Show #1225
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Monday 27th September. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don’t have to.
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Hello to a new Patreon EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JERRY ADAMS
VALUE OF BATTERY METALS IN NEW ELECTRIC CARS SURGES 177%
“The EV Metal Index, which tracks the value of battery metals in newly registered passenger EVs (including hybrids) around the world, totalled $537.1 million in July, an increase of 177% over the same month last year, bringing year to date total to $3.21 billion. ” says Mining.com: “That means that almost as much EV battery metal business was done in the first seven months of 2021 than 2017 ($1.1 billion) and 2018 ($2.2 billion) combined. Total battery capacity of EVs sold during July almost doubled year on year to 19.9 GWh, according to Adamas Intelligence, which tracks demand for EV batteries by chemistry, cell supplier and capacity in over 100 countries. Average lithium on a per vehicle basis including hybrids was up 19% year over year in July, jumping from 13.1kg to just shy of 16kg. Lithium prices are up a stunning 162% year to date and now top $21,000 a tonne.”
Read more: https://www.mining.com/value-of-battery-metals-in-new-electric-cars-surges-177-year-on-year/
2022 RIVIAN R1T IS A HEAVY DUTY TRUCK?
“It turns out that the new 2022 Rivian R1T is classified as a heavy-duty pickup based on the information published in the Rivian owner’s manual. Is it all good or are there causes for concern? Here are all of the details. Let’s take a close look at this truck’s very unique features.” repotrs The Fast Lane Truck: “The current manual is approximately 178 pages long and provides great insight into this truck’s features and capabilities. The U.S. EPA agency uses a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) classification to separate all vehicles into various classes with different emissions and efficiency rating requirements. The Rivian pickup truck GVWR is listed at 8,532 lbs. This puts the R1T into the EPA Class 2b. We still do not have official information about the Ford F-150 Lightning or GMC Hummer EV truck weight ratings. The Lightning GVWR may be close to 8,500 lbs. The GMC Hummer EV truck GVWR is unknown. There is a report that the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 curb weight is 9,046 lbs. This may put the GMC Hummer EV truck GVWR well above 10,000 lbs.”
FORD WEIGHS UK OR GERMANY FOR ELECTRIC DRIVETRAIN PRODUCTION
“Ford is close to choosing one of its two transmission plants in Europe to produce electric drivetrains, sources close to the automaker say. The two plants in contention are Ford’s two former joint venture facilities with Getrag, now fully Ford owned. One is in Halewood, England, and the other is in Cologne, Germany.” says Automotive News: “The winning plant would build “e-drive” units that include an electric motor, a transmission and inverter for electric vehicles, a source said. Moving from building transmissions for internal combustion engine vehicles to e-drives for electric vehicles would secure the future of either plant as Ford moves to selling only full-electric passenger cars in Europe by 2030.”.
NIO ET7 ACHIEVES 0.208 DRAG COEFFICIENT
“NIO has officially announced that its upcoming ET7 flagship model will have a drag coefficient of 0.208, which is the second-best result for production models worldwide (on par with Tesla). A better result is noted by the Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ (0.200). The new Tesla Model S also has a drag coefficient of 0.208, while the EQS 580 4MATIC is right behind at 0.209. The Lucid Air is at 0.21.” says Mark Kane at InsideEVs: “NIO expects that its upcoming 150 kWh battery option (in late 2022) will allow the car to achieve an NEDC range of more than 1,000 km (622 miles).”
This is what NIO had to say: “”The aerodynamics team of NIO has been deeply engaged into the design and engineering of the ET7 since the very beginning. With ergonomics and cabin comfort uncompromised, the ET7’s front windshield inclination angle, radii and angles between the headlights and the front fenders, fastback design and ducktail spoiler, C pillar character lines, approach and departure angles, and wheels are optimized to make the model more aerodynamic. In the meantime, the Watchtower sensor layout on the roof, on the one hand, enables a more commanding view of the ultralong-range high-resolution LiDAR and 8-megapixel high-resolution cameras, and redefines the exterior design in the autonomous driving era, yet on the other hand, it also poses a huge challenge to the vehicle’s aero efficiency. The aerodynamics team has spared no efforts in perfecting the inclination and radii of the LiDAR and cameras, and excelling its aerodynamic performance.”
Read more: https://insideevs.com/news/535590/nio-et7-0208-drag-coefficient/
NEXT-GEN PORSCHE BOXSTER WILL BE ELECTRIC
“A recent report from Car and Driver claims that the next-gen Porsche Boxster is going fully electric. While there were rumors about such a switch circulating awhile back, C&D says it’s a sure thing and that Porsche will be ditching the Boxster’s mid-engine layout for full electrification. That’s awesome news on its own but now we’re wondering if an all-electric Audi TT could/should follow?” asks Quattrodaily.com: “The Porsche Taycan weighs over 5,000, which is just far too much for a sports car. So Porsche apparently has a target curb weight of just over 3,600 lbs for the new Boxster, which will be great for an EV sports car but will take considerable work to meet. If Porsche splits that workload with Audi, though, it not only becomes easier but also cheaper. Additionally, both brands could profit off of the work with sports cars of their own.”
https://www.quattrodaily.com/next-gen-porsche-boxster-will-be-electric-will-the-audi-tt-follow/
BATTERY LIFESPAN PROJECT TAKES SHAPE IN THE UK
“The battery analytics specialist Silver Power System partnered with Imperial College, London EV Company (LEVC) and JSCA, the research and development division of Watt Electric Vehicle Company, on an electric vehicle battery research programme designed to predict battery lifespan.” says electrive: “The project will make use of digital twin technology, which simulates a digital counterpart to a real-world system.”
Liam Mifsud, Program Manager, Silver Power Systems added: “On top of using a combination of real-world data, machine learning and the digital twin to predict future battery degradation, we can use this technology to update an EV’s software via the cloud to change algorithms or parameters to optimise the performance of the battery as the cells age and maximise battery life.”
Read more: https://www.electrive.com/2021/09/23/battery-lifespan-project-takes-shape-in-the-uk
*AD BREAK*
BEWARE OF SLOW MOVING TESLAS
“Keep in mind everyone who is granted/denied based on their driving has already paid, sometimes up to five years ago at a cost up to $10,000, for the privilege of being graded on their driving.” says Seth at electreK: “Even though I didn’t see the Safety Score Beta menu item in my app, I knew I was now being graded so I took it extremely slow. Unfortunately, the Tesla already sees 2 issues before I leave my driveway. One is a rock and a tree it thinks is an oncoming car and has been happening intermittently for months. The second is leaves on the driveway which it thinks I need to take control over even if I’m driving straight down my driveway. So before I even leave my driveway, I have 2 dings on my score. A third ding was when I was in AP and a lane closure forced an AP freakout and subsequent disengage and slamming on the brakes. Also, if you don’t follow the car in front of you relatively closely around here, people cut in front of you, causing another “unsafe following” ding – a Catch-22.”
He goes on to say: “I spent the evening driving 55mph on the highway to try to get my score up which of course pissed of just about everybody EXCEPT the other Tesla I saw doing the same thing.”
One of the readers Bill left this comment: “Tesla has excluded early FSD purchasers who have MCU1 from the FSD Beta button. Please do what you can to bring attention to this. I and others bought and paid for FSD 4-6 years ago and we’re told our cars had everything needed for FSD. Now we are being left out in the cold while other enjoy. Tesla needs to step up and either make a fork of FSD beta for MCU1 or replace everyone with FSD’s MCU1 with an MCU2 free of charge, and they need to do it quickly.”
THE RULES OF GETTING ACCESS TO TESLA BETA SOFTWARE
“Motherboard has learned that every FSD Beta tester signs a non-disclosure agreement in order to be a member of the Early Access Program (EAP), a community of Tesla aficionados the company selects. This NDA, the language of which Motherboard confirmed with multiple beta testers, specifically prohibits EAP members from speaking to the media or giving test rides to the media.” writes vice.com: “It also says: “Do remember that there are a lot of people that want Tesla to fail; Don’t let them mischaracterize your feedback and media posts.” It also encourages EAP members to “share on social media responsibly and selectively…consider sharing fewer videos, and only the ones that you think are interesting or worthy of being shared.” Owners of the vehicles opt in to being beta testers, but all the other people on the road, sidewalks, or bike lanes do not. a private company is using public roads to beta test potentially dangerous software.”
Will the next set of thos allowed access to the unfinished software also have to abide by the mantra of “a lot of people want Tesla to fail?”
TESLA IN CHINA TO HIT 300K CARS
“Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) Shanghai factory is expected to produce 300,000 cars in the first nine months of the year, capped by a delivery rush in the end of the July-September quarter, despite a global semiconductor shortage, two sources said.” reports Reuters: “Around 240,000 vehicles were shipped from the factory in the first eight months, including many for export, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. Tesla has not announced details on the factory’s production. In August, an official in the area where Tesla’s factory is located said it is expected to product 450,000 vehicles this year”.
KEY TESLA SUPPLIERS HALT PRODUCTION
“Several key Apple and Tesla suppliers have halted production at some of their Chinese facilities to comply with Beijing’s tighter energy consumption policy, putting supply-chain continuity at risk during a peak season” writes Nikkei Asia: “Eson Precision Engineering, an affiliate of Foxconn — the world’s biggest iPhone assembler — and a key mechanical parts supplier for Apple and Tesla, on Sunday said it suspended its production from Sunday until Friday at its facilities in the Chinese city of Kunshan in direct response to the city’s policy of stopping electricity supply for industrial use. The production stoppage across several Chinese provinces could send another shock wave through the global tech and automotive supply chain, which has already suffered unprecedented chip and components shortages and is still experiencing disruptions from COVID variants in Vietnam and Malaysia.”
RECORD MONTH FOR PLUGIN VEHICLES IN CHINA! WULING EV #1 IN OVERALL AUTO MARKET!
“Plugin vehicles are all the rage in China, having scored 286,000 registrations in August, a full 22% increase over the previous record, which was set in June when 235,000 registrations were made. That pulls the year-to-date (YTD) tally to 1.6 million units, and with further record months set to happen until December, we should have over 3 million registrations by the end of the year … almost three times as many as the 2020 result!” says Jose at CleanTechnica: “market share jumped through the roof, hitting 19% (15% full electrics/BEVs). This pulled the 2021 share to 12.4% (10.1% BEV), and considering that the second half of the year is usually China’s strongest, we can now safely assume that the country’s plugin vehicle market share will end above the 15% mark this year. Wuling HongGuang Mini EV – With a record 41,118 registrations last month, the tiny four-seater continued on its roll, winning another best seller title and for the first time adding a gold medal in the overall ranking to its trophy closet. If the little Wuling continues at this pace, a 400,000+ score by the end of the year is likely for the small EV.”
Read more: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/09/26/record-month-for-plugin-vehicles-in-china
WULING WANTS MORE THAN THE HONGGUANG MINI EV: IT WILL SELL THE NANOEV
“The automaker has recently revealed the arrival of a larger version of it, with a bigger battery pack, but the Chinese want more. Or less, depending on the perspective you adopt. On September 29, Wuling will present the NanoEV at the Tianjin Auto Show.” says Gus at autoevolution: “long, 1.53 m (60.2 in) wide, 1.62 m (63.8 in) tall, and have a wheelbase of 1.60 m (63 in). It is 42 cm (16.5 in) shorter than the Mini EV, but it is built on the same platform. The company must be sure there will be demand for something even smaller than a Mini EV, but it will have to make the NanoEV unbeatable from a price perspective.”
XPENG DELIVERS 50,000 P7S IN 15 MONTHS
“China’s EV startup Xpeng delivered 50,000 vehicles of its intelligent sport-sedan, the P7, in fifteen months, shattering the record of Chinese startups’ single model delivery speed, according to the results released by the automaker today.” reports Gasgoo: “Data showed Xpeng’s accumulated sales result in 2021 more than quadrupled from a year ago. In August, a total of 7,214 vehicles were delivered, 6,165 of which were of the P7, skyrocketing 209% from last year. August sales result of the P7 ranked NO.1 among domestic startups’ battery-electric models’ sales, and it also secured the Top 3 position of China’s B-class new energy sedans. ”
Read more: https://autonews.gasgoo.com/70018781.html
EVERGY WANTS APPROVAL TO PROMOTE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN KANSAS
“Government utility regulators are considering whether to approve an Evergy plan to promote electric vehicles in Kansas. Concerns remain, however, over the potential for a lack of competition and customer subsidies for clean energy.” writes Leavenworth Times: “Evergy needs approval from the Kansas Corporation Commission, which held about 11 hours of evidentiary hearings with the utility company and interested groups this week. Evergy filed its 146-page application in February for the proposed transportation electrification portfolio, which includes rebate programs, charging service rates, consumer education, administration budgeting and tracking of program costs. some organizations question whether a public utility should be stimulating demand for electric vehicles — and the electricity the company sells.”
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