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Daniel Weissland to lead Audi of America as President

Audi is pleased to announce Daniel Weissland has been appointed as President of Audi of America effective Sept. 1, 2019. Weissland, 46, current President and Chief Executive Officer, Volkswagen Group Canada, succeeds interim President and Chief Operations Officer, Cian O’Brien. A German National, Weissland began his career with Audi in 1999. He spent more than… Continue reading Daniel Weissland to lead Audi of America as President

Tesla Model 3 Outsold BMW, Mercedes, Audi, & Lexus Competitors In 2nd Quarter In USA — By A Landslide!

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Published on August 10th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Tesla Model 3 Outsold BMW, Mercedes, Audi, & Lexus Competitors In 2nd Quarter In USA — By A Landslide!

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August 10th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

The Tesla Model 3 continues to dominate in its vehicle class in the United States. Frankly, sales charts for the second quarter of 2019 make it look like the Model 3 doesn’t belong in this class at all, and there’s a strong case to be made that it doesn’t.

The Model 3 has a similar base price point to the other vehicles on the charts featured below, but it has much lower cost of ownership, much better tech (infotainment tech and autonomous driving tech), record-breaking safety scores, and unmatched performance. There’s really not a solid reason to buy another car in this class. Aside from some buyers not liking the design of the Model 3 for some reason and choosing a competing car, I presume that sales of other models in this price range are simply due to inertia — societal inertia, marketing inertia, and internal illogical inertia. Actually, even a distaste for the design may simply be due to psychological inertia.

Nonetheless, the story today is not that there should be more Model 3 demand. It’s that the Model 3 was sold more than 3 times more than the runner-up BMW 3 Series, or a bit less than 3 times more than the BMW 3/4 Series. No class in this category comes close to matching the Model 3.

The sales chart above is so warped that I thought it’s more sensible to combine small and midsize models of other luxury automakers and pit them against the Model 3. This also makes some sense if you consider that Tesla doesn’t have many models for sale. Choice is so limited that someone who may want a Model 3 in a coupe design or something more like a “Model 2” simply has to settle for a Model 3 right now.

So, I created another chart that combines the semi-similar models of competing brands, cars in the small and midsize luxury car categories. Have a look:

The Model 3 wins anyway!

Again, in my mind, it’s not surprising that the Model 3 is winning — it’s surprising that anyone is buying the other cars at all. Nonetheless, it is a big achievement to yet again top the sales chart like this, and it must come as a total shocker to analysts who don’t understand the Tesla Model 3’s various competitive advantages over the competition — dramatic competitive advantages.

Indeed, much of the media hasn’t touched this topic and is never going to report that the Model 3 absolutely dominated the rankings in and near its vehicle class. That’s why you have CleanTechnica.

Note: I discovered that the interactive charts I normally use for these reports can appear messed up on some smartphones, so I used static images instead of the interactive charts in the article above. However, if you want to have some real fun, check out the charts below and click from one time period to the next to see how Tesla Model 3 sales (deliveries) have evolved over time.

If you are interested in buying a Tesla Model 3 (or Model S or X) and need a referral code to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, feel free to use ours: http://ts.la/tomasz7234

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. 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, and Canada.

Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don't jump to conclusions.

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The fastest Porsche SUV ever is a plug-in hybrid

As Porsche ramps up for the launch of its Taycan electric sedan late this year, today it has a new cheerleader for the performance boost of electric motors at the top of its SUV lineup: the 2020 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid.

Although the Turbo S E-Hybrid has the same 14.1-kwh battery pack and 2.4-hour charge time—and the same 134-horsepower electric motor—as the Cayenne E-Hybrid we recently drove, the Turbo S substitutes in the Cayenne Turbo’s 541-hp, twin-turbo V-8.

With a total output of 670 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque, the Turbo S E-Hybrid can hit a top speed of 183 mph and accelerate to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. Available in standard Cayenne or swoopier Cayenne Coupe body styles, it’s Porsche’s fastest, quickest, and most powerful SUV ever.

In the meantime, the brand is aiming to make more than half of its fleet—by sales volume—electrified, so hybrids and plug-in hybrids will be a big part of that. A fully electric Porsche Macan will arrive by 2022, and farther off in the future Porsche is still considering an all-electric platform for the next-generation Cayenne.

2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid

Market-wide, plug-in hybrid technology is increasingly popular for high-performance models, as it allows owners to go tailpipe-emissions-free in their community, or for most of the commute, while boosting mileage the rest of the time in hybrid mode.

The Turbo S E-Hybrid, which starts at $163,250, hasn’t yet been rated for fuel economy or plug-in range. The Cayenne Turbo with that same V-8 rates at just 17 mpg combined, according to the EPA, so expect in the vicinity of 20 mpg. And it’s likely, as the E-Hybrid, to be rated for about 20 all-electric miles.

That doesn’t necessarily make it a green car, but it’s one worth celebrating for showing some very strong positives for plug-in hybrid tech—and for setting the path for many more electric Porsches.

Tesla Model 3 = 67% of US Electric Vehicle Sales in 2nd Quarter

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Published on August 10th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Tesla Model 3 = 67% of US Electric Vehicle Sales in 2nd Quarter

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August 10th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

I prefer comparing the Tesla Model 3 to its gasoline competitors, but it’s also logical to compare the Model 3 to other electric vehicles. In the old days, these were simply called “EV sales reports,” but the US electric vehicle market is so unbalanced at the moment that it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room — there’s the Model 3, and there’s everything else.

In fact, even that is unbalanced, as the Model 3 accounts for 67% of US electric vehicle sales, according to 2nd quarter sales data and estimates.

The reason for the dramatic divergence in sales is up for interpretation. One reason might be that the majority of people who want an electric car don’t see anything that beats the Model 3 — or at least not for anywhere near its price point. Another reason might be that the Model 3 is the only electric vehicle that blatantly and commandingly outcompetes all of its gasoline competitors in ways that normal consumers care about. Another possibility is that word of mouth about the Model 3 has gotten around so much that it’s clearly the new “it” product for certain portions of the population. Or, more practically, consumers in a more mainstream wave of EV adoption have simply learned about the many benefits of the car.

In any case, the story in EV world is that the majority of EV sales are Tesla Model 3 sales. Tesla’s more expensive models (the Model S and Model X) held the #2 and #3 spots in the 2nd quarter, while the Chevy Bolt and Nissan LEAF were the only other models to score over 3,000 sales in the quarter. (GM’s and Nissan’s top electrified models used to see more than 3,000 sales a month.) The Audi e-tron, BMW i3, and Volkswagen e-Golf each had over 1,000 sales in Q2 — approximately as many Model 3s as Tesla sells in 2–3 days in the USA.

The charts can tell the rest of the story.

A handful of electric models are not included here because the parent companies don’t release sales data for them. Those include the Honda Clarity EV, Hyundai Ioniq EV, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV, and Fiat 500e. However, if I plug in estimates from InsideEVs, they’re so insignificant that the Model 3 retains its 67% share of the market.

I hesitate to beat a demolished piñata, but it’s perhaps worth noting that many of the electric models in these charts were at various times deemed “Tesla killers” by certain members of the media. It appears there was a miscalculation in those forecasts.

If you prefer a fun chart over a static one, below is an interactive chart in which you can toggle between Q1 and Q2 sales.

If you are interested in buying a Tesla Model 3 (or Model S or X) and need a referral code to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, feel free to use ours: http://ts.la/tomasz7234

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ŠKODA AUTO trains staff for demands of electromobility

Original Article

Chinese rideshare giant Didi Chuxing makes big move in driverless car race

A logo of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing displayed on a building in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province.STR | AFP | Getty ImagesChinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing ( “Didi”) has amassed more than 550 million users and 31 million drivers since taking to the streets of Beijing seven years ago. In the past three years, the global rideshare giant has devoted close attention to its autonomous driving unit. That unit became an independent company on Monday in a move designed to focus and designate more resources toward business development and product innovation.
The Uber-competitor established its autonomous driving team in 2016 and has since employed more than 200 people in China, as well as at its Mountain View, California research facility, where it has been working with various auto manufacturers like Volkswagen and Toyota Motors to test core innovative technologies.
Last month, Didi Chuxing received $600 million in corporate financing from Toyota, which includes directly establishing a joint venture with GAC Toyota, a joint venture between Toyota and a Chinese car maker. The new funds come as Didi continues heavy expansion in several new overseas markets, where it hopes to challenge Uber and other ride-hailing giants like India's Ola, Brazil's Easy Taxi and Singapore's Grab ⁠— a three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company.
Didi Chuxing is also a notable Disruptor 50 company, breaking the top 10 at No. 4 in 2018 and No. 2 in 2019.
“Autonomous driving will greatly enhance the safety and efficiency of travel,” said Didi Chairman and CEO Cheng Wei in a release. “In the future, people's transportation needs … will be met by the combination of seamless autonomous driving technology and human driving services that are indispensable for their quality and warmth.”
To fund the new driverless car company, Didi is in new talks with SoftBank, according to a report from The Information. The Japanese tech and telecom giant has previously made multiple, large investments in the ride-hailing company. Based on the most recent funding round, Didi Chuxing has raised $22.74 billion and is valued at $57.6 billion.
In 2016, the same year that Didi's autonomous driving unit was established, SoftBank played an influential role in Uber's decision to sell its China business to Didi, notably pushing the U.S. ride-hailing giant out of the region and exposing Didi to their customer base outside of China for the first time.
Investors want clearer profit pathAsad Hussain, a PitchBook analyst and an expert in mobility, ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles, sees the company's decision as part of a broader trend consistent with the challenges that self-driving technology presents.
“Spinning out autonomous divisions enables these companies to raise outside capital and offers investors a more targeted bet on self-driving relative to investing in the parent entity,” he said. “We think this is a logical move for Didi and other ride-sharing companies facing pressure from investors to streamline costs and show a clear path to profitability.”
Didi went through a major round of layoffs earlier this year, according to multiple reports, as it continues to lose money, like its competitors. Uber recently announced 400 job cuts in its marketing team.
Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit, also announced that it would raise outside capital for the first time this past March, positioning itself to cut costs and limit downside risks.
Didi's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will head the new autonomous driving company as CEO. In an email to CNBC, a communications representative for Didi said that the company does not currently have plans for an IPO.
Uber and Lyft, the U.S. rideshare leaders with heavy investments in driverless vehicles, have fared poorly after highly anticipated IPOs earlier this year as investors doubt how quickly they can become profitable.
VIDEO2:4902:49There will be consolidation in the driverless car industry: Pony.aiSquawk Box AsiaIn a recent survey, auto and tech industry experts predicted it will be at least 12 years before fully autonomous vehicles are being sold to private buyers. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk says 1 million Teslas capable of being robotaxis will be on the road by the end of next year, industry experts say robotaxis will not be ready for widespread public use until 2025.
Last week, General Motors subsidiary Cruise, postponed a planned launch of an autonomous ride-share service as it continues developing, validating and making sure its self-driving cars are ready.
“What's most important when we do launch this service is that we do it the right way,” Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said.

EU engine-tech project could help gas catch up with gasoline

Some biofuels, like biogas from landfills—or synthetic methane—are attractive for use in vehicles as they have a potentially low energy cost to produce. They also have lower criteria emissions, of the sort that affect human health and cause smog.

These engines should easily be cross-compatible with those using compressed natural gas (CNG). Up until now, however, passenger-car engines haven’t been optimized for these fuels (even natural gas, in most cases) and those designed to burn these fuels have often been adapted versions of gasoline engines, with some traits of diesels added.

As a result, gaseous-fuel-burning engines have lagged gasoline engines in thermal efficiency, despite their potential to do better than gasoline.

Tech talk-through for gaseous-fuels emissions reduction

That was the subject of a $26 million EU project called Gas On. The four-year project just concluded in March, with more results revealed in May. The goal was to design a gas-only internal combustion engine that reduced carbon-dioxide emissions (and thus fuel consumption) by 20 percent compared to best-in-class 2014 vehicles using compressed natural gas (CNG), with a “gasoline-like vehicle driving range.”

Aiming to step up efficiency for light vehicles

The project included a consortium of 20 members, including Volkswagen Group, Ford, Renault, and Fiat, and it sought innovative concepts for direct injection, ignition, and boosting systems, advanced exhaust aftertreatment, and systems that detect the gas composition and quality.

Volkswagen Group Lean CNG Combustion Concept

The best engine achieved the targeted 20-percent reduction in fuel consumption (based on WLTP-cycle calculations for a mid-size passenger car), with a peak efficiency of more than 45 percent and more than 40 percent efficiency reached over a wide operating range.

The efficiency gains are a step in the right direction, if the technology ever stands a chance, as gasoline development keeps nudging efficiency upward, battery electrics catch on, and energy experts continue to point to larger utility-scale power production as the best hope for these gaseous fuels.

Could be a hard sell for consumers, companies

With major gains for gasoline engines on one side, and growing momentum around electric vehicles on the other side, the industry faces some challenges for deploying biogas vehicles on any large scale.

2016 Toyota Prius Unveiling

The arrival of the fourth-generation 2016 Prius signalled the latest round of improvements for gasoline engines, as Toyota claimed a 40-percent thermal efficiency for its engine. The Hyundai Ioniq and Kia Niro that soon followed also claimed 40 percent. And now the Dynamic Force Engine that’s being installed in the new Camry and RAV4, among others, is rated at 40 percent in standard versions and 41 percent in hybrids.

Hyundai is reportedly targeting 50 percent for at least one next-generation engine. Meanwhile Mazda has claimed a thermal efficiency of up to 44 percent for its Skyactiv-X engine, which is likely to come to the U.S. in the next year or two, and it anticipates—from some reports—an efficiency in the range of as high as 56 percent for the next generation of its Skyactiv gasoline technology.

Better used for power generation?

Thermal efficiency is directly related to fuel economy and emissions and, simply put, how much work is produced from the fuel energy input. Natural-gas powered plants, while controversial at times, can already approach 60 percent efficiency.

2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas

Real-life use is also an important point. According to the EPA, EVs actually convert 59 to 62 percent of grid energy to power at the wheels, but typical internal combustion engines convert 17-21 percent. For some of those hybrids with the most efficient engines, the total-vehicle figure may be close to 30 percent today.

While the official part of the Gas On project is over, the next step will be for the automakers to conduct some real-world testing with fleets—echoing what happened about a decade ago when the last round of light-duty natural-gas vehicles, like the Honda Civic Natural Gas.

With electric cars more widely seen as a future replacing internal combustion gasoline tech, it’s going to be an even tougher argument this time around.

Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid makes a quick SUV even quicker

The Porsche Cayenne Hybrid is an outstanding SUV. It’s quick, agile and sort of tricks you into thinking you’re driving a smaller vehicle. But Porsche being Porsche the automaker wasn’t happy to leave the vehicle be. So they introduced the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid an even faster sort of eco-friendly sports utility vehicle. Gallery: 2020… Continue reading Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid makes a quick SUV even quicker

Porsche packs the power into its newest Cayenne plug-in hybrids

Porsche is upping its plug-in hybrid game with several new vehicles added to its lineup, including a power-packing 2020 Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. The plug-in version of this flagship SUV combines a 14.1-kilowatt-hour battery and 134-horsepower electric motor with a 4.0-liter twin turbocharged V8 engine found in the traditional gas-powered Cayenne Turbo. The electric motor… Continue reading Porsche packs the power into its newest Cayenne plug-in hybrids

The most powerful Porsche Cayenne is a plug-in hybrid

All Cayenne models feature LED headlights, a cruise control system with speed limiter function, camera-based pedestrian protection and Park Assist at the front and rear – including a rear-view camera system in the Cayenne Coupé. Optional extras include LED matrix beam headlights, a head-up display, Night Vision with thermal imaging camera, and the Porsche InnoDrive… Continue reading The most powerful Porsche Cayenne is a plug-in hybrid