07 Feb 2020 | Lucid Air Will Have A 900-Volt System, 400+ Miles Range
Tesla Model Y Gets Official 315 Mile Range | Lucid Air Teased, Will Have A 900-Volt System And Over 400 Miles Of Range | New Tesla Patent Re-Imagines What A Steering Wheel Might Do | Opel Drastically Reduces Ampera-E Prices In The Netherlands | 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Arrives With Solar Roof Option |Novel “Aerodynamic Wheels” For The Purely Electric Bmw iX3 | A Nissan Leaf Just Finished A 230-Mile Autonomous Trip In Britain
Show #690
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 7th February 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story to save you time.
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TESLA MODEL Y GETS OFFICIAL 315 MILE RANGE
"The Tesla Model Y has now officially received its official range and efficiency rating from the Environmental Protection Authority, confirming that it will have 507km (315 miles) driving range and that it is the most efficient crossover SUV now available in the US." reports The Driven.io: "Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk said at the company’s fourth quarter earnings call in January that the Model Y’s range had been increased thanks to Tesla’s engineering team and that it was now the most efficient SUV in terms of energy use. The figures – which it should be noted have only been released so far for the relatively more power-hungry Performance variant – have been published on the US EPA’s fuel economy website as Tesla prepares to begin deliveries of the Model Y by the end of March."
Eric at InsideEVs picks up on something I've talked about before, and that's how size of wheels makes an impact: "Currently, the EPA doesn't list which wheel size it posted results for in regards to the Model Y, but we're guessing it's the smaller 19-inch choice (we'll point out that the Performance variant lists 21-inch wheels as standard, but in the build process it only shows 19-inch wheel) due to the how the 315-mile figure compares to the various wheel options found on the Model 3 Performance. City: 334 miles, Highway: 291 miles, Combined: 315 miles. We should note that the EPA says that the combined range was voluntarily lowered from 316 miles. This practice seems quite common on most Tesla vehicles"
https://insideevs.com/news/397072/tesla-model-y-epa-range/
LUCID AIR TEASED, WILL HAVE A 900-VOLT SYSTEM AND OVER 400 MILES OF RANGE
"A handful of details about the production-spec Lucid Air have surfaced prior to the car’s premiere at April’s New York Auto Show, with the company also releasing a teaser of the car." says CarScoops: "In the video, we see some of the production model’s details while also learning that the launch model will be named “Dream Edition”.Separately, Electrek recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lucid chief executive and chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson about the Air. For those that don’t know, Rawlinson was the chief engineer of the Tesla Model S program from 2009 to 2012 and is fully aware of what it takes to create an all-electric vehicle. The first thing revealed by Rawlinson about the road-ready Lucid Air is that it will have an “over” 900-volt system, far superior to the 400-volt system used by Tesla or even the 800-volt system of the Porsche Taycan. The executive added the Air will be capable of traveling in excess of 400 miles (643 km) on a single charge based on their EPA cycle estimation. Production of the Air will be handled by the marque’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The first models should roll out of the factory in the final quarter of the year."
NEW TESLA PATENT RE-IMAGINES WHAT A STEERING WHEEL MIGHT DO
"One of the main factors behind Tesla’s success lies in the company’s willingness to think outside of the box. We saw this with the digital dash introduced on the Model S and, more recently, with the lack of an instrument cluster on the Model 3. Say what you will about Tesla, but the company isn’t afraid to re-imagine well-established design principles as it pertains to the driving experience." reports BGR.com: "In light of that, keeping an eye on Tesla patents is always interesting because it can sometimes provide us with sneak previews of features upcoming Tesla vehicles might bring to the table. The patent in question, which details a steering wheel with two touchscreen interfaces on either side, reads in part: The user interface of the steering wheel may additionally include indicators provided at a lower portion of the steering wheel indicative of a selected gear engagement of the vehicle. For example, the user interface may provide illuminated indications of engagement of Park, Reverse, Neutral, or Drive modes. Additionally or optionally, the steering wheel may include RFID detection and NFC activation functionality."
https://bgr.com/2020/02/06/tesla-design-patent-steering-wheel-touchscreen/
OPEL DRASTICALLY REDUCES AMPERA-E PRICES IN THE NETHERLANDS
"Shortly before the market launch of the Corsa-e, Opel has significantly reduced the prices for the all-electric Ampera-e in the Netherlands. The Business version is now available from 34,149 euros instead of 44,799 euros." reports electrive: "This is apparently to propel the sale of the remaining existing electric cars, as Opel Netherlands itself makes a note of a “limited stock”. Since the sale of Opel to PSA in 2017, things had become very quiet around the Ampera-e. The sister model of the Chevrolet Bolt is based on technology from General Motors, which also builds it for Opel in the USA. Since Chevrolet was able to sell the Bolt well in the US, there was constant speculation about how many units of the electric car the US company would make for Opel. In 2019 as a whole, only 120 Ampera-e were newly registered in Germany. On the German Opel website, the Ampera-e is still listed, but is also marked “stock vehicles only”."
https://www.electrive.com/2020/02/05/opel-drastically-reduces-apera-e-prices-in-the-netherlands/
2020 HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID ARRIVES WITH SOLAR ROOF OPTION
"The Sonata Hybrid is powered by a 2.0-liter I4 engine, producing 150 horsepower and 139 pound-feet of torque, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with Hyundai's Active Shift Control tech, that helps smooth out gear changes. A small electric motor provides a supplemental 51 hp, and Hyundai says total system output is rated at 189 hp." reports CNET: "However, neither of those competitors has the Sonata's coolest feature: solar roof panels. Hyundai says the solar panels directly charge the 12-volt and hybrid batteries, with an electrical output of 205 watts. Assuming your car gets enough sun on the daily, Hyundai says the solar energy could provide up to 800 miles' worth of electric drive energy per year."
2.19 miles per day.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2020-hyundai-sonata-hybrid-solar-roof-chicago-auto-show/
NOVEL “AERODYNAMIC WHEELS” FOR THE PURELY ELECTRIC BMW IX3.
the wheels and their aerodynamic flow influence the overall vehicle efficiency by up to 30%. That is why a further developed technology of the BMW Aerodynamic Wheel is making its debut together with the BMW iX3, whose market launch is planned for 2020: The new combination of aluminum base wheel and individually designed inserts
While reducing drag for about 5% compared to a conventionally powered BMW X3 the new Aerodynamic Wheels are not only more efficient but also lighter than previous ones: Thanks to optimum airflow around the wheel arches, the wheels are 15% lighter than the aerodynamic wheels previously fitted by BMW.
Their benefits in terms of aerodynamics and weight have the overall effect of lowering power consumption for the BMW iX3 by another 2% in the European WLTP test cycle
The wheels’ appearance can be varied in numerous different ways, enabling a vast variety of possibilities for the design of wheels on future models. The new Aerodynamic Wheels will also feature on the BMW iNext and BMW i4, which are going to be introduced in 2021.
To fit the lightweight base wheel, the inserts are precision-moulded and integrated into the outside of the wheel between the spokes. Thus, they are highly effective in reducing wheel-arch air turbulence – and therefore aerodynamic drag.
A NISSAN LEAF JUST FINISHED A 230-MILE AUTONOMOUS TRIP IN BRITAIN
Kristen at Jalopnik says: "I’m firm on my belief that fully autonomous driving is decades away, but that doesn’t mean folks aren’t hard at work, attempting to bring the it to reality quickly. A Nissan Leaf just finished a long, autonomous journey in Britain, which is neat."
"A modified Leaf just went on a 230-mile sojourn, autonomously, from Nissan’s European technical center in southern England to its Sunderland factory in northeast England, reports Reuters. It used eight laser scanners, seven cameras, a radar and six electronic control units in the trunk and drove alongside “conventional motorists on country lanes and motorways.”
https://jalopnik.com/a-nissan-leaf-just-finished-a-230-mile-autonomous-trip-1841488376
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