Musk Names Date For Dual Motor Model 3, Mercedes Add Electric S Class and Norway Electrify The Skies | 9 April 2018
Teaser from Electric GT Tesla Championship | Musk Tweets Model 3 Dual Motor Coming July | Mega Review Of Nissan LEAF | Mercedes Add Another EQ Model | Ford Investors Not Buying Electric Plans | Norway Electrifies Cars, Ships and Planes
Monday 9th April 2018.
A shout out to Simon LaSalle who listen in Virginia. “Hi Martyn I enjoy the show every day, I like to support my favourite podcasts on Patreon, do you have a page?” Thanks Simon, I love hearing from people who enjoy the news every day. I must admit I’d had to pay for more storage and streaming because the podcast seems to have found a wider audience lately but no not yet, I’m happy to foot the cost myself but your support is really appreciated.
ELECTRIC GT
- We’ll start with a tease and GT Holding is the organisers of the electric Tesla GT series. ”Electric GT Holdings have got big news to share ... tomorrow! Follow us and sign up for our newsletter now so you don't miss the big announcement.”
- I’ll cover the news on tomorrows show for you. I’m hoping it’s going to be the dates of the first races, maybe some drivers, or even more specs on the cars. We know they were approved by the FIA on 1st Feb, and a week before that the car passed the crash tests. And that car being a Tesla P100DL.
MUSK TWEETS
- Elon has been using Twitter increasingly lately, not just for chat, but specific announcements. And in response to a question about the dual motor Model 3 he said:
CARWOW REVIEW LEAF 2.O
- One of the most visited car channels on YouTube is Carwow and now they’ve spent some time with the next gen Nissan LEAF. “The Nissan Leaf is a comfortable, eco-friendly family car with good looks. However, its infotainment system is outdated and the interior quality is inconsistent”
- Pros:
- Decent range
- Big boot for a car this size
- Nippy
- Cons:
- Some cheap-looking materials inside
- Regenerative brakes feel odd at first
- Dated infotainment
MERCEDES ADD ANOTHER EV
- We’re quickly learning about the naming conventions of major car makers with their electric models. With VW we have the ID, ID CROZZ and ID VIZZION, with Audi it will be the e-tron range, with BMW we know they’ve registered iX1, iX2, iX3 etc. And with Mercedes, the EQC was quickly joined by the EQA and now the EQS, which will be C-Class sized.
- Electrive reports on Michael Kelz, head of development for the EQC Crossover which should be on sale by the end of this year, expects the EQS to be available by 2020.
- The sedan will be an individual model, based on the MEA architecture platform, and will not simply be an electric version of the existing vehicle, in this case the regular S-class. This marks a difference to the other traditional luxury car brands, as Audi and Jaguar both decided to electrify their vehicles instead of redesigning them, particularly with the Audi A8 and the Jaguar XJ. Concerning the name of the new vehicle, Mercedes has been planning the move since 2016, when they reserved the rightsto the names EQA, EQC, EQE, EQG and EQS in the UK. Recently the car manufacturer also reserved the naming rights in Canada for the EQ family additions.
- CNET say: “It will be separate from the standard S-Class, which is expected to begin a new generation in 2020, the same year that it's believed Mercedes will debut the EQ S. The two cars will reportedly be built on separate platforms, with the EQ S relying on an EV-specific chassis engineered to accommodate large batteries.”
FORD STLL UNCLEAR ON ELECTRIC FUTURE
- Ford aren’t exactly known as electric trailblazers, and 247WallSt website reports: “Year to date Ford’s shares are down 11.7%. GM’s are off 9.9%. Toyota’s are down 2.3%. Ford’s domestic sales rose 3.5% in March to 243,021. Its sales for the first quarter are down 2.7%. The deeper issue is whether Ford has a chance to be a leader in electric cars and autonomous vehicles. CEO Jim Hackett’s plans have not caught the eyes of investors. Ford is seen as too far behind most of the industry for both categories. It not only faces massive plans from every other major car company but from smaller companies led by Tesla”.
ELECTRIFY THE SKIES
- Thelocal.no report on regional carrier Wideroe Airlines, operating in Norway's far north, plans to renew its fleet of twin-engine Bombardier Dash 8 planes with electric-powered aircraft by 2030: “"Many people say that we must get rid of air transport because we will never be able to deal with emissions and noise, but this is an outdated approach," said Norwegian Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen, who recently hosted an aviation conference in Oslo. Norway, the largest oil and gas producer in western Europe, is paradoxically a pioneer in the field of electric transport. The Nordic nation aims for all new vehicle registrations to be zero emission by 2025and launched a first electric ferry in early 2015.”
- After land and water, the northern kingdom is now turning to the sky with the goal of electrifying all short haul flights in just over 20 years. "In my mind, there is no doubt: by 2040 Norway will be operating totally electric," said Dag Falk-Petersen, head of the country's public airport operator, Avinor.
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