15 Dec 2018 | Volkswagen I.D. Arrives In Camo, First Ionity Charger Arrives In UK and Trump Says EVs ‘Not Going To Work’
Volkswagen I.D. Arrives In Camo | Formula E: Jaguar Etrophy Series To Launch With 11-Car Grid | Agag Becomes Formula E Chairman | First Ionity Charger Arrives In UK | Update On BMW Sales Numbers | Infiniti Electric Crossover Concept Teased Ahead Of Detroit | Trump Says GM Shift To Electric Vehicles Is 'Not Going To Work' | Porsche Will Use Electric Truck To Deliver Your Taycan | Tesla Lowers Prices On Model S, X As Import Tax Drops | Government Funded Electric Car Chargepoints To Be Smart By July 2019
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Saturday 15th December 2018. It’s Martyn Lee here and I’ve been through EV story today so you don’t have to.
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.
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FORMULA E ARRIVES!
Watching the Shakedown.
THE VOLKSWAGEN I.D. ARRIVES IN CAMO
- Last week at a Tesla event I was talking to Robert Llewelyn of Fully Charged and he was telling me about a top secret trip to South Africa this week - hush hush and all that. Now, pictures have made their way online of the VW I.D. in...South Africa. So it seems like a media opportunity to drive something which isn't a prototype. Because in one of the pics is the back of that beautiful head.
- This is the car VW say will sell for the same as an equivalent diesel and that puts it in $30,000 territory. It's about the size of a Golf but whatever you do, don't compare it to a Golf.
- The pictures were posted on Twitter by Theo Calitz @Theolitz
- My first impressions of how VW will be using the MEB platform, the wheel are on all four corners with no overhang at the rear and very little front too. This is in the style of the Model 3 with little up front apart front apart from the required crash structure.
- It has a larger sweeping screen and then a panoramic roof. There's nothing fancy i can see, it has regular wing mirrors and regular door handles that look like...don't say a Golf. Whereas the concept has comedy large wheels and cameras for mirrors.
- The wheels on this test vehicle are the most extreme example of aero wheels like we've seen on recent EVs, in fact they're almost solid. With just small gaps in - but then again if you're not making the brakes hot because you're using regen, you don't need lots of cooling.
- These are left hand drive test cars. Inside, the dash is covered in black fabric so they're not ready to unveil that yet. At the rear there's quite a large rear spoiler which comes down from the roof again for aero.
FORMULA E: JAGUAR ETROPHY SERIES TO LAUNCH WITH 11-CAR GRID
- "The inaugural Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy race will take place with an 11-car grid after Alice Powell was confirmed as the VIP driver for the championship’s opening round." reports Motorsport.com: "Jaguar will enter a car at each race reserved for “famous faces from the world of motorsport and beyond”, according to the manufacturer, with Powell handed the first one-off drive. As well as previously announced squads Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Jaguar Brazil Racing and Team Asia New Zealand – which will field Simon Evans, elder brother of Jaguar FE driver Mitch Evans – there are also teams from Germany, China and Saudi Arabia."
https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/jaguar-etrophy-riyadh-11-cars/4311610/
AGAG BECOMES FE CHAIRMAN, NEW CEO TO BE APPOINTED
- Also also via my news feed of the excellent Motorsport.com: "ABB FIA Formula E founder Alejandro Agag will switch from his current role as CEO to become the championship’s chairman. The series will appoint a new CEO “in the coming months"
https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/alejandro-agag-new-chairman-ceo/4312908/
FIRST IONITY CHARGER ARRIVES IN UK
- Pete Glass emails me: "Have you picked up that Ionity has started work on its first rapid and ultra-rapid charging hub in the UK at Gretna Green!
- So that will connect Scotland and England at least. Planning applications exist for Maidstone, Thurrock and Milton Keynes. I also saw mention of Swansea. Gretna is a lonely dot on the UK map. My count of the rest of the European map shows a total of 25 live and 46 being built."
UPDATE ON BMW SALES NUMBERS
- November deliveries of BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric vehicles totalled 14,767 units worldwide, an increase of 26.1% on the same month last year. Sales of BMW Group electrified vehicles in the year to date total 125,365.
- Exactly five years after it was initially launched, the BMW i3 continues to achieve increased sales. In November, 3,468 (+17.0%) fully-electric i3 cars were sold worldwide – a monthly result almost equal to the car’s best-ever month, which was in March this year (3,490 units).
INFINITI ELECTRIC CROSSOVER CONCEPT TEASED AHEAD OF DETROIT
- "next month’s Detroit Auto Show will be the venue where Nissan’s upscale brand [Infinity] will introduce a fully electric concept set to provide a taste of things to come in terms of a broad EV portfolio." reports Adrian Padeanu for Motor1.com: "We only have this shadowy teaser image for the time being, showing a curvaceous crossover with sleek LED headlights and side cameras instead of conventional mirrors. Both the Infiniti badge and lettering underneath it are illuminated, as is the outline of what would be a grille on a conventionally powered vehicle."
https://www.motor1.com/news/297631/infiniti-electric-crossover-concept-teaser/
TRUMP SAYS GM SHIFT TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES IS 'NOT GOING TO WORK'
- A new Reuters story today picks up on the battle over the US administration and their anti-EV position: "President Donald Trump on Thursday said General Motors' decision to shift much of its focus to electric vehicles will not succeed, and he asserted a new trade deal will make it harder for the company to move work to other countries. Trump questioned GM CEO Mary Barra's business strategy in an interview with Fox News. "They've changed the whole model of General Motors. They've gone to all-electric. All-electric is not going to work"
https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/13/trump-gm-ev-shift-not-going-to-work/
PORSCHE WILL USE AN ELECTRIC TRUCK TO DELIVER YOUR TAYCAN
- Porsche will not only make the new Taycan but even deliver on an electric truck, and have already commission MAN to make it. The battery pack will be 149kWh which seems a bit lightweight to me.
- Porsche said: "“By integrating the eTruck into our production logistics, Porsche is taking another step on the path to the ‘zero-impact factory”
- Meanwhile in a related story I keep hearing about the Taycan facing more delays than keen customers want. Could the platform even be used to get another VW brand car our there first, like the Audi etron GT. Which would be a major embarrassment for the Porsche team.
TESLA LOWERS PRICES ON SOME MODEL S, X IN CHINA AS IMPORT TAX DROPS
- "The temporarily decrease of the import tariff for cars from the U.S. (from 40% to 15%) led Tesla to lower prices of some Model S and Model X cars in China." according to Mark Kane at InsdieEVs.com: "Prices decreased by up to 105,000 yuan (around €15,200) in the case of the Model S and up to 65,000 yuan (€around $9,400) in the case of the Model X. Hopefully, it will translate into a higher sales result in December and early 2019. The long-term results are dependent on whether the 15% tariff will be maintained. The price cuts don’t include top of the line models P100D."
https://insideevs.com/tesla-lowers-prices-model-s-x-china/
GOVERNMENT FUNDED ELECTRIC CAR CHARGEPOINTS TO BE SMART BY JULY 2019
- All government funded home chargepoints for electric vehicles must use innovative ‘smart’ technology from July 2019, the UK government announced today.
- This means chargepoints must be able to be remotely accessed, and capable of receiving, interpreting and reacting to a signal. Smart charging can also reduce high peaks of electricity demands, minimising the cost of electric vehicles to the electricity system – and keeping costs down for consumers by encouraging off-peak charging.
- Alongside this the government has also announced that they have maintained grants to install chargepoints at home and in the workplace at their current level of up to £500, making charging easier for consumers and ensuring that plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles can be used to their full potential.
- The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme has supported the delivery of domestic chargepoints to consumers since 2014 and has delivered over 60,000 grants to date.
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