Lamborghini Will Abandon Combustion To Go EV | 18 May 2021

Show #1086.

Today’s big EV stories:

·       Lamborghini's Plan For EVs

·       Ducati Plots Electric Future

·       Ford F-150 Lightning is ‘the big fish'

·       How EVs Could Transform Africa

·       QuantumScape & VW To Select Location For Solid State Batteries

·       First Look At Electric Renault 4Ever

·       Stellantis and Foxconn create Mobile Drive joint venture

·       Cupra Born Revealed In Video Interview With Chief Designer

·       Model Y from Giga Texas will launch with 4680 cells

·       Elon Musk Loses $9Bn In A Year

 

If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon here. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 18th May. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

 

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

 

"Lamborghini will introduce plug-in hybrid powertrains to all three of its current model lines within the next three years, before launching its first battery-electric vehicle by the end of the decade." reports Autocar: " the firm is likely to use a system similar to that seen on Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale, with an internal combustion engine powering the rear axle, an electric motor powering the front axle and torque vectoring used to balance the output. [CEO Stephan] Winkelmann added that the firm weas working to negate the potential performance disadvantages of PHEV technology. "Batteries also add weight, the alleged enemy of performance," he said. "At Lamborghini, however, we are used to balancing out weight additions. An increase in performance often leads to the addition of weight in the first step. Our cars excel in power-to-weight ratio, so we have a very good starting point for hybridisation."

 

"Lamborghini has announced it is set to fully electrify its range, first with an all-plug-in-hybrid lineup, and then with the planned launch of a fourth model that will be a pure EV." reports Car & Driver: "The Direzione Cor Tauri plan—named after a star in the Taurus constellation—was unveiled by Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann at an event in Italy this morning. The plan means that the last Lamborghini road car to be powered exclusively with a combustion engine will be made before the end of 2024. The Urus will also gain a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and although we haven’t been given further details we presume it will be a version of the V8 powertrain that Porsche uses in the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. But beyond that, Lamborghini is planning for a fourth model which will become the brand’s first EV."

 

But Top Gear asks: "Question is, why wait so long? Lamborghini already has the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT’s J1 EV platform at its disposal, and its rivals are pushing ahead - Ferrari recently confirmed its first EV will be with us by 2025. Well, Winkelmann wants to wait until there’s more “maturity and acceptance” of EVs, in terms of battery technology and the charging infrastructure. “We don’t need to be a fire for this technology, we need to be there when it’s really important,” he says."

 

 

 

 

And whilst we're talking about VW brands which have been speculated about a lot recently, but now confirmed as staying firmly within the Group: "Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali says Ducati is looking closely at how the advancement in electric technologies evolves before making a commitment to its first EV in the motorcycle market." says visordown.com: "While the electric motorcycle market remains relatively niche beyond low-powered urban scooters, it is nonetheless a fast growing segment poised to accelerate further with the advent of imminent models from Husqvarna and Kawasaki. However, for many there will be no greater litmus test for the genre than when the industry’s most evocative volume firm throws its hat into the ring"

 

 

"Despite its sales dominance, Ford will enter the electric pickup space with plenty of challenges. For starters, the F-150 Lightning won't be the first full-size battery-powered pickup on the market. By the time the first Lightnings reach dealerships in the spring of 2022, the Rivian R1T, Lordstown Endurance, GMC Hummer EV and Tesla Cybertruck could all be on sale." writes Automotive News: "And despite the company's hopes that buyers will be wowed by the Lightning's performance capabilities, Ford is likely to face a harder time converting longtime truck owners than startups Rivian and Lordstown may with a younger, tech-focused customer base."

 

Can they do it? Find out on Thursdays podcast after the F-150 reveal.

 

"In February, Kenya-based ARC Ride launched electric two- and three-wheelers for Uber Eats deliveries in Nairobi, a city of 4.4 million. While the company currently has 35 vehicles operating, Chief Executive Joseph Hurst-Croft, a former environmental activist in Nigeria, says he expects the fleet to grow to 300 by August. " says Wall Street Journal: "Proponents of electric vehicles and renewable energy see motorcycles as the fastest way to promote inexpensive, clean-energy transportation in Africa, where roads are often traffic-clogged and potholed."

 

 

QuantumScape Corporation, (NYSE: QS, or “QuantumScape”) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. to select the location of their joint-venture solid-state battery pilot-line facility by the end of 2021. The companies currently contemplate Salzgitter, Germany for the location.

The pilot-line facility, QS-1, will initially be a 1-gigawatt hour (GWh) battery cell commercial production plant for electric vehicle batteries. QuantumScape and Volkswagen intend to expand production capacity by a further 20 GWh at the same location.

QS-1 will follow QS-0, QuantumScape’s planned pre-pilot line. In its Q1 Shareholder Letter, QuantumScape highlighted progress on that front as well, securing a facility in San Jose to house the QS-0 line. To fulfill the strong inbound interest in its technology, the company also recently announced it was doubling the initial QS-0 capacity to over 200,000 cells annually, enough for hundreds of test vehicles each year.

 

"Since Renault said it would make an electric vehicle based on the Renault 4, fans of the classic car are trying to imagine what it will look like. Considering the French carmaker already did a good job with the Renault 5, the new concept was not supposed to disappoint. Thanks to patent images that Autovisie discovered, we just have to ask them what they think." according to InsideEVs: " the new Renault 4 looks like a crossover thanks to significant ground clearance. The original car was also tall, even if it was compact. The high suspension made it cope well with country roads and lousy asphalt. The new one will possibly retain that capability, even if it a much heavier machine due to the large battery pack it has to carry."

 

 

"Stellantis has partnered with Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn to form Mobile Drive, a 50:50 joint venture which will see the two firms collaborate on infotainment and in-vehicle connectivity offerings" says Autocar: "Foxconn will supply infotainment systems to Stellantis as part of the deal, but will also offer its technical platforms for wider use by other automotive manufacturers. Mobile Drive will bid to supply infotainment systems and related hardware to any "interested" brands"

 

 

"Spanish performance brand Cupra has confirmed it will unveil its first electric vehicle, the Cupra Born, on 25 May.  The car make its on the day in an entirely digital presentation at 11am, but Cupra has already all but unveiled its Volkswagen ID.3 rival in a series of revealing pre-reveal teasers." reports AutoExpress: "It should also line-up with the expectations set out late last year, when the El-Born was previewed wearing Cupra badges. The production-ready Born EV will also feature a range of sporty styling cues, such a lowered ride-height, 20-inch alloy wheels, aggressive front and rear bumpers, finned side skirts and a pair of figure-hugging bucket seats.".

 

77kWh/82kWh battery, 310 miles of range.

 

 

"Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the Model Y produced from Gigafactory Texas would be launching with 4680 battery cells. The update was related by Musk in a recent interaction on Twitter. " says Teslarati: "Since Battery Day last year, Tesla has been quite conservative with its estimates about when its custom battery cells would be rolled out. This was highlighted in the Q1 2021 earnings call when Elon Musk remarked that Tesla was about 12-18 months away from the volume production of its 4680 cells. "

 

 

"Elon Musk on Monday, slipped from his spot as the world’s second-richest person in Bloomberg Billionaires Index after 24% of his fortune fell down. Musk's shares also fell 2.2% giving the position to LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault. In March 2021, Musk was holding the top position in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. " according to Republic World: "Tesla's shares were also leading in last week's slump even though his China business is faced with fresh signs of trouble. Bitcoin investors are in a dilemma due to Elon Musk’s Twitter posts. There is also a descend in Bitcoin prices since Musk's opposition to the world's most popular cryptocurrency came to the fore."

 

 

 

What’s the best specialist vehicle you can think of which would make a great EV? 

 

Email me your thoughts and I’ll read them out on Sunday – hello@evnewsdaily.com