Mercedes Have A Model S Killer, Swedish Electric Road and Bolt Updates Over The Air | 13 April 2018
Episode 87, Apr 12, 2018, 11:01 PM
Elon Musk Introduces Us To Time Shifting | Electric Mercedes S Class To Take On Tesla | Chevrolet Bolt Gets Over The Air Updates | Volkswagen Announce Battery Plant To Make 500k Packs Per Year | Sweden’s Electric Road | Volvo Announce Fully Electric Delivery Truck
Friday 13th April 2018.
MODEL 3 TIME SHIFT
- Steve Jobs was famously coined by Apple engineers in the early 80’s as having a reality distortion field. And now another genius has introduced us to another phrase, although this time himself. Welcome to Elon Musks time shift.
- Whatever you do, don’t call the Model 3 delay, a delay. It’s a time shift. “You’ll definitely get your car,” the chief executive officer told CBS in an interview aired Thursday. “It’s a six- to nine-month time shift. That’s literally it, and three of those months have already passed. “It’s mostly, like, people cancel because, you know, they just needed a car and we didn’t have a car for them. As long as you can see that you’re ascending levels of hell, that’s OK”
ELECTRIC MERCEDES S-CLASS TAKES ON TESLA MODEL S
- If you’ve checked out any previous podcasts we recently talked about the rumoured electric version of the Mercedes S Class, the EQS. Bloomberg say: “Mercedes-Benz is developing a battery-powered sedan about the size of its $90,000 flagship S-Class, challenging Tesla Inc.’s Model S for high-end electric-car buyers. The new full-size sedan, dubbed EQ S, will be part of the Daimler AG unit’s push to introduce 10 all-electric vehicles by 2022, Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said Wednesday during the presentation of the revamped Mercedes A-Class hatchback in Split, Croatia. The EQ line will be flanked by plug-in hybrid models offering a “totally different” battery range than today, while conventional vehicles will feature so-called mild hybrids with 48-volt technology in a shift away from pure combustion power. “All vehicles will be electrified,” Zetsche said.”
CHEVROLET BOLT OTA UPDATES
- Only 24 hour ago on the podcast I was saying about how all EVs should be updated over the air, because a trip to the dealer to install updates is mad. It followed the story of Chevrolet asking Bolt owners to go back for a software update. I then stumbled on InsdieEV’s putting who got to the bottom of things they say : “as far as we could tell, even if the remote updates were initiated, this problem would still require a visit to your local dealership. It seems that almost overnight, the story may have changed. Perhaps not having to issue a recall and deal with a wider amount of negative press, GM got its act in gear to quickly move forward with the new technology? Not only do we have the automaker’s official letter, but also the following video explaining the OTA process and how it works.”
- Check out InsideEVs for that letter.
VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCE ON BATTERY PLANT
- VW make a LOT of cars, so when they go all in on electric cars, they need a lot of batteries. They won’t be making the cells but they’re making the packs, and they’ll be making up to 500,000 of those a year at their oldest factory, first opened in 1938, their Braunschweig plant. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, made the announcement yesterday:
- “The Volkswagen brand is doing its utmost to develop and produce the electric cars of the future in Germany. The battery system is an elementary part of the value chain – and we bundle the expertise for this important technology for the whole of Europe in Braunschweig.”
- And if you wondered why I said Diess, not CEO Muller, it’s because “Volkswagen is seeking to replace Matthias Mueller with the head of its core brand, Herbert Diess, as part of a broader overhaul of its management structure to boost efficiency, two people familiar with the matter said. Newslook” USA Today reports: ” In addition to his job as CEO, Diess will directly oversee vehicle information technology as well as group development and research. He is expected to closely shape VW's strategy on self-driving cars and electric vehicles.”
SWEDEN’S ELECTRIC ROAD
- According to the Guardian newspaper today: The world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks driving on it has been opened in Sweden.” Maybe they’ve been looking at their neighbours in Norway getting all the EV attention! The technology uses an electric rail embedded in a public road, and it links Stockholm Arlanda airport to a site 2km away. The electricity moves from two tracks of rail in the road via a movable arm attached to the bottom of a vehicle, a bit like the inverse of a tram, or the new electric buses you see with the conductors above them. However this technology doesn’t stop you changing lanes or overtaking. The electrified road is split into sections of 50m with each ones being powered, and activated by cars on it. The Guardian continue “When a vehicle stops, the current is disconnected. The system is able to calculate the vehicle’s energy consumption, which enables electricity costs to be debited per vehicle and user.”
FIRST VOLVO ELECTRIC TRUCK ANNOUNCED
- Volvo Trucks now introduces its first all-electric truck for commercial use – the Volvo FL Electric for urban distribution and refuse operations
- 185 kW electric motor, max power/130 kW continuous output, two speed transmission
- 2-6 lithium-ion batteries, totalling 100-300 kWh.
- Range: Up to 300 km.
- Charging: AC charging via the mains grid (22 kW) or DC fast charge via CCS/Combo2 for up to 150 kW.
- Recharging time: From empty to fully charged batteries: fast charge 1-2 hours (DC charging), night charge up to 10 hours (AC charging) with maximum battery capacity of 300 kWh.
- The first two Volvo FL Electric trucks will be operated by refuse collection and recycling company Renova and haulage firm TGM.
- The Off Peak City Distribution project studied the effects of goods transport at night in central Stockholm. By avoiding peak hour traffic the trucks were able to do their jobs in one-third of the time compared to daytime operation.
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