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Elon Musk On The Berlin Tesla Model Y: “A Revolution In Automotive Body Engineering”

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Published on July 11th, 2020 |

by Johnna Crider

Elon Musk On The Berlin Tesla Model Y: “A Revolution In Automotive Body Engineering”

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July 11th, 2020 by Johnna Crider

The Berlin-produced Tesla Model Y is going to be a revolution in automotive body engineering, according to Elon Musk. He just noted this in response to Tesmanian’s Eva Fox, who wrote an article covering Volvo reverse engineering a Model Y in Sweden.

The first Model Y in Sweden was registered and is owned by Volvo. The Model Y isn’t going to enter the European market before the Berlin gigafactory (Giga Berlin) is built, but Volvo imported the vehicle from the US in order to try to learn about it immediately, as is customary in this industry.

The beauty of it is that Tesla isn’t in the auto industry to own it. The company just wants to speed up the world’s transition to sustainable energy. The more that automakers reverse engineer a Tesla so that they can make their own version of a compelling EV, the better.

German Engineering and Tesla Model Y
When I read Elon’s tweet, what was clear to me is that he is seeing something a couple of years ahead into the future. As Giga Berlin’s construction swiftly continues, Elon’s tweets showed me that he and Tesla’s design team have been continuously working to make Tesla vehicles more aerodynamic, more efficient, and safer while keeping the cost low.

Think about the Cybertruck — each design element emphasizes the efficiency of Tesla while keeping the cost low and providing efficiency, yet looking unique in its own style. Each Tesla vehicle has its own special element of style.

Elon Musk stated at the WAIC conference that Tesla China has its own engineering team. The same will most likely be the case for Giga Berlin. Germany is known for its superiority in engineering, and with Tesla having a factory in Berlin, it will attract German engineers to create even better versions of Tesla, which will then speed up the transition to sustainable energy — Tesla’s ultimate goal.

An article from Car and Driver took a deep dive into VW’s meaning of, “German engineering,” and Stefan Gies, head of chassis development at VW, told them, “From my perspective, German engineering stands for precision in all that we do — precision in the design and what you feel in the car. Everything the driver touches and controls must instill this feeling of confidence and precision. We want that person to feel that they have the car under control, and that it will do exactly what they desire it to do.”

Giga Berlin Construction
Yesterday, Tesmanian noted that the speed of Giga Berlin’s construction could surpass what many anticipated. The pace is unexpectedly fast and the German factory is well ahead of Giga Shanghai’s construction process. In the video below, Tobias Lindh showed the location of the buildings in Giga Berlin.

Today’s progress on Giga Berlin showed the railway unloading station being prepared and a storage area being built that will hold building materials.

The Effect Giga Berlin Could Have On Tesla’s Auto Predecessors
Tesla started small not that long ago. However, it has grown into an industry giant.

When Tesla chose Giga Berlin, many thought the company was either flexing or joking around. However, Tesla has proven many times that one should take it seriously. When Elon Musk said he would make fart sounds in a car possible, Tesla did just that. Even while being goofy, Elon Musk means business. And in its quest to transition the world to sustainable energy, Tesla is very serious.

The challenge that many saw Tesla issue to Europe’s automakers is misunderstood. Tesla isn’t saying, “I’m gonna come to Germany and steal all of your customers,” as many perceived the challenge to be. No, it’s more critical than that. Tesla is demanding that Europe’s automakers wake up before it’s too late — not for their businesses but for humanity. Tesla is saying, “Evolve or die.”

By setting up a plant in Germany, Tesla is bringing its mission into the front yards of the European automakers and won’t be ignored. The fact that Volvo bought a Tesla Model Y to reverse engineer shows that at least one automaker is listening.

While the Model Y will be a revolution in automotive body engineering, Tesla’s presence in Germany will also continue to speed up the EV revolution worldwide.

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About the Author

Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem, and mineral collector, member of the International Gem Society, and a Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”

Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter

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69% of Autos Sold in Norway in 2020 Have a Plug

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Published on July 9th, 2020 |

by Zachary Shahan

69% of Autos Sold in Norway in 2020 Have a Plug

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July 9th, 2020 by Zachary Shahan

Norway continues to be a shining star in the electric vehicle world. In the first half of the year, 48% of automobiles sold in the country were fully electric, a global record for EV market share. Plug-in vehicles represented 69% of auto sales, another global record.

Due to its high level of maturation and the fact that almost every automaker that wants to sell cars in Norway tries to sell plug-ins, the sales split is particularly interesting between the various models.

As it turns out, Volkswagen Group has become king of Norway. (Whoops, Norway actually has a king, King Harald V, so maybe I shouldn’t use that metaphor.) The top selling Audi e-tron holds a whopping 9% of the auto market, showing that while the electric SUV from Germany may not be a favorite of Tesla fans, it is much loved in Norway. (Though, keep the e-tron in mind, because we’ll come back to it.)

The e-tron’s rather elderly cousin, the Volkswagen e-Golf, has a strong command of the #2 spot thanks to its 6% of the market in the first half of the year.

Korea’s Hyundai Kona EV, 2019 CleanTechnica Car of the Year, and Japan’s Nissan LEAF continue the popularity of cheaper, low-frills models for the next two spots, each with 4% auto market share. It’s not until you get to #5 that you hit your first automobile model that isn’t fully electric, with the evergreen Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV holding onto a top spot a bit longer.

The two most popular plug-in models in Europe, the Tesla Model 3 and Renault Zoe, round out the top 7 before you run into your first plug-less vehicle, the Skoda Octavia.

José Pontes of EV Volumes and CleanTechnica notes that the Skoda Octavia PHEV is coming, which one would assume to have very good sales in the country. Pontes also notes that fully electric vehicles saw their sales drop 32% in June 2020 versus June 2019 but plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) had sales increase 77%. A highly unusual phenomenon in this covid era.

June actually looked very different from the first half of the year as a whole. The top 5 is completely different. The Volkswagen e-Golf and Hyundai Kona EV each climbed one rung of the ladder to take gold and silver, respectively, while the Tesla Model 3 jumped to #3 (thanks to its usual end-of-quarter bump that comes from Tesla’s unusual delivery schedule). A much bigger jump, the Volvo XC40 PHEV jumps from outside the top 20 (year-to-date sales) to #4 in June! It’s not clear if there was a big fleet deal, a fire sale on the XC40 PHEV, or something else spurred on this surprise jump.

Where is the Audi e-tron in that top 5? Good question. We’ll see if it can recover to hold onto its enormous 2020 lead or if something happened that has turned the tide in Norway.

Getting back to the yearly ranking, Chinese automaker SAIC’s MG ZS EV rose into a top 20 spot (#18) and the Volvo S/V60 PHEV barely climbed to 20. However, Pontes points out that hot sibling XC40 PHEV is bound to boot the S/V60 duo off the list soon, as it is now in the #21 position.

Regarding overall brand market share, Pontes says, “Looking at the overall manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen (13%, up 1%) is now alone in the leadership, with Audi (10%, down 2%) dropping share, with the #3 Toyota (9%) in third.”

Expect Norway’s EV market to continue maturing and plug-in models to continue growing their market share as new plug-in models go on sale this year. Given how hard it is to sell a non-electric vehicle in the country, automakers have gotten the message and prioritize their electric models as much as they can.

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About the Author

Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.

Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort on Tesla or any other company.

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