03 June 2020 | Audi E-Tron GT Spied Looking Production Ready
Audi E-Tron GT Looking Production Ready | Polestar and Koenigsegg Not Working Together on New Tech | Electric Nation Vehicle To Grid Project Launches | Hyundai Kona’s battery will power homes | Porsche CEO Oliver Blume will be installed as head of the VW brand | Polestar 2 drivers can use Plugsurfing| Geely’s Geometry C Debuts In China | Fiat to test automatic switch to electric mode for its hybrid cars in Turin | Documentary Gives Behind The Scenes Look At The Fiat 500 Electric's Creation
Show #798
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 3rd June 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
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AUDI E-TRON GT SPIED LOOKING PRODUCTION READY
"The last time we saw an Audi E-Tron GT test vehicle, it was trolling through Porsche’s neighborhood. This time the sighting comes near Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, and it’s back to wearing a set of its own wheels, too. Not much has changed in the camouflage department, but this new set of photos show the prototype with exceptional clarity." says Motor1.com: "What they don’t show is the running gear underneath. Try as we might, Audi still hasn’t slipped up with leaked information. That said, we suspect it will follow a similar dual-motor formula used by the concept car. It boasted an output of 582 horsepower, though the production version might scale things back to be less competitive with the Taycan Turbo. The standard Taycan develops 522 hp from its combined motors, so seeing the E-Tron GT around that level with a starting price under $100,000 sounds logical."
https://www.motor1.com/news/426840/audi-e-tron-gt-spied-sharp/
POLESTAR AND KOENIGSEGG ARE NOT WORKING TOGETHER ON NEW TECH
"Polestar and Koenigsegg, two Swedish automakers, posted photos of the Polestar Precept concept and the upcoming Koenigsegg Gemera four-seat megacar together on social media yesterday. The photos led many to believe that the two Swedish companies were collaborating on some sort of new tech. After all, the posts did say that something exciting is coming soon and to "stay tuned."" writes Car And Driver: "However, when asked if the collaboration would involve any sort of new technology or if one of the brands would use the other's tech, a Polestar spokesman told C/D that there will be "nothing at all. The brands (and our designers) are quite friendly, and decided to have some fun with cars for everyone to enjoy." The promotional video will be released on June 25 at 6:00 a.m. ET. From what Polestar told us, it just seems like the two Swedish automakers have a good relationship, which doesn't close the door for technological collaboration in the future. But for now, they're apparently just having some fun with their art departments."
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a32757801/polestar-koenigsegg-no-collaboration/
NEW ELECTRIC NATION VEHICLE TO GRID PROJECT LAUNCHES
Western Power Distribution (Wpd), In Partnership With Crowdcharge, Is Today Launching The Next Phase Of Electric Nation With A New Vehicle To Grid (V2g) Trial Across The Midlands, South West And South Wales.
The electric vehicle trial is opening up recruitment for domestic V2G users by offering the free installation of smart chargers worth £5,500 for the duration of the project, to Nissan electric vehicle (EV) drivers who live in the three regions. This new Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project allows your EV to power your home and support the electricity network. To undertake the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid trial, CrowdCharge is recruiting 100 people to trial state-of-the-art domestic V2G smart charging to help Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and others to understand how V2G charging could work with their electricity networks. In the Electric Nation trial each supplier will use their chargers to test their various energy services utilising CrowdCharge’s demand management charger platform, which provides optimised charging sessions.
At the end of the trial, you can choose between the following two options:
You can keep the charger and have the ownership of it transferred to you. This will cost a one-off fee of £250. The charger costs £5,500 RRP so this represents a huge saving. Providing V2G services may also be worth up to £500 per year for an EV owner (it’s not possible to provide exact figures at this time).
You can have the charger uninstalled and taken away free of charge by the CrowdCharge project installer. Your original dumb or smart V1G charger will then be reconnected by the CrowdCharge project installed if you already owned one which was disconnected during the project hardware installation.
https://electricnation.org.uk/2020/06/03/new-electric-nation-project-launch/
HYUNDAI KONA’S BATTERY WILL POWER HOMES POST RETIREMENT
"Hyundai Motor Group and Hanwha Q cells have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop energy storage systems based on used electric car batteries. This move is believed to benefit both the companies as it helps Hyundai Motor Group to do away with used batteries efficiently and will ensure a consistent supply of batteries for Hanwha Q Cells to develop an energy storage system (ESS)." reports Electric Vehicle Web: "As the world progresses towards an electric future, the demand for effective energy storage systems will increase. While the global usage of ESS remains at 3 GWh as of 2017, it is said to spike to 379 GWh by 2040. To sustain such growth, energy companies need a constant supply of lithium-ion battery cells. This can serve as a Win-Win for electric mobility companies and energy solution companies."
https://electricvehicleweb.in/hyundai-konas-battery-will-power-homes-post-retirement/
PORSCHE CEO OLIVER BLUME WILL BE INSTALLED AS HEAD OF THE VW BRAND
"Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess is planning to promote Porsche CEO Oliver Blume to take over as the head of the VW brand, according to a report from Auto Motor und Sport. Citing company sources, the German site said Bernhard Maier, who currently sits at the head of VW's Skoda brand, will lead Porsche in Blume's place. says Autoblog: "Unfortunately, the ID.3 launch has been marred by software issues, with Manager magazine citing company engineers saying "the basic architecture was developed too hastily." Because of that underlying issue, various modules "often do not understand each other" and suffer dropouts. The brand-new eighth-generation Golf launch was also troubled and pushed back due to software problems."
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/06/03/oliver-blume-head-vw-brand-from-porsche/
Autocar makes clear: "Herbert Diess will retain control of overall Volkswagen Group operations but hand the day-to-day management of the Volkswagen brand to Blume, who has been the CEO of Porsche since 2015."The changes follow on from a reshuffle last week in which Volkswagen's chief technology officer, Matthias Rabe, moved to Bentley."
POLESTAR 2 DRIVERS CAN USE PLUGSURFING IN EUROPE.
"Polestar will be cooperating with Plugsurfing in Europe to offer its customers access to the 195,000 charging points of the Plugsurfing network. This should make public charging easier across national borders." according to Carrie Hampel at electrive :"Every Polestar 2 is delivered in Europe with an RFID tag from Plugsurfing as standard. Using the Plugsurfing account as a payment and authentication solution, customers will have quick access to the various charging station operators bundled in the Plugsurfing offer. Polestar 2 drivers in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom will be given a Plugsurfing app and charging key. At the same time, Plugsurfing says that in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands “Plugsurfing Plus” will be offered as an additional service. The monthly subscription offers fixed prices for charging at AC and DC columns. According to the Plugsurfing website, the service costs 19.99 euros per month in Germany, for example, and then 0.34 euros per kilowatt-hour, including at Ionity columns."
https://www.electrive.com/2020/06/02/polestar-2-drivers-can-use-plugsurfing-in-europe/
GEELY’S GEOMETRY C DEBUTS IN CHINA AS HIGH-RIDING NISSAN LEAF RIVAL
"Last year, Geely launched its new ‘Geometry’ electric car brand in China with the Geometry A sedan. Now it’s time to take a look at the marque’s second product, the Geometry C crossover" says CarScoops: "Geometry C is based on the petrol-powered Geely Emgrand GS, though it features a totally new front and rear design to match the looks of the Geometry A. It also sports a new C-pillar treatment resulting in a ‘floating roof’ design, and pop-out door handles. About the same size as the Nissan Leaf, which is one of its main competitors. The Geometry C is powered by a single electric motor. It’s reasonable to presume the battery packs are the same ones offered on the Geometry A sedan: 51.9 kWh and 61.9 kWh, respectively."
FIAT TO TEST AUTOMATIC SWITCH TO ELECTRIC MODE FOR ITS HYBRID CARS IN TURIN
"Fiat Chrysler is piloting a project in its historic Italian home of Turin to allow its hybrid plug-in cars to automatically switch to electric-only mode when entering congested city centres." repotrs Reuters: "The project, which aims to maximise the environmental benefits of hybrid cars, comes as Fiat Chrysler (FCA) rolls out its first alternative-engine models, trying to make up ground on rivals which already offer a range of full electric and hybrid vehicles in Europe.The project, named ‘Turin Geofencing Lab’ and involving the city authorities and public transport agency GTT, is based on a prototype system with fully integrated on-board sensors allowing a car to recognise when it is entering a restricted traffic zone, FCA said on Wednesday. The sensors will then automatically turn off the combustion engine and switch to electric mode. The system has been initially tested on the new Jeep Renegade 4xe hybrid plug-in model."
DOCUMENTARY GIVES BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT THE FIAT 500 ELECTRIC'S CREATION
"Looking at the new all-electric Fiat 500, you might start to think that the automaker was a bit lazy in redesigning it. At first glance, it looks a whole lot like the gasoline-burning car before it, but as is so often the case in life, that first appearance can be deceiving.
Fiat was kept afloat by the 500 it launched way back in 2008, a model which was so good and popular that it’s still in production today with minor updates. In fact, it will be kept in production in parallel to the new electric model just because there’s still demand for it." according to InsideEVs: "With this new model, the manufacturer wanted to keep all the aesthetic qualities that made the older 500 such a hit, but in a more premium, grown up and electric-only package; a lot of work went into making this new 500 and if you’re curious about the process behind its creation, you can check out this behind the scenes documentary that shows exactly that."
https://insideevs.com/news/426544/fiat-500-electric-documentary-behind-scenes/
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