30 Nov 2018 | Huge Battery In Kia Soul EV, L.A. Auto Show Recap and One Million EVs For USA
L.A. Auto Show Recap | 64kWh Kia Soul EV Has A Lotta Range For Not A Lotta Money | One Million Evs For USA | Kia Niro EV Gets Official Epa Range Rating | VW Needs A North America Factory For Their EVs | LG Chem To Invest In More European Battery Production
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 30th November 2018. It’s Martyn Lee here and I’ve been through EV story today so you don’t have to.
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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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L.A. AUTO SHOW RECAP
- Audi e-tron GT - rival to the Model S in 2020
- BMW iNext Concept - fabrics you stroke to command the car is very much concept territory!
- BMW M340i xDrive - a quick plug in BMW
- BMW X7 XDrive 40i and xDrive 50i - very large SUV plug ins!]
- Kia Soul EV - coming to that in a moment
- Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring - coming with a plug
- Rivian R1T and R1S - as reported earlier in the week
- Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid - PHEV with 17miles range
- VW I.D. BUZZ CONCEPT - for van deliveries
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64kWh KIA SOUL HAS A LOTTA RANGE FOR NOT A LOTTA MONEY
- This one caught me off guard a bit, at the LA Auto Show Kia revealed their new Soul EV, officially a model year 2020, and the battery just got a LOT bigger.
- They're putting the 64kWh battery in it, the same size as the Hyundai Kona and Kia eNiro.
- The power is up, with the front wheel drive motor giving you 201 horsepower from that liquid cooled 64kWh pack. Officially it’s 239 miles of range in the sister car of the eNiro. The Soul EV will get it's EPA rating early next year.
- Green Car Reports says: "The Soul EV has a new rotary shift knob and will get four drive modes (Eco, Comfort, Sport, and Eco+), as well as steering-wheel paddles that allow the driver to toggle three levels of regenerative braking—in Levels 0 to 3, as in the Hyundai Kona Electric, with the same feature that lets you hold the paddle for momentary one-pedal driving. There will also be two active eco-aids: a Smart Regen System and Smart Eco Pedal Guide. Unlike the first generation of the Kia Soul EV, which used the CHAdeMO standard for DC fast charging, this new version will use the CCS (Combo) standard. It’s rated for 100 kw, but as with other Hyundai-Kia products software may limit it to around 70 kw for now."
- I think the pack sits at 356v so on a 200 Amp CCS charger, you can't get more than 73kW in.
- You get lots of toys like Apple and Android integration, driver assistance, and loads of room for cargo. And this is exciting, an April 2019 date for it to hit dealerships.
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ONE MILLION EVS FOR USA
- From Wade Malone at InsideEVs.com: "In the most recent “Fact of the Week” posted by the US Department of Energy, the government agency shared that 1 million plug-in vehicles (PHEVs and BEVs) have now been sold in the United States. This is of course not news to readers of InsideEVs since we had already estimated the lucky millionth plug-in would be sold in October. But further review and confirmation from the Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory certainly formalizes the occasion."
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https://insideevs.com/doe-reports-1-million-plug-in-vehicles-sold/
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KIA NIRO EV GETS OFFICIAL EPA RANGE RATING
- Bjorn Nyland might be hypermiling one to 300 miles but the EPA number on the Kia eNiro is much more realistic - 239 miles. That's versus 259 for the smaller and lighter Hyundai KONA.
- We also heard wonderful news the U.S. will get it early in 2019. As with the KONA and Soul EV, they move from CHAdeMO to CCS Combo plugs on the fronts of the cars.
- The U.S. specs are split between EX range and EX Premium range. Premium EX features include: 8-inch color navigation19 touchscreen, Power tilt/slide sunroof, LED headlamps, 8-speaker Harman/Kardon20 premium audio system with external amplifier and subwoofer, Heated steering wheel, LED interior lighting, Mood lighting, Parking distance warning – forward and reverse22, Deluxe scuff plate.
- Kia says in a Press Release: "Charging protocol changed to CCS and battery can now charge at 100kW. Combined Charging System (CCS) DC fast-charge is standard equipment – approximately 100-mile recharge in 30 minutes or 80 percent total battery capacity in 75 minutes. Level 2 (240v) at 7.2kW charger needs approximately 9.5 hours for a full charge. Four drive modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Eco+ – that automatically adjust regenerative braking level, air conditioning and heating settings, and even set speed limits to help manage operating efficiency. Drivers can choose from four regen braking levels (0 to 3) depending on how aggressive drivers want the regen effort and energy efficiency (range) needs. Brake and Hold System feature allows regen paddle shifter to bring the car to a full stop, adding energy to the battery that would be lost using normal braking."
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VW NEEDS A NORTH AMERICA FACTORY FOR THEIR EVS
- VW confirmed today they're currently in the process of deciding where to locate, or convert, a factory in North America to build their suite of electric cars coming soon. Scott Keogh is their new CEO of Volkswagen Group of America and he said that a new factory, or a conversion, would be required for their I.D. range of cars especially the first one, priced between $30,000-$40,000, which they want to be on sale by 2020. In order to sell them in 2020 the first cars won't be made in the U.S., in fact i read previously they've be shipped from Belgium. Keogh also said they would then be built at VW's new EV plant. Volkswagen's have an existing facility in in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which currently produces the Passat and Atlas cars, and there's certainly the space there if they wanted to expand into with electric cars.
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LG CHEM TO INVEST IN MORE EUROPEAN BATTERY PRODUCTION
- LG Chem has a cell production facility in Poland supplying Daimler, Jaguar, Renault, Volkswagen Group and Volvo amongst others. But it's about to get a lot bigger.
- From Matthias Schmidt on Twitter: "Interesting (google translate) | Jong Hyun Kim, president of LG Chem Energy Solutions, ensures that within 2-3 years the Korean company will increase the production potential of the factory from around 10 GWh to 70 GWh
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- On the InsideEV's forum, sir_tech says: "This is really good news. 70 GWh per year equals to ~1.1 million cars (Hyundai Kona = 64 KWh). I strongly believe we will see more and new production plants and expansions of plants that are in construction before the original plans of those plants completed."
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