28 Mar 2022 | VW Restarts EV Production In Germany

Episode 1410,   Mar 28, 2022, 04:00 PM

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On the podcast today:
• Tesla Extends China's Electric Car Factory Suspension
• Tesla Worries Heat Up As Major Exec Goes MIA
• Hertz confirms the Tesla Model Y version it will rent
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says He Has COVID Again
• Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 ranks top in Auto Bild’s EV test
• Energica To Help OEMs Transition To Electric With Energica Inside
• VW restarts MEB production in Zwickau
• SVOLT reached 200 Wh/kg with LFP battery cells
• Apps and real time data to be crucial to electric vehicle charging
• Nissan Charge EV customers receive access to IONITY
• New Details About The BMW i7 Emerge
• Ford wants to turn your EV into an office
• CATL announced a Kirin battery with 13% more power than Tesla's 4680 design
• Daimler Truck CEO Asserts Price Of Electric Vehicle Will "Forever Be Higher”
• Electric vehicle access is growing priority in low-income communities

Show #1418

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily, you trusted source of EV information. It’s Monday 28th March, it’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

TESLA EXTENDS CHINA'S ELECTRIC CAR FACTORY SUSPENSION

- Tesla Inc. is extending the production pause at its Shanghai plant to Thursday after the city was placed into a phased lockdown to curb a surge in Covid-19 cases, people familiar with the matter said.

- Originally suspended for a day, production at the Gigafactory near China’s main financial center will now be halted for four days, to resume at this stage on April 1, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

- Areas east of the Huangpu River, where the Tesla plant is located, will be locked down on Monday for four days.


TESLA WORRIES HEAT UP AS MAJOR EXEC GOES MIA

- news Monday that Tesla head of AI, Adrej Karpathy, will be taking a four-month sabbatical.On Sunday, Musk dropped a tweet announcing the sabbatical. The public reaction to the news resulted in Adrej explaining what he will be doing with his time.

- For people who have been following the saga, in the past executives who have taken long sabbaticals from Tesla have ended up never coming back.

- Doug Field, Tesla's former senior vice president of engineering, took a leave of absence back in 2018.

- based on recent history, that sabbatical could be the beginning of his end at the company.


Andrej Karpathy on Twitter:

- Taking some time off to rest&travel after almost 5 years at Tesla. Esp excited to get focused time to re-sharpen my technical edge and train some neural nets! Though I already miss all the robots and GPU/Dojo clusters and looking forward to having them at my fingertips again

- A number of people asked - I am doing a “digital nomad” trip, packed up in one backpack and going east, saying hi to friends along the way and reading papers/writing code. Currently in UK, continuing to Europe, Asia and wrapping around back to Bay Area.

HERTZ CONFIRMS THE TESLA MODEL Y VERSION IT WILL RENT

- The rental car agency announced last week that Model Ys will soon be joining the Model 3s that are already at several locations as part of its planned purchase of 100,000 Teslas this year.

- The specific Model Y it is advertising has all-wheel-drive, the standard 19-inch wheels and an EPA-rated range of 330 miles of range between charges

- Tesla hasn't said what's up, but speculation is that it is a new entry-level variant featuring Tesla's new 4680 battery cell that is being built at its Austin, Tex., factory.


TESLA CEO ELON MUSK SAYS HE HAS COVID AGAIN

- Elon Musk on Monday said he has apparently contracted COVID-19, but has "almost no symptoms." This is the second time Musk has reported a bout of the disease: In in November 2020, he said he had tested positive.

- Musk's Monday tweet didn't specify whether he had done a COVID test, but suggested he might be experiencing some mild and unspecified COVID-19 symptoms.


HYUNDAI MOTOR’S IONIQ 5 RANKS TOP IN AUTO BILD’S EV TEST

- Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that its flagship electric vehicle Ioniq 5 has ranked top in German automotive magazine Auto Bild’s EV test, beating other European rivals such as Audi Q4 e-tron and Polestar 2.

- In the latest edition of Auto Bild, the vehicles were tested and evaluated based on seven categories including performance of powertrain, driving comfort, connectivity, eco-friendliness and price competitiveness.

- Ioniq 5 ranked top in four categories with a total of 573 points, beating Audi Q4 e-tron and Polestar 2 which garnered 565 points and 553 points, respectively.


ENERGICA TO HELP OEMS TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC WITH ENERGICA INSIDE

- Energica’s run in the single-make race series will draw to a close following the 2022 season. The company isn’t letting all the knowledge go to waste, though. By establishing Energica Inside, a business arm dedicated to partnering with manufacturers and startups, the brand aims to speed up electrification transitions and reduce time to market.

- With many mobility sectors transitioning to electric in the coming years, Energica is positioning itself as a leader in the industry. The manufacturer may have conceded its spot in the MotoE championship to Ducati, but it intends to make its mark on the broader electric mobility market.


VW RESTARTS MEB PRODUCTION IN ZWICKAU

SVOLT REACHED 200 WH/KG WITH LFP BATTERY CELLS


APPS AND REAL TIME DATA TO BE CRUCIAL TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING


NISSAN CHARGE EV CUSTOMERS RECEIVE ACCESS TO IONITY

NEW DETAILS ABOUT THE BMW I7 EMERGE


HORRENDOUSLY, FORD WANTS TO TURN YOUR EV INTO AN OFFICE


CATL ANNOUNCED A KIRIN BATTERY WITH 13% MORE POWER THAN TESLA'S 4680 DESIGN


DAIMLER TRUCK CEO ASSERTS PRICE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE WILL "FOREVER BE HIGHER”
 

ELECTRIC VEHICLE ACCESS IS GROWING PRIORITY IN LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES


QUESTION OF THE WEEK WITH EMOBILITYNORWAY.COM

Mirror.co.uk: “An electric car owner has warned other EV drivers they can be fined for charging their vehicle in supermarket car parks. Electric vehicle owner Max Wilkinson - who is also a Cheltenham Councillor - recently bought a four-year-old hybrid Mini Countryman. He went home - but returned two hours later by which time the hybrid Mini was about half-charged. A week later Max received a penalty notice saying he'd been fined £90. Mr Wilkinson has paid the fine and doesn’t dispute it. But he does think it doesn’t quite make sense to restrict car charging to 90 minutes as well.

- He said: “It seems illogical that quite a lot of EV and hybrid owners won’t be allowed to spend enough time in the car park to get a full charge.”

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