Renault Zoe eclipses Model 3 as Europe's #1 | 27 Jan 2021
Renault Zoe eclipses Tesla Model 3 as Europe's best-selling EV | Tesla engineering director leaves for start-up | CALB sets its sights on European production | Nuvve and IoTecha to deploy bidirectional EV charging | GMC HUMMER EV Set for ExtremeE | XPeng launches OTA upgrade for P7 | Finland Targets New Battery Industry | Komatsu, Proterra Partner To Electrify Heavy Construction Vehicles | 2 in 5 pickup shoppers considering all-electric | Tesla partners with Samsung on new 5nm chip for full self-driving
Wanna split £100? You get £50 free AND save money on 100% green electricity by moving to Octopus Energy. Plus I get £50 to support this podcast but ONLY if you do it by using my unique referral code. I moved to Octopus recently and had been putting it off for ages, but I kicked myself for not doing it sooner, as it’s literally a 5 minute job to give them your details.
Click here: https://share.octopus.energy/free-puma-452
On today’s podcast:
- Renault Zoe eclipses Tesla Model 3 as Europe's best-selling EV
- Tesla engineering director Joseph Mardall leaves for drone start-up Zipline
- CALB sets its sights on European production
- Nuvve and IoTecha to deploy bidirectional EV charging
- GMC HUMMER EV Set for ExtremeE
- XPeng launches OTA upgrade for P7
- Finland Targets Investors in Bid to Create New Battery Industry
- Komatsu, Proterra Partner To Electrify Heavy Construction Vehicles
- 2 in 5 pickup shoppers considering all-electric
- Tesla partners with Samsung on new 5nm chip for full self-driving
Show #975
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 27th January. 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.
RENAULT ZOE ECLIPSES TESLA MODEL 3 AS EUROPE'S BEST-SELLING EV
"The Renault Zoe overtook the Tesla Model 3 to become the best-selling battery-electric car (BEV) in Europe in 2020, with the total 1.42 million BEV and plug-in hybrid cars sold representing a 147% year-on-year increase. According to data from car industry analysts Jato Dynamics, electrified vehicles – either full-EV or PHEV models – accounted for 12% of all cars sold across 23 European markets, including the European Union member states, the UK, Norway and Switzerland." reports Autocar.co.uk: "The Renault Zoe hatch led the sales of full BEVs, with the 99,261 examples sold in 2020 a 118% year-on-year increase. That helped the Zoe pass the Tesla Model 3, 2019’s best-selling BEV. Tesla sold 85,713 Model 3, representing a 9% year-on-year fall. The new Volkswagen ID 3 hatch was third on the best-seller chart, with 56,118 units sold, despite only going on sale in the middle of last year. Notably, Jato data shows the ID 3 was the second best-selling car overall across a wider market of 27 European countries in December, with 27,997 models sold during the month. VW Group’s success meant it passed Tesla to become Europe’s biggest EV manufacturer."
E-TRON GT WILL BECOME AUDI'S PORSCHE 911
"Production of the exciting new ev is already underway, and based on some of the details we've seen so far, it is going to look absolutely spectacular. The RS version is also going to be insanely quick, but more than just being a poster boy for Audi's performance potential with EVs, the new e-tron GT will also be the car that Audi considers its design icon of this era. Head of Audi Design Marc Lichte explains." says CarBuzz: " The foundation for aesthetics lies in the proportions: short overhangs and a long wheelbase combined with a lean cabin on a powerful body. The e-tron GT features all of the above." He goes on to say that the e-tron GT is certainly Audi's new design icon. Audi wants this car to be as instantly recognizable as design icons like a VW Beetle or a Porsche 911."
https://carbuzz.com/news/the-e-tron-gt-will-become-audis-porsche-911
TESLA ENGINEERING DIRECTOR JOSEPH MARDALL LEAVES FOR DRONE START-UP ZIPLINE
"An influential engineering director at Tesla, Joe Mardall, has resigned his position at the automaker to become head of engineering at Zipline, according to his own LinkedIn profile. Zipline is a drone maker and aerial delivery service focused on distribution of blood and other medical supplies." says CNBC: "Among his achievements during a decade at Tesla, Mardall led the development of a Model Y Heat Pump system, which was praised by CEO Elon Musk on Twitter, and led Tesla's efforts to engineer a ventilator for Covid sufferers that could be produced using car parts. (It never produced the ventilators.) Before he was involved in engineering Tesla's latest crossover SUV, the Model Y, Mardall also developed thermal and HVAC technologies which became defining features in the company's earlier Model X and Model 3 vehicles. His name is on multiple Tesla patents."
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/22/tesla-engineering-director-joseph-mardall-leaves-for-zipline.html
CALB SETS ITS SIGHTS ON EUROPEAN PRODUCTION
"With CALB, short for China Aviation Lithium Battery Technology, another battery manufacturer from China aims for Europe. The state-owned company claims to produce lithium-ion batteries with NCM as well as LFP chemistry – in the order of 100 GWh per year." writes electrive: "In Europe, the company plans to build its own battery factory, according to the latest information. CALB emerged from a state-owned subcontractor in 2007, has its headquarters in Luoyang and about 1,700 employees worldwide. The company produces cells and modules for electric cars, commercial vehicles, stationary story systems for renewable and mini-grid, and grid-balancing projects"
https://www.electrive.com/2021/01/25/calb-sets-its-sights-on-european-production/
NUVVE AND IOTECHA TO DEPLOY BIDIRECTIONAL EV CHARGING
"San Diego-based vehicle-to-grid (V2G) pioneer Nuvve and smart charging specialist IoTecha are joining forces to deploy and commercialize a bidirectional EV charging solution that uses the CCS standard and supports the ISO/IEC15118 protocol. The plan is to enable automotive OEMs to enable bidirectional energy flow on their vehicles using IoTecha and Nuvve technology. Future versions of the standard will be supported by over-the-air software updates." says Charged EVs.
GMC HUMMER EV TSET FOR EXTREMEE
GMC announced today a new multiyear sponsorship with Chip Ganassi Racing for the team’s first electric racing venture in the inaugural Extreme E season in 2021. CGR’s 550-horsepower electric SUV, which features a unique grille, graphics and bodywork, was inspired by the GMC HUMMER EV all-electric supertruck.
Noted off-road racers Kyle LeDuc and Sara Price will serve as drivers for CGR in the series.
XPENG LAUNCHES OTA UPGRADE FOR P7
The new Xmart 2.5.0 version will bring over 40 new functions and 200+ optimized features to P7 customers in China, covering multiple modules, including autonomous driving assistance, full-scenario voice assistance, smart audio and music cockpit, in-car App ecosystem, and personalized settings. Since the P7’s launch in April 2020, 31 new functions have been added through five major OTA upgrades so far.
The Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) public beta version is one of the main new functions in this OTA upgrade. The NGP, which requires XPILOT 3.0 – XPeng’s autonomous driving assistance system – will be supported by the P7 Premium and Wing versions.
NGP conducts automatic navigation assisted driving from point A to B based on the navigation route set by the driver, which is available on Chinese highways covered by high-precision maps. Key functions of NGP include:
√ automatic lane changing and overtaking
√ automatic optimization of lane choices
√ automatic speed limit adjustment
√ automatic highway ramp entering and exiting
√ automatic switching of highways
https://en.xiaopeng.com/news/news_info/3759.html
FINLAND TARGETS INVESTORS IN BID TO CREATE NEW BATTERY INDUSTRY
"Finland is looking for investors to help it build a new industry around electric-vehicle batteries over the next half decade. The country, which refines more than half the cobalt produced in Europe, published a report on Tuesday laying out its case." report Bloomberg: "One of the key planks in Finland’s pitch to investors is its rich stock of minerals needed to power such batteries, according to the report by the Economy Ministry. For now, Finland lacks expertise in battery-cell production and is behind European peers such as neighboring Sweden, where Northvolt AB’s main battery-making facility is expected to start at the end of this year."
KOMATSU, PROTERRA PARTNER TO ELECTRIFY HEAVY CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES
"Komatsu is partnering with Proterra to use battery packs in Komatsu’s first electric hydraulic excavators. Previously, most of Proterra’s battery packs have gone into public transit buses, school buses or delivery vans. This will be the Burlingame, California-startup’s first application for off-road construction vehicles." says Forbes today: "Komatsu will use Proterra’s battery systems to develop a proof-of-concept electric excavator by the end of 2021. If that meets certain performance criteria the batteries will be installed in a commercial production machine in 2023 and 2024. Proterra’s battery systems are engineered and produced in the U.S., featuring a customized design to fit in a range of vehicles."
2 IN 5 PICKUP SHOPPERS CONSIDERING ALL-ELECTRIC
"From startups to industry leaders, numerous automakers are planning electric pickup trucks. When these trucks arrive in showrooms, there will be plenty of customer demand, according to a new Cox Automotive study." says Green Car REports: "Pickup trucks are the largest market segment in the United States, and about two in five shoppers are considering an electric truck, according to the study. Younger shoppers are more likely to consider an electric truck, with 44% of respondents ages 18-34 indicating they were interested in both internal-combustion and all-electric trucks. Price was the most important consideration for potential electric-truck shoppers."
TESLA PARTNERS WITH SAMSUNG ON NEW 5NM CHIP FOR FULL SELF-DRIVING
"Tesla has reportedly partnered with Samsung on a new 5nm chip for full self-driving, according to a new report coming from Korea. A few months ago, there was a report that Tesla planned for its next-generation self-driving chip to use a 7-nanometer process by TSMC, a Taiwan semiconductor company. Now a new report from Korea states that Tesla is partnering with Samsung on a 5-nanometer chip for self-driving" says electrek: "5-nm chips are a more recent technology that only started to make it into commercial products last year. They are found in some of the latest smartphones, like Apple’s iPhone 12. The latest report on Tesla’s new chips stated that mass production was planned for Q4 2021 – meaning that we aren’t likely to see those chips inside Tesla production vehicles until 2022."
https://electrek.co/2021/01/25/tesla-partners-samsung-new-5nm-chip-full-self-driving-report/
NEW QUESTION OF THE WEEK
What do you want to be able to do to, or with, your car from a mobile app or web dashboard? What are the basics and what are the nice-to-haves?
Send me your answer: hello@evnewsdaily.com
You can listen to all 974 previous episodes of this this for free, where you get your podcasts from, plus the blog https://www.evnewsdaily.com/ – remember to subscribe, which means you don’t have to think about downloading the show each day, plus you get it first and free and automatically.
It would mean a lot if you could take 2mins to leave a quick review on whichever platform you download the podcast.
And if you have an Amazon Echo, download our Alexa Skill, search for EV News Daily and add it as a flash briefing.
Come and say hi on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just search EV News Daily, have a wonderful day, I’ll catch you tomorrow and remember…there’s no such thing as a self-charging hybrid.
PHIL ROBERTS / ELECTRIC FUTURE (PREMIUM PARTNER)
BRAD CROSBY (PREMIUM PARTNER)
AVID TECHNOLOGY (PREMIUM PARTNER)
PORSCHE OF THE VILLAGE CINCINNATI (PREMIUM PARTNER)
AUDI CINCINNATI EAST (PREMIUM PARTNER)
VOLVO CARS CINCINNATI EAST (PREMIUM PARTNER)
NATIONALCARCHARGING.COM and ALOHACHARGE.COM (PREMIUM PARTNER)
DEREK REILLY FROM THE EV REVIEW IRELAND YOUTUBE CHANNEL (PREMIUM PARTNER)
RICHARD AT RSEV.CO.UK – FOR BUYING AND SELLING EVS IN THE UK (PREMIUM PARTNER)
DAVID AND LISA ALLEN (PARTNER)
GARETH HAMER
eMOBILITY NORWAY