Briefly | 17 Mar 2022

03/17/22 • 4 min

EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs

On the podcast today: · Ford F-150 Lightning EPA Range Numbers Emerge: Up To 320 Miles · Ford CEO Farley says automaker sold out of electric vehicles · Rolls-Royce Spectre spy video catches the EV from every angle · T-Mobile brings unlimited 5G to new BMW iX and i4 electric cars · Cincinnati says it will have a fully electric fleet by 2035 · GM developed the GMC Hummer EV in record time: Here’s the backstory · Steve Wozniak just bought Tesla-rivaling electric car · Proposed battery swapping policy needs plan for interoperability

Previous Episode

1406: 16 Mar 2022 | World Car Of The Year Finalists ALL EVs!

Show #1406
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily, you trusted source of information. It’s Wednesday 16th March, it’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
TESLA HALTS WORK AT SHANGHAI FACTORY FOR TWO DAYS AMID CHINA COVID CURBS
- Tesla (TSLA.O) is suspending production at its Shanghai factory for two days, according to a notice sent internally and to suppliers, as China tightens COVID restrictions to curb the country's latest outbreak.
- The Shanghai factory runs around the clock, and suppliers and Tesla staff were told on Wednesday in the notice, reviewed by Reuters, that production would be suspended for Wednesday and Thursday.
- Many cities across China, including Shanghai, have been rolling out strict movement controls to stem the country's largest COVID-19 outbreak in two years. The measures have also caused factory shutdowns in parts of the country, putting pressure on supply chains.
Original Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/exclusive-tesla-stops-work-shanghai-factory-two-days-amid-china-covid-curbs-2022-03-16/
- "We are actively cooperating with the government's requirements for nucleic acid testing and other epidemic prevention requirements, and at the same time are doing our best to ensure production, overcoming difficulties together," the company said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Original Source : https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tesla-says-trying-keep-production-022841904.html
TESLA HACKER INDICATES MODEL Y STANDARD RANGE+ VARIANT COULD ROLLOUT FROM GIGA TEXAS FIRST
- A Tesla hacker has discovered language in Software Update 2022.8.2 that seems to indicate a Model Y Standard Range+ variant will be rolling out from Gigafactory Texas initially, as deliveries are set to begin soon.
- Last week, it was confirmed that a new Model Y variant packing just 279 miles of range was added to the EPA’s FuelEconomy.gov website, confirming the vehicle was approved by the agency to enter the stream of commerce. Teslarati confirmed this by recovering several documents from the EPA, which confirmed that Tesla had applied for certification of the new Model Y variant on February 2, receiving a Certificate of Conformity from the EPA on February 16
- the new Model Y’s range rating had Tesla enthusiasts stumped at whether the vehicle would equip the 4680 cells that Tesla confirmed would be in Austin-made vehicles. The low range rating seemed to indicate that Tesla could be rolling out a Standard Range vehicle using LFP cells
- While the range ratings and batteries used in the Model Y are not present in the internal reference, green said the model name, Standard Range+, and location of manufacture, Gigafactory Texas, are included.
Original Source : https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-standard-range-model-y-variant-giga-texas-hacker-indicates/
TESLA FIRED EMPLOYEE WHO REVIEWED ITS DRIVER ASSIST FEATURES ON YOUTUBE
- Tesla has a complicated relationship with customers who pay to test the beta version of its “Full Sell Driving” software. Often, these people are diehard fans, keen to promote the company’s prowess and show off its new driver assist features. Sometimes, though, they overshare — posting videos that show exactly when and how Tesla’s software gets it wrong.
- John Bernal, a former Tesla employee who reviewed the company’s FSD Beta software on his YouTube channel AI Addict says he was fired by the company last month after posting a video that showed his Tesla hitting a bollard.
- Bernal says that prior to his dismissal he was told verbally by his managers that he “broke Tesla policy” and that his YouTube channel was a “conflict of interest” (though his written separation notice did not specify a reason for his dismissal). Bernal said he’d previously been approached by managers after posting a video in March 2021 that showed a number of close calls with pedestrians and cyclists while using the FSD beta software.
- A number of FSD Beta testers post reviews of the company’s software on YouTube, and Bernal says he intends to maintain his channel (though he now needs to borrow friends’ cars to test FSD Beta). As Bernal told CNBC: “I still care about Tesla, vehicle safety and finding and fixing bugs.”
Original Source : https://www.the...

Next Episode

1407: 17 Mar 2022 | Ford F-150 Range Rated For 320 Miles

Show #1407
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily, you trusted source of information. It’s Thursday 17th March, it’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.
FORD F-150 LIGHTNING EPA RANGE NUMBERS EMERGE: UP TO 320 MILES
- The long-awaited EPA range and efficiency numbers for the upcoming Ford F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup finally emerged, but not yet on the EPA's website, but via Monroney Stickers, shared on f150gen14.com forum.
- According to four Monroney Stickers, shown for Pro (SR and ER), Lariat (ER) and Platinum (ER) versions, Ford achieved the 230-mile target for the SR and beat the ER target by 20 miles, achieving 320 miles.
- Pro 18"(SR): 230 miles (370 km)(ER - fleets): 320 miles (515 km)
- Lariat 20"(SR): N/A (potentially the same as Pro SR)(ER): 320 miles (515 km)
- Platinum 22"(ER): 300 miles (483 km)
- An interesting thing is that the ER battery versions (aside from Platinum) get 320 miles, compared to 314 miles of Rivian R1T.
Original Source : https://insideevs.com/news/574208/ford-f150-lightning-epa-range/
FORD CEO FARLEY SAYS AUTOMAKER SOLD OUT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES
- As soon as CEO Jim Farley said the words, they hit the Twittersphere: "We are sold out for a couple years now," he said. On stage for a CERAWeek energy conference discussion streamed live March 10 from Texas
- The moderator asked: How are things going with the Mustang Mach-E?
- "It’s totally sold out. We’re just completely overwhelmed. I mean, we have the chip supply thing, that makes it worse. But we’re completely oversubscribed," he said. "Actually, in all of our electric vehicles, we are sold out for a couple years now. So we’re very fortunate that we made that choice to go into those passion products."
- "We were lucky. We got to watch from a distance what happened at Tesla and the first generation of leaders like BMW and GM. They went first, and Nissan, and Tesla won and the generic products didn’t," Farley said.
- "What we learned from that as a management team, which was actually not popular in the company, was that early adopters of zero emission wanted the good stuff," he said. "They don’t want generic homogeneous small cars that are unremarkable. They want great vehicles. They want aspirational vehicles ... And so we said, 'let’s electrify the icons.' "
- The automaker has been so overwhelmed by orders for its award-winning Mach-E that it has had to stop taking orders for the 2022 model because many are sold out.Not all versions, but many.
- When the 2023 Mach-E order bank opens, deliveries are scheduled to begin as soon as late 2022. While Ford expects 2022 Mach-Es to be delivered to customers before the new model year begins shipping, global supply chain and semiconductor chip issues could continue to disrupt the delivery schedules
- In January, Ford announced it would nearly double production capacity to 150,000 Lightning pickups per year at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn to meet "soaring customer demand,"
- Within 24 months, Ford will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery electric vehicles annually with plans to move toward annual production of more than 2 million EVs by 2026."
- Van Conway, president of the Young Conway Group, a turnaround consultancy for businesses based in Detroit, said executives routinely get consumers excited when products are so popular they're in limited supply."Ferrari sells out every year, too," Conway told the Free Press. "When you say you’re sold out, you actually get people more interested in getting one. Maybe they're not sold out tomorrow, but they are sold out today."
Original Source : https://eu.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/03/17/ford-electric-vehicles-sold-out-mach-e-lightning-farley/7051225001/
ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE SPY VIDEO CATCHES THE EV FROM EVERY ANGLE
- A new spy video provides a close look at the Rolls-Royce Spectre while the upcoming electric coupe is driving on public roads in Germany. There's a view from every angle when the driver pulls the vehicle off the street to turn around.
- All of the production panels appear to be on the body, so the covering is the only thing hiding the vehicle's design.
- In front, the Spectre has split headlights that include LED strips on the upper section. Because EVs don't need the same airflow as combustion-powered vehicles, it's not clear whether the large grille is actually functional.
- There are vertically oriented taillights on each corner of the rear.
- A recent ru...