

Should Lordstown succeed in bring ing its $52,000 Endurance EV Pickup to market in 2021 as planned, it will have a valuable headstart on Ford.

Lordstown Motors Top 5 EV news week 25 2020

TOP EV NEWS #3 – EVs LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

GAC Automobile officially launched its third model from the Aion series, the Aion V. The pure electric GAC Aion V SUV is available in five versions and four battery/range options, priced between ¥159,600 and ¥239,600.

The Aion V is built on the new GEP2.0 platform.
If purchased before the end of August, buyers qualify for a zero down payment and interest offer. Also, the optional ADIGO 3.0 autopilot system is offered at a 50% discount.

The Aion V is called the world’s first 5G intelligent car. It is equipped with Huawei’s latest generation Baron 5000 5G chip, enabling “5G+V2X”. The ADIGO 3.0 autopilot is an L3 autonomous system.

Top 5 EV news week 25 2020 gac aion v launch

Geely opened the order books for its first pure electric SUV this week. The Geometry C is available in two range options, a 400km and a 550km, priced form ¥139,800 after subsidies.

The Geely Geometry C is equipped with the SEM advanced battery management system, which utilizes an algorithm to increase the battery’s efficiency, ultimately optimizing the range a driver gets from the car. The battery pack has an energy density of 183Wh/kg.
Further optimizing the Geometry Cs efficiency is its lightweight and aerodynamic design. The drag coefficient of the car is only 0.273Cd.

Other energy optimizing enhancements include the Bosch IBOOSTER regenerative brakes, which can increase the range by 10%. The Geometry C is also equipped with an industry-leading heat pump aircon, which operates by absorbing temperature from outside of the car.

For a detailed review go to the model page on wattev2buy.

Top 5 EV news week 25 2020 geely geometry C

TOP EV NEWS #4 – MORE EVs EXPECTED IN 2020

GMs Chinese Buick unit registered the Velite 7 EV SUV for release later this year. The Velite 7 is based on the Chevrolet Bolt and looks strikingly similar to be the Bolt EUV that was spied earlier this year, see the image below on the right. The Chevrolet Bolt EUV is expected to be released next year.

The Buick Velite 7 is the company’s second pure electric EV and has an NEDC range of 500km (313 miles). The Velite 7 has a 130kW (174hp) electric motor with a top speed of 145km/h (91mph).

Buick Velite 7 ev top 5 ev news week 25 2020

Citroen unveiled two pure electric models this week, the electric C4 compact hatchback and 9-seat electric SpaceTourer.

The Citroën ë-C4, pictured on the cover of the newsletter, will be presented in detail on the 30th of June, 2020, and released later the year.

The Citroen Ë-SPACETOURER all-electric MPV is available in 3 lengths, 2 range options, and 4 finish levels. The Ë-SPACETOURER comes in XS of 4600 mm long, M of 4950mm long, and an XL of 5300mm. The interior layout can accommodate up to 9 people depending on the four finish levels, Feel, Shine, Business and Business Lounge.

Top 5 EV news week 25 2020 Citroen E Spcae tourer

TOP EV NEWS #5 – VW GROUP INCREASES QUANTUM SCAPE SHARE

In its effort to gain an advantage in the EV sector VW Group this week increased its shareholding in US-based solid-state battery start-up, Quantum Scape.

Quantum Scape, founded by Jagdeep Singh in 2010, is a Stanford University spinout and is headquartered in San Jose, California. VW Group and Quantum Scape has been collaborating since 2012 and created a joint venture in 2018. Before the current investment of $200 million, VW has invested $100 million in the JV.

“Volkswagen is taking e-mobility to the mainstream. A strong position in the field of batteries is a decisive factor in this regard,” said Frank Blome, Head of the Battery Cell business, Volkswagen Group Components. “We are securing our global supply base with efficient producers, gradually building up manufacturing capacities and driving the development of cutting-edge solid-state battery technology. Our focus in this context is on long-term strategic partnerships.”

The partnership aims to commercialize solid-state batteries by 2025. Solid-state battery technology is seen as the holy grail for electric mobility, offering comparable “fueling” time and range to combustion vehicles.

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.

Top 5 EV News Stories Week 24 2020

Top 5 EV News Stories Week 24 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – LAUNCH DATE UPDATES AND CHANGES

In the past week, we gained further clarity on expected launch dates for some highly anticipated electric vehicle models. Unfortunately, some of these announcements kicked the can further down the road.

The Tesla Semi reveal has been moved a couple of times, so was the expected launch date, which was first scheduled for late 2019 or early 2020/ The lastest reports saw the release only in 2021, despite the Semi prototype frequently being spotted on public roads.

This week a leaked email of Elon Musk announced that it is time for the Tesla Semi to enter into production. Elon Musk confirmed the email in a tweet.

Leaked tesla semi

On the flip side, in an interview with CNBC, Jim Farley (Ford COO) indicated that despite the launch of the combustion version of the F150 are on track for July 25, 2020, we can only expect the electric version in 2022.

What could be seen as a consequence of the news, EV start-up Nikola Motor Company overtook Ford’s market capitalization. Nikola Motors, which was only listed last week, announced that it would open the order book for the Nikola Badger SUV, which will be available as an FCEV and a battery-electric model in 2022.

Citroen announced the world premiere of the Citroen eC4, based on the Cactus C4. The Citroen eC4 reveal is set for June 30, and first deliveries as early as September 2020. Obviously, the eC4 is meant for the European market only.

Volkswagen also confirmed that first deliveries for the V.W. I.D. 3 will start in September 2020.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – EV MODELS LISTED THE PAST WEEK

Fiat launched the second version of the ‘la Prima’ limited edition 500e this week, priced at £26,995 or €34,900. The ‘la Prime’ was first launched in March as a convertible and now in a hatchback. Fiat justifies the high price with the inclusion of a 3kW home charger.

Changan launched the E-Rock SUV, based on the CS55 combustion SUV. The E-Rock is available in two battery options, with the long-range version having a range of 605km (378miles) as measured on the NEDC test cycle. The E-Rock is priced from 164,900 to 205,900 ¥ (ca $25,000).

BMW launched the X5 xDrive45e plug-in hybrid SUV, priced at $65,400 before incentives. The X5 is not a new model and has been available in Europe since June 2019.

Mercedes launched the plug-in hybrid version of the B-Series MPV. Unlike the previous version of the B-Series, which the German auto manufacturers only pure electric model, the 2021 model will only be available with a hybrid drive train. The B250e PHEV is available from £35,280.00 in the UK and €40,778 in Europe.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – H2X FUEL CELL EV START-UP DOWN UNDER

A new EV start-up from down under, H2X, announced this week that it would start selling fuel cell electric vehicles in Australian by July 2021.

The founding members of H2X Australia Chris Reitz, who helped design the Riversimple Rasa FCEV, Fiat 500 and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, and Brendan Norman, a former BMW, and VW executive, both worked at the Chinese FCEV company Grove.

The pair is bolstered by a team of 70 hires, including Peter Zienau, a project leader of the Chevrolet Bolt, and Ian Thompson, the development lead for the Tesla Roadster.

H2X showed illustrations of some vehicles it might produce, including heavy vehicles and passenger vehicles. H2X plans to start building prototypes for testing as early as November 2020. The company plans to start with the heavy vehicles, which is a better use case for the technology. H2X further plans to bring an SUV to the market by 2024. The SUV featured in the presentation is called the H2X Snowy.

H2X operates from Port Kembla, New South Wales, and was formed with the help of investments from a construction company, Elvin Group and Ken Mathews, owner of the Denzo Group, a renewable energy company.

The H2X strategy is to develop two platforms, a 300 kW to 550 kW powertrain consisting of fuel cells and ultra-capacitors, and a 60 kW to 190kW fuel cell with a battery pack. The larger platform is for trucks and busses, while the smaller ones for the SUV and tractors. Initially, the company will produce only 3,700 vehicles per annum and then ramp-up to 25,000 vehicles by 2025.

H2X will also roll-out between 5 and 15 refueling stations in its first year of operations.

H2x ev models top 5 ev news week 24 2020

TOP EV NEWS #4 – EV INCENTIVES GETS SECOND BREATH

2020 was supposed to be the sunset period for most EV incentives. Now, with a renewed focus on a clean environment brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing extensions and new incentives being activated. The incentives are also used to bolster a slump in demand brought on by the economic fall-out of the pandemic.

The Netherlands this month announced a €4,000 rebate when purchasing a new pure electric vehicle, and €2,000 for used models. The refund will run from July 1, 2020, for a year. The incentive only applies to vehicles with a minimum range of 120km and priced between €12,000-€45,000.
The incentive is capped though at €10 million for new purchases and €7.2 million for second hand EVs.

Across the channel, the British Government is considering a scrappage scheme where the driver will get a £6,000 trade-in when swapping an internal combustion model for an electric car. The British Prime Minister is expected to announce the measure in July 2020.

EV grants in the UK were being called down, with the latest incentive effective from March 2020, reducing the subsidy to only £3,000, nearly half of what it was at inception.

In Germany, the Government updated its EV incentive that will save buyers of EVs a further €3,000. The increase forms part of a €130 billion stimulus package. The incentive, which with the further €3,000 announcement now stands at €9,000, only applies to vehicles less than €40,000.

 

TOP EV NEWS #5 – LOTUS EMBRACE AN EV FUTURE

Auto Express reported that the Geely owned British icon, Lotus, is fully embarrassing an EV future. The company will jump the hybrid powertrain step preferred by most legacy automakers, and move to pure electric drive trains only from 2022.

Lotus CEO, Phil Popham told Auto Express, “BEV is really well suited to sports cars – the torque characteristics, the weight distribution, design and flexibility of dynamics. For me, it all leads to BEV as the ultimate technology for sports cars.

Lotus will launch the Evija Hypercar, pictured below, in a limited run of only 130 models in 2021. Priced at an eye-watering £2.4 million it is clear Lotus is rebranding itself into a more exclusive market segment. According to Auto Express, once Lotus has established itself with its new fleet of electric sports cars, it will expand its offering to saloons, GTs, and potentially SUVs.

lotus-evija top 5 ev news week 24 2020

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 23 2020

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 23 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – AIWAYS U5 DOCKS IN EUROPE

This week, the first batch of electric cars produced by the Chinese EV-startup, Aiways, docket in Europe. Unfortunately, this batch of Aiways U5 SUV EVs is not designated for private sale, but part of the ‘Electrify Corsica” program.

The Corsican operator of Hertz Rental Cars, Filippi Auto, acquired 500 Aiways U5s and aims to transform its fleet to being 70% electrified by 2022.

Aiways will use a direct-to-customer sales model in Europe, with private sales starting in the second half of 2020 for countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, and Norway. Ownership options are limited to lease and short to long term rentals.

In China, the Aiways U5 is available in four battery options, ranging from 250 (400km) miles to 389 miles (623km), as measured on the NEDC test cycle. The U% is priced between $29,000 and $42,000 when converted from the Chinese Yuan to $. Aiways claims that it’s Battery Management System uses AI to optimize range efficiency.

The batch of Aiways U5s is not the first Chinese EVs to arrive in Europe, but one of the most aggressive efforts to date. Many Chinese OEMs have indicated that they will enter the European market, including BYD. It will be interesting to see how the European market responds to Chinese electric cars. Your thoughts?

Aiways U5 on way to corsica Top 5 ev news week 23 2020

TOP EV NEWS #2 – CHINESE FUNDING FOR JLR

The chickens are coming home to roost for many auto companies who have been struggling financially before the Covid-19 pandemic. JLR, owned by Tata of India, secured 5 billion yuan (ca $700 mln) in term funding from a consortium of Chinese banks.

JLR has been struggling to sell the Jaguar I-PACE in the volumes it anticipated. Currently, dealers in the USA are offering huge discounts, up to $20,000, to offload stock from 2019 still standing on the dealership floor.

JLR is also looking for various forms of financial assistance from the UK Government, including tax breaks, grants, and direct aid. JLR is the crown jewel in the Tata Motors stable, which acquired the British car manufacturer in 2010 from Ford.

JLR will use the funds to streamline its business in China, which accounts for around a quarter of its sales.

I think Tesla’s technical lead over the competition, its product offering, and rapid production expansion will exert more pressure on the auto sector in the coming months and years. Legacy automakers are between a rock and a hard place. They have to invest heavily in electrifying their strategies and shifting consumer demand and legislation favoring demand away from their core products.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – A PEEK AT THE NEW QIANTU K50 AND K20

Qiantu K50 top5 ev news week 23 2020

Some images emerged in the past week of the Qiantu‘s new model line up for 2020/21. The photos revealed the K50 upgrade and the K20 in camouflage.

The 2020 Qiantu K50 does not differ in design from the 2018/19 model, shown in the cover image of the newsletter. The only visible difference in the 2020 model is the bold use of color combinations to make the Chinese electric sports car stand out. No technical specifications have been released to date, so it uncertain if Qiantu will improve the current 280kW (375hp) drive train.

Spy images of the K20 undergoing road testing emerged at the end of last week. The K20 was first introduced as a concept car at the Beijing Auto Show in 2018. The K20 is a sporty coupe designed for a younger generation and those who can’t afford the K50s $105,000 price tag. No specifications or release date is available, but I suspect that the K20 will be released before the end of the year.

Qiantu K20 spy images

TOP EV NEWS #4 – PEUGEOT e-TRAVELLER MPV LAUNCHED

Peugeot this week launched its answer to the Mercedes EQV electric MPV. The Peugeot e-Traveller seven-seater is one of a few pure electric MPVs to compete with the Mercedes EQV in the segment. The e-Traveller, albeit underpowered compared to the EQV, fills a gap in the market for tour operators and corporates that wish to go electric in its people carrying fleets.

The Peugeot e-Traveller is available in two range options and three chassis lengths. The long-range e-Traveller, with a 75kWh battery, can travel 330km (205 miles) as measured on the WLTP testing cycle, while the smaller 50kWh battery option delivers 230km (143miles). The chassis comes in a Compact (4,609mm), Standard (4,959mm), or a Long (5,306mm ) variant. Customers can choose between a VIP or two or three sliding benches, which provide seating options from five to nine people. The VIP model has only four independent seats facing each other in a lounge style.

The e-Traveller electric shuttle has no shortage of privacy with its over-tinted (70% opacity) and extra-tined (90% opacity) windows. The VIP Business model trim (6 or 7 seats) offers three-zone air conditioning and a concealable blackout glass roof. The Combispace trim (5 to 8 seats) for families provides flexibility with its removable and sliding seats. The second row has aviation screens. The rear window can be opened if the tailgate can’t.

The Peugeot e-Traveller is equipped with a reinforced drive system with Grip Control, for traveling off the beaten track. The traction mode on the dashboard can set the Grip Control traction mode for snow, all-terrain, ESP, or sand. Information is integrated and shared in the Peugeot e-Traveller through a central screen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto protocols can connect with the MPV through ts MirrorScreen Compatibility.

It is fantastic that we are allowed more choice in the different segments, and not be limited to a few electric vehicles, which sometimes would not have been our first choice if more options existed, boding well for EV adoption. No pricing or an exact sales date is available yet for the Peugeot e-Traveller, which will be available before the end of 2020.

peugeot-e-traveller top 5 ev news week 23 2020jpg

TOP EV NEWS #5 – TOP SELLING BEIJING EU5 UPGRADE

The upgraded BEIJING EU5 launches in July of this year and is available for pre-order. The BEIJING EU5 scored the best in a 2019 consumer survey, having the lowest complaints to sales ratio. The China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) Consumer survey’s EV evaluation scored the EU as with only 0.9 complaints out of every 10,000 units sold. The upgraded EU5 is available in two range options and four style configurations. The upgrade comprises improvements in the EU5’s appearance, interior, performance, comfort, and connectivity. The 2020 EU5 is available in a 416km (260 miles) and 501 km (313 miles) battery option. Existing BAIC customers qualify for a special 20,000 yuan discount, while new buyers can take advantage of a discount of up to 10,000 yuan if the place an order before the end of June.

The 2020 EU5 is the second EV in the Beijing stable to carry the new “BEIJING” badge. The appearance of the compact sedan is modernized with a stretched front closed grille, and unique double-C type daytime running lights. Beijing Auto improved the performance of the EV through the use of a new high-performance lithium battery pack from CATL, which is equipped with an intelligent bionic temperature control system (IBTC ), extending the EU5s range at constant speeds to 525km and 635km, and energy consumption as low as 11.5kW·h/100km.

A high-efficiency permanent magnet synchronous motor produces 160kW maximum power and 300N·m maximum torque, accelerating the EU5 to 100km/h in 7.8 seconds, comparable to a 2.0-liter turbo combustion engine car. The EU5 carries a “CN95 certification” issued by the China Automotive Research Institute, which is figuratively the vehicle carrying an N95 mask in the COVID-19 era. The EU5 is equipped with a 12.3-inch high-definition digital instrument panel, and a 9-inch floating central control screen, for the infotainment and navigation system.

BEIJING Automotive is the first in the industry to launch the “three-lifetime warranty” policy, providing a lifetime warranty on batteries, motors, electronic controls, and core electrical components. To date, BAIC has sold around 120,000 units of previous generations of the EU5, making it one of the top-selling EVs in the Chinese market.

Top 5 EV News Week 23 2020 BEIJING EU5 order book opens

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 22 2020

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 22 2020

TOP EV NEWS #1 – BUSY WEEK FOR VW EV STRATEGY

It has been a busy week for the VW Group as it implements its EV strategy.
In China, VW signed a letter of intent to expand its cooperation with and ownership of JAC (Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co.) According to the agreement, Volkswagen will invest 1 billion euros in obtaining 50% of the holding company and increasing its stake in the two companies EV JV, effectively gaining full management rights.

Dr. Diss, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said: “Volkswagen joins hands with a strong and trustworthy partner to further promote the Group’s electrification strategy in China. At present, the rapid development of electric vehicles also brings more opportunities for JAC Volkswagen. In-depth cooperation will promote Volkswagen ’s electrification strategy in China and help the Group achieve its carbon neutrality target by 2050. ”

JAC Volkswagen aims to sell 1.5 million EVs in China by 2025 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Volkswagen also invested a further ca €1 billion in battery producer Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd. The investment gained Volkswagen a 26% stake in the battery manufacturer, to secure the supply of batteries.

In the USA, the Volkswagen board approved some of the multibillion-dollar projects it announced in July 2019 to further the VW Ford Global Alliance. The approvals will result in two co-developed EVs on VW’s MEB platform, and an equal shareholding with Ford in its ARGO AI autonomous driving unit.

Busy week for VW EV strategy Top 5 ev news week 22 2020

TOP EV NEWS #2 – COBALT FREE BATTERIES COMING

The Chinese battery manufacturer, Honeycomb New Energy, held an online conference on a “Cobalt-Free Future,” during which it revealed two cobalt-free batteries.

Cobalt fee batteries are seen as the key to bringing the cost of batteries down to parity with combustion vehicles. Tesla is also to hold a battery day where it is expected to announce its new million-mile battery technology, which is said to be cobalt-free.

Honeycomb claims that its new cobalt-free batteries, available from the latter part of 2021, has a range of 880km (550 miles), and decrease battery decay.
The first battery pack is a 115Ah capacity pack, which consists of 590 modules and 245Wh/kg energy density. The battery is guaranteed for 15 years or 1.2 million km (750,000 miles), and fit on most modern EV platforms. The second is an L6 thin battery with a capacity of 226Ah.

The NMx cobalt-free battery chemistry has passed safety tests in both China and Europe, and are safer than traditional NCM batteries. Honeycomb proved that NMx battery has thermal stability exceeding 150 degrees celsius.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – CHEAPEST ELECTRIC CAR YET

In 2017 the GM SAIC joint venture in China, Wuling, brought us the cheapest EV at the time, the Baojun E100. Priced below $10,000 and available in some municipalities, effectively just above $5,000.

This week, Wuling Hongguang launched the Mini EV, priced at $4,200 after subsidies. The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is available in two battery options, a 13.82kWh model version with an NEDC range of 170km (106 miles), and a 9.2kWh version with a 120km (75 miles) range.

The cheapest EV in the USA is the Chinese import Kandi K22 priced at $18,995 before incentives.

 

Cheapest EV Top 5 EV NEws Week 22 2020 wattev2buy

TOP EV NEWS #4 – SOME NEW EVs WE WILL SEE IN CHINA

The Chinese EV market still provides the most model options to the consumer, and traditionally the second part of the year sees the bulk of new model launches. Here are some of the H2 2020 models we gained additional specifications of during the past week.

The most anticipated EV is the compact SUV from NIO, the NIO EC6 pictured above, which will be listed in July for release in September. The NIO EC6 will be available in two power options and four range options.

Other pure electric models we can expect are the new Geely Geometry C compact SUV, Volkswagen e-Tharu, and Qiantu K20.

Plug-n hybrid models coming to the Chinese market in the next six months include the Beijing X7 PHEV and Link & Co 06 PHEV. The Beijing X7 is the first model from the newly created BAIC marque developed on its BMFA platform.

Please follow the links to the dedicated pages of the cars above to see all the specifications available at this time.

Chines EVS top 5 EV news week 22 2020`

 

 

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BMW LAUNCH NEW PLUG-IN HYBRID MODEL

BMW announced the pricing and specifications for the BMW X2 xDrive 25e Sport Active Coupé plug-in hybrid.

The X2 is available only in Europe and developed on the latest BMW eDrive technology, now in its fourth generation. The BMW X2 xDrive 25e SAC is priced from €47,250 and offers a range of 53km (33 miles) as measured on the WLTP cycle. The drivetrain pairs a 3 cylinder 1.5-liter engine with a 95hp electric motor. For the complete specs here.

BMW also announced the upgrade of the BMW 530e and BMW 530e xDrive executive sedan. The 7th Generation 5-series offer 40hp more power and a slightly smaller battery pack. The 5-series is also equipped with Level 2 driver assist technology. The 5-series plug-in hybrid line-up will be expanded to five models. The BMW eDrive technology is now also offered for the BMW 530e Touring, BMW 530e xDrive Touring, and BMW 545e xDrive Sedan.

The Top 5 EV Newsletter is Back

The Top 5 EV Newsletter is Back

THE WATTEV2BUY TOP 5 NEWSLETTER IS BACK

For those who thought wattEV2buy is dead…, it’s the furthest from the truth. Here is what I have been up to over the last year to improve wattEV2buy.

I was one of the first to put a shoulder behind the effort to promote and create awareness of electric vehicles online. wattEV2buy has been growing as a personal obsession with EVs since 2014. Unfortunately, I did this at my own expense in money and time. As the market grew, I started spending 18 hours a day, creating content and loading data. I had to do things differently or stop the effort altogether.

wattEV2buy has been a pioneer in many ways, being the first to allow users to search EVs from the perspective of their personal needs and situations to the very popular country and price lists. These tools have been copied by some of my competitors but also ended up on some OEMs pages.

The problem was that with the growth of the market, the time between new car data becoming available and added to the price and year release lists became longer, due to the static designs I utilized. I wanted the user to have accurate and dynamic data as soon as it became available. To this end, I spent the past year, creating a dynamic backend, redesigning, and linking the website to a professional database system. I am now able to update various lists and vehicle specs with the press of a button.

I have also created EV-Genius, the world’s first dedicated EV-Classifieds app. The dealer section went live this week, allowing dealers to quickly upload and share EVs across their social feeds. The customer side, already live as a website, will move from prototype to live shortly. Replacing annoying ICE based clutter with relevant EV information when you look for an EV. And in the new COVID world, the move to the cloud away from physical properties will accelerate. Does this sound like an exciting business idea? I am actively looking for large auto companies to develop EV-Genius to its fullest potential. If you are interested in finding out more, contact me through the wattEV2buy contact form.

So what is new on wattEv2buy’s front-end? I mentioned the country price lists and model lists, which have been improved so you can sort according to price and speed, imperial or metric, and pure electric or plug-in hybrid. There are also other improvements on the vehicle specs sheets, such as a compare section, ratings, and owner reviews. The frontpage is also improved so you can quickly find your preferred model or brand. Also, models available for sale from EV-Genius feed through to corresponding models on wattEV2buy.

Yes, I know the design of assets is still homemade, but hey, I make it myself to save costs, and you get all the data for free, so don’t judge. There are also some other exciting collaborations forming that will influence wattEV2buy’s future, which I am excited to share with you once official.

Now that all these improvements are completed, I can focus again on creating the weekly Top 5 EV News you depended on to stay current with the exciting market. The first official newsletter will commence next week. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the past two weeks you might have missed.

Thanks for showing interest and taking the time to read this far. Stay safe and healthy.

TOP EV NEWS #1 – GAC TRUMPCHI AION V LAUNCH DATE

GAC Trumpchi set the launch date for its third model in the Aion series, the Aion V compact SUV. The GAC Trumpchi Aion V EV SUV (cover image above) will launch on the 16th of June 2020 and is already available on pre-sale from ¥170,000 after incentives. The compact SUV is available in three range options, a 400km (250 miles), 530km (331 miles), and 375 km (375 miles).

The design of the Aion V flows from its larger brother the GAC Trumpchi Aion LX, and the stitched center armrests and door handles give the vehicle a more luxurious feel. The Aion Vs driver display and infotainment system are incorporated in a dual LCD setup.

The drivetrain of the Aion V SUV delivers a maximum power output of 135kW and 350N.m torque. The dimensions of the compact SUV competes favorably with its competitors. We will update more information related to the Aion Vs pricing and specifications as it becomes available.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW ROEWE LOGO FOR A NEW DIRECTION 

​On May 7th, 2020, the Chinese owned SAIC Roewe digitally revealed its new logo to herald in a new development direction. The new brand image is designed to signal Roewe’s aggressive direction change as the auto industry adapts to electrification and interconnectivity of the vehicle with the world around it through 5G.

With 300 designers, sixteen design teams designed 500 different options over ten months to get to the chosen result. The design of the previous Roewe logo, and its name, for that matter, was quite controversial as it looked end felt like a Rover knock-off. At last, Roewe can claim they developed a unique identity.

The R logo signifies “Technology inwards, humanity outwards.” The relationship between humanities and technology is the cornerstone of Roewe’s new development direction. The R-mark projects exclusivity as Roewe shifts to the mid-to-high-end market in its new vision.

At the same time, Roewe gave us a glimpse into its future through the unveiling of the world’s first full cabin interactive 5G production car, the Roewe MARVEL-R. The SAIC Roewe Marvel-R EV embodies the elements of its new brand image and will be the first vehicle to herald in Roewe’s new direction. The Marvel-R will not be the first EV from the Roewe stable to carry the badge, as images of the SAIC Roewe ER6 EV, due in July this show, emerged sporting the new symbol.

Top 5 ev news Week 20 Roewe new old logo

TOP EV NEWS #3 – MORE DETAILS REVEALED OF NEW BYD HAN EV

BYD revealed more information on the BYD Han EV, which will reach the Chinese market in June 2020. The BYD Han is available in an All-Wheel Drive and Single Motor version. The AWD has a max range of 550km on the NEDC testing cycle. The FWD version is available in a short-range with 506km and a long-range with 605km.

The BYD Han is the first model to showcase the company’s new Blade Battery and DiPilot advance driving assist system. It is also the first series where the plug-in hybrid and pure electric have different designs of the front. Both the Han EV and the Han DM (PHEV) uses BYDs Dragon Face design style, but the Han EV uses a semi-closed front face design to identify its pure electric identity. The overall design of the Han series follows a streamlined “front and rear” design concept with a low resistance coefficient of 0.233Cd for improved efficiency. BYD aims to create a taste of luxury to compete with the XPENG P7 and Tesla Model S. The Han is also the first BYD with hidden door handles. The instrument adopts a full LCD instrument panel with a brand new UI design and improved visual effect. The infotainment system used in the Han series is BYDs DiLink 3.0 system, developed with the Android operating system.

The Han EV is the first electrified model to use the new Blade Battery architecture, which, combined with lithium iron phosphate, enables BYD to control the battery cost while improving energy density. The Blade battery architecture uses a Cell To Pack (CTP) technology, where the battery cell is directly integrated into the battery pack, eliminating the need for intermediate modules, as opposed to the traditional battery packs, which uses a single-module-battery grouping of packages. Apart from a cost saving of 30%+ and an improved life cycle of 1.2M km, the Blade Battery architecture also offers improved safety.

The patent images of the Blade battery disclosed by BYD shows thinner and extra-long prismatic cells of 430mm to 2500mm. Compared with the traditional square battery, it presents “flat” and “long” shapes, cells in the Blade Battery are arranged together in an array and inserted into the battery pack like a “blade”. By utilizing the CTP design, the BYD Blade battery uses fewer components such as side plates, end plates, fasteners, beams, and longitudinal beams of each module, ultimately improving the energy density per unit mass to 180Wh/kg. The result of the savings and design is an improved space utilization of around 50%, compared to a traditional NCM811 block battery. Furthermore, the CTP battery design increases the charge capacity by about 20% -30%, and the cruising range also increases by 20% -30%.

The Blade Battery offers four distinct safety features, such as slow heat release and low heat generation, a high starting temperature for exothermic reactions, while not releasing oxygen when damaged, or easily catch fire. The safety enhancements mean the Blade Battery has much lower surface temperatures when punctured of around 30 C to 60 C, compared to 500 C of traditional ternary batteries. BYD tweeted that in extreme condition testing where the battery was punctured, heated to 572 F, overcharged by 260%, crushed and bent, it did not catch fire.

BYD announced last week that the HAN will also reach European shores later this year, and is expected to be priced between €45,000 and €55,000.

Byd han week 19 2020 news

TOP EV NEWS #4 – JAC iC5 TO GO ON SALE

JAC is launching it’s highly efficient new EV, the iC5, developed on the 432 platform, on the 10th of May. The iC5 went on pre-sale on the 16th of March this year and is available in three trims. Pricing for the iC5 starts at RMB 155,000 and is based on the JAC Jiayue A5 ICE, which prices from RMB 84,800. 

The JAC iC5 uses the same 21700 lithium-ion type of battery cells as the Tesla Model 3, with a highly efficient energy density of 240 Wh/kg. The iC5 is also equipped with an energy-saving heat pump air-conditioning unit, which reduces energy use by more than 40%, allowing the car an additional 50km in range in the winter. The iC5 can charge enough energy to travel 200km in 30min.

The new JAC iC5 follows the new design language, designed by Daniele, an Italian star designer and former design leader at Alfa Romeo. The closed front grille is equipped with breathable LED headlights and fitted with Michelin’s latest generation Haoyue PRIMACY4 low rolling resistance tires, providing comfort and lower road noise.

Interestingly enough, JAC markets equipped the new EV with the newly developed “mobile anti-epidemic cockpit,” making the EV Covid-19 proof. The “mobile anti-epidemic cockpit “consists of powerful filtration, advanced oxidation, fresh air functions, and has 360-degree active disinfection. There is also a mobile phone APP to remotely activate the “mobile anti-epidemic cockpit,” switching on the internal circulation, block harmful germs, and purify the vehicle before entering it.

Employing the automaker’s new +3.0 drive technology, the JAC iC5 delivers a peak torque of 340 N.m, and comfortably accelerate to 100km in 7.6 seconds, WIth the unique E-type multi-link rear suspension, the chassis can be adjusted to perfect balance between sport and comfort.

JAC iC5 week 19 2020 top 5 ev news

TOP EV NEWS #5 – FAW TOYOTA LAUNCH THE CH-R TWIN AS A PURE EV

FAW Toyota launched the Toyota IZAO EV this week, at the same time as the combustion model. The Toyota IZAO EV is a rebadged Toyota C-HR EV, which will be available under the GAC Toyota brand label. The subsidized price range of the FAW Toyota IZAO starts at RMB225,800.

The IZOA is based on Toyota’s new TNGA architecture and has a maximum power of 150kW and a 400km (250 miles) range as measured on the NEDC test cycle. The range and battery spec of the IZAO disappoints when compared against its competitors. The compact SUVs battery has an energy density of only 131 Wh/kg, compared to its peers, all of whom have battery specifications closer to 160Wh/kg. Does this reflect Toyota’s limited EV track record? Or is it since the IZAO is only available as an EV in China, and therefore can be seen as a compliance vehicle.

To identify the car as an electric FAW Toyota placed the EV logo to the closed grille. The interior design is similar to overseas models. The low- and mid-range models are equipped with a 7-inch LCD instrument panel and the high-end model with a 12.3-inch full LCD instrument panel. In terms of functionality, the IZAO EV has automatic parking and an electronic handbrake. The infotainment system is equipped with Baidu CarLife.

FAW Toyota IZAO launch

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 12 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 12 2019

EV-Genius-logo-clear

OUR EV CLASSIFIEDS ARE COMING

DEALERS | BUYERS | SELLERS

SIGN-UP FOR LAUNCH INFO HERE

TOP EV NEWS #1 – BYD e-SERIES LAUNCHED

BYD launched its e-Series range which is dedicated to pure electric vehicles. The first model from the BYD e range of cars, the e1 will be launched on the 1st of April 2019. The BYD e1 with its electric range of 305km is loosely based on the BYD F0 compact car.

The BYD e-series will is positioned in parallel with BYD’s dynasty series and have an independent sales channel. BYD indicated that it would target the ride-hailing and taxi-market with its e-series car’s which deliver a better return on investment for such operators. The e-series will cover most market segments and range in price from RMB 550,000 to RMB 150,000 before subsidies.

BYD plans to produce 300,000 new energy vehicles at its Changsha plant, including the e1, e2, and e3.

BYD-e-series-launch-top-5-ev-news-week-12-2019

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED MODELS

SAIC MG launched its compact SUV, the MG eZS and released images of the 2019 eMG plug-in hybrid release. The MG eZS is expected to be sold in Europe as mentioned in the Week 49 2018 newsletter. The order book for the SAIC MG eZS SAIC will open on March 30, 2019 with three trims available priced from ¥119,800 after subsidy. The MG eZS is equipped with an electric motor producing a  maximum power of 110 kW and its liquid-cooled 44.5 kWh battery pack provides a range of 335 km as measured on the NEDC cycle.

The 2019 eMG 6 TROPHY plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is equipped with SAIC’s “Blue Core” 1.5T engine, matching the new SAIC’s second-generation 10-speed EDU intelligent electric drive gearbox, with a maximum power of 224kW (304Ps) and a maximum torque of 480Nm, delivering a 0 to 100km/h acceleration time of 5.9 seconds.

MG-EV-models-top-5-ev-news-week-12-2019

Neighbourhood electric vehicle manufacturer Tianjin Qingyuan Automobile this week teased two images of an A00 class EV and a larger Estate EV. The lesser-known Tianjin Qingyuan Automobile joins other NEV manufacturers crossing over to the highway capable segment as stricter regulations in the NEV market starts to bite. There was no more information available at the time of the two models teased.

Tianjin-Qingyuan-two-EV-models-Top-5-EV-news-week-12-2019

Electric vehicle legend, Henry Fisker, announced the planned release of a sub $40,000 electric SUV. The Fisker SUV will be revealed at the end of 2019 and available in the second half of 2021.

Top-5-ev-news-week-12-2019-fisker

Last week mentioned that Hozon is to unveil its second production vehicle, following on the NETA 01 A00 class car. This week Hozon revealed the HOZON “U” with a 500km (313miles) range. The Hozon U will be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show in April at which time its pricing will be announced. The official launch of the Hozon U is set for the Guangzhou Auto Show later this year. The Hozon U is available in two power specs, a 2WD with an acceleration to 100km/h in 6.6 seconds and a more powerful 4WD with a maximum power of 270kW and a maximum torque of 615N·m delivering a 0-100km/h acceleration of 4.9s. The U is equipped with level 2.5 Advanced Driving Assistance aided bu 20 sensors including a mobileye Q4 chip.

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EV startup CHJ Auto announced that its first EV, the order book for IDEAL ONE would open on the 10th of April 2019 with a reservation deposit of ¥5,000 for Q4 2019 delivery. The Ideal ONE is positioned as a range-extended large 4WD SUV with a total operating range of up to 700km (438 miles). The Ideal One is available as a 6 or 7 seater and Advanced Driving Assistance labeled as Level 2.5. In 2018 it was speculated that the Ideal One would be priced at around ¥400,000 after subsidy.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – XPENG OPENS FAST CHARGING STATIONS

EV start-up Xiaopeng unveiled its first fast-charging station capable of 180kW double DC fast charging delivering a maximum of 120kW to a single car, allowing for 30min fast charging. The Xpeng fast chargers have a maximum output current of 200A, with 500A planned for the future. Xpeng will construct 30 supercharging stations in five cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. The Xpeng stations will provide up to 2 hours of free parking and super fast WiFi service. Xiaopeng Automobile has completed the signing of 100 supercharging stations in more than ten first- and second-tier cities and will operate nearly 200 supercharging stations in nearly 30 cities by the end of 2019.

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Also this week Xiaopeng Automobile Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng confirmed that Xiaopeng Automobile’s new intelligent electric coupe internal code E28 is under development and testing. The E28 is positioned in the mid-size smart electric coupe and will be powered by the NVIDIA DRIVE Xavier chip, which will be unveiled at the Shanghai International Auto Show in mid-April and will release more product information. This means that the E28 will have an advanced autonomous computing platform with a hardware base to support L3 autopilot.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – BMW STRATEGY UPDATE

Earlier the week it emerged that BMW is said to put production of EVs on ice in China until there is certainty surrounding the trade war and tariffs. Today the BMW board provided further insight into the German automaker’s NUMBER ONE > NEXT strategy which is now in its third year at the group’s Annual Accounts Press Conference and the BMW Group Analyst- and Investor Conference 2019 held in Munich.

Like most auto manufacturers BMW’s bottom line is under pressure due to the disruption in the industry due to mobility trends changing since with the advent of ride-hailing apps such as Uber, electrification and self-driving technologies which demand used investment in R&D and assembly lines. To a larger extent than in other regions, European automakers also have to deal with the significantly higher cost of complying with stricter CO2 legislation.

The impact of the disruption clearly shows on BMW’s finances, with it’s capital expenditure in 2018 increasing to € 5,029 million, 7.3% higher than the 2017 high of € 4,688 million, resulting in a Capex ratio of 5.2% (2017: 4.8%). R&D expenses in 2018 were significantly higher (12,8%) at € 6,890 million from € 6,108 million in 2017or equivalent to 7.1% of Group revenues (2017: 6.2%).

Our industry is witnessing rapid transformation. In this environment, a sustained high level of profitability is crucial if we are to continue driving change,” said Nicolas Peter, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance. “In view of the numerous additional factors negatively impacting earnings, we began to introduce countermeasures at an early stage and have taken a number of far-reaching decisions. Discipline and a clear focus on rigorous implementation are essential as we aim to emerge from these challenging times stronger than ever.”

BMW announced strategic steps to enhance its operating performance on a sustainable basis. As well as systematically implementing its strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, the company is also focusing on faster processes, leaner structures, and therefore greater efficiency. Some of these steps which relates to the electric vehicle sector include:

  • Shortening of development times up to a third through the implementation of digital simulations and virtual validation which will cut the need for around 2,500 expensive prototype vehicles by the year 2024
  • Through consolidation of technology, BMW will from 2021 onwards eliminate 50% of its current drivetrain variants as the company transition to more sophisticated and flexible vehicle architectures.
  • From April 1, 2019, the BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce brands will be combined into a single sales division gaining cost savings through leaner processes and more efficient structures.
  • Going forward, the BMW Group will be capable of manufacturing models with all-electric (BEV), hybrid-electric (PHEV) and conventional (ICE) drivetrains on one production line.

BMW’s product line-up is seeing more electrification with the new plug-in hybrid versions (PHEV) of the BMW 3 and 7 Series, and BMW X5 and BMW X3. By the end of 2020, the BMW Group will have more than ten new or revised models equipped with fourth-generation electric drivetrain technology (“Gen 4”). Starting with the all-electric MINI Electric manufactured at the Oxford plant from 2019 and, from 2020, the BMW iX3, which will be produced for the world market in Shenyang, China. Together with the pioneering BMW i3, the BMW i4, and the BMW iNEXT, the Group will have five all-electric models on the market by 2021, and the number is scheduled to rise to at least twelve models by 2025. Including the rapidly growing range of plug-in hybrids, the BMW Group’s product portfolio will then comprise at least 25 electrified models.

BMW will equip Level 3 automation in its cars from 2021, starting with BMW iNEXT which will also be Level 4-enabled for pilot projects.

BMW and Daimler are creating a new global player that provides sustainable urban mobility. The two companies are investing more than one billion euros to develop and more closely intermesh their offerings for car-sharing, ride-hailing, parking, charging and multimodal transport. The cooperation comprises five joint ventures: REACH NOW (multimodal), CHARGE NOW (charging), FREE NOW (ride-hailing), PARK NOW (parking) and SHARE NOW (car-sharing).

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – GEELY GEOMETRY A LAUNCH A SUCCESS

In the Top 5 EV News Week 11 edition I introduced the Geely Geometry A which went on sale the past week. Within the first 6 hours of Geely received orders for 3,786 units, including 395 orders from overseas. The Geely Geometry Ais designed according to European standards and aims to compete with the Tesla Model 3. The order book for the Geometry A included orders from Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. Local sales for the Geometry A consisted of 1816 units from Beijing and 1575 from the rest of China. The Geely Geometry A is available in two battery/range options priced from ¥150,000 to ¥170,000 after subsidies, or $22,000 but foreign buyers won’t qualify for the subsidy pushing the price up by over $10,000.

The Geometry A includes Advanced Driving Assistance (ADAS) of level 2 as measured by the SAE nut the company labels it 2.5. The Geometry A also includes advanced technologies such as heads-up-display (HUD).

The Geely Geometry A is developed on the company’s PMA platform from which ten new models will be launched by 2021.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 11 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 11 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – MODEL Y LAUNCH

Tesla launched the Model Y crossover SUV on Thursday the 14th of March 2019 but the rockstar launch failed to impress commentators who were disappointed with the late entry of the car. The Model Y will enter the market at the same time when a flood of new EVs from all major brands are launched.The Tesla Model Y will be available in 2020 in three specs, a long range rear wheel drive priced at $47,000, a long-range all-wheel drive priced at $51,000 and a performance model priced at $60,000. For detailed specs and pricing see our easy to use infographic below. The standard range version with a range of 250 miles (400km) will only come to market in 2021.

The Model Y will be produced in Nevada and Shanghai and a possible third location, maybe Freemont. Tesla has already opened the order book for the Model Y CUV which can be ordered for a refundable deposit of $2,500 on the Tesla website. Based on the rollercoaster pricing habits of Tesla over the last couple of months expect the pricing to change closer to the launch. The Tesla Model Y is available as a five-seater in 2020 and a seven-seater option form 2021.

I don’t fully share the comments that the market will be crowded when the Model Y finally comes to market, it is a pity though that Tesla did nor bring a product for the most popular car segment to market earlier. Sure the Model Y will enter at a time when all the big automakers finally join the party but at that time I expect the market to be big enough to still see long waiting lists for cars. The consumer has woken up and now demand electric vehicles are continuously surprising on the top side. Consumers are putting off the buying decision for a new car until an electric option becomes available for fear of seeing resale values of combustion vehicles crash. Tesla’s share price nonetheless took a dive and is currently trading close to a big support level of $250. I will definitely be an interested buyer should the stock reach the $220 to $200 range, which could be a healthy correction, but by no means a new bear trend.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED MODELS

VW ID NEO

Volkswagen announced that it will open the order book for the I.D. NEO on May the 8th 2019. The VW I.D. Neo is expected to be available in three battery packs delivering commute ranges between 205 miles / 330km and 600km priced from €25,000 euros (about 30,000 US dollars). Volkswagen will produce 100,000 electric vehicles per year at the Zwickau plant, which is Volkswagen’s first new electric vehicle factory to assemble cars on its MEB platform.

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VW ID Neo Gordons Bay Cape Town (Images by Theo Calitz)

NEW BYD MODELS

BYD released teaser images of its new luxury SUV which will be released this year. The SUV which is based on the Tang Dynasty series is known currently as the SA2 (Dragon Face 2.0) will be available as a combustion, dual motor plug-in electric and pure electric vehicle. 

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BYD announced the launch of the BYD e1 F0 class EV and BYD S2 compact SUV, based on Yuan platform. The BYD e1 and BYD S2 will enter the market on April 1, 2019. The BYD S2 has a range of 305km (191 miles) and the BYD e1 a range of 300km (188 miles) both on the NEDC test cycle.

BYD opened its order book for the BYD Song MAX DM MPV and set the price range for the three trims from ¥160,000 to ¥200,000 after subsidies. The combustion version is priced between ¥80,000 and ¥130,000. The 1.5L BYD SONG MAX DM has a combined fuel consumption of 1.2l/100km and can accelerate to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds. The SONG MAX competes with the Geely Jia-Ji and can be upgraded via OTA technology. The BYS SONG MAX is equipped with SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance. The SONG MAX DM MPV is available in two battery configurations providing a 51km (32miles) and 81km 51miles) NEDC electric range.

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BYD e1 | BYD S2 | BYD SONG MAX DM

AUDI E-TRON SPORTBACK

AUDI announced that the e-tron Sportback, first introduced as a crossover coupe concept of the recently released AUDI e-Tron Quattro, will enter production at the end of 2019 as its second EV. AUDI plans to introduce 30 electrified models by 2025. The slip-back styled production version is said to include a rear-view camera instead of a mirror. The AUDI e-tron Sportback drive train consists of two electric motors delivering max power of 300kW (407Ps) and a maximum integrated torque of 664N·m. A performance version named “60 Quattro” might also see the light of day with a max power exceeding 370kW, The e-tron Sportback will share the same 95kWh battery as the e-tron Quattro.

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NEW GEELY EV MODELS

Geely launched the Geely Jia-JI PHEV, known pre-production as the VP11 and introduced as a concept vehicle during the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. The 1.5TD Geely Jia-Ji PHEV’s drive-train produces a combined max power of 190kW and peak torque of 385N.m and delivers combined fuel consumption of 1.6L per 100km. The Geely JIA-JI PHEV is available in three trims priced between ¥159,800 and ¥182,800.

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The Geely FY11 PHEV Coupe, the Chinese automaker’s first high-end sports SUV based on the CMA architecture will be unveiled on March 25, 2019, The Geely FY11 is powered by a Volvo Drive-E series VEP4 T5 engine an available with combustion, mild hybrid and plug-in electric hybrid drive train.

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KARMA EV MODELS

Karma Automotive announced that itis to present three models during the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show in April. The models are the Karma Revero, Karma Vision pure electric concept car and the collaboration with Pininfarina below on the left.

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Pininfarina Karma | Karma Vision EV

CHANGHAN MPV EV

Changan launched the Changan Honor A600 EV, its six-seat electric MPV this week. The Changan A600 EV is priced at ¥149,800 before subsidy and has a range of 405 km / 253 miles NEDC. The 4.5 meters long A600 EV is equipped with a 90kW electric motor and luxuries such as a right-side rearview mirror with a camera, front/rear reversing radar, trip video recorder and electric sunroof.

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HOZON N03

Hozon announced that it will reveal its second production EV on March the 21st 2019 and unveil it at the Shanghai Auto Show in April. The new EV is based on the N03 concept which followed on the Eureka 01 concept EV. The new EV has a range of 500km (313 miles) and equipped with Level 2+ advanced driving assistance and a large digital display.

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NEVS 9-3

NEVS and its white knight shareholder, Evergrande Health, announced that it will finally bring the NEVS 9-3 to market and that it will be sold globally from June 2019. After its failed entry into Faraday Future Evergrande is making a huge play in the EV space with recent investments in its own Charging infrastructure company, an investment in Koenigsegg, the Dutch e-Traction drive technology company, and Carnegie New Energy, a clean energy company.

BORDRIN MOTORS

Chinese EV startup Bordrin Motors released a set of teaser images of its upcoming mid-sized electric SUV to be revealed at a company event on 11 April 2019. Bordrin is expected to launch the EV SUV which will be assembled by FAW Jilin at the end of the year. The mid-sized fice seat electric SUV has a wheelbase of 2900mm and is available in two power options with a 0-62mph acceleration of around 6 and 8 seconds for the two options. The Bordrin EV SUV has an NEDC range of 550km (344 miles) and will be equipped with SAE Level 2 autonomous capabilities.Bordrin-EV-top-5-ev-news-week-11-2019

TOP EV NEWS #3 – DEMAND FOR EVs COULD BE TROJAN HORSE FOR CHINA’s AUTO BRANDS

Earlier I mentioned that NEVS announced the international release of the NEVS 9-3 V in June 2019 now Geely takes aim at Tesla with the launch of its latest electric car. Geely named the Geely GE11 as the Geometry A and target it to compete head-on with the Tesla Model 3, not just in China but regions such as Europe. The Geely Geometry A will be launched on the 11th of April 2019 and is already available for pre-order. The price of the entry-level Geometry A is expected to be in the region of ¥200,000 after subsidies. The Geometry A is available in two battery choices, a 61.9kWh 500km (313miles NEDC) and 51.9kWh pack delivering an NEDC range of 410km(256mile). The Geometry A battery charges in 33 minutes between 30% and 80% for the larger pack and 30 minutes for the smaller pack. The Geely Geometry A is also equipped with what it calls Level 2+ self-driving capabilities.

The Geometry A advanced driving assistance includes camera and radar to enable AEB (automatic emergency braking system), ACC (Adaptive cruise control) and S&G (Stop/Go). The AI system is active from 0 to 150km/h and also include RCW (rear collision warning system), DOW (door opening warning system), LKA (lane keep assist system), BSD (blind spot detection system) and LCA (lane change assist system).

Various Chinese other automakers such as GAC, SAIC, Kandi, and Qiantu have already started selling models in limited numbers in either the USA or Europe or have announced plans to open sales operations there. The Western consumer has always been skeptical of the quality of Chinese cars, but so have they in the 1950s of Japanese vehicles and later Korean vehicles. The current “crisis” in the auto sector where there is a huge demand for electric vehicles might be the opportunity for Chinese auto brands to change perceptions and use the demand to introduce their cars to a starving consumer market for electric vehicles.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – GM AND SAIC SETS FIVE YEAR STRATEGY

GM and its Chinese partner SAIC this week announced its 5-year plan which will see the introduction of nine electrified vehicles by 2023. In total the company plans to bring 60 new models to market, making the EV component seem insignificant. Some of the new electric vehicles from the GM brand to be sold in China include the new Chevrolet EV and Buick Velite 6 plug-in hybrid and pure electric models.

With new stringent electric vehicle production requirements, GM is forced to be more aggressive in its EV strategy in China than it is in its home market the USA. Currently, GM which is selling around two million units annually in China has an “energy credit gap” of 200,000 points, requiring them to produce 100,000 pure electric vehicles.

SAIC-GM entered into a strategic partnership with CATL in September 2018 which will see them cooperating in the field of automotive battery technology and research and development of SAIC GM’s next-generation new energy battery.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – VOLKSWAGEN SET SECOND WAVE IN EV STRATEGY

Volkswagen is introducing a second wave to it’s EV strategy, increasing the number of EV models it will introduce throughout the Group from 50 by 2025 to 70 by 2030 which will be equal to 22 million cars over the next decade. To achieve the production of huge amounts of electric vehicles, VW has entered into battery purchase agreements with LG Chem, SKI, CATL and Samsung and is also considering the construction of battery factories in Europe. VW and Stanford founded battery research company QuantumScape is also forging ahead with a joint venture to achieve the mass production of solid-state batteries by 2025

The company is also aiming to become completely carbon neutral in its fleet and operations by 2050. The company has set its first target to reduce its emissions by 30% from 2015 levels by 2025 and 40% by 2030. The Volkswagen Group has also established a company Elli Group GmbH (Elli Group GmbH) to develop power and charging solutions. The Berlin-based Elli will develop energy and charging-related products and services for Volkswagen’s brands and strengthen Volkswagen’s capabilities in electric mobility services.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 9 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 9 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – POLESTAR VS TESLA

Volvo’s performance brand Polestar digitally revealed the Polestar 2 which will be unveiled at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show next week. Similar to its competition, the Tesla Model 3 the Polestar 2 is a 5-door fastback pure electric car.

The Polestar 2 Drivetrain

The Polestar 2 is equipped with a 27 module 78 kWh battery situated under the floor of the car, delivering a targeted range of 500 km (WLTP) or 275 miles (EPA). The Chinese version of the Polestar 2 only gets a 72kWh battery pack. The drivetrain of the Polestar 2 consists of an EFAD and ERAD electric motors front and rear each offering 150 kW, 330 Nm of torque.

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Charging the Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 is equipped with an 11kW onboard charger for AC charging at home or work, and a DC fast charging system enabled for public charging up to 150kW. Drivers can regulate the charge current, the duration, the maximum charge level, and much more in the car or via the Polestar Connect app. The Polestar comes standard with a 7-meter AC charging cord (for normal outlets) while the 4.5-meter AC cord for wallboxes and public locations is an optional extra. Naturally, the Polestar 2 is also equipped with a regenerative braking system, charging itself when applying the brakes by easing up on the accelerator and saving deterioration of the brakes in the process meaning less maintenance cost.

Driver interaction and Safety of the Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 user experience has the driver in mind, starting with the phone-as-key, taking away the need to carry a key freeing up your hands and time when looking for the pesky object when you are in a hurry. Polestar-2-roof-top-5-ev-news-week-9-2019Not only does the Polestar 2 wish you welcome and bid you farewell through eliminating patterns which the front and rear lights display when one approaches or walks away the Polestar 2 also prepares itself even when you approach. As you walk up to the car, the Polestar 2 displays pertinent information such as battery status, range, and the time remaining to a full charge once it detects the digital key. Intelligent seat sensors power up the Polestar 2 as soon as you are seated. Because the phone has become such an integral part of our daily lives and integrated into the operation of the Polestar 2 as it offers wireless inductive phone charging in the forward part of the tunnel console.

The Polestar is identifiable from its fastback shaped rear which consists of a 288 LED rear lamp which shines more intensely with stronger braking and the Polestar logo which is projected onto the panoramic glass roof on the inside from the overhead panel. Polestar has partnered with audio experts Harman Kardon to fit the Polestar 2 with a fully integrated sound system to create an immersive, detailed audio environment.

Advanced Driving Assistance and safety is provided by Volvo’s IntelliSafe™ system aided by a front radar, a windshield-mounted camera, and two rear-facing radar units.

Pricing for the Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 takes from the cell-phone industry by providing the car on a subscription basis where ownership more closely resembles phone ownership which consists of an all-inclusive monthly fee from a menu of services, with the option to return or upgrade at the end of your term.

You can now secure your Polestar 2 through a reservation deposit and take delivery of your car in Europe from May 2020 and in Canada and the USA from July 2020. The reservation deposit for the Polestar 2 is €1,000 or £1,000 in Europe and the UK and $1,500 in Canada and $1,000 in the USA. The reservation deposit in Scandinavia is kr 10 000.

Pricing for the Polestar 2 stats at €59,900 in the Netherlands,  France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the UK. You will pay from $63,000 for the Polestar 2 in the USA before subsidies or $69,900 in Canada. The reservation deposit of ¥ 8,000 can be paid via WeChat in China.

In my opinion, the Polestar 2 is not a bad car in its own right, but it symbolizes the challenge automakers now have as they try an play catch up with Tesla. The Californian based company with a track record of sales and models now profitably produces superior technology EVs in volume at prices far below the main auto companies.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

SEAT EL-BORN

Named after an iconic neighborhood in Barcelona, SEAT unveiled the SEAT El-Born, the second VW Group EV to be developed on the MEB platform. The El-Born is developed at SEAT Barcelona and will be assembled at the Zwickau plant in Germany. The SEAT El-Born will be showcased as a concept vehicle at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show the coming week and is expected to reach the market in 2020. The El-born with its 100kW charging system and 64kWh battery can be recharged to 80% in 47 minutes. The 150kW (204hp) electric motor helps to propel the vehicle to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds. The SEAT El-born has an electric range of 420km (263miles) on the WLTP test cycle and is equipped with an advanced thermal management system to maximize range in extreme weather conditions. The heat pump reduces the energy demand of the heating system potentially providing an additional 60km (38miles) in cold weather. The SEAT El-born has a 10inch digital infotainment system and oversized 20inch wheels.

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PEUGEOT e-208

Peugeot unveiled the pure electric version of the Peugeot 208 B segment hatch for immediate release with the diesel and petrol versions of the 2019 model series. The Peugeot e-208 targets the youth market and is equipped with a 3D heads-up display which forms part of Peugeot’s new i-Cockpit system. The electric 208 is developed on PSA Groups’ CMP (Common Modular Platform) dedicated to segments B and C accommodating all power trains.

The Peugeot e-208 drivetrain consists of a 50kWh battery pack and 100kW (136 bhp) electric motor delivering 340km range on the WLTP test cycle or 450km on the old NEDC cycle. The e-208 can be charged in 16 hours from a wall plug or within 8 hours if you install a single phase 7.4kW Wall Box. Faster charging is also available through an 11kW three phase Wall Box or 100kW public fast charger allowing for charging within 5 hours and 15 minutes or up to 80% in 30 minutes respectively.

The Peugeot e-208 is specked with the GT trim, which is the top trim in the new series and includes 10-inch touch screen and EAT8 advanced driving assistance system which allows for adaptive cruise control up to 30km/h, lane positioning assist, full park assist, emergency brake assist, active lane keeping assist and driver attention monitoring from 65km/h. The EAT system can also recognize traffic signs such as “STOP” and “No-Entry” and Active Blind Spot Monitoring from 12km/h.

Pricing for the Peugeot e-208 EV has not yet been released.

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ARCFOX AT GIMS 2019

BAIC BJEV teased images of the two new EVs it will unveil at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show this coming week. The Arcfox 7 electric sportscar first unveiled in 2016 is expected to get an upgrade with the new Arcfox 7 sporting six electric motors helping it to accelerate to 100kh/h in 2.59 seconds. BAIC BJEV will also unveil the production version of its upcoming electric SUV.

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PORSCHE MACAN

Porsche announced that the Porsche Macan would be its third pure electric EV, after introducing the Taycan later this year followed by a Cross Turismo version of the new EV. Porsche aims to change its product mix to 50% EV by 2025, investing six billion Euros towards that end. The Macan will be assembled at the company’s Leipzig plant and share the Taycan’s 800-volt system and be available early 2020 alongside combustion versions of the model.

 

TOP EV NEWS #3 – WILL $35k TESLA MODEL 3 MAKE SOME EV MODELS OBSOLETE ?

Tesla announced the release of the cheap Model 3 starting at $35,000 for a lower specced version of the popular EV. The affordable Tesla Model 3 has a range of 220 miles (352km) measured on the EPA test cycle and can accelerate to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds reaching a top speed of 130 mph (208km/h). According to Tesla estimated delivery is between two and four weeks.

Elon Musk earlier in a late-night e-mail informed employees that the company had to tighten its belt to profitably produce the cheap version of the Tesla Model 3 and that it will have to lay off staff in the process. It now transpires that many of the cuts will come from its sales teams as the company now moves to online orders only for its models.

Although many industry commentators feel that the release of the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 might be late the impact of the car will be felt far and wide in the US auto marked where the car is a top seller. The introduction of the $35,000 will challenge the Nissan Leaf e+, which with its 226-mile range which was priced this week at $36,650, despite the Leaf still qualifying for the $7,500 Federal grant. Looking at the wattEV2buy price/range page sales for compliance EVs such as the Honda Clarity, on the other hand, will be obliterated. Even buying the BMW i3 priced from $45,000 with its paltry 114-mile range makes no sense.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – FLOOD OF NEW PLUG-IN HYBRID EVs

A flood of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is to hit the market over the next year as automakers try and fill the void between consumer demand for electrified cars and their current product range. AUDI announced that it would unveil plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of the across most of its market segments at the Geneva International Motor Show. Adding to the upgraded versions of the A3 and Q7
consumers can also look forward to PHEV versions of the Audi A6, A7, A8 and Q5.

VOLVO also recently announced that it is taking a significant step towards electrifying its car’s, making upgraded and newly-developed electrified powertrain available across its entire model range. The company has upgraded its existing T8 and T6 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrains, while at the same time confirming that plug-in options will now be available on every model it produces. Volvo has also increased the production capacity of plug-in hybrid cars to 25% of the total production of Twin Engine PHEVs.

In the press release Volvo stated:

The upgraded T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid with up to 420 horsepower features a new battery and brake-by-wire advanced battery charging. The range of the T8 powertrain has increased by around 15 per cent and this powertrain is available on all 90 and 60 Series cars.

An upgraded version of the smaller capacity T6 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid is also combined with the new battery and brake-by wire-technology. This powertrain also offers an approximate 15 per cent range increase and is available on the V60 estate and S60 sedan.

Jaguar Land Rover also announced that it would introduce its third plug-in hybrid car this year, the Range Rover Evoque PHEV.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – HYUNDAI FEELING PINCH OF ELECTRIFICATION

Hyundai Motors unveiled its long term plan to secure sustainable growth earmarking the bulk of the plan to refurbish plants and securing the competitiveness of its products as the automotive industry experiences disruption due to electrification and mobility trends of its consumers.

According to the plan, Hyundai will invest KRW 30.6 trillion towards refurbishment and refreshing its products, while it will invest KRW 6.4 trillion in smart mobility, KRW 3.3 trillion for electrification, KRW 2.5 trillion in autonomous driving and connectivity technologies and KRW 2.5 trillion for the development of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. As part of the plan, Hyundai announced that it would launch its first pure electric vehicle on a new dedicated EV platform in 2020.

Hyundai Motor Group announced earlier that it would have 44 electrified models by 2025 with projected annual sales of 1.67 million units as it aims to be one of the top 3 EV manufacturers. On the other hand, Hyundai is sticking to its guns to have a “first mover advantage” in FCEVs by 2030, investing KRW 8 trillion towards producing 500,000 fuel cell cars per annum by 2030.

The cost of adapting to a new future requires Hyundai to increase annual investments by 58% over the next five years and raising liquidity requirements to between KRW 14 and 15 trillion.

 

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 8 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 8 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – FLOW BATTERIES TO REDUCE CHARGING TIMES

The term “range anxiety” is one most EV drivers are familiar with and fear! Although progress has been made by many manufacturers to overcome this, there is still the belief that EV’s cannot match the range of combustion-engined cars.

A new style of electric car battery could remove range anxiety and even surpasses the capabilities of petrol and diesel engines. A newly developed refillable technology is responsible for advancement in the battery “flow” concept and testing showed that the battery could provide enough power to allow cars to travel as much as 3 000 miles. According to John Cushman, Professor at Purdue University this is a game changer for the next generation of electric cars due to its potential cost savings. It is also much easier and safer to use. According to Cushman, one could convert gas stations to pump fresh electrolytes and discards depleted electrolyte and convert oil-changing facilities to anode replacing stations. This new technology would allow you to replace the fluid in batteries about every 300 miles which will be similar to how you would refill your combustion car.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – THE USED EV MARKET IS COMING OF AGE

According to Shoreham Vehicle Auctions (SVA) there has been a significant rise in the demand for used electric cars. EV numbers are increasing to the point where higher numbers are available to the secondhand market. According to the managing director of SVA the Nissan e-NV200 van has appreciated in value year-on-year by around ₤1000.

The SVA team has collaborated with the Energy Saving Trust to launch an electric vehicle training course for car and van dealer sales staff to help educate dealers on which customers will benefit most from buying and running an electric car. As trust in the electric vehicle increases, the remarketing industry needs to keep pace to provide a market and service at the same level for EV customers as customers have been expected from petrol and diesel used cars.

We are launching our EV-genius tool shortly! Watch this space for all your second-hand EV needs.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – THE END OF THE CHEVROLET VOLT

Associated Press reported that GM has pulled the plug on their Chevy Volt. Their once “star”, an electric car with a gasoline engine as backup could do 38 miles on electricity after which the small gasoline engine would kick in as a generator. Sadly sales were below expectations despite solid reviews and a loyal following. Increasing gas prices was blamed as one of the reasons for the Volt’s demise as well as the assumption that trucks and SUV’s would be unaffordable for the majority of buyers.

GM is re-inventing themselves and 2021 could expect a launch of the first dozen of all-electric cars, which will include EV’s and trucks. According to GM the Volt has served a valuable purpose and many lessons have been learned such as advances in lithium-ion batteries.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-8-2019-Chevrolet-Volt

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

Peugeot’s performance line, Peugeot Sport, announced that it would unveil a derivative of the Peugeot 508 at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. The Concept 508 PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED is a prelude to the French automaker’s top-performance range of electric production vehicles announced on the 18th of October 2018.

The Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered is equipped with an 11.8kWh battery delivering a WLTP cycle range of 50km (31 miles). The 4WD powertrain consists of three engines, an 82kW, and 150kW electric motor front and rear paired with a PureTech 200 engine. The Peugeot 508 SPORT PHEV can accelerate to 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of 190km/h (118mph) in electric mode and 250km/h  (156mph)with dirty fuel through its veins.

The design of the Peugeot 508 Sport Concept is enhanced by the special “Selenium Grey” body color, which changes according to the light, thanks to the fine opalescent particles contained in the paint and “Kryptonite” inserts providing a captivating, lively note, to deliver a sporty character.

peugeot-508-sport-pictures

 

Kia Motors Europe will unveil its bold new all-electric concept EV designed at ia’s European design center in Frankfurt at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show om March the 5th.

 

KIA-Concept-EV-Geneva-Auto-Show-Top-5-ev-nws-week-8-2019

TOP EV NEWS #5 – TRUE TESLA AUTOPILOT IS HERE, BUT NOT YET

During an appearance on an ARK Invest podcast, Elon Musk predicted that the company will be able to achieve full self-driving by the end of the year but that the implementation thereof be delayed by regulatory hurdles.

“The car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up and take you all the way to your destination without an intervention, this year,” Musk said. “I would say I am of certain of that. That is not a question mark.”

The entrepreneur went further saying:

“My guess as to when we would think it is safe for somebody to essentially fall asleep and wake up at their destination? Probably towards the end of next year. That is when I think it would be safe enough for that.”

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 7 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 7 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – RIVIAN GETS BIG BACKERS

Speculation was rife last week that GM could acquire the electric car start-up Rivian. While those rumors are still swirling around Rivian announced this week that Amazon took part in a $700 million funding round. The investment by Amazon makes it the tech company’s second mobility associated investment the week, following a $530 million investment in autonomous drive start-up Aurora.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas put out a note on Thursday Tesla or Rivian “could be a serious problem for the Detroit-based traditional automakers.” Jonas warned that traditional players such as Ford could lose its first mover advantage with the arrival of compelling vehicles such as a Tesla pick-up or Rivians RiT pickup and R1S SUV.

The latest funding round into Rivian increase at shareholder base which currently consists of Japanese company Sumitomo Corp the Saudi auto distributor Abdul Latif Jameel Ltd.

Top-5-ev-news-week-7-2019-rivian

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

Renault is to launch a pure electric version of the KWID in China later this year. The Renault KWID EV is expected to have a range exceeding 250km (156 miles).

Renault-KWID-EV-China-top5-ev-news-week-7-2019

Mitsubishi UK launched a commercial version of the Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Named the Outlander PHEV Juro Commercial the vehicle is classed as an Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle making it eligible for the UK government’s Plug-In Van Grant resulting in a saving of £7,900 resulting in an on-the-road price of just £25,113 (excluding VAT including the PiVG, VED, and First Registration Fee).

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has a WLTP fuel economy combined cycle figure of 139mpg (159 NEDC), a WLTP EV range of 28 miles (33 NEDC) and CO2 emissions of just 46g/km (40g/km NEDC).

Mitsubishi-Juno-top-5-ev-news-week-7-2019

The 2020 KIA Soul received its official EPA rating, coming in at 243 miles (389 km). The 2020 KIA Soul, therefore, will more than double the range of the current 30kWh model which has an EPA rating of 111 miles (178km).

Top 5 EV news week 48 2018 Next gen kia e-soul unveiled

Changan launched its A00 class EV, the Changan NIOU II. The NIOU II has a range of 205km (128 miles) and is priced between ¥44,800 and ¥56,800 for the three trims after subsidy.

Changan-Niou-ii-ev-pictures

 

TOP EV NEWS #3 – CRAZY DEMAND FOR NEW EVs

Automakers globally are experiencing a broadly declining market fueled in part by the persistent weakness in key markets such as China and America. VW Group recorded a sales decrease of 2.9% in China and -5.2% in North America for January. The trend, however, is not playing through to the electric vehicle segment which saw 2.1 million sales in 2018, nearly double that of 2017. The market is hungry for new models with Audi reporting that it has already pre-sold 20,000 units of the Audi Quattro e-tron which is available from March 2019. Another VW Group company Porsche is also seeing substantial interest in its upcoming Taycan EV.

According to Bloomberg VW, this week adjusted its EV sales forecast up by 50% to 15 million by 2025 by which time it would have released 20 EV models.

Mercedes (down 6.7% in January 2019) also announced recently that it already had sold its first year of production for the EQC SUV. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said “We are sure that we will not be able to meet the demand in 2019 and probably not by 2020. But we do everything we can to achieve the maximum capacity.”

 

TOP EV NEWS #4 – BYD LAUNCH EV ASSAULT IN 2019

Fresh from its success in 2018, selling nearly a quarter of a million electric vehicles BYD is to launch ten electric vehicles in 2019. Three of the new models are brand new cars, being the e1 small EV, e2 compact SUV, and e3 compact sedan while the rest improved or electrified models of current combustion series.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – WHAT EVs TO EXPECT AT GENEVA AUTO SHOW – PART 3

Polestar teased the second picture (right below) of its upcoming pure electric vehicle, the Polestar 2 and announced the digital reveal of the vehicle on the 27th of February, a week before the Geneva International Auto Show. Previously the company announced that the production capacity for the Polestar 2 would be around 50,000 units. The Polestar 2 is available in early 2020 and priced around the €40,000 / $46,000 mark.

Polestar-2-pictures-top-5-ev-news-week-7-2019

Audi unveiled sketches of the upcoming Q4 compact electric SUV concept which it will unveil at the Geneva International Auto Show early March. The Q4 EV is expected to be launched as a 2022 Model following the launch of the combustion model this year in Europe and as a 2021 model in the USA.

Audi-q4-ev-sketches-top-5-ev-news-week-7-2019

Over the next four years, ŠKODA is investing around two billion euros in alternative drive systems and new mobility services and will have introduced more than ten electrified models by the end of 2022. To that end, the Czech based auto company developed the VISION iV concept as the design study for its future electric vehicles. The ŠKODA VISION iV is a four-door crossover Coupé based on the VW Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB)

Top-5-ev-news-week-7-2019-skoda-ev

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 6 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 6 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – DAIMLER AND TESLA COURTING EACH OTHER AGAIN

Within weeks of Ford and VW announcing their collaboration on commercial vehicles, Automotive News Europe reported that Tesla and Mercedes are in similar discussions. It is not the first time that Tesla and Mercedes collaborates, the companies have a long history together spanning from Mercedes white knight shareholding in Tesla and the EV producer assisting with the powertrains of the first Mercedes EV. The latest interaction was flamed by a tweet from Elon Musk in November 2018 praising the Mercedes Sprinter van. Mercedes is releasing an electric version of the Sprinter, the eSprinter later in 2019. The eSprinter will benefit from a successful conclusion of talks as it currently only has a range of around 150km (93 miles).

TOP EV NEWS #2 – WHAT ELECTRIC CARS TO EXPECT AT GENEVA AUTO SHOW

Over the past couple of weeks, we saw many automakers announcing their electric car line-ups for the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) such as the Honda Urban prototype and VW ID Dune Buggy. This week we saw more glimpses of electric cars to expect at the Geneva auto show, including some Chinese EVs.

One year after announcing the creation of it’s EV specific luxury brand called Lagonda Aston Martin announced that it will debut its All-Terrain EV Concept due in 2021 at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show. The Lagonda All-terrain EV is based on the Vision Concept (right in the image below) introduced at last year’s GIMS.

Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO, said: “The ways in which automotive brands reveal new product has changed beyond recognition in recent years, but there’s still something compelling about the unique atmosphere of a great motor show. Historically Geneva has always been good for us – the buzz surrounding the stand last year when we revealed the Lagonda Vision Concept was truly remarkable – so it’s fantastic to return to the scene of such great success with another world debut. The Lagonda All-Terrain Concept offers explicit clues regarding what will be the first Lagonda model to enter production, and further demonstrates how Lagonda’s zero emission powertrain enables us to create spectacular cars that will radically redefine their sectors of the market. I’m expecting the Aston Martin Lagonda stand to be busier than ever, and very much look forward to seeing the crowd’s reaction first-hand”

Lagonda-all-terrain-crossover-top-5-ev-news-week-6-2019

The Chinese automaker BAIC BJEV in which Daimler owns a 4% stake will unveil a crossover concept EV and the second generation of the Arcfox 7, its electric supercar first unveiled in 2016. To date, the Arxfox brand has only one production model and that is the Arcfox Lite or Arcfox 1 as it was first known. Sales for the premium high tech Arcfox Lite is surprisingly week in the popular small car segment in China, to date only 588 units of the Arcfox Lite were sold. The second generation Arcfox 7 was first unveiled on the 3rd of September 2018 in Barcelona Spain. It is not clear if BJEV’s appearance at the Geneva International Auto Show heralds its entry into the European market. BJEV and the Canadian company Magna entered into an agreement earlier to jointly develop EVs at a plant in Zhenjiang from 2020 while Daimler is in talks with it to assemble the smart ED for the Chinese market.

BAIC-BJEV-ARcfox-at-geneva-auto-show-top-5-ev-news-week-6

 

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

VW announced that the 2020 Passat would make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, including the Passat GTE, its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Pre-sales for the VW Passat GTE PHEV will start in May 2019 and the market launch will take place in September in Germany. The Passat GTE is equipped with VW’s new “Travel Assist” advanced driver assistance system making the Passat GTE the first VW models with automated driving capabilities. Travel Assist is available at any speed up to 210km/h through the new IQ.DRIVE system.

VW was forced to discontinue sales of the Passat GTE after the introduction of the WLTP test cycle in September 2019. The 2020 Passat GTE sports a consideredly better battery-only driving range of 55km (34 miles) as measured on the new WLTP cycle, which is around 70km on the old NEDC cycle.

Volkswagen-passat-gte-phev-top-5-ev-news-week-6-2019

The Chinese automaker BYD is following in the footsteps of its competitor SAIC Maxus by entering the European market with a pure-electric delivery van. The BYD T3 EV van has 3,500 L of cargo space and a range over 200km (125 miles). BYD showcased the T3 EV van with two commercial electric vehicles in Spain, all destined for the European market. The other two commercial vehicles are the 7.5 tonnes T6 truck and Q1M Yard Tractor with its gross combination weight rating of 46 tonnes.

BYD-T3-New-and-updated-ev-models-week-6-2019

 

Renault will launch its latest version of the popular Zoe EV in April 2019. The new Zoe S Edition is available in two power configurations, the Q90 with its 64kW (87 hp) electric motors and the more powerful R110 with a 79kW (108hp) electric motor producing 225N.m of torque. The Zoe S has a range of 300km (188miles) as measured on the WLTP scale and is equipped with a 65kW charging system which can fats charge to 80% in 65 minutes.

Zoe-s-edtion-top-5-ev-news-week-6-2019

BMW announced that it completed winter testing of the much anticipated iNEXT SUV due in 2021. The iNEXT SUV underwent testing in Sweden to analyze how the electric vehicle re-charges, how electricity is transferred to the electric motor, how the electrical system is supplied with energy and how the heating and air condition systems respond. Earlier the week the AAA stated that electric vehicles in the USA suffered a drop of around 40% in range during the freakish cold snap experienced there, mostly due to the HVAC heating system draining the battery pack, a claim refuted by Tesla.

Top-5-EV-news-week-6-BMW-iNext-SUV-winter-testing

TOP EV NEWS #4 – GM SHIFTS GOAL POST ON EV PROFITS

GM CEO Mary Barra warned investors in the company’s 4th quarter earnings call earlier this week that the company’s electric car strategy will not be profitable till early in the next decade. The statement seems to shift the goal posed from her earlier bold claims that GM will turn a profit selling EV’s in 2021 already (Week 2 2019 Top 5 EV News). In the company’s 10-K filing required by SEC GM warned that the auto sector would “continue to experience a significant change in the coming years” due to the shift to new technologies in an uncertain environment due to the disruption caused by electric mobility and automation. As mention in the Week 2 newsletter GM aims to get ahead of the curve by reducing battery cost and using shared platforms.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – NIKOLA MOTORS TAKES ON TESLA SEMI WITH A PURE ELECTRIC CLASS 8

Nikola Motors, the developer of hydrogen-electric trucks tweeted this week that it is also entering the race to bring pure-electric trucks to market. In a tweet in the run-up to the company’s annual event called Nicola World in April 2019 the company said it will also unveil an electric class 8 semi with a range of 400 miles. According to industry commentators, the shift towards battery powered trucks is due to the interest that the Tesla Semi 8 has received since its unveiling. Nikola Motors claim there is a space for both technologies but that it will remain a 50 to 1 ration in favor of fuel cell trucks. Nikola is a bitter rival to Tesla and has filed a lawsuit against Tesla for patent violations, claiming damages of $2 billion. Nikola’s success is dependent on a robust hydrogen charging network, which to date has been challenging, with hydrogen shortages causing Toyota to provided rented vehicles to its Mirai FCEV users in 2018.

Nikola-motor-tweet-top-5-ev-news-week-6-2019

 

Nikola-trucks-top-5-ev-news-week-6-2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 5 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 5 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – CHINESE LOVE AFAIR WITH SWEDISH BRANDS CONTINUES

Chinese automakers seem to have a thing for Swedish car brands. Shortly after announcing that Evergreen has become the majority shareholder in the old SAAB Automobile, now called NEVS, the company acquired a stake in Swedish supercar brand Koenigsegg.

The strategic partnership consists of a €150 million investment in a joint venture with Koenigsegg to develop electric vehicles. NEVS is the major shareholder in the joint venture with a 65% ownership. Koenigsegg will pay for its 35% shareholding through contributing its intellectual property, technology licenses, and product design. NEVS also acquired a 20% direct shareholding in Koenigsegg through a capital injection of €150 million

NEVS Chairman Kai Johan Jiang was quoted saying “Koenigsegg is an enticing company developing advanced cars with unique technology and with a customer base that is one of a kind. To be able to expand our investment in the Swedish automotive industry through a company that we know and have an established relationship with is an important step for us. We have both competencies and facilities to support Koenigsegg on their journey forward, something we look very much forward to.”

According to Koenigsegg the strategic partnership will enable the development of parallel vehicle models in slightly higher volumes with emphasis on electrification, as well as strengthening growth opportunities in the hypercar segment.

Koenigsegg will have access to NEVS production facilities in Trollhättan, Sweden while maintaining its center of excellence in Ängelholm. NEVS capacity in China also opens opportunities for Koenigsegg in the Chinese market as NEVS major shareholder Evergrande also has a wide distribution platform through its ownership in one of China’s largest car retailers.

Ironically Koenigsegg was one of the failed bidders for SAAB Automobile when NEVS acquired it in 2011. Koenigsegg has dabbled with electrification and equipped its Regera supercar with its revolutionary Koenigsegg Direct Drive transmission (KDD) which incorporates a hybrid system with three electric motors and a 4.7kWh battery.

Koenigsegg-drivetrain-wattev2buy-top-5-ev-news-week-5-2019

TOP EV NEWS #2 – VW TEASES ITS DUNE BUGGY

VW teased images of an electric concept it’s legendary Dune Buggy hailing from the ’60s and ’70s. The Electric Dune Buggy will be unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show in March and is based on the same MEB platform as used for its upcoming ID Neo.

VW-Dune-Buggy-top-5-ev-news-week-5-2019

TOP EV NEWS #3 – CHEAPER TESLA MODELS

Over the last couple of weeks, investors and potential buyers were surprised by changes in Tesla’s drop in prices and the discontinuation of the Tesla 75kWh Models S and X, which started at around $75,000 for the Model S and $82,000 for the X. The 2019 Model ranges move away from the previous naming which included the battery pack size to distinguish between the models. The 2019 models are all equipped with the same 100kWh battery pack which is limited to just 310 miles for the Model S and 270 miles for the Model X. The Model S now starts at $85,000 down from $94,000 and the Model X starts at $88,000 down from $97,000. The extended range can be unlocked by paying an extra $8,000. The Performance version is now also made cheaper by providing the Ludicrous Mode as an add on for $20,000. See our handy pricing guide for the Model S and Model X below.

Tesla made some other changes to its line up to make them more appealing for potential buyers such as equipping all European models with CCS charging adapter, increasing the charging options in the region.

Tesla also opened the Model 3 for pre-order in China at a reservation price of ¥10,000 down and starting at ¥433,00 for the Model 3 RWD. The Model 3 AWD starts at ¥499,000 and the performance version at ¥560,000.

2019 Tesla Model S Pricing

Tesla-Model-S-2019-Pricing-Feb

2019 Tesla Model X Pricing

Tesla-Model-x-2019-Pricing-Feb

TOP EV NEWS #4 – MERCEDES V-CLASS MPV TO GO ELECTRIC

Mercedes unveiled the new V-class transporter van and announced that it will showcase a concept electric version thereof at the upcoming Geneva International Motors Show to be held in March this year. Mercedes claim they will soon be the first premium car brand to offer a fully-electric MPV. The Mercedes EQ Van is expected to be released in 2022, around the same time as the VW ID Buzz. The announcement is exciting news for outdoor lovers that are looking for an all-electric Mercedes Marco Polo.

Mercedes-Benz-V-class-MArco-Polo-pictures

TOP EV NEWS #5 – AUDI E-TRON CHARGING COST

Audi released the pricing structure to charge the new Audi e-tron at charging stations in Europe through a premium charging service which covers 80% of public chargers in the region. The service gives Audi e-tron owners access to 72,000 public chargers from 220 providers including the Ionity network. The charging service for the e-tron will be implemented in ten markets after which another six will be added in Q2 2019 and then rolled out further to eight Eastern Europe during the remainder of 2019.

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The pricing above is for German registered owners, pricing for the rest of the markets will be unveiled shortly.

Let’s look at the fee structure in practice for traveling in the EU. The WLTP consumption for the Audi e-tron is between 26.2 and 22.6 kWh per 100km (62 miles), and the WLTP range of the e-tron is 400km (250miles) from a 90kWh available battery capacity. If you are a long distance traveler and subscribe to the Transit Tariff, and you fill your battery to 80% at an Ionity station you will pay €31,76 or €0.10 per km (excluding subscription rate which is a further €0.056 per km if you only fill once) compared to around €0.21 per km for a Audi Q5 combustion model.

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 4 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 4 2019

TOP EV NEWS #1 – 1st BYTON EXPERIENCE STORE OPENED

Byton opened its first Byon Place experience store on the 20th of January 2019 in Shanghai, China. During the launch, Byton announced that it would employ a multi-disciplined sales direct sales model which will include the use of the Byton APP, official website, WeChat, call center and other online channels combined with physical outlets in the form of the experience stores and service centers. The second store will be opened in Chongqing by the middle of 2019 followed by up to 30 more in first and second-tier cities in China such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Chengdu after which the company will expand to North America and Europe.Byton-Experience-store-opened-top-5-ev-news-week-4-2019

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

It was quite a busy week for me as I added another 30 new electric models to wattEV2buy, here is some news related to new EV models.

Japanese automaker teased the Honda Urban which is destined for the European market at the end of the year. Honda will unveil the Honda Urban prototype at the Geneva Auto Show which commence on the 7th of March 2019.

Honda-urban-teased-top-5-ev-news-week-4-2019

Aston Martin CEO tweeted a video of the first validation prototype of the Rapid E which will be developed in limited numbers later n 2019. Aston Martin will build only 155 units of the legendary British automakers first electric car which is estimated to be priced from $250,000. The rapid E which is developed in conjunction with Williams Engineering is equipped with an 800V battery providing a range in excess of 320km (200 miles).

Rapid-E-top-5-ev-news-week-4-2019

BAIC listed the EX5 EV SUV which is developed on its third generation EV platform with a range of 415km (259 miles) and a 160kW electric motors. The EX5 is based on the ET400 concept SUV and is available in four models starting at ¥169,900 going up to ¥199,900 after subsidies.

BAIC-EX5-ev-pictures

JAC opened its book for reservations of the JAC iEVS4 EV which is based on the Refine S4 compact SUV.

JAC-iEVS4

TOP EV NEWS #3 – KANDI TO DELIVER 300,000 EVs FOR RIDESHARING

The NASDAQ listed Kandi Technologies announced that they had secured an agreement to provide 300,000 EVs to an ‘Online Ride-sharing Alliance’ in Hangzhou, the company’s hometown. Kandi which last week received approval from the municipality of Jiangsu to develop a new 50,000 unit EV plant in the City will deliver the 300,000 units over the next five years. The opportunity for Kandi arose out of the current chaos in the three million strong ride-hailing market, where 90% of the cars operate illegally. To operate as a driver for a ridesharing company you need a drivers license and an additional license to transport passengers. Furthermore, once you register your car in the ridesharing network, the insurance premium escalates with RMB10,000, which coupled with the requirement of an additional license leads to a 90% non-compliance rate currently. The benefit for authorities is that electric cars by Kandi can be switched off if not compliant.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHJ LEADING ONE IN TRACK FOR 2019 RELEASE

CHJ Automotive announced that it will open 13 retail stores for its new luxury EV brand called Leading Auto. The first vehicle from this stable, the Leading One is on track for delivery later this year. CHJ acquired Lifan Motors earlier for an amount of 650 million yuan, and in the process secured Lifan’s production qualification, allowing it to start producing EVs. The thirteen cities where CHJ Leading will open retail shops are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Xi’an, and Wuhan

CHJ-Leading-One-to-build-13-retail-shops-top-5-EV-news-week-4-2019

The co-founder of CHJ Li Xiang shared images of the plant where its range extended Leading One with a range of 1,000km (620miles) is produced indicating to his followers that the company is determined to bring the first car to market late 2019.

Weibo-message-The-co-founder-of-CHJ-Li-Xiang-top-5-ev-news-week-4-2019

TOP EV NEWS #5 – HYUNDAI KONA EV PRICING IN THE USA

Hyundai announced pricing for it’s award-winning Kona Electric CUV this weekend.  Sales for the Kona Electric in the USA will start in California followed by other ZEF states. Additional freight charges for the 2019 Hyundai Kona EV are $1,045. The 258 mile Hyundai Kona EV is available in three trims, the SEL, Limited and Ultimate.

[supsystic-tables id=209]

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 3 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 3 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – EV UPTAKE QUICKER THAN FORECASTED

Forecasting EV sales are becoming a rather difficult task as EV sales reach new records on a monthly basis. Predictions for EV sales are continuously adjusted upwards while the time between each new million cars sold milestone decreases rapidly. The five million electric car sales milestone is expected to be reached in January 2019, which is only four short months after reaching the four million EVs sold threshold in September 2018. In September 2018 industry commentators forecasted that the five million milestones will be reached in six months or March 2019, now it seems the target will be reached two months early. It took nearly five years before one million EVs were sold in late 2014 and seventeen months to reach 2 million EVs sold in June 2017. Ten months later, in March 2018, EV uptake reached three million vehicles.

How quickly will we get to six million electric cars sold? My guess is that it will be before the second half of 2019 which will put the seven and half million cars milestone reachable by the end of the decade, which is unfortunately far short of the Paris 2015 country commitments of 12.5 million.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

Geely G11

Geely became the first Chinese automaker to develop a mass market for the global market. The Geely GE11 pure electric sedan is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2020. Judging from the visible radar on the front of the car it is assumed it will be equipped with high-level advanced driving assistance or Level 2 to 3 autonomous driving capabilities. The Geely GE11 is equipped with a battery pack from CATL and an electric motor with a maximum power of 130kW (175hp) helping it to achieve a top speed of 150km/h (94 miles).

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BMW 7 SERIES

BMW held the world premiere of the new BMW 7-series in China, its key market contributing 40% of the luxury saloon sales. The 2019 7-series follows the BMW 740Le xDrive iPerformance was first released in the USA in August 2016. The 2019 BMW 7 series plug-in hybrid EV variants are available in three models, the 745e, the740Le, and 745Le xDrive iPerformance. The BMW 745 PHEV variants are equipped with specially adapted six-cylinder in-line petrol engines and upgraded 12kWh high-voltage batteries with an improved range of between 50km and 58km (31miles to 36 miles). BMW did not indicate on which test cycle so I assume its NEDC equivalent and not real world ranges which I expect is closer to 20 miles. The system output of the BMW 7 series plug-in hybrid variants produces 290kW / 394hp in ‘SPORT’ mode. For full specs and pictures of all three variants go here.

NISSAN IMs CONCEPT

Nissan unveiled the Nissan IMs Concept AWD EV at the NAIAS which it claims heralds a new segment, an ‘elevated sports sedan’. The Nissan IMs Concept is developed on the Japanese automaker’s three design pillars, namely Nissan Intelligent Mobility – Intelligent Driving, Intelligent Power and Intelligent Integration.

Nissan defines the new segment based on the IMs being a pure electric vehicle with the 115kWh battery located under the body, elevating cabin height. The large battery delivers a 380-mile range (608km) and energizes a 360kW electric motor delivering 800N.m of torque.

The IMs has an extended wheelbase allowing for a stretched interior space, which features a unique “2+1+2” seating configuration with pivoting front seats and a rear seat which can accommodate three people or by folding the slim rear outboard seats creating a spacious “Premier Seat” for two in the center. Nissan claims the IMs is an advanced study based on ready to launch technology. Go to the Nissan IMs specs here.

INFINITI Qx INSPIRATION

We have seen the digital images of the Infiniti crossover which previews its first EV expected in 2021, this week Infiniti unveiled that concept, the midsize Infiniti QX Inspiration SUV.  The Infiniti QX is based on an all-new e-AWD platform with a battery pack below the floor of the vehicle which energizes two electric motors, one on each axle.

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HYUNDAI IONIQ PHEV

Hyundai announced the release of the second generation Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid in the second half of 2019. From the press release, it seems that changes are related to connectivity and advanced driving as it did not indicate any changes to the electric performance of the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq. According to Hyundai, the new Ioniq PHEV will get a design refresh and feature advanced Bluelink telematics services, the SmartSense active safety, and driving assistance systems, Adjustable Regenerative Braking and state-of-the-art infotainment delivered as standard across all trims.

Hyundai said that an enhanced IONIQ Electric to follow soon after, probably in early 2020.

Hyundai-ioniq-PHEV-2019-pictures

TOP EV NEWS #3 – FORD AND VW ENTER INTO ALLIANCE

Although it is not officially stated as such it is my opinion that the fast pace of electrification which caught many traditional automakers by surprise has caused the formation of a new alliance, this time between Ford and Volkswagen. It seems the two companies which have been in talks for six months on how to work together to develop self-driving, electric technologies, and cut cost could only agree to an alliance extending to commercial vehicles. The two companies postponed their planned joint NAIAS appearance in Detroit due to a lack of details. VW and Ford will work together in the following manner to leverage their strengths to compete better, innovate and serve customers:

  • The VW/Ford Alliance does not involve cross-ownership between the two companies
  • By 2022 Ford will engineer and build medium-sized pickups for the alliance both companies.
  • Ford will engineer and build larger commercial vans for European customers while Volkswagen is responsible for a city van.
  • The alliance will start yielding improved annual pre-tax operating results from 2023 for the two alliance partners.
  • Volkswagen and Ford also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exploring potential collaboration on EVs, autonomous vehicles and mobility services.

Earlier the week Volkswagen announced that it would invest €700 million ($800 million) in its Chattanooga plant in the USA preparing it to assemble the automaker’s electric cars based on the MEB platform. The first EV to roll off the Chattanooga assembly line will be the ID  Crozz in 2022. The Chattanooga plant is one eight MEB enabled plants which will be in operation by 2022 over three continents, namely Europe, Asia, and North America. The European plants are in Emden, Hanover, Dresden and Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic while the Asian plants situated in Anting and Foshan. The German automaker targets the global production of one million electric cars per annum by 2025. VW will still produce combustion versions of the Atlas and Passat at the Chattanooga plant.

The formation of the alliance will make the development of an electric Ford F150 a reality, in fact during the Deutsche Bank Global Automotive Conference in the MGM Grand in Detroit, Ford’s president of global markets, Jim Farley announced that the 40-year-old F-Series would be available in battery electric and plug-in hybrid versions. The announcement is just further proof that traditional automakers are scrambling to protect their cash cows, the Ford F-150 has been the best selling pickup truck in the United States for many years, but with the imminent arrival of Rivian’s amazing R1T electric pickup and the Tesla Model P, the future is not that certain anymore. GM’s CEO Mary Barra also commented this week that the company is looking at an electric pick-up as the company shifts from hybrid to pure electric platforms.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – TIRED OF FF EVERGRANDE SHIFTS TO NEVS

The Chinese owned NEVS which acquired the bankrupt Swedish automaker SAAB this week got a new owner as Evergrande Group of China acquired 51% of the struggling automaker keeping the Chinese healthcare company’s electric car aspirations alive. In the newsletter of Week 1/2019, I reported on the agreement reached between Evergrande, a Fortune Global 500 company, and FF, where FF entered into an agreement whereby it could buy-back the Evergrande 31% shareholding within a five-year period. Evergrande came to the rescue of FF mid-2018 but FF founder Jia Yueting soon had a legal fallout with its white knight. Now, Evergrand which is owned by Hui Ka Yan once ranked (2017) the richest person in China invested $930 million (€816 million) in NEVS for the 51% share valuing the company at nearly $2 billion. NEVS has been delaying the launch of the electrified SAAB 9-3 since it initially planning it’s listing in 2017. The NEVS opened the books to pre-order the 9-3 EV in December 2018 for ¥169,800. NEVS is in the process of developing its third plant in Shanghai, which follows on a recent 50,000 unit plant constructed Tianjin and the original SAAB plant in Trollhättan, Sweden. The original founder of NEVS, Kai Johan Jiang, with his company, NE Holding, will retain 49% of NEVS AB.

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NEVS Trollhattan and Tianjin plant

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BIG CHANGES AT TESLA

This week saw huge shifts at Tesla as the focus now change to be competitive and viable when big auto enters its market in 2020. The three major shifts which occurred at Tesla this week were the scraping of its referral program, the increase of pricing at the Supercharger network and the announcement that the company will cut its workforce by 7%, or 3,000 people. The changes are made as Elon Musk streamlines the automaker to ensure profitability and longevity.

Shares for Tesla (NQSA:TSLA) closed down around 13% for the week at $302.26. Elon Musk wrote in an email to staff on January the 18th that the company will cut 3,000 jobs to ensure that it could deliver a profitable $35,000 Model 3. Hidden in text Elon also eluded that the Q4 profits will be less than that in Q3. The positive note is that there will still be a profit. Tesla has $920 million of convertible bonds maturing on the 1st of March and with a conversion rate which is at $359.87 it seems Tesla might have to dive into its cash pile which is needed for production. With the current negative financial market sentiment refinancing could be a challenge and expensive.

In another cost-cutting effort, Elon Musk informed followers via a tweet that the innovative referral program which started in 2015 is to come to an end earlier than planned, on the 1st of February. Based on reports that Tesla has to give away 80 Tesla Roadster it seems that clients and sales teams started gaming the program.

Finally, Tesla announced large increases in its Supercharger rates to fund the expansion of routes and to adjust to differences in local electricity cost.

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 2 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 2 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – CHINESE EV MARKET BOOMS IN 2018

China 2018 EV sales summary

China became the first country to sell over 1 million passenger electric cars in one year as EV sales in December showed a 60% year-on-year increase over December 2017 and an 82% increase on 2017 for the full year. Pure electric vehicles remained the best performing technology, contributing to 77% of the sales while A0/A00 class cars remained the best performing category. Electric cars increased its share of sales compared to combustion vehicles, making up 7.2% of total sales in December 2018 compared to 4.7% in December 2017. For the full year, EVs made up nearly 5% of all cars sold in China, double that of 2017. The full report is available on request here.

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BYD is China’s top performing EV brand

BYD reported total electric vehicle sales for 2018 at 247,811, an increase of 227% over 2017. Passenger cars were the largest contributor with BYD selling 227,152 plug-in hybrid and pure electric models of which 5 models were Top 10 sellers. BYD sold a record 46,650 electric vehicles in December 2018, an increase of 55.11% from the previous month which in its own was a record month. Total EV sales for the year is well above the target of 200,000 units set at the start of the year. In 2017 BYD was the best performing company in the Chinese electric car sector selling a total of 108,956 models. We have seen over the last couple of months how sales for combustion vehicles shrank while those of electric cars showing robust growth. To put it in perspective BYD sold only 272,900 internal combustion vehicles (ICE) during the year, far below its stated target of 400,000 for the category. December was particularly bad for BYD’s combustion sales as the company only sold 23,000 ICE units. Although BYD sold marginally more than Tesla in 2018 which sold 245,240 units one should take in consideration the BYD data includes plug-in hybrid vehicles and represent nearly 10 models while Tesla achieved its record sales with only three pure electric models.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

Tesla Model Y self-drive specs

The Twitter channel @theteslashow revealed unconfirmed specs of the Model Y it received from a “birdie.” According to the tweet, the Model Y will only be available as an AWD, and the base model will be priced between $35,000 and $40,000 and have a range exceeding 250 miles (400km). Most interesting from the tweet is that the Model Y will be SAE Autonomous Level 4 ready and equipped with Tesla Autopilot Hardware version 3.5. Even more interesting is that the Model Y Autopilot hardware does not include Lidar and that it might include Tesla’s own designed radar system.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-2-2019-tesla-Model-Y-tweet

Nissan Leaf e-Plus specs

After being postponed Nissan unveiled the long-anticipated longer range Leaf, the Nissan Leaf e+ with a 62kWh battery delivering an estimated EPA range of 226 miles which is nearly 50% more than the 2018 Leaf with its 40kWh battery pack. The Nissan Leaf e+ also sports a more powerful 160kW electric motor improving acceleration by around 13%. The Nissan Leaf e+ also gets a 70kW quick charging system for more efficient charging.

The Nissan LEAF PLUS Series is scheduled to join the LEAF at Nissan dealerships in Japan in January 2019. U.S. sales are expected to begin in spring 2019 and European sales to commence in mid-2019. Although now price was set the Nissan Leaf ePlus is expected to sell for around $36,000 for the base model. A total of three trims levels is available, designated as S PLUS, SV PLUS, and SL PLUS.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – FORD TO ELECTRIFY ITS EUROPEAN MODELS

Ford this week unpacked its strategy to turn its European operations around, a key to which is the electrification of its entire model range in the region. The European market is very receptive of electric mobility and it is therefore imperative for the company to be more aggressive in its electric car strategy here as opposed to its home market. In a press release by the Ford Europe, it states:

Every Ford nameplate from the all-new Ford Focus onwards will include an electrified option. This includes new nameplates and new versions of existing vehicles. From Fiesta to Transit, either a mild-hybrid, full-hybrid, plug-in hybrid or full battery electric option will be offered, delivering one of the most encompassing line-ups of electrified options for European customers.

A niche portfolio of imported iconic nameplates for Europe that builds on the heritage of the Ford brand will include Mustang, Edge, and another SUV to be revealed in April, along with an all-new Mustang-inspired full-electric performance utility in 2020.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – GM TO TAKE THE FIGHT TO TESLA WITH CADILLAC

Tesla’s dominance in 2018 is forcing traditional automakers to continuously adapt and rethink their strategy to keep up with the “surprising” shift by consumers to cleaner and more advanced products offered by the auto start-up. I am using the term start-up lightly as it now relates more to the relatively young age of the company compared to its competitors rather than its operations. Reuters this week indicated that GM is redirecting a large portion of its engineering talent to focus on electric vehicle technology to back GM CEO Mary Barra’s bold promise to investors that the US automaker will turn a profit selling EVs by 2021.

According to the Reuters report, GM is working very hard to follow Tesla in reducing the cobalt content of its EMC1.0 battery system by increasing the use of nickel in its battery chemistry, thereby reducing the cost of its batteries to below $100/kWh by 2021 from the current $145/kWh. GM and its Chinese strategic partner SAIC is also working to bring down the cost of EV assembly by developing dedicated electric car plants which are less complex than combustion plants. A third focus area is the creation of flexible, modular plug-and-play platform on which battery systems and fuel cells of various sizes can be added. All-in-all 1,700 engineers and other professionals are already exclusively focusing on GM’s electrification strategy.

In a press release by the company following an investor update on Friday the 11th of January GM put Cadillac front and center of its EV strategy making the brand its lead EV brand. Cadillac will develop GM’s first pure electric EV following the Chevrolet Bolt on the groups new flexible BEV3 platform, To date, Cadillac was only able to sell around 4,000 plug-in hybrid versions of the Cadillac ELR and CT6 luxury sedans.

Furthermore, GM announced to investors that it would start to commercialize its self-driving vehicles in dense city environments this year. GM’s Seattle based autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise also signed a partnership with food delivery company DoorDash this week.

In related news, Tesla backed away from purchasing one of the three assembly plants closed in GM’s recent restructuring. According to GM Tesla were not willing to take on GM’s unionized employees at the Ohio plant.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BYTON M-BYTE ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY

BYTON reveals a near production-ready version of the upcoming M-Byte SUV displaying the digital cockpit (see cover image) at the 2019 CES in Las Vegas. The premium intelligent electric vehicle brand sees the automobile of the future as a smart device with its models a mobile digital lounge. According to Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, CEO and Co-founder of BYTON “BYTON’s M-Byte represents the transformation of the traditional car into a next-generation smart device for every user,” on which he adds “We achieve this through the combination our state-of-the-art EV platform and our proprietary BYTON Life digital ecosystem.” The Byton M-Byte showcased at the 2019 CES has the largest in-car display screen of any model available to date. Byton calls its huge 48-inch wide curved screen a Shared Experience Display (SED) which displays vehicle, driving information and content options in an intuitive way. Users interact with the SED through either a 7-inch Driver Tablet at the center of the steering wheel or an 8-inch TouchPad placed between the driver and front passenger seat. The driver and front passenger can also rotate their seats inward by 12 degrees while passengers in the rear of the Byton cockpit has access to entertainment screens. Although the 48-inch screen itself is not a touch-pad to interact with the car users, have access to various interaction modes including voice, buttons and gesture controls.

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Byton offers a unique user experience through its Byton Life digital ecosystem which is open source and includes advanced machine learning capabilities. Byton is also taking advantage of Amazon’s Alexa voice control system. The final production model will be unveiled in the summer of 2019 and mass production at the 150,000 unit Nanjing plant in China will commence at the end of the year.

In the meantime, Reuters reported that Byton is to raise $500 million to fund the production and development of the M-Byte and its EV strategy. The C-round funding values the company at $4 billion and aims to attract foreign shareholders. Current shareholders include Chinese retail giant Suning, Hong Kong-based Fullshare which is a property and healthcare holding company plus B-round investors FAW and CATL.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 1 2019

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 1 2019

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – LEAPMOTOR TAKES THE SPOTLIGHT

One of the most talked about new EVs expected in China over the last month is the Leapmotor S01 launched on the 3rd of January 2019.  The Leapmotor S01 has a top speed of 140km/h and accelerates to 50km/h in 2.9 seconds and 100km/h in 6.9 seconds with the help of its 170hp electric motor producing 250N.m of torque. The LP S01 can fast charge in 60 minutes or between six and eight hours on level 2 charge.

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The Leapmotor S01 Coupe EV price revealed

Leapmotor will launch four trims of the small four-seat coupe. The four trims are divided into two range/battery configurations each with a Standard and Pro version. The Leapmotor S01 EV380 series is equipped with 18650 cell type battery pack and the Leapmotor S01 EV460 with a 21700 cell type battery pack. The S01 Coupe EV is available from as little as $16,000 after incentives.

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Leapmotor S01 autonomous driving capabilities

The Leapmotor S01 is equipped with the “Leap In” and “Leap Pilot” onboard assistant and advanced driving assist system. The Leap Pilot is an SAE Level 2.5 autonomous drive system which can be upgraded to Level 3 via an OTA over the air system. As seen from the images below the S01 Coupe identifies occupants through biometrics, allowing access to the car and to interact with the driver.

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Leapmotor EV pipeline

The founder of LeapMotor, Zhu Mingjiang, announced during the launch event of the S01 EV Coupe that the next car to come out of the Leapmotor stable will be an AO class city car in 2019 developed on the Chines automakers T platform followed by a second EV on the S platform in 2020 and an SUV developed on the C platform in 2021. Leapmotor shares 70% of its parts across the three platforms. Currently, the S01 is assembled by Changjiang Automobile, but the company will start production later in Q3 at its newly constructed advanced manufacturing base in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Leapmotor is developing its own AI chip in conjunction with Dahau. The AI chip “Lingxin 01” will be tested in the second quarter of 2019 and when produced will be the first intelligent driving chip independently developed by the Chinese according to the company. Leapmotor will also unveil a concept EV at the Shanghai Auto Show on 18 April 2019.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW EV MODELS AND MODEL UPDATES

The top three EV brands in China all launched updated versions of their popular models.

SAIC Roewe launched the second generation Ei5 pure electric station wagon on the 2nd of January. Since it’s launch in March 2019 the Roewe Ei5 sold nearly 23,000 units, making it the 13th highest selling car in China for the year to date in November and the second best selling SAIC EV. The 2019 SAIC Roewe Ei5 is available in four trims and range in price from ¥128,800 to ¥158,800 after subsidy ($19,000 to $23,000). The SAIC Roewe Ei5 is equipped with the company’s Roewe OS 2.0 connected car system and Advanced Driving Assitance System for the top of the line model which include CCS (cruise control), LDW (lane departure assist), AEB (automatic emergency brake), FCW (front collision early warning system), and SAS (speed assist system).

BAIC opened its books or pre-orders of the BAIC EX5 EV SUV on the 1st of January and will list the vehicle on the 27th of the month. The BAIC EX5 has a cruising range of 520km (325 miles) when driven at a constant speed of 60km/h and is equipped with a 160kW electric motor. The BAIC EX5 includes BAICs eMotion Drive 3.0 intelligent control system which manages batteries, motors and monitors traffic for safety.

BYD released more information the pure electric version of its best selling Tang PHEV SUV. Following in the tracks of the plug-in hybrid version of the Tang SUV the pure electric version will also be available in a five and seven-seat configuration priced between ¥260,000 and ¥360,000 before subsidies ($38,000 to $52,500). The second generation of the BYD Tang PHEV has been the top-selling EV in China for the months of August and September 2018. The five-seat BYD Tang EV600 has an NEDC cycle rating of 500km (313miles) and a cruising range of 600km (375miles) while the seven-seat BYD Tang EV600 an NEDC range of 520km (325miles) and a cruising range of 620km (388miles). The BYD Tang EV600’s battery pack consist of NCM622 cells and boasts an energy density of 161Wh/kg. For propulsion, BYD equipped the Tang EV600 with the same AWD system of the PHEV model which consist of two 180kW motors front and rear which produces 330N.m of torque each.

BYD also released more information on its compact SUV, the pure electric Yuan EV535 which indicates a cruising range of 525km (335miles). The BYD Yuan EV535 will replace the Yuan EV360 which sold over 28,000 units since its launch in June 2018. The Yuan EV535 has the same appearance and 70kW electric motor as the BYD Yuan EV360.

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ROEWE Ei5 | BAIC EX5 | BYD TANG EV600 | BYD YUAN EV535

Spy images of the Dorcen G60E SUV emerged this week. The Dorcen G60E follows on the Dorcen E20 A0 class EV revealed last week and is based on the combustion version the G60S. It is expected that Dorcen will launch the G60E SUV in the third quarter of 2019. Official data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows the G60E is equipped with an electric motor with a maximum power of 85kW delivering a top speed of 140km/h and an NMC battery pack produced by Guoxuan Hi-Tech.

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DORCEN E20 | DORCEN G60E

Nissan Infiniti, Volvo Polestar and the Mahindra owned Pininfarina all kicked off the marketing campaign for the reveals of their EVs this year.

Infiniti digitally revealed the design of the pure electric crossover concept that it will unveil at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) to be held from the 14th of January to the 27th of the month. See the image below and the cover image.

Polestar teased an image of the back end of the Polestar 2 EV which will also be revealed at the NAIAS and produced in 2020. The Polestar 2 is expected to be priced in the range of €40,000 ($46,000) and have a battery electric range of around 480km (300miles).

Pininfarina teased the nose of its hypercar which is to be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show from 7 March to 17 March 2019 and delivered to customers in 2020. The hypercar, previously only know as the PFO is now named after the founder of the company Battista Farina. The pure electric Pininfarina Battista will be equipped with a drivetrain supplied by Rimac which produces maximum power of 2,000 horsepower and a range of 500km (313 miles). The Battista accelerates to 60 miles in less than 2 seconds and can accelerate from standstill to 300km/h in 12 seconds.

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INFINITI CUV EV | POLESTAR 2 | PININFARINA BATTISTA

Official sources of SAIC-owned MG announced that the former iconic brand from the UK is to launch a number of EVs this year that will be available in international markets serviced by the brand. Most of the new models are electrified versions of combustion models, such as the MG eHS plug-in hybrid crossover and MG eZS battery-electric. The eHS PHEV will be listed in te first half of 2019 followed by the eZS.

SAIC’s commercial brand Maxus is to launch the EV30 pure electric delivery van on the 14th of January 2019. The Maxus EV30 is developed on a new platform designed around an all-aluminum body compensating for the weight of the battery pack. The Maxus EV30 will be available in various battery configurations and have a maximum range in excess of 300km (188miles).

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SAIC MG eHS PHEV | SAIC MAXUS EV30

TOP EV NEWS #3 – INDIAN STARTUP SHOWS BATTERY WITH 1000KM RANGE

The Indian Nano-tech start-up, Log-9 Materials, based in Bengaluru and founded by Akshay Singhal showcased its metal-air battery fitted in a Mahindra e20 show-car named Ranger at the India UK Future Tech held in New Delhi in December 2018. Log-9 is experimenting with Graphene Nanotechnology to develop long-range battery packs. Through the use of Graphene with an energy density tenfold of current battery chemistries Log9 aims to develop batteries for EVs with a range exceeding 1,000km (620 miles). Coupled with a Metal-Air battery which uses aluminum and water to generate energy the battery pack can charge itself rather than being charged, similar to fuel cell vehicles. Log9 is working on reducing the size of the bulky prototype Metal-Air battery which fills the back seat of the Ranger. Akshay Singhal told the online publication, Hindu Business Line this week, “The user can fill water after every 200 km instead of charging the battery and the water and aluminum metal will regenerate the lithium-ion battery of the car for another 200 km,” he explains. However, after 1,000 km, the user has to change the metal (aluminum) which costs around 4,500.”

According to Akshay Log-9 received a second pre-series A funding injection of 3 crore topping up an initial Pre Series-A funding received from GEMS Advisory in 2017. The latest funding came from Metaform Ventures, Hemant Luthra, Chairman, Mahindra CIE, GEMS, and other angel investors. 

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – TESLA 2018 DELIVERY DATA AND PRICING

As we approach the next decade and the next phase in the evolution of the electric car we see government incentives for EVs running out. In the USA Tesla is the first company to reach its tax grant threshold triggering a phase-out of the $7,500 incentive towards the purchase of any Tesla model. According to the phase-out schedule, Tesla customers are now only eligible for a $3,750 credit to June 2019. Incidentally, GM became the second company this week to reach the 200,000 cars sold threshold, triggering its phase-out from April 2019.

To assist new customers, Tesla announced this week that it would slash prices for all its models with $2,000 triggering a sell-off in its shares whereby the price dropped 7% from $332 to $307 shortly after the company made the announced and released its production and delivery data for Q4 2018. According to the data, Tesla showed a 15% increase in production of the Model 3s over Q3 and delivered a record  90,700 vehicles in total, an 8% increase on Q3. The deliveries were 63,150 Model 3s, 13,500 Model Ss and 14,050 Model Xs. The total data delivery data for Tesla in 2018 stand at 245,240 units, consisting of 145,846 Model 3s and 99,394 Model S/Model Xs. It seems the market where roiled by the weekly production data of “only” 4,700 Model 3s per week. The share price regained lost ground since as Tesla announced that it received orders for 14,000 Model 3s in the first couple of days since opening its order books in Europe and in China, where it is to break ground on Gigafactory 3 in the coming week.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – THE FF SOAP OPERA CONTINUES

It has been two years since the disastrous unveiling of the FF91 at the CES in Las Vegas and the Faraday Future soap opera is continuing. In the latest round of drama by FF’s founder, Jia Yueting entered into a spat with its most recent white night investor Evergrande Health Industry Group which saw the parties facing each other off in the Hong Kong courts. Fortunately, FF and Evergrande reconciled this week allowing the production process of the FF91 to continue…., until the next episode in the FF soap opera. According to the settlement FF and Evergrande entered into a restructuring agreement whereby Jia Yueting can buy back 32% of the company’s shares over the next five years. FF also issued a statement saying that according to the agreement signed by both parties, Furthermore, FF’s asset preservation pledge and equity financing rights will be released, which can be used for the company’s future debt and equity financing. At the same time, the statement said that the FF’s A round financing before the investment was valued at 2.45 billion US dollars while the post-investment valuation was adjusted to 3.25 billion US dollars.

The buyback value agreed to is $600 million in year one, or $700 million in year two, or $800 million in year three, or $920 million in year four, or finally $1.05 billion in year five.

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 50 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 50 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – CHINA TO SELL OVER 1 MILLION PASSENGER EVs IN 2018

China on its way to being the first country to sell over 1,000,000 passenger electric vehicles in one year as EV sales buck the trend showing record sales each month while combustion vehicle sales falter. 
 
Chinese EV sales for November 2018 broke records again at a time when passenger car sales fell 16.1% year-on-year. The production and sales of electric vehicles for November stood at 173,400 and 169,300 units respectively, an increase of 36.93% and 37.62% over the same period of the previous year. The portion of pure electric vehicles were 135,300 and 138,100, respectively, up 23.58% and 30.30% over the same period of the previous year, while the production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were respectively 38,000 and 31,100 respectively, a year-to-year increase of 121.71% and 82.50%.
 
On an annual basis, the production and sales of electric vehicles in China stood at 1,053,500 and 1,209,800 respectively from January to November, an increase of 63.63% and 68% over 2017. Pure electric vehicles production and sales were 806,600 and 790,900 respectively, up 50.30% and 55.66% over 2017. The production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were 246,600 and 238,800 respectively, up from 2017 by 130.27% and 127.58%.
 
Looking at the passenger vehicle segment, only EV sales for November 2018 stood at 136,000 units, an increase of 10.4% October 2018 and 55.9% on November 2017 bringing the total sales for the year to date to nearly 890,000 units. The Top 3 EV models sold in China is the BAIC EC series, the BYD Tang Plug-in hybrid and the BYD Yuan compact SUV EV. BYD’s other models slipped out of the Top 10 though making way for newcomers such as the YGM E Line A0 class EV which surprised with 4,204 units sold in November 2018.
For the full report see the monthly sales report here.
 
Should Passenger EV sales in December be on par to that of November then total sales for 2018 would be higher than 1,000,000 units. It is expected however that December sales could be as high as 200,000 units due to a host of new models that came into the market and the introduction of lower subsidies in 2019. It is, therefore, a foregone conclusion that Chinese EV sales in 2018 will be more than double that of 2017.
 
Top-5-EV-news-Week-50-2018-China-first-country-to-sell-1-million-EVs

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW ES8 AND ES6 AT NIO DAY SHANGHAI 2018

NIO introduced a six-seating version of the NIO ES8 which was released in July 2018 in a seven seter configuration. NIO has already sold over 10,000 units of the ES8 in the first five months of it being on the market and it was the 12th best selling electric car in November 2018. Pre-orders for the NIO ES8 six-seater which is priced at ¥456,000 starts on the 24th of December 2018.

NIO unveiled its second passenger car, the NIO ES6 EV SUV at the 2018 NioDay event in Shanghai. The NIO ES6 with a max range of 510km (319 miles)(NEDC) offers more range than the current NIO ES8 which stands at 355km (220miles). The NIO ES6 is available at first in limited launch edition with deliveries starting in Q2 2019. Only 6,000 units of the NIO ES6 launch edition will be released. The NIO ES6 looks very much like its larger brother the ES8 and has much f the same features such as NIO Pilot, the Advanced Autonomous Driving Assitance System featuring the mobileye eyeq4 system consisting of 23 sensors. The six-seater with a 2/2/2 configuration has a range of 510km (319miles) on the NEDC test cycle form an 84kWh battery pack. The NIO ES6 Performance edition accelerates to 62mph in just 4,7 seconds while the dual motor standard edition in 5.6 seconds. The NIO ES6 produces a maximum power of 544 horsepower (406kW) from a Permanent Synchronous electric motor paired with an Induction motor, the first EV SUV to employ both. The NIO ES6 standard edition will be available from Q3 2019. The NIO ES6 has a top speed of 200km/h (125mph) and a braking distance of 33.9m from 100km – standstill.

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The NIO ES6 structure consists of 2 sqm of high-strength carbon fiber structural parts making the vehicle lighter and stronger. The body is made of aerospace grade 7075 aluminum. The NIO ES6 includes NIO’s “nomi” in car AI system bringing together to turn the EV SUV into a smart, fun, expressive, and intuitive driving companion.

Pricing for the NIO ES6 EV SUV are as follows:

[supsystic-tables id=200]

The launch edition of the NIO ES6 is priced at ¥498,000 ($72,000) before government subsidy and comes with extra’s valued at ¥117,000.  The price difference between the basic and performance models is ¥40,000 with the main technical difference the drive train, body materials, and active air suspension.NIO Pilot is installed in the launch edition and available as an upgrade at a cost of ¥39,000 to the other models.

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NIO ES6 | Drivetrain | nomi AI system

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW EV MODELS

Leapmotor announced that its S01 two-door four-seat electric coupe will be launched on the 3rd of January 2019. The S01 which is targeted at the young consumers will be available in two different range configurations and in four trims. The S01 will be priced after taking subsidies into account between an estimated ¥100,000 and ¥150,000. The four trims will be the 380 Standard Edition and 380 Pro with a range of 300km (188miles) and the 460 Standard and 460 Pro with a range of 380km (238miles).

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Environmental filings by FAW Toyota revealed that the company is re-tooling its plant in Jilin Province and preparing to produce 16,200 RAV4 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles annually from April 2021.

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The Japanese auto brand Infiniti announced that it will unveil a pure electric concept SUV at the 2019 North American International Auto Show to be held in Detroit in January 2019. The CUV EV Concept will reflect the Nissan owned brand’s vision for its electrification strategy which will commence in 2021. Infiniti showcased its sedan vision car, the Inspiration Q, at the 2018 event and Prototype 10 at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d ’Elegance which showcased the company’s in-house developed EV platform.

“The concept car we will show in Detroit is the beginning of a new era for INFINITI, and an illustration of where we want to go with the brand. Electrification and other new technologies have given us the opportunity to evolve our design philosophy,” said Karim Habib, Executive Design Director, INFINITI.

INFINITI previews future fully-electric crossover

INFINITI will preview a vision for its first fully-electric crossover at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit

TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHINESE EV SUBSIDIES SLASHED IN 2019

The Chinese authorities are busy revising its EV subsidy policy for 2019 and based on feedback from the industry it seems that the subsidy will be slashed by around 40%. I have compared the current EV incentives in China to the proposed new table. According to the 2019 Chinese EV subsidies, pure electric cars with a range below 200km (125miles) will not qualify for subsidies anymore, and the top band moves from 400km (250 miles) to 500km (313 miles). Other than in 2018 where there was a transition period which allowed for the 2017 subsidies to phase out only by March 2018 the 2019 subsidies will come into effect on the 1st of January, which will result in a run on EV models during December 2018. I will post the full 2019 EV subsidy policy once its made public.

[supsystic-tables id=201]

TOP EV NEWS #5 – FIRST EV CAMPERVAN AVAILABLE IN 2019

A group of German companies came together to develop the Iridium EV campervan which will be unveiled at the CMT Travel fair to be held in January 2019 in Stuttgart. The Iridium is by no means the first electric campervan shown but it will be the first to come to market in 2019. The developers of the Iridium is the Stuttgart based campervan seller, WOF and vehicle retrofitting company ElektroFahrzeuge Stuttgart (EFA-S) and Swiss campervan manufacturer Maurer Fahrzeugbau. The drivetrain developed by EFA-S is the same that has been used in UPS electric delivery vehicles. The Iridium electric campervan has a range of around 200km (125miles) and can be charged either by a wall socket, through a 22kW wall box or 50kW CCS charger.

Iridium-E-Mobil-EV-campervan-Top-5-ev-news-week-50-2018

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 49 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – CHINESE ELECTRIC CARS FLOCK TO EUROPE

Great Wall Motor plans to launch its ORA electric vehicle brand in the European market from 2020. ORA has released its first EV, the iQ SUV which sells below ¥100,000 (€12,700 / $14,500) and placed an A0 class EV the ORA R1 available for pre-order at a price of ¥61,800 (€7,800 / $8,900), both after the application of subsidies. The ORA iQ SUV has sold 1,417 units in ys first two months. GWM is joining a growing list of Chinese auto companies which have identified Europe as a viable market for electric vehicles, competing with European brands which have been slower in shifting toward electrification and which in turn has identified China as their preferred market, launching some electrified versions of existing models only in China. Other Chinese electric vehicle brands with intentions to move to Europe include Lynk&Co, Qoros, and GAC.

Top-5-EV-news-week-49-Ora-goes-to-europe

SAIC MG also announced this week that it intends to sell some of its models in Europe starting with its first pure electric vehicle the MG EZS SUV shown in the cover image above. MG did not elaborate on which countries in Europe would get the EZS electric SUV, but testing will kick off in two months in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, and France. The SAIC MG EZS SUV has an estimated range of 335km or 210 miles on the WLTP cycle. SAIC MG has already sold over 4,000 units of its plug-in version of the MG6 since its launch in April 2018. The SAIC MG EZS SV will join the Korean brands as the only brands selling affordable pure electric compact crossover SUVs in Europe, taking advantage of their lead over European brands. The MG EZS SUV will be listed in China in the first half of 2019.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – THE LATEST ELECTRIC CARS OF WEEK 49 2018

Lotus is to unveil a concept model of its upcoming electric supercar at the start of 2019. The Lotus EV which is developed under the code name Lotus Omega is equipped with a dual motor delivering 750kW/1014hp and have a range in excess of 400km or 250miles. Reports indicate that the Lotus Omega will come at a price tag of over £2 million. Below are images of the Concept Esprit and 2018 Lotus Evora 400 and 2018 Lotus Exige to provide some insight into the possible design style for the Lotus Omega.

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The neighborhood electric vehicle maker turned highway-capable electric car maker, YGM, listed the first EV under its new name Link Tour. The pure electric compact SUV Link Tour K-One is available in a 300km and 400km range version starting at ¥87,900 ($12,800) after subsidies. For detailed specs please go to the K-One page on wattev2buy.

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AIWAYS presented the production version of the Aiways U5 EV SUV to the world on the 29th of November. The Aiways U5 is to be listed in Q4 2019 and will be equipped with L2 self-driving capabilities. The Aiways U5 is developed on the Chinese automakers MAS platform which can be extended to MPVs, sedans and pickup trucks. The Aiways U5 is designed as a “smart mobile home” according to AIways and interfaces with the occupants via a 12.3inch floating large screen and 10.25inch drivers display. For detailed specs please go to the U5 page on wattev2buy.

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NIO teased images of the NIO ES6 prior to its unveiling on the 15th of December during the “NIO DAY” event. The NIO ES6 SUV seats six in a 2/2/2 configuration and promises an acceleration of below 5 sec to reach 100km/h. The NIO ES6 follows the NIO ES8 which is expected to sell over 10,000 units in the first six months following its launch in July 2018.

NIO-ES6-Teaser-images-Week-49-Top-5-EV-news-wattev2buy

Opel announced that it will open its order books for the Grandland Plug-in electric vehicle and Opel Corsa in the first half of 2019. The company also announced during its 120-year birthday celebrations that it will bring a pure electric version of the 2020 Vivaro van to market and that it will start serious production of a pure electric Opel Mokka compact SUV also in 2020.

“Opel is going electric!” says Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller. “We made this announcement at the presentation of our PACE! strategic plan and now we are delivering.” He went further saying “The new Corsa will make electro-mobility affordable for many customers, it will be a real electric car for the people.”

Opel-EVs-pre-order-opens-Top-5-EV-news-Week-49-2018-wattev2buy

After canceling the launch of the Nissan Leaf E-Plus (60kWh) due to the scandal around its Chairman it is reported that the Japanese automaker will unveil the car at the 2019 CES in Las Vegas at the start of January. From various media sources, it is understood that the Leaf E-plus will remain air cooled at the dismay of many commentators.

InsideEVs reported that the e-UP! is to get a bigger battery in Europe according to Matt Renna, vice president of Volkswagen North American Region. The VW e-UP electric hatchback received a price drop recently now selling for £2,935 (€3,310) cheaper after incentives which bring the small city car in the sub €20,000 range. vw-id-buggyThe news comes as VW and its suppliers ready itself for the start of production of the ID family at the end of 2019. In a press release Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for E-Mobility said “We are now entering the decisive phase. In about 12 months, the new ID. will usher in a new era for Volkswagen, comparable with the first Beetle or the first Golf. We are preparing for this event extremely carefully together with our partners.” According to market reports, VW will showcase yet another addition to the ID family early next year at the Geneva Auto Show. The latest addition is an electric ATV mirrored around the VW Buggy 2011 on the image here.

 

TOP EV NEWS #3 – BMW iX3 PRODUCTION CAPACITY

Ever wondered how many of the BMW iX3’s will be built? BMW announced in April 2018 that the BMW iX3 is to be assembled by its JV partner BMW Brilliance’s Shenyang Dadong factory in China and exported from there to the US and Europe. Well, that was before the trade war, and their plans might be changing. Local reports this week indicated that the authorities approved the BMW Brilliance New Energy Vehicle Technical Reconstruction Project as published by Liaoning Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment. The ¥1.759 billion ($255million) project will add capacity for the production of 40,000 BMW iX3 units per annum, bringing the total production of the plant to 160,000 units of which the balance is combustion engine based. The approved application by BMW Brilliance also included Phase 3 of the battery plant expansion which will add production of 266,400 battery packs.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – HONDA TO STOP SELLING DIESEL CARS IN EU

Honda announced that it would stop selling diesel cars in Europe and shift focus to electric and hybrid models. Honda has a dedicated strategy for the European market which is to be the only region getting the new Honda Urban EV in 2020. The phasing out of diesel vehicles will be gradual and accomplished by 2021 when the new Honda Civic comes to market. Honda said it hopes that in 2025, two-thirds of its models sold in Europe will at least be plug-in hybrids as it electrifies all its model ranges. The head of Honda UK, the Japanese automakers biggest market in Europe said to AM Online that two mistakes made by the company over the past decade were pursuing small cars after the recession and not having an EV strategy leaving it without a “foot in the door.” He went further elaborating on the company’s hydrogen strategy, saying “Clearly, Honda thinks hydrogen, but I don’t think that’s going to happen until many, years away when we have genuine hydrogen cars available commercially that aren’t supported by manufacturers,” said Hodgetts. On the Honda Urban EV, he had the following to add, “They will be very expensive cars,” dampening the sales prospects of the city car.

The Swindon plant in the UK, which currently produces 1.6T diesel engines, will not be affected much and will continue to produce diesel engines that match the new CR-V for India, Thailand, and the Philippines confirming my suspicion that emerging markets will become the dumping ground for combustion vehicles.

 

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BYD TO SPLIT

In April 2018 we reported that BYD planned to split the company two carving out battery production from the auto business. At the time there were little further details on the plan. This week Bloomberg reported that the process can conclude by the end of 2022 with an IPO of the battery unit to allow it to raise funds to capitalize on the EV boom, citing BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu in an interview. BYD is also strategizing to establish EV plants in Europe and the USA over the next couple of years. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway now owns around 24% of the company. BYD is to increase its 24GWh capacity in 2018 produced at its Qinhai Nanchuan plant by adding a further 34GWh in two phases at its Chongqing Bishan plant by 2020. The company also has a JV with Changan which has a capacity target of 10GWh.

TOP A-EV NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 48 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – NISSAN WOES IMPACT LEAF e-PLUS LAUNCH

The Nissan Leaf e-Plus 60kWh was supposed to be unveiled on the 28th of November 2018. Nissan canceled the launch indefinitely due to the scandal surrounding its CEO and Chairman Ghosn which was arrested due to financial misconduct. Nissan gave no indication when the long-awaited extended drivetrain for the Leaf will be only saying that the company will wait for the scandal to blow over. Currently, the Nissan Leaf is only available with a 40kWh battery pack delivering a range of 243k (152 miles). The Leaf e-Plus with its 60kWh battery has an expected range of 362km (226 miles).

Ghosn-Nissan-Leaf-Top-5-ev-news-week-48-2018-wattev2buy

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEWLY UNVEILED EVs

Illinois based electric vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive digitally revealed its first electric vehicles, the R1T electric pick-up, andR1S electric SUV. The quad powered electric sports utility truck is available from 2020, first in a 400mile version and then 12 months later in a 250-mile version. The two range options are equipped with either a 180kWh or a 135kWh battery pack. The Rivian R1T EV pick-up is available for a refundable deposit of $1,000 and is priced from $61,500 after applying the federal tax incentive. The Rivian R1T EV has a wading depth of 3 feet and extra trunk space of 330L in a gear tunnel.

Top-5-EV-news-week-48-2018-Rivian-reveal-the-R1T-electric-pickup-price

Similar to the R1T electric pickup revealed a day earlier the quad powered electric sports utility vehicle is available from 2020, first in a 400mile version 250-mile version also following 12 months later. The Rivian R1S EV SUV is priced from $65,000 after applying the federal tax incentive. The Rivian R1T EV has a wading depth of 1 meter and extra trunk space of 330L where a combustion engine would have been. The rear bin storage is 180L, and the SUV has six rows of seats.

Top-5-EV-news-Rivian-S1T-EV-SUV-launch

KIA unveiled its long-awaited upgrade of the KIA Soul EV at the LA Auto Show. The 2020 KIA comes in a GT-line for the combustion drivetrain and X-Line for the electrified model. KIA doubled the size of the New KIA SOUL EV battery pack to 64kWh which will result in a doubling of the range to over 320km (200 miles). KIA did not provide range estimates as the car is still undergoing testing. The New KIA Soul EV also has an improved motor producing 150kW (200hp) and 395N.m(291 lb.ft) torque, up from 81kW (108hp) and 285N.m (210lb.ft) torque. On the design front, the New KIA SOUL EV MPV gets a rugged crossover-like theme for the X-Line. The KIA e-SOUL is available in the first half of 2019 in Europe and early 2020 in the USA.

Top-5-EV-news-Kia-new-sou-ev-launch

Audi unveiled the Audi Sport E-Tron GT coupe at the 2018 LA Auto Show. The e-tron GT is available from the end of 2020 and promises a range of over 400km (250miles) measured on the WLTP cycle. For complete specs, please go to the dedicated page on wattEV2buy here.

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Fiat announced that it would start producing the Fiat 500e at the FCA Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy. The upgrade version of the 500e is developed on the new small electric car platform developed by FCA. Newly appointed CEO Mike Manley said, “Mirafiori will represent the first installation of a full BEV platform applied on the new Fiat 500, capable of scaling to other applications worldwide. Additional investments across our Jeep, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat brands will realize the benefits of existing plant capacity as well as scale and sourcing efficiencies from a common vehicle architecture, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric propulsion (PHEV) system, while preserving traits unique to the brands.”

TOP EV NEWS #3 – GM EV STRATEGY SHIFT

Signs of Tesla’s transformation of the auto sector is emerging in boardrooms all over the globe and with its competitors all rehashing their EV strategies no seemingly every year GM announced this week that it would double its investment in electric and autonomous vehicles. The news came with the announcement that the Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac CT6 PHEV will be killed off by March 2019 as the company joins the direction taken by Ford earlier focusing on trucks, crossover and SUVs and not sedans. The restructuring and discontinuation of the Volt which has sold nearly 160,000 units to date will result in the closure of three assembly plants and two drivetrain factories leading to job losses amounting to 15,000 employees. The plants in question are:

  • Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
  • Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
  • Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
  • Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.

The announcement caused the ire of Donald Trump which promised to make American jobs his priority. Donald Trump’s actions seem to have the opposite effect as the world including America is now spiraling towards a recession and instead of his denialism of the impact of greenhouse gasses on the climate the world is rushing towards greener transport and energy sources. Trump threatened that he would take away GMs EV subsidies if they don’t plan to replace the lost capacity and build another car in the USA prompting the following reaction by GM stating their commitment to the US economy.

GM is committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S., as evidenced by our more than $22 billion investments in U.S. operations since 2009. Yesterday’s announcements support our ability to invest for future growth and position the company for long-term success and maintain and grow American jobs. Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employees to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM’s transformation also includes adding technical and engineering jobs to support the future of mobility, such as new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles.

We appreciate the actions this administration has taken on behalf of industry to improve the overall competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – BIG AUTO PUSHING EVs IN MAINSTREAM

Earlier the month VW Group CEO said that the company is geared to push EVs into the mainstream as the German automaker plans to produce 15 million electric vehicles on its mass-market MEB platform and take the fight to Tesla. Group CEO Herbert Diess said “We will be aggressive on the pricing. We will be much lower than Tesla, but we have all the huge economies of scale, and the car is specifically designed now.” The plan by VW to produce Evs in this kind of volumes makes it the first traditional automaker in the West to aggressively push the needle in favor of EVs. Up to now most EV strategies of traditional automakers mostly focussed on developing competencies and provide EVs in limited volumes not exceeding around 10% of their total sales. This month saw one of the last domino’s fall to push EVs into the mainstream as Toyota shifts away from Hydrogen cars, kicking and screaming. Toyota created a new subsidiary for its EV push and although the start-up seams insignificant with only four people from different branches of the Toyota group. The Japanese automaker stated that the small team would result in the accelerated development with fast-to-market products thanks to “unconventional work processes”. Comments by Toyota president Akio Toyoda saying that the start-up “will embrace speed in its approach to work” indicates that the company is fast changing tact to catch-up with its competitors to make up for time lost pursuing fuel cell cars. Toyota believed that consumers would prefer hydrogen which refueling rate compares with that of combustion vehicles but the lack of hydrogen fueling infrastructure means that FCEVs can’t compete with the adoption rate of EVs. VW is Toyota’s closest competitor in terms of volume, so the remarks by VW’s CEO certainly had an impact on Toyota’s desition related to EVs. VW CEO Scott Keogh told reporters this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show that the company is scouting for a location for a US plant to produce a mass-market EV by 2020. It is rumored that Toyota is working on a mass-market EV that will hit the market by 2020 with a range of 300km (186 miles). Speculation is that Toyota could use the Prius platform to save development time and produce an electric Aygo as a mass market city car.

Providing further clues of Toyota’s thinking comes from Toyota’s European President & CEO Johan van Zyl saying to the UK publication Auto Express, “We already have some electric vehicles undergoing trials here in Europe – short-range, inner-city transport. So I think that in the future, if you look at that spectrum of technologies that we offer, then EVs will be part of that.” He expanded further expanding on if the company’s city car could be a candidate for pure-electric power “Yes, that’s going to be very interesting. Will people use vehicles which will completely emissions-free in certain areas? We see a stronger growth of that type of thinking in cities where they’re saying, ‘We’d rather have emissions-free vehicles so it should be a plug-in or a pure-electric vehicle.’”

TOP EV NEWS #5 – PRODUCTION UPDATE

Chongqing Jinkang New Energy will start production of the SF Motors SF5 EV Crossover by the end of 2018 as the plant in Chongqing official came in operation this week. The first units of the line will be test cars with the expected list date of the SF5 is only in Q3 2019. Jinkang new Energy is in possession of a 50,000 annual unit permit for the production of electric vehicles from the Chinese Ministry of Information and Technology. The plant employees over 800 robots to automate the welding, stamping, painting and assemble assembly, transportation and loading processes in four workshops. The Jinkang plant also uses AGV robots with autonomous capabilities to identify and distribute parts within the plant. The production line can produce any type of vehicle form compact cars to luxury SUVs and is designed to quickly adjust between different model types. The official investment for the plant is ¥2.5 billion.

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Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automobile Co., Ltd. has entered into an agreement with the Jiangsu Changshu Economic and Technological Development Zone to build a new energy vehicle R&D center. The total investment of the project is ¥7 billion and will include an R&D  center to develop and testing electric vehicles and will include a test track. Chery JLR started the construction of its plant which currently produces combustion vehicles in 2014. The second phase of 70,000 units is to be completed by the end of 2018 bringing the total capacity of the plant to 200,000 units. The JLR EV strategy is to electrify its fleet by 2020 by producing all its models with fuel, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, and pure electric drivetrains.

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The new brand by CHJ Auto “LEADING IDEAL” entered into an agreement with the Chinese OEM Lifan to assemble its first EV, the Leading Ideal One range extended SUV at a new plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. The new plant will with a production capacity of 150,000 electric vehicles is to be completed by August 2019 and comes at a cost of ¥182million and covers 490,000m². The plant will produce only 5,000 units of the Leading Ideal One in 2019 and ramp up to 100,000 in 2020.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 47 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 47 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – INDIAN RIDE-HAILING CO TO BUILD OWN EV

I have highlighted previously that the advent of the EV drivetrain will lead to a multitude of new mobility solutions and developers as entrepreneurs such as the team of Open Motors find that electric drivetrains do not require the set architecture needed by combustion vehicles and are easier to assemble. Indian based ride-hailing company Ola, co-founded by its CEO Bhavish Aggarwal is said to showcase its concept electric vehicle solutions developed from a multi-modal EV project in Nagpur shown in the image below. The Ola concept EVs will include three and four-wheel vehicles designed according to the company’s requirements. Ola is not the first ride-hailing company to consider developing cars to its needs. It’s not just the large ride-hailing companies that are toying with the idea to build their own cars, even bike-hailing companies have partnered with EV start-ups to develop solutions together such as the Sitech DEV-1 which is a collaboration with the Chinese company Mobike.

With Ola’s business expanding to the UK, Europe and Australia the company certainly has the base to justify investment in building its own EVs. Ola’s mobility team under the stewardship of Anand Shah is apparently already in talks with electric vehicle component suppliers and manufacturers but no final decisions have been taken. Ola’s multi-modal project in Nagpur tested e-rickshaws, buses and electric cars in conjunction with each other covering over 5 million kilometers ((3.125 million miles).

Top-5-EV-news-Week-47-2018-wattev2buy-File-photo-of-Ola-CEO-Bhavish-Aggarwal

TOP EV NEWS #2  NEW ELECTRIC CARS

Rumors abound that Daimler will develop the smart EV SUV and that it will share the platform with Mercedes. The smart SUV EV could reach the market as early as 2019 and is said to maintain many of the features of the smart ForStars Concept shown here.

smart-suv-ev-pictures

Hyundai revealed its design study for the upcoming Brazilian-spec cars, the HB20 and HB20X. It is expected though that some of the design elements will also find its way to the Grand i10 and Elite i20, which are due in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Hyundai Saga EV Concept was revealed at the 2018 Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil and is developed using the Kona EV drivetrain.

Hyundai-Saga-Concept-EV-pictures

Jaguar Land Rover launched the new Range Rover Evoque this week. The Range Rover Evoque is currently available with a diesel or a four-cylinder petrol Hybrid. The 3-cylinder Range Rover Evoque Plug-in Hybrid EV will be released in 12 months as a 2020 model year vehicle. In related news, Jaguar plans to replace the 5.0T V8 powertrain resulting in the Jaguar F-Type getting a new electric model. At present, Jaguar is negotiating with BMW to replace its top-of-the-line powertrain to comply with tightening emission controls.

Faw official listed the Senia R7 EV400 SUV for sale this week. The Senia R7 EV is only available in one trim and retails at ¥179,800 before subsidies.

Subura set the pricing for the Subura Crosstrek plug-in electric SUV to be launched at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. The Subaru Crosstrek pr Subaru XV as known in the Asia Pacific will retail from $34,995. The Subaru Crosstrek plug-in hybrid drivetrain is the same THS system that the Toyota Prius is based on.

Weima announced that it would list the Weima EX6 in Q4 2019. The Weima EX6 Concept saw the light of day at the 2018 Beijing Auto China as a midsize SUV with a 2/2/2 seat configuration. The Weima EX6 will include the network security  “car guard” security system it is busy developing in co-operation with 360.

TOP EV NEWS #3 PRICE AND RELEASE DATE FOR MODEL 3 IN CHINA

Tesla set the pricing and release date for the Model 3 in China. The Model 3 will be available from April 2019 to the Chinese EV market. 

Tesla-Pricing-and-release-date-Model-3-in-China-Top-5-EV-news-Week-47-2018

Pricing for the Model Dual motor starts at ¥580,800 and the Performance version at ¥690,800. SEQ filing data showed earlier that Tesla intends to produce around 3,000 models at its new Shanghai plant at first.

Tesla is facing some headwinds in its second-biggest market with the release of locally produced EVs the NIO ES8 and the Marvel X while itself is being taxed with import duties as high as 40%. The NIO ES8 and Marvel X competes for customers with Tesla and has sold 8,000 units in the last couple of months. In light of the situation, Tesla also slashed prices on its Model S and Model X ranges by between 12% and 26% eating into its margin as it will absorb the cost internally.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – VOLVO DELAYS LYNK&CO PRODUCTION IN EU

Reuters reported that Geely Volvo decided to delay its plans to produce Lynk&Co models at its Ghent plant in Belgium. The decision does not seem to impact on the launch of Lynk&Co in Europe set for 2019 as the company will export models to Europe from China. The decision is based on macroeconomic uncertainty due to the ongoing trade war between the USA and China and the secondary slow down in created in its major market, China. The production plan set in March 2018 will now be altered to look as follows:

  • Q4 2018 – Production of its best-selling XC60 SUV destined for the USA to start Torslanda, Sweden instead of Chengdu, China as originally planned.

  • The S60 luxury sports sedan will now also be produced in China as opposed to just being manufactured in the USA as per the March 2018 plan.

  • The V60 Station wagon will now be produced at Ghent and in China and not in Sweden as planned.

Geely Volvo still plans to export the Lynk&Co series to the USA in 2020.

In related news, Volvo India announced that it will introduce four new electrified models in the country over the next three years. Volvo’s first electric vehicle for the Indian market is the XC90 which started selling earlier in 2018. Volvo India will assemble the XC90 plug-in hybrid electric SUV in Bengaluru from Q4 2019. Auto NDTV quoted Charles Frump, Managing Director, Volvo Car India, saying  “The localization of plug-in hybrids marks the future of electrification for us. Our customers are increasingly becoming aware about the rise in pollution levels and degrading environment. As a responsible luxury car company, we believe electrification is the future. However, till the time we have a supporting infrastructure, plug-in hybrids offer the intermediate solution.” We can, therefore, expect that the majority of the four EV models introduced over the next three years to be plug-in hybrids as Volvo wait for the charging infrastructure in India to justify the release of pure electric models.

TOP EV NEWS #5 LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR PLUG-IN EV RELEASE DATE

Speculation has been that the VW Group supercar maker will kick off its EV range in 2019 with a Plug-in electric Urus SUV based on the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid drivetrain. In an interview with Automotive News CEO of Lamborghini gave some insights into the VW Group company’s electrification strategy. Automotive News quoted Mr. Stefano Domenicali, saying “probably around 2021, with the Aventador replacement that will add a motor to its V12 engine.” He added that “the same will happen later also on the V-10 family when we replace the Huracan. A plug-in model is the only way to maintain performance and keep Lamborghini’s engine sound while also reducing emissions,” he concluded. Lamborghini settled on the Panamera drive-train after dabbling with the six-cylinder Bentayga PHEV. Mr. Domenicali also indicated that a fourth model could be introduced as a grand tourer to resuscitate the Espada after 2025.

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List of Electric Vehicles at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show

List of Electric Vehicles at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show

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List of Electric Vehicles at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show

The sixteenth edition of the Guangzhou Auto Show kicked off on the 16th of November 2016. Guangzhou is home to established brands such as GAC, named after the city and start-ups such as Thunder Power. Apart from the Beijing and Shanghai Auto Shows, the Guangzhou Auto show is one of the top 3 auto shows in China. Every year the electric vehicle component gets bigger and bigger, and the show is used by many brands to launch new models for the next calendar year. I have compiled a list of most of the electric cars at this year’s event. For detailed specs and further images, please click on the images of the EV which will link through to the dedicated page of that specific vehicle. Want to look back to last years event and see how the market has improved? For a list of EVs at the Guangzhou Auto Show 2017 go here. In this report, I will not dwell on international EVs such as the I-Pace and BMW i8 Roadster which were all present at this year’s show but primarily focus on local Chinese brands.

baic-bjev-arcfox-1

BAIC BJEV launched the upgraded edition of the Arcfox Lite first introduced at the end of 2017. Although I expected a lot from the Arcfox Lite only around 580 units have been sold to date. The new Lite is now available in a multi-color design allowing buyers to choose the color of the roof and an increased range exceeding 300km / 188miles (NEDC). The 2019 Arcfox Lite is also more efficient than the earlier model and has a slighter larger electric motor giving it a bump in its top speed. The 40kW max power electric motor provides a torque of 140N.m and provides a top speed of 120km/h (75mph). The energy efficiency is 12.1 kWh/100km and the battery pack consists of a 143 Wh/kg NCM battery.

baic-ex5-suv-ev

BAIC showed the production version of the BAIC BJEV EX5 EV SUV first introduced earlier the year in Beijing at this years Guangzhou Auto Show. The BAIC EX5 compact SUV is available January 2019 and has an NEDC range of 350km (219miles). The dynamically styled BAIC EX5 is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 160 kW and an NCM lithium battery pack.

BAIC-407-EV-LDV

BAIC first introduced the 407 electric LDV at the Beijing Auto Show, this time around the BAIC 407 light electric delivery vehicle comes back as a production-ready model with a sufficient range of 200km for daily city deliveries. The 43kWh battery of the 407 can be fast charged to 80% in 50 minutes. The cargo space of the BAIC 407 EV LDV is 4.5 cubic meters (159 cubic feet). The drivetrain consists of a front and rear electric motor propelling the vehicle to a top speed of 80km/h (50mph).

BYD-tang-phev-2018

BYD launched a 5 seat version of the best selling Tang DM 7-seater SUV. The BYD Tang DM 5-seater is available in two trims ranging in price from ¥254,900 to ¥274,900 after subsidies. The 5-seat Tang plug-in hybrid electric SUV has a 2.0T turbocharged petrol engine with a maximum power of 151kW and a peak torque of 320Nm. With the support of dual electric motors, the plug-in hybrid drivetrain has a maximum system power of more than 367kW and an acceleration time of only 4.5s from zero to 100km/h.

byd-song-max-phev

BYD officially unveiled the production version of the Song MAX DM MPV at this year’s event. The Song Max plug-in EV is based on the petrol version released late 2017. The Song MAX DM has a 1.5T turbocharged combustion engine and dual 110kW electric motors on the front and rear axels to deliver a maximum total system output of 333kW delivering a combined torque of 740Nm.

BYD-tang-ev

BYD unveiled a pure electric version of its best selling Tang plug-in SUV. The BYD Tang EV 500 is available for order at a post-subsidy price ranging from ¥260,000 to ¥360,000 depending on your configuration. The Tang EV500 is to be listed in December 2018 as a seven-seat SUV similar to the fuel version. The Tang EV has a range exceeding 500km (313miles) and can accelerate to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds

changan-niou-ii-ev

Changan opened its books for pre-orders of its new pure electric microcar, the Niou II EV. The Changan Niou II is available in three trims and priced after subsidy between ¥44,800 and ¥56,800. The Niou II A00 class EV has a length of 2770mm / 109.0 inches which can seat two people and travel 205km / 128 miles on the NEDC test cycle. The 21kWh battery can be fast charged to 80% in 30 minutes or fully charged in 8 hours using a 220V plug. The drivetrain of the Niou II EV consists of a 30kW max power electric motor and it can reach a top speed of 100km/h / 62mph.

Changan-eado-et-ev-

Changan unveiled the Changan Eado ET pure electric hatch which is based on the fuel version the Eado XT. The Eado ET is equipped with a 53kWh battery providing a range of over 400km / 250 miles. The drivetrain consists of an electric motor with a maximum power output of 100kW / 134hp.

Dongfeng-Yueda-KIA-KX3-EV-SUV

Dongfeng Yueda KIA showcased the KX3 EV SUV launched earlier this month. The KIA KX3 compact SUV is available in one trim only at an MSRP of ¥239,800 which is ¥147,300 after incentives. The KX3 EV is equipped with an electric motor which produces a maximum power of 81kW and has a battery electric range of 300km (188miles) on the NEDC cycle. From a design perspective, the KX3 is hardly different from the fuel version.

FAW-Senia-R7EV-SUV

FAW officially unveiled the Besturn X40 EV SUV with a range of 310km (194mils) on the NEDC test cycle. Based on the fuel version the Besturn X40 EV is identified through the blue edge elements in the front grille, front surround, rims, and interior. The body size of the battery electric X40 has also slightly different dimensions than the fuel version. The electric motor of the X40 EV is permanent magnet synchro type producing a maximum power of 140kW and maximum torque of 320N·m reaching a top speed of 160km/h (100 mph). The energy efficiency of the X40 EV is 16.7. kW.h/100km and is equipped with a 52.5kWh NCM lithium battery.

Wey-p8-GT-phev

The WEY P8 GT plug-in EV SUV unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show on the 16th of November 2018 is slightly larger than the WEY P8 PHEV. WEY have also changed the regenerative braking system on the WEY P8 GT from RBS to CRBS. The P8 GT is equipped with an IACC (Adaptive Cruise System that recognizes the current environment) system, a single-lane system, vehicle anti-collision warning system, and an emergency lane keeping system.

gwm-ora-iq5-ev

Great Wall Motor’s new EV brand ORA showcased the pure electric iQ5 SUV. The iQ5 EV is available in two trims ranging between ¥92,800 and ¥108,800 after subsidies. The high-end model received a range increase to 401km (251 miles) up from the initial 360km (225 miles). The first response to the iQ5 has been positive with nearly 1,500 sales in the first two months since its listing in September 2018.

ora-r1-concept-ev

The ORA brand of GWM plans to develop electric vehicles for its R and Q ranges based on its ME platform. The iQ above being the first and the R1 it’s second offering shortly after the launch of the brand in 2018. The release date for the ORA R1 is set for January 2019 with the company previously announcing the opening of pre-orders on the 16th of December. ORA set the post-subsidy price range for the ORA R1 at the Guangzhou Auto Show at ¥68,100 and ¥75,800 for the 310km and 350km versions. The ORA R1 is 10% lighter than its peers due to the use of modern lightweight materials, resulting in a curb weight of only 990kg allowing it to achieve ranges as far as 350km on a single charge. The ORA R1’s design is based on a long wheelbase and short body providing a large interior space.

GAC-Aion-S-EV

GAC unveiled its latest EV the Aion S compact electric sedan at this year’s show. The GAC Aion S EV, first known as the A26  is available from May 2019 and promises an NEDC range of over 500km (313miles). The Aion S has a wheelbase of 2732mm (107.0 inches). The Aion S employes Advanced Driving Assistance in the form of TJA traffic assist, ICA cruise assist, and APA automatic parking assist depending on the trim.

Hozon-neta-01-ev

Hozon New Energy launched its first electric vehicle at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show, the Neta 01. The Neta 01 is available in four trims namely the 380v, 380e, 380i and 380s. The manufacturers suggested retail price range between ¥126,800 to ¥136,800 which is ¥59,800 to ¥69,800 after national subsidies. The Neta 01 has a maximum power of 55kW and can accelerate from zero to 50km/h in just 4.9 seconds. The Neta 01 EV uses battery packs from CATL (35.5kWh) and Jiewei Power (36.21kWh) which provides a range of 302km (188 miles) on the NEDC cycle. The interior design is basic with a 10.1 LCD screen.

Hozon-eureka-01-ev | Hozon Neta 03 Ev

The Hozon Neta 03 is based on the Eureka 01 Concept EV and will be listed in the fourth quarter of 2019. Hozon bills the Neta 03 as a “boutique intelligent pure electric crossover SUV” due in part to its self-driving level of 2.5 according to the SAE scale. The Neta 03 has a battery electric driving range of over 400km (250 miles). The Neta 03 is dynamically styled and has a noticeable exaggerated front air intake. The cockpit layout is luxurious and centers around a 25-inch LCD screen and an 8-inch multi-function touchscreen. The AI drivers assistant is called “Little You”. The Advanced driving assistance offered by the Level 2.5 autonomous drive system includes 20 world-leading automatic driving systems such as APA one-button automatic parking, TJA traffic congestion assistance, AEB emergency braking, ACC full-speed adaptive cruise, etc. and is aided by 18 sensors and radars. A 4WD and 2WD version will be available with battery energy density of 160 and 180 Wh/kg, a maximum power of 200 and 250 kW and a maximum torque of 525 and 615 Nm. The 4WD model can accelerate to 100km in only 4.9s, while the two-drive version in 8.5 seconds.

Honda-Sport-EV-concept

Honda opened its books for pre-orders of its first EV in China, the Everus VE1 Sport EV which has an MSRP of ¥225,800 and sell for ¥168,800 after subsidies. The Honda VE1 Sport EV has an electric motor producing a maximum power of 120kW and can travel a distance of 340km (213miles) from its 54kWh battery pack. The Everus package includes a panoramic sunroof, LED headlights, rear camera, reversing radar, exterior mirrors with side turn signals and daytime running lights. The VE1’s rear taillight cover is blue to highlight its electric identity.

Han-Teng-Xiao-Xingfu-小幸福-Small-happiness

Han Teng officially unveiled the “Happiness” e+ EV at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show. The drivetrain of the e+ consist of a 42kW max power permanent magnet synchronous drive electric motor with a peak torque of 180N.m. The Han Teng e+ is available in two trims and a range of 300km. Unlike the Han Teng X5 and X7 which are reconfigured combustion vehicle, the Happiness e+ is the automakers first EV based on its electric platform.

Han-teng-x5-EV

Han Teng showcased the X5 EV which have sold around 1,300 units since it was first launched in May 2018. The Han Teng X5 compact electric SUV is available in two trims with an MSRP ranging between ¥189,800 and ¥199,800 and ¥109,800 to ¥119,800 after subsidy. The Han Teng X5 EV is based on the petrol version of the car but the appearance has a very obvious new energy style and is targeted at the younger buyer. The interior of the hexagonal grille features a dot matrix design with blue elements to accentuate its new energy characteristics. The interior of the EV adopts the same layout as the petrol version. The control area is decorated with wood-grain decorative panels, chrome trim strips and suspended LCD screens to enhance the overall feel of the vehicle. The drivetrain of the X5 EV consists of a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 95kW and a peak torque of 260Nm and a battery pack with a capacity of 129Ah.

jmc-e300-ev

The JMC New Energy sub-brand EVEasy unveiled its latest offering, the JMC E300 A0 class EV with an NEDC cycle range of 252km (158miles). The JMC E300 has a double waistline design and three color paintwork. The instrument panel uses a HUD display and the 8-inch central touchscreen displays other vehicle information.

luxgen u5 ev

The Taiwanese manufacturer unveiled its first compact electric SUV, the Luxgen Yulon U5 EV at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show. The Luxgen Yulon U5EV has an NEDC range of 320km (200miles) with energy consumption of 15.6 kWh/100km. The drivetrain of the U5 EV SUV consists of a 130kW electric motor propelling the compact SUV to a top speed of 150km/h (94mph).

nio-ES8-ev

NIO showed the NIO ES8 with six seat layout at this years Guangzhou Auto Show. The 6-seating NIO ES8 is available from the first half of 2019. Pre-orders for the NIO ES8 six-seater is open as the NIO ES8 founders-edition with a seven-seat configuration is sold out already. The difference between the two vehicles is mainly in the second row, which now seats only two, but maintain the Nappa leather styling. The ES8 is available in 7 body colors. The central control screen is divided into three layers. The leftmost page controls the window, door lock, and main and passenger driving functions. The middle page controls navigation, music and weather conditions. The rightmost page displays the vehicle status and Bluetooth. Connections, videos, etc. The Siri like NOMI system is activated in the same way, and by doing so, NOMI can decern between four voices and set the seating adjustment accordingly in the front and back.

qoros-q3

Qoros first unveiled the Qoros 3 EV in 2016 with the intent to bring it to market in 2017 but due to financial issues and a changing of shareholders such plans were delayed. This week Qoros finally officially unveiled a production-ready model, the Qoros 3 EV500, and is based on the fuel version of the model, with a cruising range of 450km at a 60km/h constant speed. Qoros plans to launch between one and two electric vehicles per year from 2019.

qiantu-k50-event

Qiantu showcased the K50  pure electric sports car at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The K50 can accelerate to 100km/h in 4.6 sec and get 380km / 238mile out of its 79kWh NCM battery which equates to an energy consumption of 19.9kWh per 100km. The K50 production version is much longer than the concept introduced in 2016. The body is entirely made of a modern composite material, which consists of an all-aluminum frame and a carbon fiber shell and only weighs 234kg. The interior of the Qiantu K50 is equipped with 15.6-inch central control and floating LCD instrument panel. The car features a “V2V vehicle communication” system which connects with other Qiantu models in a specific range, allowing for Advanced Driving Assistance functionalities, such as front collision warning, emergency braking warning, traffic congestion warning, and lane change, etc.

vw-passat-gte

VW and its Chinese JV partner SAIC launched the VW Passat 430 PHEV on the 31st of October 2018 and showcased it at this year’s event in Guangzhou. The Passat 430 plug-in model is available in two trims from an available nine including the fuel versions. The MSRP for the SAIC VW Passat 430 PHEV is between ¥249,900 and ¥259,900. The Passat 430 plug-in electric sedan has a total system output of 155kW and maximum torque of 400N.m allowing it to accelerate to 100km/h in 7.8 seconds. The Chinese version of the Passat GTE has a battery electric range of 63km (40miles)and extended range of 1043km (652miles).

SAIC-MG-EZS-EV

SAIC MG unveiled the pure electric version of the MG ZS compact SUV. The MG ZS EV has a range of 428km (268 miles) on the NEDC test cycle and is equipped with a drive train powered by an electric motor with a maximum power of 110kW. From a design standpoint, the only noticeable differences from the combustion version are the letter “E” denoting its electric status and having a ground clearance of 4mm less than the ZS. Internally the most obvious difference is the knob shifting mode.

SAIC-Roewe-MarvelX-EV

SAIC Showcased the Marvel X which have sold around 1200 units since its launch in August this year. The SAIC Roewe MARVEL X share design elements with the Roewe Vision-E Concept car and is available in an all-wheel and rear wheel drive version. The Marvel X AWD has three electric motors and accelerates to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds while the rear-wheel drive only in 7.9 seconds. The drivetrain of the Marvel X rear wheel drive is equipped with a dual motor providing a maximum power of 137kW and peak torque of 400N.m. The Marvel X AWD generates 222kW maximum power and delivers a peak torque of 665N·m.

Boajun-E200-EV

The SAIC/GM JV officially launched its new micro EV the Baojun E200 at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show. The Baojun E200 EV is available in two trims with an MSRP range of ¥108,000 to ¥118,000 and a post-subsidy price range of ¥49,800 to ¥59,800. The Baojun E200’s predecessor was once the cheapest EV in China but the title now goes to the Changan Niou II listed above. The Baojun E200 is available in five body color schemes and provides ample storage with eleven different compartments.

Toyota-levin-phev

FAW Toyota opened its books to pre-orders for the Toyota Corolla Twin Engine E+ plug-in electric car, or Levin PHEV as it is better known in North America. The Toyota Corolla PHEV is equipped with a 10kWh battery from Panasonic and delivers a range of 55km / 34 miles. The Toyota Corolla E+ with is combined fuel consumption of 1.3L/100km is available from March 2019.

xpeng-identity-x

Xpeng used the opportunity to showcase its much talked about G3 EV SUV in its home province. The Xpeng G3 EV SUV is available is currently on pre-order with the first delivery expected in December, the official listing is scheduled for the 12th of December. The Xpeng G3 is released in three versions with an MSRP range of ¥200,000 to ¥280,000. The design of the G3 includes a noticeable black canopy with oversized panoramic sun-roof. The interior is modern and luxurious, offering heated seating with six electronically adjustable settings for the driver and four on the passenger side. The G3 EV is packed with technology, and its Advanced Driving Assitance offers adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane centering assistance (LCS), adaptive cornering cruise (ATC), automatic speed limit adjustment, and automatic lane change assist to list a few. The intelligent vehicle system of the includes OTA upgrade and a 360-degree roof camera on the executive version.

zotye z500 ev

Zotye launched the Z500 Pro EV sedan in two models with an MSRP ranging between ¥199,900 and ¥211,900 with a post-subsidy price range of ¥113,900 to ¥125,900. Zotye gave the 2019 Z500 EV version a facelift and power upgrade. The Zotye Z500 EV has the latest matrix-design grill and a new style of rim. The interior of the Zoty Z500 sports a leather steering wheel and 12-inch LCD central control screen. The battery pack allows for an NEDC range of 330km/206miles and can fast charge within 30 minutes to 80% while operating in an environment of -30 ° C to 50 ° C.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 46 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 46 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – ZOTYE GOES WEST

Following in the footsteps of Kandi, Ford‘s Chinese JV partner started with the process to enter the US auto market. Zotye partnered with HAAH Automotive, a company specializing in the development of sales networks for foreign brands since 2014. The distributor Zotye USA recruited ex Hyundai America sales executive Bob Pradzinski as senior vice president of sales. It is not clear which vehicle Zotye will debut with and if it will have an electric drivetrain. Speculation is that it will start with the Audi Q5 like T600 compact crossover by either late 2019 or 2020. The T600 is not currently available with an electric drivetrain and retails for around $12,000 in China. Zotye partnered with HAAH Automotive, a company specializing in the development of sales networks for foreign brands since 2014. Earlier this year Kandi announced that it will bring its K22 and EX3 EVs to the USA through its subsidiary Sportmans Country. The Kandi models qualified for the full $7500 IRS tax credit. The Kandi EX3 has a rated speed of 75 mph speed and a 188-mile range. Other Chinese auto brands such as GAC also has ambitions to come to the USA but such ambitions are made difficult with the current trade war between the two countries. Duke Hale, owner of HAAH Automotive was quoted by Automotive News China saying “Even if the tariffs go forward, it won’t stop our deal.” Mr. Hale also said, “We’re looking at different ways to do business, as opposed to the old brick-and-mortar approach,” providing some insight on its distribution plans.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – CHINESE EV SALES FOR OCTOBER

Chinese lite vehicle sales take a nosedive with imported brands leading the fall, well that is for combustion vehicles. Brands such as Ford which had no defined electric car strategy sales dropped as much as 40% over the last couple of months. Sure the trade war and slowing economy is a factor but EV sales in China stood at 124,000 in October, while lite-vehicle sales declined for the fourth consecutive month as it dipped below 2.05 million units, 13% lower than October 2017. Electric vehicle sales now account for 6.1% of passenger car sales in a slowing auto market in China where new vehicle stock now average 56 days, nearly two months on the dealership floor. It is expected that auto brands will dump more cars before year-end to achieve annual targets. It is going to be interesting how these year-end promotions will impact the sales of electric vehicles.

Split-EV-sales-China-2018-top-5-ev-news-week-46-2018

From the chart above, showing sales patterns for the various vehicle classes it is clear Chinese city dwellers have a preference for A0 and A00 class micro and compact cars. The EV sales reported here is excluding of so-called “low-speed” electric vehicles, or neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV’s). Although not specifically covered by wattEV2buy the NEV market in China consists of over 100 manufacturers with an annual capacity of around one million vehicles. I have reported over the last couple of months how NEV manufacturers such as YGM is transitioning from NEV manufacturing to producing compact highway-legal electric cars. For YGM which was acquired by GAC for its EV credits the strategy paid of as the Chinese Government this week announced that it is cracking down on the NEV sector, halting approvals for any further plant capacity and authorizing the buyback of such vehicles in an effort to phase them out. Electric three-wheelers and NEV equipped with obsolete drivetrains are the cause of over 800,000 accidents resulting in 18,000 deaths over the past five years. The crackdown will certainly add further support for A00 and A0 class EVs in China in the coming months.

If you require and more in-depth analysis of October’s EV sales, you can purchase our monthly report here.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – GUANGZHOU AUTO SHOW

The Guangzhou Auto Show kicked off this week and as expected were jam-packed with electric vehicles which are the new normal in China and way ahead with EV offerings compared to similar events in the West. I have updated all the relevant models with the specs and prices on the dedicated pages on the website and will for ease list them here to get a good overview of most of the models presented there. Some of the models have been introduced as concepts at the Beijing Auto Show with their production versions going on pre-order or even listed at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The show was also used to showcased improved versions of existing EV models as many companies updated A0 class vehicles to a 300km (188 miles) range and sedan’s to over 500km (312 miles). Here is a list of some of the electric vehicles showed at the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show:

BAIC | Updated Arcfox Lite, BAIC 407 EV LDV

BMW | BMW i8 Roadster

BYD | Tang EV | Tang PHEV 5 seater | BYD SONG Max DM

Changhan | Changhan Niou II

Dongfeng Yueda KIA KX3 EV

FAW | Besturn X40 SUV

GAC | GAC Aion S (aka A26)

GWM – WEY P8 GT

GWM – ORA R1 | ORA iQ5

Hozon | Neta 01 | Neta 03

Honda | Everus VE1

Han Teng | Han Teng e+ ” happiness”

JMC | JMC E300

Luxgen |  Luxgen U5+ EV

Qoros | Qoros 3 EV

Zotye | Zotye Z500 | E200 Pro

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW AND UPDATED EV MODELS

BMW unveiled the specifications of the 2019 BMW 330e iPerformance. The 2019 BMW 300e model is available from the summer of 2019 and boast a 50% increase in range and reduced emissions by 10%. The BMW 300e plug-in hybrid offers a range of 60km (38miles) from a 12kWh battery. The performance of the BMW 330e sedan is also enhanced through XtraBoost which further increases drive output on a temporary basis to as much as 30 kW/41 hp. For the full specs go here.

Top-5-EV-news-week-46-2018-Bmw-330e-specs

KIA announced that the Kia e-Soul would be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show on the 30th of November 2018. The next generation of KIA electric car will be available from 2019 in Europe and the following year in the USA. KIA teased an image of the rear of the e-Soul EV in anticipation of its launch. KIA also released the specifications of the 2019 KIA SOUL EV. Unfortunately, the 2019 KIA SOUL EV kept its 30kWh battery and 111mile range.

KIA eSoul image teased wattEV2buy Top 5 EV news week 46 2018

Mercedes‑Benz delivered the first series production model of its eCitaro City Bus to the Hamburg public transport company, Hochbahn AG in Hamburg. The total Hochbahn AG order of 20 eCitaro buses is the largest so far since the world premiere of the City bus at the IAA in September 2018. 2020 Hamburger Hochbahn AG which operates a fleet of 1000 buses will electrify its entire fleet by 2020. The eCitaro has a modular battery system, allowing operators to choose buses for different ranges. The total capacity of the battery system is 243kWh.

Top-5-EV-news-week-46-2018-Mercedes-eCitaro-bus-delvivered

TOP EV NEWS #5 – VW SECURES BATTERY SUPPLY

Volkswagen Group EV strategy, Roadmap E, will see the company German auto group bring 50 electric vehicles to market by 2025, which requires battery supply equivalent to four “Gigafactories”. Securing the battery supply in major markets has been a key factor for the success of the company’s EV strategy as it competes with other big companies and their battery demand. This week VW contracted with the South Korean battery cell manufacturer SK Innovations to supply part of 150GWh required annually by VW. SK Innovations will join LG Chame and Samsung as suppliers to Volkswagens European plants and be responsible for supply in North America from 2022. Volkswagens Chinese requirements will be met by the Chinese supplier, CATL.

TOP A-EV NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

Brian Wolf, the Director, Business Development, Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC wrote in a Medium post that the company is teaming up with Walmart and Postmates to test the commercial application of its self-driving technology through a pilot project in Miami Dae-County, Florida, USA.. Mr Wolf wrote “Through this collaboration, we are exploring how self-driving vehicles can deliver many everyday goods such as groceries, diapers, pet food and personal care items. Enabled by Postmates delivery as a service, we were able to quickly set up a pilot program that explores how our self-driving vehicles can complement Walmart’s existing delivery offerings.” Ford aims to get ahead of the curve on autonomous driving after falling behind in the EV race. The company aims to become more a mobility company than a motor manufacturer in the future.

Ford-Walmart-Postmates-team-up-Top-5-EV-news-week-46-2018-

Daimler and Bosch recently announced that it will pilot an autonomous ride-hailing service, similar to that of Waymo in Phoenix Arizona. The two German companies which are both permitted to test autonomous vehicles in California revealed that the pilot project will be geo-located in San Jose, south of Silicone Valley. The two companies will test level 4 and 5 autonomous drive systems in the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor between downtown and west San José.

Top-5-EV-news-week-46-2018-Daimler-and-Bosch-self-drive-program-san-jose

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – TESLA COMPETITORS LOOKING AHEAD

A famous saying from my trading days was “the bus waits for nobody.” This week we saw Tesla‘s market cap exceed that of BMW as investors ditched the German automaker as punishment for losing sales to Tesla (remember the charts of all manufacturers I posted in Week 31? Don’t say you have not been warned!). The EV bus has left the station and many automakers are left scrambling to catch up. Seeing the impact of the Model 3 on sales some are now looking ahead at what the launch of the Model Y crossover will do to their sales. Bloomberg reported this week that VW could be adding a subcompact crossover to its EV line-up which can cost as little as €18k ($21k). According to the report the plans for the subcompact EV crossover still needed to be approved by the supervisory board, but it seems the that the company plans to produce 200,000 units of the car at the Emden plant in Germany.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – BYD EV STRATEGY

BYD will launch the pure electric version of the best selling Tang plug-in SUV, a smaller five-seat version of the TANG PHEV and the plug-in BYD SONG MAX. BYD has been on a full-out assault to be the leader in the electric car sector in China. BYD announced that the reduction EV subsidies, especially on plug-in hybrids, has impacted on its bottom line and that its full-year earnings are to drop by a third. BYD also announced a change in its strategy whereby the company will focus more on pure electric vehicles. The “e” series will deviate from the current “Dynasty” line-up which consists of the Tang, Yuan, Qin, and Song models. The “e” series will consist of 8 EV models named the BYD S2, S3, S5, e1, e2, e3, e5, and e6.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW MODELS UNVEILED AND LISTED

There is much excitement ahead of the Guangzhou Auto Show which starts this coming week, and we expect even more electric cars at this year’s event than in 2017. I will publish a complete list next week of all the cars launched during the event. Some Chinese EV manufacturers will be using the 2018 Guangzhou Auto Show to launch new models that will be on sale by the end of 2018 or early 2019. You can look forward to the launch of various EVs including the LUXGEN U5, SAIC MG EZS, GAC A26, BAIC EX3, Zotye Z500 Pro, Zotye TE450 SUV, Zotye E200 Pro, YUEDA KIA K3, JMC E300, Changan Eado XT.

Chery launched the Arrizo 5e EV450 sedan this week. At a post-subsidy price of ¥109,800 for the upgraded Arrizo 5e 450 buyers get over 400km (259 miles).

The Citroen JV brand Dongfeng Fukang listed its first EV this week. The Dongfeng Fukang ES500 is available in two trims ranging in price from 13.86 to14.86 million yuan after subsidy. The ES500 is a compact sedan with a maximum power of 90kW, top speed of 150km/h and a cruising range of 351km. Dongfeng Fukang provides three years of free charging and battery warranty of 8 years or 500,000 kilometers.

dongfeng es500 price aunch Top 5 EV news week 45 2018

VW listed the Passat PHEV this week in China. The Chinese version’s specifications differ from the model currently on sales in Europe. The Chinese Passat plug-in has a larger battery providing a longer range of 63km (40 miles).

Passat-PHEV-china-top-5-ev-news-week-45-2018

The start-up Dearcc listed the upgraded version of the E10 EV first launched in 2017. The upgraded model is named the Dearcc E10 Pro 300 EV with a range of 270km (168miles) on the NEDC cycle. Dearcc’s new brand Enovate also unveiled its first EV due 2019, the ENOVATE ME7 EV SUV.

Dearcc-Enovate-ME7-ev-suv-pictures

EV start-up Thunder Power officially announced the specification of the production version of Thunder Power TP488C first introduced in 2016. The pure electric sedan is currently named the TPEV and is expected in 2019 first as a limited edition with a range of 650km (406 miles) from a 110kWh battery pack consisting of 21700 cylindrical cells. The TPEV is constructed from lightweight aluminum alloy in a  ratio of aluminum alloy/high-strength steel and carbon fiber of 95% and 5% giving the car a total weight of only 1900-1950kg. The electric motors on the front and rear axle provide a combined maximum power of 430kW and can accelerate to 100km/h in only 3.2 seconds.

Thunder-Power-TPEV-Top-5-EV-News-Week-45-2018

FAW Toyota hosted an information session on its upcoming Levin plug-in hybrid or as it is named in China the Corolla Twin Engine E+. The Corolla PHEV is expected in March 2019 and will kick-start the electrification strategy of Toyota in the country. Toyota will launch a pure electric version of the Toyota C-HR in 2020. According to Toyota hybrid models will contribute to 50% of its 5.5 million sales target in China by 2030. In addition EV (pure electric) and FCV (hydrogen fuel cell) models will make up 10% or 1 million units in 2030. The battery pack behind the rear passenger seats for the first generation Corolla Twin Engine E+  will only support 220V/16A Level 2 charging which will fill the battery in about 2 hours.

Corolla-Twin-Engine-E- PHEV drivetrain

TOP EV NEWS #4 – BENTLEY CHARTS A PURE ELECTRIC COURSE

The new CEO of Bentley wants a more aggressive electrification plan. Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark told Reuters that he wants Bentley cars to be more environmentally-friendly and presented a strategy to achieve this to the board earlier the year. Bentley which is a Volkswagen company since 2012 will be developed on the Audi/Porsche platform which is also the backbone of the new Porsche Taycan electric car.

On the presentation, Mr. Hallmark told Reuters, “It was taking stock of all the models, all the powertrains, all the future technologies that we needed to invest in and re-cut the plan to be more electrified than we were.” He went further indicating that the first electric Bentley will be here before 2025 but did not indicate which type of vehicle it will be.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – CHINA CRACKS THE WHIP ON AUTOMAKERS

In Week 36 I reported that the Chinese Government was looking to introduce curbs to the auto sector. The rules aimed not only to curb new investment in combustion capacity but also pull in the reigns of rampant EV investment. Automakers will now have to comply with certain conditions which will look at their financial viability and EV strategy. This week saw the first results of the implementation of the rules as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology put 27 auto manufacturers on notice whereby their ability to produce EVs would likely be revoked. The list included passenger vehicle manufacturers such as Brilliance Auto, Hafei Automobile and Changan Peugeot Citroen, and Wanxiang Group which also produce the Karma Revero in the USA. (Please note the rules only apply to production in China.) According to the notice the companies on the list needed to be vetted before they can produce EVs. The automakers listed also stand to loose qualifying for tax exemption on their EVs.

TOP A-EV NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

At the recent Baidu World Congress held on November 1, 2018, Baidu and Chinese state-owned carmaker FAW unveiled the Red Flag E-Boundary level 4 autonomous electric car. The Red Flag E-Boundary is based on the E-HS3 by the luxury brand Hongqi. The E-Boundary will be launched in small batches in 2019 followed by mass production in 2020. Chairman of FAW Dr. Xu Liuping said at the conference, “Last month we released the red flag technology brand ‘阩旗计划’ R.Flag with its branded autonomous system i.RFlag.

Baidu-red-Flag-E-Boundary-Autonomous-EV-Top-5-EV-news-Week-45-2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – BMW GEARS BATTERY PRODUCTION FOR MINI EV

BMW Group is remodeling the Dingolfing plant 02.20 which has produced batteries and electric motors for BMW plug-in hybrid models since 2015 to ready itself for higher future demand for electric drivetrains, starting with the Mini EV in late 2019. According to BMW, a mid-double-digit-million-euro amount will be channeled into structural measures and equipment to produce batteries for the all-electric MINI alone. The battery manufacturing and assembly line covers an area of around 6,000 square meters in the west wing of the Dingolfing component plant and currently employee over 300 people.

Roland Maurer, head of Planning and Production E-Powertrain at the BMW Group said: “With the launch of new models and growing demand for electrified vehicles, we will be stepping up production of electric components significantly over the next few months and years.”

The fully electric MINI will be built in Oxford in the south of England, starting in late 2019. Batteries for the car will come from the new battery production facility in Dingolfing, with electric engines from the neighboring BMW Group Plant in Landshut. From 2020, the plant will also produce fifth-generation electric drive systems for the BMW iX3, the BMW i4, and the BMW iNEXT.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – POTENTIAL BYTON IPO IN THE WORKS

Investors looking for opportunities to invest in pure EV producers such as Tesla and NIO can now look forward to more choice. The German news publication Automobilwoche quoted Carsten Breitfeld, Chinese EV startup Byton’s co-founder and CEO who indicated that the company could explore an IPO to broaden its capital base.

Breitfeld told the publication, “With the capital-intensive nature of business and our expansion, the topic of listing on the stock market will become relevant.”

Byton has designs to enter the US market and showcased its concept M-Byte SUV there earlier the year. Byton previously announced a successful $500 million Series B funding round partly subscribed by Chinese state-owned FAW and the battery maker CATL. Other than its peer NIO, who contracted JAC to manufacture its electric cars, Byton acquired struggling subsidiary of FAW to gain access to a manufacturing license. Byton acquired Tianjin Huali Automobile Co. for 1 yuan ($0.15) and took responsibility for the company’s outstanding debt totaling 800 million yuan, which must be retired before the end of September 2019.

Byton-Top-5-EV-news-week-44-2108

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW LISTINGS AND UNVEILS

The Chinese EV start-up NEVS which acquired the SAAB 9-3 technology opened its books for the pre-ordering of the long-awaited revival of the SAAB 9-3 Aero Concept in the form of the NEVS 9-3. Pricing starts at 169,800 yuan should a buyer qualify for the maximum EV subsidy in his/her home city. Pre-orders range 600 yuan to  2,000 yuan for different privileges. The NEVS 9-3 battery pack is supplied by CATL, and the electric motors produce a maximum power of 130kW and a peak torque of 280Nm.

NEVS-9-3-pre-order-top-5-ev-news-week-44-2018

SOUEAST released an upgraded version of its DX3 compact SUV. The Soueast DX3 400 follows the DX3 300 EV SUV and has an improved range of 351km (219 miles) on the NEDC cycle from a battery pack that is 7kWh larger than the one used in the DX3 300. For more specs click here.

JMC unveiled the Jianling New Energy JMEV E300 EV with its 251km (157miles) and the JMC T500EV Pickup with its 320km (200miles) range.

JMC-e300-pictures

Jiangsu Min’an, one of the first producers to qualify for an EV manufacturing permit in China, unveiled its SUV with the designation A2001. The Min’an A1002 is expected to be listed by the end of 2019 or early 2020. No technical specifications on the A2001 are currently available,

Min-An-A2001-SUV-EV-pictures

The Spanish automaker Hispano Suiza teased an image of its EV supercar that it will unveil during the Geneva Auto Show in March 2019.

Hispano-Suiza

TOP EV NEWS #4 – HYUNDAI GOES SOLAR

The Hyundai Motor Group announced this week that it plans to introduce solar charging technology on selected Hyundai and KIA vehicles. The solar panels will be incorporated into the roof or the hood of all its powertrains including internal combustion vehicles reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency and range.

Hyundai is developing three solar roof solutions:

  •  First-generation silicon solar roof system – includes a structure of mass-produced silicon solar panels that are mounted on an ordinary roof is developed for Hybrid models and charge 30 to 60% of the battery per day, weather permitting.
  • The second-generation semi-transparent solar roof system is applied as a panoramic sunroof on combustion vehicles or electric vehicles.
  • Third-generation lightweight solar-lid on the vehicle’s body is currently in a pilot phase and includes a structure that mounts solar panels on a bonnet and roof of a car to maximize energy output.

The panels consist of a controller with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) which controls the voltage and current to increase the efficiency of the panel. The 100W solar panel produces 100Wh of energy per hour.

 

Hyundai-goes-solar-Top-5-EV-news-week-44-20181

TOP EV NEWS #5 – TOYOTA MR2 RESURRECTION

Toyota has not been able to clearly define its EV strategy as the Japanese automaker sticks to a largely hydrogen based strategy. Autocar UK reported that the company’s European vice president of sales and marketing Matt Harrison said at the Paris Auto Show earlier this month that the company is in the discussion stage of resurrecting the MR2 as an electric model. The MR2 was a popular mid-engined roadster from 1984 to 2007. According to Autocar, the electric MR2 could be next to a charging station by early in the next decade.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-44-2018-Toyota-MR2-electric

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 43 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – VOLVO INVEST IN EV CHARGING START-UP

Volvo reinforced its commitment to supporting the widespread transition to the electrification of the automobile through an investment in San Francisco based FreeWire. FreeWire’s EV charging technology aims to solve the problem of fast charging stations being cost and labor intensive. FreeWire’s Mobi Charger can plug into a wall outlet and charge up to 10 cars a day, alleviating the need to uproot or upgrade the power infrastructure of any facility, so there is no need for permitting. The Mobi Charger is compatible with any electric vehicle. Choose the Mobi Charger to fit your EV drivers’ preferred charging speed. If preferences change, just plug in a different Mobi. The Mobi Charger allows corporates to deploy fast chargers for their fleets or staff easily and cost-effectively. Through taking advantage of Time of Use utility rates a company can load the charger in offpeak periods and dispatch the power at that rate any time of day. FreeWire is currently working on a 120kW DC Fast Charging Mobi unit which can charge 480miles in an hour.Top 5 EV NEws Stories Week 43 2018

TOP EV NEWS #2 – DYSON EV STRATEGY SHIFTS GEARS

After months of speculation on where Dyson will establish its EV plant for its £2.5bn bet on developing an electric car, the manufacturer of electric household appliances announced in an internal memo that it chose Singapore. Dyson engaged with authorities in the UK, China, Malaysia, and Singapore in its decision-making process but the sovereign city-state in South East Asia was chosen due to its proximity to “high-growth markets.” Dyson looked at factors such as supply chains, access to markets and the availability of skilled labor. Dyson CEO, Jim Rowan, told staff that the company was making excellent progress on developing the car. “Clearly we now need to move quickly towards manufacturing and assembly,” he said in the memo. Dyson’s EV plant will be completed in 2020, allowing for the launch of Dyson’s first electric vehicle in 2021.

Dyson-factory-singapore-Top-5-EV-news-week-43-2018

TOP EV NEWS #3 – EV MODELS LAUNCHED THIS WEEK

Tesla surprised the market last week Friday with the launch of a new unscheduled mid-range version of the Model 3. Within less than a week, Tesla made some changes though in the pricing structure of the Model 3 midrange and increased the 260 mile EVs price from $45,000 before incentives to $46,000. At the same time, the company reduced the dual motor price to $53,000.

The Great Wall Motors new EV brand ORA made its second electric car the R1 A0 class compact available on pre-order this week. The ORA R1 EV is available online on TMALL for a ¥99 refundable deposit. The ORA R1 EV is expected to be available from January 2019 and final pricing and specifications will be announced on the 18th of December 2018. The R1 has a range of 310km (194miles) and accelerates to 100km/h (62mph) in 20 seconds. For more of the ORA R1 EV specifications click here.

Ora-R1-pre-order-top-5-ev-news-week-43-2018-wattev2buy

The Dongfeng KIA JV, Yueda KIA, launched its first pure electric EV this week, following the K5 PHEV listed earlier the year. The Yueda KIA KX3 compact SUV is based on the 2019 fuel version of the same series with the noticeable difference of the closed grill, which gives it the same look as the KIA NIRO EV (on the right in the image below). The Yueda KIA KX3 has a range of 300km (188 miles) on the NEDC cycle and is propelled by an 81kW electric motor. For more of the YUEDA KIA KX3 EV specifications click here.

Top-5-EV-news-week-43-2018-Dongfeng-Yueda-kia-launch

The Lifan 820EV sedan, based on the combustion version, was launched earlier this week and priced from ¥256,800 to ¥279,800 before subsidy in four trims. The Lifan 820EV has a range of 330km (206 miles) from its 60kWh battery. The 820EV is not particularly well endowed for its size, equipped with a 60kW (81hp) electric motor it can only reach a top speed of 130km/h (81mph). A higher powered version of the car is to be released later with a range of 400km (250 miles) and equipped with a 100kW (134hp) electric motor delivering a top speed of 150km/h (94mph).

Hozon listed the Neta N01, its first production EV this week. The Neta N01 is available in three trims, the 380e, 380i and 380s at post-subsidy prices that range between ¥60,000 and ¥75,000. The most significant differentiating factor between the base model and 380i and 380s is that the base has a 3,3kW onboard charger while the other two a 6.6kW charger, allowing them to fully charge in 8 hours as compared to 14 hours.

Neta-N01-EV-listed-top-5-ev-news-week-43-2018

XPENG is to launch the XPENG G3 at the Guangzhou Auto Show held from the 16th of November 2018 for delivery by the end of the year. The G3 is now available on pre-order for a non-refundable ¥10,000. Not only will pre-ordering clients receive priority delivery XPENG will also unlock some exclusive privileges such as free charging for four years or 100,000km (62,000 miles) at any one of the EV start-up’s 1,000 fast charging stations or 100,000 third party charging points, lifetime warranty and a personalized commemorative logo. For more of the XPENG G3 EV SUV specifications click here.

Xpeng-G3-Guangzhou-launch-wattev2buy-top5-ev-news-week-43-2018

TOP EV NEWS #4 – TESLA KILLS THE TESLA KILLERS

In 2017 Tesla sold around 9% of all the electric vehicles sold that year, in the first nine months of 2018 Tesla now contributes to over 13% of all sales when looking at EV sales for the top 10 EV countries (pure and plug-in electric combined). Tesla now profitably sells electric vehicles, a feat yet to be achieved by any of its Western competitors and most of those in China. Another interesting fact is that so far this year Tesla sold more pure electric vehicles than its German, French, Japanese and South Korean competitors put together and 65% more than its closest competitor, BAIC.

In filings submitted to the Chinese authorities this week, it has emerged that Tesla plans to produce the Model 3 and Model Y at its 250,000 per annum capacity plant in Shanghai from 2020. If one would consider that Tesla produced nearly a 1,000 EVs per day in the last quarter the company is comfortably on its way to produce 750,000 electric vehicles per annum by the start of the next decade. No other auto manufacturer can make that claim. Most automakers don’t even plan to produce close to 750,000 EVs. Volkswagen, which has an aggressive EV strategy plans to produce 100,000 EVs in Europe and 300,000 in China by 2020 making it the closest rival, but they will not be profitable in doing so for some years.

This week Tesla posted a surprise larger than expected Q3 net income of $311.5 million and Revenue of $6.82 billion and announced that it expects to continue the trend going forward except in periods where it pays down its debt. Tesla’s share price closed 26% higher for the week at $330.90 on the back of it achieving adjusted earnings of $2.90 a share while the market expected a loss of 19 cents per share on Revenue of $6.33 billion. (Q3 2017 Revenue $2.362Bln loss of $619.4 million, or $3.70 per share. Q2 2018 Revenue of $4 billion).

The media, competitors and the general public like to label many new EVs as potential Tesla killers. One of these is the NIO ES8. NIO which currently trades around 30% down from its high after its IPO earlier this year this week announced that its sold 3,268 NIO ES8s in Q3 2018 and is on track to deliver 10,000 units in 2018. The main reason why NIO is labeled a Tesla killer is that it competes in Tesla’s second-biggest market, China, where Tesla is burdened with high import taxes. NIO does not produce its own EVs, but production is done by JAC at a specially developed plant in Hefei for at least the next five years. In February this year, NIO budgeted to lose nearly a billion dollars in its first year of operations. NIO is also experiencing other teething problems which put it in its infant shoes when compared to Tesla, such as customers complaining of charging problems and that the NIO ES8 doesn’t live up to its promised range.

A self-labeled Tesla killer is Faraday Future‘s FF91, well that is if the car can get off the production line. This week Faraday Future announced that it would cut its workforce by 20% as it is experiencing financial difficulty, again. Faraday Future’s latest financial problems are linked to a dispute with its white knight backer, the property giant and China’s third richest man Hui Ka Yan (Evergrande Health).

The reality of Tesla’s dominance is starting to sink in as vocal short seller Andrew Left announced before the Q3 earnings call that he turned long, surprising all as Mr. Left filed a suit against Elon Musk for his infamous tweet in September. Left’s comments trumpets earlier comments in wattEV2buy’s newsletters that “there is now Tesla killer” and went on saying that the company is destroying the competition. Mr. Left said in a note published by his firm, Citron Research that the media has been fixated with Elon Musk’s personal behavior and in doing so failed to notice Tesla’s dominance. Mr. Left’s change of heart is driven by the fact that no other electric vehicle can compete with the high level of connectivity and “upgradeability” in Tesla cars, allowing it to easily beat traditional automakers.

Elon Musk announced this week that the $35,000 base version of the Model 3 is still six months off as the company can’t yet produce it profitably. It is therefore expected that the “short” long range rear wheel drive Model 3 will reach the market around the same time as the unveiling of the Model Y on the 15th of March 2018.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BRITISH ICONS LOSING THEIR ROOTS

British icons MG and Lotus now owned by Chinese auto groups SAIC and Geely this week clarified their EV strategies and it’s moving further and further away from their roots.

According to various Chinese publication the Geely owned Lotus plans to set up an engineering department in Hangzhou and a research and development center in Ningbo, China. In addition, a Lotus flagship model will be officially unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show next year. Lotus will share its core competencies associated with lightweights materials and aerodynamics will be shared within the Geely group while at the same time benefiting from Volvo’s safety, power, and electric technologies.

MG India announced that it will launch a pure electric SUV in 2020. It is understood that the MG India company has finalized about 45 dealer partners to start new car sales next year. Currently, the automaker produces about 80,000 cars a year at the Halol car manufacturing plant in Gujarat, and will expand to 200,000 in the future. The plant currently employs 300 people and is expected to employ nearly 1,500 employees by the end of 2019. Executive Director of International Business, SAIC Motor & President of SAIC Motor International Company, Michael Yang, said, “MG will launch a globally-competitive pure-electric SUV in India, to make our contribution to India’s energy and environmental strategies. The pure electric SUV will be a breakthrough chapter in the EV space in India, being one of its kind in the market.” The new SUV is to hot the market by the second quarter of 2019 and based on the SAIC Roewe MARVEL X platform.Top-5-EV-news-week-43-MG-India-first-EV-SUV-in-2020

Staying on the topic of British icons, Rolls Royce CEO this week acknowledged that electrification is the trend and the brand will electrify its models over the next 10 years. CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös revealed that the company will not follow the road to electrification via plug-in combustion vehicles but will move directly to pure electric vehicles. Mr. Torsten Müller-Otvös said that it is not clear yet is RR will develop a new electric car or alter existing model ranges but the company will adopt BMW’s technology to accomplish its electrification strategy.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 42 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 42 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – EVs ARE ACTUALLY THE ANSWER TO RANGE ANXIETY

ZIM EV SALES….. 1.

Maybe the auto industry got its whole approach wrong. The first week the local BMW dealer gave me a BMW i3 to test there was a fuel strike and gas stations started running dry, and guess what? Ironically that week I was the only one without range anxiety. No matter what, I was able to refill at no cost from solar power instead of being dependent on a fuel that has so many issues attached to it. This week a forward-thinking person imported the first EV to Zimbabwe, a country which has experienced years of economic hardship caused by backward policies of its ruling party, Zanu PF. Zimbabwean residents are used to long lines at the fuel stations as the country frequently runs out of fuel. One of my active readers, Joseph Kuhudzai, sent me the pictures of the first EV in the country, a white Tesla Model X. Like I the unknown owner of Zimbabwe’s first EV will experience the feeling of freedom you get when you experience the angst of combustion vehicle owners when the pumps run dry. Herein lies an opportunity for automakers in China producing low-cost EVs, there are many people in third world countries that would rather own an EV as it offers a practical solution to expensive and scarce fuel. Joseph and I will be happy to be their distributors.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – PRODUCTION ANNOUNCEMENTS

Porsche showcased a production-ready version of its concept study Mission E Cross Turismo at the Geneva Auto Show early this year. At the time there was big excitement around the car and calls for it to be produced. This week the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG gave the go-ahead for the company to add the Cross Turismo as the second EV to its line-up, creating an additional 300 new job-opportunities at its Zuffenhausen plant. The four-door Cross Turismo is a derivative of the Taycan EV sharing the car’s 800-volt architecture, system output of 600 hp and a range of 500 km (NEDC). The Mission E Cross Turismo is expected in 2020.

In the meantime, the publication Auto News Europe reported that Porsche’s model line director for the Taycan indicated that the pricing for the base model of the Taycan available in 2019 will be somewhere between that of the Cayenne and Panamera, pitching it around $75k. Porsche Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Lutz Meschk indicated that the fully loaded performance version could cost as much as €200k.

Workhorse, the Nasdaq listed electric vehicle and autonomous drone maker from Ohio, this week announced the serious production of its second pure electric commercial vehicle, the Workhorse N-GEN 1000 electric van. Workhorse, which started out as AMP Electric Vehicles, entered into a joint venture to custom design 50 postal delivery trucks with USP based on its E-100 electric truck (pictured left). The Workhorse N-GEN 1000  EV van has a capacity of 1,000 cubic feet and can carry a payload up to 6,000lbs (2,722kg). The N-GEN 1000 can work in conjunction with the company’s Horsefly autonomous delivery drone. Workhorse and commercial fleet management company Ryder System announced a partnership where Ryder System becomes the primary distributor and service provider for Workhorse’s commercial electric trucks.

Week-42-Top-5-ev-news-stories-Workhorse

TOP EV NEWS #3 – THUNDER POWER TO START PRODUCTION IN BELGIUM

The Belgian investment fund SOGEPA and Chinese EV start-up Thunder Power entered into an agreement on Friday this week which will see the Thunder Power establishing a production line in Gosselies in the Walloon region of Belgium creating 4,000 jobs. SOGEPA will invest €50 million in the project which will be based at the deserted Caterpillar plant in Gosselies. Thunder Power unveiled the Chloe two-seater city EV to the European press at the event. It is expected that a version of the Chloe adapted for the European market will be the first EV to roll off the production line at the site from 2020.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-42-2018-Tunder-Power-to-open-production-in-Belgium-for-new-Chloe-EV

TOP EV NEWS #4 – RENAULT BRILLIANCE TO PRODUCE COMMERCIAL EVs

Top-5-EV-News-week-42-2018-Jinbei-F50-EV-Renault-BrillianceRenault and its Chinese local partner Brilliance Auto announced their plans this week to capitalize on the surging market for electric commercial vehicles in China to help the company turn around its ailing sales. The joint venture created in December 2017 will see seven electric models by the end of the decade of which three targeted at the commercial sector. The first electric delivery van will be based on the combustion version of the Jinbei F50 MPV followed by one of Renault’s electric delivery vans in 2020.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – NEW MODELS ANNOUNCED

The young entrepreneur Lex Hoefsloot hosted the design unveiling of the Lightyear One Solar EV in Eindhoven. The team behind the Lightyear One won the Solar challenge a number of times in Australia giving them valuable insights into the development of a Solar EV. The Lightyear One will not be cheap. Lightyear plans to produce 10 launch edition cars in 2020 at a price of €119,000. The funds will be used to facilitate a larger production run in 2021. The Lightyear One can gain between 80 and 70km (44 to 50miles) from its solar system.

Top-5-EV-news-week-42-Lightyear-launch

CHJ Auto launched its EV brand earlier this year. The new brand named “Leading Ideal” in English from the Chinese name  “Lixiang Zhizao” unveiled its first EV this week, the Leading Ideal One SUV. The Leading Ideal One SUV is a range-extended Ev with a pure electric range of 700km (NEDC) and generator which can carry it a further 300km. Pre-sales of the Leading Ideal One will start in April and deliveries are expected in the second half of 2019. The luxury 4WD EREV SUV will be equipped with OTA (over the air upgrade) and Level 2.5 autonomous driving capabilities according to the company.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-42-CHJ-Leading-Ideal-One-EV-SUV-unveiled

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 41 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 41 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – EV INCENTIVES

Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz announced earlier the week that the company would ban the sale of combustion vehicles from 2030 when the country shifts to alternative fueled vehicles such as battery electric cars and trucks that run on compressed natural gas. The minister told Reuters that Israel is supporting the transition by near-zero rating taxes on EVs and funding the establishment of 2,000 charging stations. To date, Isreali EV s sales have been lackluster, but by 2025 the minister sees 177,000 cars on the road jumping to 1.5 million in 2030. The Israeli Government is expected to approve regulation by the end of the year which will force companies to import electric cars and downstream oil companies to install charging points at gas stations.

The British Department of Transport changed its EV subsidy policy again this week scrapping its Plug-In Car Grant for all vehicles except battery electric vehicles that comply with Category 1 requirements which is a range of 70 miles (112km) and emit emissions below 50g/km. Incidentally, the grant available for Category 1 EVs has also been slashed to 3,500 from 4,500. Budget constraints are seen to be the reason behind the reduction in the Grant program that saw the sales of 160,000 EVs in the UK since 2011.

TOP EV NEWS #2  MODEL LAUNCHES

Mercedes opened its order book for the 2019 Mercedes Benz S560e PHEV to be launched this month. The MB S560e 9G-Tronic is exclusively available with a long wheelbase and priced in Germany at €96,065 (Excl 19% VAT). The new improved 13.5 kWh, the first in the series from Daimlers Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE battery subsidiary offers a range of up to 50km in the NEDC cycle and can be charged with the new improved Wallbox through a 7.4kW onboard charger. Charging the Mercedes S560e PHEV from 10 to 100% can be achieved in only 1.5 hours with the Wallbox or 5 hours through a 220V wall socket. For the full secs click here.

Volkswagen and its local partner SAIC will be launching the Tiguan L PHEV on the 19th of October. The plug-in version of VW Tiguan is exclusive to the Chinese market and priced from ¥299,800 to ¥309,800 and packs a 12kWh battery delivery a range of 52km (33 miles) on the NEDC cycle. The combined fuel consumption of the 1.4l turbo engine and the 85kW electric motor is 1.9L/100km. The Tiguan will compete with SAIC’s own Roewe eRX5. For the full secs click here.

TOP EV NEWS #3  MARUTI SUZUKI STARTS EV TESTING

Maruti Suzuki, the Indian JV of Japanese Suzuki auto brand started field testing its electric vehicle powertrain this week using a fleet of 50 WagonR test mules. Maruti Suzuki is collaborating with Toyota Motors India to launch its first electric vehicle in 2020 in India. The key to cracking the price-sensitive Indian market is through local production of electric vehicles. Maruti Suzuki has already invested Rs 1,137 crore in the establishment of a battery JV with Toshiba and Denso in Gujarat. The plant will be ready to produce its first batteries in 2020, in time to support the launch of Suzuki’s first low-cost EV. Maruti Suzuki introduced the WagnR test mules for the first time at the Move Summit 2018 in September.

Suzuki’s Director of Engineering, CV Raman, flagged off the test fleet of electric WagonR MPV’s from the company’s Gurugram plant. Maruti Suzuki is not the only company that transformed the WagonR to an electric vehicle, in China the BAIC brand Changhe has been selling the WagonR as the Changhe X5E EV with a range of 260km (162miles).

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – FORD STARTS SERIOUS PRODUCTION OF WORK XL

Ford announced that it commenced with the serious production of the Deutsche Post StreetScooter WORK XL electric delivery van at its Cologne plant in Germany. The WORK XL is a collaboration between Streetscooter, a Deutsche Post DHL Group start-up and Ford using the Ford Transit chassis produced in Turkey and body and drivetrain by the German start-up. DHL will use the WORK XL to support its urban parcel delivery business in Germany. Although the Work XL is currently for DHL’s exclusive use it is considering leasing it to third-party customers. Currently, Streetscooter is leasing the smaller WORK delivery van to customers from €270 per month.

180 Ford employees and Streetscooter can produce 3,500 units of the WORK XL per annum, churning out 16 units a day using two shifts. The Streetscooter WORK XL can load around 200 parcels in its 20m² hold weighing up to 1,275kg (2,811lbs). According to Ford, each electric delivery van will offer a reduction in CO2 emissions of 5 tonnes each year and a saving of 1,900 liters of fuel.

Electrified powertrains will play a key role in Ford’s European product line-up. The company is investing €9.5 billion and plans to deliver 16 fully electric vehicles within a global portfolio of 40 electrified vehicles through 2022.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 BOLLINGER UNVEILS THE B2 PICKUP TRUCK

Bollinger unveiled CAD images of its second pickup truck, the B2. Bollinger will prototype the B2 and B1 in 2019 as test vehicles so it can further engineer pre-production vehicles for the 20,000 reservations holders the company claims to have. The B2 Class 3 work truck s based on the B1 and packs a 120kWh battery and dual electric motors. Bollinger makes use of the technological advantages of electric vehicles by utilizing the free space normally used by combustion engines freeing up valuable load space.

According to Bollinger, the B2’s load bed is 4’ 1” wide by 5’ 9” long. With the internal cab tailgate down, the BollingerB2 can carry full 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood. The rear glass also opens up like the B1, allowing storage to the top of the cab, accommodating 72 sheets of 1/2” plywood.

Bollinger-b2-pick-up-top-5-ev-news-week-41-2018-wattev2buy

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 40 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 40 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – PARIS AUTO SHOW

The Paris Auto Show kicked off this week featuring a number of electric vehicles we are already acquainted with including the Mercedes EQC, Audi e-Tron Quattro and the Tesla Model 3.  The French auto manufacturers used the event on their home turf to “wow” and “surprise” us with their line up of future EVs and a look into their strategies. The PSA brands Citroen, DS, and Peugeot showcased the EVs they digitally unveiled in the weeks prior to the event. The DS 3 Crossback is the only pure electric model with a confirmed production schedule in 2019 with the rest of the line-up plug-in conversions of existing models and concept vehicles.

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CITROEN C5 AIRCROSS HYBRID, DS 3 CROSSBACK E-TENSE EV, DS D7 CROSSBACK E-TENSE 4×4 PHEV

One of the most exciting vehicles at the show is the Peugeot 504 e-Legend 100kWh pure electric coupe, unfortunately, it just a concept vehicle. Peugeot also showed its plug-in models, the 3008 compact SUV and 508 sedan and station wagon that will enter the market in 2019.

 

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PEUGEOT 3008 PHEV, PEUGEOT e-LEGEND EV CONCEPT 504 COUPE, PEUGEOT 508 PHEV

Renault Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn announced the release of a new affordable urban EV, the Renault K-ZE which will be available in 2019, although only to the Chinese market at first. Mr. Ghosn also announced the electrification of existing model ranges in the form of a Hybrid Clio and plug-in hybrid Megane and Captur. The electrification of the three existing models will start in the 2020 product refresh cycle. Renault also left the door open that these models could get pure electric drivetrains.

The Renault K-ZE will be assembled by the French company’s local partner Dongfeng at the company’s e-GT New Energy Automotive Co, a JV with Nissan. The K-ZE A-segment EV is to have a range of 250km NEDC and equipped with luxuries such as rear parking sensors, rearview camera and a central screen with connected navigation and services.

Renaul-K-ZE-top-5-EV-news-week-40-wattev2buy

BMW AG Chairman of the Board of management, Harald Krüger highlighted in his address that by 2021 BWM will have five fully electric core models. Mr. Krüger confirmed that the fifth vehicle will be the BMW i4 which will enter production in 2021. The BMW i4 will follow the Mini Electric (2019), BMW iX3 (2020) and BMW iNEXT (2021). BMW also showcased the new 120Ah BMW i3, the company’s first commercially available battery electric vehicle. It was confirmed that the BMW i3 REx is to be phased out with the model not available to the European market.

Daimler’s smart celebrated its 20 anniversary at the Paris Motor Show with the smart forease show car, interpreting and embodying the fun urban driving brand. The smart forease is based on the standard-production smart EQ fortwo cabrio and can, therefore, be driven.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – GAC TO DITCH USA FOR EUROPE?

The Chinese auto manufacturer GAC has been frequenting the Detroit Auto Show since 2013 with the eye on opening a distribution channel in the USA starting with a mid-sized EV in 2019. In the light of the current trade war between the USA and China GAC is now reconsidering its EV strategy and is moving a potential entry out to 2020. The news was announced by Mr. Yu Jun, the President of GAC to reporters at the Paris Auto Show this week.

It now seems that GAC has designs on entering the European market with its debut at the Paris Auto Show. GAC showcased its latest models including the GAC Trumpchi GE3 mid-sized EV SUV to the European market at the event. Mr. Yu admitted that they were looking at the European market, but that timing was uncertain as it needed to address some technology related issues prior to entering the EU market as not to create a reputational risk. Mr. Yu said that the charging system which differs from Europe needs to be addressed and eluded that the company is struggling to secure enough batteries, limiting its current production of the GE3 to 1,500 units per month.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – MAZDA EV STRATEGY

Mazda announced its connectivity and electrification strategies this week. The strategies are based on the Japanese auto manufacturer’s long-term vision named “Sustainability Zoom-Zoom 2030”. The company said that it will leverage its alliance with Toyota in the development of connectivity and that it will introduce electric vehicles in regions where energy is derived from a high percentage of clean resources. Mazda whishes to reduce its corporate “well to wheel” emissions from 2010 levels by 90% in 2050. Mazda, which does not have a huge capital base will include electrification in some form in 95% of its internal combustion engines by 2030. The Mazda EV strategy targets the production of battery electric vehicles that will account for 5% of its output in the same timeframe. Mazda will also use its patented rotary engines to produce range-extended EVs.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – HOLDEN UNVEILS A VIRTUAL CONCEPT HYPERCAR

Design and engineering teams of the Australian automobile import brand Holden unveiled a virtual concept electric hypercar this week on the 50th anniversary of Holden’s first win at the Bathurst. Holden, a GM company, does not manufacture vehicles anymore and therefore does not take part at Motors Shows decided to use virtual development to showcase its prowess.

Holden’s design chief, Richard Ferlazzo said “The cessation of Motor Shows in Australia left a hole in our automotive culture in some ways and we lost a forum to showcase our passion and creativity to the Australian public with physical concept cars. However, with the realism and detail achievable through modern technology, I felt we could still deliver uniquely Holden concepts via virtual technology and digital media.”

The Holden Bathurst Time Attack hyper EV with its 25kWh Graphene Hybrid Power Pack and 4 x 250kW electric motors completed a simulated lap of Mount Panorama in 1 minute 29.3 seconds. The reconfigurable battery pack can be charged in 90 seconds with a 1000kW, 800V, 1250A charging system. The Bathurst Time Attack produces a max lateral G-force of 6.5G and max braking G-force of 6G. The hypercar is equipped with an Advanced Driving Assist System through an augmented reality helmet, showing essential technical information and racing line and braking zone benchmarks in 3-D.

On Holden’s strategy, Mr. Ferlazze added “Automotive Design and Engineering remains a core strength and competitive advantage for Holden and for Australia. The Time Attack Concept racer is an illustration of how we can utilise cutting-edge technology to develop transportation solutions for the future. You can see from the extremely detailed approach to incorporating the advanced technology in our Time Attack Concept racer that this is more than just a visual exercise. Holden’s recent announcement of the expansion of 150 new engineers to our Advanced Vehicle Development team means we have the talent, resources and technology to continue delivering to that charter.”

The Bathurst Time Attack now joins other real-world hypercars with 1 megawatt power output such as the Toroidion from Finland and the Rimac C2 from Zagreb, Croatia.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – USA EV SALES AND THE TESLA MODEL 3

BMW AG Chairman of the Board of management, Harald Krüger announced at the Paris Auto Show this week that the company sold more than 100,000 electrified vehicles worldwide by the end of September, surpassing the benchmark three months earlier than 2017 taking the company’s total plug-in and pyre electric sales to 300,000. But in the same week, US auto sales figures for September showed that BMW and other auto brand’s were trashed by the Tesla Model 3, selling more than ten times its closest rival, the Toyota Prius in the same month. Tesla confirmed that it delivered more than 83,000 Model 3’s in the third quarter of 2018. Taking out the Tesla Model 3 from 2018 EV sales data shows that other brands have shown no significant increase. It’s not just EV sales but the whole sector that’s experiencing pressure from the Model 3. BMW’s USA chief, Bernhard Kuhnt, admitted in an interview aired on Bloomberg that Tesla is putting pressure on the BMW 3 series’s market segment.

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AUTONOMOUS NEWS OF THE WEEK

Renault unveiled its robo-vehicle, the EZ-ULTIMO, this week completing its trilogy of concept robo-vehicles introduced this year. The EZ-ULTIMO follows the EZ-GO public transporter and EZ-PRO last-mile delivery vehicle. According to Renault the EZ-ULTIMO is a robo-vehicle equipped with level 4 autonomous driving capability and designed for urban environments and highway infrastructure, such as going to an airport or from a hotel to a tourist site. Last month Volvo introduced a similar concept the Volvo 360c with the difference that Volvo identified a niche competing with short-haul air travel.

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The US-based Consumer Reports published it’s first ranking of Automated driving systems this week placing the Cadillac CT6 Super Cruise on the top of the list ahead of the Tesla Auto Pilot followed by Nissan Pro-Pilot and Volvo’s Pilot Assist. Tesla came out tops in one category, namely “Capability & Performance”.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 39 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 39 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – REACTION TO 2019 BMW i3 SERIES 120Ah RANGE

Top 5 EV NEws Week 39 BMW-i3-120Ah-2019-battery-pack

BMW announced the specifications and production start date of the much anticipated 120Ah BMW i3. Being one of the popular EVs there were huge expectations for the Top 10 selling electric car. BMW announced that production of the 120Ah BMW i3 will start this November and that it will be available in the pure electric and range-extended i3 REx version, although only for the US market. It was initially rumored that BMW will can the REx due to expectations that the range of the pure electric will reach 180 miles. BMW set the expected pure electric EPA range of the 2019 i3 at 153 miles and has yet to release the total range of the REx but expects it to be similarly improved. The 2019 BMW i3 gets a 42.2kWh battery pack (37.9 available) which is 30% more in range and capacity indicating that improved battery performance was directed towards onboard luxuries. The BMW i3 now gets the optional iDrive 6.0 Navigational Professional as a standard feature. The BMW i3 is also for the first time equipped with a Wi-fi hotspot for 10 devices and a mobile wireless charging tray. The improved battery technology allowed BWM to make 90% of the battery available compared to 81% in the 2018 range making the 2019 i3 cheaper to charge. It will cost around 2.5c per mile to charge the 2019 model compared to 3.1c based on a utility rate of 10c/kWh. No pricing was announced yet for the 2019 model but I don’t expect it to change significantly from the current levels.

Judging from feedback to the release of the 2019 i3 specifications on social media it seems that BMW missed the mark slightly. Comparing the BMW i3S (2018) price of $47,650 with the base version long-range Tesla Model 3 at $49,600 which has double the range of the 120Ah one would have at least expected that BMW upgrades the charging capabilities of the i3. One of the biggest criticism against the 2019 i3 is that its fast charging is limited to 50kW which would have made ICE competitive long-distance travel possible.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – PSA GROUP UNVEILS MORE EVs

In the last two weeks, the PSA Group unveiled the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV PHEV concept, the DS 3 Crossaback e-tense pure electric car and the Peugeot e-LEGEND EV concept as it warms up for the Paris Auto Show. This week saw listings from Peugeot and DS. Peugeot launched plug-in electric versions of the Peugeot 508 sedan and station wagon and the Peugeot 3008 compact SUV. The Peugeot 508 HYBRID drivetrain can now operate with zero emission with the help of an 11.8kWh battery pack and 80kw (110hp) electric motor. The Peugeot 508 PureTech petrol engine with its 132kW (180hp) output and the electric motor provides a combined maximum power of 165kW (225hp) and emits less than 49g of CO2/km (WLTP). The Peugeot 508 HYBRID is available in three trims, Allure, GT Line and GT and has a range of 40km (25miles) in the WLTP cycle.

The Peugeot 3008 plug-in electric version is first offered as a 4×4 called the HYBRID4 followed later by a HYBRID version, using the same powertrain as the Peugeot 508 HYBRID. The PEUGEOT 3008 HYBRID4 employs a 13.2kWh battery pack offering a range of 50km (37miles) in the WLTP cycle. Peugeot’s electric platform allows for a top speed of 135km/h (85mph) and the PEUGEOT 3008 HYBRID4 accelerates to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds powered by two 80kW (110hp) electric motors. The HYBRD4 model is only available as a high-end GT version with a Greval Grey trim. The Advanced Driving Assistance System of the Peugeot 508 is also now available in the 3008 HTBRID4 providing adaptive cruise control with Stop & Go function and traffic lane assistance. Peugeot’s new plug-in drivetrain utilizes the new e-SAVE feature, allowing the car to operate in electric mode whenever possible. The plug-in drivetrain is also equipped with the new i-Booster regenerative braking system.

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DS Automobiles unveiled the DS 7 Crossback E-tense plug-in electric vehicle which is the first electrified model to emerge from its EV strategy. The D7 Crossback E-Tense 4×4 is a Premium C SUV with two electric motors added to its combustion engine delivering a combined 300hp and 450 Nm torque. The D7 sequences 50km (38miles) out of its 13.2kWh battery pack on the WLTP cycle which is around 60km on the old NEDC cycle. The D7 charges within two hours using a 6.6kW wall mounted terminal (32A) or 8 hours with a traditional socket.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – WLTP IMPACTS ON PHEV SALES IN EUROPE

September marks the start to the use of the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) regulation replacing the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and with it came tighter emission controls in Europe. One the WLTP calculation the effect of a fully charged battery is reduced resulting in higher emission data for some plug-in electric vehicles pushing it above 50g/km which is required in some European countries to qualify for tax subsidies. As a result Mercedes, VW and Porsche called a halt to sales of top selling PHEV models while Volvo and BMW continued with selling the XC60 and 225xe despite losing access to incentives. Consumers will only be able to buy the VW GTE’s in the second half of 2019 when the new version is released. A VW spokesman said that they have a backlog in testing and prioritize cars according to popularity, leaving the PHEV’s in the back off the line. Mercedes will bring qualifying S and E series to market in about two months while you can already pre-order the BMW 5 series with a WLTP CO2 rating below 50g/km. The Mitsubishi Outlander, which coincidentally is best selling PHEV in Europe is also the only PHEV currently available with an emission rating below 50g/km, clocking in at 46g/km.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – LUCID GAINS ACCESS TO FAST CHARGE NETWORK

Hot on the heels of EV start-up Lucid Motors announced last week that it acquired $1 billion in production funding from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia the company this week announced an agreement with Electrify America. The preliminary agreement will allow Lucid Air drivers access to 500 350kW ultra fast charging stations across 40 states. The figure of available stations is expected to increase once the Lucid Air is available in 2020. The Lucid Air is potentially one of the luxury EV models that will truly provide a challenge to the Tesla Model S should the new company be able to produce in significant numbers. Access to a fast charging network will assist Lucid in providing meaningful competition to Tesla and other luxury car makers.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – FF81 PRICING INDICATION

Faraday Future has been ramping up its operations after receiving a capital injection from China Evergrande Group. The company based in China and the USA announced this week that it will commence with sales of the FF91 luxury crossover in the first half of 2019. The order book for the launch edition of the FF91 named the “FF Futurist” will start for the US market produced at the leased plant in Hanford California sometime in the first half of 2019 while

Unconfirmed media reports in China speculated the follow up to the FF91 the FF81 will be introduced at a price starting from RMB300,000. The FF81 will retain the design language of the FF91 and some of its performance.

Faraday Future also announced recently that it has attracted a new wave of talent as engineers from other automakers such as Tesla, Honda, GM and Ford joined the team at its Hanford plant.

IN BRIEF

The EV market is not what it was two years ago when I started the newsletter, at the time one get barely get five important topics to cover. Now its impossible to select the top five news events without missing some important content so I hereby list topics which are equally important without delving deeper.

Tesla co-founder Elon Musk entered into a settlement agreement with the SEC which earlier opened a complaint against him for his tweet about taking the company private. The complaint was seen as a roadmap towards a criminal case which could see Mr. Musk behind bars. This morning it was reported that Elon Musk agreed that he will pay a fine of $20 million and step down as Tesla Chairman. One would have hoped that it would have been better for him to stay on as Chairman and rather give the grueling task of auto company CEO to an auto sector insider but I guess its more important for Elon to show the world he can deliver on his dream and don’t forgot his sizeable recent share option agreement.

VW Head of Product Line for E-Mobility, Christian Senger, told Auto Express last week that VW is targeting 100,000 of its mass-market EV, the ID Neo which is expected to be available from 2020. He said that there will be three battery configurations for the ID Neo, starting at 330km (205 miles) at the lower end and an improved mid-level of around 450km (280 miles). Mr. Senger could not provide a range yet for the top tier. It is expected that the pricing for the ID Neo will start from around 25,000, or the current specs of a fully loaded diesel Golf. For more specs click here.

Well, so much for being brief.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 38 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 38 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – AUDI SETS PRICING FOR E-TRON QUATTRO EV

Audi set pricing for the Audi E-tron Quattro EV at the launch of the pure electric car this week in San Francisco. The Audi E-tron Quattro will be first available late 2018 in Germany at a starting price of €79,900. The E-tron Quattro will be available in the USA from Q2 2019. AUDI will list a limited model of the Audi e-tron, the E-tron Quattro Edition 1 at a price of $86,700, The base model of E-tron Quattro will be available in the USA at a price of $74,800 but the German automaker did not specify from when, just that it will be later.

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TOP EV NEWS #2  PEUGEOT EV CONCEPT

Peugeot revealed its e-LEGEND Concept EV showcasing its vision of the future electrification strategy. The e-LEGEND which is based on a retro Peugeot 504 Coupe will be presented at the Paris Auto Show early October 2018.

Head of Peugeot Strategy, Aude BRILLE was quoted saying ” With PEUGEOT e-LEGEND CONCEPT, for us it’s about intensifying and refining the experience of 100% autonomous, electric and connected. The Responsive i-Cockpit is enhanced to offer its guests immersive driving specifically customized for each of the four driving modes available.”

The e-LEGEND is equipped with two autonomous modes, SOFT and SHARP. In the SOFT mode, the technology is reduced to a minimum while in the SHARP mode maximum connection and digital activities are shown to entertain the occupants while the self-drive system steers the vehicle. In autonomous mode, the steering wheel retracts behind the 49inch screen and the front seats can recline and side armrests deploy automatically. The e-LEGEND also has two manual modes, LEGEND and BOOST for cruising and dynamic drive options.

The Peugeot 504 Coupe’s four-wheel drive drivetrain is developed around a 100 kWh battery pack and electric motors which reaches 800 Nm torque and 340 kW reaching a top speed of 220km/h (138mph) and accelerate to 62km in less than 4 seconds. The e-LEGEND has a WLTP range of 600km (375 miles) and the battery pack can be replenished to 80% within 25 minutes through the inductive charging system.

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TOP EV NEWS #3  LINK TOUR EV BRAND LAUNCHED

In 2016 Great Wall Motors acquired a stake in neighborhood electric vehicle producer YGM. The company which changed its name to Link Tour in July was officially launched this week. Link Tour which specializes in compact electric cars will produce five EVs by the end of 2019. The Link Tour K-One compact SUV is the first vehicle that will roll off the production line before the end of 2018. The four other models that will enter the Chinese market by the end of 2019 is the BX100, C5, C3 and S5. The BX100 is a microcar resembling an older generation smart model and released in May 2019. The C5 and C3 are also A00 class vehicles and will enter the market in September and November 2019. The S5 is developed on the K-One platform. The Link Tour EVs will have a range of between 150km and 405km and four of the five models will be equipped with battery swapping technology while one of A0 class EVs will have three portable battery packs.

The K-One is available from November 2018 in a 45kW / 40kWh battery and 96kW / 46kWh version providing a range of 310km and 405km. The Link Tour K-One is further equipped with ABS and ABRS and luxuries such as parking sensors, reversing camera and tire pressure monitor system. Drivers operate a navigation system, cell-phones, and infotainment system form a 10.3inch LCD screen.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – STRATEGY UPDATE

Volkswagen Group has been quite busy the past weeks in executing its electrification strategy. VW is reading its plant in Zwickau to produce 100,000 I.D. vehicles, VW’s EV brand by 2020. Zickau will be VW’s first EV plant and followed by 15 others across the globe within 3 years. In China, Volkswagen opened a 300,000 unit SUV plant in Foshan which will play a pioneering role in the Volkswagen Group’s electrification strategy (“Roadmap E”). The FAW-VW plant in Qingdao which opened in May 2018 will also produce MQB platform electrified vehicles alongside cars with combustion engines.

Volkswagen Group announced the completion of an equity stake to the value of $100 million in California based QuantumScape solid-state battery producer. The new joint venture aims to enable an industrial level of production of solid-state batteries.

Volkswagen presented a cargo van version of the ID Buzz at the IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hannover. The ID Buzz Cargo electric van will be introduced in 2021 and have a range of up to 340 miles o the WLTP cycle. The concept van presented in Hanover is a fully autonomous vehicle equipped with VW autonomous system the ID Pilot, providing Level 4 self-driving capabilities. A solar system on the roof allows for an extra 9.3 miles a day at peak. Vehicle and road information is projected onto the road in 3D via the ID Buzz’s Augmented Reality (AR) head-up display. For detailed specs click here.

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Ford revealed the production model of its Transit Custom plug-in hybrid electric van at the IAA Commercial Vehicle show in Hannover, Germany which will enter the market in H2 2019. The Transit Custom PHEV with its 1,000kg load capacity has a battery electric range of 50km from a 14kWh battery pack and an extended range of 500km using its 1.0 liter EcoBoost engine. The charge port located on the left side of the front bumper allows for charging in between five and three hours.

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The president of GM’s Cadillac unit told Automotive News that the company decided on electrification as it re-evaluates its diesel program. To date, Cadillac has only produced the discontinued ELR plug-in hybrid vehicle and the CT6 PHEV currently in circulation. The decision by Cadillac will snowball the demise of the diesel engine as it joins other automakers such as Volvo, BMW, VW and Mercedes who all announced the end of their diesel programs. Porsche also announced this week that it will drop diesel propelled vehicles

The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Nissan will enter the luxury electric sedan segment from 2021 through its Infiniti brand. The Infiniti EV sedan will be assembled at the Nissan plant in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

The Geely owned London EV Company (LEVC) which produce the electric London Taxi TX announced that it will start trials of its electric delivery van in London with potential customers such as the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade in the second half of 2019. The target segment of LEVC Electric Van is demanding city delivery cycles of 100miles per day currently serviced by medium sized 1-tonne diesel vans.

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TOP EV NEWS #5  FOCUS ON CHARGING

Dutch charging company EVBox committed to installing 1 million EV charging points by 2025 globally at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. The company made the commitment as a surge in electric vehicle sales will require California only requiring 279,000 chargers by 2025.

The British EV Network’s (EVN) selected Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché SA to partner with in to develop ultra-fast charging stations for electric cars across the UK follow the existing “petrol station format”. EVN has been securing prime locations across the UK and signing strategic partnerships with leading companies including leading EV charging station operators like ESB and Leclanché to this end. EVN is also planning to replicate its model in other countries from 2019.

Engineers at PORSCHE Engineering sat down and unpacked existing fast-charging stations and identified constraints to come up with a new low-cost modular fast charging solution it names “Electric Pit Stop”. According to Porsche the “Electric Pit Stop” brings together a charging solution that will help electromobility gain greater acceptance by being economically viable and user-friendly. Porsche Engineering identified that components for existing stations are installed in every single cabinet: transformer, galvanic isolation, power electronics, cooling, and connectivity, making each individual charging station disproportionately expensive.

The “Electric Pit Stop” is designed as a modular system comprised of standardized, weather-proof housings, the FlexBoxes (exterior dimensions: 120 x 120 x 130 centimeters). They enable flexible outfitting with all necessary components in a standard rack and can be positioned at quite some distance from the charging stations combating noise pollution and being visually aesthetic. Porsche’s charging park system allows for the charging of multiple electric cars at the same time due to it’s 800- volt technology achieving battery replenishing in just 20 minutes to travel a further 400km(250 miles)

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AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

The Beijing local government authority released 11 more public roads in the Fangshan District for autonomous vehicle testing bringing the total to 33 since the start of the program earlier the year. Approved self-driving cars get a temporary number plate to drive on public roads after successfully complete 5,000km (3125 miles) on “closed” test fields. Only drivers with 50-hours of training are allowed to operate self-driving test vehicles.

NVIDIA unveiled its DRIVE AGX XAVIER opensource devkit for autonomu\ous vehicles consisting of A Xavier car computer, a vehicle harness to connect the platform to the car, international power supply, camera sensor and other accessories. The XAVIER devkit is a scalable software and hardware solution enabling companies to seamlessly develop and test customized autonomous driving technology and streamlining production.

For autonomous vehicles to perceive their surroundings they must rely on numerous deep neural networks running simultaneously. NVIDIA’s XAVIER kit runs on its NVIDIA DRIVE Software 1.0 release to run various operations simultaneously including data collection, obstacle and path perception, advanced driver monitoring and in-vehicle visualization to enable autonomous driving.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 37 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 37 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – ATLIS EV PICK-UP

Joining a crowd of niche EV manufacturers in the USA Atlis Motor Vehicles from Arizona aims to build an electric pick-up with a starting price of $45,000. The company also plans to offer users a subscription-based ownership model from $700 per month. Atlis Motors plans to unveil a prototype of the Atlis XT Pickup Truck this month according to its crowdfunding campaign on the Start-Engine crowdfunding platform.

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To date, the company has raised nearly $400,00 from 751 investors. Atlis aims to raise $1 million from the crowdfunding campaign whereby you can own a share in the company from $203 minimum which equates to a price of  $0.29 per share.

For detailed specs of the Atlis XT click here.

 

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – AUTOMAKERS RELEASE SPECS AHEAD OF PARIS

PSA Group company’s DS Auto and Citroen released details of two new EVs this week in anticipation of the Paris Auto Show launch.

Citroen presented the C5 Aircross SUV Plug-in hybrid concept. Citroën’s first PHEV model in the Core Model Strategy which will lead to 80% of the range having an electric option by 2023 and 100% by 2025. For the full specs released please click here to go to the dedicated page on the wattEV2buy website.

DS Auto presented the 100% electric DS 3 Crossback E-Tense which will be listed mid next year. The DS 3 Crossback will be available in 10 wheel themes and 10 body colors and include Advanced Driving Assistance. For the specifications of the DS 3 Crossback EV please click here.

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Aston Martin revealed detailed specs of its first pure electric car, the limited edition Rapid E. The Rapid E is now officially christened and will be available in a limited run of only 155 units. The company also announced that St Athan Wales will become its center for electrification and manufacturing base for its upcoming Lagonda EV luxury brand. For specs card of the Rapid E please click here.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – CHERY NEW ENERGY TO START OPERATIONS

Chery New Energy received the dual certificates needed from the Chinese government to start operations. In accordance with Chinese regulations, companies need to receive approvals issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission to produce electric vehicles. Once the company receives the production qualification from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) it can proceed to apply for certification from theMinistry of Industry and Information Technology. The ministry asses the company according to a number of rules including the “Passenger Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprise “, “Product Access Management Rules”, “New Energy Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprise” and Product Access Management Rules.

According to the relevant national policies and regulations, enterprises approved by the National Development and Reform Commission must start construction within two years and sell within three years. Chery New Energy applied for approved by the NDRC to build a 60,000 unit plant back in 2016. Chery completed its 67,304 square meters plant at the end of 2017 where it produces three EVs to date, the eQ1, Arrizo 5e, and Tiggo 3x’s. For the first eight months of 2018 Chery have already sold 34,503 electric cars.

Chery New Energy strategy includes producing its own batteries and electric motors establishing Wuhu Qida Power Battery System Co., Ltd., and Chery Yaskawa Electric Drive System Co., Ltd. to be self-sufficient.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – WEIMA EX5 AND EX5 PRO LISTED

On September 10, 2018, Weima Auto listed the EX5 and EX5 Pro production models first introduced at the 2018 Auto China in April.  At the time Weima shocked the market with the first SUV below ¥100,000 after taking subsidies into account. Weima listed six models in total of the EX5 range. The prices reflected here are for the Beijing area, which has of the most progressive subsidy policies.
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The prices are higher than initially announced at Auto China due to the company changing the battery packs of the EX5 and EX5 Pro from cylindrical cell to the pouch type supplied by CATL.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – BMW UNVEILS ITS BUILDING BLOCK FOR THE FUTURE

The excitement created by BMW around the unveiling of its iNext EV over the last couple of weeks came to fruition this week with the unveiling of the BMW iNext SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle). In May BMW Chairman, Harald Krüger, described iNext as follows: “The iNEXT project will provide our building blocks for the future, from which the entire company and all of its brands are set to benefit.”

According to the press release by BMW, the iNEXT will come onto the market in 2021 and be produced at Plant Dingolfin. The production model of the BMW iNEXT will assume the role of a new technology flagship. It will take the BMW Group’s strategic innovation fields (“D+ACES”) onto the road for the first time as a single package.

Some of the outstanding features of the iNext SAV is its large (24-inch) whee which are aerodynamically efficient, the blackened off grille. The Liquid Greyrose Copper exterior which gradually changes shade from warm copper to dark rose is synonymous with the iNext concept series first introduced in 2017.

BMW Vision iNEXT drivers can choose to either drive themselves (in “Boost” mode) or be driven (“Ease” mode). “Boost” mode uses the electric drive system to deliver a highly dynamic and virtually silent driving experience with zero emissions. In “Ease” mode, the vehicle offers the driver and passengers a space in which to engage in a wide range of activities. The interior operations of the iNext represent the company’s “Shy” tech whereby only the steering wheel and displays in the driver’s area are visible. The BMW Vision iNEXT highlights three different, visionary applications for this “Shy Tech” in the form of Intelligent Personal Assistant, Intelligent Materials and Intelligent Beam.

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AUTONOMOUS EV NEWS FOR THE WEEK

Daimler’s Mercedes Benz Vans unveiled its vision for future mobility this week in Copenhagen. The evolutionary mobility concept is introduced as Vision Urbanetic. The Urbanetic is a platform on which ride sharing or delivery modules could be added. The “skate” is 5.14 meters long and offers load space of 3.7 meters which can either accommodate a 12 person ride sharing module or a cargo unit carrying ten EPAL pallets. Mercedes Vans highlights the Urbanetic as follows:

  • Completely new mobility concept for on-demand, efficient, comfortable and sustainable mobility
  • Autonomous driving platform that can be fitted as required with a cargo module for goods transportation or with a people-mover module
  • Battery-electric drive for zero local emissions and virtually noiseless mobility
  • Mobility concepts embedded within an intelligent, self-learning IT infrastructure for the continual analysis of transportation needs
  • Supply and demand captured in real time and vehicle resources used to optimum effect
  • Maximum economy, efficiency and flexibility for cities, mobility providers and users.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 36 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 36 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – MERCEDES EQC400 4MATIC UNVEILED

The day has finally arrived! Mercedes unveiled the EQC 400 4MATIC EV SUV on the 4th of September in Stockholm and open pre-registration through an exclusive online registration service with “EQC Registration”. Interested parties can receive updates about the EQC [mercedes-benz.com/eqc]. No pricing or a firm release date was set at the launch. Production of the EQC 400 electric SUV will be at the same plant in Bremen where the C-Class Saloon and Estate, GLC and GLC Coupe are assembled. The EQC will also be assembled in Beijing with Daimler’s JV partner BAIC. The Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and CEO of Mercedes Dieter Zetsche said of the EQC 400 “It’s the Mercedes of electric vehicles.” Mercedes set the range of the EQC4000 at only 450km/281miles (NEDC) from its 80kWh battery pack which will translate in a disappointing closer to 220 real-world miles more or less. Based on the market’s reaction it could very well be that the EQC400 did not live up to expectation as a Tesla killer. For a detailed look at the EQC400 click here.EQC-Pictures-Top-5-ev-news-week-36-2018-wattev2buy

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW EV MODELS ON SALE THIS WEEK

BAIC BJEV finally launched the BAIC EC180 replacement car at the Chengdu Auto Show 2018. The BAIC EC3 has an improved range of 261km (164mi) and is available in two variants starting at ¥65,800 after subsidies. The BAIC EC3 is equipped with LED headlights, an LCD instrument panel, and LCD control to operate the cars media system, navigation and connected phone. The BAIC EC3 is also equipped with an intelligent electric braking system which regenerates 99.99% of the braking energy, improving the range of the A0 class EV significantly. The CATL supplied battery pack and BMS (battery management system) is upgraded to and can operate in severe weather conditions as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.

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The GAC Toyota JV launched its first electric vehicle at the Chengdu Auto Show 2018 on the 31st of August. The Guangzhou Toyota iX4 is available in two variants priced from ¥163,800 before subsidies. The GAC Toyota iX4 EV SUV is based on the GAC Trumpchi GS4 EV. Compared to its competitors the GAX iX4 does not have particularly long legs, its 46kWh delivers a disappointing 270km (169mi) range.

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SAIC Roewe set the release date and price for the Marvel X SUV at the Chengdu Auto Show 2018. The new is to compete with the NIO ES8 and is priced at ¥268,800 after subsidy for the base model and ¥308,800 for the top of the range. The release date for the Marvel X SUV EV is set for September 30, 2018.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – CHINA PUTS THE BRAKES ON AUTO SECTOR

Automotive News China quoted the Head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission’s Department of Industrial Coordination (NDRC) Nian Yong who indicated that the government is to tighten controls on the auto sector in a bid to curb excess capacity. The Chinese Government is to publish investment rules related to new factory capacity which will tighten industrial investment project management standards, strengthen regulation, and prevent haphazard investment and redundant development according to Mr. Yong. A draft of the NDRC rules were published in July for public comments spooked the auto sector. According to an NDRC official Gu Ziming, some concessions were granted in the final rules after taking into consideration the industry’s feedback. The rules will not only curb new investment in combustion capacity but also pull in the reigns of rampant EV investment. Automakers will now have to comply with certain conditions which will look at their financial viability and EV strategy.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – ALL THE TESLA KILLERS

BMW OPENS PRE-ORDERS FOR iX3 SUV

BMW is joining other luxury automakers this month in stirring interest in their upcoming electric cars. Although the BMW iX3 SUV will only be available in just over 18 months the German automaker this week open the reservations in a key market, Norway. Prospective buyers in Norway can reserve their position to buy the BMW iX3 SUV when it becomes available in 2020. BMW requires a refundable deposit of 15,000kr (~$1,800) for the privilege to be first in line to get the iX3, copying Tesla’s playbook. Audi and Mercedes are also open registers for their upcoming EVs. At this stage, Mercedes has not determined a price for the EQC revealed this week and only allow potential buyers to register their particulars so they can be updated. We will have to wait till next week to see how AUDI buyers can get their foot in the door to get an AUDI e-tron Quattro.

BMW also started teasing images of the Vision iNext which is on a whirlwind tour of Munich, New York, San Francisco and Beijing. BMW and Germany’s Lufthansa airline banded together flying the iNext in a cargo plane to these world cities in just five days.

AUDI PRODUCTION

Audi announced that the production of the Audi e-tron Quattro commenced on Monday the 3rd of September at its Brussels plant. Audi will officially unveil the e-tron in San Francisco on the 17th of the month. The project to re-tool the plant started in summer 2016 while employees received more than 200,000 hours of training to prepare for the assembly of the e-tron. Audi is also producing its own batteries which are delivered by autonomous vehicles.

Managing Director of Audi Brussels, Patrick Danau said – “Audi built up numerous competencies in-house for the Audi e-tron and developed both the battery technology and the actual drive system itself. And employees rethought, planned and implemented many stages of production.”

Top 5 EV news week 36 Audi-e-tron-production-starts

JAGUAR BATTERY ORDER

The German EV auto website electrive.net reported that Jaguar is switching away from the 18560 pouch based cells supplied by LG Chem to 21700 cylindrical batteries used by Tesla (Panasonic). Electrive quoted Jaguar insiders who said that Jaguar and Samsung entered an agreement where Samsung would supply 5GWh of its cylindrical batteries to Jaguar’s plant in Graz, Austria. The 21700-cells is produced at Samsungs plant in Hungary and is the highest energy density currently available providing 50% more capacity than the 18560 cells.

RANGE ROVER TO BRING A ROAD ROVER

Rumors emerged online that Range Rover is working on sedan version of the Range Rover Velar now dubbed the Road Rover. It is speculated that the car which will share the same aluminum platform as the Jaguar XJ would be a pure electric model with a range of 480km / 300 miles as early as 2019. The images below is an artist impression by Brazilian Kleber Silva of the vehicle might look.

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AND TESLA?

It was a busy week for Tesla excluding the usual magnifying glass on Elon Musk and the company’s share price. Tesla showcased a design prototype in white of Tesla Roadster Gen 2 at the Grand Basel Expo in Switzerland. Tesla also released four new press images of the Roadster on its website, I used one as the cover for this weeks newsletter.

On the negative end of the scale a survey by Brtish auto site What Car said that the company ended dead last its 2018 Reliability Survey. The results are based on just 28 Model S owners feedback which makes the study meaningless. A more reliable and represented Consumer Report survey in the USA placed Tesla on the top for customer satisfaction every year since 2013. There could be some take away from the What Car survey when compared to the USA based survey. Tesla recently also received negative press in its key Norwegian market so it seems that Tesla might struggle to provide the same consumer experience in international markets compared to the USA.

A lot of press also tried to play the deluge of new EVs as being the company’s death knell, I disagree. Firstly Tesla is still years ahead in terms of battery technology and production capacity. Secondly, these new EVs are not on the market yet while Tesla now has lots of experience under its belt, experience that other manufacturers still have to gain. So, it might be that Tesla know has some issues to wrinkled out but other manufacturers must still go through the process at which time Tesla would have all aspects of selling and providing maintenance buttoned down. And don’t forget the vast Tesla charging infrastructure, Ionity will have 400 stations in 2020, the same amount Tesla had in 2015.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – EV SALES HITS MILESTONE

USA EV sales recorded its consecutive record month on the back of Tesla Model 3 sales. Again the Model 3 made its presence felt, now outselling all BMW passenger models put together. Tesla also took the top 3 spots in the monthly EV sales contributing 64% of all electric cars sold in August 2018.

British electric vehicle sales reached a record high last month as one out of every 12 new cars purchased in the UK was an electrified car (hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric and hydrogen vehicles). In August 2017 3,968 units were sold compared to 7,489 out of 94,094 total car sales in Augst 2018. Some warned that the figure should be viewed cautiously as it could be driven by regulation changes in September. The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) is being rolled out in September 2018 which will affect all new cars in the UK spurring big discounts on pre-September models. As a counter argument fuel prices reached the highest level since July 2014 and 13pence more expensive than a year ago.

Chinese EV sales data are out in the coming week but last months leader BYD already reported another record month in August selling over 20,000 units.

The sales in these three countries contributed to EV sales breaching the 4 million milestone in August 2018. In total over 1 million units were sold so far in Europe, nearly 1 million in the USA and around 1.7 million in China.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE NEWS

Now you can sleep a bit longer before work. Volvo sees the future of flight… on the road.

“The business will change in the coming years and Volvo should lead that change of our industry,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “Autonomous drive will allow us to take the big next step in safety but also open up exciting new business models and allow consumers to spend time in the car doing what they want to do.”

The 360c represents a potentially lucrative competitor to short-haul air travel, a multi-billion dollar industry comprising airlines, aircraft makers and other service providers. Especially shorter routes where the distance between origin and destination is around 300 kilometers are prime candidates for disruption by an alternative mode of travel.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 35 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 35 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – THE ROAD TOWARDS PRODUCTION EVs

FIRST FF91 PRE-PRODUCTION EV COMPLETED

Faraday Future held a worker-management “First Pre-Production” ceremony at its Hanford, California assembly plant this week. The black FF91 shown in the cover this week is the first to come off the line marks an important milestone in the company’s sometimes controversial road to get its first car on the road early next year. According to a blog post by the company, it is hiring on a large scale, and it collaborates with the College of the Sequoias (Visalia) to execute business-essential training at the state of California’s Hanford Training Resource Center. New employees get a 40-hour team-building induction after which they take part in applied manufacturing training on-site at the Hanford factory for their respective roles.

BYTON SHOWS ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE

Byton revealed the first engineering prototype of the Byton M-Byte on the 28th of August in Nanjing as the EV start-up enters the final stages before mass-production. The engineering prototype will be used to perform tests such as active and passive safety testing. Pre-production of the M-Byte is scheduled for the first half of 2019 for the Chinese launch later the year. The Byton M-Byte will also be available in Europe and the USA in 2020.

Features of the Byton M-Byte include daytime running lights which interacts with the environment around it and also show different expressions. The doors open through facial recognition and the rearview mirror is replaced by a camera. The center console LCD screen of the BYTON M-Byte Concept is 125cm by 25cm and supports gesture recognition. The M-Byte’s dual-spoke steering wheel is also equipped with a 9-inch touchscreen with buttons on both sides for functions such as seat adjustment.

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DYSON EV PLANS TAKE FLIGHT

The British appliance manufacturer Dyson’s EV plans notched up another gear as the company earmarked $150 million for a test facility at an old World War 2 airfield in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. Dyson plans to transform the 750-acre RAF Hullavington Airfield into a 10-mile long test track for its electric vehicle development program. The test track will allow Dyson to test its EVs in al manner of conditions including handling and stability, off-road driving, a skid pan and a high-speed runway for speeds above 100 miles per hour (161 kph). Dyson will also construct offices for its R&D team which will eventually house up to 2,000 staff.

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An artist’s impression of what the test track may look like and restored hanger at the Dyson facility. CNN TECH

TOP EV NEWS #2 – KANDI ADAPTS ELECTRIC CARS FOR THE USA

Kandi Technologies Group unveiled its two-seater K22 and compact SUV the EX3 in Dallas Texas as it enters the US market. In a press release via NASDAQ on which Kandi is listed Kandi announced that it would sell the two models in the USA via its wholly owned subsidiary SC Autosports, LLC – previously Sportsman Country the ATV distributor. Kandi has its roots in lowcost neighborhood electric vehicles, but according to Kandi the K22 and EX3 have undergone several driving performance upgrades from the Chinese models, to accommodate the needs of the U.S. market. The newer models’ performance, battery life, and driving experience have been upgraded to strengthen their presence in the U.S. market. Pricing and specifications for the US models were not released, but a price point of below $20,000 before subsidy for the K22 subcompact was mentioned in various publications. It will be interesting to see how the Kandi EVs fair in the USA where there has been few subcompact EVs available as opposed to Europe and China. Furthermore, how will the US consumer deal with the stigma around quality and safety of Chinese auto’s? Kandi’s sales in China has been lackluster in 2017/2018 as the company crashed out of the Top 10 EV brands to the 24th position.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW EV MODELS ON SALE THIS WEEK

BYD launched the upgraded Song series this week. The BYD Song DM PHEV and Song EV500 are available from 30 August. Pricing for the plug-in version range from ¥176,900 to ¥206,900 after subsidies while that of the Song EV500 from ¥189,900 to ¥219,900. The BYD Song’s trademark ‘Dragon Face” received a major facelift and performance upgrade.

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Dongfeng Nissan launched the Sylphy EV this week. The Sylphy is exclusive to the Chinese market and based on the Nissan Leaf drivetrain. Nissan is selling the 2017 Leaf Gen 1as an imported model through its Venucia JV from ¥242,800. Venucia announced in Week 32 that it would bring three EVs to market by 2019, including a sedan. The Nissan Sylphy is available from ¥166,000 after subsidy on a pre-sale special. Nissan Dongfeng also provides customers a guaranteed three-year buy-back at 55% of the purchase price. Nissan Dongfeng allows owners of the Sylphy membership to its new “NISSAN E-Club” offering special deals and rewards to members. For the launch of the Sylphy, the first 1,500 customers who placed pre-orders are awarded coupons to the value of ¥3,000 which could be used as an extra discount on the purchase price of the Sylphy.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – FUNDING FLOWS FOR EV START-UPS

NIO IPO

Chinese EV start-up NIO has set the terms for its IPO on the NASDAQ. The company will trade on the NIO ticker symbol and is expected to start trading on the 12th of September according to the NASDAQ website. According to Chinese Government data NIO is one of 102 companies producing 355 different kinds of electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles (March 2018) and by now means the only company looking for US-based funds. Kandi Technologies Group (KNDI) which manufacturers ARV’s and small electric passenger cars are also listed on the NASDAQ. US-based Hillhouse already owns 7.5% of NIO and plan to increase its shareholding by $150 million through the IPO. According to NIO’s filing, it will issue 160,000,000 shares at a price ranging between $6.25 and $8.25, valuing the company at $8.5 billion. The IPO will raise at least $1.32 billion for the company and can raise as much as $1.52 million through an option to increase the offer with 15% be exercised.

CHINA’s SINGULATO GETS JAPANESE FUNDING

The Japanese conglomerate Itochu Group invested ¥1 billion yen (¥60 million yuan) in Chinese EV start-up Singulato. The transaction will include closer co-operation between Japanese auto suppliers and Singulato. Singulato is one of the few EV start-ups that have access to the same Panasonic NCA 18650 battery used by Tesla.  ITOCHU Corporation is one of the world’s leading integrated trading companies. The company is involved in machinery, aerospace, information, multimedia, metals and energy, chemicals, finance, real estate and other businesses. In the automotive industry, ITOCHU has been focusing on powertrain, intake and exhaust, brakes and other fields, and is engaged in the import and export of complete vehicles and spare parts. Initially, Singulato planned to bring its first EV, the iS6 to market late 2018 but now 2019 seems to be the new timeline. Singulato showcased a racing and off-road version of the iS6 Pro EV at the China Automobile modification and Associated Parts Exhibition (China Auto Salon) held in late July.

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Singulato iS6 Pro EV at China Automobile modification and Associated Parts Exhibition (China Auto Salon)

TOP EV NEWS #5 – EQC TEASED BEFORE SEPTEMBER LAUNCH

Mercedes teased images this week of the EQC in the run-up to the September 4 launch of the Mercedes EQC SUV, the first model from Daimler’s EV specific brand. The marketing campaign which started in Week 19 with spy images saw the German automaker tweeting images of the “Mystic Front”, “Mystic Rear” and dash of the much anticipated luxury electric SUV. Mercedes has the jump on Audi who postponed the launch of the Audi e-tron Quattro to mid-September from August after the arrest of its CEO.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 34 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 34 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – ROYAL MAIL GOES ELECTRIC

The Royal Mail joined other postal companies in testing electric vehicles as part of their fleets. The Royal Mail this week announced a pilot program with nine range-extended electric vehicles supplied by British Autonomous Electric Vehicles start-up Arrival. UPS and Arrival entered into a similar arrangement in May where the privately owned company will test 35 electric postal delivery vans in London and Paris. The Royal Mail operates a fleet of 49,000 vehicles through-out the UK. The pilot program will operate 3.5, 6 and 7.5-ton electric vans from its Mount Pleasant depot in London, tasked with the collection of mail from large sites. The electric van has a pure electric range of 100miles (160km) at which point a generator will charge the battery, similar to the BMW i3 REx technology. The Arrival electric van includes an Advanced Driver Assistance System and is autonomous ready. Previously the Royal Mail contracted with Peugeot to buy a 100 pure electric vans. Arrival is based in Banbury and previously know as Charge Auto is instrumental in the creation of the Roborace which forms part of the Formula E Championship.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – NEW AN UPDATED ELECTRIC CAR MODELS

Audi unveils its electric supercar

In Week 31 Audi teased images of its latest concept EV, the PB19 e-tron supercar. The Audi PB18 e-tron was unveiled this week during the Pebble Beach Automotive Week in Monterey, California. The PB18 represents the German company’s vision for a future high-performance sports car. The PB18 e-tron is equipped with a 95kWh solid state battery, wireless charging and three electric motors making it a quattro. The PB18 e-tron’s electric motors are positioned one in front and two the rear delivering up to 150 kW to the front axle and 450 kW in the back. The maximum output of the supercar is 500 kW, and with boosting the driver can temporarily mobilize up to 570 kW. The combined torque of up to 830-newton meters (612.2 lb-ft) allows acceleration to 62mph in ~2 seconds. The driver’s monocoque can slide from a center position for racing to a side position for everyday use and easy entry. For the specifications and dimensions of the Audi PB18 e-tron click here.

Kalashnikov takes aim at Tesla

The Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov revealed a prototype of its concept electric vehicle the Kalashnikov CV1 this week. According to Kalashnikov, they see the CV1 as a contender to Tesla. Kalashnikov is best known for the AK47 assault rifle, the most prolific rifle in the world and preferred by warlords and drug dealers across the globe. Looking at the specs provided by Kalashnikov they should shop around for battery technology, a 90kWh battery that only delivers 217 miles sounds like 2010 technology. You can’t miss the charging port at the rear of the car. From my own military experience, the AK47 was an indestructible weapon which you could fire after digging it up from the ground; only time will tell if the CV1 will live up to the same standard. Kalashnikov did not elaborate on production plans or when a final product will be unveiled.

Let’s hope that the CV1 kills fewer people than the AK47. For fear of being shot I will not comment on the looks of the car which is touted as a retro EV. For all the specs of the Kalashnikov CV-1 Concept EV click here.

Kalashnikov-CV1-Concept-Ev-pictures

Hyundai Kona EV EPA ratings and price updates

The Hyundai Kona EV received its official EPA rating this week. The US EPA rated the range of Kona 64kWh long-range version as 258 miles (413km) which is much lower than the WLTP rating of 300miles (482km). The EPA set the efficiency of the Kona EV at 120MPGe, or 108MPGe for highway use and 132MPGe in city use. The Kona EV uses 28kWh of energy over 100miles, which is 17.9kWh/100km. According to my calculation, the Kona EV charge cost is 2.5c a mile.

Hyundai also set the pricing for the Kona EV in the UK at £33,995 before subsidy on the long-range version and £29,495 on the base model. To see how the Kona compares to other EVs in terms of price and range check out the updated price lists for the US, UK and EU markets. I have also updated the efficiency ranking with the latest EPA information.

NIO ES6 pricing

The Chinese EV start-up NIO set the pricing for its second EV, the NIO ES6 mid-sized SUV this week. The NIO ES6 will be available from early next year between ¥180,000 and ¥200,000. NIO set itself a goal to sell 60,000 ES6 and ES8 models in 2019, competing directly with Tesla.

Traum brings three EVs to market in 2019

The Chinese auto brand Traum launched in 2017 announced that it will bring three EVs to market in 2019. Traum, which means “Dream” in German is from the Zotye stable and focus on SUVs and crossovers. Traum will start its EV lineup with the MEET 3 crossover followed by the MEET 5 in H2 2019. Traum’s EV powertrain has a range between 400km and 500km, and its battery lifecycle will range between 800,000 km and 1,000,000 km. Traum will also offer a plug-in version of the SEEK 5 which will have a range of 50miles (80km) and combined fuel consumption of 3L/100km. Traum uses the MEET series designation for its coupe’s and crossovers while the SEEK designation covers SUV models.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – FUNDING FLOWS AND HICKUPS

I am not going to make a big issue about Tesla’s flip-flop on taking the company private this week. One interesting point that came out of the whole storm in a teacup is that it became known that EV start-up Lucid Motors is apparently in talks with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund to get funding of $1 billion. The Saudi’s have been looking at ways to decouple its economy from oil using its wealth fund to invest in new technologies and other ventures such as tourism. According to Reuters the discussions has already progressed to a term sheet being drawn up whereby the funding will be provided in phases, starting with $500 million. This is great news for customers waiting for the launch of Lucids’ elegant EV sedan the Lucid Air. Funding stalled apparently due to complication around a 20% shareholding owned by Jia Yueting, the controversial founder of Lucid competitor Faraday Future. According to court papers filed by EVelozcity founder and ex FF CFO Stefan Krause, Yeuting provided his shares in Lucid as security thereby sabotaging any fundraising attempts of Lucid.

NIO‘s IPO efforts in the USA is showing that investors are becoming soberer when looking at investing in EV start-ups. Initially, NIO was valued at $37 billion now it seems that the company can only raise around $1 billion through the IPO which sets the value closer to $8 billion. Rumors surfaced that the IPO will be on the 18th of September but was denied by NIO.

Youxia, the Chinese EV start-up that rose from the dead announced the completion of a $350 million B+ funding round fully subscribed by Gezhi Capital, giving the CEO of Gezhi the position of co-chairman and founder of Youxia. Youxia made grand claims in 2015 with its KnightRider-like Tesla Model S clone. The company will now finish its 200,000 unit p.a. assembly plant based in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province in May 2019. According to Youxia it already has 11,000 orders for its EV, the Ranger X.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – GREAT WALL LAUNCHES ORA EV BRAND

On August 20 GWM officially launched its new energy vehicle brand first introduced at the 2018 Auto China in Beijing earlier this year. To date, GMW only has one EV and a plug-in EV, the C30EV sedan and WEY P8 PHEV SUV of which it sold nearly 6,000 units and 1,600 units respectively. The new GWM brand ORA is not just an auto manufacturer it is a mobility company as GWM pivots with the disruption caused by electrification, autonomous technology, and ride-hailing. In order to live up to this strategy, the ORA brand includes ORA Mobility which is funded to the tune of RMB 1 billion and based in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province and Xiongan New Area. ORA Mobility has big plans, targeting 200 cities with a fleet of 200,000 electric vehicles servicing 150 million customers.

ORA stands for Open, Reliable and Alternative and is aimed at the young and upcoming city dweller. ORA is headquartered in Baoding, Hebei Province and will launch its first production model the ORA iQ360 (iQ5) at the Chengdu auto show on August the 31st. The iQ360 compact crossover is said to start with a post-subsidy price below ¥100,000 to compete with WEIMA and other compact SUV brands. ORA will launch four electric vehicles by 2020 with the ORA R1 subcompact following the iQ5 in January 2019 and the R2 in Q3 2019. ORA plans to open in 72 Chinese cities before the launch of the R1 and expand to 300 dealer floors in 2019. ORA is also co-operating with Suning, Jingdong and Shouqi Automobile to build a new retail model.

GWM is firmly focussed on autonomous driving and has AI teams in China, the USA, and India working on levels 4 and 5 autonomous technology. The GWM AI system is named “iPilot” and will progress from iPilot 1.0 to 3.0 (SAE Level 4) and iPilot 4.0 which will be completely autonomous (Level 5). The ORA EV platform is based on the ME platform on which it will develop micro and small cars, SUVs, and commercial vehicles. The ME platform supports L3 level automatic driving under urban road conditions and equipped with luxuries such as natural voice recognition, traffic congestion assistance, active braking and other functions.

 

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – WAYMO REGISTERS SUBSIDIARY IN CHINA

A filing in China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System showed that GOOGLE had registered a company in Shanghai 100% owned by its self-driving company WAYMO. The filing clearly indicates Waymo’s intent to enter the Chinese market. The Chinese subsidiary is named Huimo Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co and has a registered capital of RMB3.5 million. The nature of Huimo’s business according to the filling is the design and testing of self-driving vehicle parts and products, consultation of business, trade, logistics, supply chain and company management.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 33 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 33 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – LONDON TO EXPAND LAMPPOST CHARGING NETWORK

The City of London awarded contracts to eight companies to install 1,150 charging points by 2020, adding to the 3,980 public chargers in the city. Currently, London has around 13,000 electric cars, at the same time 60% of the city’s inhabitants don’t have access to their own garages and require on-street charging. In August 2017 the mayor of London earmarked £4.5 million TfL capital funding to install 1,500 standard electric charging points and £18 million for 300 DC fast chargers by 2020 to promote the adoption of EVs. Four of the eight suppliers were awarded the opportunity to install their chargers using the city’s streetlight infrastructure. Siemens and ubitricity joined forces as one of the four that will install chargers in lampposts. ubitricity, which already operates around 300 such charging points, paved the way for the retrofitting of lampposts in London when it installed the first charger of its kind in 2016. Retrofitting a lamppost to enable EV charging takes less than an hour.

The ubitricity ‘SimpleSockets’ charging system allows a driver to connect to the post with a special cable which identifies the charge point activating it and bill the drivers account. The ‘SimpleScokets’ system has a max output of 4.6kW and drivers are billed at a subsidized rate of £0.15/kWh through a subscription service where the £199 capable is free. You can also purchase the cable outright for £100 but then be charged at a rate of £0.19/kWh. The charge point can also accept standard chargers but it needs to be activated through a mobile application.

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TOP EV NEWS #2 – CHINESE EV GIANT BYD WINS CONTRACTS IN THE USA

The news that China’s best performing EV brand BYD won two bids to supply the State of Georgia and the City of Atlanta with electric vehicles is surprising in the escalating trade war between the USA and China where tariffs on autos are one of the main sticking points. The state and city want to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% in 2020 and 40% in 2030.

The press release by BYD explains the contracts as follows:

The resulting statewide contract will be a “convenience” source for all State of Georgia governmental entities, including but not limited to state offices, agencies, departments, boards, bureaus, commissioners, institutions, colleges, universities, as well as local government, municipalities, cities, townships, counties and other political subdivisions of the State of Georgia. The statewide contract will also be available to other Governmental entities outside of the State of Georgia.

BYD won the bid to become one of the suppliers for the city of Atlanta’s electric vehicles, which includes electric heavy-duty trucks, taxi fleet vehicles, and buses. Departments from the City of Atlanta will be able to purchase from this contract, which will ensure competitive pricing and quicker deployment of the zero-emission battery-electric vehicles. Furthermore, outside agencies will be able to purchase vehicles under a co-operative agreement with the city.

BYD which list Warren Buffet as a shareholder has a bus assembly plant in the USA and previously tried to bring the BYD e6 taxi to the country.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – FARADAY FUTURE ESTABLISH OPERATIONS IN CHINA

One can’t be blamed for being confused when reading press announcements by Faraday Future and its shareholders the past week. A press release on the Faraday Future (FF) website dated August 16 states that the company does not have any plans to move its global headquarters to anywhere outside of California and goes further providing reasoning why it will not change. FF spawned from the Chinese online video service provider LeTV and its controversial founder Jia Yueting ran into financial trouble. The company was bailed out in June by Chinese property giant Evergrande Health Industry Group which acquired 45% in the company. The white night shareholder Evergrande announced this week that Evergrande Faraday Future Intelligent Vehicle (Guangdong) Co., Ltd which acquired a 401,000 square meter piece of land in Nansha District, Guangzhou will establish FFs operating HQ in China. The company aims to produce 5 million vehicles over the next ten years such as the FF91 and FF81 electric vehicles based around a connected intelligent mobility ecosystem. Evergrande Faraday Future stated that it would achieve its goal through the development of five R&D and production bases throughout China. Although the Chinese base is labeled as “Operational” HQ in the country a poisoned pill in the funding arrangement by Evergrande Health could see the global HQ shift to China. According to the agreement should FF founder Jia Yueting not be able to bring the first batch of FF91’s to market in Q1 2019 he loses his majority shareholding, giving control to Evergrande Health. At the end of July FF announced that it completed the first body of the FF91 at its Hanford California plant, ahead of its own timeline objectives. The company said that it expects to deliver its first vehicles in December 2018.

FF’s original shareholder LeTV confirmed this week that it does not have any knowledge of operations or shareholding in FF. All reference to LeAuto and LeEco disappeared from the dialogue of any of the parties involved over the last six months.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHINESE EV START-UPS ON FUNDING DRIVE

Chinese EV start-up NIO filed its prospectus for an IPO in the USA this week. The filing documents provide some insights into the company’s product planning. According to the prospectus NIO plans to bring at least five EVs to market by 2023, covering a range of segments including a sedan and MPV. In Week 31 we showed leaked images of NIO’s next EV the ES6 a mid-sized SUV due early 2019. NIO released its first model the ES8 in July. The ES8 competes directly with the Tesla Model X and sold a respectable 1,331 units in its first month. The NIO ET7 sedan will follow the ES6 in 2020. The proposed IPO is set at $1.8 billion (12.48 billion yuan).

In the meantime on of NIO’s competitors in China, XPENG announced at its brand day on 15 August that it aims to raise 30 billion yuan by the end of 2019. Xpeng announced the launch of its first EV the G3 in April 2018 and set a price range of between ¥200,000 and ¥280,000 for its smartphone on wheels. The company has sold 300 pilot models of the G3 to staff and will unveil the final configuration and price in November. Xpeng is valued at 25 billion yuan after a series B and B+ funding round which totaled 6.2billion yuan. Xpeng will open 10 showrooms in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Q4 2019. Xpeng took a page from Tesla’s playbook and plans to develop its own charging infrastructure consisting of 1,000 superchargers and 10,000 AC charging points over the next three years.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – GAC TO LAUNCH L3 SELF-DRIVING CAR IN 2019

Chinese automaker GAC announced that it would mass-produce an SAE level 3 capable EV by 2019, making it the first Chinese automaker to bring a self-driving car to market. GAC New Energy GM, Gu Huinan revealed in an interview that the company is also testing a level 4 autonomous vehicle. The statement could be presumptuous as JAC and Baidu are also co-operating to bring an autonomous vehicle to market in 2019.

Other Chinese automakers are also rushing to develop autonomous cars. Bosch and Baoneng Auto, the owner of Qoros Auto entered into a cooperation agreement this week to develop autonomous vehicle technology. State-owned Dongfeng Motors and Chinese communication technology company Huawei also entered into an agreement to develop self-driving systems.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 32 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 32 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – NEW LUXURY EV BRAND LAUNCHED

FAW owned EV start-up SiTech launched its luxury electric vehicle brand Gyon (Grow Your Own Niche) in Los Angeles on the 8th of August. At the same time, the EV start-up signed a co-operation agreement with design house Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters (GFMI). GFMI designed cars include the Maybach 6 convertible and the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo.

GYON’s management team includes industry heavyweights such as co-founder and president Joe Chao, a former executive of Chrysler Group former global president and Daimler Chrysler executive Tom Lasorda.Gyon-Management-Team

GYON (歌昂) plans to release nine new models over the next eight years. The EV startup will develop its EVs on two platforms covering sedan’s SUVs, crossovers and station wagons in the A and B segment.

Gyon Product Map

The Chinese auto company aims for technology advances in electric drivetrains and autonomous systems including charging capabilities of 80% in 10 minutes and fully charged in 15 minutes to compete with combustion vehicles. The Gyon EV is equipped with self-driving capabilities based on the G-OS intelligent vehicle operating system. GYON plans sell 400,000 vehicles in the next 10 years starting with an A-class model in 2020. For more info on GYONs proposed vehicle architecture follow click here.

GYON is based in Chengdu where it also entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with the Municipal government which includes capital. The city of Chengdu is aiming to be an autonomous electric hub and to date has constructed more than 5,000 charging stations to foster the adoption of EVs in its 700,000 per annum car market.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – FINAL TESTING OF FIRST SOLAR EV

Reuters reported that Sono finalized testing of the Sion Solar EV this summer in Bavaria. Data released by the crowdfunded start-up shows that the Sion can gain an extra 29km (18miles) over a 24 hour period from its 1.02kW solar system. The energy generated through the viSono System is “banked” and added to the vehicles range the next day. Sono will release the Sion in the second half of 2019 in Europe. According to the company’s website, it already has over 6,600 pre-orders. The Sion will be produced by a to be named contract manufacturer. For pricing and specifications of the Sono Sion EV click here.

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – MOBILITY RE-IMAGINED

The most exciting advantage brought by EV technology for me is the ability to re-imagine the car and mobility. The electric vehicle drivetrain is much smaller than a combustion engine and the batteries can be embedded in the vehicle structure such as the floor allowing vehicle developers to break free from the mold and come up with new groundbreaking designs. One such example is the German start-up iEV which launched its crowdfunding campaign this week to bring the iEV X and iEV X+ to market in May 2019.

The iEV X is designed around a Flexible Robotic Platform where the size and capacity of the vehicle increases/decreases in a few seconds while being fully robotic. The four-wheel iEV X Series can drive in motorbike or mobility line and is 6 to 7 times smaller than a car in part due to its fully retractable mirrors. Charging of the iEV is completely automatic and requires no plug-in if you take the robotics charging option. The company does not specify the cost of the installation of the system at your home or office. The iEV also comes with a solar charging system in the roof. For price and specifications of the iEV X click here.

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – BYD E-BUS PERFORMANCE QUESTIONED

The capabilities of BYD’s electric buses came into question this week. The Sunday Times newspaper reported that councilors of the City of Cape where told this week that BYD’s buses were incapable of handling many of the city’s inclines. The South African city ordered Africa’s first 11 electric buses in 2015 via a tender process. The tender required buses with a range of 200km, top speed of 60km/h and able to manage a 4% gradient. The tender process is also being investigated for allegations of corruption involving the mayor. The BYD buses came at a price tag of around $9 million. BYD, in an email to Sunday Times, refuted the claims but the buses remain grounded as the city goes through a budgeting process for additional funds to increase the power of the motors.

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Images of BYD’s latest electric vehicle were exposed this week. The new BYD EV is based on the E-Seed Concept unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2018. The new electric car is expected to be named either as the Yan or Xia which BYD recently registered.

Top 5 EV News week 32 BYD new electric car

 

BYD released its monthly EV sales this week reporting a record month on the back of sales for its two new models, The compact pure electric Yuan EV360 SUV, and large SUV the Tang plug-in hybrid SUV. BYD sales for July contributed to 25% of the total EV sales for the month.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – RELUCTANT PRODUCERS PREPARES FOR CHINA ZEV PROGRAM

Some auto manufacturers are being forced against their will to commit to an electric vehicle strategy while others had to change their strategies mid-stride as the Chinese Government’s zero emission vehicle program kicks off in al earnest in 2019. The Chinese ZEV program requires that sales of new energy vehicles be 8% of its total fleet from 2019 scaling to 12% in 2020. As automakers plan to comply with these targets most have plans to launch electrified models specifically for the Chinese market, shortchanging consumers in the rest of the world.

Toyota which strategy is more focused on fuel cell vehicles will start renovating its Tianjin plant at the cost of $263 million in September 2018. After its completion in March 2019, the plant will have a capacity of 110,000 PHEVs and 10,000 BEVs per annum. The Tianjin assembly line is Toyota’s only EV plant in China. Toyota plans to bring 2 PHEVs to market in 2019, a Corolla and Levin and a pure electric C-HR in 2020.

Nissan scored big with the Nissan Leaf but failed to follow up with an aggressive push, especially in China, where the Leaf is not available. Nissan has joint venture operations with some automakers in China one being Venucia its JV with state-owned Dongfeng. Venucia planned to bring the E30 EV, a replica of the Leaf, to market in 2015 but eventually did not. Dongfeng launched its “DFL Green Program 2022” this week and plans to bring 20 EVs to market by 2022. As part of the plan it announced that Venucia will launch three new EVs in China by next year including a sedan and SUV.

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Ford changed its EV strategy mid-stride in 2017 when a shareholder revolt resulted in a changing of the guard. Ford now plans to use the rush to EVs in China to boost its ailing fortunes by partnering with its JV partners to develop EVs in the country. Ford and JMC are reportedly working on an entry-level crossover, the Ford Territory which will be available in three powertrains which include a plug-in hybrid version. Ford’s lack of a clear EV strategy in 2017 contributed to the company experiencing month on month sales declines this year as its competitors provided an ever-increasing amount of electrified options to consumers. The Ford Territory will compete with EVs such as the BAIC EX series, Changan CS15, Yudo π 1 Pro, and Chery Tiggo 3xe.

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 31 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 31 2018

TOP EV NEWS #1 – TESLA MAKES BIG AUTO SEE RED

The big news of the week for me is Tesla‘s announcement that it sold more cars than all its competitors together in the mid-sized premium sedan segment. Note I said “cars” and not “electric cars.” It is clear from the chart below left that Tesla has steadily been eating market-share away from big brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus with an acceleration in June when Tesla emerged from its production hell with the Model 3. I feel sorry for those executives that claimed consumer demand for EVs is not there yet. In February 2017 the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers asked President Trump’s newly appointed Environmental Protection Agency Tsar, Scott Pruitt, to withdraw the Obama era agreed on 54.5MPG emissions benchmark, required by 2025. The lobby group included big auto companies such as GM and Ford. The AAM’s reasoning is that achieving the standard is too costly and that the consumer demand is not there to support such a stringent rule. Really? At the time I argued that the consumer is being forced to accept combustion technology and should they have a choice they would obviously go for EVs. Well, now that the consumer has a choice the argument is made.

In Tesla’s Q2 earnings call this week Tesla listed the top five cars traded-in when consumers buy a Model 3. The cars are the Toyota Prius, the BMW 3 Series, the Honda Accord, the Honda Civic and the Nissan Leaf. It is interesting to see some cannibalization by Tesla on EV sales by taking sales from the Leaf. It is also encouraging to see how drivers of plug-in hybrid cars are getting over range anxiety and now converting to the pure electric Model 3 supported by Tesla’s growing network of fast chargers.

Tesla-sales-overtake-all-its-competition-Top-5-EV-news-week-31

Tesla’s share price jumped 10% in after-hours trade on its Q2 earnings call and closed 16% higher the following day, lifting its market cap past GM’s, making it the most valuable auto company in the North Amerca. A lot has been written about the financial data in other reports so I will not dwell on it here. Looking at the prospects for the share price, the TSLA share came back and gave a classic goodbye kiss testing the breakaway in the flag formation I identified in Week 23. The next important resistance for TSLA is the tops in the $380 region after which it can go as high as $450.

For me, the most exciting result from the Tesla Q2 earnings call is the result it had on the share prices of its competitors. All of Tesla’s main competitors saw a significant downward reaction on the news that Tesla sold more than all of them combined. Earlier the week GM, Ford, and FCA reduced their full-year earnings forecasts by a combined total of $3 billion, which is now clearly the result of Tesla stealing their market share. Tesla, on the other hand, said that it will now show profits in its quarterly updates and start paying off debt. Looking at Tesla’s market grab the three companies can see a bigger hit to their earnings; maybe the Tesla shorts should rather focus on these opportunities!!

Elon Musk also gave some guidance on the company’s Gigafactory in China, saying that the company will not sell shares to fund the construction as it can raise funds from local banks through a loan. Furthermore, Elon said that they are confident that they can build the factory for a lot less than the $5 billion mentioned in the market. Tesla thinks that it can build a 250,000 unit factory for $2 billion.

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It was also announced that Autopilot V9 would roll out in four weeks. It is rumored the new upgrade can push Tesla’s autonomy level from Level 2 to Level 3, stealing the thunder from Audi which claimed the A8 is the first Level 3 car. (Audi’s claim is misleading as the function is only available at speeds below 37mph and only available in models in Europe sometime next year and undefined for the USA.) Tesla also stunned the market dropping a bombshell announcement during the call related to its AI computer which would be in its cars soon. Currently, Tesla uses a Nvidia chip, but its new AI chip will be more powerful by order of magnitude handling more than 2,000 frames per second of video, ten times faster than current tech. Tesla’s AI chip does this by bypassing the GPU or CPU running computations in the silicon itself.

Earlier the week it was reported that Tesla plans to give the Model S and Model X a full interior upgrade in Q3 2019. Although this surprised some buyers who hoped that updates would have happened this year, I suspect this has to do with the autonomous capabilities of the cars.  Did Elon not tweet earlier that the Model Y might not even have a steering wheel?

In related news to the opening paragraph, Donald Trump on a whim decided to freeze fuel efficiency requirements set by the EPA through to 2026. It will be interesting to see how the freeze will affect EV adoption in the USA and if the country will fall further behind China and Europe. The decision by Trump is being challenged by a coalition of attorneys general led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey who is suing the federal government to keep the emission guidelines in place, citing health issues, environmental degradation and the financial impact of climate change.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – HYDROGEN SHORTAGE IN CALIFORNIA

Toyota revealed the second iteration of its Class 8 Fuel Cell Electric Truck at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Management Briefing Seminar. The truck named “Beta” is the second vehicle from the Japanese automakers Project Portal started in April 2017. “Beta” offers an increased the range of the first vehicle “Alpha” by 100 miles bringing it to 300 miles per fill. To date “Alpha” has completed 10,000 testing miles in real-world conditions driving around the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. “Beta” has the same specs as “Alpha”, providing 670-plus horsepower and 1,325 pound-feet of torque from two Mirai fuel cell stacks and a 12kWh battery.

The announcement came at the same time as a hydrogen shortage in California resulting in dealers offering to compensate Toyota Mirai owners for rental vehicles. Twitter user @ferio_252 tweeted a sign at one of the 33 hydrogen fueling stations built by Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda. The shortage is due to supply constraints at chemical provider Air Products.

The sign read “Be advised: Hydrogen delivery issues everywhere. Don’t take chances, top off frequently. Toyota hotline says dealers know, will comp you for rental car.”

Toyota is still doubling down on Fuel Cell technology, leaving it exposed to bat for the technology with infrastructure investment. Toyota is not the only companies with a biased to FCEVs and in the 2017 KPMG Global Automotive Executive Survey, an overwhelming number of executives still saw Battery Electric Vehicles fail and Fuel Cells to be the real deal. The sudden increase in popularity of battery electric vehicles is forcing a rethink. Pushing for FCEV adoption is not without its challenges. Hydrogen fuel-stations cost upwards of a one million dollars to build while a charging station around $5,000, making it far easier to create a BEV charging network. A further challenge with hydrogen is that it is highly combustible creating a risk to transporters and drivers in extreme situations. What would you rather drive? A dirty ICE vehicle with a fire hazard, a clean EV with a fire hazard or a clean FCEV with an explosive hazard?

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TOP EV NEWS #3 – CHINA DOUBLES DOWN ON EV ADOPTION

The Chinese Ministry of Finance announced this week that New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) would be exempt from Vehicle and Vessel tax. The changes also make provision that the same tax on hybrid vehicles would be halved, this is vehicles using less than 1.6L/100km. There is a caveat though, only vehicles from producers that comply with quality, range and efficiency standards, safety and battery recycling requirements will qualify.

In Week 16/18 I reported that the Chinese Government was considering to use the resort island of Hainan as a test case to ban fossil-fuel vehicles. This week the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Hainan Provincial Government signed a strategic co-operation agreement that starts the process to ban ICE vehicles on the island by 2030. Hainan had 15,000 EVs and 2,900 charging points by the end of 2017 which it plans to increase tenfold by 2020. The Hainan Government’s EV mobility strategy will include changing its bus fleet to 80% EV by 2019, requiring ride-hailing companies to use EVs and promote bike sharing and time-leasing of cars.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW CARS

The cover of this weeks newsletter shows the teaser image released by Audi of its first electric supercar concept, the Audi PB18 e-tron, named after the event where it will be revealed on the 23rd of August 2018. This year’s Pebble Beach Car Week in Monterey, California will be the host of the PB18 which follows on the technology of the Audi R18 e-tron the LeMans-series winner.

Chinese EV start-up Yudo launched improved versions of the Yudo π1 and π3 called Yudo π1 Pro, Yudo π1 360 and Yudo π3 Pro. You can now buy a Yudo with a range of 251 miles (402km) for as little as $13,000 after subsidy. For the full specs follow the link here.

Spy images of the NIO ES6 EV SUV emerged on the internet this week. NIO announced the release of the ES6 at a press briefing in May 2018. At the time the company stated that the ES6 will be the first EV from its production line in Nanjing. To date, the ES8 is produced at NIOs contract manufacturing partner JAC in Heifei.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – NEW BRANDS AND STRATEGY UPDATES

In a bid to revitalize the struggling state-owned Hongqi, FAWs luxury brand known for producing limousines for the Chinese state this week unveiled its new EV strategy. Hongqi will develop two platforms, the “532” for larger vehicles and the “432” for smaller vehicles. Hongqi Auto will build five pure electric vehicles, three plug-in hybrids, and two combustion vehicles on the large platform and four EVs, three PHEVs and two ICE vehicles on the smaller platform.

Dearcc launched its luxury brand in Beijing on the 31st of July 2018. The brand named ENOVATE is expected to unveil its first EV, an SUV in October 2018. For the full insight into the brand’s plans, production and management follow the link here.

dearcc-enovate-launch-top-5-ev-news-week-31-2018

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE NEWS OF THE WEEK

Four Chinese companies this week entered into a JV to mass produce a clever truck by 2020. The companies forming the joint venture is JD Logistics, WM Motor, Global Logistic Properties (GLP), and JUMA. The trucks AI platform will improve safety and efficiency and is managed by JUMA’s logistics SaaS asset management platform operated. WM Motors will provide the EV development and manufacturing while JD Logistics will provide its R&D for the AI platform.

The Chinese capital of Zhejiang province, Hangzhou, this week approved the testing of Autonomous vehicles on its roads. Hangzhou is home to many of China’s auto companies and EV start-ups such as Dearcc, Karma, LeEco, WM Motors and Geely. The new regulations will come into effect on the 20th of August. The regulations include a panel to evaluate test applications, examine tested vehicles and issue the road testing number plates. The regulations also set strict requirements on drivers of the test vehicles such as requiring them to have at least 50-hours experience in operating of autonomous test vehicles. Hangzhou joins other Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai allowing testing of self-driving vehicles on public roads.

China’s Google, Baidu, announced that its Q2 revenues jumped 32% contributing resulting in a jump in net profits by 31%. Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO, highlighted its self-driving program Apollo’s contribution to the successful quarter. Apollo has signed 119 OEMs and parts suppliers including Daimler and BMW to its open source platform. We reported in Week 27 that Apollo started producing its first Level 4 autonomous vehicle the Apolong transporter.

In May Baidu, Lifan and EV rental company Pand-Auto started testing China’s first shared self-driving pilot program in the municipal area of Chongqing.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 30 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 30 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – YOU CAN NOW ORDER YOUR AUDI E-TRON

AUDI announced the new launch date of the long expected AUDI e-tron pure electric SUV. The official launch will now take place on the 17th of September in San Francisco after the company had to cancel the 30 August launch in Brussels due to the arrest of its CEO. Buyers in the USA will also be able to order the E-Tron online by paying a $1,000 refundable deposit. The AUDI e-tron is available from the company’s 303 dealers in the USA in Q1 2019. AUDI will also elaborate on its future during the launch.

The e-tron will be the first of three battery-electric vehicles that Audi plans to debut by 2020, with nearly 30 percent of its customers in the U.S. anticipated to go electric by 2025.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – BAIC TO STOP PRODUCING COMBUSTION CARS

I previously reported that BAIC would stop selling combustion vehicles by 2025 through a phased out approach starting in 2020 in Beijing. The state-owned auto manufacturer announced this week that it would stop producing Internal Combustion Vehicles (ICE) at its Beijing plants from the end of July 2018 and focus on EV manufacturing. The move is part of a major restructuring of the company’s operations which involve its partnership with Mercedes. Previously the two companies entered into an agreement to expand and upgrade the JV’s EV strategy with an injection of RMB 11.939 billion (Week 27/2017) in Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. BAIC Beijing will manufacture all Mercedes pure electric EVs (EQ brand). The first phase of the plant will be able to produce 150,000 units per annum from the end of 2019, in time for the release of the EQC. In June BAIC and Magna entered into an agreement to create the equivalent of an EV “Foxconn,” producing EVs for companies such as BJEV, Didi, Singulato, and other EV start-ups, to this end BAIC will upgrade its 300,000 unit Zhaoquanying Town, Shunyi District, Beijing plant. BAIC will also list its BAIC BJEV EV unit which manufactures the ARCFOX EV brand in Q3 of this year on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

In related news, BAIC opened its first light-vehicle assembly plant in Africa this week. In Week 18/2018 BAIC announced that the plant would be for the assembly of EVs. The press release this week made no reference to EVs. At the time I was skeptical why BAIC would assemble EVs in a country with no EV plans or infrastructure, in fact, EVs are penalized with an extra wealth levy in South Africa.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW EV MODELS AND BRANDS IN CHINA

Before we get to the exciting new EV happenings in China a brief update on Chinese EV incentives. In week 29/2018 I reported that the Chinese Government is considering making further changes to its EV incentive policy later this year. In terms of the country’s EV incentives municipalities can add their own incentives on top of that of the Government capped at 50% of the Government incentive. The Beijing municipal authority changed its policy this week to cap EV subsidies at 60% of the total value of the vehicle. Regarding the regulation, manufacturers of passenger vehicles provide the subsidy which they then claim back from the authorities. Other vehicle types only qualify for the subsidy once they reach 20,000 km (12,500 miles). Beijing hoped to promote the sale of 280,000 units by 2024. EV sales in Beijing currently stand at 175,000 units.

SAIC GM UNVEILS ITS SECOND EV IN CHINA

GM unveiled images of its second A00 class EV the Baojun E200. The Baojun E200 is the same length as the Baojun E100 and is only 10cm longer than the shortest EV in the world, the Renault Twizy. Most striking of the two-door hatch is its dash. SAIC GM is expected to launch the E200 later this year. At the moment no other details are available, but I will keep you up to date. The Baojun E100 sold more EVs than the veteran Changan Benni EV and after subsidies priced less than $5,000 in certain cities.

DEARCC FUNDING FOR NEW EV BRAND

Shaoxing based EV start-up DEARCC announced that it closed pre-funding for its RMB2 billion funding round. DEARCC will use the funding for R&D, assembly infrastructure and establish its high-end EV brand to be launched at the end of July 2018. The new brand will launch its B-Class SUV EV later this year for delivery in H1 2019. According to Gasgoo potential names for the new brand are Expecta, Ainsight, Telent, Explor, and Azure.

LYNK & CO PHEV LISTED

Geely’s luxury auto brand Lynk & Co launches its first plug-in model this week. The Lynk & Co 01 PHEV goes on sale at a pre-subsidy price of between ¥240,000 and ¥270,000.

SF MOTORS LAUNCH CHINA EV BRAND

SF Motors unveiled the SF5 and SF7 in the USA earlier the year. The Chinese owned company that operates from the old Hummer plant in Indiana officially launched its brand in Beijing this week and announced that SF Motors will be named Jingou EV in China. Jinguo EV will introduce its first production model the Jinguo 5 crossover EV to the market in Q3 2019 while production at the 50,000 Chinese plant scheduled for Q2 2019. Jinguo will provide test-drives for prospective buyers from early 2019. For available specs of the Jinguo 5 click here.

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SITECH CREATES NEW EV BRAND

EV start-up SiTech is launching its luxury electric vehicle brand in Los Angeles on the 8th of August. The new brand is named Gyon and collaborates with design house Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters (GFMI). The Chinese luxury EV brand will also unveil its first model teased in the image below. The Gyon EV is equipped with self-driving capabilities based on the G-OS intelligent vehicle operating system, but at this stage, it’s not known which level of autonomous driving is supported. The Gyon EV has a range of up to 450 miles (700km) and accelerates to 62 mph (100km/h) in less than 4 seconds.

Sitech - Gyon Top 5 EV news week 30 wattev2buy

YOGOMO REBRANDS TO FOCUS ON EVs

In line with its new EV strategy, the Yogomo (YGM) changed its company name to Link Tour Automobile Co., Ltd and rebranded itself to Link Tour. Yogomo is changing itself from being a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) brand to a proper automobile company. Link Tour will specialize in the manufacturing of A0 and A00 class EVs. It is speculated that the name change is necessitated by YGM’s deal to provide GWM with NEV credits (CAFC).

TOP EV NEWS #4 – MORE BATTERY PLANTS FOR DAIMLER 

Reuters reported that Daimler would add two more battery lines to its battery manufacturing capacity spread over three continents. The German automaker budgeted $1.75 billion to upgrade and tool its EV and A-EV (autonomous electric vehicles) manufacturing capabilities. According to Reuters Daimlers component factory in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim will be transformed to a high tech electric car components plant. The Mercedes Benz S-Class factory in Sindelfingen will now be used for the production of large autonomous and electric cars and will also get a battery assembly line.

Daimler has completed one battery line in Kamenz and is busy building a second at the location. In Asia Daimler is constructing a plant in Beijing and Bangkok and North America it is building a plant in Alabama.

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TOP EV NEWS #5 – EXCEPTIONAL DEMAND FOR JAGUAR I-PACE

Electrek.co reported that some clients that placed pre-orders for the Jaguar i-Pace EV received notifications that their deliveries are delayed between three and four months. On inquiry Jaguar gave the following response to Electrek:

“In some instances individual customers may have been informed of a delay regarding their order. This will be due to prioritisation of market specific orders to best meet the exceptional demand. After the su Save ccessful launch of I-PACE, Jaguar’s all-electric performance SUV, production is now focussed on meeting the exceptional customer demand. Since launch, we have confirmed that customer deliveries will be taking place from late summer of this year and this is still the correct timeline.”

The exceptional customer demand is more proof of a healthy appetite for pure electric vehicles, contrary to auto executives always finding the excuse that there is limited customer demand for EVs which is seen as a niche product by them.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE NEWS

Daimler and Baidu signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand partnership through the Apollo autonomous driving platform and to integrate Baidu’s vehicle connectivity services into Mercedes-Benz infotainment system MBUX.

Ford creates Ford Autonomous Vehicle LLC, a standalone company for its self-driving efforts. The formation of the company is structured so that third-party partners could take a stake in the shareholding. Ford is to invest $4 billion over the next 5-years in its AV efforts which includes an investment of $1 billion in Argo AI, the Pittsburgh autonomous system developer. Sherif Marakby will move from his position as VP Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification to head up the new company based in Ford’s Corktown campus in Detroit. The USA automaker will keep its electrification program, Team Edison, in-house. Ford Autonomous Vehicle LLC will focus on aligning its self-driving and mobility efforts to faster develop businesses in the fast-changing auto sector.

 

Ford-Autonomous-Vehicles-LLC-Top-5-EV-News-Week-30

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 29 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 29 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – IS IT THE END FOR EV INCENTIVES?

In Week 28 I reported on the tightening of EV subsidy requirements in China as the country charts the way to finally doing away with EV incentives in 2020.

This month Tesla became the first automaker to have sold 200,000 EVs in the USA, triggering a phase-out clause in terms of the country’s tax credit regulation. According to the phase-out clause, Tesla will not be eligible for the full tax credit of $7500 from the end of 2018. The phase-out is divided in three trances where buyers get a $3,750 credit to June 2019, $1,875 to December 2019 after which it falls away completely. GM will be the next company to reach the threshold having sold nearly 175,000 units to date. Some commentators claim that buyers on the waiting list for the Model 3 are concerned they will lose out on the tax credit and are shifting their orders to other cars such as the Chevrolet Bolt. Tesla is refuting these claims with CEO Elon Musk tweeting that he has seen 5,000 new orders for the Model 3 and 2,000 for the Models S and X.

Top 5 EV News week 29 Elon Musk tweet

A proposed new act proposed by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) might come to the rescue of future EV buyers. The Electric CARS Act (H.R.6274) was tabled on June 28, 2018, and recently co-sponsored by Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) and Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA) makes provision for the extension of the $7,500 tax credit to 2028. I am not sure if this would fly as price parity is expected much earlier than that, but one can only hope. The USA withdrew from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change Mitigation anymore, so there is no pressure on it to enforce certain emission targets. Several US states have created the United States Climate Alliance to still pursue the objectives set in France.

Canada is one of the top performing markets for electric car sales fueled by tax credits as high as $14,000 (Canadian Dollars) in the state of Ontario and $8,000 in Québec. By June 2018 total EV sales in Canada has already surpassed total sales for 2017 and sales for June was over 300% higher than June 2017 partly due to a shipment of 2,350 Tesla Model 3’s. On July 3, 2018, Ontario suddenly and without warning canceled the cap and trade program resulting in the cancellation of the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive and Charging Incentive Programs. The move which is said to be a cost-cutting effort and to subsidize gas prices took effect by 11 July leaving many buyers in a lurch.

Many countries to date have not implemented subsidy programs either due to budget constraints or just a lack of foresight might get a “Get out of Jail Card.” In some cases, the total cost of ownership has already swung in favor of EVs, far earlier than detractors of EVs have predicted. As we get closer to EV/Combustion parity in purchase cost the reliance of EV subsidies will make way for Governments to utilize punitive measures and/or support EV infrastructure development to support the adoption of EVs rather than incentives.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – TRADE WARS FORCING LOCALISED PRODUCTION

As it’s not enough for automakers to deal with mobility disruptions trade wars are ow playing havoc with their production planning and capital budgeting. In Week 28 we saw big auto companies, Tesla, BMW, and VW rushing to construct EV capacity in China to remain competitive. This week saw more production decision of electric cars influenced by the escalating trade war.

VW North-America CEO, Hinrich Woebcken told the UK based Autocar that the VW I.D Buzz and VW I.D. Crozz will be “Americanized” and produced locally. Mr. Woebcken was quoted saying, “It’s not possible to come into a high-volume scenario with imported cars. We want to localize electric mobility in the US.”

Geely’s Chairman Li Shufu was quoted last month by the South China Morning Post saying, “We will have to invest in producing a higher number of car models locally.” This week CEO of Geely subsidiary Volvo, Hakan Samuelsson, was quoted by Reuters at the release of its quarterly financial data, “We will of course reshuffle here and take XC60s for the US… from our factory in Europe, and let China produce for other markets.” Mr. Samuelsson told the news agency that the shift has already begun and that US-bound XC60 currently assembled in China would be reallocated to other markets, with some imported back to Europe. Volvo recently invested $1.1 billion in Charleston, South Carolina where the S60 is assembled for international markets.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – XPENG FUNDING ROUND

The four-year-old EV start-up Xpeng Motors Technology which openly targets Tesla in China is raising $600 million this month, valuing the company at $4 billion. Xpeng Shareholding Top 5 EV news week 29Xpeng was founded by He Xiaopeng who sold his UCWeb internet browsing company to Alibaba develops “internet connected smart cars” or more fondly called a smartphone on wheels. Chinese analysts favor EV start-ups such as Xpeng’s chances above that of Tesla. According to various analysts, Tesla has squandered its opportunity by arriving late in China while EV start-ups in the country are benefiting from political goodwill and learning from Tesla’s mistakes. Tesla had the opportunity to enter China in 2014 when the Pudong district proposed for the company to establish there. Tesla did not take the offer as it insisted on sole ownership which at the time was not possible.

He Xiaopeng saw early on that big data generated through autonomous electric mobility would be monetized through apps and services and founded Xpeng while still being employed at Alibaba. Xpeng’s first production EV, the Xpeng G3, started out as the Identity X Concept EV and was unveiled at the 2018 Las Vegas CES. The first 100 cars assembled by Haima was given to staff in October 2017 and is expected to be commercially available late 2018.

The Xpeng G3’s DNA includes voice controls, streaming music, live video, driver-tracking maps and a 360-degree camera with which you can stream the landscape around you to friends via social media.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – HIGH POWERED AND SPORTS EVs

Nissan announced that a Nismo sports version of the Leaf would go on sale on July 31 in Japan. It was not previously expected that a Leaf Nismo EV would be commercially available making the news a happy surprise, at least if you live in Japan. NISMO is Nissan’s performance brand and is short for “NISsan MOtorsports”. The Leaf Nismo accelerates to 60mph from standstill in 7.5 sec from the same but tweaked electric motor as the standard Leaf.

The Nissan LEAF NISMO features the characteristic layered double wings of the NISMO road car series, improving downforce without compromising drag coefficient. Signaling the high-performance driving provided by its low center of gravity, the exterior also includes custom 18-inch aluminum wheels that minimize air resistance.

The nine available body colors include the NISMO series’ custom Brilliant Silver (M)*/Super Black two-tone and the Dark Metal Grey (M)/Super Black two-tone.

McLaren announced earlier that combustion vehicle technology would remain at the heart of its development going forward and rather be pursuing mild hybrid engines (48V) as opposed to a plug-in hybrid. This week the niche auto company said that all its models will be hybrids by 2025. McLaren models will also have advanced driving assistance or autonomous driving features, cybersecurity and “Over the Air” capabilities. Autocar quoted McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt, saying “True to the spirit of pushing the boundaries of technology to benefit drivers, McLaren will also evaluate new augmented driving features and help develop a lighter, superfast-charging, high-power battery system for performance applications that is expected to have over 30 minutes of electric range around a racetrack.”

New EV specific brand Automobili Pininfarina teased its PFO Hypercar at last weekends Formula E event in Boston. The codename PFO is short for Pininfarina Zero. For more details click here.

Pininfarina-Hyper-Car-Top-5-EV-News-Week-29

TOP EV NEWS #5 – EV STRATEGY UPDATE

The head of FCA Group’s luxury brands, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, Tim Kuniskis told NBCNews that it aims to compete with Tesla in the USA for premium models. FCA Group which has been anti electrification up to June but surprisingly changed it’s tune and committed over $10 billion towards electrification which is 20% of its 5-year budget. I find the claim strange since the company is only planning plug-in hybrid models for the Alfa Romeo brand. In the exclusive interview, Kuniskis said, “Everything gets electrified, look at our product portfolio and you see we’re going after Tesla.” Kuniskis praised the performance advantages of premium electric cars over combustion vehicles saying “In addition to relying less on petrol, range-topping electrified models from Maserati and Alfa Romeo are going to give you more horsepower and quicker 0 to 60 times.”

In Week 27 I mentioned that Chinese battery maker CATL planned to construct a battery assembly line in Germany to supply BMW with EV batteries to the value of €4 billion. Bloomberg this week reported that BMW now has the right to make an equity investment in CATL for $427 million (2.85 billion yuan), making it the first foreign-owned auto company to do so. The stake, if it goes through, will give BMW less than 2% in the newly listed CATL.

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2020 Alfa Romeo 8C PHEV

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 28 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 28 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – TWO MILLION CHARGING STATIONS REQUIRED

In the run-up to the vote by Members of the Europian Parliament on the 10th of July that would support a 50% reduction in emissions by passenger cars and commercial vans by 2030 lobby groups for the automotive sector came out guns blazing against the proposal. The draft law adopted in November 2017 set a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from cars and vans, which some see as weak, therefore the proposed increase to 50%. Europe needs to agree on measures to reach its Climate targets agreed on to at the 2015 Paris Climate conference.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) brought out a number of reports over the last couple of weeks to show that the proposed targets are unattainable. The latest reports backed by a study named “Making the Transition to Zero-emission Mobility” warns that a shortage and balanced distribution of charging stations is putting consumers off making the move to EVs. According to the report to reach a 30% target 2 million charging stations are needed by 2025 while there are currently on 100,000 charging stations in Europe of which 76% are in only four countries (See Cover image provided by the ACEA). To achieve the new 50% target around 700,000 charging stations per year would be required according to the ACEA which would equate to 8.4 million charging points by 2030. The ACEA proposes a 20% CO2 reduction by 2030.

The voting ultimately came out in support of the 30% target and against increasing it to 50%. Clean vehicles manager of NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), Julia Poliscanova said:

“Today’s MEPs opinion means that the industry can keep selling diesel cars in Europe while developing and manufacturing the cars of the future elsewhere. European automakers are investing seven times more in electrification in China than in Europe. This is the real risk to European jobs and competitiveness. The ball is now in the leading environment committee’s court. MEPs should correct the course and set ambitious goals that will reduce drivers’ fuel bills, cut emissions and ensure investment in the technologies of the future happens in Europe.”

The comment by Mrs. Poliscanova is made in relation to the fact that European carmakers spend seven times more on EV tech development in China than locally. Next steps for the draft law is a vote by the European Parliaments top environment committee in September after which it will go to plenary in October 2018.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – CUTS TO EV SUBSIDIES IN CHINA

Automotive News China reported that the Chinese Government is looking at further cuts to its subsidy policy according to insiders.  Changes to the EV subsidy policy are expected as its widely expected that incentives for EVs will fall away at the start of the next decade. In 2017 the Chinese Government spent $1 billion on EV subsidies. What is interesting about the proposed changes though is that the Chinese Government is forcing auto manufacturers to improve their technologies as a way to become the world leader in the electric and autonomous cars in accordance with its 20125 “Made in China Strategy”. Insiders hinted that from 2019 EVs should have a minimum range of 200km (125 miles). To see the current EV subsidy requirements click here.

TOP EV NEWS #3 –EUROPEAN AUTOMAKERS SCRAMBLE FOR CHINA

I mentioned in Week 27 that European automakers are spending seven times on EV development in China than locally, of which proof is abundant this week.

BMW took advantage of the recent relaxation of ownership restrictions on international automakers in Chinese ventures. The German automaker is set to be the first majority foreign-owned car company in China. Although no specifics were announced it is rumored that BMW will up its stake in BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) to 75%. Stocks for Brilliance Automotive trading on the Hong Kong Exchange dropped over 12.5% on the back of the news. Brilliance stock dropped a further 2.8% at the end the week when BMW and Great Wall Motors announced a 50/50 JV to build the new Mini EV. The EV specific JV will be capitalized with $760 million (5.1 billion yuan) and have a capacity of 160,000 units at a plant in Jiangsu Province. The JV is named “Spotlight Automotive Limited”, which sound like a bad Google translation from Mandarin.

BMW-GWm-JV-Week-28-Top-5-EV-news

During a visit by China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Germany BMW Group and Brilliance Automotive signed a long-term framework agreement to further expand the BBA JV. According to the agreement, the JV will increase the capacity of its plants at Tiexi and Dadong in Shenyang, Liaoning Province to 520,000 by 2019.

Providing further clarity on BMW’s announcement at the Beijing Auto Show that the new BMW iX3 EV SUV would be produced in China. Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG said at the signing:

“Today’s signing represents a new chapter in the success story of our BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture. Our agreement sets a long-term framework for our future in China – a future involving continued investment, further growth and a clear commitment to the development and production of electric vehicles. The next chapter of our cooperation has the potential to go beyond our existing motto – in China, for China. The all-electric BMW iX3, produced by BBA from 2020, will find customers around the world.”

The closer German Sino relationship that is forming due to the alienation of the USA does not spare BMW’s models exported from the US-based Spartanburg, S.C plant where the X5 xDrive 40e is assembled. BMW announced this week that it would not be able to absorb the 25% penalty tariff enforced on US imports to China from the 6th of July 2018.

BMW-Brilliance-JV-Week-28-Top-5-EV-news

Volkswagen is positioning its SEAT brand in China. The German auto group, SEAT, and its Chinese partner JAC agreed that SEAT will acquire a shareholding by 2021 in the VW JAC JV at a signing in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The three companies will set up an R&D center for developing electric vehicles, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies by 2021. The JV aims to develop its own BEV platform.

Volkswagens China activities did not stop here as it signed Memoranda of Understanding with FAW and the China Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Research Institute (ICV). The MOU’s will result in two JVs with FAW focusing on charging infrastructure and charging-related services, as well as intelligent and connected vehicle services. The ICV MOU sets an environment for the entities to jointly develop China-specific smart technologies and corresponding regulatory standards, in pursuit of greater connectivity and autonomous driving. Reports also emerged that Volkswagen is in talks to increase its stake in the 60/40 FAW/VW JV FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co for which it has the blessing of the Chinese Government.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – UK ROAD TO ZERO

The UK Government published its “Road to Zero Strategy” this week. The strategy sets out its proposals to achieve its 2030 emission reduction targets. In 2017 the Government announced its “Air Quality Plan” by which it sees the end to the sale of combustion vehicles. The Road to Zero Strategy is equally aggressive compared to the country’s peers. In accordance with the proposal, the UK plans for low emission car sales of between 50% and 70% and 40% for commercial vans by 2030. The plan is also designed to support its Industrial Strategy, putting the country at the forefront of mobility disruption by leading the industries of the future and building the UK’s competitiveness in the face of major global economic trends. The plan tasks the UK Government to support the low emission sector through a massive roll-out of infrastructure. The Road to Zero Strategy is technology neutral and does not speculate on which technologies might help to deliver the government’s 2040 mission.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – TESLA SIGNS DEAL FOR SECOND PLANT

After years of speculation, Tesla penned an agreement with the city of Shanghai to build a 500,000 unit plant, its first outside of the USA and large by any standards. The final capacity of 500,000 would be achieved in five years after construction on the plant begin with the first vehicles to roll off the assembly line within two years of the start of construction in early 2019. Analysts were quick to point out that Tesla does not have enough free cash to construct the plant estimated to cost upwards of $5 billion according to Alex Webb of Bloomberg. Based on statements by the Shanghai Government it is expected that it would assist with funding the plant and start lifting restrictions on foreign ownership ASAP. The plant will be wholly owned by Tesla and the City of Shanghai’s largest foreign-owned project.

TOP A-EV NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

Daimler and Bosch announced that it selected California as the pilot site for its first self-driving test fleet. The pilot project will demonstrate how mobility services such as car sharing (car2go), ride-hailing (mytaxi) and multi-modal platforms (moovel) can be intelligently connected to shape the future of mobility. In addition, the partners have decided on the US technology company Nvidia as the supplier of the artificial intelligence platform as part of their control unit network. Furthermore,  In China Daimler become the first international car manufacturer to receive a permit to test Level 4 autonomous vehicles in Beijing. Earlier BMW achieved the same status in Shanghai. To qualify for the license, Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with additional technical applications from Baidu Apollo undertook extensive testing at the National Pilot Zone (Beijing and Hebei) for Intelligent Mobility, with test drivers receiving rigorous automated driving training.

Hyundai and Baidu this week announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Internet of Vehicles (IoV) services. According to the MOU the partners will co-develop connected car service that provides a wide range of in-car content based on big data, maps, AI, and portal services. Hyundai Motor Group will embed Baidu’s Xiaodu In-Car OS in its production cars and jointly advance in-vehicle voice recognition services based on Baidu’s natural language processing and Hyundai’s noise cancellation technologies.

BMW joined Chinese tech-giant Baidu’s opensource autonomous driving platform, Apollo. BMW will be a board member on the Apollo program.

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – ITS ALL ABOUT BATTERIES

There has been a lot of focus recently on electric vehicle batteries with companies rushing to secure battery supplies for the expected increase in EV models from 2019 onwards. Issues with battery production were one of the main causes in the slower ramp-up of the Tesla Model 3.

The picture is slightly different in China where there is an oversupply of battery production capacity. China saw a rush of companies to profit from the Governments support for the establishment of the electric vehicle market. As much as 150 companies were created between 2015 and 2017. In 2017 the combined capacity created was 100 GWh. This week Chinese Industry body ChinaEV100 reported that only 40% of the 200 GWh production capacity was used in 2017. The report coincided with China’s third largest producer OptimumNano Energy announcing that it will suspend production for six months. Of the top three producers, the recently listed Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is the only producer running at near full capacity. BYD, the second largest producer, only utilized 40% of its capacity in 2017. BYD, which is also the top EV producer in the country, announced earlier the year that it would start producing batteries for other auto manufacturers. This week BYD and Changan announced that it is to establish a 10 GWh EV battery JV in Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing. Automotive News China reported that CATL would expand to Europe, building a plant in Erfurt, Thuringia to supply batteries to BMW, which awarded a €1 billion contract to Chinese battery maker recently. This week also saw the official opening of the 192,000 unit EV battery joint venture between CATL and Dongfeng in Wuhan. The RMB100 million 9.6 GWh plant is a 50/50 JV is named Dongfeng Amperex (Wuhan) Battery System Co., Ltd.

ChinaEV100 said it expected more battery companies in the coming year to join the 50 that already closed shop. It’s not only the unchecked rush to build battery production capacity but also the recent tightening of technology requirements by the Chinese Government. New rules state that only EVs with a battery energy density of 105 Wh/kg qualifies for subsidies, impacting low-cost low-quality producers.

In the meantime, Nissan canceled the sale of Automotive Energy Supply Corp (AESC) the battery JV it founded in 2007 with NEC. Nissan agreed to sell the company to GSR Capital in August 2017 for an estimated $1 billion. The Chinese company failed to raise the required funds by the extended deadline set for the end of June 2018. It is unclear what Nissan’s plans for AESC are since it already changed the future supply of EV batteries for the Leaf from AESC to LG-Chem.

China’s top pure electric EV producer BJEV this week introduced a battery swapping service. The service is at first only available for BAIC EV300 owners. The BAIC EV300 with battery swap option sells for 79,800 yuan after subsidy with a monthly subscription of 432 yuan. The BAIC EV300 comes with a three-year buy-back option. Other Chinese automakers such as NIO and BYD are introducing the same service to draw more customers. BJEV will start with 100 stations in Beijing. Battery swapping is not expected to take longer than three minutes, less than the average 5 minutes spent refueling a combustion vehicle.

TOP EV NEWS #2  AUDI QUATTRO INTERIOR

Audi’s announcement last week that it would delay the launch of the e-tron Quattro due to the arrest of its CEO in the #dieselgate investigation has caused a marketing headache for the German company. To fill the uncertain void the company this week released more teasers of the highly anticipated luxury SUV. Audi showcased the interior of the e-tron Quattro at the Royal Danish Playhouse in Copenhagen. Here are some images from the press release.

Audi-e-tron-quattro-interior

TOP EV NEWS #3  GM HURT BY TESLA MODEL 3 EXPANDS ABROAD

While global EV sales are up around 70% for the year to date compared with the first six months of 2017 sales for the Chevrolet Bolt EV flatlined in its key markets Canada and America. A lot of speculation has been levied on why sales for the “mass produced” Chevrolet faltered. Some commentators suggested that stockpiles at dealers were tight due to the limited production of only 30,000 units per annum. Analyzing sales for 2018 GM has only been able to sell around 1,540 units per month in the key North American market, up only 3.7% on the first six months after the Bolt’s launch at the start of 2017. Sales for the European version, the Opel Ampera-e was up 60% but this analysis is skewed since the Ampera-e only reached Europe’s shores in Q2 2017. When comparing H2 2018 sales in Europe with the first 6 months of sales in Europe (Q2/Q3 2017) sales are up 15%.

Surprisingly GM sold nearly 3,000 units of the Bolt in South Korea in Q2 2018, more EVs than local manufacturer Hyundai, indicating that GM is opening up specific international markets for the Bolt EV. My take on the shift in sales is twofold, firstly it is an indication that the arrival of the Tesla Model 3 in significant numbers since the start of 2018 is hurting the demand for the Chevrolet Bolt, and secondly that GM is trying to make hay out of Tesla’s delayed ability to bring the Model 3 to international markets. Tesla has been criticized by some analyst for not making the best of its lead in the EV sector as it will start delivering the standard Tesla Model 3 in mass only a couple of months ahead of the competition such as the VW I.D. Neo and BMW Mini EV.

This week’s press release by GM confirmed the international expansion plans for the Bolt with a planned 20% increase in production from Q4 2018.

U.S. and global demand for the Chevrolet Bolt EV has been very strong in 2018, with global sales estimated to be up more than 35 percent year over year in the second quarter and up more than 40 percent in the first half. In response, GM is increasing fourth quarter production by more than 20 percent compared to the average of the first three quarters.

“Demand for the Chevrolet Bolt EV, especially in the United States, Canada and South Korea, has outstripped production,” McNeil said. “The extra production coming on line should be enough to help us keep growing global Bolt EV sales, rebuild our U.S. dealer inventory and bring us another step closer to our vision of a world with zero emissions.”

Top-5-EV-news-week-27-Chevrolet-Bolt-sales

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TOP EV NEWS #4 – ELECTRIC VW BEETLE IN FOUR YEARS?

One of my most memorable experiences with an electric car was with a converted electric VW Beetle in 2015. I was fortunate to be a Top 10 finalist in the local leg of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme where one of my co-finalist was a woman, Santa Scheepers of ZingCo with her ZingBug, an electric converted classic VW Beetle. Now that the latest generation VW Beetle model is reaching the end of its run it is rumored that VW executives are considering bringing it back in a couple of years as an EV through its I.D. unit. The proposed VW ID Beetle can easily fit on the MEB platform used for the VW I.D. Neo hatch and will allow for the classic car to again be driven by a rear wheel drive system. Should the Beetle be reborn as an electric car, it will only be for the 2021 model year or later. The picture used on the post cover is a rendering by Brazilian artists Kleber Silva.

ZingBug Top 5 EV news week 27

ZingCO ZingBug at Sasol Solar Challenge

TOP EV NEWS #5 TRADE WAR AND BREXIT DISRUPTION

China, this week lowered tariffs on imported light vehicles from 25% to 15% and parts to 6% from 10% in the escalating trade war started by Donald Trump. The announcement came with a caveat that cars from the USA  will attract a 25% penalty after July the 5th 2018 should Donald Trump not cancels its 25% levy on Chinese goods. Importing automakers such as Tesla jumped at the opportunity to be more competitive with the lower tariffs dropping their prices by around 6 percent which would equate to a 710,000 yuan ($107,000) price tag for the entry-level Model S. The reduced price for Tesla EVs is expected to be shortlived.

Another possible disruption for the auto sector but more localized is Brexit, in particular, a hard Brexit where Britain completely exit from the EU single market. Brexit has already dampened investment in the resurging UK vehicle manufacturing sector. This week Carl-Peter Forster, chairman of Geely owned London EV Co (LEVC), producer of the TX electric taxi joined the chorus of industry players warning of the detrimental effect of such a move. Brexit is expected to impact on the auto supply chain and hamper the movement of British made products to mainland Europe, not taking into account potential levies on UK EVs.

AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

Nasdaq listed Baidu and commercial vehicle manufacturer FJ Motor started production of the first mass-produced autonomous transporter, the Apolong. Baidu, the largest search engine in China, and King Long started working on the Apolong in late 2017. The developed was managed by Baidu’s Apollo unit, created to spearhead the company’s autonomous vehicle program, in the same fashion as Waymo was created by Google. The Apolong can carry 14 passengers, eight seating, and six standing. The Apolong is equipped with the Apollo 3.0 autonomous system allowing for Level 4 self-driving and has no steering wheel. The assembly plant is at FJ Motor’s King Long unit in Xiamen, Fujian province has produced 100 units of the autonomous minibus to date. Baidu will start exporting the Apolong to Japan in 2019 in conjunction with Japanese company Softbank where the vehicle will be deployed as shuttle buses for the elderly and staff at Nuclear plants. Although Leve 4 autonomy is not fully autonomous, it does allow the operation of a vehicle within an enclosed location without a human driver.

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – BMW i3 120Ah = NO REx

The Intersolar and EES 2018 was held in Munich last week where various stationary battery storage manufacturers were represented which also use the original BMW 94 Ah battery pack. The manufacturers using the 94Ah technology stated that they would be using 120 Ah memory for stationary battery applications at the beginning of 2019, which points to BMW i3 production with 120Ah from the end of this year. The 120Ah cells will be housed in battery pack estimated to be between 46kWh and 43kWh delivering a range of 150 miles or higher (>240km). Speculation has been rife the past week in various BMW i3 forums that the longer range i3 would lead to BMW discontinuing the BMW i3 REx.

BMW-i3-120AH-wek-26-top-5-ev-news

TOP EV NEWS #2 – FUNDING CERTAINTY FOR FF91

Faraday Future confirmed this week that it received approval from the US Government through the CFIUS for its first-round funding paving the way for the production of its FF91 luxury EV first introduced at the CES 2017. The investor of $2 billion into Faraday Future is Hong Kong-listed Evergrande Health Industry Group (0708.HK – EVERGRANDE HEALTH). The new shareholding structure of Faraday Future is:

  • Evergrande Health – 45%
  • Original Shareholder – 33%
  • FF Staff – 22%

Faraday Future stated that it will use the funds to accomplish it’s top priority – finalizing the development and delivering the first production vehicle, FF 91 to both the US and Chinese markets. The company elaborated saying that the investment will also support the expansion of its product pipeline, develop cutting-edge technologies and grow the business rapidly in the global marketplace, including our manufacturing facilities in Hanford, California and in Guangzhou Nansha, Guangdong Province, China.

Faraday Future’s plans have been shrouded in controversy with a lot of false promises and false starts. Nonetheless, the company seems to have used the opportunity to continue road testing the FF91 over the last two years. Let’s hope the company achieves its goals and add economy class EVs to its range.

FF-Funding-Week-26-Top-5-EV-news

TOP EV NEWS #3 – #RAPIDGATE AS NISSAN CLAIMS QUESTIONED

There was some bad press for the EV sector this week with the BBC running a story on claims by Nissan Leaf customers that the companies stated range and charging specifications are misleading. Customers told the BBC their Nissan Leaf EVs did not live up to Nissan’s headline range specification of 235 miles (378km) and 40-minute rapid charging. The matter is now before the British Advertising Standards Authority for investigation. Customers claim only to achieve a real-world range of 155 miles and that rapid charging sometimes take up to 90 minutes. Initially, Nissan claimed the NEDC test distance but have subsequently changed the official range estimate to the Worldwide harmonized Light Vehicles Test Protocol (WLTP) of 168 miles (268km).

Gareth Dunsmore, director of electric vehicles, was quoted saying “External ambient temperature, the type of driving you’ve been doing beforehand, and the heat you put into the battery if you’ve been doing successive charges can impact the timing.” Which means only the first charge is done in the stated 40 minutes after which the battery management system slow the charge to protect the battery and ensure longevity. Mr. Dunsmore said that this is clearly stated in the Nissan Leaf “Owners Manual.”

Is this biased reporting or are there genuine grounds for the negative publicity? I think it is a bit of both coupled with a lack of educated sales teams, which there are so many examples of. The EPA range, which is widely accepted as a representation of real-world performance, is 151 miles. With a bit of education, dealers can inform their clients of the real world range and charging performance. The nascent EV sector hardly needs this kind of bad press which could have been avoided if dealers and manufacturers had their clients interest at heart rather than to sell vehicles through misinformation.

Published data shows that around 2,600 2018 Nissan Leafs have been sold in the UK. The BBC reported that some clients have either canceled their orders of chose the older model Leaf. Meanwhile, Nissan racked up another award, this time winning the Excellence in Climate Solutions Award for its pioneering work to develop electric vehicle technology and energy services systems.

On the topic of cheating, Audi CEO was the first high-level head to be arrested in the ongoing #dieselgate investigation, leading to the company postponing the much-anticipated launch of the Audi e-tron Quattro EV later this year. The scheduled unveiling was set for August 30 in Brussels, but this was moved to the USA on an unspecified date.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – CHINA SPOTLIGHT

Jaguar Land Rover to build EV for the Chinese market.

The Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has joined the rush to coin from the booming Chinese EV market by planning to build an electric car in the country. Automotive News China quoted President of the JLR/Chery JV, Murray Dietsch, who said “Our expectation is the penetration of EV will continue to grow more than linearly. With the combination of the enhancement in SUV market and the expectation of higher penetration of battery-electric vehicles, you will see more battery-electric SUVs in the market in the future.”  According to Dietsch JLR will make details on the project available within the next year.

In reality, JLR has no choice but to put an EV strategy in play in China to comply with new regulations by the Chinese Government and play catch up to its competitors Daimler and Audi in the luxury market segment.

Another week, another EV brand

BAIC owned Changhe Auto this week introduced an EV specific sub-brand “IDEAL.” IDEAL will develop electrified economy sedans, SUVs, and A0/A00 class vehicles for city use. IDEAL plans to launch three vehicles in 2018, the Ideal EV3, EVS3, and EV5.

BAIC and Brilliance join hand on EV development

It has long been expected that the cost associated with the rush to produce electric cars will cause a shake-up in the Chinese Auto sector, where loss-making brands were propped up by cheap loans. In the past year state-owned companies FAW, Changan, and Dongfeng agreed to share technologies and development cost. This week saw BAIC and Brilliance Auto, BMW‘s local partner, signing a strategic co-operation agreement. The two companies will cooperate promoting and development of new energy vehicles for ride-sharing, ride-hailing, electric passenger, commercial and official vehicles in the north-east of China.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – ELECTRIC TRUCKS

Renault Trucks unveiled its second generation of commercial electric vehicles, the 3.1 ton Renault Master Z.E, 16 ton Renault Trucks D ZE and, the 26 ton Renault Master D Wide ZE garbage truck. The electric trucks are built for city use with an operating range between 120km (75 miles) to 300km (188 miles).

Tesla CEO Elon Musk called for his Twitter followers to propose features for the Model P Truck (Pick-up). The Model P is expected to be a six-seater with a range of 500 miles or more and include a 240V outlet to power tools and compressors first introduced in the Workhorse W-15.

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – RAMP UP OF PRODUCTION, CHINA SEES RISKS

Tesla’s Europe Gigafactory goes to…

We have been expecting concrete announcements on the locations for Tesla’s next Gigafactories since Elon Musk mentioned that the company would announce the location of up to four Gigafactories around the Globe early in 2017. The company moved a step closer to its factory in Shanghai in May. Tesla registered Tesla (Shanghai) Co Ltd after the Chinese Government gave the green light for international automakers to set up shop in the country without forcing local partners on them. The brewing trade war between the US and China might jeopardize these plans after Trump escalated the war this week. In a tweet mid-week, Elon Musk mentioned that the European factory could be placed in a central location in Europe, potentially southern Germany. Elon clarified that Tesla’s European headquarters would remain in the Netherlands.

Elon-tweet-week-25-top-ev-news

The Times of India reported that Mercedes is considering an EV assembly line at its facility in Chakan in Pune, India. According to the article, Mercedes identified India as a key market for electric mobility.

“As the Indian market moves towards electrics, we will be investigating local manufacturing here. As part of our long-term perspective (on India), we want to manufacture here,” Mercedes-Benz India VP (sales & marketing) Michael Jopp told TOI. “When it happens, we would certainly manufacture them at our plant in Chakan, alongside the combustion engine vehicles.”

Mr. Jopp went further saying that the plans are dependent on the Indian Government following through with its support for the industry, a sentiment also voiced by Nissan Chairman earlier this year.

Changan Auto this week broke ground on it’s 240,000 unit EV plant in Jiangning District, Nanjing. The RMB 20 billion EV plant is expected to be put into operation in June 2020. Changan will discontinue the production of combustion vehicles in 2025.

While the international market now slowly wakes up to the growing demand for electric vehicles the leading market, China, identified the blind rush to EVs in that country as a risk. According to Reuters a spokesperson for the state planning agency said that the Chinese Government is ready to take action to stop the overcapacity in EV production. The May batch of approved EVs (batch 307 in the database from our shop) had nearly 2,000 EVs consisting of buses, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles from well over a 100 manufacturers. In 2016 the Government introduced a permit system, only allowing ten automakers to be permitted to produce EVs. The list was increased to 15 in 2017. In 2018 there are more than 20 start-ups busy with the construction of EV plants. The sales data though does not paint a pretty picture so far for the new entrants who battle to sell EVs at the same volume as the established brands.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – RIMAC GETS BIG BROTHER

VW Group’s Porsche announced this week that it acquired 10% in the niche EV producer Rimac, famous for its Concept One hypercar crashed by ex-Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. Based in Croatia Rimac was founded in 2009 30-year-old Mate Rimac EV pioneer. Rimac unveiled the C Two production car capable of a top speed of 412km and a range of 650km at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year. Porsche valued Rimac’s expertise in electromobility and hope to foster a closer working relationship with the company.

Mate Rimac said, “This partnership now is an important step for Rimac on our way to become a component and system supplier of choice for the industry in electrification, connectivity and the exciting field of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.”

Top-5-EV-News-Week-25-Porsche-10-percent-in-Rimac-300

In related news, the Volkswagen ID R supercar set the fastest time at 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the US state of Colorado qualifying for the race this Sunday the 24th of June. The VW ID R set a time of 3:16.083 minutes, 11.049 seconds faster than the closest combustion vehicle. The time was achieved on the qualifying lap which is only 8.3km of the 19.99km course of the main event.

Top-5-EV-News-Week-25-VW-ID

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW MODELS ADDED TO EV INVENTORY

The following new models entered the EV market this week.

Volvo revealed its mid-size premium sports sedan, the S60, in the USA. The Volvo S60 has two plug-in hybrid versions, the Volvo S60 T6 Twin Engine AWD plug-in hybrid that generates a combined 340hp, and the award-winning S60 T8 Twin Engine AWD plug-in hybrid that delivers 400hp. The Volvo S60 is the first car by the Swedish brand manufactured in the USA, at a plant in Charleston, South Carolina. The T8 PHEV is also available with a Polestar upgrade and is the first Volvo series that does not have a diesel version.

Top-5-EV-news-Week-25-Volvo-S60-PHEV-release

Chinese brand JAC will launch a 390km city EV on the 26th of June. The sporty upgrade of the JAC iEV6E which has sold around 50,000 to date will be launched live on-line targeting its younger market segment. The JAC iEV6 can reach a maximum distance of 390km at a constant speed of 60km/h or 310km in NEDC terms. The A00 class car is also equipped with DC fast charge allowing an 80% charge in 30 minutes. For its full specs click here.

Top-5-EV-News-Week-25-JAC-iEV6E

The world best selling small EV of 2017, the BAIC EC180 will get an upgrade in Q3 2018. BAIC is expected to launch the BAIC EC3 in the coming quarter. The BAIC EC3 was first introduced at the Beijing Auto Show earlier this year. The BAIC EC3 has an NEDC range of 261km.

Top-5-EV-News-Week-25-BAIC-EC3

TOP EV NEWS #4 – MORE ROYAL SUPPORT FOR EVs

It seems the British Royal family has come out batting for electric vehicles the past month, with Price Harry using an EV for his wedding while it is reported that Prince Charles was spotted in a Jaguar i-Pace and testing a Tesla Model S delivered by Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk (pictured in the cover image above). There is also talk of the Royal family considering a plug-in Range Rover. Prince Charles, however, has been promoting green vehicles for a much longer time. In 2011 the British Monarch’s son was seen test driving a SAAB Concept EV while being involved with the planning of an eco-village 40 miles from Glasgow complete with charging stations for EVs. It was reported at the time that the Prince was considering installing a charging station halfway between Edinburgh and the eco-village in Knockroon. Maybe some of the British readers can confirm what happened to this project.

It is great for EV adoption to have this kind of high profile support.

Prince-Charles-eco-village-Top-5-EV-news-week-25

TOP EV NEWS #5 – ACCORD TO BOOST EV ADOPTION

A new accord for the adoption of EVs was signed by a host of Fortune 100 companies, including automakers and utilities. The Transportation Electrification Accord invited NGOs and businesses to sign onto the Accord and to use it for policy design, education, and outreach. The Accord outlines how transportation electrification can be advanced in a manner that benefits all utility customers and users of all forms of transportation, while supporting the evolution of a cleaner grid and stimulating innovation and competition for U.S. companies. GM‘s director of Advanced Vehicle Commercialization Policy, Britta Gross was quoted saying “We envision a world with zero emissions. That’s the future, and the Accord lays out the essential building blocks for a compelling energy infrastructure that we can all rely on for decades to come. Innovations in transportation electrification will benefit society as a whole – and cross-industry, multi-stakeholder cooperation is key.” Other signatories included Honda, Plug-in America, and the Sierra Club.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 24 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 24 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – BYTON ELEGANTLY BLENDS CAR AND AI

The Chinese A-EV (Autonomous EV) start-up Byton formed by tech giant and Tesla shareholder, Tencent, this week held a company event officially opening its operations in Nanjing. Nanjing will house Byton’s HQ, hi-tech manufacturing, and R&D, and Silicon Value will be home to the customer experience and advanced R&D technologies for self-driving systems while Munich the base of the design team and product R&D.

Byton introduced its second offering EV, the K-Byte Concept sedan during the launch. The first mass-produced EV, a production version of the Byton M-Byte SUV introduced at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas will roll off the assembly line of the 300,000 unit capacity plant in Q4 2019. The M-Byte SUV starting price is set to be RMB300,000. The M-Byte will be followed by a production version of the K-Byte sedan in 2021 and an MPV in 2022. On the eve of the launch, Byton announced the completion of a $500 million Series B funding round. Chinese state-owned auto manufacturer FAW was one of the earlier participants in Series B, investing $260 million. The Series B funding round was fully subscribed with a sizable investment by one of the world’s largest battery manufacturers, CATL.

The Byton K-Byte Concept sedan design elegantly incorporates the systems and sensors required for autonomous driving. Unfortunately, the inclusion of a steering wheel and fixed forward-looking seats still reminds us that the switch away from traditional mobility is not as easy as one would imagine.

Top-5-eV-news-week-24-Byton-K-Byte-launch

In related news, CATL went public this week with $850 million IPO on Monday on the Shenzhen Exchange. CATL floated 10% of the company at a price of 25.14 yuan ($3.92) per share. CATL’s share price rose 44% at the debut at which point trade was halted as the price reached the maximum allowable threshold for the first day of trade.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – FUEL CELL STRATEGY RETHINK

Now that the shift towards electric mobility is gathering pace automakers are forced to rethink their fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) strategy. Reuters reported this week that the Canadian JV between Daimler and Ford for the development of automotive fuel cell technology, Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp, based in Burnaby, British Columbia would be terminated this summer. Both companies will take their FCEV research in-house. Only a few automakers have extensive fuel cell strategies, Toyota being the most prominent, doubling down on efforts to mass produce FCEVs. Honda and GM are still collaborating on the development of FCEV technologies.

In related news, VW/Audi and Canadian company Ballard Power this week extended their long-term HyMotion contract to develop a small series fuel cell Audi by 2022. The value of the contract for the NASDAQ and Toronto SE listed Ballard is estimated to be up to $100 million. The initial relationship commenced with the signing of a four-year contract in March 2013 which was extended for another two years to March 2019. Audi took over control of the program in 2016. Fruits of the program in the form of a Golf SportWagen HyMotion, Passat HyMotion, and Audi A7 Sportback h-tron Quattro was presented at the LA and Detroit Auto Shows during the run of the program.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – RENAULT INVEST IN EV STRATEGY

The Nissan Renault Mitsubishi Alliance EV strategy named Drive The Future gained more traction this week with the announcement that Groupe Renault will invest €1 billion ($1.1 billion) towards the strategy, making France a center if excellence for Renaults EVs within the alliance.

Renault identified four production sites within France to focus on the development fo EVs, being:

  • Douai – the base for the development of  a new Alliance electric platform;
  • Flins – doubling of the existing ZOE capacity;
  • Cleon – tripling electric motor production capacity and the introduction of the new generation electric motor by 2021;
  • Maubeuge – investments for the next generation of Kangoo commercial vehicles, including Kangoo Z.E.

The EV related targets for the Drive The Future (2017-2022) strategy is to have 8 electric models and 12 electrified models by 2022.

To date, Renault has been the best performing EV brand in Europe posting a 23.8% market share, growing 38% in 2017 due to 44% rise in Zoe sales.

Top-5-EV-news-week-24-Renault-invest-in-EV

TOP EV NEWS #4 – FOCUS ON CHINA EV POLICY

Chinese EV sales are powering ahead, EV sales in May 2018 were the second-best performing month of all time and increasing year on year sales by almost 150%. China remains the catalyst for global EV Sales accounting for around 60% of EV sales in the top 10 markets in May. The Top selling EV brands were BAIC, BYD, and SAIC while the top new model was the WEY P8 and the top new Brand Han Teng with its X87 PHEV and X5 EV SUV’s. If you are interested in my full report on Chinese EV sales for May 2018 please click here.

The Chinese Government implemented a new EV subsidy policy on the 12th of June, scrapping incentives for pure electric cars with a range below 150km (94miles). The rules of the new policy are designed to foster improvements in EV technology, favoring EVs with high energy density and efficiency. According to the new EV incentive policy, EVs will qualify for subsidies based on five range trances:

  1. Between 150km and 200km will be reduced from RMB 36,000 to RMB 15,000;
  2. Between 200km and 250km will be reduced from RMB 36,000 to RMB 24,000;
  3. Between 250km and 300km will be granted RMB 34,000;
  4. Between 300km and 400km will be subsidized RMB 45,000;
  5. Above 400km will gain RMB 50,000.

Criteria for battery energy density were divided into four levels.

Subsidies based on the energy density of batteries are as follows:

  1. 105Wh/kg to 120Wh/kg = 0.6 times subsidies;
  2. 120Wh/kg to 140Wh/kg = 1 time subsidies;
  3. 140 Wh/kg to 160 Wh/kg, 1.1 times subsidies;
  4. and more than160Wh/kg 1.2 times subsidies.

Subsidies for plug-in hybrid passenger vehicle will be reduced by RMB 2,000 to RMB 22,000.

China-ev-sales-may-2018-table

China’s dominance in the EV sector is helping its automakers to gain traction in international markets. This week Geely subsidiary Zhi Dou announced that the South Korean Government ordered 1,000 Zhi Du D2 mini EVs. Zhi Dou is the third official supplier to the South Korean Government after local producer KIA and the GM. Unfortunately, the trade war between the USA and China might put a damper on the Chinese automakers with plans to establish in the USA. Deputy GM of GAC, Li Shao, said to Automotive News China that any increase in tariffs by the US would have an impact on its plans to start selling cars there. GAC has started recruiting dealers to commence operations in 2019.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – KIA SOUL EV GETS BATTERY UPGRADE

On the back of declining sales for its combustion version, KIA announced that it would only sell the electric version of the KIA Soul in Europe. Of the 2,245 KIA Soul’s sold in Germany so far this year 1,900 were EV models. KIA will release the next generation KIA this year which will be based on the Hyundai Kona and KIA Niro EVs available in a 39.3 kWh medium range and 64kWh long-range version, improving the range of the KIA Soul by threefold.

Top 5 ev news week 24 Kia sloul EV

TOP EV NEWS – AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

Elon Musk tweeted that the new Autopilot upgrade, Version 9(V9) will unlock the full self-driving capabilities of the autonomous driving hardware that has been part of all Tesla Model’s S and X since November 2016. Version 9(V9) will be rolled out in August 2018. “To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety. With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features,” Musk replied in a Twitter thread.

GM China announced at the China CES that the Cadillac CT6 PHEV would be its first car to be equipped with the Super Cruise advanced driving system in the country. GM will include the system in other models from 2020. The system applies driver attention monitoring and alerting systems, cameras, lidar map data and sensors to allow for auto-pilot capabilities on highways.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 23 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 23 2018

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wattEV2buy is two years old this week, and I would like to use the opportunity to thank everybody that has been part of the journey and for the visitors to the site. Seeing the readership reach new records each month give me the inspiration to improve and makes the hours invested all worthwhile. wattEV2buy will grow this year with our EV-Genius mobile app offering currently in development. I am looking for co-founders from the retail space in California, New York or Europe so if you are interested, please reach out to me.

TOP EV NEWS #1 – PLUG-IN HYBRIDs OUT TO FOOL CONSUMERS

My personal opinion regarding plug-in hybrid EVs has always been that it does not make sense to buy a luxury vehicle an then stuff a fuel tank of a Hyundai i10 in it to make space for a battery pack that will give you half the range of a Mahindra electric rickshaw while paying a premium for it. PHEVs are essentially a compliance technology for manufacturers to play catch-up with those companies (or should I say company until recently) that have a pure electric strategy. I guess this statement will result in bundles of fan mail, but then again I have the luxury to say what I want since I pay my own rent. Sure PHEVs are a great bridging technology for consumers to ease them into electric vehicles, many PHEV owners drive in EV mode most of the time and will buy a pure electric vehicle as their next vehicle. Now back to the point before I digress.

British consumer-led motoring platform, HonestJohn.co.uk this week reported that 98% of hybrid car’s fail to live up to their sticker MPG with some models missing the mark by as much as 80MPG. HonestJohn based its report on real-world fuel data from 148,00 submissions on its site.

The worst performers according to HonestJohn are:

Worst-performing-PHEV-mpg-claims

Bringing my point home further is the fact that no PHEVs are on the Top 5 performers. The top performers all include mild hybrids and are the Lexus GS 450h (84.2%), Toyota RAV4 Hybrid 2WD (79.3%), Toyota Yaris 1.5 VVT-I Hybrid (77.9%), Kia Niro 1.6 GDI Hybrid (77.4%) and Toyota C-HR 1.8 Hybrid (77.2%).

Honest John’s Managing Editor, Daniel Powell, said: “This is the most comprehensive study into hybrid fuel economy ever to be carried out. However, while these models are advertised with lofty MPG figures that will appeal to cost-conscious drivers, our research shows that on-the-road economy is somewhat different.

“Given that car buyers are being urged to replace their petrol and diesel cars with new low emission hybrids, we think more needs to be done to ensure drivers get a fair deal when it comes to Real MPG.”

TOP EV NEWS #2 – TEASERS & UPDATES TO PRODUCTION EVs

In anticipation of the 2019 launch of the production version of the Porsche Mission E Concept the German automaker, this week named its first EV model. The Porsche Mission E will from now on be known as the Porsche Taycan. The named represent the horse which has been on the Porsche crest since 1952. Loosely translated the Oriental name Taycan means “lively young horse.”

Porsche-Taycan-top-5-ev-news-week-23

KIA unveiled the Niro pure electric EV at the 2018 Busan International Motor Show in Korea this week. The KIA Niro CUV EV and sister company Hyundai with the Hyundai Kona EV currently has the only pure electric CUVs in the (Western) market. The Niro EV differentiates itself from the existing Niro Hybrid and Niro Plug-in Hybrid with a series of exclusive design features including redesigned intakes; new arrowhead shaped LED daytime running lights and “tiger nose.”

The inside of the Niro EV includes technologies that complement its zero-emissions powertrain and modern features. Different than the PHEV and Hybrid Niro, the BEV version’s dashboard features a light blue trim, and the center console has been simplified to accommodate the car’s shift-by-wire drive selector in the form of a ‘dial’-style shift knob, a first for KIA. The Niro EV features a new mood lighting system. Occupants can choose from six colors – white, grey, bronze, red, green, and blue. The 7.0-inch touchscreen HMI (human-machine interface) remains at the center of the dashboard but has been updated to offer a series of EV-specific features. Most importantly the range of the short and long-range versions is slightly more than indicated in the digital launch in March, with the long-range version reaching 400km (250miles) and the short-range model 300km / 186 miles. For more specs and some other surprises related to the Niro EV click here.

KIA-Niro-BEV-launch-top-5-ev-news-week-23

BYTON, a premium intelligent EV start-up owned by Tencent who also owns 5% in Tesla teased its second model, a luxury sedan concept. The concept will make its world debut at the “BYTON’s night” on the eve of the CES Asia 2018 on June 12. The BYTON luxury sedan concept is the second model based on BYTON’s EV-exclusive platform.

Byton-teaser-week-23-2018

Renault announced that buyers can now purchase the Master ZE and Kangoo in full. The full purchase price will be €7,400 (VAT excluded) more than a model with a battery lease agreement across all variants.

Renault ensured that its staff received comprehensive training in electric vehicles, allowing sales teams to better inform customers on the various battery purchase and leasing options available for KANGOO ZE and MASTER ZE. Renault is the leader of the electric utility vehicle in France in 2017 with a 53.6% share of the market.

2018 – Renault Master Z.E. tests drive and electric LCV range in Lisboa Top 5 EV news week 23

Peugeot will release a plug-in hybrid version of its stunning new estate the Peugeot 508 SW in the second half of 2019. Unfortunately, the Peugeot 508 will only be available in Europe. The 508 SW PHEV will have a range of 50 km (WLTP cycle) from a battery pack located under the row 2 seats to preserve the roomy boot.

Peugeot-508-SW-phev

The Honda Urban Concept, which will reach production for the European market in 2019, this week was awarded ‘The Best Concept Car’ in the renowned 2018 Car Design Award honors presented as part of the Turin Motor Show.

Honda-Urban top 5 ev news week 23

TOP EV NEWS #3 – TESLA AGM SUPPORTS SHARE RISE

Tesla had its annual shareholder meeting this week which included the expected tweets from Elon Musk. The most exciting news from the AGM related to the 2019 Roadster, Model 3 and Model Y CUV.

Elon Musk tweeted that the Roadster 2019 will include 10 SpaceX rockets to “dramatically improve” acceleration, braking, and cornering. The SpaceX version will outperform the standard Roadster with its 0-62mph 1.9-second acceleration.

Tweet-Musk-on-Roadster-2019 top 5 ev news week 23

Tesla also teased a new picture of the Model Y CUV which it will reveal on the 15th of March 2019 for production early 2020. Elon Musk also noted that the Model Y’s interior would not include leather, not even a steering wheel eluding to possible autonomous capabilities for the mass market CUV. I assume the only impediment will be regulation for this statement to be true.tesla-model-y-and-marketshare top 5 ev news week 23

The most explosive news was the tweet by Elon Musk showing that the Tesla Model 3 is now the best selling mid-size premium sedan in the USA for all propulsion types. The news followed by statements from Elon that Tesla would most likely reach its target of 20,000 units per month caused the share price to rise 9.5% up 15% from its low in April, which was the best one-day performance since November 2015.

Last year I made some good calls on the Tesla share price including the break at $280 and the top at $385 so let’s hope I remain on form (I take no responsibility for your investment decisions). Looking at the long-term support line and the rising flag forming the TSLA price can rise to above $400 should it maintain a break above $320. Take note of the short-term flag which can see the price test the bottom support and provide a buying opportunity. Should the share price close higher Monday than on Friday this short-term flag will be negated and a run to $330 can be expected this week. The Tesla share price upward rallies is also caused by the stock being heavily shorted.

Tesla-Share-forecast-2018-June-8

TOP EV NEWS #4 – GM INTENSIFIES EV PLANS IN CHINA

General Motors announced this week that it would intensify its electrification strategy in China. Automotive News China quoted GM’s China head Matt Tsien, who said in Shanghai on Tuesday that the automaker will now develop 20 heavily electrified vehicle models through 2023. The plan to build 10 EVs by 2020 will be bolstered by a further ten models from 2021 to 2023.

In related news, GM and Honda extended their EV partnership to include battery development. The company made the following announcement this week:

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) announced an agreement for new advanced chemistry battery components, including the cell and module, to accelerate both companies’ plans for all-electric vehicles. The next-generation battery will deliver higher energy density, smaller packaging and faster-charging capabilities for both companies’ future products, mainly for the North American market.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – DAIMLER NOW HAS LARGEST COMMERCIAL EV FLEET

Daimler unveiled two more electric trucks for the North Amercian market during its Capital Markets and Technology Days in Oregon this week, claiming that it now has the largest selection of electric delivery vehicles. Maybe now is to strong a word since these models will all only be available in volume form 2021. The company will test 30 of its new Freightliner eCascadia Semi and Freightlines eM2 106 medium delivery trucks over the next year. Follow the links below to see how Daimler will come head to head with the Tesla Semi.

With the two eFreightliners, the Mercedes-Benz eActros, the light FUSO eCanter, the fully-electric Mercedes-Benz Citaro city bus and the Thomas Built Saf-T Liner C2 Jouley school bus, Daimler Trucks & Buses already has the broadest portfolio of fully-electric commercial vehicles to be found anywhere.

Daimler-ads-two-ev-trucks-top-5-ev-news-week-23

In related news, the Chinese owned FDG Electric Vehicles based in California and Ryder announced that Ryder reserved 500 of  FDG’s V8070 medium-duty panel vans. The V8070 has a 100-mile range with a 6,000lbs payload, 16.4 cubic meters of cargo space and 7.2kW onboard charger. Ryder will include the V8070 in its ChoiceLease and SelectCare fleet maintenance offerings.

Chnaje The V8070, below on the right, has a 100-mile range with a 6,000lbs payload and 7.2kW onboard charger.

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Western automakers should take note of new EV models from China

Western automakers should take note of new EV models from China

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China’s list of new EV models include some surprisingly good cars.

When thinking of Chinese cars, and electric cars, in particular, the most common reaction are that they are ugly deathtraps. Such assumptions might have been true in the past but the Chinese Government set a goal to dominate the EV sector, and results are starting to show. Chinese and international automakers are scrambling to ready themselves for the new requirements starting in 6 months when their sales should consist of 10% EVs after which it will increase to 12% by 2020. More stringent technical specifications to qualify for tax incentives also came into effect in April this year leading to a flurry of range improvements of existing and new models.

On May 22, 2018, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology responsible for regulating the EV sector released its latest catalog of newly approved new energy vehicles, which includes buses, cars, and commercial vehicles. A total of 1987 models were entered in the latest batch of which 348 models were passenger cars consisting of 294 pure electric cars and 54 plug-in hybrids from brands such as BYD, SAIC, JAC, and Guangzhou Automobile. (The list should not be confused with the list the Ministry together with the State Administration of Taxation release to show which EVs are eligible for exemption of tax on vehicles and other state and provincial subsidies.) The catalog which is the 4th this year contains all variants of a model and upgrades to older models. The actual number of new EVs sofar in 2018 is just over seventy which I will list below.

Although there were the usual bunch of ugly ducklings, there seems to be a general trend of improved quality options to the consumer, which should cause concern for Western automakers. The handful of imports that formed part of the list included the usual suspects, being PHEV models from BMW, Audi, Ford, and Mercedes.

The quality and technical abilities of Chinese EVs are improving rapidly. The improvements in Chinese engineering capabilities can be ascribed to its increased exposure to western technical expertise through ownership of Western automakers, such as in the case of Geely owning Volvo or through R&D centers in Silicon Valley, Germany, and Italy such as NIO. New models released this year are packed with technology. The SAIC Roewe Marvel X will be the first mass-produced car equipped with AR (augmented reality) technology.

New-EVs-H1-2018

Chinese automakers are getting proficient at producing pure electric cars.

Chinese automakers are becoming quite proficient at developing battery electric vehicles (BEV), and the 2018 cohort of SUVs and sedans all have a range between 300km/188mi and 500km/313mi (NEDC). The plug-in hybrid models are also pushing 80km/50mi which in real terms is around 30 miles, equivalent to the best EVs from Western automakers. Significantly most of the EVs in the 2018 batch is available at or below $25,000 to the consumers after subsidies, with more than half priced at $10,000 or less.

Not only are new EVs pushing the envelope in quality, price, and range nearly al existing favorites received significant range upgrades at no increase in price as some EV models now enter their fourth generation. The 2018 A00 class models, the most popular market segment now all have a range between 200km/125mi and 300km/188mi, more than enough for city life.

Upgraded-evs-in-china-2018

Is the surge in new EV models going to last?

The surge in new EV models in the first half of 2018 is definitely not an anomaly, there are much more exciting EVs coming to market in the next couple of years. Last week Geely announced that it intends to bring 20 new electrified models to market by 2020, that’s less than 18 months away, meaning they will have to launch an EV each month. The Weima EX5 and EX6 and SiTech EV are some of the exciting new EVs that will enter the Chinese market later this year.

Chinese electric cars sold in the west.

The threat posed by China’s increased dominance of the EV sector is not limited to the local market but also to big auto in the West as some of these models and brands are destined for Western markets. Chery is in the process of creating an EV brand that will exclusively operate in Europe. NIO and Borgward will bring the NIO ES8 and Borgward BXi7 to Western markets while SF Motors is setting up shop in the USA to manufacture the SF5 and SF7 EV SUVs. SAIC is also bringing its MAXUS electric commercial vehicles to Europe from 2019 while Geely’s Lynk & Co is destinated to be an international brand.

Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Peter Altmaier, recently, lashed out at the local auto sector for their reluctance to commit to investing their efforts in EVs. Minister Altmaier warned the countries large automakers which include BMW, Daimler, and the VW Group that they will be left behind by international competitors. Altmaier demanded automakers to except that electric vehicles are the future and implement reforms to set the course for an environmentally-friendly future of mobility. This is not the first time that German politicians spoke out against their sector, in August 2017 (Top 5 EV News Week 33/2017) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she doubted if German automakers were sufficiently innovative enough to progress the electric vehicle technology. Altmaier stopped short though of calling for a ban on diesel vehicles. A recent ruling by German courts gave cities the right to introduce driving bans on diesel vehicles. Judging from China’s latest approved new energy vehicles, it seems that the politicians for one are right.

China’s 2018 batch of new EVs in the diagram is listed below. Just click on the link to get the full specs. Remember you can purchase an annual subscription granting access to my full online database of monthly Chinese new EV batches, vehicles qualifying for tax subsidies and Chinese EV sales. Contact me here for more details of this unique service.

baic-eu5-ev

BAIC EU5

Hyundai-sonata-2018-phev

BEIJING HYUNDAI SONATA

Beijing Hyundai-elantra yuedong-ev

BEIJING HYUNDAI ELANTRA YUEDONG

BYD-Qin-EV450

BYD QIN 450 BEV

2018-BYD-Qin-PHEV

BYD QIN 5.9S PHEV

BYD-G5DM

BYD G5DM PHEV

Changan-New-Eado-2018

CHANGAN NEW EADO

changan ford mondeo energi phev

CHANGAN FORD MONDEO ENERGI

chery-arrizo-3ev

CHERY ARRIZO 3EV

dongfeng-s50-ev

DONGFENG FENGXING S50

dongfeng fengshen e70

DONGFENG FENGSHEN E70

dongfeng-jun-feng-e17-ev

DONGFENG JUNFENG E17

Nissan-Sylphy-Ev

DONGFENG NISSAN SYLPHY

Dongfeng-renault-E300

DONGFENG RENAULT E300

Dongfeng-yueda-kia-k5-phev

DONGFENG YUEDA KIA K5

faw-bingo-ev

FAW BINGO EV

geely-GL-PHEV

GEELY EMGRAND GL PHEV

geely-borui-ge-phev

GEELY BORUI GE PHEV

jac-iev-A50-EV

JAC iEV5 BEV

lifan-400EV

LIFAN 400EV

lifan-820ev

LIFAN 820EV

Mercedes-E350e-AMG-PHEV

MERCEDES BENZ E300ei

saic mg 6 phev

SAIC eMG6 PHEV

volvo-s90-t8 phev

VOLVO S90 T8 PHEV

baic-ex5-suv-ev

BAIC EX5 BEV

BAIC-Huansu-S5-EV

BAIC HUANSU S5 BEV

zinoro-60h-phev

ZINORO 60H PHEV

borgward-bxi7

BORGWARD BXi7

BYD-Yuan-EV360

BYD YUAN EV360

chery-karry-k60-ev suv pictures

KARRY K60

gac-trumpchi gs4-ev

GAC GS4 BEV SUV

gac-mitsubishi-qizhi-suv-phev-wattev2buy

GAC MITSUBISHI QIZHI PHEV

guangzhou-Toyota-iX4-EV-SUV

GAC TOYOTA iX4

geely-sx11p-PHEV

GEELY SX11P PHEV

lynk-Co-o1-phev

LYNK & Co 01 PHEV

geely-gse

GEELY CROSS GSe BEV

wey p8 phev

WEY P8 PHEV

gwm-ora-iq5-ev

xpeng-identity-x

XPENG G3

Han-teng-x5-EV

HAN TENG X5 BEV

Sol-e20x SUV-Ev-

SOL E20X BEV

JMC-S330-EV

JMC S330 BEV

jmc-e400-ev-suv

JMC E400 BEV

jmc-e500

JMC E500

nio-ES8-ev

NIO ES8

SAIC-Roewe-MarvelX-EV

ROEWE MARVEL X

Yema-ec60

YEMA EC60

YGM-K-One-EV

YGM K-ONE BEV

zotye-t300-ev-su

ZOTYE T300 BEV

yudo-pi-1-ev

YUDO Pi 1 PRO

yudo-Pi-3-ev

YUDO PI 3 PRO

chery-tiggo-xe3-suv-ev

CHERY TIGGO Xe3

byd-song-max-phev

BYD SONG MAX PHEV

changan-honor-mpv-ev

CHANGAN HONOR MPV BEV

changhe big dipper-E-MPV

CHANGHE BIG DIPPER BEV

Brilliance-Jinbei-x30L-EV

BRILLIANCE JINBEI X30L BEV

chery-karry-k50-ev mpv pictures

KARRY K50 MPV

weichai-enranger-737EV

WEICHAI ENRANGER 737EV

DONGFENG-EC36-EV-MPV

DONGFENG EC36 BEV MPV

dongfeng-s500-ev

DONGFENG FENGXING S500

dongfeng-m5-ev

DONGFENG FENGXING M5EV

Geely VP11 PHEV

GEELY VP11 PHEV

sinogold-m3-mpv-ev

SINOGOLD M3 MPV BEV

yema-ec30-mpv

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 22 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 22 2018

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In preparation for this week’s newsletter, I was struck by the magnitude of the wave of EVs we can expect in the next two years, especially in China. Last week the Chinese authorities released its monthly list of EVs registered in the country by local and foreign automakers. It took me the whole week to unpack the list which introduced over thirty new models to my database. You will also see from this weeks newsletter some aggressive moves by big auto companies to produce EVs in the next couple of years. I will combine my research of the new EVs in China in a separate report later this week so be on the lookout for it. In the meantime see if you can spot the new EVs on the website.

TOP EV NEWS #1 – VW READIES FOR EV DEMAND SPIKE

VW and its Chinese partner FAW is developing three new plants in anticipation of increased demand for EVs in the Chinese market. The partnership made the announcement at the introduction of the Bora EV (Jetta EV) at the Qingdao plant. In total, the company plans to launch ten new energy vehicles by 2020 in the country, the first of which is the Bora EV and Tiguan PHEV this year. FAW-VW announced that it would build EV plants in Qingdao (Shandong), Tianjin, and Foshan (Guangdong) to add to capacity for its planned 1.5 million EVs per annum by 2025 from 40 new models. The additional three factories will compliment the existing Audi Q plant in Changchun (Jilin). The four plants exclude VW’s other plant in Hefei with partner JAC where production of the SOL 20X started this week. The Hefei plant has a capacity of 100,000 vehicles. VW is also partnered with SAIC in China.

In related news, VW announced that it is upskilling 100 engineers for the production of the I.D. EV series. The program is named the “Future Electronic Engineer Program” (FEEP) and aims to train the team especially for work with the modular electrification toolkit (MEB) which will be used to for 27 MEB models globally.

VW-press-release-top-5-ev-news-week-22-2018

TOP EV NEWS #2 – GEELY EV STRATEGY INTO HIGH GEAR

During the official launch of its new flagship EV model, the Borui GE, Geely announced its new EV strategy which will see the company launching 30 new EV models by 2020 with cruising ranges of 500km/312mi. The GEELY EV strategy is named “Geely Intelligent Power” and is built on four pillars, namely pure electric, hybrid platforms, alternative fuels and hydrogen fuel cells. The new strategy extends the 2015 strategy which set a goal of a maximum fuel consumption of 5L/100km for its fleet. With the assistance of VOLVO and 2500 engineers through its four R&D centers around the globe, Geely has obtained hundreds of core EV related patents to back the new strategy.

The Geely Borui is a B Class PHEV and will be available by the end of July 2018 with a starting price after subsidy of 168,800 yuan and 199,800 yuan for the top of the range model.

Geely-strategy-top-5-ev-news-week-22-2018

TOP EV NEWS #3 – FCA WOKE UP AND SMELLED THE COFFEE

The next news piece of news gives me an immense amount of pleasure. FCA CEO and longtime EV naysayer, Sergio Marchionne, announced a $10.5 billion investment into electrifying the group as it intends to exit diesel engines by 2021. The announcement was made during the company’s Capital Markets Day to the investment community. The EV budget makes up 20% of the planned expenses for the next five years.Mr. Marchionne which is to retire next year has as recently as 2017 said that he did not believe EVs will be a factor. FCA has up to now been seen as a compliance company, only selling one BEV, the FIAT 500e in markets where it is mandated by law to do so and is now in a tight spot as it tries to play catchup to its competitors. FCA plans to develop 2 FIAT EVs, 4 JEEP EVs, and 4 MASERATI EVs but no Alfa Romeo.

FCA-Capital-markets-Day-small

In related news, Chrysler announced this week that it would supply a further 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivans to Waymo’s autonomous driving programme, starting from later this year. Currently, Waymo is using 600 minivans in its pilot project in Phoenix.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – STREETSCOOTER OPENS SECOND EV PLANT

The German company, StreetScooter which produces electric delivery vans, primarily for its owner, Deutsche Post DHL Group opened its second manufacturing facility. The 10,000 unit capacity plant of 78,000 m2 is in Düren, Germany. The plant can produce 46 vehicles a day from a single shift. StreetScooter can now produce 20,000 electric delivery vans per year from the new plant and its main plant in Aachen.

Streetscooter-plant-in-duren-top-5-ev-news-week-22

TOP EV NEWS #5 – SF MOTORS INVEST IN US PLANT

Chinese owned SF Motors unveiled its first EV models earlier this year, the SF5 and SF7. SF Motors, which sees itself as a global intelligent electric vehicle company announced this week it would renovate its recently acquired Hummer plant in Mishawaka, Indiana to produce the SF5 by the end of the year. The total investment in the plant is $160 million and will create 467 jobs by 2020. The 675,500-square-foot facility forms part of the company’s US operations which is headquartered in Silicon Valley.

TOP EV NEWS – AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

Investment by Japanese Softbank in GM Cruise values the company at a staggering $11.5 billion.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today that the SoftBank Vision Fund will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings LLC (GM Cruise), further strengthening the company’s plans to commercialize AV technology at large scale. GM will also invest $1.1 billion in GM Cruise upon closing of the transaction.

“Our Cruise and GM teams together have made tremendous progress over the last two years,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Teaming up with SoftBank adds an additional strong partner as we pursue our vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”

“GM has made significant progress toward realizing the dream of completely automated driving to dramatically reduce fatalities, emissions and congestion,” said Michael Ronen, managing partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers. “The GM Cruise approach of a fully integrated hardware and software stack gives it a unique competitive advantage. We are very impressed by the advances made by the Cruise and GM teams, and are thrilled to help them lead a historic transformation of the automobile industry.”

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 21 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – CHINA CANCELS TAX INCENTIVES ON SOME EVs

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the State Administration of Taxation, announced in 2017 that it would revoke its approval for some electric cars complying for tax incentives. The ministry had verified the production or import volume of models that were listed in the Catalogue of New Energy Vehicles Exempted from Purchase Tax for Vehicles before January 1, 2017, and disqualified all those with which have not been produced or imported by April 2018. A total of 1,8882 electric buses, passenger cars, and vans met the criteria and lost their tax-exempt status.

Although itself can only be seen as a spring cleaning of the list, the ministry also enforced stronger technical guidelines. In December 2017 reports surfaced that the ministry will increase energy density requirements to no less than 115 Wh/kg and reduce the energy consumption threshold to no higher than 2.1kWh/100km down 14% from the 2017 level of 2.4kWh/100km on the plug-in hybrid EVs.

The stronger technical requirements impacted some well known EVs from the top auto brands including BAIC, BYD, and JAC. Models such as the BYD Qin which sold over 100,000 units were included in the list. Over 80 passenger cars were included:

JAC iEV6S and iEV5 models, BAIC’s E150EV, EV260, EU300, EU260, EX300, EX260, EV200, EV160 and EU220, and BYD’s Qin, Song DM, and Yuan.

CHINESE electric car MODELS With revoked ev subsidies

The impact of the culling should however not impact drastically on Chinese EV sales as automakers released upgraded models of there most popular EV models in the last quarter. Some models from the picture above that will lose their incentives is the Maxus EG10, Brilliance H230, Kawei W1, Dongnan V5 and V3, ZhiDou D1, Besturn B30 and the Zotye A3 EV and Zotye SR7 EV. Popular models such as the Eado PHEV, GAC GS4EV, Song DM and JAC iEV6EV have undergone improvements to keep their tax-exempt status. New models such as the Kandi K22 and Kandi K27 will also enter the market as the companies build on their exciting ranges.

In related news, the Chinese Government announced the lowering of its import duties on international auto imports from to 15% from 25% from July 1, 2018. Import duties on parts will drop to around 6% from 10% as the country responds to Trump’s trade war. Already Tesla announced large price cuts on the back of the news with the sales price in the Model X dropping as much as $15,000.

TOP EV NEWS #2 – NISSAN LEAF CABRIOLET

In celebration of reaching the milestone of selling 100,000 Nissan Leaf’s the company showcased a cabriolet version of the popular EV at a forum to discuss the creation of a “zero-emission society.” The forum was attended by 100 high-level government officials and company executives. Unfortunately, there are no production plans for the Nissan Leaf cabriolet. I personally believe company should reconsider and include the cabriolet version, please share your position in the comment section below.Newsletter-week-21-Cabriolet-Leaf

TOP EV NEWS #3 – BMW i-SERIES PRODUCTION INCREASED

I have referred a couple of times this year on the shortage of EVs leading to long waiting times for EV buyers. BMW announced the investment of a further €300 million in its Leipzig plant to increase the annual production from 250,000 units per annum to 350,000 by 2020. The ramp-up will start from this year as the production moves from 130 units a day to 200 as the company responds to increased demand and competition from Tesla which is now building 5,000 Model 3’s per week. I made a statement at a recent presentation that although EV sales are low relative to combustion vehicles it is actually high if one considers the little effort that is done in marketing or production of EVs, showing a clear shift towards the technology.

The plant extension in Leipzig will result in a 300m extension of the plant to cover a total area of 11,950m² and include improvements to the paint shop, body shop and adding robots in the assembly process.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – TOYOTA AND HONDA TO MOVE ON CHINESE EV MARKET

Toyota is finally bending under pressure to develop EVs but doing so selectively in response to China’s new stick instead of a carrot policy to push companies to produce new energy vehicles. As a sign of Toyota’s rush to enter the Chinese EV market, it will roll-out an EV under its local partner, GAC‘s branding. The first vehicle will be the GAC Toyota ix4 crossover which is developed on the GAC GS4 EV platform. Sales of the GAC Toyota ix4 are expected to start by the end of 2018.

Toyota is not the only multinational scrambling to sell EVs in China. I wrote a report earlier this week on the micro and small EV segment which is the most popular market segment currently in China. Currently, the sector is dominated by local brands, but this week Japan’s Nikkei news agency reported that Honda is sourcing batteries from CATL for a micro EV based on the Honda Fit. Honda expects to sell a 100,000 of the new EV which is to be priced at around 11,500 yuan which is below $20,000. The new EV will reach the market in H1 2020.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – US EV START-UP RIVIAN GETS $200M

Rivian Automotive secured $200 million in debt financing from Standard Chartered Bank this week to commence EV production at its plant in Illinois, USA. The latest funding brings total funding in the company to nearly $500 million as it gears up to produce its first EVs in 2020. Rivian plans to roll-out an EV Pick-up truck and SUV from 2020, competing with the likes of local competitors Tesla, Bollinger and Workhorse which all plans to sell electric pick-ups by that time. The A1T (Truck) and A1C will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this year. The price range for the A1T and A1C will range between $50k and $90k.

TOP EV NEWS – AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

BMW received two licenses to test self-driving cars in China. The City of Shanghai issued the licenses to BMW making it the first international company to legally test autonomous cars in the country. A team of 60 engineers will support the project which is centered around a self-driving BMW 7 series.

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Which is the best small EV in China? We Rank the top small electric cars.

Which is the best small EV in China? We Rank the top small electric cars.

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MICRO ELECTRIC CARS IS THE TOP SELLING SEGMENT IN CHINA

The small electric car segment was the best performing class in the Chinese EV market in 2017, accounting for nearly 50% of all EV sales. The Chinese consumer is spoiled for choice when it comes to selecting which small electric car to buy for city use. In 2017 there were 20 A0 class EVs to select from. Consumers in 2018 are in for a treat as many of these models are to get battery upgrades providing electric ranges up to 320km (200 miles). Take into account though that this is not real world distances as most Chinese manufacturers like to quote a range at a constant speed of 60km/h.

Automakers target the youth and ride sharing markets with the A0 class EVs, presenting the EVs in bright colors and selling them through mobile platforms and hip Tesla like showrooms.

China-small-car-sales-2018

The top-performing EV in 2017 was BAICs EC180, which set a couple of EV firsts such as having the most sales for a single model in a particular month. The BAIC EV180 extended its run into 2018 and is updated to the EC220 with a range of over 200km / 126 miles. It is fascinating to see brands such as Kandi which paved the way for the A0 class segment failed to capitalize on its commanding position going into 2017. 2017 saw some auto brands entering the A0 class with one or two models. BAIC’s overall lead in the Chinese EV sector and the world for that matter is tied completely to the success of the BAIC EC series, which contribute 55% of the companies total EV sales from 6 models. BAIC’s other A0 EV, the Arcfox Lite has failed to live up to its expectations. The Arcfox Lite represents a new bread of small EVs which is packed with technology and gadgets for the younger generation.

Auto-Brands-in-the-AO-class

Which is the best small EV in 2018?

So which small EV will give the BAIC EC series a run for its money in 2018? The BAIC EC180, now the EC220, is still the best performing EV for the first four months of 2018 but has not been able to breach the 10,000 mark per month which it so easily did in 2017. A couple of models recently received significant upgrades in their performances, one of which is the JAC iEV6E sports edition which now boasts a range of over 300km or nearly 200 miles. You can buy the JAC iEV6E for much less than the BAIC EC220 and get a much better range for your buck making the iEV6E a car to watch in 2018.

Kandi is not the only top performer of 2016 and 2017 that is failing in the segment where it once ruled. The ZhiDou D2 was the second best seller in 2017 but is now slipping down the rankings as it fails to keep pace with the improved ranges and luxuries of the new entrants. Zotye, which partnered with Ford to produce EVs, has also lost market share as its small EVs also fail to keep pace. It seems though that Changan has learned a thing or two making the Benni EV another contender. The Benni EV which has been around since 2016 received a range upgrade early this year and now leads the class with an electric range of 316km / 198 miles. The Changan Benni also does not cost much more than the JAC iEV6E and far less than the BAIC EC180.

China-AO-class-sales-2017

Safety is a factor for Chinese EV brands.

When talking about Chinese EVs detractors, the first avenue of attack is claiming that Chinese EVs are inferior when it come’s safety standards. This might have been true in years past, but the Chinese automakers are trying hard to lose the label. JAC created a safety technology brand this month called AN+, aiming to produce vehicle technology which will eradicate fatalities by 2025. Below are pictures of one of the cheapest EVs, the SAIC Baojun E100 taking an Audi Q7 head-on and coming out to bad with the driver not sustaining serious injuries. The Baojun E100 cost below $5,000 after subsidies in certain cities.

Baojun-e100-crash

New small EVs to expect in 2018.

You might incorrectly think wattEV2buy is a Chinese focused website, I just like to write about EVs in general and wish I could write a blog post like this on small EVs by the large auto manufacturers in the West. Unfortunately, all the action is in China, leaving me no choice but to research this exciting market. 2018 will see an explosion of EV models in China from some new and old auto brands. The trend is also to pack the cars with technology, take the Sitech DEV1 for instance. The DEV1 was showcased at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show and will be the A0 class EV with the longest range when its released later this year. DEV stands for DATA ELECTRIC VEHICLE. The DEV1 has two LCD screens, an 8-inch instrument panel and 10-inch touchscreen for the multimedia system. The DEV1 uses SiTech’s D-OS operating system which includes face recognition for entering and operating the vehicle. The SiTech DEV1 is targeted as a ride-sharing and was developed with the help of Beijing Mobike, a bike sharing company.

Other new models include two small EVs from the neighborhood EV manufacturer YGM. YGM has been manufacturing NEVs since 2009 and now shifted to producing highway capable mini vehicles.

Some-new-ev-models-expected-in-2018

SiTech DEV 1, YGM E-Cheng, YGM E-Line

Ranking the top small electric car to price and range.

I have listed the small EVs in China according to range and price below. Decide for yourself which EV should take the crown in 2018 and share your thoughts and reasoning in the comment section below.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 20 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – ELECTRIC ROYAL WEDDING

Electric-Royal-Wedding-top-5-ev-news-week-20-2018

Never say we don’t cater for female readers :=) The Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ended with the couple leaving Windsor Castle in a silver-blue electric Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero. Jaguar developed the £350,000 Jaguar E-Type as part of a programme called Concept Zero where the company developed electric powertrain conversions that preserve the looks, handling and performance characteristics of the original vehicles which can be applied to. The conversion kits are fully-reversible and can be applied to any XK engine powered classic Jaguar built between 1948 and 1992. The Jaguar used at the wedding had a personalized number plate E190518 displaying the date of the wedding. The Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero has a top speed of 100mph, a 0-60mph acceleration of 5.5 seconds from a 220kw battery and motor, with a reduction gearbox.

Jaguar-Concept-Zero Top 5 EV News Week 20

TOP EV NEWS #2 – BMW iNEXT TEASER AND NEWS FROM AGM

BMW unveiled a teaser image of the BMW iNEXT which is expected in 2021 during its annual AGM held this week. The iNEXT which will be assembled at the Dingolfing plant in Germany and combines all the strategic areas into a production model.

Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said: “The iNEXT project is our building kit for the future. It will benefit the entire company and all our brands. For the first time, we are combining all key technologies for future mobility in one vehicle. The iNEXT is fully electric, fully connected and also offers highly automated driving. Today, we gave our shareholders a very first glimpse of the design of the BMW iNEXT. Later this year, we will be presenting the BMW iNEXT as a Vision Vehicle.”

BMW-iNEXT-first-glimpse Week 20

BMW’s push for mass-market EVs shifts into second gear next year when the company launches an electric Mini, the first model outside the i-series which would include an electric drivetrain. BMW and Great Wall Motors are still in discussions regarding the production of the Mini in China. According to recent reports Mr. Harald Krüger was quoted at the Beijing Auto Show that negotiations are going well.

BMW’s EV related sales reached a milestone in April 2018 as the automaker now has over 250k of its electrified models on the world’s roads. Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Sales and Brand BMW, Pieter Nota said “Combined sales of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles were up 52% in April (9,831), bringing the total number of electrified BMW Group cars sold to over 250,000,” Nota continued. “We are well on track to deliver on our stated target to sell over 140,000 electrified vehicles this year,” he concluded.

In the first four months of the year, BMW Group Electrified sales totalled 36,692 units, up 41.7% on the same period last year. This considerable growth in electrified sales was spread across many markets, including USA (7,716 / +73.3%), the UK (5,059 / +25.6%) and Mainland China (3,181 / +646.7%). The result in China is due to the success of the recently launched, locally produced BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid. In April, electrified vehicles accounted for 5% of global BMW Group sales, although in certain markets, that percentage is much higher. For example, in the UK, 9.0 % of all BMW Group sales are electrified, in the USA it’s 7.3%. In the mature Scandinavian markets, over a quarter of all BMW Group sales are electrified and in Malaysia, electrified vehicles accounted for more than half of BMW Group sales in April. The main models driving electrified sales growth in April were the BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid (2,670 / +711.6%), the BMW X5 plug-in hybrid (1,578 / +45.8%) (fuel consumption combined: 3,4-3,3 l/100 km; electricity consumption combined: 15,4-15,3 kWh/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 78-77 g/km) and the BMW i3 (2,665 / +18.3%).

BMW-Electric-range-Top-5-EV-News-week-20

TOP EV NEWS #3 – TESLA GOES TO CHINA

Speculation has been rife around when and where Tesla will establish its next Gigafactory and production facility for EVs outside of the USA. Elon Musk said in a TED interview in 2017 that he expected the company to make announcements by the end of 2017 in this regard, which did not transpire. One of the obvious choices has been China, Tesla’s biggest market outside the USA, with reports saying that Tesla was negotiating with authorities in Shanghai to establish a plant in the free-trade zone. The Chinese government relaxed foreign ownership rules for auto companies, giving companies that only produce new energy vehicles the authority to establish 100% self-owned companies as early as this year. Other auto manufacturers will have to wait till 2022 to establish ventures without ceding 50% to a local partner. Reuters reported this week that it picked up from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System in China that Tesla registered Tesla (Shanghai) Co Ltd on the 10th of May 2018. Tesla did not divulge its plans for the newly registered company.

Tesla announced that it produced 500 Model 3’s a day in the past week, for a total of 3,500 for the week as the company aims to bring production to 5,000 a week and 20,000 a month. Tesla announced over the weekend the specifications for its all-wheel drive and performance versions of the Model 3. The Model 3 AWD  and Model 3 PD did not get capacity upgrades but will be equipped a front AC induction motor which should enable the Model 3 to more efficiently optimize the torque and thereby increase the overall range, while the rear powered by a partial permanent magnet motor. See the specs here. It is expected that once a 20,000 monthly production is maintained that Tesla would start production on the cheaper Model 3 short-range model.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – NEW VOLVO S60 FIRST IN RANGE WITHOUT DIESEL

Volvo announced that the new VOLVO S60 launched in Q3 2018 will be the first of its range to be produced without a diesel engine. All new Volvo models launched from 2019 will be available as either a mild petrol hybrid, plug-in petrol hybrid or battery electric vehicle.

Last month, Volvo Cars reinforced its electrification strategy, by stating that it aims for fully electric cars to make up 50 percent of its global sales by 2025. The announcement was made at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show, positioning it as a powerful player in China, the world’s leading market for electrified cars.

The new S60, a premium mid-size sports sedan, is based on Volvo’s in-house developed Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which also underpins the company’s award-winning new 90 Series and 60 Series cars. The S60’s estate sibling, the V60, was launched earlier this year in Stockholm.

The new S60 will initially be available with a range of four-cylinder Drive-E petrol engines as well as with two petrol plug-in hybrid versions. Mild hybrid versions will follow next year.

Production of the new S60 will start this fall at Volvo Cars’ brand new manufacturing facility outside Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston plant will be the only manufacturing location for the new S60, meaning American-built S60s will be sold in the US market as well as overseas through exports.

It is rumored that VOLVO’s owner, Geely, hired three investment banks to pursue an IPO for the Swedish car-maker with valuations estimated between $16 billion to $30 billion.

Volvo Cars' T8 Twin Engine Range

Volvo Cars’ T8 Twin Engine Range

TOP EV NEWS #5 – CROWDSOURCED UNITY UNVEILS A PROTOTYPE

Swedish EV startup unveiled a prototype of its Uniti EV announced in a crowdfunding campaign last year. The company released a video of the Uniti EV with American YouTubers “Now You Know” who also invested in the Uniti. The Uniti is expected by 2019 at a price of €14,900 and available through a €149 pre-order. The Uniti is available as 2 and four seats. The Uniti uses steer by wire technology and a smart heads-up display. See the specs here.

 Top-5-EV-News-week-20-2018-Uniti-EV

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EVs – Moving beyond Tesla | How the auto sector responds to Tesla

EVs – Moving beyond Tesla | How the auto sector responds to Tesla

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THE EV LANDSCAPE 2018 | HOW THE AUTO SECTOR RESPONDS TO TESLA

I have been asked by the organizers of the Africa Utility Week to provide insight into the international EV landscape. Let me start off to say the title does not imply that the presentation is anti-Tesla, so hold your horses if you are short of Tesla stock. The presentation aims to look at how the rest of the market is adapting to the disruption brought on by Tesla shifting the transition to sustainable transport forward by a decade.

For the presentation when referring to electric vehicles, I only refer to pure electric cars (EVs or BEVs), not plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Buying a PHEV can be compared to a smoker switching to menthol cigarettes thinking he is cutting down. In April the WHO released figures that show by living in a city you are exposed to the same amount of pollutants as a smoker smoking three packets of cigarettes a day, much of which comes from inhaling gasses from combustion vehicles. Plug-in hybrid electric cars make no sense, you buy a luxury vehicle and throw in a fuel tank of a Hyundai i10 to make space for the battery, and get the electric range that is half that of an electric Mahindra Rickshaw. You also pay more to have two technologies and increase your service cost. We know that an EV has a useful life of 500,000 miles and a combustion vehicle only around 100,000 miles. Again, it makes no sense to buy a car with the ability to last you a lifetime and then shortening it and paying more to do so. Plug-in hybrids are just a get out of jail card for auto brands that try and play catch-up with Tesla. Okay, I will get off my soapbox, but I am not the only one. From April this year, the Chinese Government is phasing out incentives for plug-in hybrids with a range below 150km (94 miles) and the British Government is said to ban the sale of PHEVs from 2040. Inevitably when we now talk about EVs we also include autonomous-electric vehicles, thus for the presentation, one will mean the other.

plug-in-electric-vehicles-vs-pure-electric-vehicles

PRICES OF EVs WITH A RANGE OF 200 MILES

At the start of the decade, it would have cost you a pretty penny to buy an EV with a range of over 200 miles. We can see from the picture below that from 2010 when a Tesla Roadster cost $110,000 to the BYD e6 in 2015 the price for a 200-mile car halved. VW will release its I.D. NEO EV in 2020 and have indicated that it would cost between $25k and $30k. It is also expected that the I.D.NEO will have a range of at least 250 miles. It can be assumed that governments will stop with EV subsidies by 2020

Most pundits have been saying that EVs will only be a factor once they reach price parity with internal combustion vehicles (ICE) and that this point will only be achieved somewhere between 2022 and 2025. For the point of argument let’s set the affordable ICE car as a 2018 Volkswagen Golf SE 1.8L TSI with a starting price of $25,000, excluding charges, and a range of 319 miles in the city. Even though VW will price the NEO EV higher than an ICE car, when in fact it is cheaper to manufacture, owning the NEO in 2020 will be cheaper when comparing total cost of ownership. The EV landscape is fast changing and arguments of 2016 does not hold anymore as technology improvements and bigger investments in new EV capacity bring down cost faster than forecasted.

Price-of-ev-with-range-of-200mile

RANGE OF AFFORDABLE NEW EVs SINCE 2010

From 2008 to 2010 most auto manufacturers dabbled with electric cars and had developed an electric propelled prototype or concept car. Industry executives however decided against changing to a new propulsion form for financial reasons and continued to dish up dirty ICE vehicles to the consumer. Between 2010 and 2016 no real improvements were made in range and price. Dieselgate and the Paris climate pact forced the industry to take notice of the progress Tesla made. Porche‘s CEO even admitted last year that Tesla is taking potential clients away from it. The picture below shows the range of new models launched in each year between 2010 and 2020. The threat of the Tesla Model 3, the first mid-size mass produced EV sparked GM to develop the Chevrolet Bolt and release it ahead of the Model 3, they, however, neglected the mass produced bit and kept production at only 30,000 units annually. Most auto brands now have an e-mobility strategy in one form or the other. Some, are making a real effort while others still choose to live with blinkers on. Companies such as VW are investing substantially to shift towards electrifying their fleet. Unfortunately for the consumer, these efforts will only equate in more choice by 2020, making the Model 3 the only available volume solution in the mid-size range. Sure, Hyundai and KIA will also release an updated Ioniq, Kona SUV, and Niro SUV but their production volumes remain limited. Hyundai has a production target of 48,000 units of the Ioniq BEV for 2018 with half earmarked for the local market in Korea. Tesla is to unveil the MODEL Y this year so don’t be surprised if the bar is lifted yet again, offering a better range that targeted by the “new” entrants, being the old guard auto manufacturers.

Range-of-affordable-ev-since-2010

Citroen C-Zero, Smart ED, Nissan Leaf, Renault ZOE, KIA Soul, VW e-Golf, Nissan Leaf 2016, Chevrolet Bolt, Tesla Model 3 and VW ID NEO

EVs BELOW $20,000 IN 2018: ALL MARKETS EXCLUDING CHINA

Disappointingly no EVs are yet available at an outright price below $20,000, which is in stark contrast with the EV market in China. It is strange however that auto manufacturers in the West can’t sell vehicles such as the Renault ZOE and Mitsubishi iMiev with what we now can call antiquated EV technology, below $20,000.

With the exception of the Renault Twizy microcar, the Smart ForTwo ED is the only EV with a price below $20,000 but only after utilizing the $7,500 US government incentive. Although the Smart EVs real-world range is limited to 58mi / 94km, it is available from 2018 with a 22kW onboard charger allowing it to charge in an hour, making it ideal for city use. Unfortunately, if you want to buy the Smart ForTwo ED be prepared for to wait. Some recent buyers reported waiting periods of up to 12 months. There are some electric car options in the $20,000 to $25,000 range (after subsidies), including the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq with real-world ranges of 150mi and 124mi respectively.

EV-below-20000-dollar-in-western-world

The Smart ForTwo Coupe and Cabriole, Ford Focus, Mitsubishi iMiev, Renault ZOE, VW e-UP!, Hyundai Ioniq, Nissan Leaf, KIA Soul EV, VW e-Golf

EVs BELOW $20,000 IN 2018: CHINESE MARKET

China has the biggest range of EVs available to consumers, with a large selection of electric cars below $20,000. You can now buy the SAIC-GM BAOJUN E100 for as little as $5,000 (after subsidies). In 2018 most of the cars in the A0 class will get range upgrades to around 260km / 160 miles, granted its measured on the NEDC cycle and not real world miles. Be aware, Chinese manufacturers love to quote the range their cars can achieve at a constant speed of 38mph / 60km/h, which will always be significantly more than real-world results. The SiTech DEV1, expected later in 2018 has a range of over 320km / 200 miles and is packed with technology. In April WEIMA introduced the first EV SUV with a price tag below $20,000, the WEIMA EX5.  Again, you have to ask yourself why China can produce EVs below $20,000, before government incentives, and not the best automakers in the West? The Chinese Government has embarked on an aggressive EV strategy in its 12th five-year plan from 2011 to 2015, followed by the 13th 5-year plan which targets self-driving. The 12th 5-year plan had a budget of RMB 100 billion ($14.4 Billion) which included the promotion of EVs through subsidies, development of a charging network, and manufacturing incentives. Chinese EV regulations are now moving from a carrot to a stick strategy, where manufacturers are forced through regulation to produce more EVs with better technologies. Chinese EV incentives will run out by 2020. The advantage that the Chinese EV sector is gaining makes it a threat to Western auto brands.

EV-below-20000-dollar-2018-in-china

Changan Benni Mini, Hawtai Lusheng EV160, Haima EV160, Zotye TT11, Zotye Cloud 100, Dongfeng SKIO ER30, ZhiDou D3, JAV iEV6e, Zotye ZhiMa E30, Yulon EV, Sokon Ruichi EC35, and Changan Benni.

ECONOMY CLASS SUVs & CROSSOVERS: ALL MARKETS EXCLUDING CHINA

SUVs and Crossovers are the best performing class for most auto brands, proved by Ford‘s shift out of sedan cars to focus its business on developing SUVs, Crossovers and Pick-up Trucks. It is both surprising and telling then why there are so few EV models in the economy SUV class. The South Korean sister companies Hyundai and KIA saw this gap and is launching the Hyundai Kona and KIA Niro EVs this year. Sales will start Korea in the second half of 2018 and slowly move from there into other markets. Hyundai will only produce 18,600 Kona EVs, and 21,000 Niro EVs in 2018 and most are for the local market. The lack of economy class SUVs is telling of how unprepared all automakers were to invest in EV production capacity.

economy-class-suv-ev-in-western-world

ECONOMY CLASS SUVs & CROSSOVERS: CHINESE MARKET

Again, the picture is completely the opposite in China, where consumers in 2018 are spoiled for choice in the economy SUV class. Start-up EV brand WEIMA launched the EX5 with three range options five days before the 2018 Beijing Auto Show. By the time the show got underway, WEIMA had already over 5,000 pre-orders. WEIMA shocked the market by setting the price for WEIMA EX5 300 below $20,000 after subsidies. Not only does the Chinese car buyer have a wide selection of SUVs to choose from, many of them are packed with great technology. The Marvel X build on the Roewe connected car line-up first introduced in the RX5 SUV and co-developed with Alibaba. The SAIC Roewe Marvel X is the first mass-produced car equipped with AR (augmented reality) technology while the Xpeng G3 has a 360° roof-mounted camera, allowing the driver to stream video of its surroundings to friends on the net. The EV start-up Xpeng unveiled the G3 at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas.

economy-calss-suv-ev-in-china

BYD Song, BAIC EX5, CHERY TIGGO eX3, GAC TRUMPCHI GE3, GEELY EMGRAND CROSS, HAWTAI EX380, SAIC ROEWE ERX5, WEIMA EX5, WEIMA EX5PRO, SINGULATO iS6, XPENG G3, SAIC ROEWE MARVEL X

LUXURY CLASS SUVs & CROSSOVERS: ALL MARKETS EXCLUDING CHINA

As expected it is in the luxury SUV class with the highest profit margins that we find the old guard’s strongest response to Tesla. Volvo already announced that it would only produce electrified vehicles in the future. According to Volvo European regulation will potentially add as much as $340 per engine from 2020, diesel engines would therefore just be too expensive to produce. Mercedes also announced that targets by the EU capping the amount of emissions on a brands fleet would cause a lot of pain. In 2016 Daimler for the first time since 2007 failed to cut its emissions, citing the popularity of SUVs as the reason. Europe has set a very stringent target of 95gm CO2/km by 2020. Daimler’s target for 2020 is 100gm CO2. Daimler is one of the automakers that has an above average e-mobility strategy which it accelerated from 2025 to 2022. Waymo recently placed a $2 billion order for 20,000 of the just-released Jaguar i-PACE SUV EVs for its autonomous taxi fleet. Waymo is shifting towards electrified cars for its proposed autonomous taxi fleet because EVs offer a lifespan five times longer than ICE cars. Interestingly enough most Chinese luxury SUV brands are also planning to bring their models to the West. SF Motors and Faraday Future has plans for production in the USA while all of them have research offices in the US or Europe.

Luxury-class-ev-suv-in-west

AUDI QUATTRO e-TRON, BMW iX3, JAGUAR i-PACE, MERCEDES EQC, VW I.D. CROZZ, VOLVO XC40, VOLVO 40.2

LUXURY CLASS SUVs & CROSSOVERS: CHINESE MARKET

The list of luxury SUVs coming to the Chinese market in 2018/ 2019 fully comprises of cars developed by EV start-ups, none by traditional auto manufacturers. Most of the start-ups are also backed by the large tech companies in China which are investing heavily in autonomous technology. The NIO ES8 will be released this year, and apart from having removal batteries and access to mobile charging vans the car is packed to the brim with tech. NIO, a NEXTEV company, part-owned by Tencent has developed the NOMI system.

NOMI interacts with people sitting in the vehicle, and its emotion engine gives users a friend on the road. NOMI combines the ES8’s intelligence and car connectivity functionalities to turn the ES8 into a fun, expressive, and intuitive companion that can listen, talk and help drivers along the way.

NIO also launched NIO Pilot, its comprehensive advanced driver assistance system. NIO PILOT is enabled by 23 sensors, including a trifocal front-facing camera, four surround exterior cameras, five millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors and a driver monitor camera. The ES8 is the world’s first vehicle to come equipped with the Mobileye EyeQ4, which has a computation capacity nine-times more powerful than its predecessors. NIO PILOT’s software and hardware suite enable subscribers to enjoy upgraded services through FOTA updates.

luxury-class-suv-ev-in-china

AIWAYS U5-ION, BORGWARD BXi7, BYTON, SF MOTORS SF5, THUNDERPOWER SUV, YUDO Pi7

CREATING NEW COMPETITORS

New EV start-ups are attracting large investments, allowing them to build dedicated EV manufacturing plants. At some point, the Chinese Government tried to restrict the number of EV start-ups out of a fear of overheating the sector. Not all start-ups plan to build 100,000 capacity production plants, some such as Rimac and Elextra only produces limited runs of supercars. In the West, most EV start-ups were created targeting some niche market. The US-based Bollinger is building Sports Utility Vehicles, while Workhorse has partnered with UPS to build electrified delivery vehicles. Thor competes with the Tesla Semi in the electrified truck space. Sono Motors is developing an EV equipped with solar panels for charging. There are also some Chinese backed EV start-ups in the West such as NEVS which is the old SAAB, SF Motors, Karma and Lucid. Some brands such as EQ and Polestar is EV specific brands created by Daimler and Volvo, which will cannibalize their existing brands. The most peculiar entrant on the list is Dyson, the maker of vacuum cleaners, which is proof yet again that it’s not rocket science to build an EV as its far less intensive than combustion engines. Dyson is capitalizing on its mass-production expertise in the home appliance sector to mass produce EVs from 2020. I added Waymo to the list, and although it does not manufacture vehicles, it plays an important role in A-EVs and e-mobility as a service, towards which many manufacturers are pivoting.

electric-cars-creating-new-competitors

BOLLINGER, DYSON, ELIO, ELEXTRA CARS, EQ, KARMA, LUCID, POLESTAR, RIVIAN AUTO, RIMAC, SONO MOTORS, TOROIDION, THOR, WORKHORSE, WAYMO, NEVS, SF MOTORS

THE CHINESE EV LANDSCAPE

The list of EV start-ups in China is not exhaustive, a company such as Youxia, which is fashioned on the Knight Riders KITT, is not on it. The number of EV start-ups in China makes one wonder if the Chinese Government was successful in curbing the activity in the market. Tech companies are dominating the Chinese A-EV landscape while some traditional auto manufacturers such as BIAC are announcing that it will only produce electrified models in the future. Other than in the West where EV start-ups are focused on niche opportunities their counterparts in China directly target traditional auto manufacturers. Some commentators believe that EVs would trigger a long-awaited industry shake-up forcing mergers with stronger brands or liquidation of loss-making brands which have been propped up by easy loans, government incentives, and regulations to develop a local auto sector.

Chinese-EV-landscape

GWM ORA, GWM WEY, BYTON, WEIMA, NIO, CHJ AUTO, XPENG, DENZA, ARCFOX, FARADAY FUTURE, LYNK&Co, AIWAYS, AOXIN, DIAL EV, GREENWHEEL, HYBRID KINETIC, ICONIQ, LVCHI, MI’NAN, SHUANGHUAN, SINOGOLD, SiTECH, SOL, SINGULATO, TECHRULES, THUNDERPOWER, YULON, YGM, YUDO

EV SALES – TOP 10 EV COUNTRIES 2017

EV sales in 2017 cemented to shift to EVs. While sales are not huge it still comprises over 2% of the total fleet of passenger vehicles in the USA and China. The composition of EVs in Norway now stands at over 50% of annual car sales. Stand-out points from 2017 EV sales is the Chinese EV sectors dominance, sparked by government support and secondly, how car buyers in certain countries such as Germany and Canada are shifting towards EVs. One must remember that although these figures don’t look significantly high on the face of it, it is happening in an environment where there are constraints such as a lack of supply, high prices for EVs and no big marketing budgets fueling demand. In fact, there is a general lack of knowledge by the majority of consumers about EVs. Many studies have highlighted the inability and unwillingness of traditional motor dealerships to promote electric vehicles. The Sierra Club’s  Rev Up EVs report on the consumers EV purchase experience identified that traditional dealers, especially outside of California are not promoting the technology. One of the key findings was that automakers still provided higher commission structures for gas guzzlers.

2017-ev-sales-in-the-top-10-ev-markets1

TOP SELLING EV MODELS

The ranking below is for pure electric vehicles only. Interestingly enough should we include PHEVs in the ranking they will only account for 26% of the total top 10 EV sales. The ten models in top EVs contribute over 50% of all EV sales in 2017 from 102 models available to the consumer. Tesla’s dominance in the EV market is clear when ranking the top 10 EVs and its closest competitor in the US, GM, performance is capped at its production capacity. Technically the BMW i3 should not be placed in the tenth position in 2018 as the sales represent the total for the BMW i3 and BMW i3REx which has a fuel based generator. The first three months of the year is historically the worst months for EV sales, yet sales for Q1 2018 is already 38% up on 2017.

top-selling-ev-models-in-the-top-10-ev-countries-in-2017

2017 – BAIC EC180, TESLA MODELS, ZHIDOU D2, TESLA MODEL X, NISSAN LEAF, CHEVROLET BOLT, CHERY eQ1, GEELY EMGRAND, JAC iEV6e, BYD e5 | 2018 Q1 – BAIC EC180, NISSAN LEAF, JAC iEV6e, TESLA MODEL 3, TESLA MODEL 6, CHERY eQ1, TESLA MODEL X, RENAULT ZOE, KARRY K50, BMW i3

TOP SELLING EV BRANDS

BAIC and Tesla are the best performing EV brands over the last 15 months, each having sold 124,000 units over the period. BAICs lead is dependent though on the performance of the BAIC EC180 which sold 98,000 units compared to Tesla’s models contributing nearly equally to its success.

Top-ev-brands-2018

EVs SALES TO SURPRISE ON THE UPSIDE

I can only expect EV sales to surprise to the upside as we get closer to 2020 and beyond. Some of the most optimistic forecasts only see EV sales to reach 6 million units by 2024, while battery capacity in 2020 will be sufficient to power 6.5 million vehicles, assuming an average battery pack of 50kWh. Sure, the batteries are also used for buses and trucks which use much larger packs, but the bulk of passenger cars sold is from the A0 class which uses battery packs of around 30kWh, and don’t forget the PHEVs which use 12kWh at best. My exposure to EVs puts me in contact with buyers and potential buyers of EVs on a daily basis, from which my subjective experience is that the nature of EV buyer has shifted from the fanatical to the average car buyer over the last 18 months.

According to a survey by the German publication “Automobilwoche”, the success of electric cars in Germany seems to be the technologies biggest risk as prospective buyers now face delivery times that can have them waiting as long as a year for their new EV. The problem is not isolated to buyers of imported vehicles only but also local brands such as Volkswagen where buyers have to wait until October 2018 for delivery of e new e-Golf purchased today. Smart CEO Annette Winkler said that the increase in demand is much stronger and faster than could have expected and planned for with the companies suppliers, resulting in buyers only receiving their new Smart by the end of 2018 or early 2019.

To compensate for the increased demand, Volkswagen has introduced a second shift at its Dresden plant as e-up! buyers wait for five to six months. According to the survey, the waiting period for a Hyundai Ioniq EV is up to 12 months, the 2018 Nissan Leaf is around ten months, and six to seven months for the Peugeot ION and Kia Soul EV. Renault Zoe buyers only have to wait four months while the waiting list for a BMW i3 is the shortest at two to three months. The problem is not isolated to private buyers, but fleet buyers are also affected. The software giant SAP wants to be carbon neutral in 2025 and is currently expanding its e-fleet. SAP manager Marcus Wagner told “Automobilwoche”: “If you want to buy a full electric in February 2018, you will get almost none.” It seems to me the problem is not isolated to buyers who placed pre-orders for new EVs like the Tesla Model 3.

The Chinese Government is to implement a pilot program on the resort island of Hainan and use the island as a test case by being the first to ban the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles.

aev-and-the-technology-adoption-lifecycle

WHAT DOES SHIFT TO A-EVs MEAN FOR EMERGING MARKETS?

In my opinion, EVs represent progress, and if you don’t have an EV strategy, you will not progress. Your economy will fall behind the rest of the world, you will lose skilled people and your economy will suffer from the strains associated with pollution caused by ICE vehicles and importing of energy. Unfortunately, the cost of preparing for EVs and A-EV is very high and most emerging economies grapple with a host of challenging social issues which will only get bigger as the rest of the world moves forward leaving them behind. Unfortunately, ignorance is bliss and governments of some developing states are not even aware that EVs are a factor to consider. I am going to use the City of Cape Town as an example of the lack of unpreparedness. The city is known as the ‘greenest’ city on the African continent, but there is only one charging station at the Waterfront, not including three at dealerships. The city does not even support small businesses that offer electric bicycles to tourists. These companies have to install their own infrastructure throughout the city. Sorry, I am on my soapbox again. In all seriousness, I do see that the shift to EVs is going to be faster than anticipated and as we have seen so far will even catch traditional automakers by surprise causing them to dump ICE vehicles on the developing world. Dumping has already started, smart from 2017 is only selling EVs in the USA and from 2020 will do the same in Europe, leaving them to effectively dump their ICE capacity on the rest of the market.

A-EVs-Emerging-markets-will-they-be-left-behind

HOW WILL SHIFT TO A-EVs IMPACT SMART CITIES?

A-EVs will truly transform cities into smart cities. One should also not forget that EVs does not merely mean passenger cars but all types of transport that can be electrified, from delivery vehicles to buses and even bicycles. Traditionally city planners can only count on bicycles as a transport solution for commuters in a ten kilometer (6 miles) radius from their homes. With the availability of electric bicycles, it’s application can be extended for longer daily commutes. The following sentence has represented my view on electric vehicles from the first time that I had the pleasure of driving one.

“At wattEV2Buy we live for a future where the Electric Vehicle rule and rush hour noise would be the sound of happy people talking and birds singing.”

– To prove our point, listen to the birds on the launch video of the Aston Martin RapidE

Back to reality. I don’t think anyone can do justice to the topic of the disruption we are about to experience the way Tony Seba does. I, therefore, implore you to watch his recent presentation on Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation. Tony brings the relevance of A-EVs to city planners together in the last 10 minutes, but the first 60 will not leave you bored at all.

Aev-and-smart-cities

In conclusion, it is clear that the world is on the cusp of a major disruption in the transport sector. This presentation did not even address the electrification of the commercial vehicle market or public transport. Not a day goes by that you don’t read of a company announcing bus orders by cities all over the world. We are certainly in for some exciting times. One thing is for certain; the auto sector will not be the same ten years from now where consumers will be the real winners for which we only have Tesla to thank.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 19 2018

Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 19 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – MARKETING EFFORTS FOR THE EQC UPS A GEAR

The marketing efforts for the 2019 launch of the Mercedes EQC notched up a gear this week with the release of “Spy” images. Mercedes announced that winter testing for the EQC would start in January 2019 in Sweden followed by high-temperature testing in Southern Europe in the summer. The company also released videos of testing of the EQC in the Black Forest, Germany.

Top 5 EV News week 19 2018

TOP EV NEWS #2 – AUDI EV RELEASE DATES

AUDI announced that it would host the world premiere of the much anticipated Audi e-tron SUV on the 30th of August this year at the Audi Summit in Brussels. The VW company made the announcement to shareholders at its 129th Annual General Meeting in Ingolstadt while explaining the company’s transformation after the diesel gate fiasco. Audi’s Board of Management informed shareholders that one of the objectives of its Action and Transformation Plan is to sell 800,000 electrified vehicles per annum by 2025 from 20 electrified models. The company will expand its current portfolio to include plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles in each model range by 2025. Audi also aims to generate €1 billion through providing digital services via the myAudi customer portal by the year 2025. The E-tron Quattro EV SUV will be the first to provide the service whereby customers can book various functions online via the service. The Audi Quattro will be equipped with a 150kW fast charge system and have a range of 400km (250mi) in WLTP driving cycle. Not only will the Quatro E-tron be a zero-emission vehicle, but it will also be the first premium car to be produced in a certified CO2-neutral high-volume production facility. AUDI plans to transform all its production sites worldwide CO2 neutral by 2030.

The Management Board plans to invest €40 billion to support the company’s shift to e-mobility, self-driving, and digitization to develop products such as the AUDI Aicon presented the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2017. AUDI this week announced that the pilot program for the AUDI AICON A-EV would commence in 2021. The second EV following on the Quattro e-tron will be the Audi e-tron Sportback in 2019, followed by the Audi e-tron GT from Audi Sport and an electric model in the premium compact segment in 2020. The premium VW brands, Audi and Porsche, are working together to implement the premium-architecture electrification for mid-range, full-size and luxury-class electric cars.

Audi-Aicon-Concept-AEV

AUDI Aicon Concept A-EV

TOP EV NEWS #3 – NEW NISSAN LEAF WINS ANOTHER AWARD

The Nissan Leaf keeps raking in the awards, winning yet another Top EV Award, in this case, awarded by British DieselCar and EcoCar awards. The Nissan Leaf also came out tops at the World Car Awards, receiving the “2018 World Green Car” award. The new Nissan Leaf started its winning spree in November 2017 receiving two honors in the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Best of Innovation awards.

  • CES Best of Innovation award winner for Vehicle Intelligence and Self-Driving Technology
  • CES honoree for Tech for a Better World.

Both EcoCar and CES sited the 2018 Nissan Leaf’s ProPILOT (known as ProPILOT Assist in North America), bi-directional charging and e-Pedal technologies.

The Leaf EV is the first EV to be tested against the Euro NCAP’s extended safety protocols making it also the first car to achieve the maximum 5-star rating.

Nissan recently delivered 100 2018 Nissan Leaf’s to the City of Montreal. The 2018 Nissan Leaf will soon be launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Uruguay.

Top 5 ev news week 19 2018 Nissan-Leaf-wins-award

In related news, the Nissan Renault alliance partners signed a supply agreement with the Chinese battery maker, CATL, to supply them with electric car batteries for the new Nissan Sylphy, which is exclusively for the Chinese market, and the Renault Kangoo Z.E. MPV van. CATL is one of the worlds biggest battery makers and will command nearly 7.5% of all battery production by 2020 with the completion of its 24GWh plant.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – ZOTYE TO STOP PRODUCING EVs

I reported last week on the EV JV between FORD and Zotye, one of the top-selling EV brands in China during 2016. Zotye announced this week that it would stop producing electric vehicles, shifting all the EV business to the new Ford JV company. Zotye will from now on only focus its EV related efforts to R&D, manufacturing, and marketing of EV components. It was not immediately clear if existing models such as the Zotye SR7 Compact SUV, E20 and Cloud 100 will be moved to the JV or discontinued. Zotye sold over 70,000 EV between 2016 and 2017 but sales tapered off with the company recording less than 3,000 units sold for the first three months of 2018. The slide can be attributed to the company not keeping track with competitors moving into the A0 class segment, once dominated by Zotye.

In related news, FORD seems to be victim number one of the escalating trade war between China and the USA. The automaker reported a sales drop of 26% YoY as its vehicle shipments are delayed in Chinese ports. The 26% figure is across all of FORD’s JVs while Changan Ford reported the highest slide, 38%. Ford’s lack of electric vehicles can partly be attributed to the loss in market share as passenger sedan sales dropped on a month-on-month basis in China for the second consecutive month while EV sales continue to expand.

BYD was also victim to changing EV regulation as the company reported an 83% slide in profits due to a cut in government subsidies to plug-in electric vehicles.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – ASTON MARTIN TO UNVEIL EV SUV IN 2021

Aston Martin announced the creation of its new luxury EV brand, Lagonda, during the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year with the unveiling of its Vision Concept model. The British automaker provided further insight into the new brand this week announcing that the first car from the stable would be an electric Luxury SUV, pictured below, to be unveiled in 2021. Aston Martin added that the Lagonda SUV EV would be built around near-future technologies including an advanced battery system leading one to speculate that the Lagonda SUV will use a solid state battery. The Lagonda SUV is expected to reach the market in 2022.

Lagonda-SUV-Press-Release-week-19

TOP EV NEWS – AUTONOMOUS NEWS FROM PAST WEEK

The ride-hailing start-up from Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab announced that it would start the first on-demand self-driving transportation service in the city of Frisco, Texas, following in Waymo’s footsteps which rolled out its service in Arizona. The California-based Drive.ai and Frisco Transport Management Association (FTMA) will co-operate on a pilot project to offer rides to 10,000 people in a geofenced area of the city. The pilot will run for six months, commencing with two fixed drop-off and pick-up locations.

Top 5 autonomous news week 19 2018

The State of Ohio Autonomous vehicle testing program announced last year commenced this week.

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Top 5 Electric Vehicle News Stories of Week 18 2018

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TOP EV NEWS #1 – FORD SHIFTS A THIRD OF BUDGET TO EVs 

Last week Ford caused a minor stir when the company announced that it would stop producing passenger cars, except for the Focus and Mustang. This means that the Ford C-Max Energi and Ford Fusion will be discontinued, although no specific timing has been given for the move. The strategy shift is part of the company’s realignment to focus on electric vehicles and the profitable SUV and Crossover segment. The automaker announced that it would shift one-third of its budget to electric vehicles.

Part of Ford’s strategy to make up for lost ground is to create partnerships in China and India while also shifting to mobility solutions. This week Ford Smart Mobility LLC and Chinese automaker Zotye signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a joint venture (JV) to provide smart, customized all-electric vehicle solutions to fleet operators and drivers in China’s fast-growing ride-hailing market.

Many operators in China’s ride-hailing market are looking to expand their fleets with electric vehicles. According to Boston Consulting Group, the local ‘e-hailing’ market is expected to grow by 19 percent annually through 2022, with an overall fleet size potentially reaching up to 26 million.

This week Didi, the largest ride-hailing company in China announced that it would up its use of EVs from the current 250,000 to 10 million EVs in 2028.

As part of Ford’s commitment to building smart vehicles for a smart world, and to pave the way for a future of V2X and autonomous vehicles, the new JV will also engage with local governments and cities to support the development of integrated transportation solutions covering data connectivity and software systems to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and enhance the commuter experience.

Top-5-ev-news-week-18-2018-ford-and-zotye

TOP EV NEWS #2 – PSA PLANS TO MAKE DS AN EV ONLY BRAND

DS Automobiles, the French luxury brand founded in 2014 by the PSA Group expanded on its EV strategy last weekend at the Paris e-Prix. The company which is to launch its first EV, the DS7 Crossback E-Tense SUV plug-in hybrid, announced that it would only develop and sell EV models from 2025 onwards. DS model series will be available either as PHEVs or BEVs or both, The petrol-electric DS7 4×4 which is expected soon has a 30-mile range and 300hp engine. DS will also unveil its firts full EV at the Paris Auto Show in September.

TOP EV NEWS #3 – AFRICA TO GET SECOND EV ASSEMBLY LINE 

BAIC announced at the 2018 Auto China in Beijing that it will start assembling EVs in South Africa, following BYD which is constructing an EV assembly plant in Morrocco. BAIC was the top-selling EV manufacturer (pure EVs) globally in 2017, beating Tesla and Nissan.

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The Optimal Energy Joule

Most of BAIC’s sales came from the popular BAIC EC180. BAIC did not expand on its plans on how it will deal with the lack of charging infrastructure in the Southern African country. The backward thinking South African government had an opportunity to back one of the first EV manufacturers, the local Optimal Energy Juole, but decided against supporting the company partly because the management was white. Currently, there is only a hand full of EV charging stations in the two of the major centers with Nissan and BMW selling a few of the older generation Nissan Leaf and BMW i3’s. The country is also yet to decide on a charging standard as the two car’s are using two different standards. Nissan also called on the South African government last week to do more to catch up with the rest of the world on its plans for electric cars or risk being left behind.

BAIC chairman Xu Heyi indicated that it will start setting-up a plant with a capacity of 100,000 vehicles at the end June. He did not indicate what level of the assembly will be done locally.

TOP EV NEWS #4 – VW TARGETS CHINA IN A BIG WAY

VW expanded on its e-mobility plans last week at the 2018 Auto China in Beijing. CEO of Volkswagen Group, Dr. Herbert Diess announced that it would have six factories producing electric vehicles for its brands in China by 2021. Volkswagen Group China will spend €15 billion through 2022 to support People’s Mobility in China and launch 40 new energy vehicles in the country over the next eight years.

This week at the VW Group AGM it was announced that the Group had secured forward battery supply agreements of €40 billion ($48 billion), doubling the amount announced in March. To put VW’s EV strategy in perspective the value of the battery supply agreements is equal to Tesla’s market cap this week when it released its Q1 figures. Dr. Herbert Diess told shareholders at the VW AGM that the company plans to manufacture 3 million EVs per year by 2025.

TOP EV NEWS #5 – KIA NIRO EV UNVEILED

KIA unveiled the much anticipated KIA Niro EV SUV at the 5th International Electric Vehicle Expo in Jeju, Korea. The KIA Niro BEV and Hyundai Kona is the first mass-produced economy SUV’s (outside of China). The SUV EV is inspired by the KIA Niro Concept EV unveiled at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas earlier in the year. The KIA Niro EV is available in a short and long-range option ranging between 240km/150mi and 380km/238mi. The Niro EV features a charging portal in its radiator grille, futuristic air intake, arrowhead-shaped LED daytime running lights and muscular wheel arches. The KIA NIRO will go on sale in H2 2018 in Korea. The international unveiling is at the Paris Auto Show in September after which it will be introduced in other markets.

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