Electric car

BMW unveils a new version of its plug-in hybrid i8 with cameras instead of mirrors at CES in Las Vegas today. Back in 2012, Tesla unveiled an alpha prototype of the Model X without any side mirrors and announced that it will try to change regulation in order to make the technology legal.
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We were kind of disappointed to learn yesterday that Faraday Future’s first big reveal is a concept race car, which will act as a “test bed” for the company’s technology, and not an early prototype of FF’s first production car.

But it looks like the company released a subtle glimpse of its first production car in the release video of its FFZERO1 concept.
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Electric car startup Faraday Future took its biggest step out of stealth mode tonight by unveiling its first concept car at CES in Las Vegas. As much as we didn’t want it to be true, the leak we publish early in the morning turned out to be correct.

As it turns out, despite Faraday’s short timeline aiming to bring to market its first car in 2017, the company is holding on showing its mass market car, which was only briefly mentioned during the presentation, and instead shows a “test bed” concept to showcase some technology and “design DNA”: the FFZERO1.
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Mercedes is not just watching on the sidelines while Tesla steals market shares from its segment, and while Porsche and Audi announces upcoming electric vehicles. According to a new report from Car Magazine, the legendary German automaker recently greenlighted 4 new electric cars.
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We are kicking off the new year at Electrek with extensive coverage of everything electric vehicle related at CES in Las Vegas this week.

There might be a few surprises, but we made a quick list of the main events, especially the new electric cars debuting at the show, so you can have a good idea of what’s coming in the EV industry in the next few days:
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Panasonic is investing 50 billion yen ($412 million) in China to build a lithium-ion battery factory aimed at the electric vehicle market, according to a new report from Nikkei. The annual capacity is projected to be the equivalent of “around 200,000 electric vehicles”, but we don’t know the average capacity per vehicle.
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Do you remember when Batman turned a part of the Batmobile into a motorcycle with the touch of a button in The Dark Knight? Well this is like a lame version of that. We learn that Ford patented a concept for an electric car powered by in-wheel electric motors that can turn into a unicycle.
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Notorious gear-head Jay Leno has been a long-time supporter of electric vehicles and his latest restoration is a great reminder of the history of the segment.

Leno bought the body of a 1914 Detroit Electric car and he is restoring it while upgrading its electric drivetrain, which he calls “restomodding” – a combination of “restoration” and “modding”.
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The Tesla Model X, which is the first electric car with a significant towing capacity, reportedly can tow at impressively high-speeds. Trip Chowdrhy, a financial analyst who covers Tesla for Global Equities, says he witnessed Tesla testing a Model X towing at “very high speeds” at the Fremont factory.

My skin crawls every time the press calls the Porsche Mission E a “Tesla Killer”, which is often. Of course, it could simply be attributed to “clickbaiting” since they rarely if ever base the statement on facts, but the notion is especially ridiculous because if anything, the Mission E actually validates Tesla’s lead.
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BMW and Nissan jointly announced today an important partnership to deploy DC fast charging stations at 120 locations across 19 states. The locations are equipped with Greenlots-networked charging stations, which include both CHAdeMO and CCS (Combo) connectors, suitable for all DC Fast charging-capable electric vehicles in the U.S.
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Earlier this month, we reported on Faraday Future’s plan to build its electric vehicle factory in North Las Vegas. Now we learn (via AP) that during the weekend, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval approved a $335 million incentive package in a deal that will bring Faraday Future’s factory to a Las Vegas suburb.
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38 company and environmental group leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, signed an open letter proposing that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) lets VW off the hook in California for having cheated on reporting emissions in its diesel cars and in return, VW would be forced to significantly invest in electric vehicles or other zero-emission vehicles.
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Earlier this month, Hyundai announced that it will unveil a new car with 3 electric powertrain options called IONIQ. The vehicle will be available in all-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and conventional hybrid without a plug (HEV).

Today, the automaker released two new teaser pictures revealing some design details of the vehicle. 
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Rinspeed announced that it will debut a plug-in hybrid sport car at CES next month. The company says the car, called “Ʃtos”, is based on the BMW i8 and comes with drone.
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Nissan announced a partnership with Enel, Europe’s second largest power company for installed capacity, to develop a new “Vehicle-to-Grid” initiative to use, store and return to the grid electricity in excess from Nissan’s electric vehicles.

The initiative appears to be a revival of Nissan’s “LEAF to Home” program, which appears to have been abandoned years ago. Although the new program seems to be more focused on providing a service to the grid rather than backup power, which was the focus of “LEAF to Home”.
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Today Jaguar officially announced that it will join the third season of the Formula E championship. The company also unveiled the design of its all-electric race car. The company says it will use the Formula E platform as a “test bed” for its electric powertrain technology.
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Nissan announced that it will unveil the “Fuel Station of the Future” in partnership with Foster + Partners, a British architecture and design firm. Interestingly, Nissan features the all-electric LEAF in a short preview video for the station.
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Navigant Research recently named LG Chem the #1 leading supplier of batteries for electric vehicles. The company has been a longtime partner of GM for the production of the Chevy Volt and it recently attracted interest from other electric vehicle makers such as Nissan and Tesla.

Those manufacturers plan to introduce several mass market electric vehicles in the coming years and if LG wants to keep its lead, it will need to significantly increase its battery production output. And the Korea-based electronic giant is counting on its Michigan battery plant to keep up with the auto market. 
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Volkswagen’s Chairman of Passenger Cars Dr. Herbert Diess is scheduled to give a talk and unveil a new electric vehicle concept at the upcoming CES 2016. The company released a teaser picture (see above) for the concept and rumor has it, it could be a new electric version of VW’s flagship Type 2 minibus.
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