Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Thursday 5th July edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.
INSIDE EVS SCORECARD
Steven Loveday starts to round up the North American sales: "If the trends persist, we should continue to see the final month of each quarter claiming the new lead spot on our all-time list, and June will likely prove this true."
Topline number is at least 26,500. For Q2, GM sold 3,483 Bolt EVs and 4,336 Volts. Nissan delivered 1,367 LEAFs this June, down about 9% from last June and also down from May’s 1,576. Big questions remain like Tesla's 200,000 delivery. And how are the Model S and X selling?
https://insideevs.com/june-2018-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/
AUDI E-TRON QUATTRO HIGH-TECH CABIN UNVEILED
I've going to try and get through a piece talking about Audi's new e-tron Quattro without comparing it to the Jaguar I-PACE. So bear with me.
Audi's new AWD EV is on the horizon, powered by 3 motors, a 95kWh battery pack delivering 250 silent miles on WLTP test cycle, with 150kW CCS fast charging to make use of the next gen chargers, the specs are certainly competitive and we know Audi make a fine car. 0-60 is under 6 seconds and top speed 124mph.
But how much will it hurt with a launch date no sooner that a rather vague 'Spring 2019' given the I-PACE is out - DAMMIT.
Sorry I won't do that again. As for price, it will start at $89,000, a $20,000 premium over the I-PACE - DAMMIT
New interior photos have just been released and it's a stunning place to spend any time. There are two large centre touchscreens sitting just below the air vents. Of course the instrument panel behind the wheel is all digital too.
Some journalists have been in the passenger seat, yesterday I was tweeting about CAR's review, and Auto Express have had a ridealong too: "On the move first thing you notice is the serenity on offer from its electric drivetrain; it’s much the same as we’ve experienced from its rivals. Although this early passenger ride was ostensibly to demonstrate the e-tron’s fine refinement and show us the new interior, we did manage to get the lowdown on the e-tron’s specification. Unlike its Mercedes-Benz EQ C rival, the e-tron will be built at a dedicated production line in Belgium, it riding on a unique, scalable platform, under which its 95kWh battery resides. Audi’s people admit that the platform is around 40 per cent stiffer than the Q5’s to allow for the e-tron’s weight, as well as help with its refinement and dynamic goals."
The showstoppers are the side mirrors, of which there aren't any. Just two small aerodynamic stalks with HD cameras on them, called e-tron Virtual Side Mirrors. There are 7 inch OLED screens in the doors at the junction of the A-pillar so you just have to look slightly down from where you do for mirrors.
Slashgear say: "However, because it’s all digital, Audi can switch up what’s shown depending on the situation. When you’re parking, for instance, the e-tron can show you a different view compared to when you’re on the highway. The upshot isn’t just aesthetic, though the electric SUV does look good without traditional mirrors. Audi claims the virtual mirrors help cut drag by between 2 and 7 percent, leaving the EV more aerodynamic as a result. That should pay dividends when it comes to range."
"Scrubbing side mirrors can also pay visual dividends, too, and not just because the resulting body sides look sleeker. For its part, the e-Tron will still have a pair of small stanchions projecting out of its body sides to mount the rear-facing cameras, though they still should look much cleaner to the wind." reports CNET
Sadly US regulations mandate that all cars have glass mirrors so only Europe and Asia get the sci fi cameras. However to make up for it, e-tron Quattro buyers can use Electrify America's high speed charging network with 290 locations installed by the end of next year.
"Audi says that not only is the electric car’s drivetrain quieter than the typical gas or diesel engine, but it has packed the e-tron with even more noise insulation just to really deliver that cathedral-hush." say Slashgear on the subject of noise. Or lack of it.
As for regen, as everyone loves a bit of regen, you can choose to sail for when on the highway, or ratchet up for town driving.
https://www.slashgear.com/2020-audi-e-tron-electric-suv-cabin-revealed-5-things-to-know-04536502/
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/e-tron/103979/new-audi-e-tron-2018-ride-review
DELIGHT FOR JAGUAR I-PACE AT 2018 AUTO EXPRESS NEW CAR AWARDS
And a quick note on the I-PACE. There are lots of car awards events run by magazines, and they all have various categories. For a while EV's have been picking up wins in certain sub categories, but that changed last night. "The all-electric Jaguar I-PACE has been named Car of the Year at the 2018 Auto Express New Car Awards with Editor-in-Chief Steve Fowler describing it as: “the most exciting new car we’ve tested over the past 12 months.” according to Automotiveworld.com.
Stat check on the I-PACE...90kWh lithium-ion battery, dual motors for AWD, 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and 298 miles on the WLTP test cycle.
Steve Fowler, Editor-in-chief of Auto Express said: “The I-PACE proves that brilliant electric cars are right here, right now – it’s the most exciting new car we’ve tested over the past 12 months. We love the way it looks, the space and quality of the interior and most of all that it drives exactly how a modern-day Jaguar should – it’s fantastic fun. On top of all that, it’ll cover city-to-city distances on a single charge in complete comfort – it’s a massively impressive car that bodes well for our electric future.”
https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/double-delight-electric-jaguar-pace-2018-auto-express-new-car-awards/
FORMER TOP GEAR PRESENTER TESTS NEW TESLA P100DL FOR ELECTRIC GT
The Electric GT championship launches this year, not officially endorsed by Tesla by racing Model S P100DL's with a load of the interior weight stripped out and lots of carbon fibre-y bits added, which loses 1100 pounds overall.
On the LoveCars YouTube channel the TV host and racing driver Tiff Needell take one for a spin in Barcelona at the cars launch. There is a race body kit, the door handles are permanently out which indicates the motors are all gone from there, and the Air Suspension is likely to be replaced with a lightweight and more customisable racing setup. Plus with improvements to the brakes and cooling a lot is different to a stock Model S.
Simon at Teslarati says " the vehicle’s battery still showed some heating issues, as revealed by the Model S’ systems throttling performance after 1.5 hot laps around the Barcelona track"
The series starts racing in Jerez on 4th November and I'll be there at the Silverstone event in 2019.
TWO CAR SHARING SCHEMES ANNOUNCED
You wait ages for a car sharing scheme and then two come along at once. And no the irony of that joke isn't lost on me, because maybe we should be using buses more and not adding more cars to inner cities.
First up a saw Fred at Electrek writing about Renault, and 2,000 new EV's for Paris in ride-sharing services. "Starting in September, Renault will start to make all-electric ZOE, Twizy, Kangoo Z.E, Master Z.E vehicles available for a series of services." The previous car sharing service was Autolib and recently stopped after a dispute with local authorities.
And then I see Reuters reporting: "Volkswagen plans to start offering car sharing services using fully electric vehicles in German cities next year as part of efforts to serve consumers who don’t want to buy their own vehicles. Its offering will compete in its home market with DriveNow and Car2Go, the soon-to-be-merged carsharing services of BMW and Daimler. New CEO Herbert Diess, who took office in April, said it was vital for VW “to pick up speed and make an unmistakable mark” in areas including new mobility services which VW wants to contribute a significant share to future group business."
https://electrek.co/2018/07/04/renault-fleet-electric-vehicles-ride-hailing-car-sharing-paris/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-mobility/vw-to-launch-carsharing-with-electric-vehicles-in-2019-idUSKBN1JU1QK
CHINA TO PRODUCE 2 MILLION CARS PER YEAR FROM 2020
And finally a bit of background on China. Because recently I’ve been super excited about Tesla hitting their goals but just a reminder the really big numbers are found when you head East - to China. Plug In sales, or New Energy Vehicles (NEV) as they are branded in China, are up 149% in Q1 this year. In May 94,000 new EV's were registered. The names you probably won't have heard of but which are a big deal...
BAIC EC-Series - small family EV, modern styling, sold 12,624 last month, and could well beat the Tesla Model 3 to be the best selling EV in the world this year
BYD Qin PHEV - has been selling between 3-4,000 models a month for 9 months.
SAIC Baojun E100 - made by Shanghai Auto and GM. It's a tiny 2-seater like the Smart cars, has 39hp and costs just over $14,000.
Zhidou D2 EC - looks like a small city car from the 90s, but super cheap, looks like a slightly larger Renault Twizy with a 18kWh battery.
BAIC EX-Series - a compact crossover and the first of these 5 you might want on your driveway. Good styling, 48kWh battery, 200miles range and $28,500 price tag.
Half of ALL plug in cars in the world last month, June 2018, were made by Chinese OEM's. They are on target to make and sell one million EV's this year. One. Million!
And now a new action plan was released yesterday to move forwards. "China will cut coal consumption, boost electric vehicle sales and shut more outdated steel and coke capacity in the coming three years, the State Council said in a long-awaited 2018 to 2020 pollution action plan" reports Reuters: "China is in the fifth year of a “war on pollution” aimed at reversing the damage done to the country’s environment since the economy was opened up in 1978, with President Xi Jinping promising to use the full might of the Chinese Communist Party to meet the country’s goals. The new 2018 to 2020 action plan, released on the country’s official government website, will expand the fight to 82 cities across China. The cabinet also set an annual production and sales target for new energy vehicles at around 2 million vehicles a year by 2020 in order to reduce road emissions."
https://in.reuters.com/article/china-pollution/china-to-cut-coal-use-curb-steel-in-2018-2020-pollution-plan-idINKBN1JU0BL
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