29 May 2018 | EVs Now Price Competitive, Hypermile Attempt Has A Sad Twist and BMW Wireless Charging Available Today
EVs Now Competitive, Says Leaseplan's Car Cost Index | Tesla Semi Spied Between Fremont And Palo Alto | Diesel Is ‘Finished’ In Europe Amid Push For Electric Cars | Volkswagen Opening Three New Factories In China For EV Boom | BMW Wireless Charging Available Starting Today | Elon Musk Just Revealed New Tesla Model 3 Performance Edition Details | SK Innovation Begins Construction Of 7.5GWh Battery Plant In Hungary
Tuesday 29th May 2018 and this is your EV News Daily. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening! Wherever you're listening around the world, a very warm welcome from London, UK. Here is today’s news about electric cars and the future of transport. My name is Martyn Lee and I go through every EV article online so you don’t have to.
- We'll start with a follow up to yesterday's story about the hypermile'd Model 3, the attempt by Sean Mitchell and his hypermiling partner Erik Strait. After covering 606.2miles, using 66kWh at 110Wh/mile they were able to relax and once again dream of driving a car over 30mph.
- However there's a sting in the tail of this story. After trying to charge the Model 3 overnight at a Supercharger, it was refusing to take any charge.
- The last I heard it was being towed to a Service Centre where I imagine Model 3 experts will be waiting for it. As much as Tesla love the good publicity they'll be keen to understand what's happened here.
- It seems like pulling 66kWh hours isn't much from a 74/75 kWh pack. Also, the car was hired from Turo.
EVS NOW COMPETITIVE, SAYS LEASEPLAN'S CAR COST INDEX
- Cost comparison for EVs with ICE cars has been a moving target, some say 2020 and some say 2025. But everyone agrees sales of EVs will take off once they are cost competitive.
- However maybe that day is...today! "In several European countries, electric vehicles (EVs) are now cost competitive with traditional powertrains. The TCO gap is rapidly narrowing in Belgium and the UK, while EVs are already cheaper in Norway and the Netherlands. That is the conclusion of LeasePlan's most recent Car Cost Index (CCI)." says Frank Jacobs for FleetEurope: "The CCI is a comprehensive, annual analysis of the Total Cost of Ownership for a small to medium-sized car (B & C segment) in 21 countries" which includes taxes, insurance, fuel, maintenance and the all-important depreciation.
- "TCO of EVs also varies greatly, from a low of €597 in Hungary to a high of €986 in Italy. Norway is the only country where TCO for an EV (€670) is lower than for a petrol (€731) or diesel (€722) car."
TESLA SEMI SPIED BETWEEN FREMONT AND PALO ALTO
- Time for another sighting of the Tesla Semi which is putting in some miles, not only for testing, but also doing some work as well according to the rumours.
- During a talk in the Netherlands, Tesla VP of Truck programs Jerome Guillen said: "Tesla will be the first customer for its own truck. So we will use our own trucks to carry cargo in the US between our different facilities. We have (an) assembly factory in California, we have a battery factory in Nevada, so we’ll use our truck to carry things in between"
- Teslarati say "The latest image of the Tesla Semi was shared by Model 3 owner and r/TeslaMotors subreddit member u/AMG76, who stated that the picture was taken just this past weekend."
DIESEL IS ‘FINISHED’ IN EUROPE AMID PUSH FOR ELECTRIC CARS
- EV's could be getting an easier ride in Europe partly because sales of diesels are in freefall and people are looking for alternatives.
- "European commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said the EU has had a “breakthrough moment” since Germany-based Volkswagen AG admitted in 2015 that it fitted diesel engines with software to cheat U.S. checks on smog-causing discharges of nitrogen oxides. This deeply affected “the emotions in society toward emissions and cleaner cars,” she said.“Diesel cars are finished,” Bienkowska said in a May 24 interview in her ninth-floor Brussels office. “I think in several years they will completely disappear. This is the technology of the past.”
VOLKSWAGEN OPENING THREE NEW FACTORIES IN CHINA FOR EV BOOM
- "Volkswagen AG is opening three new factories in China with its local partner FAW Group" according to Bloomberg: "Two of the new facilities will be in Tianjin and Foshan, VW said in an emailed statement, adding it opened one in Qingdao on Monday. The plants will focus on bringing more sport-utility and electric vehicles for local production, the fastest growing segments of China’s auto market."
- "The Qingdao factory opened with the introduction of the new Bora on the MQB platform and will produce battery systems"
BMW WIRELESS CHARGING AVAILABLE STARTING TODAY
- "Today marks the market launch of BMW’s highly anticipated wireless charging solution for iPerformance cars. BMW has been talking about it for over a year, in anticipation of the launch of their new BMW 530e iPerformance model, the first production car available with wireless charging." says Nico at BMW BLog: "The system is now available for orders and allows customers to recharge their 530e – and future PHEV models – by simply parking the car over a so-called base pad. The BMW Wireless Charging option can be ordered now as a leasing-option for the BMW 530e iPerformance. The product offer starts with Germany, subsequently followed by the UK, the US, Japan and China."
ELON MUSK JUST REVEALED NEW TESLA MODEL 3 PERFORMANCE EDITION DETAILS
- "In response to Tesla aficionado Ryan McCaffrey, Musk confirmed on Twitter that the car will come with sport-level brakes, coupled with red calipers" according to Inverse "New brakes aren’t the only cosmetic changes coming to the car. It will be the first variant to offer a white interior alongside the standard black, as well as a carbon fiber spoiler and 20-inch performance wheels instead of the “Aero” wheels offered on the base models."
SK INNOVATION BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF 7.5 GWH BATTERY PLANT IN HUNGARY
- And finally, InsideEVs reports: "SK Innovation held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first European lithium-ion battery factory in Hungary."
- How long does it take to build a battery factory? Well even though the build starts now, it won't produce cells until early in 2020.
- "The batteries to be produced in SK Battery Hungary will be third-generation EV batteries, which give an EV 500km range with one charge. The company had announced in September, 2017 that it would start mass-producing of the world’s first medium-to-large NCM (nickel:cobalt:manganese) pouches. SK Battery Hungary expects to start mass-producing and supplying the batteries from early 2020. Once all the production lines are installed, the factory’s production capacity will reach 7.5 GWh per year."
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