Author: Green Car Online News

Pending homologation, Qiantu K50 electric sports car will be assembled in Washington state

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Qiantu K50 by Mullen, 2019 New York auto show
The glamorous, supercar-shaped, Chinese-built Qiantu K50 that was shown last week at the New York auto show garnered much attention and likely changed some attendees’ conceptions of what kinds of vehicles might be imported from China.

Importing the K50 directly from China isn’t what U.S. company Mullen Technologies exactly plans, though. The company announced Wednesday that it signed a letter of intent to assemble the Qiantu K50 near Spokane, Washington.

The facility could be up to 1.3 million square feet and include assembly and manufacturing, as well as research and development.

DON’T MISS: Qiantu K50: Quirky, curvaceous electric two-seater coming to the U.S. next year?

According to a report by Spokane Public Radio, citing the West Plains Airport Area Development Authority, Mullen expects that the operation will employ 55 initially, with up to 860 jobs by 2026. Mullen will lease the facility from the development authority, which will issue bonds to build the plant.

Qiantu K50 by Mullen, 2019 New York auto show

The K50 is carbon fiber bodied, and initial plans include the shipment of the car’s complete panels from China to Washington where it will be mated to the body and chassis, which are also shipped from China. Washington is also the home of SGL Carbon, which supplies carbon panels for the BMW i3; that’s in Moses Lake, about 100 miles away from Mullen’s facility.

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The facility will include “an air handling system to optimize the battery call life,” the company says in a press release—a detail that we assume refers to how packs are assembled, although we’ve reached out to the company for clarification as initially the company will be receiving complete packs from China.

Mullen also confirmed Thursday something it hadn’t last week at the New York show: the North American version will have a revamped battery pack powering the K50.

“With the innovation Mullen Energy has underway the lithium batteries powering the sports car would be 30 percent lighter and would significantly increase the overall range of the vehicle,” the company said in a press release.

READ MORE: Chinese electric sports car Qiantu K50 might be made in U.S., with Coda connection

This innovation likely comes at least in part via failed automaker Coda. Mullen purchased the remains of Coda and holds Coda’s intellectual property rights, and last week Mullen chief technical officer Frank McMahon called that company’s former battery management system the most relevant piece they hold from Coda, moving forward.

Qiantu K50 by Mullen

There’s one big asterisk to Mullen’s plans: It still needs to homologate the Q50 for the U.S. That may require additional side-impact beams to be placed on the vehicle, lighting moved, or other changes.

Mullen likely will need to raise further funds for ongoing research and development, as well as assembly. That said, it’s looking increasingly likely that we’ll see not just the K50 on U.S. roads but also other future electric vehicles from them as well.

The Jaguar I-Pace isn’t selling well in the U.S.

The Jaguar I-Pace made headlines at the New York International Auto Show by winning the World Car of the Year Award, as well as the organization's awards for Design of the Year and Green Car of the Year. However, the I-Pace isn't winning where it counts: at the dealership. The Jaguar all-electric crossover SUV has sold just 608 units in the U.S…

Future Chevrolet Bolt EV sibling could be called EUV

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production
Last month, when General Motors announced a $300 million investment in the factory that builds the Chevy Bolt EV, it also left a mystery about what else it might build at the plant.

Now a new trademark filing, first revealed by GM Authority gives a hint.

General Motors said it would use the factory investment to build a new electric car to sell alongside the Bolt. Based on previous GM presentations, that vehicle was likely to be a small electric SUV, although GM hasn't confirmed that those plans are still on.

DON'T MISS: Chevrolet Bolt EV to get electric sibling, with Michigan plant investment

On April 9, GM filed for a trademark on the name “Bolt EUV,” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for use on “motor and land vehicles, namely automobiles.”

The trademark filing does not indicate what the acronym might stand for, but if the “Bolt EV” stands for “electric vehicle,” and “SUV” stands for “sport utility vehicle,” it stands to reason that “EUV” might refer to an “electric utility vehicle,” giving a little more affirmation to the rumors that the Bolt's new sibling could be an electric SUV or crossover vehicle.

READ THIS: Long-range Cadillac SUV to lead GM's next electric-car push, in 3 years

GM has confirmed that the new car at the Bolt's Orion assembly plant will be built on that car's BEV2 electric-car underpinnings, rather than the company's upcoming BEV3 platform, which is expected to debut in its first luxury electric model, a Cadillac SUV, in 2022.

Meanwhile, it's looking quite likely that the company might pave the way with an electric SUV from Chevrolet.

Smartphone-based customization coming to Hyundai and Kia electric cars

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Hyundai-Kia smartphone-based EV performance settings
Fully electric cars have a great potential to be customized and personalized, to a level that’s not entirely possible with gasoline models.

Unlike anything with a tailpipe, EVs don’t have to go through reams of emissions-test paperwork every time some of the basic parameters are changed.

Hyundai Motor Group (which includes Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis) revealed Monday an app that will give drivers more than just eco and sport modes and a few levels of brake regeneration. And this will almost certainly arrive without voiding your warranty as you might with similar types of modifications to gasoline vehicles.

DON’T MISS: Hyundai-Kia: eight EVs by 2022, dedicated platform

The technology, which lacks a clever name so far, is being called “smartphone electric vehicle pairing based performance adjustment technology.” And from the sound of it, it’s what that name suggests—letting users customize a greater depth of performance characteristics via a smartphone-app dashboard.

Hyundai-Kia smartphone-based EV performance settings

What could make this feature standout is the ability for users to easily carry their customized vehicle settings from car to car, via a profile downloaded from a server (using blockchain encryption).

So if you’re a part of a car-sharing fleet, or have multiple plug-in Kia or Hyundai vehicles in a household, each vehicle would automatically grab that profile from your phone. And, although it isn't confirmed in the press release, the software could probably unlock and start the vehicle as a key as well.

CHECK OUT: Hyundai and Kia reveal solar roof tech for electric cars—or gasoline ones

Through the app, which will be paired directly to the vehicle, the owner will be able to adjust performance- and efficiency-related features, including the maximum torque output of the motor, regenerative braking capability, maximum speed, and acceleration and deceleration behavior.

The app will also be able to analyze remaining distance on a charge and suggest the right settings for remaining range. Another feature in the app will allow drivers to try other users’ custom settings, or to follow recommended settings from Hyundai based “on the condition of roads.”

Hyundai-Kia smartphone-based EV performance settings

Hyundai Motor Group confirmed that the tech is in the works for future Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Although it didn’t confirm any compatible models yet, it’s shown in photos accompanying the 2020 Kia Soul EV.

READ MORE: Finalist for Best Car to Buy 2019: Hyundai Kona Electric

The company is planning 23 electric vehicles and 44 “eco-friendly models” by 2025, and it teases that we’ll be seeing plenty more opportunities for customization in them.

Such a strategy sounds like a win-win, as it would simultaneously provide more control for enthusiasts who want it, as well as more ways for the general market to discover some of the superior points of EVs.

Report: Battery shortages lead to Audi E-tron production delays

2019 Audi e-tron first drive – Abu Dhabi UAE, December 2018
Building electric cars is harder than it looks.

According to a report last week in the Brussels Times, Audi is delaying the production of its planned E-tron Sportback and slowing production of its E-tron SUV following battery shortages from supplier LG Chem.

The factory that builds the e-tron has cut back from eight hours of production a day to six, and is reported to be planning to cut back from running five days a week to four, leading to a day of unemployment for workers there. The moves would cut production of the long-awaited electric car by 10,000 cars annually, from more than 55,000 to just over 45,000 in 2019, according to the Brussels Times. In the report, Audi declined to comment on the delay.

READ MORE: Report: Audi e-tron faces battery-related delay in Europe

Many automakers ramping up production of plug-in hybrids and electric cars depend on LG Chem for cells, including Hyundai, Volkswagen, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. LG's dominance in supplying batteries to electric cars gives it power to control prices.

A report last year by Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper suggested that LG Chem raised prices on its batteries for the Audi E-tron by 10 percent, leading to the production shortage.

DON'T MISS: 2019 Audi e-tron first drive: Redrawing the electric-vehicle boundaries

Waiting lists for the car in Europe have reportedly expanded from 4-5 months to 6-7 months, as demand has also increased by 15 percent. Audi's Belgian spokeswoman Sofie Luyckx told the Brussels Times, that is “not an exceptional waiting time for an all-new Audi.”

At the New York auto show last week, Audi E-tron product manager Matt Mostafaei said that the company has U.S. orders for the car, which is expected to go on sale here in May, but would not specify how many.

The delays could also be impacted by a shortage of the car's electric motors following a strike at the Hungarian factory that produces the motors.

CHECK OUT: Audi details battery for 2019 e-tron electric SUV

The reports say the introduction of the E-tron Sportback, a smaller hatchback version of the E-tron SUV, has also been delayed from late this year to 2020.

Audi is planning a whole line of electric E-tron models, including the SUV, the Sportback, the e-tron GT sports sedan, a new smaller Q4 E-tron SUV, and reportedly a new E-tron GTR supercar to replace its R8 flagship, according to a new report in British auto journal Car.

If it's going to fulfill all those dreams, the company will need to secure a large and reliable source of batteries and, if these hiccups are any indication, it still might not have that.

Report: Rivian plans six new models by 2025

Rivian R1T
Rivian has been taking, not just the electric-car world, but the car world in general by storm with its planned all-electric pickup and SUV. But its plans don't stop there.

CEO RJ Scaringe told Bloomberg last week that the company will bring six new all-electric models to market by 2025.

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

We've caught glimpses of the first three: the R1T pickup and R1S SUV that the company showed in prototype form at the LA Auto Show last November, and the spy photos of a high-performance off-road rally car that the company has hinted will be its third model.

Rivian R1S

The pickup is expected to arrive in 2021 as a 2022 model and the seven-passenger R1S SUV a year later. The rally car would arrive sometime after that.

The other models will also be focused on the truck and SUV market, Scaringe said.

CHECK OUT: Rivian off-road rally performance car could follow electric pickup, SUV

Those six electric trucks and SUVs may not be the end, either. They comprise models that Rivian will produce under its own brand, but the company has said that it plans to license its “skateboard” electric-car chassis to other automakers as well, to produce products that won't compete directly with its own models.

In its latest investment round last fall, Rivian announced that it received $700 million from Amazon, and rumors swirled that the company was also talking to GM.

READ MORE: Electric upstart Rivian plans for dealers, but not to sell trucks

In the interview, Scaringe revealed that the company rejected an offer from GM to trade its electric powertrain expertise with GM in return for GM's manufacturing and production prowess, in order to protect its ability to license its technology to other automakers.

The Michigan-based startup automaker also owns the vast former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, that used to churn out everything from Eclipse hatchbacks to hulking Endeavor SUVs (and Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth badge-engineered products). That's where Rivian plans to produce its own cars, as well as potentially those for other clients.