Featured Threads Archive

Looks like they're really hedging their bets with EVs.
Volkswagen To Focus Motorsport Strategy On Electric: Gives Up On Gas

I just read this article about Tesla's new truck. It is futuristic looking, like something out of Mad Max.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/tesla-cybertruck-debuts-cant-believe-045500887.html

Price for lowest level RWD with one motor, 0 - 60 in 6.5 seconds and 250 mile range is around $40k.
Price for mid level AWD with two motors, 0-60 in 4.5 seconds no range specified and around $50k
Price for high end AWD with three motors, 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and 10 second quarter mile.
long range 500 mile version is $70k.

• Electrified vehicle sales up 56% for new October record

• Prius (includes Prius Prime) sales of 1,133 units, up 232.3% (new October record)
  
• Prius Prime sales of 918 units, up 368.4% (new October record)
  
• RAV4 sales of 6,348 units, up 13.2% (new October record)
  
• RAV4 hybrid sales of 1,574 units, up 95.5% (new October record)

Toyota Canada Inc. continues to build on its annual electrified vehicle sales record | Toyota Canada


The RAV4 Hybrid accounts for roughly 1/4 of all RAV4 sales in Canada (and of course that makes it the best selling Toyota hybrid in Canada).

Asaf Ashkenazi is the Chief Strategy Officer of Verimatrix. He joins us this week to discuss cybersecurity in vehicles and how Verimatrix works with OEM manufacturers to increase the security of their software. It’s an enlightening – and sometimes a little scary – discussion about software vulnerabilities and how hackers work to exploit them. It’s […]

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Best answer I've seen yet from Toyota about going full EV.

What the Prime could be? For a cool $155K.

For our New Jersey folks, state lawmakers looking how to get funds from growing number of EVs to pay for roads, etc because of dip in gas tax. In my opinion, fortunate that quoted lawmaker is looking at miles driven.
How do you tax a car that doesn't use gas? NJ may seek ideas

In this recent article, if you live in Lancaster, CA one can get some awesome new EV car instant savings - If I did my math right $11K-$14.5 depending on your income level.

Going all-electric | Local News | avpress.com

California will halve most incentives for on new ZEV sales on December 3rd. Rebates for low-income buyers will be unchanged.

PHEV are now required to have an all-electric range of 35 miles in urban driving. The Prime may no longer qualify (not sure what its urban-only range is). The new RAV may also fail to qualify depending...

Vehicle sales price for BEV are now capped at $60,000. Most Tesla models and entries by European luxury car makers will no longer qualify, but most other entries and the Model 3 will continue to qualify.

Households are now limited to only 1 rebate. There are also changes for fleets.

This is only for the new vehicle rebate program, not other clean vehicle programs funded by the state.

What should I know about the December 3rd program changes? | Clean Vehicle Rebate Project

Chris Anthony of Aptera joins us for the full hour. Chris was part of Aptera generation 1, left the company, and is back to get generation 2 off the ground. It’s not a stretch to say that even though we really want all EV manufacturers to succeed, we’ve been skeptical of Aptera. Chris is a […]

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Below is a link to a youtube video of the assembly line for the Porsche Taycan AWD electric sports car. The video is about 28 minutes long. One version is around 670 hp and it's 0-60 time is 2.7 seconds. A little faster than our Prius but then you would have to dig considerably more change out from under the couch cushions to buy one of them.

I can detail some of what you see but I have been retired for 15 years so some of the process may have changed.

They don't show the stamping department that forms all the required panels with presses.

They begin in the weld department where automation is used to spot weld panels to the body. These are called white bodies at this point as they are unpainted. The parts and bodies can't sit more than a couple days before rusting begins. Next is inspection and the bodies are wiped down with tack rags before they are painted.

The first step is primer. The bodies are primered using an e-coat (electrically coated) dip tank. This is a water base...

Yep, they're bypassing us 'cause we don't like small cars, maybe.
Charged EVs | Honda accelerates electrification plans for Europe, passes over US

For China.
Toyota And BYD Agree To Establish EV R&D Joint Venture

Press release - BYD Company Ltd. (BYD) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced on 7Nov2019 that they have signed an agreement to establish a joint company (I assume in China) to research and development for battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

BYD, Toyota Agree to Establish Joint Company for Battery Electric Vehicle Research and Development | Corporate | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website

And the startup is affiliated with Workhorse.
GM just sold its Lordstown plant to an EV startup affiliated with Workhorse - Electrek

It appears that, from today, the refreshed C-HR with the Hybrid 2.0 powertrain 135 KW (184 hp), the same on the Corolla, can be ordered, at least here in Europe.



It also appears that in some markets (e.g., Italy) the C-HR can now be only ordered with the Hybrid 2.0 powertrain. The 1.8 that powers the Prius? Gone. They were selling lot of these in Europe (1.8H C-HR), btw.

Given that they published third quarter financial results with increased revenues and profits, under a global demand slowdown for vehicles and the strengthening of the Yen (that slows down exports), Toyota might be selling a lot of hybrids (which they are also pricing higher, with respect to the old non-hybrid versions of the same cars).
Well, at least here, almost all the vehicles they are now selling are hybrid-only, and it's several years already that the Lexus line is 100% hybrid.

They also finalized a joint venture with BYD, apparently (lot of news today ); who...

“We forecast EVs and hybrids – such as the Toyota Prius – will reach 20% and 30% of global penetration rates respectively by 2030.”


Which Regions are Driving the Electric Vehicle Trend? | Morningstar

Infiniti bets its future on electric cars–and hybrid tech it hasn’t yet named



It appears to be based on Nissan’s e-Power series-hybrid system. 3.5-5.1kWh batteries to supplement the engine.

In and out with 10-minute electrical vehicle recharge | Penn State University

New developments in charging Lithium cells shows that heating the batteries to 140 F for 10 minutes than rapidly cooling to ambient temps allows for 200 to 300 miles of range with a battery life expectancy of 2,500 cycles or the equivalent of 500,000 miles.

Also mentioned in the study, fast charging of Lithium cells below 50 F produces lithium spikes on the anode, reducing cell capacity.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/10-minute-charge-evs-hit-170000497.html

Ford Brings Three New Plug-In Hybrids To Frankfurt Motor Show

A glimpse of what is coming to Europe.

The Kuga is the Escape.
We are getting the Explorer PHEV as the Lincoln Aviator.
The Mondeo is the Fusion. Of course, we don't get the wagon, but the Fusion and its hybrid versions is living on in 2020.
The Puma is a crossover based on the Fiesta. I expect it to come here, as the Ecosport is an old model brought in to fill the slot below the Escape.

I was originally thinking we wouldn't see the mild hybrids here, but Now i am rethinking that. Many Fords now have start/stop systems standard, and the cost of a 48v hybrid system upgrade would be less than $1000 to Ford. Perhaps they are planning to bring them here. Which could explain why they support California's fuel economy standards.