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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 Friday 13th July it’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don’t have to.
Goodwood Festival of Speed: Showcase of EVs
The 2023 Festival of Speed featured the Audi Hoonitron, a tribute to the original Quattro, driven up the hill by Audi Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen.
Porsche’s Mission X, a potential supercar, was on display at the Porsche stand, drawing attention for its stunning design.
Pininfarina’s Battista Nino Farina, a hypercar with a design inspired by the first F1 World Champion Nino Farina, was driven up the hill by Nick Heidfeld.
Caterham’s Project V, an electric sports car weighing under 1,200kg and 300PS of power, was on display but did not run on the hill.
The McMurtry Speirling Pure, a fan-powered aero car, was seen running on the hill.
Other cars which drive were the AIM EV Sport 01, the BMW i5, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, MG’s EX4. the Alpine A290B (a sporty version of the Renault 5 EV) and Lotus Eletre R.
Polestar 3 and 5 Prototype: A Dynamic Debut at Goodwood Festival
Polestar showcased almost its entire lineup at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, including the Polestar 3 electric SUV and the latest iteration of the Polestar 5 prototype making a debut.
The Polestar 5, still fully camouflaged as it is the latest verification prototype, is set to launch in 2024. It features aggressively sculpted front and rear bumpers, flush door handles, and a body panel instead of a rear window.
The Polestar 5 is expected to offer up to 871 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque from a dual-motor AWD powertrain, with a targeted range of 600 kilometers (372 miles).
The Polestar 3, the updated Polestar 2 with rear-wheel drive, and the Polestar electric roadster concept were also on display at the main Polestar stand.
The Polestar 3 is available for online orders and will soon appear in Polestar Spaces in all markets, with deliveries expected to start in Q2 2024.
Hyundai IONIQ 5 N: A Race Ready EV
Hyundai has revealed its first all-electric N car, the Ioniq 5 N, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK.
The Ioniq 5 N, a performance-driven version of the Ioniq 5 EV, has been overhauled with updated styling, aerodynamic tweaks, and a host of performance upgrades.
The car can be ordered in front or dual motor setups, with the dual motor setup producing an impressive 640 hp (with NGB mode – N Grin Boost), double the power of the standard car.
The Ioniq 5 N can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 161 mph, making it the fastest and highest-performing N production car Hyundai has ever produced.
The Ioniq 5 N uses the same battery pack as the standard Ioniq 5, but revised battery chemistry increases the usable capacity to 84.0 kWh from 77.4 kWh, and equipped with new thermal management tools to maximize performance, including stacked radiators, improved oil and battery chillers, and additional air intake vents.
Drivers can control the cooling of the battery depending on their driving style, with modes like Drag for sudden bursts of power and Track for optimum lap time.
The car’s exterior modifications, including wider front and rear bumpers, active air flaps, and a pronounced rear wing and diffuser, are mainly for functional purposes.
Inside, the car features front buckets available in either cloth and leather or faux suede and leather. It also incorporates two “N” mode quick-select buttons, a standard drive mode selection toggle, and the N Grin Boost button.
The Ioniq 5 N also features new brakes, regenerative braking, upgrades to the suspension and steering, and 21-inch forged aluminum wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tires.
To appeal to combustion car enthusiasts, Hyundai has introduced a simulated gearbox called N E-Shift, which simulates the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission of internal combustion engine N cars. The E-Shift simulates gearshifts by controlling the torque of the Ioniq 5 N’s motors and can even simulate missed shifts.
The simulated gearbox is paired with a system of simulated engine sounds called N Active Sound+, which delivers futuristic EV sounds as well as internal combustion engine-like engine and exhaust sounds.
The N Active Sound+ system uses 10 speakers, eight inside the car and two on the outside, to play out three different sound themes.
The Ioniq 5 N features specific suspension calibrations, including bushing tolerances, three-position electronically controlled dampers, and spring tuning. An aluminum two-piece lower control arm is added to the standard Ioniq 5’s stamped steel unit.
The Ioniq 5 N is equipped with the biggest brakes ever fitted to a Hyundai, with four-piston fixed calipers squeezing 15.7-inch rotors at the front and a single-piston slider pinching a 14.2-inch rotor at the back.
The Ioniq 5 N is set to arrive early in 2024 and will be offered in 10 colors, including the N-specific Performance Blue, in both gloss and matte finishes.
2024 GMC Hummer EV 3X Pickup Gets a Range Boost
The 2024 GMC Hummer EV 3X Pickup is getting an update for more range in the new model year.
Instead of 355 miles, the new long-range version of the 3X Pickup will go 381 miles. This range figure is achievable with the 24-module battery pack option.
The standard option is a new 20-module unit, while the previously standard 24-module is now available as an option.
The range estimate is with the standard 22-inch wheels and 35-inch All-Terrain tires. If you opt for the Extreme Off-Road Package, which adds 18-inch wheels with 35-inch Mud-Terrain tires, GMC’s range estimate for the 24-module battery drops to 359 miles, up from the previous year’s 329 miles.
The Hummer EV Pickup does not require EPA testing due to its weight, but GMC’s estimates are calculated using the same test cycle as the EPA.
The 24-module battery is also the option to get if you want maximum acceleration. GMC quotes a 0-60 mph time of three seconds using the Watts to Freedom launch control. If you opt for the 20-module battery, the 0-60 mph time is 3.5 seconds.
The Hummer EV Pickup comes well equipped, with standard items including rear-wheel steering with the CrabWalk diagonal drive capability, adaptive air suspension, and Super Cruise automated driver-assist which now covers more than 400,000 miles of roads across the U.S. and Canada.
Towing capacity is a maximum of 8,500 pounds but drops to 7,500 pounds with the Extreme Off-Road Package. This package adds four additional underbody camera views for a total of 18 camera views, heavy-duty ball-spline half-shafts, and underbody protection including five skid plates, shields for the battery and motors, and rocker protection.
Pricing for the 2024 Hummer EV Pickup starts at $106,945, and pricing for the 2024 Hummer EV SUV starts at $100,395. Both figures include destination.
GMC said reservations have topped more than 90,000, split evenly between the Pickup and SUV.
Rivian R1T Dual-Motor Performance Doesn’t Sacrifice Much
The Rivian R1T Dual-Motor is a more sensible variant of the R1T Quad-Motor, offering 533 hp, which can be increased to 665 hp with a $5000 Performance package.
The 128.9-kWh “Large” battery provides up to 352 miles of range, but the 22-inch wheels drop the EPA’s rating to 341 miles. Available all-terrain tires cut range even further to 307 miles.
The Dual-Motor splits the output across the front and rear axles. From there, brake-based torque vectoring routes the torque to the wheel with the most traction. This reduces the R1T’s ability off-road, where the four-wheel vectoring is key for sniffing out every last bit of traction.
If you don’t care about winning stoplight drag races, skipping the Performance pack will save you $5K while still providing the ability to sprint to 60 mph in a Rivian-estimated 4.5 seconds.
The dual-motor version is powered by Rivian’s in-house Enduro drive units. Rivian began production of the drive units in February as the EV maker shut down a portion of its EDV assembly line to make room.
Rivian Pass-Through Charging Could Use Its EVs as Extension Cords
Rivian has filed a patent application for a pass-through charging system that would allow its electric trucks to pass current from vehicle to vehicle.
The system described in the application could solve the problem of multiple vehicles needing to be charged in a single location where there may not be room for enough chargers.
The system would essentially turn electric vehicles into extension cords. One vehicle could plug into both a conventional charger and a second vehicle, which in turn would plug into another vehicle. A switching device would allow power to be sent either to the battery pack, as in conventional charging, or to an output that would pass electricity to another vehicle.
This isn’t advised for most current EVs or charging systems, and it might void warranties. But such a system could potentially bypass such concerns.
The patent drawings include Combined Charging Standard (CCS) connectors, indicating AC or DC might be used.
Such a system could be used where space is an issue, such as when two vehicles are parked close together in a private garage, or rows of vehicles are parked in a commercial fleet garage.
Towing isn’t mentioned in the application, but pass-through charging might add some flexibility there as well, where disconnecting from a trailer to reach a charger would be inconvenient.
Rivian has also filed a patent application for fanned air cooling to help improve fast-charging performance, and it announced the addition of Magic Dock-compatible Superchargers back in March.
To improve accessibility for its customers, Rivian recently committed to the Tesla Supercharger network and its North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector, and acquired A Better Routeplanner to help drivers find chargers. And Rivian is still building its own charging network, with an emphasis on backwoods locations.
Legal Hurdles for Ford’s Michigan EV Battery Plant
Ford’s under-construction EV battery plant, known as BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, is facing legal challenges from a group of residents in Marshall, Michigan, where the plant is being built.
The group, named the Committee for Marshall-Not the Megasite, is seeking to reduce the size of the plant and establish a large nature area around it.
The committee is attempting to repeal the rezoning request that has already been approved for the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan site. They want the issue to be put to a public vote.
Judge William Marietti has temporarily blocked Ford and the state from intervening in the case. He is expected to issue a written opinion on whether an appropriation included in a May rezoning ordinance violated the city charter.
The committee’s petition drive was rejected by Marshall’s city clerk because some of the people who issued the petitions were not members of the committee. The judge will also rule on this matter.
Tesla’s New Software Update: Full Control of Wipers from the Steering Wheel
Tesla has released an over-the-air software update, version 2023.20, that includes a feature allowing users to adjust the speed of their windshield wipers directly from the steering wheel. This feature was requested by many Model 3 and Model Y owners.
This update allows drivers to customize the left steering wheel button to adjust the speed of the wipers, turn them off, or set them to auto, without having to activate the wipers first.
Previously, users could adjust the wiper speed by tilting the scroll wheel left and right, but this only worked after pressing the left stalk button to activate the wipers.
Elon Musk recently apologized on Twitter for the poor performance of the auto-sensing wipers feature. He mentioned that it was one of the last neural nets to be upgraded from single camera/single frame to surround video, which will allow the car to pull information from all its video cameras for a better understanding of the environment.
The latest software version also includes improvements to the Full Self-Driving Beta driver assistance system, a new smartphone app feature that allows owners to set a PIN code that has to be entered before driving off, a new screen that shows how many miles it’s been since the last tire service, and the ability to preview any of the car’s video cameras.
Tesla’s Shanghai Factory Celebrates Production of One Millionth Model Y
Tesla’s Shanghai factory, the first wholly foreign-owned automotive manufacturing project in China, has reached a significant milestone with the production of its one millionth Model Y vehicle.
The factory, which began operations at the end of 2019, started delivering Model 3 sedans in January 2020 and Model Y crossovers in January 2021 to local consumers.
The Shanghai factory is Tesla’s largest and has a capacity of more than 1 million vehicles per year. It not only supplies vehicles to customers in China but also serves as an export centre for the EV maker.
In the second quarter of 2023, Tesla sold 247,217 China-made vehicles, contributing 53 percent of global deliveries. The locally produced Model Y has quickly surpassed the Model 3 in sales and become one of China’s best-selling SUVs since deliveries began in China in January 2021.
Tesla is reportedly working to retool its Shanghai assembly plant for a revamped version of the Model 3, codenamed Highland by Tesla, which is expected to go into production in Shanghai in September. In addition to the Highland version of Model 3, Tesla is preparing production modifications to the Model Y, codenamed Project Juniper, with production targeted to begin in 2024.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, visited the Shanghai Gigafactory earlier this year. He praised the Tesla China SDS teams for overcoming various challenges and stated that the cars produced in China are not only the most efficient but also the highest quality.
Tesla is planning to double its capacity in Germany
Tesla had submitted the first application for the expansion of its plant in Grünheide in March 2023. The company aims to increase its production capacity from the current 500,000 units to one million electric cars per year. The expansion will also include an increase in battery storage production capacity from currently 50 to 100 gigawatt-hours per year.
Tesla had previously postponed its plans for series production of battery cells in Grünheide to prioritize the USA due to the prospect of extensive subsidies. However, the company remains committed to battery production in Germany.
The expansion of vehicle production will involve the construction of another large hall to accommodate the additional production units. Changes and optimizations to the already constructed production facilities are also planned.
Tesla is changing its approach to permitting. For the construction of the first phase, the company had worked with numerous preliminary permits, even before the comprehensive overall permit was available. Now, Tesla plans to apply for the project in several partial approval steps
Tesla’s Potential Rise to India’s Third-Largest Car Manufacturer
Tesla has submitted an initial proposal to establish manufacturing operations in India, potentially making it the country’s third-largest car manufacturer after Maruti and Hyundai.
The company plans to build a Gigafactory with an annual capacity to produce about half a million electric vehicles.
Tesla and Indian government officials will hold further meetings to discuss localisation plans, including the identification of a suitable location for the Gigafactory.
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