13 Sep 2019 | Honda E Gets Pricing, Tesla Expands Fremont Facility and Seat Mii Is Cheap City EV
Tesla Permit Application Hints At New Fremont Assembly Line | The Honda E Electric Car Debuts With Official Pricing Before Summer Launch | Tesla Is Now Installing Full Self Driving Hardware 3 Upgrade | Highly Modified Tesla Model S P100D+ Spotted Testing Near Nurburgring | Tesla Model S Breaks Laguna Seca Lap Records | Seat Mii Electric Is The Cheapest VW Triplet| Tesla Doubles Supercharging Referral Bonus To 2,000 Free Miles In Q3 Sales Push
Show #578
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 13th 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.
TESLA PERMIT APPLICATION HINTS AT NEW FREMONT ASSEMBLY LINE
"Tesla Inc. has applied for a permit from the city home to its lone assembly plant that hints the electric-car maker could be planning another assembly line." says Bloomberg: "The application to the city of Fremont, California, describes the project it’s seeking a permit for as “GA5 demo and rough grading.” GA refers to general assembly, and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has previously said that Tesla has been running several lines to produce the Model 3, S and X. Space is tight at the factory, with workers already making some Model 3 sedans on an assembly line under a massive tent erected outside the facility."
THE HONDA E ELECTRIC CAR DEBUTS WITH OFFICIAL PRICING BEFORE SUMMER LAUNCH
"Honda has released the first official images of its new honda e electric vehicle ahead of its summer launch. Unveiled for the first time during the Frankfurt Motor Show" according to the website DesignBoom: "Two 12.3-inch LCD touchscreens in the center form an infotainment display, while an 8.8-inch screen acts as the driver’s instrument cluster. it also comes equipped with a personal assistant that lets users control certain functions by saying ‘OK honda’. away from the car, honda e owners can use the my honda+ smartphone application, with features like charging point navigation, climate control and vehicle condition reports. the honda e’s 134-hp spec starts at £26,160 (approximately €29,470/$32,300), with the more powerful priced at £28,660 (about €32,180/$35,300). customers can make a reservation for priority ordering online in UK, germany, france and norway, or register their interest in other european markets on honda national websites. the honda e will start to ship later in summer 2020."
https://www.designboom.com/technology/honda-e-electric-car-pricing-09-13-2019/
TESLA IS NOW INSTALLING FULL SELF DRIVING HARDWARE 3 UPGRADE
"The first confirmed upgrade to Tesla’s new Full Self Driving hardware version 3 (HW3) took place today after a customer took his 2018 Tesla Model S P100DL into the Santa Barbara service center to get a new HEPA filter." says CleanTechnica "After the service, Twitterer and longtime Tesla supporter Sofiaan Fraval noticed that a line on his service documents indicated that the new hardware had been installed at the appointment as well. Sofiaan went on to clarify that the HW3 upgrade was currently only being offered to Model S and X owners, but just the fact that the upgrades have started is sure to get anyone who purchased the FSD suite excited. The new HW3 cannot yet be requested by customers for installation, as it is only being installed by eligible vehicles that come in for other service at service centers that have the new hardware and have been trained to install it. Even if you think your vehicle qualifies, you may not get the new HW3 installed at a service appointment. The arrival of HW3 currently only impacts Tesla owners running HW2 who have purchased the FSD software stack."
HIGHLY MODIFIED TESLA MODEL S P100D+ SPOTTED TESTING NEAR NURBURGRING
First up from Road & Track: "To set a time, you need to rent the track privately. We're now hearing that Tesla has done just that. A source on the ground has informed R&T that a time could be set next week. Our source told us that the Nurburgring issued a schedule change for September 21st, with a 30 minute private window carved out of a session that already had public laps and Ring taxi laps on the calendar. There is also the possibility of lap timing in a session on the 18th, though it doesn't sound like that session would be private. Carving out that time, from a session that was previously booked and was guaranteed to make the track money, is an expensive proposition."
And from InsideEVs: "According to our spy photographers: "...we’ve spied Tesla at a private test facility not far from the Nürburgring prepping a Model S for a run at the lap record. The Model S Tesla is prepping for the record attempt does not appear to be stock. We can see wider fender flares, aggressive wheels and tires, and a trunk lip spoiler. From what we heard the tires where Michelin Cup 2 R for that extra grip and we also spotted a roll cage inside the car." Additionally, it seems the lower grille opening is bigger to enhance cooling. And if you zoom in on shots of the rear badging, it seems to display P100D+."
In the comments from eric W: "Pictures 7 and 12 show back of car and it looks to me like it has "P100D+" on it. The +Plus is what they used for the original P85 to P85+ to add track enhanced features, so done in past. Like the article says, new Model S P100D+ added to ordering studio makes it all legit. If it beats Taycan, how much could they charge for it? They have +$140K to work with and still come in under Taycan Price?"
https://insideevs.com/news/370314/tesla-model-s-spy-nurburgring/
TESLA MODEL S BREAKS LAGUNA SECA LAP RECORDS
"Following the recent launch of the Porsche Taycan, Musk appears to be on a mission to show that Tesla’s vehicles are still the highest-performance EVs available today." writes Electrek: "While they couldn’t get things done in Germany, Tesla tried for its own record at home at the Laguna Seca racetrack. Musk said that they broke the fastest lap record for 4-door vehicles. Laguna Seca has become somewhat of a proving ground for electric vehicles in recent years. Last year, the record for the fastest production EV lap has changed hands several times."
https://electrek.co/2019/09/11/tesla-model-s-breaks-laguna-seca-lap-records-elon-musk/
SEAT MII ELECTRIC IS THE CHEAPEST VW TRIPLET
"Today at Frankfurt Motor Show 2019, SEAT announced the price of the Mii Electric in Germany, making it the cheapest VW triplet." according to Push EVs: "Anyway, the VW triplets are the first electric cars with decent range (260 km in WLTP) that we can really call affordable. The brand’s first electric model can be purchased starting at €145 per month with no down payment with a 36-month leasing formula in Germany or outright for €16,300 (including government and brand subsidies)."
SEAT Mii Electric
Germany: 20.650 euros (before subsidies) and 16.300 euros (after subsidies)
ŠKODA CITIGOe iV
Germany: 20.950 euros (before subsidies) and 16.570 euros (after subsidies)
Volkswagen e-up
Germany: 21.975 euros (before subsidies) and 17.595 euros (after subsidies)
These are all the same car, so checking out the specs from the VW e-UP: "The updated e-Up! is not likely to receive any major styling changes – the main difference being its underpinnings. Thanks to a larger 32.3kWh battery (up from 18.7kWh), the e-Up! is now able to travel 161 miles on a full charge – a sharp rise over the last car’s 99-mile range. It’s also able to charge at a 40kW rate, meaning that by using a rapid charger its batteries will be able to be topped up to 80 per cent from near-flat in an hour. The 82bhp electric motor remains the same – enabling a 0-60mph time of 11.7 seconds and a top speed of 81mph."
https://pushevs.com/2019/09/10/seat-mii-electric-is-the-cheapest-vw-triplet/
https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/updated-volkswagen-e-up-ev-set-to-debut-at-frankfurt-motor-show
TESLA DOUBLES SUPERCHARGING REFERRAL BONUS TO 2,000 FREE MILES IN Q3 SALES PUSH
"Tesla’s referral program has been an effective tool for the company to promote car sales. By using a referral code or link to order your new Tesla, both you (the buyer) and the referring owner get free Supercharging. Until today, that bonus was 1,000 miles of free Supercharging for buyer and referrer. But Tesla just announced that it is doubling that bonus to 2,000 free Supercharging miles for any Tesla car ordered on or after September 10, 2019 and delivered before October 1, 2019." reports CleanTechnica: "Unlike previous referral bonuses which only required that the car be ordered by the deadline, this time, Tesla is requiring that the car be delivered by the deadline. So those who want to take advantage of this offer may need to select an available “inventory” model from their local Tesla showroom. Though, Tesla has tightened up its delivery rates lately, so it is possible that you could custom order a Tesla today and have it delivered with your exact specifications by the October 1 deadline."
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
The MYEV.com Question Of The Week. Set this week by Gill Nowell on Twitter
Pondering on people’s drivers for switching to electric vehicles...💡 Did you have a lightbulb moment? If so, what was it?
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