26 May 2019 | Tesla Stops You At 80% Supercharging, new Electric Skoda and Question Of The Week Answered

Fiat Chrysler And Renault In Talks On Possible Alliance | Tesla Will Limit Charging To 80% At Busy Supercharger Stations | The All-Electric Skoda Citigoe Iv | Question Of The Week

Show #483

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Sunday 26th May 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.

 

And we have another new two Patreon PRODUCERS! Firstly hello PHIL. And also DAVID KINCH.

 

FIAT CHRYSLER AND RENAULT IN TALKS ON POSSIBLE ALLIANCE

• "Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French carmaker Renault are holding discussions about a possible alliance aimed at strengthening both companies’ competitiveness in Europe and other parts of the world, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday." reports the New York Times: "In Europe, the two companies face tighter environmental regulations that are forcing carmakers to invest billions in electric vehicles and other new technologies that cut tailpipe emissions. Both are also struggling to gain ground in China, the world’s largest auto market, and have been slower than some rivals in developing autonomous vehicles. An alliance with Fiat Chrysler could give Renault access to the American market, where it currently has no presence. It was not clear how Nissan, Renault’s partner of nearly 20 year, would fit into a tie-up with Fiat Chrysler. Compared with its rivals G.M. and Ford, Fiat Chrysler has been slower to develop electric and self-driving vehicles, and may now need partners to share the costs of research and development. It currently cooperates with PSA Groupe, Renault’s French rival, in small delivery vans in Europe."

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/business/fiat-chrysler-renault.html

 

TESLA WILL LIMIT CHARGING TO 80% AT BUSY SUPERCHARGER STATIONS

• "Tesla has instituted charging limitations at some busy Supercharger stations that will cap the electric vehicles at an 80% state of charge. The news comes from an internal memo that was leaked to Electrek, and it reportedly applies to about 17% of the automaker's Supercharger stations – 8% will have the limits enforced at all times, while another 9% will be limited on holidays and will adjust based on usage." according to Autoblog: "According to Tesla's Supercharger website, "Superchargers deliver energy rapidly, and gradually slow down as the battery fills. Your vehicle automatically alerts you when it has enough energy to continue the trip and with the extensive network of Superchargers along popular routes, charging above 80% isn't typically necessary." Now it's not just unnecessary, in some instances it won't be allowed. As you've probably already figured out, this change is intended to reduce wait times at these busiest of Supercharging stations."

 

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/05/25/tesla-supercharger-limit-80-percent-charging/

 

THE ALL-ELECTRIC SKODA CITIGOE IV

• By launching the SKODA CITIGOe iV, the Czech car manufacturer is embarking on a new era – 124 years after it was founded. As the first all-electric SKODA production vehicle, the four-seater city car is powered exclusively by a 61‑kW electric motor.
• The 36.8‑kWh lithium‑ion battery allows for a range of up to 265 km in the WLTP cycle – meaning the CITIGOe iV is perfectly equipped for traffic in modern cities. Series production of the environmentally friendly city speedster will begin in the second half of 2019.

 

JAGUAR LAND ROVER CEO OUTLINES REVIVAL PLAN

• "Jaguar Land Rover’s current problems -- weakness in China, Brexit worries, customers’ flight from diesels -- are weighing heavily on its Indian parent company. In February, Tata’s share price fell 30 percent after the automaker reported a quarterly loss." reports Autonews: "JLR CEO Ralf Speth discussed these topics and more with Automotive News Europe sister publication"
• As demand for diesels and V-8 gasoline engines decline do you ever question your powertrain strategy?
• No, definitely not. I believe we will continue to need this mix. According to industry forecasters, a global share of 20 percent to 30 percent for electrified vehicles is expected by 2025. When you turn this around, it means that 70 percent to 80 percent of all vehicles around the world will have conventional engines. Let me add that today’s diesels, which are absolutely CO2-efficient and clean. On one hand, the products are still too expensive. On the other hand, the infrastructure is still too inconvenient and unreliable, so electric cars tend to be for people with deep pockets.

 

https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/jaguar-land-rover-ceo-outlines-revival-plan

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

 

DAVID NYE

Gday from Brissie again Martyn,

Location of manufacturing is certainly one factor to consider - we ALL like to support our local jobs.

However at the end of the day, buying a car is an expensive and complex choice so most people will very likely rate other factors more highly when deciding their choice of car to fit their individual circumstances.

 

TOM RAFTERY

Re your q of the week, I’m kinda odd. My filter when choosing cars is emissions. My last car (bought in 2008) was a Prius. It was that or the Ford Focus C-Max. Both were around 119gCO2/km, and thanks to a subvention for hybrids, both were around the same price, so I went for the Prius, as it was the better car. And my current car is a Leaf. It was the best zero emissions car available when I put down my deposit last July. I have two kids so I needed a car with booot space. The Leaf has the best boot space of all EVs of that class available. The e-Niro comes close but wasn’t available last July.

 

ANDREW JACOBS

I live in Australia so we don’t have any locally made cars anymore. I don’t care who makes it. Toyota still has a factory in South Australia making Camry Hybrids, but no one in Australia considers a Toyota an Australian car in any way.

 

HOWARD ANTHONY SMITH

In the past I would purchase cars based upon the reputation of the manufacturing. Cars produced in Japan or Germany were the top two choices. Over the years as I have gained a better understanding of supply chains I have shifted to purchasing cars that are assembled domestically because of my concerns about the carbon footprint of shipping automobiles around the globe. This especially makes since when purchasing electric vehicles if the reason for the purchase is to reduce greenhouse gases in the transportation sector. If I lived in Europe I would be looking for a Renault 208. I currently live in the United States and am debating whether or not I should wait for an electric pickup truck or just purchase a Model 3. Who knows what will be available in 2 years when I will make the purchase? I hope the domestically produced electric car offerings gives me difficult choices.

 

LISA ALLEN

While I believe you should support the EV manufacturers in your home country (in the US that means Tesla), I really wish we had more choices from European and Asian sources. For example, while the Leaf is offered here by Nissan, the ENV 200 van is available in Europe but not here. Would be good to have more affordable choices.

 

GRANTON SMITH

I can say for sure that once upon a time the country of build for a car was definitely something I considered very strongly.

Growing up in Australia, I always regarded Japanese built cars as the best built cars around (Euro marques were all "dream" cars!!) I certainly would never have considered buying an American (Detroit) built car... Noo way!

But I have to say that Tesla has really changed my way of thinking... They are now top of my list. Also I think Korean built vehicles have come such a long way - Hyundai and Kia are something I would now consider, where not even 5 years ago I would not.

 

STEFAN SCHMIDT

Yes, for me the location of the production is a factor for my decision when buying a car. I need to trust that the people there made as good quality as possible.

The Boeing Dreamliner is produced for example in 2 locations. From North Charleston / South Carolina was reported that drill cutting where found and not cleaned up between wires as well as bubbles in structure elements from carbon fiber.

Would you feel good in such a plane even if someone from the upper management assures you that there is no such thing?

 

RICH FOWLER IN CHAPEL HILL

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: Some American cars are now made in Mexico and Canada. Some Japanese cars are made in the USA and the UK. So are German cars. It just doesn't matter to me anymore.

 

THEBLUESCLUES2012

Yes the location of my car being built in China is a big turn off. I will never buy a Chinese vehicle but hey never say never if it becomes too cheap to ignore I probably won't have a choice.

 

GERRIT GOVAERTS

Production location matters a lot : import tarrifs from the US on Tesla's are 10% for the EU IIRC . We need a gigafactory 4 in the EU .

 

ADRIAN CHAPMANLAW

Location of production, not really but I like that the leaf is made here in the UK. Just from an environmental perspective

 

ASHLEY HILL

Being in Australia; we don't have any major domestic car manufacturing anymore (thought we do have some EV startups which is amazing).  My only rule now is to give no money to companies which still make fossil cars.

 

 

COMMUNITY

And thanks to MYEV.com they’ve set us another Question Of The Week. Keep your comments coming in on email and YouTube…

 

What would your dream job in the EV industry be? And why?

 

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