Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JKenH

Drivers will be given up to £6,000 to swap their petrol or diesel cars for electric ones under plans being considered by Boris Johnson ahead of a major speech to relaunch the economy.

The move is designed to provide a shot in the arm for UK electric car manufacturing and for the car industry as a whole after it was devastated by the coronavirus lockdown.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/07/boris-johnson-considers-giving-drivers-6000-diesel-petrol-car/

michaels

JKenH said:

Drivers will be given up to £6,000 to swap their petrol or diesel cars for electric ones under plans being considered by Boris Johnson ahead of a major speech to relaunch the economy.

The move is designed to provide a shot in the arm for UK electric car manufacturing and for the car industry as a whole after it was devastated by the coronavirus lockdown.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/07/boris-johnson-considers-giving-drivers-6000-diesel-petrol-car/

So we have currently sorned our second car as the ev is fine for the few journeys we are currently making but sometimes these scrappage schemes don't include sorned vehicles so I am wondering if I should put it back on the road....
Of course there is already a 3k ev grant so presumably this is only an extra 3k not an extra 6k.

silverwhistle

Frankly it's very difficult to take seriously anything "considered" by our Prime Minister, but even if it goes ahead there is the issue of how much of the amount will end up being reflected in the final price, given that for some models there is already some decent discounting. I'm thinking mainly Zoe and Leaf here.

Still, I have checked on my current car's valuation, which is not much over 1K and less as a trade in, so in principle could take advantage of it. 

michaels

silverwhistle said:

Frankly it's very difficult to take seriously anything "considered" by our Prime Minister, but even if it goes ahead there is the issue of how much of the amount will end up being reflected in the final price, given that for some models there is already some decent discounting. I'm thinking mainly Zoe and Leaf here.

Still, I have checked on my current car's valuation, which is not much over 1K and less as a trade in, so in principle could take advantage of it. 

With the extra discount you might get an mg zs ev in your price range which I think does similar range to a leaf 40.  Personally though I would stick with the idea of a second hand leaf or zoe (or possibly kia soul or Hyundai ioniq if you can find one) and keeping the petrol as a second car as you won't lose nearly as much on depreciation.  You can get a five year old leaf for about 7k and unless things change it will still be worth 5k when it is 4 years older.

JKenH

"ARK [Research] estimates that if Tesla were to launch a human-driven ride-hailing network, charging $3-4 per mile with a 20-30% take rate, then during the next four to five years its network could collect an additional 40 billion miles to train Autopilot and could generate an additional $12 billion per year in earnings before interest and taxes, taking our bear case price target from roughly $1,500 to $2,700 in 2024."

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3581157-teslaplus-4-on-strong-bullish-vibe

Coastalwatch

Briefly hinted at previously the announcement made by Catl's chairman this afternoon can be found on the BBC website. Unfortunately I could find no mention of kWh capacity so perhaps merely their existing range but with a longer life span!

Tesla battery supplier Catl says new design has one million-mile lifespan.

A Chinese car battery-maker says it is ready to manufacture a product capable of powering a vehicle for 1.2 million miles (two million kilometres) across the course of a 16-year lifespan.

Contemporary Amperex Technology has not revealed who it intends to supply.

But it was previously reported that the battery was co-developed with Tesla.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52966178

Martyn1981

Looks like Tesla has continued to low-ball all its estimates, after the FUD'ing they took during the TM3 ramp up, so we have Giga Berlin possibly beginning production earlier than expected, and Giga Shanghai miles ahead of the original estimates of 1,000 cars per week for 2020, and already close to the 3,000/week production target they set for the end of the year:

Rumor: Tesla Berlin Factory May Open For Business This Year

CleanTechnica contributor Paul Fosse says there is a joke circulating on the internet that goes like this: One German citizen asks, “Do you think Tesla can build Giga Berlin as fast as they did Giga Shanghai?” The second German citizen replies, “I guess they could if they slow down!” Apparently, some people in Germany are bragging they are three months ahead of where the Chinese were at this time last year. Our own Johnna Crider wrote recently that activity at the site of the new factory is proceeding at a fast and furious pace, highlighting the video below.

Tesla China Sold 11,095 Model 3 Cars In May

Tesla China sold 11,095 Model 3 cars in May, which was three times the volume for April. This information comes from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Tesla sold just over 3,600 cars in April, which was down from the 10,160 vehicles sold in March.

Martyn1981

Extract from the latest Carbon Commentary newsletter (though the item has previously been mentioned):

7, Refuse collection trucks. The English city of Manchester bought 27 electric refuse trucks in the largest ever order in the UK. The purchase cost of around £10m/$12.5m was described as ‘only a fraction more’ than the diesel equivalent. Manchester said that this purchase, which will replace half its fleet, will save a surprising 4% of its direct CO2 emissions. According to the city, trials have shown that the electric trucks can meet all requirements for carrying capacity and daily range. Made in the Manchester region, the vehicles are due for delivery by the end of the year. Refuse collection will move rapidly towards electrification, partly because of the noise and pollution advantages in urban streets but also because of the relatively short life of these trucks. The natural rate of replacement is higher than for, say, buses.

Martyn1981

Bit of BEV news on US medium duty trucks:

Octillion & Lightning Systems Working Together On Class 6 Electric Truck Drivetrains

As I just wrote, California is on the verge of launching a pilot project to get a lot more Class 8 electric trucks on the road and evaluate their performance as well as manufacturing potential for them. This is not the only area of industrial/commercial transport in which there’s a movement toward quicker electrification. Class 6 electric trucks are next on the dock.

Octillion Power Systems, a lithium-ion battery company for electric vehicles that I have to admit I don’t recall hearing about before but seems to be quite a big player in the space, and Lightning Systems, a well established commercial vehicle electric drivetrain company we’ve covered for a few years, have teamed up to develop electric powertrains for Class 6 electric trucks (trucks up to 12½ tons).

Rather than last-mile or long-haul services, Class 6 trucks are “medium-duty trucks” that service “middle-mile” routes such as shipping between warehouses and distribution centers.

Martyn1981

Small article, big, big news:

Peugeot’s New 330-Kilometer e-Traveler Electric Van

The electric van space has been dominated by a few models for many years. In the past few years, we’ve seen some new entrants try to break in, but one particular announcement this month looks especially promising.

A few of the biggest electric vans of the past decade have been the Nissan e-NV200, Renault Kangoo EV, and Peugeot Partner EV. Peugeot is now offering a new, bigger electric van, the Peugeot e-Traveler.