Author: Green Car Online News

Nissan e-Power hybrids for the US will aim for performance, not just mpg

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Nissan Note e-Power hybrid
Considering how much of a commitment Nissan has made to electric vehicles over nearly a decade—mass-producing them on three continents—the lack of any parallel commitment to plug-in hybrid models, or even hybrids, has been baffling.

Nissan finally remedied that in 2016, with the introduction of its e-Power hybrid system, on the Japan-spec Nissan Note. At that time it was claimed to be the first series hybrid system in a mass-produced compact car.

Nissan then said that e-Power, which harnesses some know-how from the Leaf, promised to offer the driving characteristics of a fully electric vehicle, and that it was quieter than other hybrid configurations in comparable vehicles.

DON’T MISS: Nissan Gripz Concept uses Note e-Power series-hybrid system

Just after the launch of e-Power, Nissan had said that it was studying the technology for use in the U.S., with a stronger motor/generator and different tuning to suit the higher-speed higher-demand situations that American drivers encounter, versus Japan. Many years ago Honda considered a similar series-hybrid layout and after examining those driving differences, opted instead for its series/parallel two-motor hybrid system that—as with GM’s Voltec, clutches the internal combustion mechanically into the system.

Nissan Note e-Power hybrid

Still studying—but Japan, China, and Europe are the priority

That appears to be where Nissan remains today—still studying the technology, still not committed to it for the U.S. on any large scale, and not arriving soon, according to Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s corporate VP for global product strategy and product planning. When it arrives—or if it does—it may be presented as more of a performance system, he says.

Part of the issue in why the U.S. is waiting longer for the system, Espinosa says, comes down to demand. Japan, China, and Europe are going to be the prime markets for e-Power for now because of regulatory concerns and environmental awareness.

CHECK OUT: Nissan e-Power series hybrid builds on electric-car expertise

Globally, Nissan is taking a patchwork approach with its powertrains. As Espinosa underscores, some markets will remain somewhat dependent on internal combustion, while others will prioritize e-Power and others will push harder on EVs. “For Nissan, the priority is battery electric vehicles, combined with our e-Power technology, which has been very successful in the markets in which it has launched.”

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Faraday Future funder writes its own Saab story

NEVS 9-3 concept, 2017 CES Asia
Chinese health insurer Evergrande Health really wants in on electric cars.

After backing Faraday Future and running into a feud with its Chinese founder Jia Yueting, Evergrande on Tuesday bought a controlling interest in National Electric Vehicles Sweden, the Chinese company that bought the rights to what was Saab, and continues building electric versions of the last Saab 9-3.

READ THIS: With cease-fire agreement, spark flickers toward Faraday's Future

NEVS has 500 employees in Sweden at Saab's former headquarters in Trollhätten, along with a factory in Tianjin, China, that builds electric 9-3s for the Chinese market. NEVS is one of 10 Chinese automakers with permits for mass production in China and is one of the main providers of cars for Chinese ride-sharing service Didi, according to the British Auto Express.

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, Evergrande paid $930 million for 51 percent of NEVS. Following its long-running dispute with Faraday Future, Evergrande still owns 32 percent of that startup company as well.

Faraday Future FF 91

In June, Evergrande agreed to invest $2 billion to revive Faraday Future. It invested the first $800 million at the time to acquire the first 32 percent of the company. In lawsuits and countersuits launched throughout October and November, Evergrande and Faraday Future argued over whether Faraday had met the terms to receive a second $700 million installment from Evergrande and it became clear that Faraday Future had spent the first $800 million earlier than planned on hiring employees and building several prototypes of the company's first car, the FF91.

DON'T MISS: Faraday Future sues investor claiming takeover “plot”

In subsequent weeks, Faraday Future was forced to furlough most of the workers it had hired, and most of the senior management resigned, including the five founding executives credited with designing and engineering the car.

On Dec. 31, the two sides agreed to a cease-fire on the lawsuits, Evergrande agreed to restructure its investment and freed Faraday Future to seek new investors. So far, none have been announced.

That opened the door for Evergrande to seek a new investment in electric cars that was farther along the path to production, such as NEVS.

Which company will sell the first personal-use electric pickup? Twitter poll results

Rivian R1T electric pickup concept
The race is on to sell an electric car that doesn't look like an economy hatchback or a luxury sedan.

With light trucks—pickups and SUVs—making up almost 70 percent of the market in 2018, automakers are scrambling to build these types of vehicles with all types of powertrains, including electric models.

DON'T MISS: Rivian R1T all-electric pickup revealed: 400-mile range, 160-kw DC fast charging

Studies have shown that the biggest obstacle to electric car sales now is a lack of model selection. So far, none are pickups, long the bestselling class of vehicles in the U.S., but that looks about to change, with at least four companies working on building electric pickup:

– Rivian, which showed its first prototype at the LA auto show in November;
Bollinger B2

– Tesla, whose CEO has been talking up an electric pickup from the brand for years now, and has asked customers to suggest features they want, but has yet to actually show anything;

– Ford, which has promised a hybrid version of its new F-150 pickup, along with six pure electric vehicles by 2022, and may be working on an electric F-150;

CHECK OUT: Bollinger Motors announces B2 electric pickup alongside SUV

– Or Bollinger Motors, which has built prototypes of a one-ton SUV and shown concept renderings of a planned pickup based on it, but is still seeking funding to produce either.

For our Twitter poll last week, we asked our followers which of these companies they thought might get an electric pickup into consumers' driving or work gloves first.

Our poll asked: “Which company will sell the first personal-use electric pickup?”

Rivian, whose R1T electric pickup prototype ran away with the show in LA, also ran away with our poll, garnering 36 percent of responses.

That was followed by Bollinger, whose recent renderings were inspiring. Bollinger received 30 percent of our responses.

READ MORE: Ford to electrify most SUVs, promises to pass Toyota in hybrids

From our ever Tesla-loving crowd, the global-warming disruptor earned 25 percent of our votes.

With only 9 percent of our responses, Ford, which has not confirmed a production-bound electric F-150 but has dropped hints it's working on a prototype, may be seen as an old-Detroit dinosaur.

As always, remember that our Twitter polls are not scientific, because of their low sample size, and because those who respond are self-selected.

Faraday’s Saab future, Nissan-Infiniti hybrids, global Geely: Today’s Car News

Infiniti Q Inspiration, 2018 Detroit auto show
Nissan is working on a more powerful hybrid system for U.S. models. Geely gives a peak at its first electric model planned to go on sale worldwide. And our Twitter poll last week answered which electric pickup may cross the finish line first. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

After ending a dispute with Faraday Future, Hong Kong investment firm Evergrande Health appears to be taking its money elsewhere—to Saab's Chinese guardian NEVS. which is cranking out old Saab 9-3s with electric power. The cars are among the primary vehicles used by Chinese ride-sharing service Didi.

In another Chinese-Swedish tie-up, Geely, which owns Volvo, revealed a peak at the first electric sedan it plans to sell worldwide. The company has announced that Volvo will add electric power to its entire lineup this year.

Nissan's head of product planning says the company is upgrading its e-Power hybrid system to deliver more, seamless power for U.S. models—which could primarily be Infinitis to start with, since that brand has said it will convert its lineup to mainly electric cars and hybrids starting in 2021.

In our Twitter poll last week, readers revealed which electric pickup they think may make it to market first.

BMW boss Klaus Froelich revealed plans to build an electric supercar based on the company's current i8.

Finally, the CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association says car prices are climbing to an unsustainable level, and fears that many Americans will be shut out of the market.

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VW-Ford, Nissan electric SUV, an electric Cadillac? Today’s Car News

GAC Entranze concept, 2019 Detroit auto show
Nissan reveals some details about its upcoming electric crossover SUV. Ford and VW announced a partnership to develop vans and pickups for overseas markets that could spill over into electric cars. And we ask readers if they would buy an electric car from Cadillac in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

An announcement from Volkswagen in Germany revealed that the company plans to launch a new brand, called Elli, to sell clean power, electric-car charging equipment, and maybe even stationary batteries for home installations. The plan looks modeled on Tesla's ancillary services aimed at promoting environmentalism beyond selling electric cars.

In an exclusive interview, Nissan revealed some details about its upcoming electric crossover SUV. The model, due out in 2020, is expected to have 300 miles of range and a flexible battery architecture that Nissan can upgrade over time.

As part of their new tie-up to produce small commercial vans and pickups, VW and Ford announced plans to announce plans to cooperate on developing electric vehicles. Naturally, those plans sound pretty murky.

Following GM's announcement last week that it will turn Cadillac into its lead brand for electric cars, and its first peek at a Cadillac SUV in Detroit on Monday, our latest Twitter poll asks readers whether they would buy an electric car from Cadillac.

Infiniti set a new direction for the brand with its new QX Inspiration electric concept SUV in Detroit on Monday. As Nissan's luxury brand plans to convert to selling primarily electric cars, the QX Inspiration could lead the way.

As a measure of validation for car sharing and autonomous ride-hailing services, a new study by Pew Research shows that more than a third of Americans have used one. That number, however, hasn't been going up.

Finally, Chinese automaker GAC showed a new electric minivan called the Entranze at the Detroit auto show Monday that could be the first car from a Chinese automaker to be sold in the U.S. Its debut, however, has been pushed back to 2020.

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Charging ahead: VW follows Tesla into power business

2020 Volkswagen ID Neo spy shots
For car companies to sell electric cars, they have to get into the power business.

That seems to be Volkswagen's conclusion in announcing a new business to set up electric-car chargers around Europe, and sell clean energy and battery storage to homes.

Volkswagen plans to set up a new brand called Elli—for “electric life”—to sell ancillary electric services such as clean power and chargers. The services will initially be focused in Europe.

DON'T MISS: VW plans 27 electric cars by 2022 on new platform

Elli will include several services:

– Clean home power. The company will launch a new service called Naturstrom that delivers 100-percent renewable power to customers' homes. These customers don't have to own an electric car or even a Volkswagen.

Volkswagen charging at VW Elli charging station

– It will sell various levels of home chargers, including two 11-kilowatt wall boxes, a basic model and a higher-end one with WiFi and smart charging capability. For customers wanting future-proof installations, it will also offer 22-kw DC chargers that can connect to a smart grid and enable two-way vehicle-to-grid integration. Volkswagen will develop software to integrate the systems to optimize charge times and ensure cars are charged only with renewable power. The company suggested that the system could use car's batteries, for example, to store home solar power. It did not suggest that Volkswagen might get into the business of building or installing solar panels as Tesla does through Solar City.

READ THIS: VW Group has nailed down $25 billion of batteries for electric cars, it said today

– The company offered few details, but said it will also offer stationary home batteries, similar to Tesla's Powerwalls.

– Elli will also work to build up fast, Level 2 destination charging, including at 4,000 of its own dealers by 2020 as well as providing consulting services to other businesses and parking garages about how to install and operate charging stations.

– It will also develop systems to make public charging simpler and easier, for example by developing a simplified payment structure that can work with multiple networks. Volkswagen is part of a consortium of German automakers working to build a network of public DC fast-charging stations across Europe called Ionity.

CHECK OUT: Electrify America maps out charging network to rival Tesla Superchargers

In the U.S., Volkswagen is developing a widespread network of public chargers under the Electrify America brand, in accordance with a court order over its diesel emissions cheating settlement. It's not clear whether some of Elli's European efforts could eventually be rolled into Electrify America or Volkswagen in the U.S.

“Volkswagen is going to force the pace of the urgently needed transport and energy transition to emission-neutral e-mobility,” said
Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen brand Board Member responsible for E-Mobility.

Would you buy an electric car from Cadillac? Take our Twitter poll

Cadillac electric crossover SUV based on GM BEV3 modular platform
General Motors' announcement last week that Cadillac will become its lead brand for electric cars is a radical change in strategy.

When America's largest automaker launched its first electrified car, the Chevrolet Volt, company leaders said their electric cars would have to be sold under the Chevrolet brand, reasoning that electric cars would have to be mainstream, and thus sold under GM's largest, most mainstream brand.

DON'T MISS: Long-range Cadillac SUV to lead GM's next electric-car push, in 3 years

Now, seemingly feeling the pressure from Tesla, the company has changed tack and plans to focus its electric cars efforts under its most expensive brand, Cadillac. At the Detroit auto show on Monday, Cadillac showed its first electric-car concept, a largish mid-size SUV that looks likely to seat five passengers, though details from the company were scant.

The new electric Caddy SUV will be GMs first electric car to use GM's new third-generation electric-car architecture, with a versatile “skateboard” chassis and a battery-pack design that can accommodate different capacities in the same format. As with Tesla, the high-end vehicle is designed to allow GM to spread the costs of converting to electric drivetrains over more expensive models that can absorb the cost, after federal tax credits for the auto giant's plug-in cars run out.

It isn't expected to go on sale until 2022, however, and by then more automakers will be bringing a wider selection of more affordable electric cars to market.

CHECK OUT: GM president dashes hopes of future Volt, says no more hybrids

That led us to wonder whether our readers would be likely to buy an electric car from Cadillac. A key question is whether the Cadillac name still carries enough cutting-edge cachet to attract high-tech early adopters, or whether those are even the buyers who might be looking for an electric luxury car by 2022.

Certainly, Cadillac will face no shortage of competition among luxury electric SUVs by then, with new models hitting the market from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz this year.

So, our Twitter poll for this week asks readers simply: “Would you buy an electric car from Cadillac?”

Some may answer, “Absolutely.” Others may have grown weary of the brand's repeated stuttering revival efforts and answer, “Never.”

In between, we expect many readers might consider it only if they don't have Tesla as an option (“Not over a Tesla”), or if the price is cheap enough to compete with the host of more affordable options that will be on the market by then: (“Only if it's cheap.”)

As always, remember that our Twitter polls are unscientific, as our respondents are self-selected and too few in number to constitute a nationally representative sample.

Volkswagen will make electric cars in Tennessee, at expanded plant

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Left to right: Volkswagen ID, ID Buzz and ID Crozz concepts
Volkswagen today announced that it would use Chattanooga, Tennessee as its North American base for assembling electric cars.

The decision to expand its Chattanooga facility means that many, if not all, of the vehicles that will be sold in the U.S. under Volkswagen’s new electric vehicle initiative will also be built in the U.S., not Mexico.

DON'T MISS: VW plans 27 electric cars by 2022 on new platform

Speculation began earlier in the fall as to where Volkswagen might set up shop to assemble its vehicles built on its modular electric platform, termed MEB. In September Volkswagen said that it was giving Chattanooga, where the U.S-market Passat sedan and Atlas SUV are currently made, serious consideration as one of 16 electric-vehicle manufacturing “e-locations” that will support a global ecosystem eventually capable of making a million VW Group electric vehicles per year.

At that point it hadn’t ruled out Mexico, and the massive manufacturing and logistics base it already has at Puebla. In a follow-up interview at the LA auto show in November, Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh told Green Car Reports that “we’re holding those conversations now.”

CHECK OUT: Will Volkswagen's electric Microbus be made in the USA?

One of many pieces of information Volkswagen didn’t yet reveal is how many electric vehicles it intends to produce annually at Chattanooga. The move involves an $800 million investment and will bring 1,000 jobs to the plant, according to Volkswagen, with additional jobs at suppliers.

This push already includes a plant in Zwickau, Germany that’s being revamped to produce MEB vehicles starting in 2019. VW will add two assembly facilities in China in 2020 and two others in Germany in 2022.

Volkswagen ID Crozz concept

Volkswagen’s first vehicle on the platform for the U.S. market will be based on the ID Crozz, a compact crossover model, slated to arrive next year—before the Chattanooga plant is ready for electric-car production.

The Chattanooga plant expansion is to produce electric vehicles in 2022—which also happens to be when the electric revival of the Microbus, based on the ID Buzz concept, is due.