26 May 2022 | Lucid Air Sets New Hypermiling Record Of 687 Miles

May 26, 2022, 03:50 PM

Show #1479…(headline story). Stick around and we’ll get you up to speed!


Well…Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily, your trusted source of EV information. It’s Thursday 26th May, my penultimate day of hosting the show. I’m Blake Boland, and I’ve gone through every EV story today so that you don’t have to!



Watch Lucid Air Set New Hypermiling Record Of 687 Miles

- The Lucid Air Dream Edition Range remains the world's longest-range production car, with an EPA rating of 520 miles (836 kilometers).

- Tom Moloughney got remarkably close to that in the real world by covering 500 miles in the Lucid Air in InsideEVs' 70 mph range test. But how far can the electric luxury sedan go if the driver's only concern is range?

- The plan was to drive the car at a constant 27 mph (43 km/h), switching drivers roughly every three hours. Any time the Lucid Air needed to stop or turn around, the driver would switch into neutral and coast before accelerating slowly back to 27 mph.

- However, the vehicle did not manage to break the 700-mile threshold, with the 118-kWh battery running completely out of juice after 687.4 miles (1,106.2 kilometers). That was still good enough to qualify as a world record for the longest range achieved by production electric vehicle on public roads, but still a long way from the 999-mile Guinness World Record that includes prototypes on private tracks.



Harley-Davidson selling out its newest electric motorcycle in 18 minutes

- When Harley-Davidson first unveiled its original LiveWire electric motorcycle and began taking orders nearly four years ago, the industry was largely in consensus about the bike itself. It scored impressive marks and high acclaim for performance and style, but its sales suffered due to the original lofty price of nearly $30,000 (though the price did drop to $22,000 after entering the LiveWire sub-brand). And so it’s no surprise that ever since the original launch, significant hype has been building for Harley-Davidson’s next lower-cost electric motorcycle.




CATL partners with European electric bus maker Solaris on battery supply

- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL, SHE: 300750) recently entered into a partnership with European electric bus maker Solaris to help drive the transition to electric urban mobility in Europe, the largest Chinese power battery maker announced today.

- CATL will provide Solaris' buses with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries using CTP (cell to pack) technology to drive the electrification of buses, the company said.
- Thanks to the long life and high thermal stability of CATL's LFP system, Solaris' electric buses will demonstrate significant advantages in safety and temperature resilience, CATL said.


- Solaris, based in Poland, is one of Europe's leading bus and trolleybus manufacturers, having built more than 22,000 vehicles in the past 25 years.




ADS-TEC Energy Extends Battery-Buffered Ultra-Fast EV Charging

- ADS-TEC Energy plc is extending its battery-buffered, ultra-fast EV charging portfolio in Europe, despite global supply chain and other market challenges, with the addition of ChargePost later this year. Unlike the currently-available, battery-buffered ChargeBox, which consists of a separate battery-booster module and two charging dispensers, the ChargePost consolidates battery-buffering and dispensers into a single "all-in-one" system with a large display that provides revenue-generating advertising opportunities.


Tesla releases new software update with better range calculation

- Tesla has started to release a new software update (2022.16.0.2) with a better range calculation incorporating more environmental factors and the ability for media accounts to be linked to driver profiles.

“Energy prediction for your route has been improved by incorporating forecasted crosswind, headwind, humidity and ambient temperature when using online navigation.”





Battery startup Sparkz, United Mine Workers of America announce labor-management agreement for W Va Gigafactory

- Sparkz, a battery startup with exclusive licenses from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce domestic cobalt-free lithium batteries (earlier post), and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a labor-management agreement that would mark one of the largest climate-tech union workforce partnerships in the United States.

- Sparkz announced in March it will begin construction in 2022 of a Gigafactory in West Virginia to commercialize their zero-cobalt battery which will initially employ 350 workers and could grow to as many as 3,000.



Over 300 battery gigafactories in the global pipeline

- As EV demand steadily grows, automakers and their suppliers are wisely hustling to increase battery production capacity—preferably close to their auto plants and markets. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reports that there are currently over 300 battery gigafactories in the construction or planning stages around the world.

- This represents some 6,388 GWh worth of battery capacity, a 68% increase compared to the figure a year ago.


Micro presents variants for the compact Microlino

- ‘’In total, however, the Microlino will be available in four variants, all of which will be powered by an electric motor with an output of 12.5 kW. The top speed of the electric two-seater is 90 km/h. In addition, the Microlino will be available with three battery sizes (6, 10.5 or 14 kWh), which should enable ranges of 91, 177 and 230 kilometres respectively. The respective chemical storage can be recharged via type 2. With a maximum charging power of 1.35 kW, the small battery needs four hours, the medium battery with 2.6 kW three hours and the largest battery (also 2.6 kW) four hours.’’


Volkswagen rumoured to name their estate car ID.7 Tourer

- It is no secret that Volkswagen is planning an all-electric estate car. Now it has been revealed that the electric counterparts to the Passat series, previously announced by VW as Aero A and Aero B, could come onto the market as the ID.7.



Buick Electra-X Teased As Brand's First Ultium-Based SUV Concept

- Buick China has dropped two teaser photos of an upcoming all-electric concept vehicle named Electra-X, the brand's first electric SUV concept developed on GM's Ultium platform.
- The new design study could be a more production-ready follow-up to the Buick Electra Concept from 2020, at least judging by the name and the fact it's an electric SUV.
Set to debut at the upcoming Buick China Brand Day in early June, the Electra-X is said to offer "a sneak peek at future Ultium-based EVs for Buick in China."




The commodities giant Glencore will pay $1.1 billion to settle bribery and price-fixing charges.

- The settlement was not a surprise. In February, the company set aside $1.5 billion in reserves to pay for fines and clawbacks that might result from international investigations into its operations in a handful of resource-rich countries in Africa and South America.



Tesla, GM supplier Glencore pleads guilty to $1.1bn penalty for FCPA violations

- Glencore admitted that, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it offered to pay $27.5 million to third parties to secure improper business advantages. In Venezuela, Glencore paid $1.2 million to an intermediary company that made corrupt payments that benefitted a Venezuelan official.

- Tesla receives Cobalt from Glencore’s Kamoto Copper mine in the DRC and Nickel from the company’s Murrin Murrin mine in Australia, it said in its 2021 Impact Report. GM receives Cobalt from the Murrin Murrin mine as well.


New Smart #1 SUV available to order in December 2022

- Customers will be able to reserve the all-new Smart #1 towards the end of this year, with the first 100 cars arriving in Launch Edition guise.

- The new Smart #1 is based on an all-new electric architecture from Geely, called SEA. This will underpin Smart’s forthcoming new range.

- From launch the #1 is installed with a 66kWh battery, for a claimed headline range of up to 440km (273 miles). It’s likely that more affordable, smaller battery options will be available in time, too. 


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