13 Nov 2018 | VW: We Could Build 50 Million EVs, Electric School Buses and GM Says They’ll Lead EV Industry Within Decade
VW Boss: We Could Build Up To 50 Million Electric Cars | The Wheels On These Buses Go Round And Round With Zero Emissions | Tesla’s First 400 kWh Of Free Supercharging For Model S & X Ends | Tesla Model 3 Performance Disqualified - Electricity Not A Fuel | Electric Pickup Trucks Are Not In GM’s Plans Yet | New 2020 Citroen C4 Cactus To Feature Electric Powertrain
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 13th 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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VW BOSS: WE COULD BUILD UP TO 50 MILLION ELECTRIC CARS
- "Volkswagen could build up to 50 million electric cars on its new electric vehicle platform and is looking at expanding its manufacturing footprint in the United States, Chief Executive Herbert Diess told Automotive News" and reported by Reuters today. This comes from an interview last month but has only been released today.
- On VWs Chattanooga plant for building EV's in the U.S.: "We set up the plant in Chattanooga always with the idea to be able to grow it, to mirror it, The plant is still too small, and we are considering different options - it might be electric cars, it might be a different derivative of the Atlas (SUV) - it's still open"
- On the rumoured partnership with Ford, who could use VW's MEB platform to build electric cars: "What we're talking about is sharing a few platforms and manufacturing sites there, which makes sense. And within the dialogue, we are also touching other options, but this will be the main focus if we come to a conclusion. Today, we have hundreds of different drivetrains in our industry, and there's a lot of differentiation in the drivetrain. I think this will become less, because the battery cells will become very similar on the basis of the same chemistry inside."
- But what about that claim of 50 million electric cars? "He said VW could build 50 million electric vehicles globally across its brands, beginning in 2020, and had battery sourcing agreements for them. He said licensing MEB to other automakers would lead to further efficiency gains. A VW spokesman said the number mentioned by Diess was a theoretical long-term goal for the MEB electric car platform. The Volkswagen Group's current vehicle platform. Volkswagen Group sold 10.7 million vehicles in 2017.
- As for EV sales in the U.S. : "Sales are picking up. It’s not all over the place, but West Coast, if you go to a parking lot, you see already a decent mix of electric cars there. Most of them are probably Teslas, but what’s happening now is that the cars become so much better. We will be aggressive on the pricing. We will be much lower than Tesla, but we have all the huge economies of scale and the car is specifically designed now for battery power instead of being converted from a combustion powertrain.”
- To conclude I'm trying to make sense of this. VW has said they have signed off, or will sign off, 48bn Euros of battery contracts. And that's good for 50 million cars. So the math says that's 960 Euro per car. (48bn euros divided by 50 million cars). At a pack cost of 100 Euros that's a 9.6kWh battery.
- So what am I missing? If you're in the car industry, what does he mean by the phrase they've "booked" 50 million cars?
THE WHEELS ON THESE BUSES GO ROUND AND ROUND WITH ZERO EMISSIONS
- "Five new battery-powered buses in White Plains, which went into service this fall, run so quietly that they have to play a four-tone melody for safety as they roam the streets." reports the New York Times, when explaining why the school kids call them The Singing Bus! "The school district’s five singing buses — which cost $365,000 apiece, more than three times the price of a new diesel bus with modern pollution controls — are still a rarity. Of the roughly 480,000 school buses in the United States, only a few hundred are fully electric. California has already spent millions of dollars to help budget-strapped school districts purchase dozens of new electric buses, while New York and Massachusetts have funded their own smaller projects. Many cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle, have also begun purchasing electric buses for their mass transit fleets."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/climate/electric-school-buses.html
TESLA’S FIRST 400 KWH OF FREE SUPERCHARGING FOR MODEL S & X ENDS
- InsideEVs reports: "According to the latest news, cars sold on November 2, 2018 and on don’t get any free Supercharging credit, so 100% of the recharges are paid (at least if the owner does not receive some promotion like the 6-months of free Supercharging from the referral program)."
- From Tesla's blog: "My Tesla includes 400kWh of credits annually—how do those work? Certain Model S and X vehicles sold before November 2, 2018 include annual Supercharger credits of 400kWh, or roughly 1,000 miles. For usage above the complimentary annual credits, a small fee applies to Supercharge. Credits replenish automatically on the anniversary of your delivery or known ownership transfer. Unused credits do not rollover to the next year and you can view your vehicle’s Supercharger credit status by logging into your Tesla Account."
https://insideevs.com/teslas-free-supercharging-model-s-x-ends/
TESLA MODEL 3 PERFORMANCE DISQUALIFIED - ELECTRICITY NOT A FUEL
- "Even if you don’t love Teslas, being a sore loser is definitely worse than being a fanboy. The driver of a Tesla Model 3 Performance equipped with the new Track Mode made it to second place at the Global Time Attack Super Lap at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwilliow, California over the weekend with a time of 2:00.78. But halfway into the podium ceremony, he was told his run was successfully challenge by a fellow competitor" reports Jalopnik tody: "Electricity, you see, was not listed as an approved “fuel.”
- From the Rules list, on the Global Time Attack web site:
- Engine/Drivetrain/Fuel
- Only one internal combustion engine is permitted per vehicle.
- Auxiliary Water/Methanol injection is allowed in all classes. The mixture may not be more than 50% Methanol in classes where exotic fuels are not allowed (Enthusiast/Street/Limited).
- So actually a BMW i8 or even the i3 ReX might have been allowed!
https://jalopnik.com/tesla-model-3-performance-disqualified-from-global-time-1830379550
ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCKS ARE NOT IN GM’S PLANS YET
- "the GM executive in charge of global strategy says that electric pickup trucks are not in the company’s plans. Mike Abelson, GM’s vice president of global strategy, made the comment Thursday at the FT Future of the Car Summit USA in Detroit." reports Fred Lambert for Electrek.
- "He said consumers can expect 20 new all-electric GM vehicles in the next five years. GM will also deploy a fleet of self-driving electric cars as part of a ride-sharing platform in a major U.S. city next year. Despite those advancements, GM's gasoline-powered cars and trucks will be the main revenue stream for the company for at least the next two decades, he said." according to Detroit Free PRess.
- Mike Abelson said: "The core business is going to be the core business for a couple of decades to come. There will not be any AV/EV pickups. We do believe we’ll lead the industry in EVs sometime in the next decade or so."
- So whilst Tesla are currently designing their EV pickup for a 2019 reveal, GM don't have on the cards and yet they're ready to lead the EV industry?
https://electrek.co/2018/11/12/electric-pickup-truck-gm/
NEW 2020 CITROEN C4 CACTUS TO FEATURE ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN
- "Citroën is planning to launch an all-new C4 Cactus in 2020 with a fully electric powertrain option, alongside conventional engine choices." says Autocar: "An all-new version will move from the old PF1 platform to the PSA Group’s new Compact Modular Platform (CMP), shared with the next Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa. Citroën’s senior vice president of global marketing and communications, Arnaud Belloni, confirmed to Autocar that the C4 Cactus would be the first electric model to be launched by the brand since the C-Zero city car. The new models form part of the PSA Group’s wide-reaching electrification plans, which will see a plug-in hybrid or electric version of every Citroën, DS, Peugeot and Vauxhall launched from next year onwards."
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-2020-citroen-c4-cactus-feature-electric-powertrain
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