Author: Green Car Online News

Swedes unite: NEVS pairs Saab with Swedish supercarmaker Koenigsegg

Koenigsegg Agera FE Thor and Vader
Swedish automakers all seem to be going electric, and Chinese investors are bringing them together.

In the latest announcement last week, Hong Kong health-insurance conglomerate Evergrande Health flexed its muscle to scoop up a second Swedish automaker.

Last month, Evergrande, which became most famous in the U.S. for its previous tumultuous investment in Faraday Future, bought a controlling interest National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which represents essentially the remainder of Swedish automaker Saab.

DON'T MISS: Faraday Future funder writes its own Saab story

NEVS now builds electric versions of the last Saab 9-3 for sale in China, and they constitute a large portion of ride-sharing cars in the country.

Last week, Evergrande added to its Swedish auto-making stable when NEVS bought Swedish exotic automaker Koenigsegg, once known for building the fastest production car in the world.

The deal, valued at $170 million, gives NEVS a 20 percent stake in the exotic automaker.

CHECK OUT: With cease-fire agreement, spark flickers toward Faraday's Future

Evergrande has announced its intention to add an electric-car component to its conglomerate and has been scooping up the small Swedes since a large portion of its investment in Faraday Future dissolved in January following legal warfare. The Swedish investments followed quickly after Evergrande and Faraday Future agreed to restrict their tie-up to end their disputes last month.

Koenigsegg builds hyper-exotic sports cars capable of speeds well over 250 mph.

Other hypercar-makers, such as the newly spun-off Pininfarina, and Serbian Rimac, as well as traditional automakers breaking into making such cars, have announced that they will go all electric, which may put pressure on competitors such as Koenigsegg to launch electric exotics as well.

READ THIS: Storied Pininfarina to launch new line of exotic electric cars

As Michael Perschke, CEO of Pininfarina told Green Car Reports last July, “It no longer works to launch an aspirational brand with a gas engine. You have to start in the 21st Century.”

Joining forces with NEVS and Evergrande could give Koenigsegg access to electric-car technology and supplies.

If that happens, it won't be immediate. Koenigsegg announced on Friday that it is developing a new “entry-level” car for $1.15 million that will have a cam-less gasoline engine.

NEVS 9-3 concept, 2017 CES Asia

It's also possible that Koenigsegg simply wants some space in Saab's old factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, which this deal specifically provides.

Saab's former Swedish rival Volvo is also owned by a Chinese automaker, Geely, which has announced that it plans to convert the brand to focus on electric and plug-in cars.

Tesla aims to make service quicker, roadside assistance automatic

2017 Tesla Model S
Soon, if your Tesla breaks down, you may not even have to call a tow truck. Your car will do it for you.

That was one of the goals Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out for 2019 in a conference call with investors last week as part of a larger push to streamline the company's service processes.

Musk didn't confirm how the service will work, but said he imagined that that if the car detected a fault, it would automatically notify Tesla, and the company would automatically send a flat-bed with a service loaner—and an ambulance if need be—to the location, drop off the loaner, and pick up the faulty or damaged Tesla and take it to the nearest service location to minimize any inconvenience to the driver.

READ THIS: Commentary: Tesla races to outrun perfect storm from tax credit, production, cost hurdles

He said that drivers would have the option to cancel the service call if they want, but if they didn't cancel, a tow truck would arrive automatically.

Such notifications are easier for Tesla than for other automakers, because all the company's cars (other than the original Roadster) have a data stream back to the company, and because the company owns its own service centers.

Musk said on Wednesday that improving service efficiency is one of the company's major priorities for 2019.

DON'T MISS: Tesla cuts prices $2,000, almost hit 250,000 vehicles in 2018

The Tesla owners we hear from have few complaints. Among those that the company apparently hears regularly, though, is about delays at its service centers, often while cars wait days for parts.

Musk announced a new focus to speed up service by moving repair parts into service centers, rather than storing them in regional warehouses and shipping them to service centers. This should especially help with cars that need minor bodywork.

CHECK OUT: Tesla revamps Model S and X lineups without battery size numbers

The CEO said that at least some Tesla service centers will start doing bodywork, and that they will stock front and rear plastic fascias for the cars in all the standard colors.

“We've been just like super dumb in some of the things we've done,” Musk admitted, in speaking about moving repair parts to the service centers. He told investors that “stopping doing the foolish things will massively improve our service costs, will massively improve customer happiness around the world, and it's just fundamentally better,”

Tesla profits, GM doubles down on EVs, Mustang and 911 hybrids: The Week in Reverse

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017
Which company showed a new hybrid system this week?

What new retro-themed electric car does Volkswagen plan to build?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Feb. 1, 2019.

The news this week centered around Tesla, as it often does. On Wednesday, the company announced its earnings for the fourth-quarter of 2018, showing a loss of more than $1 billion from a difficult year when it struggled to ramp up mass production of its most popular car, the Model 3. The second half of the year was in positive territory. It also announced that the Model Y will roll out at the end of 2020.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (r.) and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong in Shanghai July 10, 2018

Tesla has built up its cash reserves and no longer faces an immediate cash crunch, but it still scrambling to balance producing and selling enough cars against selling them for enough money to remain profitable. To that end, Tesla revealed new lineups for its original Model S sedan and Model X SUV that use the largest battery but limit its range. The company also cut its prices by another $1,000.

2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV

General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced that the company will double its investment in engineering electric and self-driving cars as it aims to focus on the future and avoid another bankruptcy like the one that caught up with GM in 2009.

New tests reveal that more lavishly equipped versions of the new Nissan Leaf Plus will have significantly shorter estimated range ratings than the basic version.

2019 Nissan Leaf

Now that the federal government has reopened, along with the EPA, a backlog of new models waiting for official fuel-economy and electric range estimates before they can be certified for sale is beginning to move forward. And with the EPA back in action, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler was able to make new appointments to the agency's Science Advisory Board—including a well-known skeptic of climate action.

Volkswagen Geneva Show Electric Buggy concept

Volkswagen finally officially revealed that it plans to build a concept version of a long-rumored electric dune buggy to join the stable of its throwback ID Buzz electric microbus and a rumored electric recreation of the original Beetle.

Mazda revealed more about its plans to develop cleaner and more fuel efficient models that meet stricter upcoming standards, at an event previewing the 2019 Mazda 3. It's less of a plan than a scattershot collection of plans to keep this small automaker globally viable.

Porsche Taycan prototype

Porsche revealed that its upcoming electric Taycan will come with three years of free charging on Electrify America chargers, also owned by Porsche's corporate parent Volkswagen. A new report also revealed details of two hybrid systems to potentially be used in the next 911 sports car.

Oil giant Shell announced it is getting into the business of fast-charging electric cars in the U.S. with its purchase Greenlots and that company's chargers.

Chargeway Beacon – Forth electric vehicle showcase, Portland

A Portland, Oregon, startup company, Chargeway, has a new system to help newfound electric car drivers find public charging more easily. The company rolled out its first educational kiosks in a Portland trial project.

Electrify America had to shut down its fastest DC fast chargers last weekend—before any civilian electric-car drivers had a chance to use them—due to a safety concern. The chargers were back on within a day.

Ford hybrid V-8 engine patent

New patents registered by Ford show what could by the new hybrid system the company plans to put in the next Mustang and F-150 pickup.

And a report from the U.S. Energy Information Agency shows that wind power is on pace to overtake hydro as the top renewable energy source in the U.S. in 2019.

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Chargeway Beacon to help shoppers and dealers navigate past EV charging confusion

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Chargeway Beacon – Forth electric vehicle showcase, Portland
Multiple electric vehicles arriving this year promise a driving range of more than 200 miles.

While that’s great news, and it’s bound to convince more households to make the jump to a fully electric vehicle—and to take road trips with it—it presents a new challenge to automakers: making public charging options at least as easy to figure out as filling up your gas tank ever was.

That’s a role that Chargeway hopes to help with. The Portland, Oregon EV-related software startup has created Chargeway Beacons—tall-standing interactive kiosks with 43-inch touch screens, conceived to fit right into car-dealership showrooms and elsewhere as education tools to make it easier for shoppers and salespeople alike.

DON’T MISS: Chargeway: the best electric-car idea you've never heard of

As part of a new pilot program that was announced last week at the Portland Auto Show, involving the Oregon Auto Dealers Association, PGE, Pacific Power, OpConnect, Forth, and the Oregon Department of Transportation, Chargeway will be installing Beacons at auto dealerships, primarily along the I-5 and I-84 corridors in Oregon—with the goal of increasing EV literacy and sales.

Chargeway Beacon – Forth electric vehicle showcase, Portland

Since its inception in 2017, Chargeway and its founder, Matt Teske, have been focused on the hard reality that navigating most public-charging options—with the exception of Tesla's, perhaps—is anything but easy.

The primary issue is that every hardware maker and charging network seems to want to use different signage. Understanding EV charging options in kilowatts, volts, and amps, and the difference between CHAdeMO, CCS, and Level 2 shouldn’t be a required course for owning an electric vehicle.

CHECK OUT: Why Chargeway matters: making EV charging comprehensible for buyers, dealers, utilities, networks

Chargeway has a simple solution, which comes in the form of colored circles and numbers. The color corresponds to the charge connector, and the number corresponds to how fast it can potentially charge.

What’s displayed on the kiosks very closely mirrors Chargeway’s app, which makes finding a station that will work with any particular car easy. It is available for iPhones and Android devices,

Chargeway app – February 2019Chargeway app

The interface, as with the app, allows you to plan routes and see chargers specific to your vehicle. However in the Chargeway Beacon format it will be configured to display the vitals only for the EVs sold at that dealership. Chargeway added a zip-code-based purchase-incentive rundown, including federal, state, and utility credits—the latter being something that dealerships often miss.

Further, the Beacon can help drivers crunch the numbers on what an electric car would cost to run in their zip code, charging at home, versus driving on gasoline. (Costs for charging on networks will of course vary).

Chargeway app – February 2019

Chargeway will also offer customers the chance to send information to public utilities, with the opportunity to get more info on home charging and green-energy options, and perhaps find out about incentives for charger installations, for example.

READ MORE: Chargeway pilot program to post labels to help electric-car drivers sort out charging levels

“We’re thrilled to be Chargeway’s first network partner,” said Dexter Turner, the CEO of OpConnect, in a press release, where he then summed up the situation exceptionally well: “We see Chargeway as a way to drive more traffic to our network, simplify the charging experience, and reduce calls to our support number from confused new drivers.”

The company put its first Beacons at Forth’s Electric Showcase in downtown Portland, and at Wentworth's Wilsonville Chevrolet in Wilsonville, Oregon, outside Portland. At present the organization has eight complete Beacons and hints that a greater expansion, even beyond the pilot program, is on the way—so let’s hope the program expands beyond Oregon. For automakers and dealerships looking to clear the fog over all the EVs and charging options, it’s looking like the right solution at the right time.

Tesla squeeze, broadband charging, EV education, EPA science: Today’s Car News

2020 Subaru Legacy teased ahead of 2019 Chicago Auto Show debut
The British parent of Virgin Media plans to use Virgin's broadband wiring to build public electric-car charging stations. Electric-car charging info site Chargeway sets up its first installations in Portland, Oregon. And the EPA appointed a noted skeptic of climate action. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

Portland, Oregon, startup Chargeway aims to help electric car owners and potential EV buyers—and dealer salespeople—navigate the sometimes-confusing world of public charging stations with new kiosks in dealerships.

Liberty Global, the parent of Virgin Media in Britain, plans to make public charging more plentiful by using Virgin's existing broadband wiring to power a new network of public chargers.

An earnings call this week pointed out the squeeze Tesla is facing between selling cars for enough money to remain profitable and selling enough of them to make them more affordable.

The EPA appointed a prominent skeptic of climate-change action to its controversial Science Advisory Panel in a move it said was aimed at increasing diversity. It also reappointed some Obama administration appointees.

It's not quite wireless updates, but Mercedes-Benz plans to roll out a new program to allow European buyers to add additional features to their cars after purchase. Owners will have to use the cars' wi-fi hot spots or their own cell phones to access and install the new features.

Finally, when Subaru rolls out new versions of its popular Legacy and Outback at the Chicago Auto Show next month, they will joint join the fray of new models with giant center infotainment touch screens.

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Forget light poles, British firm to build chargers from cable boxes

Ubitricity electric-car charging cord
The future of electric-car charging may be down in the trenches.

At least British broadband provider Liberty Global hopes so. The company, which owns Virgin Media, plans to start a pilot project using Virgin Media's cables and trenches that run to thousands of neighborhoods around Britain. Since they already have power, Liberty Global says they can be used to bring that power to charging stations for electric cars.

The effort could provide a charging solution for city-dwellers, even if they don't have access to a private parking space to install chargers. Finding a way to make it easier for urban apartment and condominium dwellers to charge is considered the next step in opening up the electric-car market to a wider range of buyers.

READ MORE: Ubitricity street lamp socket provides electric-car charging

New chargers could be installed either directly on junction boxes or on dedicated poles with wiring run out of existing Virgin Media trenches along the streets.

Liberty Global plans to have six trials up and running around Britain by Easter, starting in the eastern London community of Southwark.

The company eventually plans to aggregate charging data from self-driving electric car fleets charging on the system to help improve the charging efficiency of autonomous vehicle fleets.

CHECK OUT: UK launches Road to Zero electric car initiatives

The Financial Times first reported the effort.

The move models an effort in Germany that Deutsche Telekom announced in November, which began installing charging stations at 12,000 transformer boxes around that country.

A competing effort in Britain from Ubitricity aims to hang electric-car chargers on street lights around London to give urban electric-car drivers a place to charge.

Porsche 911 Hybrid sports car tech will arrive in two forms

2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S, Valencia, Spain, January 2019
Porsche is known as an engineering company. Its technical solutions are often complex and unusual, but often provide inspiration for others to follow.

Now details have filtered out about Porsche's new hybrid-electric powertrain for its upcoming 911, which could inform what engineers are thinking about in terms of bringing hybrid power to other sports cars.

The details were first revealed in an interview with Porsche's recently retired sports-car product chief, August Achleitner, in Autocar magazine in Britain last month.

DON'T MISS: Porsche Taycan sold out for a year—to mostly Tesla drivers

Autocar reports that there will be two versions of the new 911 Hybrid throughout the model's expected seven-year design life, a mild-hybrid system that adds torque but requires the gas engine for propulsion, and a more sophisticated full hybrid system. It's not clear whether the mild torque-assist system might precede the full hybrid, or whether they could be offered simultaneously, with full-hybrid being a more expensive option (which seems more likely to us.)

We'll focus on the full hybrid system, which is more interesting, and about which Achleitner provided more details.

The new system won't follow in the footsteps of Porsche's recent mid-range plug-in hybrid systems for its more family-oriented Cayenne and Panamera e-Hybrid models.

Even full-hybrid 911s will have no plug-in range, for instance, though they will be able to motor short distances on electricity.

Porsche Taycan prototype

Although Autocar reports that Porsche has yet to decide how far up the 911 model range the Hybrid should live, the system is engineered to have electric power to the front wheels, as well as a thin electric motor housed with the rear-mounted 8-speed, dual-clutch gearbox, which has shrunk to accommodate it but can now handle the higher torque loads of an electric motor.

A small battery lies low in the front of the car, which could help improve handling. It will still have a version of Porsche's 4.0-liter flat-6 engine, which may be turbocharged if Porsche decides to offer the 911 Hybrid in higher trims.

CHECK OUT: 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid: the subtly earthy type

The car will use an electrically operated brake booster to maximize braking regeneration.

The Hybrid will eventually appear on the next-generation 911, known in Porsche-speak as the 992, which is first expected to arrive in November as a 2020 model. The hybrid version, however, won't arrive for another four years after that, Achleitner said, which would put it toward the end of the model's lifespan.

By then, sales of the company's upcoming new Taycan electric car, which is also expected to go on sale late this year, should also be in full swing. Porsche has said that the Taycan is sold out for its first year of production.

Tesla revamps Model S and X lineups without battery size numbers

2017 Tesla Model S
As Tesla struggles to balance prices to maintain profitability in the face of lower tax credits for its cars, the company is simplifying its Model S and Model X lineups.

After Tesla cut prices across the board to make up for a reduction in the federal tax credits and CEO Elon Musk announced earlier this month that the company would stop taking orders for the base 75D versions of its Model S and X, the company on Wednesday posted new model lineups for both cars.

READ MORE: Musk axes affordable Tesla Model S, X 75D

New base versions of the Model S and Model X will have no additional designations. Above that, longer-range versions of both cars will be called the Extended Range Model S or Model X, above which will be Performance versions of both cars.

All three models now share the largest 100-kilowatt-hour battery from the previous models, indicating that base models are now limited by software, not cell capacity. Buyers will have to turn to the actual range numbers to tell them apart.

The company has also cut prices by another $1,000.

DON'T MISS: Tesla cuts prices $2,000, almost hit 250,000 vehicles in 2018

For the Model S, the base version starts out at $85,000 and offers 310 miles of range. Buyers can opt for an extra 25 miles of range for an extra $8,000. Performance cars will be rated at 315 miles of range, but will no longer come standard with Ludicrous Mode. Buyers can order the extra 91 horsepower of Ludicrous Mode for an extra $20,000.

The Model X follows the same pricing structure for $3,000 more. With its bigger, heavier, and less aerodynamic body it gets lower range estimates of 270 miles for the base model and 295 with the Extended Range option, which costs the same as it does on the Model S. Performance versions of the Model X are rated at 289, and also require an extra $20,000 to enable Ludicrous Mode.

VW buggy, Porsche 911 Hybrid, Shell chargers, Tesla profits: Today’s Car News

2018 Tesla Model S and 2018 Tesla Model X
Tesla reported profits, and revealed new model lineups for its Model S and Model X—and another price cut. Volkswagen announced it will build a concept electric dune buggy for the Geneva auto show. Details of the upcoming Porsche 911 Hybrid have emerged. And Shell has bought its first charging network in North America. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

Profit reports are key, especially for a company like Tesla that has built a following of evangelists hoping to change the world, but whose ability to survive hinges on shoring up its shaky finances. In its most recent quarterly earnings call, Tesla revealed that it turned a profit and built up its cash reserves in the last quarter of 2018, while producing more cars than ever before.

The company also cut prices and introduced new base versions of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV with shorter range batteries limited by software, not cells.

VW will add to its portfolio of throwback electric models, at least in concept, with a new concept version of the classic Meyers Manx dune buggy based on the company's new “affordable electric” MEB architecture. It will reveal the concept at the Geneva auto show in March, and is considering putting it into production.

U.S. charging network operator Greenlots announced it has been bought by oil giant Shell. Shell has been gradually expanding into the electric-car charging business, but Greenlots chargers will be its first in the U.S.

Details have leaked out about two new hybrid systems that Porsche plans to put in its new 911. Unlike Porsche's other models, however, neither will plug in.

The Chinese company that builds electric Saabs, NEVS, bought a large stake in Swedish exotic carmaker Koenigsegg, which leads to speculation about more upcoming electric supercars.

Finally, there could be some consolation this weekend for fans whose team loses the Superbowl. Ride sharing service Uber is offering free rides in Los Angeles or Boston if their team loses the big game.

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Volkswagen confirms electric dune buggy concept for Geneva auto show

Volkswagen Geneva Show Electric Buggy concept
A VW beach buggy made for blasting over the sand may ride again.

Volkswagen confirmed on Wednesday that it will show a concept electric dune buggy at the Geneva auto show in March.

Rumors circulated in December that the brand was considering such a move.

READ MORE: Fun revival: Electric dune buggy could join VW I.D. line

According to Autocar magazine in Britain, which originally broke the story back in November, the electric Buggy concept will be based on Volkswagen's new MEB electric-car architecture designed for affordable electric cars. Rumors peg it as rear-wheel drive, the basic format of the MEB platform, but the platform will also support all-wheel drive with a second motor up front.

Volkswagen Geneva Show Electric Buggy concept

Along with two other retro-styled models, the ID Buzz microbus and a rumored electric reincarnation of the original Beetle—only with four doors—the dune buggy concept is designed to bring attention to VW's new lineup of electric cars.

Volkswagen plans to build 15 million cars on the affordable MEB platform (and several more electric models on more expensive platforms.) It has also announced that it will build electric cars in the U.S. at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That's likely to include the ID Buzz, though it's not clear if the buggy will make it stateside—or into production at all.

READ MORE: Volkswagen details the foundation for 10 million electric vehicles

Auto show concept cars, such as the as-yet-unnamed buggy set to debut in Geneva, often represent trial-balloons for automakers considering whether to put real versions of the cars into production. A Volkswagen source told Autocar that the buggy is under “active consideration” for production.

VW beach buggies became famous in the 1960s and '70s as fiberglass-bodied independent conversion kits based on shortened floorpans of original Beetles. They were lightweight and quick and developed a reputation for being faster on rough, loose surfaces than Jeeps and pickups designed to go off-road.

CHECK OUT: Volkswagen will make electric cars in Tennessee, at expanded plant

Volkswagen practically confirmed it was thinking of building such a car in early December when it included a silhouette of an open-topped dune buggy driven by Santa Claus on its corporate holiday card.

If a new model hews too closely to the original, with no doors, windows or real top, it's unclear how many markets such a car could be sold in without violating safety standards. Or, Volkswagen designers could find creative solutions, as Jeep has with the Wrangler, to give it relatively modern safety features with looks reminiscent of its minimalist predecessors.

We can't wait to find out at Geneva.