Updated Polestar 2 Could Start As Low As $34,900 | 12 Aug 2021

Episode 1176,   Aug 12, 2021, 12:00 AM

Today’s big EV stories:
• Elon Musk Heads for Germany
• Ford chip shortage means Mach-E at least six weeks late
• Xos sells 120 electric vehicles to FedEx Ground ISPs
• Italy's EV Market Share More Than Quadrupled In H1 2021
• Tesla Model 3 with salvaged titles are regaining access to the Supercharger Network
• Take a Look at the Road That Tricked Tesla's Autopilot System
• 2022 Polestar 2 Could Start As Low As $34,900
• 2022 BMW iX3 revealed with new look, no additional range
• 2022 Audi Q5 E-Tron Revealed During Homologation Process In China
• Proterra And LG Energy Solution Long-Term Supply Agreement
• Electric cars in traffic jams - will your battery cope?

Show #1176.

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Thursday 12th August. 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.

ELON MUSK HEADS FOR GERMANY
"Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk has touched down in Berlin before the electric-car maker hosts one of the front-runners to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. The Tesla chief executive officer’s jet landed in the German capital Wednesday afternoon, according to a Twitter account that tracks the movement of his plane"

"Joerg Steinbach, the economy minister for the state of Brandenburg, where Tesla is constructing its plant, tweeted later that he had a “very relaxed evening meeting” with Musk"

"While the country scored a major victory when Musk announced plans to build a factory near Berlin, the project has fallen months behind schedule, with Tesla bemoaning an “irritating” process of obtaining regulatory approvals."


Would-be Merkel successor Laschet to meet Tesla's Musk on Friday

- Armin Laschet, Germany's conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, will meet with Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday during a visit to the company's gigafactory site in Gruenheide near Berlin.

- "I am glad that Elon Musk has just send me an SMS and we have agreed to meet tomorrow,"

- The environmental agency in Brandenburg has yet to give final approval - meaning a further delay cannot be ruled out, even until 2022.


FORD CHIP SHORTAGE MEANS YOUR MUSTANG MACH-E DELIVERY MAY BE AT LEAST SIX WEEKS LATE

- Ford’s F-150 was hit by the global semiconductor shortage, and now its flagship Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle is seeing a serious delay too — by a minimum of six weeks for prospective owners who were scheduled to get their vehicle between July 5th and October 1st. That’s according to emails Ford reportedly to buyers today

- Here’s Ford’s statement:
The global semiconductor shortage continues to affect global automakers and other industries in all parts of the world . We are working closely with all of our key suppliers to address production constraints tied to this global semiconductor shortage so we can continue to build Mach-E vehicles, and get them to our customers as quickly as we can.

- The global chip shortage seems to be getting worse before it gets better, with semiconductor giant TSMC warning it will continue into next year. All sorts of gadgets are affected, including graphics cards and game consoles, but automakers have been hit particularly hard.


XOS SELLS 120 ELECTRIC VEHICLES TO FEDEX GROUND ISPS

- Xos Inc., which makes medium- to heavy-duty electric trucks, said Monday it has sold 120 medium-duty trucks to 35 FedEx Ground independent service providers (ISPs) in five states.

- The trucks are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter and in 2022, Xos said. The ISPs are based in Texas, California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

- S. The ISPs manage the drivers who provide pick-up and delivery services on behalf of FedEx Ground.


ITALY'S EV MARKET SHARE MORE THAN QUADRUPLED IN H1 2021

- Italy – the continent’s fourth-largest market – is now on the verge of reaching double-digit market share for plug-in vehicles, following consistent monthly growth and quarter-end peak registrations.

- With the effects of the pandemic slowly fading away, and government incentives bridging the price gap between technologies, electric mobility is booming in the once dormant Italian EV market.

- Full electric cars reach 30,384 registrations in the first half of 2021, close to the full-year figure for the BEV market in 2020 and over three times (!) the sales of the first half of last year

- Fiat 500e is in fact unmovable from the top spot. It is actually sprinting ever faster to annual best-seller status with 5,107 registrations to June. Difficult to even think of any other BEV posing a threat for the rest of the year. If anything, can the little Fiat reach 10,000 units by year-end? A distant second is Smart ForTwo with 3,580 units, still an Italian favourite. Renault Twingo ZE gains the third position at 3,126 registrations,


TESLA MODEL 3 WITH SALVAGED TITLES ARE REGAINING ACCESS TO THE SUPERCHARGER NETWORK

- Tesla’s decision to block access to the Supercharger Network for vehicles with a salvaged title last year was met with a lot of criticism. On the one hand, Tesla had a fair point since it’s difficult to ensure that a salvaged vehicle’s battery is completely safe. On the other hand, some cars with salvaged titles seem to have batteries that do not seem damaged at all. Tesla, however, stood its ground, even extending its restrictions to third-party rapid chargers.

- The update was initially shared by noted Tesla owner-hacker @greentheonly, and it was promptly confirmed by several Model 3 owners. One of these was an EV owner who purchased a Model 3 with a salvaged title back in February 2021, which had its access to the Supercharger Network disabled.

- Another owner whose salvaged title Model 3 lost Supercharger access last year after Tesla’s ban also confirmed that his vehicle could now charge using the rapid charging network again.


TAKE A LOOK AT THE ROAD THAT TRICKED TESLA'S AUTOPILOT SYSTEM

- The driver, known on Reddit as BBFLG, posted about his experience in a Reddit thread. He said his Tesla Model X crashed into a boulder when it tried to navigate the forked road.

- At the point when the one lane veered into two lanes the Tesla attempted to go straight. The driver said on social media that he had two hands on the steering wheel and took back control from the autopilot function, but was unable to turn the wheel as the car hit the gravel shoulder of the road.

- He said on Reddit that he was told by park rangers that his car was the fourth Tesla to crash on the site. BBFLG said he was sent pictures of a fifth Tesla that also crashed in the same spot shortly after his accident occurred on July 25.


2022 POLESTAR 2 COULD START AS LOW AS $34,900

- The biggest news for 2022 is the introduction of a new trim with a single motor, powering the front axle. It uses the same 78-kWh battery as the original dual-motor model and can travel an estimated 265 miles on a full charge

- Single-motor 2s are also available with the Pilot Package, which adds adaptive cruise, a 360-degree camera, and more. The Plus Package's highlights include a glass roof, an eight-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, and a new-for-'22 heat pump.

- What has changed is the range, which is up 16 miles from the '21 model to 249, and price, which comes in at $51,200 delivered, almost $5,800 under the Model 3 Performance.

- Deliveries of the updated twin-motor 2022 Polestar 2 will begin in October, while single-motor orders will start to be fulfilled by the end of the year, for $47,200 delivered.


2022 BMW IX3 REVEALED WITH NEW LOOK, NO ADDITIONAL RANGE

- On Wednesday, BMW unveiled an updated version of the iX3 featuring the same tweaks introduced across the X3 lineup for the 2022 model year, and at present there are still no plans to being it to the U.S. Instead, BMW will offer the larger iX crossover and i4 hatchback in its electric portfolio here.

- The updated iX3 adopts a revised look, with the key change being the new lights at both ends. BMW has also made the M Sport styling package a standard item, which adds 19-inch wheels (20-inch wheels available) and unique fascias at both ends. The package also adds interior items, such as a sport steering wheel.
The interior has been spruced up with this update, with the design of the center stack now matching the design found in the latest 4-Series. A bigger 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is standard and an equally big screen serves as the infotainment hub.

- . The setup relies on an 80-kilowatt-hour battery and a single electric motor at the rear axle.


2022 AUDI Q5 E-TRON REVEALED DURING HOMOLOGATION PROCESS IN CHINA


PROTERRA AND LG ENERGY SOLUTION TO PARTNER ON LONG-TERM SUPPLY AGREEMENT FOR EV BATTERY CELLS


ELECTRIC CARS IN TRAFFIC JAMS - WILL YOUR BATTERY COPE?


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