17 Apr 2019 | Politicians Use EV Scare Campaign, Aston Martin Rapide E and An Electric Barn Find From 1970s
EVgo Installs Battery Storage Systems | Stricter CO2 Emission Standards For Cars And Vans Signed Off | Tesla Gigafactory 3 Phase 1 Enters Roof Paving Stage | MG EZS Electric Car Coming To Australia In 2020 | EV Scare Campaign 'Flies In Face Of Fact' | Aston Martin Tests Market For High-Priced EV | Engineers Head To Start-Ups | Ireland: Electrifi Rebuilds Electric Cars With Tesla Parts | Car Manufacturers Turn To Electrification To Turn The Tide In 2019 | Plug And Play: 1980 Comuta-Car
Show #446
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 16th April 2019. It’s Martyn Lee here and I’ve been through every EV story I could find today, and picked out the best ones 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.
EVGO INSTALLS BATTERY STORAGE SYSTEMS ACROSS EV CHARGING NETWORK
- "[EVgo] announced that it has completed or has in construction 14 battery storage systems located at 11 fast charging stations." reports Petrol Plaza website: "This is the largest deployment of battery storage systems at public fast charging stations in the U.S. Battery storage systems can offer relief to demand charge rate structures that inhibit fast charging deployment and EV adoption, accoring to the company. Although EV fast charging stations do not always require a grid upgrade, as station sizes and power rating increase, energy storage will become an important tool, offering load balancing and mitigating distribution grid upgrade costs. With more than 1,100 fast chargers in 34 states, EVgo electrified more than 75 million miles for electric vehicle drivers across the country in 2018."
https://www.petrolplaza.com/news/21700
STRICTER CO2 EMISSION STANDARDS FOR CARS AND VANS SIGNED OFF BY THE COUNCIL
- "The EU is making road transport cleaner by setting strict new carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars and light commercial vehicles. The aim of the regulation adopted by the Council today is to ensure that from 2030 onwards new cars will emit on average 37.5% less CO2 and new vans will emit on average 31% less CO2 compared to 2021 levels. Between 2025 and 2029, both cars and vans will be required to emit 15% less CO2. These are EU-wide fleet targets. The CO2 reduction effort will be distributed among manufacturers on the basis of the average mass of their vehicle fleet."
TESLA GIGAFACTORY 3 PHASE 1 ENTERS ROOF PAVING STAGE
- "A recent flyover of Gigafactory 3 has revealed that the upcoming electric car factory continues to follow an incredibly rapid buildout, with the first phase of the project seemingly entering the roof paving stage." according to Simon over at Teslarati: "Compared to previous videos taken of the site, more roof trusses are now in place, and some workers are now paving some areas of the general assembly building’s steel roof structure. More steel foundations appear to have been laid as well, and the framework of what seems to be a multi-story section is currently being built. This pace serves the project well, considering that Shanghai official Chen Mingbo has given the project a May 2019 target date for completion."
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-gigafactory-3-general-assembly-building-roof-paving/
MG EZS ELECTRIC CAR COMING TO AUSTRALIA IN 2020
- "MG Motor’s Australian factory distributor has confirmed it will launch a fully electric version of its increasingly popular petrol-fired ZS small SUV during the course of 2020." writes CarAdvice.com.au today: "The Mazda CX-3-sized MG eZS will give the company a rival for the just-launched Hyundai Kona Electric, the Hyundai Ioniq, and the Nissan Leaf in Australia’s fledgling EV market. It will be China’s first EV in Australia, and should be a bit of a marketing coup. The eZS has a 110kW/350Nm electric motor, powered by a 45.6kWh lithium battery pack, with a claimed NEDC driving range of 335km. That’s about 50 per cent less than the long-range Hyundai Kona with its larger 64kWh battery capacity, but thereabouts with the Leaf."
https://www.caradvice.com.au/747869/mg-ezs-electric-car-coming-to-australia-in-2020/
EV SCARE CAMPAIGN 'FLIES IN FACE OF FACT'
- Staying in Australia "A toxic scare campaign surrounding electric vehicles in the first week of the federal election campaign “flies in the face of fact” and risks seeing Australia fall even further behind the rest of the world, according to the chair of a senate inquiry into the technology." says website InnovationAus.com.au today: "Following the unveiling of Labor’s electric vehicle policy package, which included a target for half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, a series of government ministers launched a widespread scare campaign against the policies. But Labor’s 50 percent target is just for new car sales, not used and second hand sales, and would lead to about 15 percent of Australia’s entire car fleet being electric by 2030."
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison: "“I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to tow your trailer. It’s not going to tow your boat. It’s not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family,”
https://www.innovationaus.com/2019/04/EV-scare-campaign-flies-in-face-of-fact
ASTON MARTIN TESTS MARKET FOR HIGH-PRICED EVS WITH RAPIDE E
- Automotivenews Europe brings us: "Aston Martin is testing the market for very expensive full-electric cars with the Rapide E sedan, which was unveiled on Tuesday at the Shanghai auto show. Aston Martin will build just 155 units of the Rapid E, which will be the automaker's only battery-powered car until the UK automaker revives its Lagonda brand as an all-electric marque early next decade. The Rapid E's driving range of 322 km (200 miles) under Europe’s WLTP testing cycle is short compared with other EVs coming to the market. The upcoming Porsche Taycan has a 500-km (311-mile) range), for example. Aston Martin has countered the Rapide E’s limited range by equipping it with an 800-volt battery system that allows more rapid charging. The sedan can be charged to 80 percent of capacity from empty in 30 minutes. Andy Palmer said Aston Martin customers are not looking for blistering supercar performance, but they are "conscious about what Teslas can achieve."
https://europe.autonews.com/shanghai-auto-show/aston-martin-tests-market-high-priced-evs-rapide-e
IN QUEST FOR ELECTRIC SUPERCARS, ENGINEERS HEAD TO START-UPS
- Reuters has been tracking where high profile EV talent is going: "Rene-Christopher Wollmann, head of Mercedes-AMG’s 2.75 million euros (£2.38 million) Project One supercar programme, has moved to a job at Automobili Pininfarina in a sign that innovation in high end electric sportscars is shifting towards small start-ups."
- "Premium or high-performance electric sports cars are equivalent to the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the conventional auto world. These so-called supercars can cost anything from about $100,000 up into the millions of dollars and include Tesla’s upcoming Roadster Founder Series, which will sell for over $200,000 and the Rimac Concept Two, priced in the region of $2 million. The emerging role of start-ups in the development of the premium electric market harks back to an era over a century ago when talented engineers like Gottlieb Daimler and Ferdinand Porsche were able to launch sportscar brands on modest budgets."
IRELAND: ELECTRIFI REBUILDS ELECTRIC CARS WITH TESLA PARTS
- "The Irish startup Electrifi is investing 50 million euros over the next three years to convert classic luxury cars into electric vehicles using Tesla components. Yet, Electrifi is working on a range of more affordable electric cars for 2020 as well." writes Nora Manthey for electrive.com: "Electrifi though is starting small and will concentrate on converting the most high-end cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin to electric vehicles using motors and batteries from Tesla. Prices will start at a Formula 1 worthy 750,000 euros"
https://www.electrive.com/2019/04/15/ireland-crowley-carbon-to-build-electric-cars-as-electrifi/
CAR MANUFACTURERS TURN TO ELECTRIFICATION TO TURN THE TIDE IN 2019,
- "car manufacturers are hoping to spur market development by turning to the electric vehicle market. Electric vehicle shipments are predicted to arrive at 5.15 million in 2019, reaching a YoY growth of 28%. YoY growth of new energy vehicles alone ( excluding hybrid electric vehicles) is expected to hit 51%." says Associated Press today: "Car makers are proactively carrying out development of electric vehicles and speeding up rollouts of new car models in anticipation of global energy-saving and emission-reducing trends, as well as the policies implemented by various countries. Car makers are leaning towards presenting electric vehicles as a brand new product series."
https://www.apnews.com/Business%20Wire/87a55d76420046869be349b89d0b80d0
PLUG AND PLAY: 1980 COMUTA-CAR
- And finally from BarnFinds.com: "Folks who like cars like this 1980 Comuta-Car are in a league of their own. I know because I’m one of them and I’m at least as unusual as these cars are. This one can be found here on craigslist in Nappanee, Indiana, just southeast of South Bend. The seller is asking $3,300 for this car. "The Comuta-Car, as most of you know, was an upgrade and continuation of the CitiCar with bigger, battery-filled bumpers both front and rear. The cute factor was all but gone once the bumpers became battery storage but at least you weren’t sitting on hoards of batteries under the seat and the range was extended a bit. Another upgrade would be the sliding side windows compared to the snap-out windows on the CitiCar. The seller says that this car has the 48-volt motor and it’s new, and also that it has 8 six-volt batteries so it must be the SV-48 model. A top speed of just under 40 mph and a 40-mile range isn’t much for either category but some owners have upgraded their CitiCars and Comuta-Cars to 1.5 to 2 times the range and 50+ mph"
https://barnfinds.com/plug-and-play-1980-comuta-car/
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