11 Jan 2022 | Ferrari Accelerates Electrification Efforts

Episode 1338,   Jan 11, 2022, 05:00 PM

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Today’s big EV stories:
• Ferrari names new leadership team to tackle electrification challenges
• Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta has an ‘assertive’ driving mode that ‘may perform rolling stops’
• Chipmakers reveal new partners at trade show
• Chip shortage leaves Tesla and other electric car buyers in China waiting months for new vehicles
• BMW aims to double electric vehicle sales to 200,000 in 2022
• Mercedes increases plug-in car sales by almost 70%
• LG Energy Solution expects to outstrip China's CATL in global EV battery market share
• GM aligns with California on emission rules, state looks to buy GM EVs
• Tesla asks fanbase to support push to allow direct sales in New York
• The Tesla Model 3 was a force to be reckoned with in Germany's Dec 2021 vehicle sales
• Company Offering Round Tesla Model S Yoke Conversion
• MFG to invest £50m in 60 new electric vehicle charging hubs this year
• Vauxhall Combo Life and Vivaro Life go exclusively electric for 2022

Show #1338

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 11th January. 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.

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FERRARI NAMES NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM TO TACKLE ELECTRIFICATION CHALLENGES

- Ferrari unveiled a new management team to lead the automaker as it faces the challenges of embracing electrification

- The leadership shake-up is one of the first major moves of CEO Benedetto Vigna, who took on the role at the beginning of September, moving to Ferrari from STMicrolectronics.  Hiring two executives from his former employer suggests Vigna is turning to trusted allies to aid his turnaround of the auomaker that has been slow to embrace new era of cleaner, silent and interconnected mobility.

- Investors are eager to hear about Vigna’s strategy for the era of battery technology and digital services. Ferrari plans to share more details on its plans during a capital markets day in June.


- While Ferrari has always embraced new technologies that were developed in racing, it has been relatively slow to explore fully electric powertrains

- It's not hard to see why it has been slow. Ferrari's brand was built on its racetrack successes and, crucially, on the sounds and sensations of its V-12 and V-8 gasoline engines. While the company has embraced emissions-friendly technologies like turbocharging and, more recently, gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrains, it has yet to show a fully electric vehicle -- or even talk at length about what one might look like -- though it did tell us last year that we can expect an electric Ferrari by 2025.

- Because Ferrari is as much a luxury company as an automaker, it has to be concerned about how its wealthy clients will receive an electric Ferrari.


TESLA’S ‘FULL SELF-DRIVING’ BETA HAS AN ‘ASSERTIVE’ DRIVING MODE THAT ‘MAY PERFORM ROLLING STOPS’

- Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta lets you choose from three driving “profiles” that dictate how the car will react to certain situations on the road. Each mode, “Chill,” “Average,” and “Assertive,” varies in terms of aggressiveness (and potentially safety).

- In the description beneath the “Assertive” option, Tesla notes the vehicle will “have a smaller follow distance” and “perform more frequent speed lane changes.” The vehicle will also “not exit passing lanes” and “may perform rolling stops,” and it’s not entirely clear whether this means cars won’t come to a full stop at stop signs.


- However, it could sometimes be safer for an automated system to be more assertive, like a human driver, rather than being overly cautious, one motor safety expert said.

- The list of behaviours has been criticised by some on social media as being less safe. But Matthew Avery, from the UK's Thatcham Research, said that well-designed driverless systems are theoretically safer than human drivers because they eliminate human error.

- In many jurisdictions, failing to come to a complete halt at a stop line is illegal, and can result in someone failing their driving test. As a habit, many drivers simply come to a slow crawl - or a rolling stop - instead, but it is considered a dangerous technique.

- These appear to be part of both Tesla's average and assertive modes. The description that the car "will not exit passing lanes" also seems to contradict some regional rules.

- But in the US, where they drive on the right, several states - but not all - have made it illegal to leave the right-hand lane unless overtaking. Similarly, in the UK, the Highway Code says motorists should always stay in the left lane unless overtaking, and return to the left when safe to do so. It is not clear if Tesla's system will account for national or state-based variations in the rules about staying in the overtaking lanes, or what the term rolling stops means in relation to stop signs.


CHIPMAKERS REVEAL NEW PARTNERS AT TRADE SHOW

- Nvidia released the eighth-generation autonomous driving platform Drive Hyperion at this year's CES. It is designed with Nvidia Drive Orin system-on-a-chip, a central computer for software-defined vehicles

- The Drive Hyperion 8 platform includes 12 state-of-the-art cameras, 12 ultrasonics, three interior cameras, and one front-facing lidar.

- The company also highlighted a number of new energy vehicle makers adopting the Hyperion platform, including Polestar, Li Auto, Nio, R Auto and Xpeng.

- Mobileye, Intel's autonomous driving hardware and software arm, unveiled its latest generation of self-driving car system-on-a-chip at the CES.

- Mobileye signed deals with Geely's electric arm Zeekr to build an NEV with Level 4 autonomous driving.


CHIP SHORTAGE LEAVES TESLA AND OTHER ELECTRIC CAR BUYERS IN CHINA WAITING MONTHS FOR NEW VEHICLES

- The ongoing global chip shortage has left car buyers in China waiting several months for newly purchased vehicles to arrive, as assemblers and component manufacturers struggle to keep up with demand.

- The electric vehicles (EVs) market has been especially hard-hit owing to its need for more semiconductors than traditional carmakers. Premium cars that need more chips for driver assistance and other electronic systems remain in high demand despite a slowdown in production.

- Two sales managers at Tesla, the global leader in EV sales, said buyers ordering Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles will not see their new cars until the end of the first quarter.

- In mainland China, the world’s largest automotive market, global foundries can only produce enough semiconductors, microcontrollers and high-end chips with artificial intelligence (AI) processors for about 4 million new energy vehicles (NEVs), according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). That leaves a shortfall of 1 million vehicles based on the guild’s forecast for demand this year of NEVs, a term used in China to refer to electric and hybrid vehicles.


BMW AIMS TO DOUBLE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SALES TO 200,000 IN 2022

- BMW’s sales numbers for 2021 still haven’t been fully released, but we know for a fact the main brand delivered 2.2 million vehicles to set a new record and beat Mercedes in the process. More than 100,000 of these cars didn’t have a combustion engine and the Bavarian marque is confident it will double that number in 2022.

- The disclosure was made by BMW sales chief Pieter Nota in an interview with Automotive News during which he described EVs as being a “big growth driver” for the company’s 2021 performance. He went on to say: “We are very confident about doubling [EV sales] again this year, when the iX and i4 will be fully available.”

- Sold out for months, the two zero-emission vehicles will receive a production hike in 2022 to meet strong demand by adding 6,000 jobs.

- The new i3 is likely to remain a China-only affair whereas the other four zero-emission models we mentioned will be globally available. Nota told AN “there is a lot of momentum in our pipeline,” but cautioned the charging infrastructure is a “key enabler” of EV adoption.


MERCEDES INCREASES PLUG-IN CAR SALES BY ALMOST 70%



LG ENERGY SOLUTION EXPECTS TO OUTSTRIP CHINA'S CATL IN GLOBAL EV BATTERY MARKET SHARE


GM ALIGNS WITH CALIFORNIA ON EMISSION RULES, STATE LOOKS TO BUY GM EVS


TESLA ASKS FANBASE TO SUPPORT PUSH TO ALLOW DIRECT SALES IN NEW YORK


THE TESLA MODEL 3 WAS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH IN GERMANY'S DEC 2021 VEHICLE SALES



COMPANY OFFERING ROUND TESLA MODEL S YOKE CONVERSION
 

MFG TO INVEST £50M IN 60 NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING HUBS THIS YEAR

VAUXHALL COMBO LIFE AND VIVARO LIFE GO EXCLUSIVELY ELECTRIC FOR 2022


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