Bradley writes about electric cars, autonomous vehicles, smart homes, and other tech that’s transforming society. He contributes to The New York Times, SAE International, Via Magazine, Popular Mechanics, MIT Technology Review, and others. https://twitter.com/bradberman
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are adding a wide range of new plug-in hybrids as they strive to reduce CO2 emissions to meet stricter EU targets this year. Both companies said putting plug-in hybrids versions on more models would help reduce carbon emissions this year by 20%.
LMC Automotive, an analyst firm, predicts that plug-in hybrids will outsell EVs in Europe this year.
The threat of the coronavirus is causing global automakers to suspend production. The short-term impact is to delay the rollout of the next wave of EVs, such as VW’s ID.3. Volkswagen today said that it’s suspending production “in the near future” at factories across Europe, including in Zwickau, Germany, where the ID.3 is produced.
Nearly every other global automaker, with the exception of GM and Tesla, is temporarily suspending production. See our updates.
The last internal-combustion car produced at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant rolled off the production line on Feb. 20. That final 2020 Chevy Impala signaled the end of an era – and the beginning of the plant’s electric-car future. The work to begin retooling the production line for EVs started yesterday. Workers took precautions to protect themselves but were undaunted by the coronavirus.
Ralf Brandstätter, Volkswagen’s chief operating officer, told the UK’s CAR magazine late last week that the ID.1 is in development. It would become the smallest ID-branded vehicle in Volkswagen’s lineup of about seven electric models. After incentives, the target price could fall below $20,000.
Most reports about electric-vehicle adoption focus on sales. But Experian, the consumer credit reporting company, last week released its Q4-2019 report based on vehicle registrations. That gives us a view not only of the current market but total vehicles in operations. Experian zoomed into EVs, sharing numbers that reveal two things: Tesla dominates – and the shift to electric vehicles is only beginning.
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Volkswagen’s chief strategist this week said that even a yearlong slump in oil prices will not slow down the company’s shift to EVs. VW and nearly every other major automaker have environmental goals that eclipse any short-term impacts from lower prices at the pumps. And the only way to achieve reduced emissions is with electric powertrains.
BMW on Thursday reported a 29% drop in profits in 2019. The company blamed the dip on high investments in new electrified technologies — and hefty legal costs from a pollution-related antitrust case in the European Union.
When the electric Fiat Centoventi was revealed as a concept car at 2019’s Geneva Motor Show, it was easy to dismiss as auto-show razzle-dazzle. The cute Panda-inspired model had barn-style doors, a pegboard dashboard, and interchangeable seats and a roof. But now there are signs that the all-electric Fiat Centoventi is going into production – with the promise of the industry’s first add-as-you-go battery system.
Last week, General Motors unveiled an entire portfolio of about a dozen electric vehicles that it plans to sell in the next four years. At the event, we had the chance to speak with Mary Barra, GM’s chief executive. We asked Barra about EV profitability, regulations, and the big-ness of most of its upcoming electric vehicles.
Washington State’s Senate narrowly passed SB 5811 this week, paving the way for the Evergreen State to become the 12th to adopt California’s zero-emissions mandate. SB 5811 passed the House in January, and Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the bill.
When that happens, the entire US west coast will require that at least 5% of auto sales are EVs, increasing to 8% by 2025.
More than 3,000 people have died from the coronavirus so far. And we still don’t know how far the virus will reach. At the same time, the virus is having an unanticipated impact on emerging technologies with global supply chains. That includes electric cars.
News emerged only yesterday that BMW had canceled plans to launch the BMW iX3 in the United States. But Automotive News reported that BMW had already decided to kill US sales of the iX3 in January at dealers meeting in Boca Raton, if not earlier. BMW executives and dealers deemed the all-electric iX3 as a dud before it reached our shores.
Why? Its 74-kilowatt-hour battery pack is considered by Americans to be too small.
The center of gravity in the EV world is shifting to Europe. A report released last week from McKinsey, the consulting firm, pegs Germany to become the world market leader for electric cars by 2021, with more than 1.7 million electric vehicles produced.
Volvo last week formally inaugurated a brand-new EV battery assembly line at its Belgian manufacturing plant in Ghent. That’s where it will start building the XC40 Recharge, its first pure electric car, later this year.
Honda will begin to sell its all-electric Honda e minicar in Europe this summer. Tom Gardner, Honda’s Europe chief, this week confirmed that a second EV from the Japanese automaker will also launch in Europe between 2021 and 2022. Details were not provided.
Carlos Tavares is the chief executive of PSA, the second-largest carmaker in Europe. In about a year, PSA will very likely merge with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), putting Tavares in charge of what will be the fourth-largest automaker in the world. The CEO this week said that without subsidies, EV demand collapses. “We are selling our electric vehicles to green addicts,” said Tavares.
Any legitimate EV development program starts with the batteries that make electric vehicles go. So when General Motors (GM) yesterday laid out its multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy — for getting to 1 million EV sales per year asap — it presented the company’s flexible Ultium battery system as the key.
GM’s display of 10 new EVs yesterday gave journalists practically no time to study specific design features. No photos were allowed. But the overall impression of the vehicle lineup was unmistakable. Those electric vehicles – most notably the ones badged as GMC Hummer and Cadillac – were big and badass.
General Motors held an EV-unveiling event today that was unprecedented in the volume and range of zero-emission vehicles intended for production. Instead of showing a single new model, or one aspect of electric-propulsion technology, the company fanned out its entire upcoming portfolio using all four of GM’s existing brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick.
Mark Reuss, GM’s president, said, “Everything you see here is real.”
General Motors announced today that it will add 3,500 EV chargers to its facilities in the US and Canada. This represents a tripling of workplace charging at GM plants and offices. Daniel Flores, manager of communications at GM, said, “Charging is free for GM employees and will continue to be free.”
Toyota might be down on EVs for America. But the Japanese automaker announced plans late last week that it will build a new electric vehicle plant in cooperation with the First Automobile Works (FAW) in Tianjin, China. The two companies will invest about $1.22 billion in the project.
The plant is expected to produce 200,000 battery-only, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles every year. The company did not indicate how many units would be electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell.
Hyundai announced that it will begin making the Kona Electric crossover at its manufacturing plant in the Nosovice, Czech Republic, this month. The plant plans to produce 30,000 units of the Kona Electric per year. That increase will allow Hyundai to triple sales of zero-emission vehicles in Europe, thereby reducing wait times.
In a profile of VW CEO Herbert Diess, the Financial Times reports today that the German automaker has enough supply of EV batteries for 1 million EVs through 2023. He said profitability will begin with its first electric SUV. Despite headwinds, the Volkswagen chief says it’s prepared to deliver on its EV promises to become a “fast-follower” behind Tesla’s lead.
The new all-electric Fiat 500e was set to debut this week at the Geneva Motor Show, which has been canceled due to the coronavirus. In the confusion, leaked images of the new, stylish, urban Cinquecento EV emerged on the web. The shots reveal the third-generation as bolder, cleaner, and less retro than its predecessor. The photos of the fully retractable roof are especially inviting.
