Why Jaguar Killed The Electric XJ | 13 July 2021

Episode 1142,   Jul 13, 2021, 11:00 AM

Today’s big EV stories:
• Luxury Tesla used by Prince Charles goes on sale for £82,000
• Audi to unveil its Tesla-fighting electric car from Artemis project at IAA
• Jaguar Defends Killing The New XJ
• Samsung and Tesla sign a half a billion dollars deal for Cybertruck cameras
• Is the Army warming up to electric vehicles in its fleet?
• Polestar to Chronicle the Precept In Documentary Series
• NIU Launches All-New Electric KQi3 Kick Scooter for £339
• Study: EVs Will Be Majority of Sales by 2033
• German election primer – Fight over combustion engine phase-out heats up

Show #1142.
 
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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 13th July. It’s  Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
 
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.
 
LUXURY TESLA USED BY PRINCE CHARLES GOES ON SALE FOR £82,000
 
- A top-of-the range electric-powered Tesla that was used by Prince Charles has gone on the market.
The six-month-old Tesla Model S with just 7,000 miles on the clock is on the market for £82,500 with no special premium added for its Royal pedigree. It is believed that it was loaned by Tesla to Charles’ household to try out as an environmentally form of transport in addition to his electric Jaguar I-Pace.
 
- It is believed that he loved the car so much that he got the loan period extended before handing it back to Tesla.
 
- It is now being sold by luxury car dealers Castle Motors who only refer in the small print on their website to it having been used by Charles.
 
- Charles was first spotted in the Tesla Model S in February this year when he was visiting his father Prince Philip at the King Edward VII Hospital in London.
 
- Charles who has championed environmental concerns for decades reportedly first had a test drive in a Tesla in 2016 on his Scottish estate in Ayrshire. He was shown around the car by Kimbal Musk, the brother of Tesla chief executive and Silicon Valley magnate Elon Musk, who sits on the board of the American car company. The Prince was said to have personally hosted Mr Musk and his fiancée over several days at Dumfries House.
 
 
AUDI TO UNVEIL ITS TESLA-FIGHTING ELECTRIC CAR FROM ARTEMIS PROJECT AT IAA
 
- Audi is preparing to unveil the first vehicle developed by its new Artemis project, a more nimble startup-like group within the automaker to create more efficient electric vehicles that will compete with Tesla. The first Artemis EV is expected to be unveiled at IAA in Munich in September, according to German reports.
 
- Last year, the German automaker announced the creation of a new group called Artemis to “develop an efficient electric car platform with the first model to come to market by 2024.”
The Artemis initiative was started by Audi CEO Markus Duesmann with the goal to “develop a pioneering model for Audi quickly and unbureaucratically.”
 
- It’s possible that the timeline to production gets updated at the event, but for now, the first Artemis vehicle is not expected to hit the market for another two to three years.
 
 
JAGUAR DEFENDS KILLING THE NEW XJ
 
- When Thierry Bollore took the reins at Jaguar Land Rover last September, he made a bold and, at the time, controversial decision: the death of the next generation Jaguar XJ that was to be reborn as an all-electric flagship sedan. Testing was in the advanced stages for this hopeful Mercedes EQS rival but Bollore had a different outlook.
 
- Bollore concluded that the new XJ was already outdated in some critical areas and therefore made no business sense to launch it. Starting from scratch would be the smarter long-term solution.
 
- Bollore instead revealed a radical plan he calls Reimagine that will see Jaguar turning into an all-electric and ultra-luxurious brand by 2025.
 
- As for the future of Jag's only existing EV, the I-Pace, Bollore confirmed it'll continue to receive regular updates and "will still be around in 2025, though it won't be part of the new model portfolio."
 
 
 
SAMSUNG AND TESLA SIGN A HALF A BILLION DOLLARS DEAL FOR CYBERTRUCK CAMERAS
 
- Future Tesla Cybertruck owners will reportedly have their rearview ‘mirrors’ powered by Samsung Electro-Mechanics. The latter company has apparently struck a deal with Tesla worth $436 million, and as a result, Samsung will reportedly supply the biggest EV manufacturer in the USA with its camera modules.
 
- The prototype vehicle showcased on stage wasn’t equipped with conventional rearview mirrors, but instead, it used an array of cameras connected to the dashboard’s displays. The production model shouldn’t be all that different from the original prototype, and these reports further confirm that the Cybertruck will have a mirrorless design.
 
- The Korean tech giant has supplied Tesla with other EV-related technologies before, including batteries, and reports indicate that the new PixCell LED headlamp developed by Samsung will also be used by Tesla for its future EVs.
 
 
IS THE ARMY WARMING UP TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN ITS FLEET?
 
- The U.S. Army is wading into the murky waters of fielding electric vehicles, and industry stands ready to make that happen, but it’s been difficult for the experienced commercial world to convince the hesitant service to take the plunge.
 
- When it comes to combat vehicles like Abrams tanks, Stryker combat vehicles and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, “I’m not sure we’re going fully electric any time soon,” Brig. Gen. Glenn Dean, the program executive officer for ground combat systems, told Defense News in an interview in Warren, about a 50-minute drive from GM’s proving ground.
 
- Dean said the Army might initially prefer a hybrid power option.
 
- While fully electric combat vehicles may be a tougher sell to the Army, the tactical wheeled vehicle fleet might be a promising place to start.
 
- That GM Defense converted its Infantry Squad Vehicle into a fully electric vehicle in just 12 weeks is evidence of that possibility.
 
- GM Defense plans to base its eLRV design off its yet-to-be publicly debuted Hummer EV chassis, a vehicle of which the company is hoping to build millions.    The Hummer EV features a 200-kilowatt hour battery using Ultium technology. It has three drive units and is a 1,000-horsepower vehicle.
 
- GM Defense plans to offer a purely electric vehicle for eLRV. But one option, to add a layer of comfort, would be to include an electric-powered range extender — “a smoking patch,” as one company battery engineer put it.
 
 
VOLVO'S ELECTRIC BRAND POLESTAR TO CHRONICLE THE PRECEPT SEDAN'S PRODUCTION PROCESS IN A YOUTUBE DOCUMENTARY SERIES
 
- The Precept electric sedan from Volvo's electric brand Polestar was originally slated for full-scale production in late 2020, but now we expect the company will launch the futuristic sedan as a 2023 model.
 
- Staying true to Polestar's pledge of transparency, the company is releasing an entire YouTube documentary series, which will chronicle the design process, development and production for the Precept EV concept. The "Precept: From Concept to Car" documentary series is an endeavor to reveal the variety of elements that go into the ideation and development process of a new vehicle.
 
- The first webisode is titled "The Concept'' and was released last week. The first installment offers viewers a quick behind-the-scenes look at the different views and thought processes the electric carmaker has to take into consideration.
 
- Although Polestar has not revealed the technical specifications of the Precept sedan yet, it's expected that the car will get a dual-motor setup and deliver around 400 miles of range, which will rival Tesla's flagship Model S.
 
 
NIU LAUNCHES ALL-NEW ELECTRIC KQI3 KICK SCOOTER FOR £339
 
- Global electric mobility innovator NIU is delighted to launch the brand-new KQi3 electric kick scooter in the UK as the company’s first product in the booming micromobility sector.
Launching on July 13, 2021 in the UK market, the KQi3 will be available from Indiegogo for an extremely accessible price of £339 at the Early Bird offer
 
- The NIU KQi3 has been designed to offer a comfortable, smart, and powerful alternative for urban transport with an 18.6mile range combined with a top-speed of 15.5mph. A full charge takes just five hours to complete and for maximum convenience and easy storage, the KQi3 is foldable.
 
- NIU believes the new KQi3 is the ultimate commuter scooter.
 
- Since the formation of the company in 2014 there have been over 1.8 million NIU scooters sold across 48 countries.
 
 
STUDY: EVS WILL BE MAJORITY OF SALES BY 2033
 
- Electric vehicles (EVs) will make up more than half of auto sales worldwide by 2033, according to a new study. By 2045, the researchers say, internal combustion engine vehicles will total less than 1% of new car sales globally. The predictions come from consulting firm Ernst & Young. EY’s Mobility Lens Forecaster study used a neural network to examine “consumer behavior, regulatory trends, technology evolution (vehicle and ecosystem) and manufacturers’ announced strategies” in making its predictions.  Europe will go first, EY says. “The latest predictions show that by 2028 EV sales in Europe will surpass those of other powertrains, a trend that will be repeated in China by 2033 and in the US by 2036.”
 
- The COVID-19 pandemic contributes significantly to the AI’s predictions. “Many people who had rejected ownership in lieu of ridesharing and public transport have reassessed in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic,” EY explains. An earlier study published last November showed that “almost one-third of non-car owners planned to buy a car in the next six months (19% plan to buy new, 12 % used cars), and about half of those are millennials.”
 
 
GERMAN ELECTION PRIMER – FIGHT OVER COMBUSTION ENGINE PHASE-OUT HEATS UP
 
 
 
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