01 Dec 2019 | Sono Motors Crowdfunds, One Million Miles In A Tesla and Question of the Week Answers

Episode 657,   Dec 03, 2019, 12:18 AM

Tesla Model S P85+ Just Passed One Million Kilometers On Odometer | Sono Motors Evolves Radically New Financing Strategy | Citroen C4 Cactus Successor To Get Battery Power | Renault Received Over 6,000 Orders For New Zoe In October | Question Of The Week Answered

Show #657

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Sunday 1st December 2019. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story to save you time.

 

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

 

TRYEV.COM ! – crowdfunding on CrowdCube, gotta get to the target. Go to crowdcube.com and search TryEV.  8 days left, over 60% there. “Try EV aims to transform the car purchasing process, educate on owning an EV and ignite EV interest. Try EV promotes “electrify to buy”. It is a platform to enable customers to learn, compare, customise and experiment with EVs before making a final buying decision.”

 

Roadtrip…!

 

MARK COLE

Listening to your latest show, you asked for sharing holiday EV travels, so here I am.  I drove my 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV from the Red Ball Garage in NYC to the Portofino Hotel and Marina in LA (traditional Cannon Ball Run style), in 78 hours 59 minutes total. While two Tesla model 3s have done it (MUCH) faster, I'm not aware of any non tesla evs to do such an accomplishment. Furthermore, on the last day, in 24 hours, I drove 1,033.6 miles or 1,667km, which I don't believe had been done in any other EV, other than Tesla.  This was possible due to the Electrify America charging network, which I prominently used.

 

Kevin Breslin

In the US Thanksgiving holiday is very big travel because the days people are likely to leave/return are more likely the same. A very high % return Sunday/Monday many leave Wednesday night Thursday morning. Where for Christmas has a wider distribution of leaving/return. Schools will have last day on 12/20 til at least 1/2 and likely 1/6. I work near LAX and auto traffic is way up.

 

THIS TESLA MODEL S P85+ JUST PASSED ONE MILLION KILOMETERS ON ODOMETER

"Last July 15, we told you about a very special Tesla Model S P85+. It had just broken the 900,000 km (559,350 miles) barrier. The owner, Hansjörg Eberhard von Gemmingen, expected to break the one million km mark this year, and he actually did it this November 28. With the presence of the Guinness Book of Records to document that in Hornberg, Germany." reports InsideEVs: "

He bought this Model S in 2014. It was a used car, already with 30,000 km in the odometer. His new owner drives a lot, so the car’s mileage kept growing and that started to attract people’s attention.Now that it reached the magic number with the Guinness Book of Records to certify that, Von Gemmingen wants to keep his car. His next goals are one million mi (1.6 million km) and two million km with his Model S P85+. He also has a Roadster, currently with 633,599 km."

 

https://insideevs.com/news/385016/tesla-model-s-one-million-km/

 

SONO MOTORS EVOLVES RADICALLY NEW FINANCING STRATEGY

The Munich-based German startup Sono Motors has just radically changed its financing strategy. Instead of relying on strategic investors, Sono will now increase its focus on crowdfunding. The production date of the Sion is also shifting significantly." says electrive: "In the crowdfunding campaign that is being launched today, the company wants to have 50 million euros raised by December 30, 2019. This suggests that short-term financial requirements are high. According to a Sono Motors press release, this means that 2,000 vehicle reservations have to be made within four weeks. When inquiring further, the company spokeswoman explained that those making reservations will only be required to make reservation payments if the campaign goal is achieved. Whoever now decides that they want to own a Sion solar car will have to wait for some time before they receive their electric vehicle. The production start for the first vehicles has been delayed until September 2021 – since the new strategy is based on being able to “obtain access to new financial resources,” Sono Motors explains in their press release."

 

https://www.electrive.com/2019/12/01/sono-motors-evolves-radically-new-financing-strategy/

 

CITROEN C4 CACTUS SUCCESSOR TO GET BATTERY POWER

"Citroen will add a full-electric version of the C4 Cactus successor when the compact hatchback is renewed next year, CEO Linda Jackson said. The battery-powered variant of the C4 Cactus replacement will be Citroen's first mass-market EV." writes Automotive News Europe: "Starting next year every new Citroen will have plug-in hybrid or full EV versions, depending on the platform, as well as gasoline versions, Jackson said. There will also be diesel versions for as long as there is enough demand for diesels, she said."

 

https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/citroen-c4-cactus-successor-get-battery-power

 

RENAULT RECEIVED OVER 6,000 ORDERS FOR NEW ZOE IN OCTOBER

"The new generation of Renault ZOE seems to be in high demand as tFe rench manufacturer received some 6,100 orders in the month of October. According to Emmanuel Bouvier, Commercial Director, Electric Vehicles Business Unit, the pace of sales continued in November. The most orders come from France, Norway and Germany (currently order books are open only in part of Europe)."according to InsideEVs: "At 6,000+ sales per month (if continued), Renault ZOE might be able to exceed 70,000 sales per year, compared to the expected record of 45,000-50,000 in 2019. Other interesting findings are that a third of orders are for the new R135 drive unit nd that more than half is for the two top trim levels (Intens and Editions One). First deliveries of the new ZOE in France are expected in a few days, in early December."

 

https://insideevs.com/news/385290/renault-over-6000-orders-new-zoe-october/

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWERS

 

eb1888  • 4 days ago

The window breakage won't have an impact on ev adaption. The Cybertruck launch will in a very positive way. It's better in every aspect even without the electric powertrain.

 

Ashley Hill  • 3 days ago

It took 1 week for my wife to convert from "Hell no" to "lets order" for the cybertruck.  all that extra press means there was heaps of additional images and videos and became the new normal. but we do have to get a black one.

 

Victor Wood  • 4 days ago

I wouldn’t call the cybertruck launch as bodged. The broken glass should be regarded more positively. I doubt any non armoured vehicle would have stood up to a heavy steel ball being thrown at the window from close range.

 

Comeonuseyourbrain  • 5 days ago (edited)

The cybertruck mishap with the glass was the biggest prank of the year. Franz and Elon played the big oil media like a fiddle. I didnt believe it at first but them I watched the video again and again. I watched Franz closely and if you do that you will see that his body does not react to the mishap at all. There is absolutely no sign of suprise. Non. He throws the steel ball  casually at the window and he reacts as if he had tried to throw a basketball into the basket and missed. Then he doubles down and asks should I try aggain? And all the time he is just smiling. You cannot control your body. If you are really suprised your body will show that. The only way that there is no tension and no shock in Franz's face is that he knew what would happen. I had a light bulb moment when I came to work on Monday. People who really hate Tesla came to me full of joy asking if I say the huge fail. And then I had my first suspicion. I watched the video again and now it is clear to me. The whole goal of marketing is to make as many people as possible see your product. How they come to see it doesn't matter.

 

 

Tony S  • 5 days ago (edited)

It will help, it’ll drive the non Tesla-fanatic buyers to explore other BEV makers in the market now and in the near future. It may encourage other companies to consider adding pickup Trucks to their portfolio of BEV

 

 

Frederick Stirnkorb  • 5 days ago

Any publicity is good publicity.

 

Steven Bollinger  • 5 days ago (edited) Question of the Week: the Cybertruck -- nobody cares about the smashed windows, they're looking at the truck and going over the specs. Big plus so far. The actual launch event was handled pretty badly, but it doesn't seem to matter.

 

RAJEEV NARAYAN

Despite the glass shattering during the cybertruck reveal and it's polarizing design, I think that overall it will help the greater cause of EV adoption. Tesla, and Rivian, entering the pickup truck segment has spurred GM and Ford to do so as well, this is a good thing. Also, I have met several people who were previously lukewarm about EVs in general, strongly considering the Cybertruck. Perhaps they will buy one, or perhaps they will buy a more normal looking electric truck from Rivian,  Ford or GM... either way, it's good for EVs.

 

STEVE JOHN

I believe that the old saying of "There is no such thing as bad publicity" is good for this one - The CyberTruck story made mainstream news, therefore more people got to see and hear about it, the curious ones would read further and seen that "new" (ok its not available yet) EV's can cost 40 thousand (pounds/dollars/euros) and are good for 500 miles on one charge, showing prices coming down and range going up..

If it gets people in offices and bars talking about it, then these extra details will start to remove some of the myths and FUD around EV's. Really looking forward to 2020 when some of the talked about models finally make it into showrooms and on to the roads. I have a reservation for a Polestar 2, so hopefully I will be driving my own soon.

Thanks for great work you do on the podcast.

 

GRANTON SMITH

I think that the Cybertruck going viral has absolutely helped - it's the way everyone finds out more about Tesla's lineup. Do I think the window smashed on purpose?😱 - No. Is "window-gate" necessarily a bad thing? Also no!

I think that because Cybertruck is such a controversial design that tongues would be wagging whether the window broke or not. TSLAQ seeks to make something more out of it, but especially for a company like Tesla with $0 advertising spend I think the old adage is true "there's no such thing as bad publicity" (or self charging hybrids 🤷‍♂‍)

 

MICHAEL LULCHAK

The viral Cybrtrk video starts the discussion about EVs.  When the discussion has started, you can address the questions, the FUD, and plant the seed that will eventually see them driving electric.

So was the cybrtrk video good for tesla?  I'm not sure.

Was it good for electric vehicles, and the move the sustainable transport?  ABSOLUTELY!

If you can't engage with motorheads, they won't change.  They think they're rubbing my nose in the Cybrtrk 'disaster'.  EV's will win the war ... it's all but inevitable now.  But with each discussion a new battle has begun!

I've listened to your podcast for about a year now.  After I started ... I wanted to know how you started out and why.  So I went back and listened to all of them.  What I didn't expect was that it's like travelling through a time machine!  What was new and interesting each day, what was controversial, and how it played out.  I guess it's sort of like watching an entire year of episodes on netflix?

 

BILL POLLOCK

In the medium term I think it will help.  The design is polarizing, but we know that is not the market ready concept.  Too many tweeks are needed, but it says  "We can make a truck with these great features for a low price" (ostensibly).

 

CURTIS HIBBERT

I believe Elon has nothing to loose with the Cyber Truck. If he went with the cookie cutter pick up truck with different lights and fancy leather, Tesla would not make a dent in the American truck market. Ford, GM and Dodge hate Tesla and their customers (fanboys) would never leave their chosen brands.

Tesla has always been “Go big or go home” kind of company. This is why they will survive while companies like Rivian will get bought out or die at the side of the road.

Whatever Tesla does is alway a good think for the EV community, without Elon none of the media would pay attention to the EV movement.

 

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The MYEV.com Question Of The Week…

 

 

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