EV News Daily

Show #1372

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Sunday 13th February. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

Welcome to a new PATREON PRODUCER ROB HAMMOND. If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

- Volvo expects one in 10 of the cars it sells in 2022 to be pure electric, almost doubling the percentage share of zero-emissions vehicles it sold in the final quarter of last year.

- The Swedish brand’s round-up of financial results revealed that amid a record year for revenue, 34 per cent of Volvo’s sales in Q4 2021 were of chargeable vehicles - and six per cent were cars without a combustion engine altogether.

- Volvo’s outgoing CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the firm is “on track” to be fully electric by 2030, despite the still-modest proportion of EV sales.

Original Source : https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volvo/357330/volvo-sales-will-be-10-cent-electric-cars-2022

- Ford’s remote vehicle app FordPass was updated a week ago, and Electrek reports that it contains a set of image files hinting at a possible driverless parking assistant feature.

- The images have filenames beginning with “freeDriveBehind” and “freeDriveForward,” which show stencil drawings of what looks like an overhead view of a Ford F-150 Lighting with arrows pointing from the rear-back and the front-forward, respectively.

- Associated images included also show the electric truck’s front view in between two Mustang Mach-Es while a checkbox displays on an iPhone, which is a fairly apt representation of a driver-free parking function.

- Hyundai most recently came out with such a feature using just the key fob called Smart Park (aka Smaht Park).

Original Source : https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/10/22927722/fords-mobile-app-update-new-driverless-parking-features

- Skoda has revealed pricing and specification details for the new Enyaq Coupé iV vRS, the first electric car from the Czech firm to gain a performance variant.

- Prices start from £51,885 and order books open on 17 February, with the first customer deliveries due for the end of July this year.

- Similar to the closely related Volkswagen ID 5 GTX, the Enyaq Coupé vRS uses two electric motors – one on each axle – to offer 295bhp and 338lb ft for 0-62mph in 6.5sec and a top speed of 111mph, compared with 99mph for the standard versions.

- It's equipped exclusively with a 77kWh battery, the largest unit offered with the Volkswagen Group's MEB architecture, offering a range of 309 miles. The identically powered and similarly shaped ID 5 GTX, meanwhile, manages 296 miles per charge.

- Skoda says the sporty vRS can be charged at rates of up to 135kW

Original Source : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-2022-skoda-enyaq-coup%C3%A9-iv-vrs-sale-%C2%A351885

- he Ford F-150 Lightning with the larger 131-kWh battery pack weighs less than one of its biggest rivals, the Rivian R1T, when equipped with its highest-capacity battery pack. The total curb weight of the F-150 Lightning is a not-unreasonable 6,590 pounds, making it an absolute featherweight next to the 9,046-pound GMC Hummer EV

- That’s according to Ford’s eSourceBook for the F-150 Lightning, which was posted by the folks at the F150gen14 forum.

- the Rivian R1T’s biggest battery pack is 180 kWh to the Lightning’s 131 kWh. Still, the Ford F-150 Lightning’s relatively low curb weight (for a battery-electric pickup) should have a positive impact in a number of areas, like its acceleration, braking, and handling.

- The base F-150 Lightning’s 2,000-pound payload rating is nothing to sneeze at, and it’s nearly 54 percent more than the Silverado EV RST

· Original Source : https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/ford-f-150-lightning-weighs-less-than-a-rivian-hauls-more-than-a-silverado-ev/

- XPeng will open pre-sales for its flagship SUV G9 at the 2022 Beijing Auto Show in April and first deliveries will begin as early as the end of August, according to a local media report.

- The XPeng G9, the fourth model of XPeng and the first to be released after its brand refresh, was unveiled on November 19 last year during the Guangzhou Auto Show. The upcoming Beijing Auto Show will be held from April 21 to 30.

- When XPeng announced the G9, it unveiled only a portion of the model's specifications, including an 800-volt high-voltage SiC electric drive system and a range of more than 200 kilometers on a five-minute charge.

Original Source : https://cnevpost.com/2022/02/11/xpeng-said-to-start-g9-pre-sales-in-april-first-deliveries-in-aug-at-earliest/

XPENG EXPANDS ITS PRESENCE IN EUROPE TO TWO NEW COUNTRIES | INSIDEEVS

Original Source : https://insideevs.com/news/566695/xpeng-expands-europe-sweden-netherlands/

RARE GM EV1 ELECTRIC CAR SPOTTED AT AUSTRALIAN AUTO MUSEUM | THEDRIVEN

Original Source : https://thedriven.io/2022/02/11/rare-gm-ev1-electric-car-spotted-at-australian-auto-museum/

Original Source : https://www.hotcars.com/watch-the-audi-rs-q-e-tron-tested-on-snow-and-ice/

RALLYE DAKAR: THE HIGH-VOLTAGE BATTERY IN THE AUDI RS Q E-TRON | AUDI MEDIACENTER

Original Source : https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/rallye-dakarthe-high-voltage-battery-in-the-audi-rs-q-e-tron-14453

2024 PORSCHE MACAN EV SPY SHOTS AND VIDEO | MOTORAUTHORITY

Original Source : https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121699_2024-porsche-macan-electric-spy-shots-video

ELECTRIC CARS COMPARED BY PRICE PER MILE OF EPA RANGE | INSIDEEVS

Original Source : https://insideevs.com/news/566438/bev-price-per-range-20220209

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Show #1371

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 11th February. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

Welcome to a new PATREON PRODUCER ROB HAMMOND. If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

- The Biden administration said on Thursday that it would require states to submit proposals to line highways with electric vehicle chargers, part of a $5 billion plan to fill a gap in the infrastructure needed to support booming sales of battery-powered cars.

- The administration outlined a relatively speedy timetable for deploying an initial instalment of $615 million. All 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, would be required to submit plans by the beginning of August explaining how they would install high-voltage chargers along or very close to major highways.

- The chargers must be no more than 50 miles apart, and states are encouraged to place them at rest areas or other places with food and other services. Federal officials must decide by the end of September whether to approve the states’ plans.

Original Source : https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/business/electric-vehicle-chargers-biden.html

- The White House also detailed more plans for the manufacturing of EV chargers: 

Siemens will produce 1 million EV chargers by 2025

ABB, which currently manufactures transit bus chargers in the US, will expand its US EV charging manufacturing operations, including Level 2 and DC Fast Chargers, over the next five years.

Dunamis Clean Energy Partners, a Black- and woman-owned EV charger manufacturer based in Detroit, will manufacture Level 2 EV chargers and charging connectors in a new production facility in Detroit beginning this summer

The new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation also launched a new website this week, which can be found at DriveElectric.gov. There, officials can find links to technical assistance, data and tools for states, and careers.

Original Source : https://electrek.co/2022/02/10/biden-announces-5-billion-over-5-years-for-a-nationwide-ev-charging-network/

- The creation of the joint office was first announced in December 2021, and the funds will come from the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, established by the bipartisan infrastructure act signed into law by President Biden in November.

- All that money is to build charging infrastructure for battery-electric vehicles only—not for hydrogen or other alternative-energy vehicles, the DOT clarified. The DOT also said it expects many of the states to look to the private sector to build and maintain the charging stations.

- Over the past six years, 40 states have already created designated Alternative Fuel Corridors, much of which follows the interstate highway system, and that will be "the spine of the new national EV charging network,"

- Once these corridors are filled in, states will be asked to plan more "community based" charging that could reach more rural and underserved areas away from major highway systems.

- The government agency released a state-by-state list showing how it intends to distribute that initial $615 million in fiscal 2022. California can expect $56.7 million; Texas, $60.3 million; while Kansas gets $5.8 million and Wyoming gets $3.9 million.

- The feds want to emphasize that getting the charging stations from domestic suppliers is a priority in this program. For instance, the DOT noted, President Biden met this week with a charging station manufacturer, Tritium, that plans to break ground on a facility in Tennessee with six production lines producing 30,000 DC fast chargers per year. Bigger names are also getting in on the process—the White House said Siemens will expand its U.S. operations and plans to produce a million EV charging units by 2025.

Original Source : https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39027778/dot-ev-charging-network-details/

- Valeo agreed to acquire Siemens' stake in their 5-year-old electric-car components venture to bolster its position in the rapidly expanding EV market.

- Valeo also announced a plan to develop a new electric motor with Renault. The companies said they would be the first to mass produce a 200-kilowatt electric motor without using rare earth materials, starting in 2027. Production of the motor for the automaker's own needs will be based at Renault Group's plant in Cléon, France.

- Valeo and Siemens joined forces on Valeo Siemens eAutomotive in 2016 to make e-motors, axles and powertrain electronics for plug-in hybrids and full-electric vehicles.

- By the end of 2022, more than 90 electric and plug-in hybrid models will be fitted with Valeo's electric powertrain systems, motors, inverters or onboard chargers, the supplier said.

Original Source : https://europe.autonews.com/suppliers/valeo-buys-out-siemens-ev-components-venture

- Mini is still testing the next-generation of its model under camouflage, trying to pass it off as one of its current models. However, we have actually seen leaked photos of the model set to arrive next year, and the front end certainly looks very similar to that of the refreshed current model, but the rear end is noticeably different.

- . The interior has also been given a major revamp, featuring a completely new and more minimalistic design.

- There’s currently no word on specs for the electric Mini, but it will surely get a bigger battery than what equips the current Cooper SE (one of the lowest-range EVs you can buy). With just 28.9 kWh usable capacity, it has a real world range of under 124 miles (200 km) - its EPA estimate of 114 miles is actually a bit conservative, and it should do a bit more.

Original Source : https://insideevs.com/news/566563/mini-cooper-electric-spied-again/

- A record 286.2 GWh of passenger EV battery capacity was deployed onto roads globally in 2021—a 113% increase over 2020—as battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales surged year-over-year, according to Adamas Intelligence.

- By cell supplier, China-based CATL took the lead in 2021 with a record 87.8 GWh deployed onto roads globally (31% of the global total)—a 204% increase over 2020 on the back of an ever-broadening book of supply agreements with Chinese, European and North American automakers.

- In 2021, 21% of all passenger EV battery capacity deployed onto roads by CATL went into MIC Tesla Model 3s and Model Ys, making Tesla the cell supplier’s widest channel to market for the calendar year.

Original Source : https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/02/20220210-adamas.html

- Global shipping bottlenecks and soaring freight rates have created a "logistics nightmare" that is complicating the rollout of lithium-ion battery storage systems, according to Enphase Energy President and CEO

- California-based company, known primarily for its solar panel power electronics, has navigated the backups and markups to launch a new residential energy storage business during the coronavirus pandemic. That included a 53% quarterly jump in shipments of its battery storage package to roughly 100 MWh in the final three months of 2021.

- Other companies involved in renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicles, including AES Clean Energy Development and Tesla, have also cited the logistical logjam as a major limitation.

  Such difficulties come as homeowners and businesses look increasingly to battery storage to provide electricity when grid power fails, such as during more frequent wildfires in the western US. Grid operators like the California ISO and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are also seeking fast-response resources to help transmission systems ride through heat waves and cold snaps.

- Enphase has seen some supply-chain headaches abate, including the availability of semiconductor chips and battery cells.

On the podcast today:

·       Battery enhancements and specification changes for Hyundai IONIQ 5 | Hyundai Media Newsroom

·       2023 Kia Sportage PHEV debuts with 32-mile electric range estimate - Roadshow

·       Ford Starts Delivering E-Transit EV Trucks to Customers | Autoweek

·       Did Ford Just Buy A Lucid Air To Benchmark Future EVs Against? | InsideEVs

·       Nissan to end most development of new gasoline engines - Nikkei Asia

·       Samsung SDI Voluntarily Recalls EV Batteries in the U.S. | Businesskorea

·       Tesla recalls nearly 27,000 EVs over defrosting problem - Roadshow

·       Tesla Model Y, Model 3 Enters Top 5 Best Selling Cars in California in 2021 | Tech Times

·       Tesla production in Germany to start mid-March at earliest | Automotive News Europe

·       Tesla posts jobs for Giga Berlin paint shop | Teslarati

·       First Production Equipment Arrives at Tesla's Giga Berlin - Tesla Daily

·       Tesla spotted working on new Cybertruck prototype, drone gets dangerously close - Electrek

·       Spy photos show Lotus doing road testing of Type 132 SUV - CNevPost

·       Second-hand electric vehicles are being sold at record rates | iNews

·       Hawaiian Electric program to encourage electric vehicle chargers | Daily Energy Insider

Show #1370

If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Thursday 10th February. 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.

- For the first time, the updated IONIQ 5 will be available with video-based digital interior and exterior mirrors. The Digital Centre Mirror (DCM) optimises visibility by providing an unobstructed, panoramic rear-facing view of the car. The DCM camera is installed below IONIQ 5’s rear spoiler.

- will also offer Digital Side Mirrors (DSM). Already available for Korean-spec IONIQ 5 models, this high-tech feature will be available in Europe for the first time in a Hyundai Motor Group vehicle. The DSM reduce air resistance and will provide IONIQ 5 customers with an enhanced rear view, even in bad weather.

- the new battery conditioning feature will enable IONIQ 5 to automatically adapt its battery temperature while travelling to ensure optimal charging conditions when reaching the charging point, improving real-life charging performance in hot or cold ambient conditions. This function activates automatically when a charging point is entered into the vehicle’s navigation system using connected routing.

- Smart Frequency Dampers (SFD) will improve the response of the rear axle suspension to increase ride comfort as well as improving both body control and handling.

- Updated IONIQ 5 is enhanced with a new 77.4kWh battery pack

Original Source : https://www1.hyundai.news/uk/model-news/battery-enhancements-and-specification-changes-for-hyundai-ioniq-5/

- Kia's portfolio of electrified vehicles grew by one this morning with the announcement of the 2023 Kia Sportage PHEV, a plug-in hybrid version of the automaker's compact SUV with a target electric-only range of 32 miles.

- Kia's fifth-generation Sportage debuted late last year and was quickly joined by a Sportage Hybrid variant. The Sportage PHEV joins the lineup with a larger battery pack and plug-in power.

- Under the hood, you'll find a 177-horsepower, 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a 66.9-kW electric motor

- Kia has specified that it is targeting 32 miles of electric range from a 2-hour recharge

- he plug-in Sportage will feature a 7.2 kW high-efficiency onboard charger

- feeding a 13.8-kWh lithium polymer battery

Original Source : https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2023-kia-sportage-phev-debut/

- Ford has begun delivering the first battery-electric E-Transit vans to customers, with the vehicles produced at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. The start of deliveries marks an important milestone in Ford's electrification strategy, and is taking place ahead of the start of production of the Ford F-150 Lightning later this spring.

- The automaker offers the E-Transit in a variety of versions, including three wheelbases and three roof heights, as well as in cutaway and chassis cab forms, with a top estimated range of 126 miles. All versions of the van use a 68-kWh battery powering a single rear-mounted motor producing 266 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque. The model starts at $43,295 in cutaway form, prior to destination charges and the $7500 federal tax credit, while the lowest-priced cargo van starts at $47,185 before destination charges and incentives.

- Stellantis is certainly building battery-electric work vans at the moment, but it's only offering them in Europe under Opel, Vauxhall and Citroen brands, and is not expected to offer a version of that particular vehicle family stateside.

Original Source : https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a39014260/2022-ford-e-transit-ev-cargo-van-deliveries/

- a Lucid Air was seen at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan facility posing next to a Mustang Mach-E. It’s probably not for benchmarking the Mach-E against it, but perhaps Ford will compare some other future electric offerings to it.

- These photos were sent to us by our spies without any context, so we had to try to explain what they show. It could just be a Lucid owner who knew someone at Ford brought their own personal Air just for Ford guys to take a look around the vehicle, but there's probably more to it than that.

- We still think that either Ford or more likely Lincoln is working on a vehicle that’s similar to the Air, otherwise it would have chosen another vehicle from a rival brand to compare against.

Original Source : https://insideevs.com/news/566378/ford-lucid-air-dearborn-michigan/

- Nissan Motor will end development of new internal combustion engines in all its major markets except the U.S. and focus its resources on electric vehicles, becoming the first major Japanese automaker to make such a break, Nikkei has learned.

- Nissan has already stopped developing gasoline engines for sale in Europe.Limited development will continue on gasoline engines for the U.S. market, mainly those used in pickup trucks, where it expects a certain level of demand.

- In Europe, new Euro 7 emissions standards are on track to go into effect as early as 2025. Nissan has determined these rules will raise the cost of developing internal combustion engines to unsustainable levels.

- As gasoline vehicles remain on the roads, Nissan will improve existing engine designs rather than develop new ones. Plants that produce engines will remain open, and no job cuts are planned at this stage, people familiar with the company's plans said.

Original Source : https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Nissan-to-end-most-development-of-new-gasoline-engines

- The company submitted a plan to recall high-voltage batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) of U.S. carmakers Ford and Stellantis to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Jan. 28 (local time), the NHTSA said on Feb. 4.

- Samsung SDI thinks that a total of 1,163 high-voltage battery modules and 100 vehicles have related problems. “A sudden loss of driving power due to a high-voltage battery error expands the risk of collision,” the NHTSA explained on its website.

- Samsung SDI said that the battery defect was triggered by poor welding between cell terminals and bus bars supplied by its partner Nexplus.

Original Source : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html

- Tesla is recalling 26,681 of its Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X electric vehicles due to windshields that may not defrost quickly enough. The condition, which affects select cars of the company's 2021 and 2022 model-year EVs, can result in diminished visibility, increasing the likelihood of a crash.

- According to documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recall website, the issue stems from a software error that can open a heat-pump valve unintentionally. This condition can "trap the refrigerant inside the evaporator, resulting in decreased defrosting performance." That means the affected Tesla vehicles might not match the minimum performance requirement outlined in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard rules.

- Tesla developed the heat pump for 2020 model-year vehicles after owners of older models complained of poor cold-weather performance. In March of 2020, Musk tweeted, "Model Y heat pump is some of the best engineering I've seen in a while. Team did next-level work."

- This is the third Tesla safety recall announced in recent weeks

Original Source : https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-recall-defroster-heat-pump-problem

On the podcast today:

·       Battery enhancements and specification changes for Hyundai IONIQ 5 | Hyundai Media Newsroom

·       2023 Kia Sportage PHEV debuts with 32-mile electric range estimate - Roadshow

·       Ford Starts Delivering E-Transit EV Trucks to Customers | Autoweek

·       Did Ford Just Buy A Lucid Air To Benchmark Future EVs Against? | InsideEVs

·       Nissan to end most development of new gasoline engines - Nikkei Asia

·       Samsung SDI Voluntarily Recalls EV Batteries in the U.S. | Businesskorea

·       Tesla recalls nearly 27,000 EVs over defrosting problem - Roadshow

·       Tesla Model Y, Model 3 Enters Top 5 Best Selling Cars in California in 2021 | Tech Times

·       Tesla production in Germany to start mid-March at earliest | Automotive News Europe

·       Tesla posts jobs for Giga Berlin paint shop | Teslarati

·       First Production Equipment Arrives at Tesla's Giga Berlin - Tesla Daily

·       Tesla spotted working on new Cybertruck prototype, drone gets dangerously close - Electrek

·       Spy photos show Lotus doing road testing of Type 132 SUV - CNevPost

·       Second-hand electric vehicles are being sold at record rates | iNews

·       Hawaiian Electric program to encourage electric vehicle chargers | Daily Energy Insider

Show #1369

If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 9th February. 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.

- U.S. President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged the role of Tesla (TSLA.O) in U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing on Tuesday, after Chief Executive Elon Musk repeatedly complained about being ignored.

- Last month, Biden met with General Motors (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra, and the White House has repeatedly praised the Detroit automaker's electric vehicle efforts, even though it is selling far fewer EVs than Tesla.

- After Biden's met with Barra in January and tweeted a video of the two talking, Musk replied "Starts with a T/Ends with an A/ESL in the middle" and then compared Biden to a "damp sock puppet.

- Asked in August whether the White House did not invite Musk because workers at Tesla are not unionized, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: "I'll let you draw your own conclusion."

Original Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/after-months-complaint-by-elon-musk-biden-acknowledges-tesla-2022-02-08/

- VW Group is reportedly reducing the ordering possibilities of its dealers and introducing a quota system for sales partners. Accordingly, larger dealers will be able to order more vehicles than smaller ones.

- According to dealers, customers are currently waiting around twelve months for an ID.3, while Volkswagen itself speaks of a delivery period of “more than nine months”. The situation is similar for the Audi Q4 e-tron, also built in Zwickau: those who order now will not receive the vehicle until mid-2023, and according to the manufacturer they will wait “around twelve months”.

- In other words, large dealers can order more ID.3 and ID.4 than smaller ones. With an annual target of the distributor of up to 999 vehicles, 15 ID.3 and 25 ID.4 can be ordered, the letter says.

Original Source : https://www.electrive.com/2022/02/08/vw-considers-ev-quotas-for-dealerships

- . We are well on our way to achieve at least a 40% mix of BEVs by 2030, with strong margins and equal to our higher market share in the key high-profit, high-volume segments we compete. For example, the F-150 Lightning, if we had full production today to meet our current demand, we would rival the Model Y as the leading BEV nameplate in the U.S. market.

Original Source : https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/02/04/ford-f-q4-2021-earnings-call-transcript/

- This is kind of wild for people who have been following closely for a long time. Here Ford is basically saying “we would be selling as many EVs as Tesla if we were producing as many”. I would also be a billionaire if I had a billion dollars. But I think he is probably right. Ford could sell as many F-150 Lightning pickups as Tesla sells Model Ys in the US right now. And we are not talking about competing vehicles here since one is a small SUV and the other a pickup truck, but we are talking about popular BEVs.

Original Source : https://electrek.co/2022/02/08/ford-ceo-rival-tesla-producing-enough-electric-vehicles/

- Under pressure to hit fourth-quarter sales goals while coping with widespread semiconductor shortages, Tesla decided to remove one of the two electronic control units that are normally included in the steering racks of some made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y cars, according to two employees and internal correspondence seen by CNBC.

- Tesla did not disclose the exclusion, which has already affected tens of thousands of vehicles being shipped to customers in China, Australia, the U.K., Germany and other parts of Europe.

- It also means Tesla can’t turn all its existing cars into driverless vehicles with a mere software update, undercutting what CEO Elon Musk recently said on an earnings call:“My personal guess is that we’ll achieve Full Self-Driving this year at a safety level significantly greater than a person. So the cars in the fleet essentially becoming self-driving via software update, I think, might end up being the biggest increase in asset value of any asset class in history. We shall see.”

- Tesla employees said that adding “level 3” functionality, which would allow a driver to use their Tesla hands-free without steering in normal driving scenarios, would need the dual electronic control unit system and therefore require a retrofit at a service visit.

- The specific item omitted is an electronic control unit in the electric power assisted steering systems, which translate steering wheel movements into wheel turns on the street.

- Tesla removed the component because engineers deemed it redundant, primarily installed as a backup. Omitting the control unit will also save Tesla money near-term, as long as no problems arise as a result of the altered system.

- When Tesla made the decision to exclude an electronic control unit from its steering racks, there was an internal discussion about whether to notify customers, two employees told CNBC.

- Tesla vehicles can still use the current “level 2” versions of its driver assistance systems, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (or FSD), without the dual-control steering system.

- Most of the cars with the single electronic control unit were going to customers in China initially, where FSD is not seeing significant uptake. According to internal communications seen by CNBC, just over 1% of all Tesla customers in China opted for the premium driver assistance package

- Most automakers would spend 1,000 hours on testing or more to make any big changes, he estimated. That can take upwards of four months. It can also take years for quality or safety issues to become clear after changes are made.Tesla employees told CNBC that the company spent less than a few weeks discussing the change before moving ahead and didn’t view it as a big deal -- more of a chip-famine survival tactic.

Original Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/tesla-cut-a-steering-component-to-deal-with-chip-shortage.html

2022 TESLA MODEL Y: REAR-WHEEL-DRIVE MODEL UPDATED IN CHINA - DRIVE
 

Original Source : https://www.drive.com.au/news/2022-tesla-model-y-rear-wheel-drive-model-updated-in-china/

 Original Source : https://driveteslacanada.ca/roadster/franz-von-holzhausen-provides-update-on-tesla-roadster-development/

Original Source : https://cnevpost.com/2022/02/09/alibaba-backed-autoxs-robotaxi-fleet-reaches-1000-vehicles/

Original Source : https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/02/europe-s-grid-can-support-100-million-electric-vehicles-with-proper-planning-study-finds/

Original Source : https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/electric-volkswagen-beetle-hinted

Original Source :