Tag: VW

Hubject and IoTecha partner to jumpstart smart EV charging systems including Plug&Charge

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (July 16, 2019) — Hubject, a globally recognized leader in simplifying electric vehicle charging with eRoaming and innovative infrastructure technology and processes, today announced its partnership with IoTecha, a company specializing in providing software and hardware solutions to support EV charging infrastructure. Together, the two companies will simplify the implementation and deployment… Continue reading Hubject and IoTecha partner to jumpstart smart EV charging systems including Plug&Charge

New Chevrolet Corvette: Stingray name confirmed for reinvented icon

[embedded content] While it’s not clear yet if those technical problems have been overcome, a Corvette dealer in New Jersey was taking $1000 deposits for the new model, even before the reveal date confirmation.   In a further break with tradition, the C8 Corvette will be sold alongside a version of the current car. Sources inside General Motors,… Continue reading New Chevrolet Corvette: Stingray name confirmed for reinvented icon

Jaguar Land Rover receives £500m government loan guarantee for EV production

Jaguar Land Rover has received a £500 million loan guarantee as part of a new government initiative to support UK car manufacturers’ electrification schemes.  In a meeting of automotive industry leaders at 10 Downing Street, Theresa May announced that the guarantee would be provided by UK Export Finance. The nature of the investment means that if… Continue reading Jaguar Land Rover receives £500m government loan guarantee for EV production

Ford will use VW platform to build an electric car for Europe

Ford and Volkswagen announced jointly on Friday that VW will share its MEB affordable electric car architecture with Ford, while VW will join Ford's Argo self-driving effort.

In addition to its own efforts to build electric cars, Ford will build a new electric car for the European market based on Volkswagen’s mass-market MEB platform. Ford CEO James Hackett says the car will be built at a Ford factory in Europe starting in 2023.

Volkswagen will provide the vehicle architecture—including batteries—for up to 600,000 examples of the car. The companies are continuing discussions to build a second MEB-based electric model for Ford of Europe with nearly as large a volume. And VW CEO Herbert Diess allowed that Ford EVs based on the platform could also come to the U.S., though none are currently planned.

Ford will also sell electric cars in Europe (and in the U.S. and elsewhere) based on its own platforms, including the Mustang-inspired Mach E SUV due out in 2021 and the electric F150 it has under development. The company also invested $500 million in EV pickup startup company Rivian in April, which Hackett says is designed to accelerate the automaker's knowledge base on EVs and should be seen separately from product development.

Ford crossover EV teaser photo

One of the biggest challenges in getting more consumers to buy electric cars is to bring prices down to make them more affordable even without tax credits.

Executives from both companies said that sharing the MEB platform is designed to do that. “We will see more collaboration [on electric cars] because the timing is not clear and the market penetration is not clear” said Diess. Sharing the MEB platform with other automakers will increase volume to spread development costs and make EVs “more affordable for consumers, and be better for the environment,” said VW CEO Herbert Diess.

Hackett called MEB, which stands for “modular electric architecture” “an impressive platform.”

VW MEB platform

“I’m very inspired by it, and our teams are excited to work with it,” he said. The MEB platform is one of the first dedicated electric-car platforms designed to be sold in all of the major car markets around the world.

The announcement expands on an earlier agreement between the companies to share development costs on commercial vans and self-driving cars announced in January. Global vehicles developed under that agreement will go on sale beginning in 2022.

As for the self-driving portion of the partnership, Volkswagen will join Ford in taking a $1 billion stake in Argo.AI, and will merge its Autonomous Intelligent Driving self-driving program into Argo. Argo is testing self-driving vehicles in five U.S. cities, including Miami, Detroit, and Washington, DC, in an effort to develop fully self-driving cars.

De Tomaso | The return of a legend for the 60th anniversary

Europe, 15th May, 2019  Dear Friends in the Press, We are pleased to announce that one of the greatest untold stories in automotive history, the legendary marque that is De Tomaso, is officially coming back for its 60th anniversary.  A Man on a Mission “He came to Italy and wanted to make his debut but… Continue reading De Tomaso | The return of a legend for the 60th anniversary

Union hack: British company offers electric classic Mini conversion

The Mini Cooper SE revealed last week and the planned electric Mini Rocketman city car represent a new push from the official owner of the Mini brand, BMW.

While neither of those models has arrived quite yet, the UK-based company electric bicycle company Swind has already started making a limited number of electric conversions of classic Minis for British customers.

The specs read like something of a cross between the Mini Cooper SE and the electric Rocketman: The classic Minis get a 24 kilowatt-hour battery (about 2/3 the size of the modern Cooper SE) that delivers a potentially similar 125 miles of electric range. An internal estimate from Mini pegged the upcoming Cooper SE at 114 miles on the EPA cycle.

It has 110-horsepower electric motor, which is significantly short of the Cooper SE's 181 horsepower, but in the smaller, lighter original Mini, the effect is only slightly slower acceleration of 0-60 mph in 9.2 seconds. Swind limits the top speed of the electric Mini to 80 mph, which is perhaps wise, since the chassis was never designed to go that fast with its original gas engine.

Classic Mini Cooper electric conversion by Swind
Classic Mini Cooper electric conversion by Swind
Classic Mini Cooper electric conversion by Swind

Swind installs the battery underneath the floor, which it says improves the classic Mini's balance. It's still nose-heavy, with 57 percent of its weight in the nose, versus 68 percent for the original. Taking out the gas tank even leaves 7 cubic-feet of trunk space.

The original Mini is even smaller than the Mini Rocketman concept, which was designed to be a city car to compete with the modern Smart. It's just over 120 inches feet long, 55 inches wide, and 53 inches tall. The tiny Rocketman is more than a foot longer and wider.

The updated cars will offer USB charge ports and heaters for the front seats, windshield and rear windows, and under-floor radiant heat. Buyers can opt to add a navigation system, power steering, air conditioning, and a full-length cloth sunroof in addition to performance upgrades and custom paint colors—but of course these conversions are lacking most modern safety features. Swind offers a one-year warranty.

The classic electric Mini conversion is the latest in a cottage industry of electric-car conversions in Britain, including Jaguar E-Types that the automaker has begun to sell, Porsche 911s, Aston Martins, and Morgan roadsters.

Swind started building the electric Minis in February and plans to make up to 100 of the Mini electric conversions in customers' choice of right- or left-hand drive.

The conversions cost 79,000 British pounds (almost $88,000). With new Mini Cooper SE prices expected to start around $30,000 before tax credits, you could buy three of them for about the price of a converted original.

Cupra Teases A New Concept Model, Possibly A Plug-In

A new Cupra concept could be the first hint of a production BEV. Seat‘s Cupra revealed today a short teaser video of a new concept model, which possibly could turn out to be an all-electric or at least a plug-in hybrid car. The Spanish brand (part of the Volkswagen Group) already announced the plug-in hybrid… Continue reading Cupra Teases A New Concept Model, Possibly A Plug-In

VW holds battery suppliers tight amid anticipated shortages

Volkswagen is taking new measures to hold its battery suppliers close, as battery suppliers are reportedly still skeptical of whether consumers will buy electric cars in large numbers—and hesitant to make the large investments necessary.

So VW is partnering with battery suppliers to provide funding to build and expand battery factories.

Board member Stefan Sommer told Reuters, “We have not been able to build as many cars as we wanted to. Our supplier is not delivering the numbers that we need.”

“We have built up our own expertise, which we share with suppliers, which helps when we build a new plant. It gives us an early indication if there are teething problems,” he said.
If the company still doesn't find enough suppliers for all the batteries it needs, Sommer says it is prepared to build its own battery factories in China.

2020 Volkswagen ID Neo spy shots

The automaker is ground zero for a massive push into electric car production, and has plans to purchase $56 billion worth of batteries through 2028 on its way to building 22 million examples of up to 70 new electric models by 2028. That's far more ambitious—and represents a commitment to acquire far more batteries—than any other automaker in coming years.

The company has said that it will need 150 gigawatt-hours of battery supply in Europe by 2025 and another 150 gigawatt-hours in Asia, to say nothing of North America or the company's plans beyond 2025.

Yet a couple of supply hiccups have already interrupted the VW Group's electric-car plans. Last fall, a Belgian newspaper near the factory where VW's luxury division Audi builds the E-tron quattro, reported that production was delayed over a dispute with battery supplier LG Chem over pricing and supplies.

VW ID family

Then, in May, another battery supplier, Samsung, dramatically cut its supply agreement with VW over disagreements about timing. The dispute could interrupt plans for more than 200,000 electric VWs in Europe.

Volkswagen isn't the only automaker struggling to secure sufficient supplies of lithium-ion batteries for all the electric cars it plans to build. In May, Tesla's global supply manager for battery metals, Sarah Maryssael, told a conference of mining executives and Washington lawmakers that the company is preparing for global shortages of battery raw materials.