Tesla Semi Production Line In Nevada | 31 Mar 2021
BMW i3 Prices Lowered To Qualify For The Grant | Tesla Semi production line at Nevada building | Musk says cell supply shortage makes it difficult to scale Semi | Mercedes-Benz AMG's first dedicated EV arrives in 2021 | eSprinter to be built at three plants | Mercedes EQS has a 141cm curved screen | EQS to Feature Biometric Tech | EV battery startup poaches oil veterans to build Arctic factory | Why electric vehicle subsidies are a bad idea | New Virginia law to require sale of electric vehicles
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On today’s podcast:
- BMW i3 Prices Lowered To Qualify For The Government Grant
- Tesla Semi production line at new Nevada building
- Musk says cell supply shortage makes it difficult to scale Tesla Semi production
- Mercedes-Benz AMG's first dedicated EV arrives in 2021
- eSprinter to be built at three plants
- Mercedes EQS has a 141cm curved screen covering 3 displays
- EQS to Feature Biometric Tech
- EV battery startup poaches oil veterans to build Arctic factory
- Why electric vehicle subsidies are a bad idea
- New Virginia law to require sale of electric vehicles
Show #1038
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 31st March. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.
BMW I3 PRICES LOWERED TO QUALIFY FOR THE GOVERNMENT GRANT
BMW UK has reduced prices for the BMW i3 and BMW i3s in response to the recent overhaul of Government’s Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG).
Prices now starts from £33,805 OTR for the BMW i3 and £34,805 OTR for the sporty BMW i3s before the grant.
The government offers consumers grants of up to £2,500 for electric vehicles on cars priced under £35,000, down from the previous maximum of £3,000 for cars under £50,000.
The all-electric BMW i3 has a range of 182-190 miles (WLTP) (173-150 miles WLTP for the BMW i3s).
TESLA SEMI PRODUCTION LINE AT NEW NEVADA BUILDING
"Tesla is building a new Tesla Semi production line at a new building near its Gigafactory Nevada plant, and it plans to produce five electric trucks per week, according to sources familiar with the matter." says electrek: "Now, we can confirm that the building, which sits at 550 Milan Drive (pictured above) next to another building used as a warehouse by Tesla, is housing a new production line for Tesla Semi currently being deployed by the automaker. Reliable sources familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla is currently building a low-volume Tesla Semi production line in the building. Once completed, they expect a production capacity of five Tesla Semi electric trucks per week. The plan is still for volume production to happen at Gigafactory Austin once Tesla can also ramp up battery cell production there."
MUSK SAYS CELL SUPPLY SHORTAGE MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO SCALE TESLA SEMI PRODUCTION
Elon Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday the near-term cell supply shortage makes it difficult to scale the production of Tesla Semi commercial truck.
MERCEDES-BENZ AMG'S FIRST DEDICATED EV ARRIVES IN 2021
"Mercedes-Benz AMG's first dedicated electric vehicle will arrive this year, the company announced late on Tuesday during a presentation of its electrification strategy for the coming years. The vehicle is expected to be a variant of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan (shown above), but it won't be a heavy hitter like AMG's 63 series. Rather, it will sit in AMG's first rung of performance like the current batch of 35- and 53-series cars." says Motor Authority: "AMG has confirmed that its full lineup will eventually be made of EVs, though only when the technology is ready, which could be more than a decade still."
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1127705_mercedes-benz-amg-s-first-dedicated-ev-arrives-in-2021
ESPRINTER TO BE BUILT AT THREE PLANTS
Management and employee representatives at Mercedes-Benz have struck an agreement to build the next generation eSprinter van, which is based on the newly developed Electric Versatility Platform, at three locations: North Charleston, South Carolina, Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde in Germany. Based on a new platform announced at the end of 2020, the next generation of the eSprinter targets new customer segments and markets, including the USA and Canada. Mercedes-Benz is investing around €350 million in the next generation eSprinter. The necessary conversion measures in plants and retraining is currently in preparation.
MERCEDES EQS HAS A 141CM CURVED SCREEN COVERING 3 DISPLAYS
"Mercedes-Benz has unveiled new interior shots of the upcoming EQS. There’s definitely a lot going on here, including a modern, refined interior with a lot more displays and a lot less physical buttons. The headline to the show is the the massive piece of glass in the dash. This curves in three-dimensions and overlays 3 displays. The UI is known as the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) and this new triplescreen interface is known as the Hyperscreen." reports Tech.au: "The optional extra consists of 3 separate displays that span over 141 centimetres wide. The driver display is 12.3″, the largest central display is 17.7″ and the front passenger display is 12.3″. While Merc would love for you to think of this as one seemless display, the reality is, it isn’t. The back row passengers don’t get ignored either with a display of their own, connected to the back of the front seat"
https://techau.com.au/mercedes-eqs-has-a-141cm-curved-screen-covering-3-displays-0-menu-levels/1
EQS TO FEATURE BIOMETRIC TECH
"Car Throttle reports that the vehicle will use facial recognition technology to recognize both the driver and passengers, and tailor various settings to the riders based on past preferences." says Mobile ID World: "The auto industry is quickly becoming a major commercial adopter of biometric technologies, with computer vision and facial recognition being among the most popular. It has yet to be officially revealed whether the EQS will also feature Mercedes’ MBUX (Merced-Benz User Experience) platform, which brings with it a slew of voice-based interactions, and allows for further user customization. Mercedes did recently announce the renewal of its partnership with artificial intelligence expert Cerence — whose speech recognition technology is behind MBUX — so the inclusion of that platform and its speech recognition capabilities certainly seems possible."
EV BATTERY STARTUP POACHES OIL VETERANS TO BUILD ARCTIC FACTORY
"A Norwegian battery maker is giving executives from the oil, gas and aluminum industries a new lease of life, tapping their experience to gain an edge in the race to electrify cars." says JWN ENergy: "Freyr AS plans to start a pilot plant near the Arctic Circle in Norway by next year after hiring a handful of executives accustomed to running big, complicated and costly projects. Freyr will invest between $2 billion to $2.5 billion until the middle of the decade. That’s down from an estimate of $4.5 billion as recently as two years ago because of decisions on the technology to use. Its first commercial factory is scheduled to start production in the first half of 2023."
https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2021/3/24/ev-battery-startup-poaches-oil-veterans-to-build-a/
WHY ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUBSIDIES ARE A BAD IDEA
"right now they are very expensive. But that does not mean their purchase should be subsidised. It just means that we should wait for the cheaper vehicles. All a subsidy will do is provide a windfall gain for those who were going to purchase an electric vehicle anyway and encourage others to make an expensive purchase. This will contribute nothing to meeting the 2050 target, because by 2050 nearly all those expensive cars will have long since been scrapped" writes The Spinoff: "he EV uptake rate would be higher in New Zealand than in Europe and Japan by 2040 without a New Zealand subsidy, rather undercutting the argument that providing a subsidy now is somehow necessary for the long term development of the EV market."
https://thespinoff.co.nz/money/31-03-2021/why-electric-vehicle-subsidies-are-a-bad-idea/
NEW VIRGINIA LAW TO REQUIRE SALE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES
"Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed a bill that will require car manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of electric or hybrid vehicles. The goal is to reduce air pollution. Transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gas pollution in Virginia, and this measure will help to cut down on that."
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