01 August 2018 | Four Major Electric Truck Trials, Tesla Takes Almost 50% U.S. EV Sales and Faraday Future Want Sales To Start In 2018
Tesla Explores Building Gigafactory 4 In Europe | Tesla Takes 45% Of Plug-In Electric Cars Sales In U.S. | First Complete FF 91 Body-In-White | BMW To Build 1Bn Euro Electric Car Factory In Hungary | UPS To Test Electric Truck With Thor | Mercedes Presents Hydrogen Fuel Cell Sprinter Concept | Toyota Plots The Future Of Zero-Emission Haulage | Update From Workhorse EV Truck Tests | Davidson Electric Motorcycle Coming 2019 | Kingfisher To Install Battery Storage At B&Q Distribution Centre
Read today’s show notes on https://www.evnewsdaily.com
Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Wednesday 1st August edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.
Wednesday 1st August will see the Q2 Earnings Call for Tesla after the closing bell.
TESLA TAKES 45% OF PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CARS SALES IN U.S.
- Mark Kane for Inside EV's: "In June, Tesla sold some 11,362 electric cars in the U.S., according to IEVs estimations, and that’s enough to achieve a new record share for the plug-in market. Believe it or not 45% of all plug-in cars sold last month (25,179) were Tesla cars, and that’s when you include plug-in hybrids. Limiting it to just BEVs (14,612), Tesla dominated the market at nearly 78%."
- The great unknown, for now, is Model 3 sales. How much did production slip back from 5000 a week after they hit that target in the final week of Q2? How quickly have they got back to 5,000? Elon immediately announced 6,000 being the next milestone, are they on target for that? In the first 6 months of the 2018 an estimated 124,687 plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. With 6 months of the year remaining, if you put a 20,000 a month number on the Model 3, which would be revised down to allow for factory shutdown but revised up for increased ramp on the S curve even so that would be 120,000 Model 3’s out the gate in H2 2018.
TESLA EXPLORES BUILDING GIGAFACTORY IN EUROPE: WALL STREET JOURNAL
- "Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is in talks with authorities in Germany and the Netherlands to build its first major European factory, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing officials involved in the matter." writes Sonam Rai for Reuters: "Tesla already has an engineering division in Pruem, Germany, that is about 30 kms from Belgium and about 100 kms from the French border."
- All future Gigafactories such as this one the one announced for China, Gigafactory 3, will be used to both produce the batteries and cars too.
FIRST COMPLETE FF 91 BODY-IN-WHITE
- "Faraday Future announced today that the first complete body-in-white for the FF91 has arrived at the Hanford factory." That's effectively the first completed structural frame without anything bolted on.
- Senior VP of Manufacturing for FF, Dag Reckhorn, said: "There is no question that this team and our suppliers have faced many significant challenges in getting FF 91 to this point, and even slightly ahead of schedule. This is really a huge accomplishment over these past two years. All while focusing on the true luxury and quality of the final product."
- The order book for FF 91 early users – aka "FF Futurists" – has been open since the start of 2018 and first deliveries are due starting in December of this year through the middle of 2019.
BMW TO BUILD 1 BILLION EURO ELECTRIC CAR FACTORY IN HUNGARY
- "BMW said it is investing 1 billion euros (US$1.17 bln) in a new car factory in Debrecen, Hungary capable of building electric cars. The plant will have a production capacity of 150,000 cars a year and be able to make both electric and combustion engined vehicles. BMW said it will help the carmaker to expand its manufacturing capacity in Europe, where 45 percent of its cars are sold."
UPS TO TEST ELECTRIC TRUCK WITH THOR
- UPS today announced a collaboration with Thor Trucks to develop and test a fully-electric class 6 delivery truck in Los Angeles, California. The truck is expected to be ready for deployment later this year.
- The Thor electric delivery truck will have a driving range of approximately 100 miles powered by a Thor-designed and built battery that will be lightweight, durable and allow long-range driving distances.
- For six months, UPS will test the medium-duty electric delivery truck as part of its fleet. Testing will include off-road evaluation to address durability, battery capacity, technical integration, engineering and any items found during on-road testing. Depending on the success of the deployment, UPS may make additional purchases of the electric vehicle.
- Using its “Rolling Laboratory” approach, UPS deploys about 9,300 low-emission vehicles to determine which technology works best in each route configuration. This includes all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, ethanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and propane.
https://pressroom.ups.com/pressroom/ContentDetailsViewer.page?ConceptType=PressReleases
MERCEDES PRESENTS HYDROGEN FUEL CELL SPRINTER CONCEPT
- Daimler are moving forward with electrifying not just their cars but vans and trucks too. "Mercedes will start testing prototypes of a fuel-cell powered Sprinter, called F-Cell. Like the GLC with the same suffix, it draws electricity from either the hydrogen stored in cylindrical tanks in the underbody, or a small battery pack that can be charged externally." according to Fleet Europe.com: "That makes this Sprinter F-Cell the first ‘plug in hybrid’ zero-emission van ever, combining electricity produced in the fuel cell with current stored in the battery pack. There is a problem, however: the lack of hydrogen fuelling infrastructure. That is why Mercedes adds a battery pack – albeit a relatively small one. It extends the range by a mere 30 km at best – but that could suffice to get to the next hydrogen pump."
TOYOTA PLOTS THE FUTURE OF ZERO-EMISSION HAULAGE
- "Toyota has strengthened its pursuit of zero-emission freight transport with the unveiling of a new, second-generation hydrogen fuel cell electric heavy-duty truck that can cover 300 miles on a full tank. The new Beta vehicle was presented to media and industry leaders at the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan"
- "The Alpha truck had a 36.3-tonne gross combined weight capacity and a driving range of more than 200 miles on a hydrogen fill-up. Two Mirai fuel cell stacks and a 12kW/h battery supported an output of more than 670bhp and 1,796Nm of torque. The new Project Portal Beta maintains these power and torque figures but with an extended range and improvements in other key performance metrics."
UPDATE FROM WORKHORSE EV TRUCK TESTS
- Workhorse Group today provided an update on milestones achieved during its ongoing real-world pilot testing of its N-GEN all-electric vehicles:
- The N-GEN has demonstrated a fuel efficiency, as expressed in miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe), that averages 40MPGe for its 450 cubic foot electric van, and 75MPGe for its 200 cubic foot electric van, representing up to a 500% improvement versus conventional gas delivery vans.
- More than 100,000 packages delivered by Workhorse-employed drivers and delivery associates, offering invaluable insights to optimize the N-GEN production vehicle design for last-mile delivery workers.
HARLEY DAVIDSON ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE COMING 2019
- "The Harley-Davidson electric motorcycle has been a long time coming. First announced as Project LiveWire back in 2014, the bike has gone through some design changes as well as becoming only one of the electric bikes the company plans to release over the next few years. Finally, though, it looks as if the LiveWire will be available next year." reports Engadget: "The LiveWire is being hailed as "the first in a broad, no-clutch 'twist and go' portfolio of electric two-wheelers designed to establish the company as the leader in the electrification of the sport"
KINGFISHER TO INSTALL BATTERY STORAGE AT B&Q DISTRIBUTION CENTRE
- "Home improvement retail giant Kingfisher has announced (30 July) that it will install energy storage facilities at one of its B&Q distribution centres" - for translation, B&Q is Home Depot.
- Currently, around 35% of the power generated by the solar panels at the site is exported back to the grid as surplus, but the energy storage facility, which is set to be completed in September, will enable B&Q to store up to 40% of the energy generated by the PV panels and release it back to the building during periods of peak pricing or overnight.
- In addition to storing energy for use inside the centre, the battery installation will also power new electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the car park of the centre.
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