18 Nov 2019 | Mega Mach-E Review, Mercedes-Benz EQS Interior and Lamborghini’s Supercapacitors
Making Mach-E A Mustang Was A Master Stroke By Ford | Ford Mustang Mach-E Details Warrant Thunderous Welcome | Great Artists Steal | 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Will Please Ev Fans | Ford Unveils Electric Mustang Suv To Challenge Tesla Dominance | Up Close With Ford’s Electric Mustang SUV | An Electric Mustang SUV? Believe It | Mercedes-Benz EQS Electric Flagship Interior Spied | Lamborghini And MIT Patent A New Technology For Supercapacitors
Show #645
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Monday 18th November 2019. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story to save you time.
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.
MAKING MACH-E A MUSTANG WAS A MASTER STROKE BY FORD
From John Neff, Global Editor in Chief or Motor1: "You’ve got Tesla selling roughly 77.7 percent of all electric vehicles in the U.S. The Tesla Model 3 alone represents around 60 percent of total EV sales in this country. The rest of the market is left for over a dozen other EVs to divide amongst themselves. The Mustang Mach-E is taking aim, though, at the upcoming Tesla Model Y, a crossover-ish version of the most popular EV in the world, the Model 3 sedan. What Ford has smartly done is make matching the Model Y spec-for-spec a must. The Mustang Mach-E and Model Y both start in the low $40K-range. They both have a maximum range of about 300 miles. Their 0-60 times will both range from around 5.5 seconds for standard models to 3.5 seconds for performance models. And they both have four doors, seat at least five people, and can carry a lot of cargo. Indeed, if you were looking only at their specs on paper, you couldn’t tell these two cars apart."
https://www.motor1.com/features/382774/mustang-mach-e-name-genius/
FORD MUSTANG MACH-E DETAILS WARRANT THUNDEROUS WELCOME
CleanTechnica give their rundown of the tech: "When it comes to propulsion, the Mustang Mach-E follows the same basic layout as Tesla vehicles. A drive unit sits between the rear wheels, and an optional drive unit sits between the front wheels. Lower packages for the vehicle will come with just the rear drive unit, while higher-end vehicles will come with a supplemental unit in the front for more power and better handling. The most powerful model, the GT Performance, will come with 459 HP and 612 lb-ft of torque. The pack will come in two sizes: 75.7 kWh for the standard range models, and 98.8 kWh for the long-range models.the pack will use flat pouch cells instead of cylindrical cells. While seemingly difficult to cool (Nissan didn’t even bother to cool its pouch cells in the LEAF), Ford did put an extensive cooling system with aluminum fins between all cells to cool them as evenly as possible under even extreme conditions. Will it beat a P100D or the upcoming Roadster? No. But the Mustang was never really meant to be the fastest drag car. Pony Cars are supposed to be smaller multi-role sporty vehicles within the reach of the masses and young people. People are already asking whether this is a “Tesla Killer,” and that’s not really even the point."
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/17/ford-mustang-mach-e-the-basics/
GREAT ARTISTS STEAL
Seth at Electrek gives us some insight to where the reveal was: "As the vans full of Mach E journalists pulled off the 105 highway, I was shocked to see SpaceX headquarters and the adjacent Tesla Design studio in the background. We were pulling into the hanger where Tesla holds all of its Los Angeles events. Journalists were looking out for CYBRTRKs (OK, me too). I was calculating the odds that this was some sort of coincidence. How many places are there in the Los Angeles area to have a car event? To use the same spot that Tesla often uses seemed a little…ballsy. At every press briefing from interior/exterior design, center stack, battery, motor, etc there was one thread that bound the project together: that Ford considered this an urgent project in both time and significance. It is basically Ford’s do-or-die project and nowhere is that more obvious than their choice to use their most iconic brand: Mustang. If this fails, so does Mustang."
2021 FORD MUSTANG MACH-E WILL PLEASE EV FANS
Car and Driver get into the specs of the Mustang range: "The Mustang Mach-E will come in a choice of five versions, only two of which will be available initially: the Premium and the limited-quantity First Edition, both slated to reach customers in late 2020. The Premium model comes with a choice of standard or extended-range batteries and rear- or all-wheel drive, while the First Edition comes only with all-wheel drive and the extended-range battery. Either way, the batteries are paired with permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors and located under the floor of the vehicle. Range will start at 210 miles for the standard-range battery and all-wheel drive and reach as high as 300 miles for the extended-range battery on a rear-wheel-drive model. The Mustang Mach-E features three driving modes named Whisper, Engage, and Unbridled. Each offers specific changes to the driving experience such as steering tweaks, varied pedal feel, gauge-cluster graphics, and specifically tuned sound."
FORD UNVEILS ELECTRIC MUSTANG SUV TO CHALLENGE TESLA DOMINANCE
Ford went an entirely new direction with the door handles on the Mustang Mach-E. You won’t find any Tesla lookalike door handles here. The doors seem to be lacking handles at all. A closer look though reveals illuminated buttons on the B and C pillars.
It’s a seemingly small detail, but so many automakers ignore that their customers have smartphones and want to put these devices somewhere other than a cup holder. Behold the tech tray, which has a wireless charging pad.
The 15.5-inch screen will get a lot of attention, perhaps because its location and vertical placement is reminiscent of the Tesla Model S. But then there’s the physical dial placed on the bottom of the screen to control the volume.
Ford is hardly the first to move away from leather for its interior. Tesla has dropped leather and the Porsche Taycan is also vegan. Now the interior of the Mustang Mach-E also qualifies.
there is something interesting about this 4.8-cubic-foot frunk. It’s drainable and plastic lined. Josh Greiner, senior interior designer on the Mach-E, was quick to note during a backgrounder prior to the unveiling that the frunk could be packed with ice and used while tailgating.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/17/mustang-mach-e-5-tech-and-design-details-that-stood-out/
UP CLOSE WITH FORD’S ELECTRIC MUSTANG SUV
From The Verge: "Take away the Mustang badging and the tri-bar headlights and taillights, and I think Ford’s new EV looks a decent amount like some of its more luxe direct competition, almost like a cross between the Mercedes-Benz EQC, the Jaguar I-Pace (especially at the rear haunches), but with some BMW SUV shaping thrown in, too. That’s a testament to the work done by “Team Edison,” the group inside Ford that has been developing the Mach-E since mid-2017 after pivoting away from a Focus-based electric car. That we’re already knee deep in these conversations and arguments feels like progress of a sort, as opposed to a few years ago when getting people to talk about electric cars, let alone feel something about them, felt like pulling teeth or just plain impossible"
AN ELECTRIC MUSTANG SUV? BELIEVE IT
MotorTrend have a massive 74 photo gallery, and say: "There are millions of Mustang fans out there—why not leverage their love of the model and make something way cooler than a dorky compliance car? Do you think the front-engine Porsche Panamera looks just like the rear-engine 911 by accident? No way, dude. All Porsches must answer to the 911 and, at the same time, milk that same 911 for any and all credibility and sex appeal. Looks like the same will be true for Ford and the Mustang. I call that smart."
MERCEDES-BENZ EQS ELECTRIC FLAGSHIP INTERIOR SPIED
"The Mercedes-Benz EQS electric sedan has been spied once again. There isn't much to report on the exterior, but our spy photographer managed to get shots of the interior, giving us our first glimpse inside." says Joel at Autoblog: "While the center stack is covered up, we can tell that the interior of the EQS will be very similar to that of the next-generation S-Class. In front of the driver is a widescreen display for instruments like that of current Mercedes products. But it isn't flanked by a similarly sized screen for infotainment. Instead, the EQS appears to have a massive touchscreen and touch-sensitive panel hiding underneath the fabric covering. This is in keeping with the concept's design, though the production panel may be more flat and squared-off."
LAMBORGHINI AND MIT PATENT A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR SUPERCAPACITORS
The collaboration between Automobili Lamborghini and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has produced a major initial result: a patent for an innovative synthetic material that will serve as the technological base for a new generation of supercapacitors.
Further research will explore additional optimization of the properties of the material, and its production on an increasingly larger scale. Supercapacitors already represent a winning solution in high-performance motorsport applications by virtue of their exceptional power and durability specifications, and they promise to become an essential technology for years to come thanks to Automobili Lamborghini.
the supercapacitor provides enough power to the e-motor to deliver an extra 34 horsepower. Lamborghini uses this to smooth out acceleration, bridging the gaps in power delivery that occur when the mechanical transmission changes gear. Lamborghini says this approach removes any jerkiness that would normally occur during a shift. Because supercapacitors can be charged and discharged symmetrically, they make for an incredibly efficient means of providing a short but strong electric assist in a vehicle being driven around a track. The supercapacitor is discharged during acceleration and recharged during braking, meaning in that situation the e-motor virtually never lacks the power it needs to do its job.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
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"If you were marketing a for an new EV brand (or Tesla) how would you do it?”
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