08 Apr 2020 | Mercedes-Benz EQS AMG vs Tesla and Porsche
Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Truck Launch Delayed Until 2021 | Mercedes-AMG EQS vs Tesla Model S & Porsche Taycan | Skoda Citigo-e iV withdrawn from sale due to high demand | Why the new Superb PHEV is vital for Skoda | Thin-Film Solar Car Cover | Tesla boosts Model Y production capacity in Fremont | Tesla gets in trouble for using HAL 9000 for Sentry Mode, switching to Portal turret | Tesla Hiking The Price of Self Driving | Tesla to roll out WiFi garage door opening features independent of Homelink
Show #742
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 8th April 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
RIVIAN R1T ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCK LAUNCH DELAYED UNTIL 2021
"Rivian has confirmed that the launch of its R1T electric pickup truck will be delayed at least slightly." reports InsideEVs: "The reason is COVID-19. Planned for 2020, the new launch schedule calls for first deliveries of the electric truck sometime in 2021. When in 2021 will depend on a lot of factors, including how long the lockdown remains in place."
https://insideevs.com/news/408382/rivian-r1t-truck-delay-launch/
MERCEDES-AMG EQS ELECTRIC FASTBACK VS TESLA MODEL S & PORSCHE TAYCAN
"For years, Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW have postured about reproducible performance and track times for electric cars." write Green Car Reports today: "Yet neither of them have managed to present a fully electric model that—like the Porsche Taycan—represents the performance side of EVs in anything approaching the fervor shown in the Model 3 Performance. That’s likely to change with a top-performance version of the upcoming Mercedes EQS that might, like the fully electric 7-Series BMW confirmed last month is on the way, boast better performance than internal-combustion models. To compete with the Model S Plaid, it would likely have outputs in the vicinity of 800 hp and 1000 lb-ft, according to reports. The EQS will already face a growing group of rivals that includes the Porsche Taycan, the Lucid Air, and the upcoming Jaguar XJ, plus the Cadillac Celestiq, a flagship fastback for the GM luxury brand. "
So how long until we see the Mercedes-Benz EQS AMG?
SKODA CITIGO-E IV WITHDRAWN FROM SALE DUE TO HIGH DEMAND
"Skoda’s first electric production car, the Citigo-e iV, has been temporarily removed from sale after all UK examples sold out in less than two months." says Autocar: "Roughly 400 units of the Bratislava-built electric city car were allocated to the UK market and they began arriving in dealerships in late January. By mid-March, all had been sold. The Citigo has now been removed from Skoda’s online configurator. The Citigo-e iV, sibling to the Volkswagen e-Up and Seat Mii Electric, is one of the most affordable mainstream EVs on sale, with a starting price of £16,955. It offers a claimed range of 161 mile."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/skoda-citigo-e-iv-withdrawn-from-sale-due-to-high-demand
WHY THE NEW SUPERB PHEV IS VITAL FOR SKODA
"Škoda's has many electrified models on the way, including the Kodiaq iV, Octavia iV and Octavia RS iV petrol plug-in hybrids, with the fully electric Enyaq iV due to join the Citigoe iV. This armada is being led by the company's biggest, most expensive car, the Superb, in 1.4-litre iV form." reports Glenn Brooks at just-auto: "Series production didn't get fully underway until year end, which was then followed by build for right-hand drive markets. UK deliveries commenced at the end of January. As at mid-February, which was the last time that Škoda reported progress, some 2,000 examples had been produced."
This sits along with the Golf GTE, the SEAT Leon, the Cupra eHybrid, the Audi A3 TFSIe, the Passat GTE. I would always caution on the DSG gearbox which I'm not a fan of.
https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/why-the-new-superb-phev-is-vital-for-skoda_id194309.aspx
THIN-FILM SOLAR CAR COVER CAN RECHARGE YOUR EV WHILE IT IS PARKED
" Armor, a thin-film solar company located in France. One of its products is called ASCA, which uses semi conductor compounds based on organic polymers printed on flexible films. " says CleanTechnica: "The flexibility means ASCA thin-film solar products can be mounted on curved surfaces, something traditional solar panels cannot do. Recently, the company demonstrated a car cover embedded with ASCA thin-film solar panels. The thin-film solar panels cover an area of 4 square meters — enough to provide supplementary power to the vehicle and increase its range up to 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) a day based on the car being exposed to the sun for 8 hours."
TESLA BOOSTS MODEL Y PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN FREMONT
"Tesla is using the period of the widespread closure of its plant in Fremont, California, due to the Covid 19 pandemic to make several improvements, including increasing production capacity for the Model Y." says electrive: "Tesla also wants to increase the production of the Model Y, which only started in January 2020. Thus, the forced break in production is to be used to set up a new conveyor belt for the Model Y, called Phase 3. Tesla took over the Fremont plant from Toyota a good ten years ago. Since the production of the Model S started in 2012, there have been no significant breaks for rebuilding work. All expansions for the Model X, Model 3 and later the Model Y have been carried out during ongoing operations."
https://www.electrive.com/2020/04/07/tesla-is-boosting-model-y-production-capacity-in-fremont/
TESLA GETS IN TROUBLE FOR USING HAL 9000 FOR SENTRY MODE, SWITCHING TO PORTAL TURRET
"Tesla apparently got in trouble for using imagery representing HAL 9000 from the movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ for Sentry Mode so it is switching to something that now seems inspired by a turret from the video game Portal." according to Electrek: "Now Tesla hacker green, who had access to an upcoming Tesla update in the early access program, reported on Twitter that MGM, who owns the rights to 2001: A Space Odyssey, has issued a copyright claim against Tesla forcing them to stop using the image."
https://electrek.co/2020/04/06/tesla-trouble-hal9000-sentry-mode-switches-portal-turret/
TESLA HIKING THE PRICE OF SELF DRIVING
"Tesla plans to bump up the price of its "Full Self-Driving" feature on July 1, Elon Musk said in a tweet on Friday." reports a Business Insider story: "The add-on currently costs $7,000, but many of the capabilities it promises are still in development — essentially, buyers are paying for software updates that Tesla will release incrementally. Musk also said in a Friday tweet that he hopes to introduce traffic-light and stop-sign recognition in the US in a few weeks, but Tesla has historically failed to meet the timelines its CEO has publicly set forth."
TESLA TO ROLL OUT WIFI GARAGE DOOR OPENING FEATURES INDEPENDENT OF HOMELINK
"Elon Musk has indicated that Tesla will be utilizing WiFi integration to assist drivers in opening their smart garage doors. Automatic garage door opening is available through Homelink. However, some garage doors are not compatible with Homelink and instead use an internet connection through WiFi to operate." says Joey at Teslarati: "The new WiFi integrated opening system also alleviates the need to carry bulky garage door openers that can be lost or stolen, or even the need to pull out a smartphone to open the garage door."
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-wifi-garage-door-opening-no-homelink/
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
If you’re staying at home and not driving, what condition or state of charge are you leaving your EV parked up in?
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