Four New Mercedes EVs Coming Soon | 20 Mar 2021
Weekend Long Reads | Patent Reveals New Images Of Lucid Motors’ Gravity SUV |Uk Ev Prices Reduced Due To Grant Change | How The Porsche Taycan's Innovative Electric Motors Work | European Engineers Tackle EV Lightweighting |Four EVs Mercedes Is Bringing To The U.S. By 2022 | Nissan In Tweet Storm As E-Power Ad Hits A False Note| Spain, Seat, & Iberdrola Will Use Eu Funds For Ev Battery Factory | Volvo Group Venture Capital Invests In Driivz Ev Charging Software Company
On today’s podcast:
- Weekend Long Reads
- Patent Reveals New Images Of Lucid Motors’ Gravity Suv
- Uk EV Prices Reduced Due To Grant Change
- How The Porsche Taycan's Innovative Electric Motors Work
- European Engineers Tackle Ev Lightweighting
- Four Evs Mercedes Is Bringing To The U.S. By 2022
- Nissan In Tweet Storm As E-Power Ad Hits A False Note
- Spain, Seat, & Iberdrola Will Use Eu Funds For Ev Battery Factory
- Volvo Group Venture Capital Invests In Driivz Ev Charging Software Company
Show #1027
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Saturday 20th 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.
We'll start with you weekend long reads - if you have 10 - 15 mins I recommend these articles:
TIME FOR OHIO TO EMBRACE ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION
SEATTLE’S VISION FOR AN ALL-ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
A CHAT WITH DEREK JENKINS, LUCID MOTORS SENIOR V.P. OF DESIGN
PATENT REVEALS NEW IMAGES OF LUCID MOTORS’ GRAVITY SUV
"Lucid’s astute forum members have uncovered news the automaker may or may not want the public to see yet. Patent images of Lucid Motors’ upcoming Gravity SUV were uncovered in a filing with the EUIPO." asys electrk: "Lucid has added a lot more glass to its roof compared to the concept images. This should let in a lot more natural light and help the interior cabin feel roomier overall. front end appears to be slightly bigger, while the back end is noticeably so. The concept back end sort of bubbled out, but it appears Lucid has now moved the rear bumper out further. This should allow for more cargo. Additionally, it looks like Lucid plans to add slightly wider glass to the rear as well, again allowing more natural light within the SUV and better visibility looking out the back."
https://electrek.co/2021/03/18/patent-reveals-new-images-of-lucid-motors-gravity-suv/
Let's mop up some of the news from Thursday as the UK cut the EV grant from £3000 to £2500, but more importantly slashed the threshold from £50k to £35k, and even more importantly did it immediately.
UK EV PRICES REDUCED DUE TO GRANT CHANGE
"Many car firms will now be adjusting their prices, like Citroen, to come in under the ceiling. Citroen’s price changes will mean all variants of the electric hatchback will now qualify for the government’s plug-in car grant. The French firm reduced the price of is top-spec e-C4 Shine Plus models by £550 meaning that the entirety of the range is eligible for the grant." says CarDealer Magazine: "On the road pricing for the e-C4 now starts from £30,895 to £32,495, inclusive of the £2,500 grant. MG said on Friday that it will continue to offer buyers of its electric vehicles a £3,000 discount. The firm pledged to make up the additional £500 until the end of the month in a critical plate change month for the motor trade."
AutoExpress add: "Shine Plus version of its new all-electric family hatchback is the most popular variant. It is just one of many electric cars on sale in Britain that may now receive a retail price cut in order to still qualify for the newly reduced grant. This particular e-C4 was previously priced from £35,495 and the new on-the-road price stands at £34,995. The e-C4 makes use of a 134bhp electric motor and 50kWh battery system and Citroen claims a maximum range of 217 miles on a full charge."
As for the VW range, they opted not to change any prices. But did put out a press release reminding you that two of their ID.3 models were available under the threshold unlike just one which I said yesterday. “D.3 Life Pro and ID.3 Life Pro Performance. The ID.3 Life Pro Performance went on sale late last year and has since gone on to be crowned ‘Small Electric Car of the Year’ by What Car? at its Car of the Year Awards 2021. It features a 204 PS motor and 58 kWh battery (net capacity), which provides a WLTP range of 263 miles. the ID.3 Life Pro was introduced and offers a new motor option and lower price for entry into the ID.3 range. It retains the 58 kWh batteryt”
And the new ID.3 Pure model with a 45kWh battery is out later this year.
HOW THE PORSCHE TAYCAN'S INNOVATIVE ELECTRIC MOTORS WORK
"Many EVs such as the Audi e-tron use a more affordable asynchronous machine (ASM) or asynchronous electric motor, but Porsche uses a permanently excited synchronous machine (PSM) that it says is less prone to overheating." says Carbuzz: "Describing the supply and control of three-phase AC voltage for the PSM, Porsche says: "The speed of the motor is determined by the frequency at which the alternating voltage oscillates around the zero point from plus to minus. In Taycan motors, the pulse inverter sets the frequency of the rotating field in the stator, thereby regulating the speed of the rotor."
https://carbuzz.com/news/heres-how-the-porsche-taycans-innovative-electric-motors-work
EUROPEAN ENGINEERS TACKLE EV LIGHTWEIGHTING
"Engineers at the Technological Institute of Aragon (ITAINNOVA) here are coordinating a new European Union initiative to develop lightweight components for electric vehicles." says AssemblyMag.coM: "These technologies can directly contribute to improving vehicle efficiency in terms of kilowatt hours consumed per kilometer, as well as vehicle autonomy, and also reduce environmental impact."...focusing on three different components: a cross beam, a suspension control arm, and a battery clamping and packing system."
https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/96240-european-engineers-tackle-ev-lightweighting
FOUR EVS MERCEDES IS BRINGING TO THE U.S. BY 2022
"The US was supposed to get the Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV but that didn’t happen and it never will. But that’s okay because the US will be getting four EVs over the next two years from the German luxury automaker’s EQ sub-brand. " according to InsideEVs: "Interestingly, two sedans will arrive first, not SUVs. The 2022 Mercedes EQS sedan will go on sale this fall and will soon enter production in Germany. The report didn’t mention a reveal date, but it’s likely around the corner. The EQE sedan is based on the same platform as the EQS and deliveries will start in 2022. The driving range is in the area of 400 miles. Mercedes-EQ’s two electric SUVs will be built in its Tuscaloosa, Alabama factory in 2022 (this was announced in December). Each one is an SUV variant of the EQS and EQE sedans and shares the same name."
https://insideevs.com/news/494819/these-four-evs-mercedes-bringing-us-2022
NISSAN IN TWEET STORM AS E-POWER AD HITS A FALSE NOTE
"Twitter has been ablaze with users airing their views on what they consider misleading claims by Nissan. They say the company hit the wrong note when proclaiming that the e-Power drive has a “100% electric motor-driven system.”" reports electrive: " the drive’s main energy source is not the battery but a gasoline engine that acts exclusively as a generator. Twitter users know that. Their responses ranged from irritation – “wait, is it a hybrid?” – to distain as this example shows: “Wait a minute. You just invented a car with a gas burning engine which powers an electric motor? I mean… Congratulations, Nissan. You just invented the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. What a billion dollar facepalm.” Nissan is not alone in trying to make their cars sound greener than they are. We remember that Toyota and Lexus would repeatedly advertise their simple hybrid models as “self-charging”. A claim so misleading, the Norwegian Consumer Agency banned such commercials."
https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/17/nissan-in-tweet-storm-as-e-power-ad-hits-a-false-note/
SPAIN, SEAT, & IBERDROLA WILL USE EU FUNDS FOR EV BATTERY FACTORY
"Spain plans to use funding from the European Union to create a public-private consortium with Volkswagen Group’s SEAT, based in Spain, and the power company Iberdrola to build Spain’s first EV battery factory. " says CleanTechnica: "Battery production would create many jobs, and it would be supporting the key need for much more climate-fighting cleantech, in this case electric vehicles. Spain was looking to revamp Nissan’s main car plant near Barcelona into a battery production facility in order to preserve thousands of jobs. That plant closed back in December.".
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/03/17/spain-seat-iberdrola-will-use-eu-funds-for-ev-battery-factory/
VOLVO GROUP VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTS IN DRIIVZ EV CHARGING SOFTWARE COMPANY
Volvo Group Venture Capital has invested in Driivz Ltd., a leading global EV charging software company which has developed a platform for managing large charging networks for electric vehicles from end-to-end.
The Driivz platform functions as an operating system for EV charging networks and is used by the operators of charging points, EV fleets and other key players in the ecosystem.
A joint pilot project between Volvo Trucks, the Volvo Group and Driivz is ongoing with the aim of developing and testing new and innovative charging services to meet the specific needs of electric truck customers and drivers.
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