Tuesday 27th February 2018. Coming up today we’ll talk about Tesla being on the rise and Mercedes-Benz heading to China…
JAGUAR I-PACE LIVESTREAM DATE CONFIRMED
…but first, we’re not far away from the official launch of the first real, serious competitor to the Tesla Model X – The Jaguar I-PACE.
We’ve seen videos of them testing in California and also extreme Winter testing, which is a nod to the work Jaguar have done to minimise the issue of cold weather reducing range. This is due to an advanced battery thermal management system taking care of that 90kWh battery. It’s 4 wheel drive, motors front and rear of equal size (unlike Teslas) generating 395hp.
The headline charge time is 0-80% in 40 mins using a 100kW charger…if you can find one of them!
The live stream of the event will be 1pm Eastern, 6pm UK time, 7pm Central European Time. 5 days later it makes its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show.
According to Jaguar: “Since revealing the I-Pace Concept in 2016, we have been counting down to this moment. The all-electric I-Pace is not only a pioneer within our business, it promises to revolutionize the industry. Never before have I been so excited for a launch –the world is watching with great anticipation and I cannot wait for the world to see everything we have achieved with this car.”
If you’d like to read more about the I-PACE between now and launch, I’d recommend the most recent issue of Autovolt magazine.
https://carbuzz.com/news/look-out-tesla-jaguar-i-pace-production-ev-to-premiere-this-week
VOLVO CALL TIME ON NEW ENGINE DEVELOPMENT
Lead time and life cycles of cars and their parts is one clue to where companies think they’ll be at points of time in the future. From your mobile phone which probably get an annual refresh to a 4-cylinder petrol engine that might have a 6-7 product cycle. Now Volvo has said that the current crop of petrol engines will be the last it develops, which indicates where Volvo thinks the money will be in 7 years and what time of cars they’ll be selling.
Volvo were the first major manufacturer to commit to every model being electrified by 2019. However we expect to see them making the most of their investment in engines, and add soft hybrid or full hybrid power to those. Volvo are expected to add up to 3 all electric models in the next three years, not including their spin-off Polestar.
http://www.thedrive.com/news/18788/volvo-is-done-developing-gasoline-engines-report-says
TESLA ON THE RISE AGAIN
Tesla’s market capitalisation topped $60bn yesterday, as shares on Monday 26th Feb over $357. With shares up 20% it could be on it’s way to beating the previous best of $386.
Meanwhile Bloomberg estimate over 1,000 Model 3’s are being produced every week – or around 150 every day. And last week we heard that non-Tesla owners were finally being allowed to order their cars.
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-tsla-60-billion-market-cap-model-3-production-upbeat/
CROWDFUNDING CONTINUES THE UNITI ONE STORY
At the other end of the spectrum, away from $150,000 Tesla SUVs, is a small Swedish car company called Uniti. They used a crowdfunding campaign to raise 12m Euro for the small ciry car with a 22kWh battery which, due to light weight, can carry the car for 300kms. Part of the battery is also removable to take with you and charge in your office.
So far 2,000 people have made a pre-order for the 15,000 Euro Uniti One, with deliveries set for next year.
http://www.livingit.euronews.com/2018/02/26/crowdfunded-electric-car-to-hit-market
MERCEDES-BENZ THE NEXT IN LINE TO MAKE CARS IN CHINA
And finally, we’ve only just digested the news that Geely bought a large stake in Daimler, and now Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it will make their cars thanks to a tie-up with another Chinese company. This time it’s the state-owned BAIC, and an investment of 1.5bn Euros will see a new production facility to made the EQ electric cars. The first model to be made will be the EQ SUV due for release next year.
https://electriccarsreport.com/2018/02/mercedes-benz-make-electric-vehicles-china/
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