Tesla Recall, LEAF Battery Report and Driving With Your Phone | 31 Mar 2018
Episode 73, Mar 30, 2018, 11:01 PM
Tesla Issue Recall For 123,000 Model S Cars | Nissan Respond To LEAF Battery Degradation Report | Lincoln Aviator Drives With Your Phone | EPA Regulations And China Advances
Saturday 31st March 2018.
TESLA ISSUE MODEL S RECALL
- There’s a new Fully Charged video out with Johhny Smith at the Geneva Motor Show and one of the things which struck me was when, sitting in the Model 3, he said Tesla has done an amazing job for such a new company. And it was a reality check that at a motor show dominated by the heritage names who’ve been making cars for a long time – and of course a few newcomers like Rimac.
- And that leads onto the Tesla recall announced this weekend, and it’s quite a big one. Affects 123,000 Model S built before April 2016, half of all. Follows seat belt recall in 2015
- In the week 14% was wiped off company values and debt rating downgraded.
- Calcium and magnesium salts to keep snow off roads can corrode power steering bolts
- Tesla say: “We have observed excessive corrosion in the power steering bolts, though only in very cold climates, particularly those that frequently use calcium or magnesium road salts, rather than sodium chloride (table salt). Nonetheless, Tesla plans to replace all early Model S power steering bolts in all climates worldwide to account for the possibility that the vehicle may later be used in a highly corrosive environment. If the bolts fail, the driver is still able to steer the car, but increased force is required due to loss or reduction of power assist. This primarily makes the car harder to drive at low speeds and for parallel parking, but does not materially affect control at high speed, where only small steering wheel force is needed.
NISSAN LEAF 30KWH BATTERY
- Nissan have responded to an InsideEVs study into battery degradation. The summary was: ““At two years of age, the mean rate of decline of SoH of 30 kWh Leafs was 9.9% per annum. This was around three times the rate of decline of 24 kWh Leafs which at two years averaged 3.1% per annum”.
- Nissan EV communication manager, Jeff Wandell, offered this response: “Nissan is aware that a limited number of customers have expressed concerns with the previous generation of the Nissan LEAF 30-kWh battery.” “LEAF owners are some of our most devoted customers. “We take their concerns seriously, and have technical experts currently investigating the issues raised.”
- The report continues: If the high rate of decline in battery capacity that we observed in the first 2.3 years of a 30kWh Leaf ’s lifetime were to continue, the financial and environmental benefits of this model may be significantly eroded. Despite 30 kWh Leafs accounting for only 14% of all light battery electric vehicles registered for use on New Zealand roads at the end of February 2018, there is also the potential for the relatively poor performance of this specific model to undermine electric vehicle uptake more generally unless remedies can be found.”
HIGH TECHNOLOGY IN PHEV AVIATOR
- The Lincoln Aviator was seen this week in New York and it’s their first PHEV SUV and it’s packed with the kind of tech expected of a car like that, a bit like the recent Touareg launch.
- Ford have gone all out on the tech including “Phone As Key” technology. Just like Tesla with the Model 3 it’s a sign of the way things are heading, with only your mobile phone needed to unlock sand drive your car.
- Top Speed says: “Once the hardware and software needs have been addressed, owners can use the app to lock and unlock the luxury SUV, open its trunk, and most importantly, start the Aviator and drive away with it. In times where a car owner can’t be bothered to drive the car himself, he can send temporary codes to others, who are then required to input them into the app to receive the same menu of functions. That said, the codes are “temporary,” which means that they will eventually time out as another code is generated by the app.
EPA GIVE ADVANTAGE TO CHINA
- Finally you can’t have an interest in electric cars without also having an awareness that the sexiest cars might come from America or Europe, but the really big sales are happening in China, as they rapidly electrify. There are whole cities now where every single bus – in the tens of thousands – is electric. It just never makes the headlines as much as whether Tesla made 200 or 300 Model 3s a week.
- EcoWatch write: “Congress has preserved the ability of California to set its own tailpipe standards—an authority the state has exercised since before the EPA was created in 1970. Other states may opt-in. In the case of California's greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, 13 states have decided to do so, creating a combined market pull of approximately 30 percent of the nation's annual new passenger car and truck sales. The world can then follow. This "California effect" occurs as jurisdictions within and outside of the U.S. trade up to more stringent emissions standards to achieve their benefits and simplify compliance. China's recently adopted goals for plug-in vehicles overtake California's program by requiring an aggressive deployment of plug-in vehicles beginning in 2019 with a target of 7 million new plug-in cars sold per year by 2025. The Chinese government is even openly discussing the appropriate date to discontinue sales of internal combustion engine vehicles within China. As Daimler teams with a Chinese partner to invest $2 billion in a manufacturing plant in China, Chinese automaker Geely has accumulated nearly 10 percent of Daimler's stock reportedly in a bid to secure its electric and autonomous vehicle technology.
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