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
Volvo’s first all-electric vehicle, the XC40 Recharge, was originally designed to have a maximum battery size below 70 kilowatt-hours. But the Swedish automaker changed its decision after the Model 3 was introduced with a Long Range option. Volvo then upped the XC40 Recharge’s max battery size to 78 kilowatt-hours.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday released its 15-year EV plan. The “draft development” plan sets a target for EVs to account for 25% of annual new light-vehicle sales by 2025 — with no targets specified beyond that year. That’s up from the 20% goal it set two years ago. But Beijing plans to continue phasing out consumer incentives. Instead, it will create EV quotas for carmakers to meet.
When Reuters broke the news last night about GM’s $2.3 billion battery gigafactory, it made little mention of what vehicles the company will build with those batteries. We know there will be a GM electric pickup by 2021. But CEO Mary Barra said there will be “more than one product.” Today’s news, plus a trickle of stories over the past year, paint a picture of GM’s EV future. It’s filled with trucks, upscale Cadillacs, and even an electric Hummer.
Kia Motors UK this week announced that it has sufficient supply to clear an existing waiting list for 3,000 Niro EVs in Europe. It will take the company six months, through the middle of 2020, to make those deliveries.
Under new leadership, Nissan wants to reclaim its leadership in electric vehicles. But it’s going to downplay affordable electric cars like the Leaf hatchback. Instead, newly minted CEO Makoto Uchida wants Nissan EVs to have robust features, long range, and higher prices that would bring higher profits. The new strategy will start with a new pure-electric crossover SUV, based on the Ariya concept, that would sell in Europe for the equivalent of between $55,000 and $78,000.
Canada’s Ontario province makes for a fascinating case study of EV adoption. On one hand, Ontario’s center-right government in July 2018 killed an EV rebate of up to $14,000 — and electric-car sales plummeted by 50%. The situation went postal in November 2018 when 12 EV charging stations were ripped out from a Toronto train station. Critics said the chargers were expensive and had low utilization. And then, last Thursday, EV-driving parliament members spoke up loud and clear in a debate over ICE-ing.
A couple of weeks ago, Mercedes-Benz quietly announced the price for its all-electric EQC sports-utility vehicle. A $67,900 starting price for a luxurious, 200-mile, 402-horsepower luxury crossover is a good start for the EQC brand. But the announcement got completely lost in the shuffle in a week filled with buzz about Tesla’s bulletproof, stainless-steel Cybertruck. Even the deserved attention given to Ford’s Mustang-inspired electric SUV was cut short. So where does that leave the play-it-safe luxury electric SUVs from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW?
Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) is in discussions about using EV technology from Faraday Future and Seres (formerly SF Motors), according to a report last week by The Verge. Current and former FCA employees said that Faraday Future retrofitted FCA vehicles with its electric powertrain and started road testing. That effort follows months of reported meetings between FCA and Faraday Future. With an FCA-Peugeot merger in the works, are we seeing signs of a new EV consolidated effort?
As expected, throngs of Thanksgiving holiday travelers pushed highways and airports to their limit this weekend. With the ranks of Tesla drivers growing by about 150,000 vehicles in the past year, queues also formed at some of the most popular Supercharger locations. The bad news? A few EV drivers had to wait in queues. The good news? It’s a known and solvable problem — with more chargers and faster-charging rates already under way.
The Canoo electric urban van doesn’t get much attention, but it is moving apace along an accelerated production schedule. The company, led by former BMW EV leaders, put the beta version of its EV into road testing this month. Could it be a sleeper hit in the EV market?
Scott Keogh, CEO of VW of America, said this month that the ID CROZZ will sell in the low- to mid-$30,000 range after a $7,500 federal tax credit. That suggests a pre-incentive sticker price of around $40,000 for the brand’s first high-volume, ground-up EV sold in the US. Keogh, who spoke with Automotive News at the LA Auto Show, also gave hits about sales volume.
In case there wasn’t enough to argue with family about over this year’s Thanksgiving meal, add debates about the design of the Tesla Cybertruck. Love it (as a quarter-million buyers have) or hate it. But there’s no denying that the Brutalist Cybertruck has exploded into the American zeitgeist. You can celebrate its arrival and stir up a fight by sporting one of the many Cybertruck ugly Christmas sweaters available in time for Black Friday.
Los Angeles-based clean technology leaders yesterday announced its Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap 2.0. Under the plan, the city known for massive traffic congestion would achieve an overall 25% reduction in greenhouse gases and air pollution by 2028 — beating targets established by California and the Paris Climate Accord. The plan will solidify LA’s position as an EV capital and further establish Mayor Eric Garcetti as a leading global proponent for vehicle electrification.
Curse Electrify America (EA) if you want. Giovanni Palazzo, the CEO of the nationwide charging network, invites criticism if you have a terrible experience at an EA location. We spent a full hour last week with Palazzo, and COO Brendan Jones, discussing the challenges of creating an open nationwide network of ultra-fast EV chargers. Electrify America has made a lot of progress, but its leaders admit it has a long way to go to serve the next generation of EV drivers.
Roger Penske, CEO of Penske Automotive Group, told analysts last month that the Audi e-tron is not selling as fast as he would like. But 4,000 sales over the past half-year for a relatively unknown new, luxury EV seems about right.
Toyota held a behind-the-scenes roundtable discussion with about a half-dozen journalists last week at the LA Auto Show. We were in the room. The session gave us a chance to ask Toyota about its views on EVs and its decision to fight against California’s clean air rules. Jack Hollis, group vice-president and general manager of Toyota North America, laid it on the line: “We are continuously working on EV entries,” he said. “But right now, there’s no demand.”
The immediate reaction to Tesla Cybertruck revealed on Thursday is that it looks hideous. But just three days later, after taking a breath, we can begin to tease out the big transformative message spelled out in the Cybertruck’s cold-rolled, stainless-steel, bulletproof exoskeleton. There’s a context to Franz von Holzhausen’s design. A quick look back on the architectural movement known as Brutalism reveals that the Cybertruck has a singular goal: to obliterate the automotive status quo.
In October, we heard that the i3 electric commuter car would be discontinued. A week later, BMW said those reports were wrong — that the i3 would live on. At the LA Auto Show this week, we spoke with Jan Freimann, BMW’s manager of connected e-mobility, to learn about the future direction of all BMW EVs, including the i3. The key, as you would expect, is battery development.
Elon Musk warned that the CyberTruck’s design would be polarizing. But perhaps he didn’t realize the extent to which its angular design, and its not-so-shatterproof glass, would launch thousands of memes. While investors were not laughing, there’s no doubt that the unveiling captured the world’s attention. It’ll take time to see who gets the last laugh — after once again, Tesla possibly reshapes the future of the auto world.
Hans Zimmer has composed music for 150 films, including The Lion King, Gladiator, and Inception. As we reported a few months ago, BMW asked the maestro to compose sounds for its future EVs. We had a chance this week to visit Zimmer’s studio to get a few more details. We learned that future BMW EVs will have Zimmer sounds offered as an add-on luxury feature. The price is not yet announced.
BYTON, the Chinese EV maker, today announced a collaboration with Electrify America that will give its owners in the U.S. complimentary unlimited 30-minute charging sessions for two years.
The list of available electric passenger vehicles is growing fast. But the fastest-growing automotive segment — believe it or not — is local delivery vehicles. That’s because global consumers are in an e-commerce frenzy of Amazon orders. Black Friday is coming up. And each one of your orders will trigger a big, loud, polluting delivery truck to hit the streets and deliver your package.
Matthew Renna, Volkswagen’s vice president of e-mobility, told us that the pieces of the company’s EV strategy are coming together. When that happens, Renna said, “You would have to be crazy not to buy an electric car.” While Renna didn’t pinpoint the exact timing, he said, “We have a line of sight to the tipping point.”
On the eve of the Los Angeles Auto Show, Volkswagen took the wraps off the ID. Space Vizzion, its seventh concept built off the MEB platform. VW is intent on displaying every flavor of EV concept — nearly as many as Baskin-Robbins has flavors of ice cream. The new one unveiled at LA’s Petersen Auto Museum, frankly, looks pretty damned delicious.