25 Sep 2019 | Porsche Taycan Reviews Are Out, Volvo XC40 Goes All Electric and Tesla’s Chinese Hiring Spree
New Porsche Taycan Review | Volvo XC40 Electric Version Teased Ahead Of October Reveal | BMW X1 Gets Phev Variant In Europe | Now Hiring: Tesla Seeks Talent Ahead Of China Mass Production | Tesla Starts Monitoring Data Use Ahead Of Starting To Charge For Connectivity |Hyundai Motorsport Begins Testing With All-Electric Veloster N ETCR | Motorcycle ‘Speed Freak’ Zef Eisenberg Smashes Electric World Speed Record | Exxonmobil CEO Dismisses Electric Vehicles: ‘What’s The Point?’
Show #591
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 25th September 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.
NEW PORSCHE TAYCAN REVIEW
"The Taycan not only spearheads Porsche’s electric vehicle strategy - the Taycan Cross Turismo will follow in 2020, before which the next Macan will go fully electric - but will also provide the platform for Audi Sport’s electric vehicle livelihood when the e-Tron GT debuts later this year." says Stuart Gallagher for evo.co.uk: "Porsche calls it a Performance Battery Plus with 93.4kWh, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as a Mezger flat-six. But this powerpack is connected to an electric motors on the front and rear axles, the former driven by a single speed transmission, the latter by an innovative two-speed unit."
And here's something which I didn't read about in all the pre-press: "Simply wait for the batteries to reach operating temperature of around 50C (achieved after around 15-20 mins of regular driving), put your left foot on the brake, right foot on the throttle wait for launch control to engage and go for it. Up to ten consecutive times."
They note all the usual other things like the 800 volt battery, 0-60 in 2.6, 0-100 in 6.3, the quarter mile in 10.8. 270kW charging, carbon ceramic brakes, rear axle steering.
The final quote from evo sums up electric cars in general: "The way in which it delivers its power and torque is borderline undetectable, speed building with no real effort or input required from the driver."
Oh, and they couldn't resist ending the article with the three words: "your move, Tesla".
VOLVO XC40 ELECTRIC VERSION TEASED AHEAD OF OCTOBER REVEAL
"[Volvo] have chosen the XC40 to become Volvo’s very first production EV. Announced in April and teased here ahead of its October full reveal" says motor1.com: "The Geely-owned marque says it will release more details about the pure electric crossover in the coming weeks, prior to a first public showing programmed for October 16. The XC40 sans a traditional engine will follow the recently launched plug-in hybrid model equipped with the T5 Twin Engine powertrain offering a combined 258 hp and 28.6 miles (46 kilometers) of electric range."
https://www.motor1.com/news/372720/volvo-xc40-electric-teaser/
BMW X1 GETS PHEV VARIANT IN EUROPE, UP TO 35 MILES OF ELECTRIC RANGE
"After introducing a plug-in hybrid version of its entry-level crossover for the Chinese market, BMW is now launching the model in Europe. The X1 xDrive25e is making its debut on the Old Continent, offering “a high level of driving pleasure and thrilling agility.” in our second MOtor1 article today: "Under the familiar skin of the X1 is a plug-in hybrid powertrain, which uses a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine supported by an electric motor, specifically developed for this particular model. The gas unit generates 125 horsepower (92 kilowatts) and 162 pound-feet (220 Newton-meters) of torque, and is mated to a six-speed transmission channeling the power to the front wheels. What’s more important for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, on a single charge of the 9.7-kWh battery pack, the X1 xDrive 25e can travel up to 35 miles (57 kilometers)"
https://www.motor1.com/news/372729/bmw-x1-xdrive25e-phev-unveiled/
NOW HIRING: TESLA SEEKS TALENT AHEAD OF CHINA MASS PRODUCTION
"Tesla is on a hiring spree in China for first-line technicians, software engineers and marketing experts, as the electric carmaker gears toward mass production at its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai by the year's end." reports Nikkei.com: "The company began its Shanghai hiring through its official WeChat account on Sept. 1 and updated its latest job listing Tuesday. The job post suggests the company is assembling a factory firmware team which will be department to develop programmable hardware that controls the production line."
And then we got an ElonTweet: "Tesla is building a major engineering team in China, incl heavy focus on software/firmware for factory & car. This includes original engineering of new factory processes & cars, Great engineers will only join if original engineering is supported, not just localization"
Nikkei continues: "The jobs listed on WeChat include first-line technicians, quality controllers, assembly experts and safety guards, among other factory operation roles. The company plans to interview candidates at an upcoming job fair on Thursday, signaling that mass production in Shanghai will begin soon."
TESLA STARTS MONITORING DATA USE AHEAD OF STARTING TO CHARGE FOR CONNECTIVITY
"Tesla is starting to monitor data usage in its vehicles, which has always been free, but the automaker is now planning to start to charge for connectivity." writes electrek today: "some owners are reporting that Tesla is starting to add a data usage counter in their vehicle (hat tip to Andrew)" who posted a pic which said 0 of 50GB used.
https://electrek.co/2019/09/24/tesla-monitoring-data-charge-connectivity/
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT BEGINS TESTING WITH ALL-ELECTRIC VELOSTER N ETCR
Hyundai Motorsport have completed the first on-track running with the new Veloster N ETCR, the company’s first electric race car project.
The brand new car completed two days at the Hungaroring near Budapest last weekend, completing the test trouble-free. The days at the circuit – already an established part of the FIA WTCR and TCR Europe calendars – allowed the engineers to learn more about the chassis balance on the technical circuit, and to begin to harness the power from the mid-mounted electric motor to maximize performance and efficiency.
Using the expertise in Touring Car racing shown in both the championship winning i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR, the aim is to produce a similarly strong all-round package for when the ETCR category begins racing next year.
MOTORCYCLE ‘SPEED FREAK’ ZEF EISENBERG SMASHES ELECTRIC WORLD SPEED RECORD
"MADMAX Team Rider Zef Eisenberg raced in to the record books at the weekend (21-22 September 2019) setting four new motorcycle records at the Straightliners ACU/FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) World Speed Records event at Elvington, North Yorkshire on board the Nottingham University Isle of Man TT zero bike." says electric cars report: "International multiple ACU Motorbike speed record holder and self-proclaimed ‘Speed Freak’ Zef Eisenberg achieved four FIM World records for an electric motorbike (unfaired), with an ‘average kilometre’ speed of 185mph, and peak GPS speeds of 197mph. He victoriously secured the title for the fastest electric motorbike bike in the world (naked – no fairing)."
EXXONMOBIL CEO DISMISSES ELECTRIC VEHICLES: ‘WHAT’S THE POINT?’
"Exxon CEO Darren Woods recently expressed his doubts about the transportation sector’s transition to electric vehicles. In comments during the 2019 Oil and Gas Climate Initiative meet, the CEO extended a rather blunt dismissal of EVs, suggesting that the zero-emissions vehicles will serve little purpose if they remained charged by a coal-powered grid." reports Teslarati: "“What’s the point of having electric vehicles that will end up being charged by power generated from coal,” Woods said. In the United States alone, data from the US Energy Information Administration reveal that less than a third of the electricity generated in the country was powered by coal in 2018. This number will likely decrease in the near future as well, with clean energy initiatives such as residential solar and battery systems becoming more popular. "
https://www.teslarati.com/exxonmobil-ceo-dismisses-evs-no-point/
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
The MYEV.com Question Of The Week…
What do you want to hear on this podcast? Only pure EVs? PHEV’s and Hybrids? Other vehicles like bikes, scooters, planes and boats?
I want to say a heartfelt thank you to the 253 patrons of this podcast whose generosity means I get to keep making this show, which aims to entertain and inform thousands of listeners every day about a brighter future. By no means do you have to check out Patreon but if it’s something you’ve been thinking about, by all means look at patreon.com/evnewsdaily
PHIL ROBERTS / ELECTRIC FUTURE (PREMIUM PARTNER)
BRAD CROSBY (PREMIUM PARTNER)
AVID TECHNOLOGY (PREMIUM PARTNER)
DAVID ALLEN (PARTNER)
OEM AUDIO OF NEW ZEALAND AND EVPOWER.CO.NZ (PARTNER)
PAUL O’CONNOR (PARTNER)
BLAKE BOLAND @EVLIFEIRELAND (PARTNER)
TRYEV.COM (PARTNER)
GARETH HAMER
ALAN ROBSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
ALAN SHEDD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
ALEX BANAHENE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
ALEXANDER FRANK @ https://www.youtube.com/c/alexsuniverse42
ANDERS HOVE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
ASHLEY HILL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BÅRD FJUKSTAD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BARRY PENISTON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BOB MUIR / GINGERCOMPUTERS.COM IN DUNDEE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BRENT KINGSFORD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BRIAN THOMPSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
BRIAN WEATHERALL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CESAR TRUJILLO (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CHARLES HALL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CHRIS HOPKINS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
COLIN HENNESSY (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CRAIG COLES (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CRAIG COOPER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
CRAIG ROGERS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAMIEN DAVIS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAN FAIRS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DARREN BYRD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DARREN SANT FROM YORKSHIRE EV CLUB (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAVE DEWSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAVID BARKMAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAVID FINCH (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAVID PARTINGTON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DAVID PRESCOTT (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DEREK REILLY FROM THEEFFECT.NET (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DIRK RUTSATZ (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
DON MCALLISTER / SCREENCASTSONLINE.COM (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
ENRICO STEPHAN-SCHILOW (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
FREDRIK ROVIK (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
FREEJOULE AKA JAMES (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
GENE RUBIN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
GEOFF LOWE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
GEORGE CLARGO (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
IAN GRIFFITHS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JACK OAKLEY (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JAMES STORR (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JASON FAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JEFF ERBES (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JERRY ALLISON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JILL SMITH (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JIM MORRIS (EXECUTIVE PRODICERS)
JOHN BAILEY (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JOHN LACEY FROM CLICK CLACK VIDEO NZ (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JON AKA BEARDY MCBEARDFACE FROM KENT EVS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JON KNODEL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
JUAN GONZALEZ (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
KEN MORRIS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
KEVIN MEYERSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
KYLE MAHAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
LARS DAHLAGER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
LAURENCE D ALLEN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
LESZEK GRZYL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
LUKE CULLEY (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MARCEL LOHMANN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MARCEL WARD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MARLIN SCHELL (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MARTIN CROFT (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MATT PISCIONE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MATTHEW ELLIS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MAZ SHAR (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MIA OPPELSTRUP (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MICHAEL PASTRONE (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MICHEAEL KYFFIN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MIKE ROGERS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
MIKE WINTER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
NATHAN GORE-BROWN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
NEIL E ROBERTS FROM SUSSEX EVS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
NORTHERN EXPLORERS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
OHAD ASTON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
PAUL RIDINGS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
PAUL SEAGER-SMITH (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
PAUL SHELLEY ((EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
PAUL STEPHENSON (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
PERRY SIMPKINS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)