18 June 2018 | Faux Outrage Over #TeslaTent, A Tale Of Two Hybrids and Cheapest EV Gets A Range Bump
Episode 154, Jun 17, 2018, 11:01 PM
A Tale Of Two Hybrids | Are Tesla Using A Tent? Does It Matter? | Even Trump Fans Can't Ignore EVs | Cheapest EV Gets A Range Bump | Shenzhen Embraces Electric Vehicles | Another Jaguar EV - With A Difference!
Hello and welcome to the Monday 18th June 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.
A TALE OF TWO HYBRIDS
- This weekend marked a lot of TV watching for me - the 24 hours of Le Mans. I know, dirty noisy polluting but if there was an electric version of the series of course I'd watch it instead.
- But well done to Toyota and the number 8 car of Fernando Alonso who won. And well done to Toyota for winning with a hybrid. There's 500hp from the combustion engine but 500hp from the electric powertrain, which gives it 4 wheel drive too, using a High-powered lithium-ion battery
- The second Hybrid I’ve been watching Fully Charged, and Jonny Smith goes for a smooth ride in a Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid. There is so much tech in the Porsche, but we're interested in the 14.1kWh battery. 4 hours to charge on a 3.6kW and 2.4hours on a 7.2kW charger. It is unashamedly a big nasty petrol car which is all about speed and noise but i love that Fully Charged featured it. Because hybrids will be a stepping stone for so many buyers. But as you can drive on EV power alone it won't be long before owners will want a full BEV.
ARE TESLA USING A TENT? DOES IT MATTER?
- After reporting the new yesterday that Tesla have built a third general assembly Model 3 line in just three weeks, as Elon tweeted around the time i record the show, after that a lot of comment surfaced online about WHERE the line was built.
- Namely - a tent.
- Not just any tent, this is a luxury tent. But this is California, you don't have to account for the 6 inches of snow we had here a couple of months ago.
- In particular this year has seen, at least to my eyes, more pure hatred for Tesla and Elon than I've ever seen. It seems you can't be an impartial observer, you've either drunk the koolaid or you want to see Tesla go bust and for their cars to all burn in hell. Of course the truth is they make great cars and yes, they'll make mistakes along the way which we need to hold them accountable for in the right way.
EVEN TRUMP FANS CAN'T IGNORE EVS
- There was a great article over the weekend about EVs and politics on ThinkProgress.
- The problem is the typical people who feel like they SHOULD turning their noses up at the liberal, snowflakes who are buying electric cars, are really annoyed they're cheaper to run. And also that you can charge them from your solar panels, which is the ultimate sign of sticking it to the big government who want to keep you under the control of big power companies.
- "the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reported that it is much cheaper to drive an electric car any distance than it is to drive a comparable car fuelled by gasoline. The DOE says “The average fuel cost savings for all states was 60%.” But, in reality, the savings are going to be much, much larger — probably 80 percent or more. As solar gets even cheaper — and penetrates more of the market — many places will end up with a lot of excess low-cost carbon-free power during the day."
- So whatever your politics, whether it's on the left or right, the socialists who care for each other and the environment, or the capitalists who want the best deal, it doesn't need to be politicised. EVs make sense for everyone.
CHEAPEST EV GETS A RANGE BUMP
- The Worlds cheapest EV is considered to the be Chinese SAIC Baojun E100, which would cost the equivalent of $7,300 if you could buy it in the US, after subsidies. But alas it's for Chinese buyers only.
- Now Baojun E100 on a single charge can drive up to 200 kilometers – about 50 miles more than before. The new figure compares with the reserve of electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric and BMW i3. But then again it's for two doors, a top speed of 62mph and a 40hp motor.
SHENZHEN EMBRACES ELECTRIC VEHICLES
- "Shenzhen, once known for spewing out dark clouds of toxic smoke, has done much to clean up and transformed into China’s most sustainable city, according to several research reports. In less than a decade, Shenzhen has reduced its average air pollution by around 50 per cent, according to city authorities."
- According to a report on SCMP.com "Shenzhen has made global headlines for being the first major city in the world to roll out an all-electric public bus fleet. In 2009, it was chosen as one of 13 Chinese cities to pilot a national new-energy vehicle programme. Today, the city has three times more electric buses than the entire fleet of all buses in New York, and nearly eight times the total of Los Angeles. Lau says the e-bus fleet is not just good for air quality, it represents the city being at the forefront of green novelty."
- They continue: "The city’s electric taxi fleet is substantial as well. Standing by a crossing in central Shenzhen, one would estimate that more than half of all taxis were e-cars from BYD, the Shenzhen-based battery and electric vehicle maker in which American tycoon Warren Buffett is an investor. The city’s transport commission said in December that 62.5 per cent of all taxis in the city were electric, with the goal to turn the fleet all-electric. All existing gas cars in the taxi fleet are on target to be replaced by EV's by 2020."
- And what can we learn from this? "Out of the world’s estimated 385,000 electric buses, 90 per cent are in China. Every five weeks, 9,500 brand new electric buses take to the roads in China. That’s the equivalent to the entire London bus fleet, according to Bloomberg Energy Finance data. Only 1.6 per cent of city buses in Europe are electric, and a smaller 0.5 per cent in the US."
ANOTHER JAGUAR EV - WITH A DIFFERENCE!
- More news from Jaguar and it's not about the I-PACE. "Jaguar’s battery-powered V20E boat just broke a maritime speed record" according to The Verge. "Peter Dredge, the co-founder of Jaguar Vector, piloted the boat at speeds of 88.62 miles per hour across eight miles of the Coniston Water lake in Cumbria, England. His speeds broke the previous record of 76.8 mph set ten years ago. The specifics of the battery, motor, and controller are unclear, but the team used similar hardware and technology that Jaguar uses in Formula E, the all-electric street racing series."
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