04 August 2020 | Planes Are The New Drones For Spying On Tesla
Infrastructure for electric trucks | Polestar is Red Dot Brand of the Year | Mercedes EQE SUV with 430 miles range | Evergrande rolls out six new-energy vehicles | NIO Provides July 2020 Update | Russia looks to zero customs tariff to lift Tesla sales | Formula E returns in Berlin | German Tesla observers rent small aircraft to see Gigafactory| Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Build a "Normal" Truck If Cybertruck Fails | Audi Sport boss says electric DTM car “a possibility” | Largest Floating Solar Park In Eur
Show #858
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 4th August 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
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IT'S TIME TO START INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ELECTRIC TRUCKS
Road freight is a major source of transport emissions, and decarbonizing this sector is key to meeting the Paris Agreement's climate goals.
But limited availability of truck-specific charging infrastructure is slowing down the uptake of battery-electric trucks on European highways. n Europe, trucks account for approximately 2% of vehicles on the road. That can be hard to believe, considering that European highways are highly congested most of the time. Those 2% of vehicles are, however, responsible for 22% of the CO2 emissions from land-based transport." says the World Economic FOrum: "Whereas investment in charging infrastructure over the last decades and numerous national incentive schemes have led to a significant increase in battery-electric private passenger cars, there is as yet no harmonized approach to scaling up public charging infrastructure specifically for the use of electric trucks. It is important to note that the technical specifications of charging infrastructure needed for heavy duty vehicles are distinct from those for passenger cars. In order to recharge a battery-electric truck, more powerful charging points are required, and these would be best located along European highways in locations that can provide sufficient parking spots. Charging a heavy-duty truck with a charger intended for battery-electric private passenger cars would currently take six entire days – but with more powerful charging points, that would drop to just 45 minutes."
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/we-need-to-invest-in-infrastructure-for-electric-trucks/
THERE AREN’T ENOUGH BATTERIES TO ELECTRIFY ALL CARS
"We will not be able to electrify all of our transportation in the timeframe necessary to deal with climate change, writes Cameron Roberts, a researcher in sustainable transportation, Carleton University, Ottowa." reports AirQulaityNEws.com: "Road transportation is a major consumer of fossil fuels, contributing 16% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, which warm up the Earth’s atmosphere and cause changes to the climate. In 2019, the world produced about 160-gigawatt hours (GWh) of lithium-ion batteries. That’s enough for a little more than three million standard-range Tesla Model 3s — and only if we use those batteries for cars, and don’t build any smart-phones, laptops or grid storage facilities. The battery production capacity currently under construction will allow the production of the equivalent of 40 million EVs annually by 2028, according to one estimate. Even at the projected 2028 level of battery production capacity, it would take us 35 years to replace this global vehicle fleet with electric models. That’s not nearly fast enough to avoid the worst consequences of climate change."
ELECTRIC CAR COMPANY POLESTAR IS RED DOT BRAND OF THE YEAR
"Electric performance car company Polestar’s “exceptionally well-designed brand communication” has earned it the prestigious Red Dot Brand of the Year award for 2020. Polestar emerged ahead of 6,992 international entries to scoop the internationally-recognised design award." writes Richard for Motoring Electric: "Judges said it won because of its success in “portraying a consistent brand image across various channels in its communication”. “It’s an honour to be named Brand of the Year by Red Dot,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar. “Design is at the core of Polestar, in each and every aspect of the brand, and it deserves our full attention in order to fulfil our promise of pure and progressive design.” As well as the overall Brand of the Year prize, Polestar’s brand identity was named a ‘Best of the Best’ winner, again for its consistency in design quality and creative performance."
https://www.motoringelectric.com/news/polestar-red-dot-brand-of-the-year/
MERCEDES EQE SUV SET TO ARRIVE WITH UP TO 430 MILES OF RANGE
"Mercedes is ramping up development of its fleet of electric-powered EQ models, as early prototypes of the EQE SUV hit the road in Germany for the first time. Mercedes’ ambition is to have a range of fully electric vehicles under the EQ brand that mirror the firm’s conventional line-up. The first was the EQC – an electric alternative to the GLC – and the more compact EQA and EQB models will arrive at the end of this year." reports Auto Express: "Beyond that will be the EQE. What we do know about the new platform, which is constructed from a mix of steel, aluminium and carbon fibre to minimise weight, is that it will be able to accommodate a 100kWh battery. The German firm has suggested that such a battery could make it possible to travel up to 430 miles. However, it’s almost certain that this will appear in the flagship model; cheaper versions fitted with a smaller-capacity battery and reduced range are also expected to feature in the EQE line-up."
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mercedes/352810/new-2022-mercedes-eqe-suv-set-arrive-430-miles-range
EVERGRANDE ROLLS OUT SIX NEW-ENERGY VEHICLES
"Chinese property developer Evergrande unveiled six new-energy car models on Monday as the company aims to further develop its business in China's green car market. The company said it's developing new-energy vehicle business at full speed and the six models are the first batch under its car brand, Hengchi. The models cover passenger carmakes such as sedan, sport-utility vehicle and multi-purpose vehicle." according to Shine.cn: "Evergrande has ambitious goals in the new-energy vehicle sector, but industry insiders point out challenges ahead. i Yanwei, an analyst at the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that among the six new energy models unveiled on Monday, four of them are large vehicles which are not suitable for battery drive. Li said that the other two models are A-class cars but need to compete with Chinese automaker such as BYD, Geely, and BAIC BJEV."
https://www.shine.cn/biz/auto/2008033481/
NIO INC. PROVIDES JULY 2020 DELIVERY UPDATE
NIO delivered 3,533 vehicles in July 2020, increasing by 322.1% year-over-year
NIO delivered 17,702 vehicles in 2020 in total, increasing by 111.3% year-over-year
Cumulative deliveries of ES8 and ES6 reached 49,615
On July 24, 2020, NIO announced the pre-subsidy price of the EC6, starting from RMB 368,000, and began taking production orders for the 5-seater premium smart electric coupe SUV. Its NEDC range of up to 615 kilometers with the 100 kWh battery pack, excellent driving experience, sporty and stylish design present a highly competitive model for a younger and broader user base. The EC6 deliveries will commence in September 2020.
RUSSIAN DEALER LOOKS TO ZERO CUSTOMS TARIFF TO LIFT TESLA SALES
"Russia’s main unofficial Tesla dealer hopes zero customs fees will lift sales of the U.S. vehicles, despite their relatively high price and a fledgling charging infrastructure. Only 353 new electric cars were sold in Russia last year, including 81 Teslas, data from Autostat shows." says Reuters: "While Tesla has not officially entered the Russian market, Tesla Club helps customers, including businessmen and politicians, buy the cars abroad and maintain them. Alexei Eremchuk, head of Tesla Club, Russia’s unofficial dealership in Moscow, told Reuters@ “Customs fees have decreased, so demand has increased. People took it very well." Moscow cut customs fees for electric cars to zero from May, down from 48-54% for individuals and 15% for legal entities." Prices for new Teslas in Russia start from 4.3 million roubles ($58,000) for a basic Model 3 and on average people pay between 7 and 8 million roubles."
ABB FORMULA E RETURNS FOR SIX-RACE SHOWDOWN IN BERLIN
"Following several months of inactivity since the ABB Formula E series last saw action around the streets of Marrakesh, the championship returns to the Tempelhof Airport in the German capital of Berlin for the sixth consecutive year, to complete the final rounds of the season" says Motorsport.tech: "t will be a frantic re-start, and indeed finish to the season, with the six races all taking place over nine days – 5th/6th, 8th/9th, 12th/13th August. And, in order to make the racing as challenging, exciting and unpredictable as ever for fans and drivers alike, each pair of races will use a different track configuration, meaning teams will have to develop alternate strategies over a short timeframe."
https://motorsport.tech/formula-e/abb-formula-e-returns-for-six-race-showdown-in-berlin
GERMAN TESLA OBSERVERS GO UP IN THE AIR: SMALL AIRCRAFT RENTED FOR GIGAFACTORY VIDEOS
"Overflights with drones are almost part of the standard program for Tesla observers. Now, however, several German Tesla observers have joined together and upgraded their flight technology: their latest pictures were not taken with drones, but from a specially chartered small aircraft." says NewsABC.net: "And they actually offer interesting new perspectives. Without special permission, drones are allowed to climb a maximum of 50 meters over large parts of the Tesla property, while the aircraft was now traveling at a height of 400 meters. Less detailed, but better in the overall context, you can see on the pictures how far Tesla in Grünheide in the only about nine months after the announcement of the German Gigafactory, six months after the first tree was felled and in only about four weeks since the issue of the latest pre-approval for partial foundations and unfinished buildings."
ELON MUSK SAYS TESLA WILL BUILD A "NORMAL" TRUCK IF CYBERTRUCK FAILS
"In an interview with Automotive News, Musk explained that the Cybertruck was born out of a simple desire to build an "awesome" car. And if people don't like it, Musk has a "plan."" says Road And Track: "Does this mean Tesla has a conventional pickup waiting in the wings? It's unclear. Is Musk just spitballing? Possibly."
Elon MusK: ""If it turns out nobody wants to buy a weird-looking truck, we'll build a normal truck, no problem," Musk said. "There's lots of normal trucks out there that look pretty much the same; you can hardly tell the difference. And sure, we could just do some copycat truck; that's easy. So that's our fallback strategy.""
AUDI SPORT BOSS SAYS ELECTRIC DTM CAR “IS A POSSIBILITY”
"Audi Sport boss Dieter Gass has acknowledged that the German manufacturers is interested in the possibility of developing an electric touring car. Asked if Audi Motorsport would be interested in the development of an electric touring car for the DTM, Gass told TouringCarTimes: “I think this idea has got some inertia now and it has started moving since last year.”" ghe told Touring Car Times: "The Volkswagen Group has already an electric touring car with the Cupra e-Racer, which will make its racing debut in this year’s inaugural Pure ETCR season."
https://www.touringcartimes.com/2020/08/03/audi-sport-boss-says-electric-dtm-car-possibility/
LARGEST FLOATING SOLAR PARK IN EUROPE CONNECTED TO GRID IN NETHERLANDS
"The largest floating solar power park outside of China was recently completed in the Netherlands by BayWa r.e.’s Dutch subsidiary GroenLeven. It is expected to provide energy for 7,200 homes. And it was built in just 7 weeks." says CleanTechnica: "More than 18 hectares in size, the solar power plant, Zonnepark Bomhofsplas, has 72,000 solar panels. Interestingly, the developers and investors were also quite conscious of being ecologically sensitive. It uses glass-glass solar panels so that light can get through to the water, and there are sizable gaps between the panels. The panels are far enough off the water to allow good airflow."
"“The inverters and the transformer houses float, this ensures that only one cable goes ashore, so that the impact of the solar park on the flora and fauna in the banks is minimal. In total, only 30% of the surface of the pool is covered with panels. Bio huts have recently been installed. These are cages that consist of 3 compartments. The middle compartment contains shell material and ’empty’ baskets on both sides. The shell material in this middle basket provides shelter and food for small fish and small vertebrates. The ’empty’ baskets serve as protection against oversized fish so that the small fish can move safely in and around the shell material."
MAZDA CAN’T LEAVE THEIR HANDS OFF COMBUSTION
#"Mazda can’t stay away from combustion engines: The Mazda MX-30, which was introduced in October 2019 as an all-electric model and announced in a further version with range extender, has now been surprisingly presented with a mild hybrid combustion engine." writes Chris for electrive: "The presentation took place at an event near Tokyo and added a hybrid offshoot next to the fully electric SUV MX-30."
https://www.electrive.com/2020/08/03/mazda-cant-leave-their-hands-off-combustion/
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