Show #1087.
Today’s big EV stories:
- Biden pitches EV plan in visit to Ford electric vehicle plant
- Electric Ford F-150 Lightning’s Battery Weighs Over 1,800 Pounds By Itself
- Rivian’s Tesla Alums Lead Charge as Debut Nears for First Three EVs
- Kia introduces EV6 In Times Square
- Tesla Model 3 Charges Faster At CCS2 Than Supercharger
- Mustang Mach-E’s digital key is the best new car feature in years
- BYD Builds One-Millionth New Energy Passenger Car
- Volkswagen CEO shows off 333hp ID.X hatch
- World’s first battery-electric locomotive
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 19th May. 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.
BIDEN PITCHES EV PLAN IN VISIT TO FORD ELECTRIC VEHICLE PLANT
” President Joe Biden made the case on Tuesday for his $174 billion electric-vehicle proposal, urging automakers not to build zero-emission vehicles abroad for U.S. consumers – and even got to take a new zero-emission truck out for a drive.” says MercuryNews.com: “Biden argues the United States is falling behind China, which is selling more EVs. Biden went to a Ford test track to briefly drive the EV truck still camouflaged ahead of its official reveal on Wednesday. U.S. presidents are typically not allowed to drive by security officials. Biden ruled out consumer incentives for high-priced electric luxury models, according to a White House fact sheet, as he argues for dramatic government spending to prod Americans to buy electric vehicles. Biden is pushing for electric vehicles in the auto industry’s heartland, and trying to win over auto workers worried that more electric cars and trucks will mean fewer jobs. The White House wants to encourage new battery production facilities, which are key to ramping up U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing.”
Biden pitches EV plan in visit to Ford electric vehicle plant
ELECTRIC FORD F-150 LIGHTNING’S BATTERY WEIGHS OVER 1,800 POUNDS BY ITSELF
“The electric Ford F-150 Lightning is being revealed in full tomorrow after years of hype, even though it made a surprise appearance today. The battery-powered pickup will be one of the automaker’s most important models ever, and it signals the brand’s commitment to EVs by completely transforming the country’s best-selling vehicle, full stop.” says The Drive: “During a conversation with the F-150 Lightning’s chief engineer Linda Zhang, Biden explicitly asked the weight of the battery. Zhang revealed that it tips the scales at “over 1,800 pounds,” a point that was mentioned by Reuters reporter David Shepardson on Twitter. EV expert John Osborn says that translates to a pack capacity of around 112 kilowatt-hours.”
RIVIAN’S TESLA ALUMS LEAD CHARGE AS DEBUT NEARS FOR FIRST THREE EVS
“Rivian Automotive Inc. will soon set off on an aggressive sprint to upend the electric-vehicle business, with plans to start selling three models — a pickup truck, SUV and delivery van — in a matter of months. For this ambitious effort, it has harnessed powerful weapons: Former Tesla Inc. engineers who launched the company’s Model 3 sedan. ” says Dana Hull for Bloomberg: “Bloomberg has identified more than 50 high-level roles at Rivian occupied by former Tesla employees, from director to executive vice president. Including senior managers, that number rises to more than 100. In dotting its leadership ranks with veterans of the industry’s preeminent incumbent, Rivian has moved to improve its chances of emerging as the most credible challenger to Elon Musk’s electric car empire. But the Tesla hires stand out. Alumni of the automaker are in higher concentration in Rivian’s middle and upper management, giving chief executive officer R.J. Scaringe invaluable experience to leverage as he takes on Musk and seeks to avoid repeating his mistakes.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-05-18/rivian-s-former-tesla-employees-lead-debut-of-3-new-electric-vehicles
KIA INTRODUCES EV6 IN TIMES SQUARE
The EV6 is Kia’s first electric SUV without a gas-powered or hybrid counterpart and will be the first vehicle to reflect the car company’s complete shift in brand identity. Kia is dropping the “Motors” in its name and introducing a new logo.” reports TheHill.com: “The first piece of the brand’s electrification comes in the form of the EV6, which Kia unveiled in Times Square in New York City on Tuesday night. An illuminated stage in the middle of the famed Father Duffy Square revealed two versions of the new model following a countdown that was projected across billboards around the square.”
Kia North America’s president and CEO SeungKyu Yoon during opening remarks: “Tonight is a big moment for Kia. The EV6 is the first vehicle to launch under our plan S, which stands for ‘shift’ … it marks a new and transformative era in Kia electrification. This shift is really a transformation of our company, and includes a $25 billion dollar investment into an electric future.”
Electrek notes: “For the EV6, the drivetrain options start with a 160 kW rear motor paired with a 58 kWh battery. Upgrading to the larger 77.5 kWh allows the system to draw full power from the motor, peaking at 218 horsepower. An all-wheel-drive EV6 with a 77.4 kWh battery adds a 70 kW front motor for a total of 313 hp and a 0-60 mph time of 5.1 seconds. Maxing out the EV6’s specs in the GT version will see the front and rear motors upgraded to 160 kW and 270 kw, respectively, for a combined 576 hp and a 0-60 time of fewer than 3.5 seconds. The Nickel cobalt manganese battery offers up to a targeted 300 miles of range in its largest configuration. Kia claims that the EV6 sports the world’s first patented multi-charging system support 400V and 800V DC fast charging, working with DC chargers ranging from 50kW to 350kW. ”
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/energy/554601-kia-introduces-new-electric-vehicle-that-can-charge-in
TESLA MODEL 3 CHARGES FASTER AT CCS2 THAN SUPERCHARGER
“After the most recent DC fast charging analysis of the Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD at a Tesla V3 Supercharging station (up to 250 kW), let’s now take a look at the charging results at a general CCS Combo 2 charger in Europe.” says InsideEVs: “Tesla has retrofitted its Supercharging network in Europe with additional CCS2 plugs for the Model 3 and allowed it to charge also at third-party networks at up to 200 kW (in the case of the Long-Range battery version). Data for the CCS2 charging comes from Fastned charging network. First of all, the charging curve at CCS2 chargers is different than at the V3 Superchargers. It looks capped through a current limit in the first part. Charging never exceeds 200 kW (the peak is actually around 195 kW) despite the fact that Fastned’s charger was rated at up to 300 kW. An interesting thing is that while charging at a V3 Supercharger, at some point, the power rapidly decreases. However, at CCS2 it continues normally, exceeding Supercharger output up to 60% SOC or so. The average charging power in the very important range from 20% to 80% SOC is 128 kW, which is 66% of the peak value. For comparion, in the case of the 2021 Tesla Model 3 at V3 SC, it was 106 kW”
https://insideevs.com/news/507489/tesla-model3-charging-faster-ccs2/
MUSTANG MACH-E’S DIGITAL KEY IS THE BEST NEW CAR FEATURE IN YEARS
“After a week with the Mach-E, I can say that I never once wished I had a key with me. The car would automatically recognize my phone when I walked up to the car, just as it would if I had the key fob. The lights would turn on and the door open button (which looks a bit like an old school iPhone home button) would glow.” says Tech Republic: “Push the button and the door pops open. Then, once you step inside, a quick push of the start/stop button and the car comes to life. There is no indication that you don’t have a key with you and the experience is totally seamless.”
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/mustang-mach-e-digital-key-smartphone-iphone-android/
BYD BUILDS ONE-MILLIONTH NEW ENERGY PASSENGER CAR
BYD is today celebrating a significant production milestone by becoming one of the first new energy vehicle manufacturers globally to produce one million electric passenger cars. The one-millionth car, the Han EV, rolled off the production line today at BYD’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Shenzhen.
The landmark moment in BYD’s history coincides with the announcement that the first batch of 100 pure-electric BYD Tang SUVs are now ready for delivery to Norway – with the Scandinavian country selected as the platform for BYD’s ambitious plans in the European passenger car market. BYD also announced that a total of 1500 Tang SUVs will be delivered to Norway before the end of the year as the company commits to accelerating its European and global strategies. The initial 100 cars are scheduled for delivery to Norwegian customers in the third quarter of this year.
VOLKSWAGEN CEO SHOWS OFF 333HP ID.X HATCH
“Some of the world’s most memorable hot hatches have been created by repurposing powertrains meant for larger models – think Renaultsport Clios, Alfa 147 GTA, Audi S1 and Yaris GRMN. Now it seems the logic will be applied to electric hot hatches, too, if the new VW ID.X concept is anything to go by.” writes Pistonheads.com: “Essentially it takes the powertrain of the recently revealed ID.4 GTX and adds it to the ID.3 hatch, which means four-wheel drive (all ID.3s so far have been RWD) and a bigger 82kWh battery. But it’s been further optimised for this installation – in timeless hot hatch style – for 333hp and a possible 0-62mph time of 5.3 seconds.”
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/electric-vehicles/volkswagen-ceo-shows-off-333hp-idx-hatch/44177
WORLD’S FIRST BATTERY-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
“Rail technology company Wabtec has demonstrated an electric locomotive that could help lessen the environmental footprint of heavy-haul freight services. The company’s battery-powered FLXdrive locomotive was used as part of a hybrid system over a three-month trial, where it reduced the fuel consumption of the entire vehicle by 11 percent.” says New Atlas: “Wabtec’s FLXdrive is described as the world’s first 100-percent battery-powered locomotive, drawing on 18,000 lithium-ion battery cells to power all four axles and using an intelligent energy flow management to optimize efficiency. The 2.4-megawatt hour system can be recharged at the depot much like an electric vehicle, but also uses a regenerative braking system to top itself up when on the move. The top spec Tesla Model 3, by way of comparison, has a capacity of 75 kWh – that’s 32 times smaller than the FLXdrive.”
https://newatlas.com/transport/world-first-battery-electric-locomotive-fuel-consumption-wabtec/
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