Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Yuli Ban
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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All Cars Should Have Been Hybrids By Now
With Ford's announcement of a $20,000 hybrid pick-up truck that may get up to 40 miles per gallon, it is obvious automakers could have done a lot more to reduce emissions.
Having killed off all of its cars years ago in order to sell only pickup trucks and SUVs, Ford is now making its cheapest vehicle a pickup truck, because this is America. The Maverick, as it will be called, is being marketed as a huge advancement in the pickup market, good for "city driving or escaping the urban life" and that "its compact size makes it easy to maneuver and park."

This is questionable, considering the truck is 200 inches long, just 10 inches shorter than a Cadillac Escalade, a vehicle generally regarded as a very large SUV.

However, the Maverick does have a noteworthy feature: It comes with a hybrid engine standard, the first pickup truck to do so.
This is what I've been thinking for years. There's no particularly good reason why ICE vehicles are still so dominant other than it being the status quo and clever marketing convincing the masses that electric/hybrid vehicles = effeminate, political, weak, and stupid. Their horrible designs for the longest time didn't help. But hybrids have been an easier sell; if they had been mainstream for a decade now as they should have, we'd have already had the infrastructure for widespread EVs today.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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The US Is Real Close to Screwing Up Electric Vehicle Charging Forever
Last week, the electric vehicle (EV) startup Rivian, backed by Amazon and Ford among other major investors, announced it will build a network of 3,500 fast chargers at 600 sites by the end of 2023. Only Rivian owners will be able to use them.

This is a rational, if expensive, response to a major problem facing electric vehicles. There are currently two charging networks: Tesla's and everyone else's. Tesla's charging experience is great, one of the major perks of owning their vehicles. Just plug your Tesla into a Supercharger and it starts charging. They are fast and reliable. You're on your way in no time.

Everyone else's network is, quite frankly, bad, in almost every sense of the user experience. Just a few years ago, anyone doing a road trip in a non-Tesla EV would need "to carry a wallet full of RFID cards" that allow them to charge their car at various charging stations owned by different companies, recalls Chris Nelder of the Rocky Mountain Institute who has studied EV charging infrastructure for years. Such a road-tripper would also have needed to be a member of a handful of different charging networks, and have signed up for them before beginning the trip because you couldn't sign up on the spot. Think of it kind of like going on a round-the-world trip and having a global SIM card versus needing to buy a regional one in each place you visit. And this was to say nothing of the different plug types, standards, charging speeds, and the constant frustration of encountering chargers that don't charge at the advertised speed or simply don't work at all.

For almost a century, we have taken for granted that any car can stop at any gas station and fill up in a few minutes. But we are getting very close to a world where this simply will not happen for electric cars.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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The Success of the Electric F-150 Depends on Something Other Than the F-150
On Wednesday, Ford debuted the F-150 Lightning, the first electric F-150. The F-150, a big truck, is the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. year after year, so Ford announcing an electric version is a huge deal, not just for the auto industry but for anyone interested in the future of this planet. It is probably the most important consumer product launch since at least the iPhone.

Some quick numbers to put the F-150's importance into perspective. Ford sells approximately 900,000 of these suckers every year. As Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic pointed out, the entire U.S. auto industry sold about 250,000 electric vehicles total last year. The F-150 gets about 25 miles per gallon, and the average American drives about 13,500 miles per year. That means every year Ford sells enough F-150s to consume approximately 486 million more gallons of gasoline per year, not counting the millions of F-150s already on the road. Electrifying these vehicles as soon as possible is just about one of the most important things we can do to reduce emissions.

And the F-150 Lightning is no lightweight. It is, to be sure, an impressive machine, a giant 1,900 pound battery on wheels, that can also power a house or a worksite. The long range version boasts up to 300 miles of range (although that is Ford's estimate, not the Environmental Protection Agency's) with the standard range version promising 230 miles.

And there lies the biggest challenge facing the electric F-150. It is, ostensibly, a work truck, meant to haul heavy things and tow big loads (how many F-150 owners use the truck for such things is another matter entirely; but for the purposes of this article, the fact that they buy the truck thinking they will is all that matters). There is just one problem. Hauling heavy things and towing big loads means the battery has to expend much more energy to move the truck, significantly reducing its range. And, currently, the U.S. has nowhere near the fast charging network needed to make up for it.

That, and marketing.

All Ford needs to do is give the Ford Lightning a badass promo set to KISS's "God of Thunder" and you've already won over the crowd that usually buys F-150s.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
weatheriscool
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Tesla to launch high-end Model S 'Plaid' tonight to fend off Mercedes, Porsche
Source: CNBC
Tesla will deliver a high-performance version of its Model S on Thursday, aiming to reignite interest in the nearly decade-old sedan and fend off rivals such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Lucid Motors in the luxury electric vehicle market. Tesla redefined electric cars in 2012 when it launched its high-end Model S with a sleek design and long driving range, but is facing a raft of new challengers.

The automaker plans to livestream the delivery of the first Model S Plaid at its U.S. factory in Fremont, California, at 7 p.m. PT (0200 GMT, Friday), according to its official Twitter account. CEO Elon Musk has not said whether he will take the stage, but he has been on Twitter promoting the new model, which is priced at $129,990 against $79,990 for a long-range Model S.

“The Model S has not been changing a lot in terms of looks over the past almost decade. I think Tesla has to offer consumers something more,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director at car information provider Edmunds said. The launch of the Model S Plaid, which has already been showcased online, has faced delay and some controversy over an expected airplane-style yoke steering wheel. Musk canceled another variant, Model S Plaid+, which would have had a 33% higher driving range than the Model S Plaid and used advanced battery technology, known as 4680 cells. The more powerful sports sedan goes from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) in 1.99 seconds and has an estimated driving range of 390 miles.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/tesla-t ... rsche.html
weatheriscool
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Now 2.4 Million China Electric Car Market Expected for 2021
June 13, 2021 by Brian Wang
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) has again raised its forecast for new energy passenger car sales for 2021 as the industry grows rapidly. The 2021 forecast for new energy passenger car wholesale sales was raised to 2.4 million units which is up from a forecast of 2 million in February and 2.2 million in April.

Wholesale sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 860,000 units from January to May this year, up 2.5 times from a year earlier.

China is having huge EV car volume from cheap $5000-12000 electric cars. The top selling EV in China is a $5000 EV. Tesla still is battling for second and third most sales with the Model Y and Model 3. The Model Y sales were fifth in April but are ramping quickly. May numbers indicate the Model Y and Model 3 were second and third in sales in China for EVs.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/06/n ... -2021.html
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Yuli Ban
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The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: Destructive lithium mining
These facts raise an uncomfortable question that reverberates around the world: does fighting the climate crisis mean sacrificing communities and ecosystems? The supply chains that produce green technologies begin in extractive frontiers like the Atacama desert. And we are on the verge of a global boom in mining linked to the energy transition. A recent report published by the International Energy Agency states that meeting the Paris agreement’s climate targets would send demand skyrocketing for the “critical minerals” used to produce clean energy technologies. The figures are particularly dramatic for the raw materials used to manufacture electric vehicles: by 2040, the IEA forecasts that demand for lithium will have increased 42 times relative to 2020 levels.

These resources have become a new flashpoint for geopolitical tensions. In the US and Europe, policymakers increasingly talk about a “race” to secure the minerals linked to energy transition and shore up domestic supplies; the idea of a “new cold war” with China is frequently invoked. As a result, northern Portugal and Nevada are slated for new lithium projects. Across the global lithium frontier, from Chile to the western United States and Portugal, environmental activists, indigenous communities and residents concerned about the threats to agricultural livelihoods are protesting over what they see as the greenwashing of destructive mining.

Indeed, natural resource sectors, which include extractive activities like mining, are responsible for 90% of biodiversity loss and more than half of carbon emissions. One report estimates that the mining sector produces 100bn tons of waste every year. Extraction and processing are typically water- and energy-intensive, and contaminate waterways and soil. Alongside these dramatic changes to the natural environment, mining is linked to human rights abuses, respiratory ailments, dispossession of indigenous territory and labour exploitation. Once the minerals are wrested from the ground, mining companies tend to accumulate profits and leave behind poverty and contamination.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Tesla Model 3 #1 in May in Europe
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/06/25/te ... in-europe/

The European passenger plugin vehicle market continues on the rise, having gotten over 178,000 registrations in April and 796,000 registrations YTD — which is +158% year over year (YoY). Last month’s plugin vehicle share of the overall auto market was 16% (8% full electrics/BEVs), which keeps the 2021 plugin vehicle (PEV) share at 15% (7% for BEVs alone).

Growth came from both plugin fields, with sales being divided almost equally between them. That was especially thanks to the BEV push from the Volkswagen Group, a strong mid-quarter month from Tesla, and the Renault Zoe’s slow return to form. In fact, this led to the first fully BEV top 5 in a year! Go, BEVs!
weatheriscool
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EY Predicts Half New Cars Will by EV by 2033
June 24, 2021 by Brian Wang

Ernst and Young predict Europe leading the charge to electric, with zero-emission models outselling all other propulsion systems by 2028. That tipping point will arrive in China in 2033 and in the U.S. in 2036″. In 2019, new car registrations in the EU slightly increased to a level of 15.5 million.

Sales of electric cars topped 2.1 million globally in 2019 to increase total world electric cars to 7.2 million in 2019. Global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in 2020 increased by 39% year on year to 3.1 million units to increase the total world electric car fleet to 10.3 million in 2020.

There are 1.4 billion cars in the world in 2021. EVs will pass 1% of total world cars in 2021. Reaching about 70-80 million electric cars should be the point when EVs reach 5% of total world cars.

If there are 5 million EVs in 2021, 8 million EVs in 2022 and 13 million EVs in 2023 and 20 million EVs in 2024 and 32 million EVs in 2025 then EVs will be over 5% of world cars by 2025.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/06/e ... -2033.html
weatheriscool
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Extraordinary eBussy modular electric van debuts in July, on way to US
By C.C. Weiss
June 24, 2021
https://newatlas.com/automotive/ebussy- ... n-preview/
When we first covered the instantly lovable eBussy electric mini-mover, we didn't actually believe we'd be writing about a working prototype a year later. In fact, we weren't sure we'd be writing about the vehicle ever again. But here we are; parent company ElectricBrands is preparing to reveal its first prototype in less than two weeks. Now called the Xbus, the modular tiny transporter still promises to become one of the most versatile, affordable electric vehicles out there, transforming between pickup, van, mini-camper and more.

"Yeah, okay, sure." The words reverberated through my mind with every keystroke as I wrote about the eBussy last July. It was yet another super-promising electric vehicle that could transform before one's eyes into virtually every type of utility vehicle you could ever want, represented only by a series of renderings and specs that seemed too good to be true. ElectricBrands wasn't a completely unknown startup like so many EV newcomers, but its three years of previous experience in electric scooters was hardly enough to inspire confidence in its ability to build and market such a versatile 4WD electric utility vehicle.
weatheriscool
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Re: Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

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Tesla Delivers 201,250 Cars for Q2 Which More Than Doubles Last Year
July 2, 2021 by Brian Wang
Tesla delivered 201,250 cars in Q2 and produced 206,421.

This was slightly higher than analyst expectations and was in spite of automobile industry chip shortages.

The production was up 14% of the first quarter of the year and up 115% from 2020 Q2.

Tesla delivered about 17000 more cars in Q2 vs Q1. This means about $900 million higher auto revenue in Q2 vs Q1.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/07/t ... -year.html
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