24 Apr 2019 | Ford Invest $500 Million In Rivian, Model S and X Get Drivetrain Update For More Range and Extreme E Starts Building Cars

Episode 453,   Apr 24, 2019, 09:31 PM

Preview: Tesla’s Q1 2019 Financial Results And Earnings Call | Rivian Gets $500 Million Investment From Ford | A New Tesla Model S Can Now Drive From Los Angeles To San Francisco On A Single Charge | Extreme E To Partner With Spark Racing Technology | EV Startup Lucid Motors Appoints Former Tesla Vp Of Vehicle Engineering As Ceo | Next-Gen Porsche Boxster, Cayman Going Pure Electric | Daimler Says Battery-Electric Trucks Key To Zero Emissions Commercial Transport

Show #453

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 24th April 2019. It’s Martyn Lee here and I’ve been through every EV story I could find today to save you time.

 

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TESLA’S Q1 2019 FINANCIAL RESULTS AND EARNINGS CALL

  • Simon at Teslarati looks ahead to the Q1 results: "Expectations are quite tempered for Tesla this quarter, following the company’s less-than-expected production and delivery numbers in Q1. After a record number of production and deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2018, Tesla’s electric car deliveries fell by around 30%, while total production numbers fell by around 12%. TSLA stock has been weighed down by these results since their release in early April, with the company off around 20% this year,"

 

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-tsla-q1-2019-earnings-call-what-to-expect/

 

RIVIAN GETS $500 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM FORD

  • "Rivian just became reality with this major investment from the U.S.' sales leader in trucks." says Eric Loveday for InsideEVs.com: "Following the major investment made by Amazon, Ford has announced a $500 million investment into Rivian. Rivian, the maker of the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, is solely focused on electric adventure vehicles. For now, that's limited to the truck and SUV, but in the future, several more models are planned. An additional note on the investment is that the "companies have agreed to work together to develop an all-new, next-generation battery electric vehicle for Ford’s growing EV portfolio using Rivian’s skateboard platform." Ford says that the Rivian deal and new offering are "in addition to Ford’s existing plans to develop a portfolio of battery electric vehicles" and notes that "Ford already has confirmed two key fully electric vehicles: a Mustang-inspired crossover coming in 2020 and a zero-emissions version of the best-selling F-150 pickup."

 

  • VErge says: "Ford has decided what kind of vehicle it will build on Rivian’s platform, but it declined to specify. Just two months ago, Rivian announced a $700 million investment round led by Amazon. Rivian was also in talks with GM, but the startup reportedly backed out of the potential exclusive deal."

 

  • Engadget says: "Rivian stressed that it would remain an independent company, but acknowledged that Ford's automotive president Joe Hinrichs was joining its board of directors."

 

  • CNBC looked at the specs of the R1T and R1S: "Both trucks have 754 horsepower and can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in three seconds, with a top speed of 125 miles per hour. They also have three battery capacity options: 105 kilowatt-hour (kWH), which can travel up to 240 miles on one charge; 135 kilowatt-hour that can travel up to 310 miles; and 180 kilowatt-hour that can travel up to 410 miles."

 

https://insideevs.com/news/346329/rivian-ford-investment-500-million/

 

A NEW TESLA MODEL S CAN NOW DRIVE FROM LOS ANGELES TO SAN FRANCISCO ON A SINGLE CHARGE

  • "Tesla has announced that it has extended the range of its Model S vehicle to 370 miles and Model X to 325 miles on a single charge " reports TechCrunch: "Both models now have the newest drive unit technology, Tesla said. Combining an optimized permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor, silicon carbide power electronics and improved lubrication, cooling, bearings and gear designs the new cars can achieve better than 93 percent efficiency, Tesla said in a statement."

 

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/23/a-new-tesla-model-s-or-x-can-now-drive-from-los-angeles-to-san-francisco-on-a-single-charge/

 

  • Whilst Wade Malone for InsideEVs.com reports: "Along with this, getting your charge will take less time than ever before. Plugged into the new Supercharger V3, the vehicles will feed on that sweet electro-juice at a peak rate of 200 kW. On older, existing Supercharger stations, the vehicles can now utilize 145 kW charging. According to Tesla this accounts for a 50% improvement in charge speeds. The suspension is also being updated with "fully-adaptive damping, giving it an ultra-cushioned feel". Tesla says the new upgrades will constantly adapt to driver behavior and road conditions "automatically softening for more pronounced road inputs and firming for aggressive driving"."

 

https://insideevs.com/news/346209/tesla-model-s-x-upgrade-more-range-efficiency/

 

EXTREME E TO PARTNER WITH SPARK RACING TECHNOLOGY

  • Extreme E has joined forces with motorsport manufacturer Spark Racing Technology to engineer, develop and assemble the all-new electric SUV model for the pioneering off-road racing series.
  • Spark Racing Technology will create and construct the common package with strict specification parts, before handing over the homologated framework to each team – allowing competitors to test and develop their own powertrain and bodywork.
  • Prototype testing is scheduled to take place in July this year together with founding partner Continental Tyres, with the teams receiving the first delivery of 12 cars from Spark Racing Technology in March 2020. Teams will later have the opportunity to put the Extreme E cars through their paces with collective group testing in the summer, before hopping on board the newly-renovated RMS St. Helena for the first race in January 2021.

 

EV STARTUP LUCID MOTORS APPOINTS FORMER TESLA VP OF VEHICLE ENGINEERING AS CEO

  • "Luxury electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Peter Rawlinson as CEO, effective immediately. He will retain his role as CTO where is responsible for all of Lucid's design and engineering activities, including the automaker's first car—the Lucid Air ultra-luxury electric sedan." according to FutureCar.com: "Rawlinson joined Lucid in 2013 after working at Tesla. Rawlinson served as Vice President of Vehicle Engineering and Chief Engineer of the Tesla Model S, working under Elon Musk. Prior to Tesla, he was Chief Engineer at Lotus Cars and Principal Engineer at Jaguar Cars."

 

https://www.futurecar.com/3154/EV-Startup-Lucid-Motors-Appoints-Former-Tesla-VP-of-Vehicle-Engineering-as-CEO

 

NEXT-GEN PORSCHE BOXSTER, CAYMAN GOING PURE ELECTRIC

  • It’s probably only a matter of time before Porsche will electrify its core sports car, the 911. Not only that, but it looks like the Boxster and Cayman duo is also going to get a charging port as a new report from Autocar suggests the Stuttgart-based marque has green-lighted pure electric versions of the entry-level sports cars." writes Adrian for Motor1.com: "Porsche chairman Oliver Blume has revealed in an interview with Autocar the company is already testing pure electric 718 prototypes while working on a hybrid 718. He went on to mention they haven’t made up their minds yet about whether the cars will be getting plug-in hybrid or hybrid setups, but the plan is to sell Boxster and Cayman EVs alongside electrified versions of the two models. According to the same report, the entirely electric models are expected to switch to Porsche’s new PPE platform while the hybrid / plug-in hybrid derivatives could stick to the current underpinnings, albeit in an updated form that allows electrification."

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/346212/next-porsche-boxster-cayman-electric/

 

DAIMLER SAYS BATTERY-ELECTRIC TRUCKS KEY TO ZERO EMISSIONS COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT

  • "Battery-electric vehicles are the key to zero-emission commercial transportation in North America, according to Daimler Trucks North America, which is moving forward with battery-electric vehicle commercialization, contending that hydrogen fuel cells aren’t ready for prime time."reports TruckingInfo.com today: "“The road to emissions-free transportation is going to be driven with battery-electric vehicles. I believe the future is electric,” said Roger Nielsen, president and CEO of DTNA, speaking to a crowd assembled in Long Beach for the ACT Expo April 24.

 

  • The company announced it will begin converting its Portland manufacturing plant to produce electric Freightliners, “to enable rapid scale-up of thoroughly tested and validated electric vehicles,” it said in a release. Although DTNA’s vision of electric vehicles does not exclude fuel cells, he said, “I can see a glimpse of it over the horizon, but it will not be this generation of engineers who will be delivering it.”"

 

https://www.truckinginfo.com/330460/daimler-says-battery-electric-trucks-key-to-zero-emissions-commercial-transport

 

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