Panasonic Preparing To Make Tesla 4680 Cells | 09 Feb 2021
Hyundai/Kia say Apple car deal is off | 2020 Saw 10% Plug-In Share For Europe | California: Cumulative EV Sales Reach 800k | Citroën AMI Named ‘Microcar Of The Year’ | Revel launches EV charging business | KONA and IONIQ added to ‘Onto’ | Tesla's Repair Guidelines Are Insight Into “Production Hell” | Panasonic Plans 4680 cell production | Seaside Police getting new Model Y cars | Tesla Tops Consumer Reports' List | Tesla buys $1.5B in bitcoin | 73Mn fleet electric vehicles by 2030
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On today’s podcast:
- Hyundai and Kia say the reported Apple car deal is now off
- 2020 Saw 10% Plug-In Share For Europe
- California: Cumulative Plug-In Electric Car Sales Reach 800,000
- Citroën AMI Named ‘Microcar Of The Year’
- Electric moped startup Revel launches an EV charging business
- Hyundai KONA Electric and IONIQ Electric added to ‘Onto’
- Tesla's Repair Guidelines Are Insight Into Its Manufacturing Problems
- Panasonic plans to deploy Tesla 4680 battery cell production later this year
- Seaside Police getting new Tesla Model Y cars
- Tesla Model 3 with heated steering wheel begins US deliveries
- Tesla, Lincoln, and Ram Top Consumer Reports' List
- Tesla buys $1.5B in bitcoin
- 73Mn fleet electric vehicles by 2030
Show #987
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 9th February. 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.
HYUNDAI AND KIA SAY THE REPORTED APPLE CAR DEAL IS NOW OFF
"South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co said on Monday it is not now in talks with Apple Inc on autonomous electric cars, just a month after it confirmed early-stage talks with the tech giant, sending the automaker's shares skidding. Wiping $3 billion off its market value, Hyundai's stock slid 6.2%. Shares in its affiliate Kia Corp, which had been tipped in local media reports as the likely operational partner for Apple, tumbled 15% — a $5.5 billion hit." according ot Autoblog: "The announcement brings the curtain down on weeks of internal divisions at Hyundai Motor Co Group — parent to both automakers — about the potential partnership with Apple, with some executives raising concerns about becoming a contract manufacturer for the U.S. tech giant in an arrangement reminiscent of electronics firm Foxconn's role in making iPhones."
https://www.autoblog.com/2021/02/08/apple-car-hyundai-kia-collaboration-now-dead/
2020 SAW 10% PLUG-IN SHARE FOR EUROPE
More data on 2020, this time from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Electrically-chargeable vehicles saw a similar surge in demand last year, accounting for 10.5% of all new car registrations in the European Union, compared to a 3.0% market share the year before.
During the fourth quarter, registrations of electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECV) in the EU jumped from 130,992 units in 2019 to almost half a million (+262.8%), surpassing hybrid electric cars in sales volume for the first time. This strong increase in demand for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) – with registrations growing by 216.9% and 331.0% respectively – was largely driven by government stimuli for low and zero-emission vehicles. Indeed, some of the biggest gains were seen in countries with the most generous incentives. In Germany, for example, BEV registrations increased by over 500% in the last quarter of 2020.
CALIFORNIA: CUMULATIVE PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CAR SALES REACH 800,000
"The cumulative number of plug-ins sold in California increased to about 800,000 (of course the number is lower due to sales out of the state or accidents/totaledvehicles). For comparison, the total number in the U.S. is almost 1.8 million. EV drivers can use more than 70,000 charging points in California, which means one charging point per over 11 EVs." according to InsideEVs: "Compared to more than 3.1 million cars sold globally in 2020, it seems that the U.S. plug-in market is seriously lagging behind with just about a 10% share out of the global volume."
https://insideevs.com/news/486280/california-cumulative-plugin-car-sales/
CITROËN AMI NAMED ‘MICROCAR OF THE YEAR’
"Starting the year as it means to go on, Citroën’s highly innovative AMI has successfully scooped the ‘Microcar of the Year’ title in the GQ Car Awards 2021. Having already been recognised with Top Gear magazine’s ‘Disruptor Award’ in the BBC Top Gear magazine Electric Awards 2020, the bold and creative AMI has been turning heads of late among industry experts and the public alike" asys EV Obsession: "Ultra-compact yet agile, Citroën AMI makes city travel and parking easy with a length of just 2.41m and a tight turning circle of just 7.20m. Officially classed as an electric quadricycle, AMI is accessible to anyone over the age of 14 in France, with no driver’s license needed."
https://evobsession.com/citroen-ami-named-microcar-of-the-year-in-the-gq-car-awards-2021/
ELECTRIC MOPED STARTUP REVEL LAUNCHES AN EV CHARGING BUSINESS
"Revel, the shared electric moped startup, is building a DC fast-charging station for electric vehicles in New York City, the first in a new business venture that will eventually spread to other cities." says TechCrunch: "The company said Wednesday that this new “Superhub,” which is located at the former Pfizer building in Brooklyn, will contain 30 chargers and be open to the public 24 hours a day. This will be the first in a network of Superhubs opened by Revel across New York City, the company said. Revel didn’t build the EV charging infrastructure in-house. Instead, it is using Tritium’s new RTM75 model for the first 10 chargers at its Brooklyn site, which will go live this spring."
https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/03/electric-moped-startup-revel-launches-an-ev-charging-business/
HYUNDAI KONA ELECTRIC AND IONIQ ELECTRIC ADDED TO ‘ONTO’
Hyundai Motor UK has signed an agreement to supply all-inclusive electric car subscription service ‘Onto’ with electric vehicles for 2021. Hyundai will provide ‘Onto’ the new Hyundai KONA Electric Premium SE (64kWh) and the Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium (38kWh), which will add a total of 275 new cars to Onto’s fleet by March. With this expansion, Hyundai helps the subscription service to further solidify its position as the UK’s largest all-EV fleet. The Kona is £559 and the IONIQ is £449.
Could subscription EVs be for you? Join me this Saturday for a Saturday Special interview with CEO and co-founder Rob Jolly, on how they went from a small trial with taxi drivers to almost 2000 cars.
TESLA'S REPAIR GUIDELINES ARE INSIGHT INTO “PRODUCTION HELL”
"Monitoring technical service bulletins on the NHTSA website can be a good method of discovering common issues with a given car and learning what repair procedures look like, especially for secretive manufacturers like Tesla that seem to release repair information only where required by law." says Jalopnik; " The bulletin states that “Certain Model 3 high-voltage batteries may not have a sufficient quantity of bolts for the contactor DC link busbars, which may prevent the vehicle from charging or powering properly” as these busbars connect the battery to the rest of the high voltage system. The TSB [Technical Service Bulletin] follows up with instructions to inspect the terminals if bolts turn out to be missing, as the lack of contact may cause arcing burns on the joints or terminals. Missing bolts are not just limited to the Model 3, as bulletin SB-20-31-012 for the Model Y states that some cars may have missing or loose suspension bolts, which are meant to hold the steering knuckle to the upper control arm. Since this is a potential safety issue, Tesla issued a recall bulletin, which means that all affected vehicles have to be repaired. (TSBs do not require a repair unless there is a customer complaint or a technician notices it while diagnosing another issue.)"
More evidence making cars is HARD - maybe why Apple are still on the fence.
https://jalopnik.com/here-s-how-tesla-tsbs-expose-manufacturing-troubles-1846016877
PANASONIC PLANS TO DEPLOY TESLA 4680 BATTERY CELL PRODUCTION LATER THIS YEAR
"Panasonic confirmed that it plans to set up Tesla 4680 battery cell production at GIgafactory Nevada later this year. They expect higher revenue from the Tesla partnership." says electrek: "When Tesla unveiled its plan to produce its own new tabless battery cell in a bigger format with a new chemistry using its own machinery designed in-house last year, some people misunderstood it as Tesla trying to move away from getting battery cells from suppliers. Last year, Panasonic announced plans to produce the Tesla 4680 cell itself. Now the company said that a new production line for the new cell is planned at Gigafactory Nevada for later this year. On top of the new 4680 production capacity from Panasonic at Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla plans to deploy its own production at Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Texas."
https://electrek.co/2021/02/03/panasonic-plans-tesla-4680-battery-cell-production/
SEASIDE POLICE GETTING NEW TESLA MODEL Y CARS
"Seaside police are getting an upgrade and some pretty nice rides soon, adding two new luxury Tesla Model Y vehicles." says KION546: "During a Seaside City Council meeting on Thursday night, according to Seaside Police Chief Adbul Pridgen, the department’s fleet averages 26 miles per day."
https://kion546.com/news/top-stories/2021/02/05/seaside-police-getting-new-tesla-model-y-cars/
TESLA MODEL 3 WITH HEATED STEERING WHEEL BEGINS US DELIVERIES
"Tesla Model 3 customers who are taking delivery of the newest builds of the all-electric sedan are reporting that their vehicle has a heated steering wheel, a feature Tesla included in some of the “refreshed” versions of its mass-market cars." says Teslrarti: "According to photographs uploaded by the user, the button to activate the heated steering wheel feature is within the “Seat Heaters” menu and can be turned on by pressing the button with a picture of a steering wheel.
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-with-heated-steering-wheel-begins-us-deliveries/
TESLA, LINCOLN, AND RAM TOP CONSUMER REPORTS' LIST
"Consumer Reports just released its list of most and least-liked car brands, based on its owner satisfaction survey. They asked 369,000 owners whether they’d buy their same car again if given the chance and extrapolated the data for the results. Tesla, Lincoln, and Ram are at the top of the list, and Cadillac, Nissan, and Infiniti round out the bottom." according to THe Drive: "This year, Tesla scored highest on the survey with owners rating their cars a four or five out of five for driving, comfort, and in-cabin electronics. No matter how you feel about Tesla, you have to know that Tesla owners are completely smitten with their cars. "
TESLA BUYS $1.5B IN BITCOIN
"In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, which was duly approved by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds and other assets as specified in the future. Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin"
"Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt. "
According to CNBC on 5th Feb 2021: “Bitcoin has a carbon footprint comparable to that of New Zealand, producing 36.95 megatons of CO2 annually, according to Digiconomist. The cryptocurrency consumes more electricity than the entire annual energy consumption of the Netherlands, Cambridge University researchers say."
73MN FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLES BY 2030
"The EY consultancy coproduced a new report with Eurelectric looking at electrification in Europe. The consultants identified fleets as having the largest potential for electrification – in particular if incentivised effectively."n says electrive: "EY predicts a 24-fold increase in the total electrified fleet by 2030. As the analysts predict 15% growth anticipated by 2030, the fleet size in Europe would rise to 73 million electric vehicles. Ey also sees four phases, assess, introduce, operate, and scale-up. In practice, this translates to adding a small number of electric vehicles as a trial. Here, feedback and monitoring are essential before deciding to scale up and assess the success of the fleet migration strategy. Obviously, any decision will take into account the TCO that is key to any fleet. Ey suggests that fleet buyers “exercise their bulk purchasing power to secure lower upfront vehicle costs and reduce the total cost of EV ownership or lease.”"
https://www.electrive.com/2021/02/03/ey-data-model-suggests-73mn-fleet-electric-vehicles-by-2030/
NEW QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Regardless of tech or specs, who do you think is designing the...