Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Verdigris

The news article states £4bn for 4,000 buses, which is a million each. Perhaps the news talking about producing BEV buses in the UK, means the cost of £4bn is more about the factory/battery investment? Hope so, otherwise they are being ripped off.

My bet is that it will be hydrogen buses from Wrightbus (proprietor Lord Bamford) in exchange for donations to Tory coffers. They will then not work and that will be another £4bn of tax revenue spaffed.

JKenH

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

It seems that in the used car market demand for ICE cars is stronger than EVs or should we say shortage of supply is a bigger problem for ICE cars than EVs (or perhaps a combination of both). 

Edit: another article on the same topic or more interestingly on the premiums being paid to get hold of new vehicles in short supply.

Timely links shared as my brother (or his wife has) has just taken delivery of a BMW i3 (used) to replace the Mini she had before.  Maybe this will be the way the switch will evolve from ICE to EV cars - going EV for the "second car" first to build confidence in the feasibility while keeping the main family car as an ICE for any time greater distance is required.

This type of approach could work so long as the "second car" EV is not one that is too compromised on range or ability as to create a negative outcome and push-back against the change to EV.

As for new cars - there must clearly be some available as I received a marketing communication from the nearest main dealer promoting "Twosday offers" - amazing deals for new cars ordered 22/2/22 to 27/2/22 for the new "22" March plate.  Clearly, they must have a batch of vehicles ready to meet whatever enquiries that campaign generates.

There are some marques with new stock available but if you have a look at this Carwow website you will see that BMW, Kia, Jaguar, Peugeot and Volkswagen only have new electric cars in stock - no ICE models. (I hope I have remembered that list correctly but no doubt someone will put me right if I have not).

https://www.carwow.co.uk/new-car-delivery-times

Grumpy_chap

JKenH said:

There are some marques with new stock available but if you have a look at this Carwow website you will see that BMW, Kia, Jaguar, Peugeot and Volkswagen only have new electric cars in stock - no ICE models. (I hope I have remembered that list correctly but no doubt someone will put me right if I have not).

https://www.carwow.co.uk/new-car-delivery-times

Using that CarWow data and looking just at Jaguar as one example, all vehicles are on 6-12 months (or more) lead time for factory order and it is only the iPace that lists any stock vehicles.  

That could be interpreted to mean high demand or low demand for EV and, similarly, for ICE.  

JKenH

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

There are some marques with new stock available but if you have a look at this Carwow website you will see that BMW, Kia, Jaguar, Peugeot and Volkswagen only have new electric cars in stock - no ICE models. (I hope I have remembered that list correctly but no doubt someone will put me right if I have not).

https://www.carwow.co.uk/new-car-delivery-times

Using that CarWow data and looking just at Jaguar as one example, all vehicles are on 6-12 months (or more) lead time for factory order and it is only the iPace that lists any stock vehicles.  

That could be interpreted to mean high demand or low demand for EV and, similarly, for ICE.  

I’m not sure how that translates into high demand for the EV (I-Pace) and low demand for the F-Pace. 

I know Jaguar has been struggling to shift the I-Pace, offering substantial discounts to staff and a lower power version (same battery pack) in Europe at quite a reduced price. If you go back to the This is Money article I linked you will see that a one year old F-Pace is selling at an 11% premium to list price. That to me suggests that demand exceeds supply for the F-Pace and the reverse for the I-Pace. 

Grumpy_chap

JKenH said:

I’m not sure how that translates into high demand for the EV (I-Pace) and low demand for the F-Pace. 

I know Jaguar has been struggling to shift the I-Pace, offering substantial discounts to staff and a lower power version (same battery pack) in Europe at quite a reduced price. If you go back to the This is Money article I linked you will see that a one year old F-Pace is selling at an 11% premium to list price. That to me suggests that demand exceeds supply for the F-Pace and the reverse for the I-Pace. 

That is most likely the correct interpretation.

There is the opposing interpretation that the only car they can sell is the iPace so that is the car they are prioritising manufacturing effort towards.

Trying to extrapolate any general meaning from any one example is fraught with all kinds of dangers in any case.

JKenH

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

I’m not sure how that translates into high demand for the EV (I-Pace) and low demand for the F-Pace. 

I know Jaguar has been struggling to shift the I-Pace, offering substantial discounts to staff and a lower power version (same battery pack) in Europe at quite a reduced price. If you go back to the This is Money article I linked you will see that a one year old F-Pace is selling at an 11% premium to list price. That to me suggests that demand exceeds supply for the F-Pace and the reverse for the I-Pace. 

That is most likely the correct interpretation.

There is the opposing interpretation that the only car they can sell is the iPace so that is the car they are prioritising manufacturing effort towards.

Trying to extrapolate any general meaning from any one example is fraught with all kinds of dangers in any case.

A little more about demand and supply at JLR.

The number of retail sales fell to 92,000, from 114,000 a year earlier, and the group said it had outstanding orders for 125,000 vehicles.

The shortages also played havoc with Jaguar Land Rover’s plans to increase sales of electric and plug-in hybrid models, which it needs to sell to meet emissions rules in Europe, the US and China. 

The group said chip shortages “disproportionately impacted production of electrified products”.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/jaguar-land-rover-losses-deepen-after-chip-shortages-1.4716243

Martyn1981

Couple of Tesla news bites.

The first is a strange praise / argument / excuse from Jim Farley the CEO of Ford, who is very complimentary about Tesla these days. He explains how Ford could also produce BEV's like Tesla, with Tesla like gross margins, but they don't due to the raft of problems, that he then goes on to list, of being an ICE legacy maker trying to transition to BEV's:

Ford CEO Farley: No Plan to Spin Off EV Business

Farley told the Wolfe Research virtual global auto technology conference Feb. 23 that the company could hit Tesla-like profit margins by using common electric motors, electronic components and other parts across all sizes of vehicles.

But to do that, Ford needs radically different human talent than it now has, Farley said in a surprisingly candid interview with analyst Rod Lache. He also said the company has too many people and too much complexity, and it doesn’t have the expertise to transition to battery-electric vehicles.

“That’s the simple answer. There’s waste,” he said.

Ford, Farley said, can’t just pivot from internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles. The internal combustion engine organization is good at body, paint and manufacturing, and would be envied by startup EV makers.

But “I can’t turn to the ICE organization and say ‘go be Tesla.’ They may do it on the (auto) body. They may do it in plant operations, but that’s not good enough,” he said, without giving specifics of what changes are coming.

Neither Ford’s internal combustion business nor its electric vehicle operations earn as much profit as they could, Farley said. The company needs more talent to lower structural costs and raise quality in its ICE business, and cut the cost of materials for electric vehicles, he said.

The second piece is a fun nerdy video from Sandy Munro, as they start to look at the Model S Plaid motors, as part of their stripdown review of the vehicle. The 15m mark is fun, as Sandy (jokes) that Tesla has invented some new physics (or something) as he is 'astounded' by what he finds.

The immediate opening is fun too, as he pops the inverter off one of the Plaid motors, and then goes to show it fitting directly onto the model 3 and Y front and rear motors, so standardised parts.

[Bear in mind, that all of these technological improvements, and cost savings, will work their way down into other car makes and models, helping to keep improving the efficiencies and economics of all BEV's.]

Tesla Model S Plaid Motor EXTRAVAGANZA!!

JKenH

Tesla Track Mode coming to non-Performance cars — what that means

One for the track day enthusiasts although I’m not sure there will be too many of those on here. 

Track Mode lets you adjust handling, traction control and regenerative braking, and modify the balance of the car. On top of this Tesla will visualize various specs on your car's screen, including g-force, temperature of various parts, and so on.

On top of this, your car's dash cam will automatically save each lap as a separate video, provided you set up star and finish markers.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/tesla-news

Martyn1981

Of course it's silly, but it made me chuckle:

Hacked electric car charging stations in Russia displays ‘Putin is a d*ckhead’ and ‘glory to Ukraine’

Hackers are ramping up their effort to disrupt Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, and now it’s even affecting electric car owners in the country. A bunch of electric car charging stations outside Moscow were hacked and disabled. While EV owners couldn’t charge, the display on the stations shared some words about Vladimir Putin.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the world trying to dissuade the aggressor through sanctions, hackers have been trying to do their part by disrupting Russia’s infrastructure through cyberattacks.

Quickly after the invasion started last week, Anonymous, a collective of hackers, has sworn to do everything it can to disrupt the country through cyberattacks. Apparently, they have been quite effective with several Russian websites reporting being down after cyberattacks over the last week, including several government websites.

Verdigris

I saw that, elsewhere. Excellent!