Lucid Air Is Officially in Production | 29 Sep 2021

Show #1228

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 29th September. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

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"After years of anticipation, the Lucid Air is finally hitting the roads. Lucid Motors has confirmed that production of the all-new luxury EV is now underway at its gleaming new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The first lot of customer cars, known as the 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition, rolled off the assembly line on Tuesday, with deliveries slated to begin in late October." says The Robb Report: "Limited to 520, this $169,000 four-wheeler is a high-powered riff on Lucid’s flagship electric sedan and boasts an industry-leading range of up to 520 miles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That makes it the longest-range, battery-powered vehicle the agency has ever rated. The new Arizona factory, which is set across a sprawling 590-acre site, will comprise an Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-1) and a Lucid Powertrain Manufacturing (LPM-1) facility that will allow the marque to build all the necessary components in-house to theoretically speed up production and save on costs."

Read more: https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/2022-lucid-air-dream-edition-production-1234638256/

"CUPRA has begun the series production of its first 100% electric car, the CUPRA Born, at the Zwickau plant in Germany. CEO Wayne Griffiths and the company's Executive Committee members visited Europe's largest electric vehicle plant to mark the start of production of the new model. The CUPRA Born will also be present at Automobile Barcelona 2021, which kicks off next Thursday 30th September and will mark the start of the model's international launch plan"

With the launch of this model, which will be on the market from November, a new distribution strategy for a different customer relationship with the agency model will be launched. In addition, customers will have the option to contract the CUPRA Born through a subscription model.

The Zwickau plant is the Volkswagen Group's first production plant for 100% electric vehicles and is considered the largest and most efficient electric factory in Europe. With a daily output of up to 1,400 vehicles, the German plant has an annual production capacity of around 330,000 electric cars. In addition to the CUPRA Born, four other models, the Volkswagen ID3, the Volkswagen ID4, the Audi Q4 e-tron and the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, are produced at the plant.

Read more: https://www.seat-mediacenter.com/smc/cupra-brand/cupra-news/2021/CUPRA-begins-a-new-era-with-the-production-of-its-first-100-per-cent-electric-car-the-CUPRA-Born.html

"In January, General Motors created a new electric vehicle brand. It's called BrightDrop, and like GM's legacy brands that are electrifying, it, too, will use the company's forthcoming Ultium batteries and Ultium Drive electric motors. Unlike the rest of GM's brands, this one is aimed squarely at the fleet market. At the time, GM CEO Mary Barra revealed that Fedex would be BrightDrop's first customer. On Tuesday, BrightDrop announced that Verizon will also start using the electric vans." according to Ars Technica: "Verizon will use a second BrightDrop vehicle, called the EV410. This uses the same battery pack and motor as the EV600 that we saw in FedEx colors at the start of the year. It will also offer the same 250-mile (402 km) range and come with the same package of safety systems. Meanwhile, BrightDrop is completing the first production EV600s, which are destined to start work for Fedex this holiday season."

Read more: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/09/verizon-will-be-the-first-customer-for-brightdrops-new-electric-van/

"Tesla (TSLA.O), well-versed in German bureaucracy as it tries to build a huge factory near Berlin, is seeking a waiver from COVID-19 rules on mass gatherings to host up to 9,000 people at a "Giga-Fest" to showcase its plans." according to Retuters today: "The electric vehicle maker, which began construction in the town of Grunheide in December 2019 but is still awaiting final approval for its site, announced in August it would hold an event on Oct. 9 to let locals see the factory in construction. Local authorities told Reuters the company had applied for permission to have 9,000 people on-site, beyond pandemic rules which limit such gatherings to 5,000. A website set up to register for the event says the day will involve a "behind the scenes" factory tour and the opportunity to ride in a Model Y, the car that will be produced on-site if the factory is approved."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-seeks-covid-rules-waiver-host-9000-berlin-giga-fest-2021-09-28/

"Renewable energy giant Neoen plans to switch its Tesla Megapacks back on at the Victorian Big Battery in Southeast Australia this week, after a fire in late July at the energy storage site. Victoria’s safety regulator for electricity, gas and pipelines has granted Neoen and Tesla permission for “re-energisation testing of the Victorian Big Battery,” Neoen said in an emailed statement on Monday." according to Lora Kolodny at CNBC: "The Victorian Big Battery is owned and operated by Neoen and is one of the world’s largest energy storage systems. It’s intended to help avoid blackouts in the region and power homes using electricity from renewable power sources like solar and wind. The fire at the battery site in Geelong, Victoria, took place on July 30. Two Tesla Megapacks erupted into flames at the 300 megawatt (450 megawatt hours) facility. No injuries were reported, but the fire triggered a toxic air alert to surrounding neighborhoods."

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/neoen-to-turn-tesla-megapacks-back-on-in-big-battery-after-july-fire.html

"Laura Langone, head of insurance operations at Airbnb, has left to join Rivian.  She’ll join as director of insurance and risk management at the business. s well as Airbnb, where she was also responsible for its captive, she has also held positions with PayPal and computer networking company Juniper Networks." says Captive International: "Rivian, like its larger competitor Tesla, has established a captive to provide insurance for its vehicles, with the product integrated into the ordering process. While Tesla’s insurance is, so far, only available for owners in California, Rivian’s is currently available in 40 US states. It is also offering cover for owners’ homes, boats, campers and other vehicles."

Read more: https://www.captiveinternational.com/news/airbnb-insurance-head-joins-rivian-4467

"Just 50 right-hand-drive examples of the new Skoda Enyaq iV Founders Edition will come to the UK, with each costing £46,725. The exclusive special-edition electric cars will come with a range of internal and external design tweaks, including the illuminated “Crystal Face” grille with 130 LEDs." reveals Motor1.com: "Inside, every Founders Edition car will have a unique plaque on the steering wheel featuring the number of the car, while Piano Black trim strips will adorn the dashboard. The seats will be covered in black leather with brown piping, while the floor mats will also get brown piping around the edges. The car’s cabin will be further decorated with black roof lining, a three-spoke heated steering wheel and aluminium pedals. Although a mere 50 Founders Edition models will come to the UK, Skoda will build 1,895 examples for customers across the world. The number pays homage to the year in which Skoda was founded by Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement."

Read more: https://uk.motor1.com/news/535260/skoda-enyaq-founders-edition-uk/

"Rolls-Royce has formally announced plans to introduce a battery-electric coupe. Dubbed Spectre, the British super-luxe automaker's first EV will begin deliveries in late 2023, which has now become a key milestone in Rolls-Royce's roadmap to full electrification by the end of the decade." says Autoblog; "Apart from the name and layout, Rolls is being stingy with specifics, telling us only that, despite what appears to be a somewhat familiar silhouette, this is an all-new model built on the company's latest architecture, like Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan. Spectre is not merely a derivative of the Wraith, RR says. And with good reason, because Wraith was engineered around the essence of its V12. Spectre's character, we expect, will be defined by its near-silent, vibration-free electric powertrain, which makes for a very different acoustic backdrop, but that's a challenge Rolls-Royce engineers are prepared – arguably even predestined – to overcome."

Read more: https://www.autoblog.com/2021/09/29/rolls-royce-spectre-electric-car/

"The English company Tevva has presented a 7.5-tonne truck that is supposed to have a range of up to 250 kilometres in electric drive mode and a range of up to 500 kilometres with the FC range extender activated. Production of the Tevva truck is scheduled to start in July 2022." according to electrive: "the new Tevva Truck is the first UK-developed 7.5-tonne electric truck designed for mass production. The model is to be manufactured at a yet-to-be-built factory in London’s Thames Freeport. When the factory there comes on stream, production capacity is expected to be 3,000 trucks per year. However, Tevva is talking about starting production at the London plant in 2023.  The total cost of ownership is said to be comparable to that of a diesel vehicle and Tevva says: “From about 3,000 km or with a monthly consumption of 500 litres of diesel, the costs are identical.”"

Read more: https://www.electrive.com/2021/09/28/tevva-presents-7-5-tonne-truck-with-range-extender/

Read more: https://insideevs.com/news/536914/fuel-shortage-ev-online-searches/

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