Tag: VW

Car manufacturer: VW finds software board in its own ranks

VW As head of the e-Mobility series, Senger has been responsible since 2016 for the development of the modular electrical construction kit MEB, on which the new electric cars of the ID family are based. (Photo: AP) HamburgVolkswagen According to an insider, a candidate for the announced board position for auto software has been found.… Continue reading Car manufacturer: VW finds software board in its own ranks

Ford executive raises doubts about VW deal for electric vehicles

Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President and President of Global Markets, reveals the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 at the 2019 North American International Auto Show during Media preview days on January 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.

Ford and Volkswagen appear increasingly unlikely to pull together a deal to work together on battery-electric vehicles, a senior executive with the Detroit automaker said this week.

The two companies announced plans last month to team up on the development of light commercial vehicles and confirmed that other projects were under consideration. It has been widely reported that a key focus was on battery-electric vehicles, a move that could help Ford and VW save billions of dollars by sharing R&D efforts.

But their programs are out of sync, “almost like snowboarding and skiing,” Jim Farley, Ford's president of global markets, said Monday during a taping of the local TV show “Autoline Detroit.”

Automakers around the world have begun looking for ways to partner with erstwhile rivals in order to address an increasingly challenging environment. Many of these alliances focus on the development of new technologies, such as electrification and autonomous driving, areas in which Ford and Volkswagen aim to take a lead.

But the two carmakers are taking markedly different approaches with their electrification programs, said Stephanie Brinley, principal auto analyst with IHS Markit and a participant in the “Autoline” panel discussion.

“They have two very different strategies,” Brinley said, and the “timing issues that just won't mesh.”

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VW has committed over $50 billion to develop more than 50 pure battery-electric vehicles by 2025. They would be sold through the German automaker's dozen passenger car brands, including Porsche and Audi, as well as the flagship Volkswagen marque.

But the majority of the products will target mainstream markets using a high-volume vehicle platform known as the MEB. “This is meant to be a car for the millions, not millionaires,” Matthew Renna, vice president of e-Mobility for Volkswagen's North American Region, said during a media briefing last week at the Chicago Auto Show.

Ford was itself an early proponent of electrification but initially focused on hybrids, plug-in hybrids and relatively short-range battery-electric vehicles. It now plans to introduce its first long-range model in 2020, and then expand its lineup over the course of the coming decade.

While VW is primarily targeting low-cost, passenger car segments with its battery-car program, “Ford's bet is on commercial vehicles and performance vehicles,” said Farley.

There is still the possibility they could eventually find common ground, “if we could find platforms where it makes sense,” said Farley, but, at least for now, “we're in different timing.”

VW declined to comment about Farley's remarks.

Air taxi – these are the advantages

The Porsche Newsroom is a service provided by the Porsche Communication for journalists, bloggers and the online community. The official website of Porsche AG can be reached at www.porsche.com © 2019 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.*The data presented here was recorded using the Euro 5 test procedure (715/2007/EC, 692/2008/EC, 566/2011/EC and ECE-R 101) and the NEDC (New… Continue reading Air taxi – these are the advantages

Volkswagen sees deliveries in January decline

The Volkswagen brand delivered 515,500 vehicles to customers worldwide in January, a drop of 3.4 percent compared with the same month in 2018. Positive delivery trends in Russia (+10.9 percent) and Brazil (+10.8 percent) could not offset decreases in China (-3.1 percent), Western Europe (-4.8 percent) and North America (-8.6 percent). Volkswagen Board Member for… Continue reading Volkswagen sees deliveries in January decline

Electric car production racing ahead of car buyers’ desires – The Irish Times

Car makers could be looking down the barrel of massive oversupply of electric vehicles in the market. According to a new report from Deloitte, a “significant expectation gap” is growing between the production ramp-up of electric vehicles by the world’s major car makers, and the actual serious sales prospects for those vehicles. The report says… Continue reading Electric car production racing ahead of car buyers’ desires – The Irish Times

‘I’ve assumed the worst’: Aston Martin and Bentley have prepared for slow-motion Brexit crash – The Sydney Morning Herald

Loading Aston Martin’s board before this week authorised contingency planning for Brexit that included shipping car components via air freight to allow for the use of ports other than Dover, which faces potential chaos in a no-deal scenario. For the last eight months, Volkswagen AG-owned Bentley has likewise supplied some parts through an alternative port,… Continue reading ‘I’ve assumed the worst’: Aston Martin and Bentley have prepared for slow-motion Brexit crash – The Sydney Morning Herald

First IONITY 350 kW Chargers Ready For Use In Denmark

6 H BY MARK KANE 350 kW is 100 times more than an ordinary household outlet According to elbil.no, one of the latest IONITY fast-charging stations in Nyborg, Denmark is the first to be enabled to support 350 kW power. Previously, the chargers installed by IONITY were limited to about 150 kW, but now it… Continue reading First IONITY 350 kW Chargers Ready For Use In Denmark

UFODrive Opens New Brussels Location

UFODrive, an all-digital, all-electric car rental solution, offers transparent pricing and a consistentlcustomer experience. Photo via UFODrive.  After successful launches at several European airports, UFOdrive is now expanding its electric car rental at Interparking 2 Portes, a prime carpark in Brussels city. UFODrive, an all-digital, all-electric car rental solution, offers transparent pricing and a consistentlcustomer experience. The new “UFObay”… Continue reading UFODrive Opens New Brussels Location

Tesla Model 3 could charge faster in Europe, charging network results suggest

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2018 Tesla Model 3
Deliveries of the Tesla Model 3 in Europe have just started. So too have some accounts of the most significant difference included in European-market versions of the electric sedan: their CCS Combo DC fast charging port.

One of those first accounts has come from the European charging network Fastned, which already operates many stations with 175-kw CCS hardware.

On that 175-kw hardware, Fastned showed that the Model S charged at a peak just above 125 kw. What’s especially of note, based on this graph, is that it stays at that maximum from around 10 percent state of charge all the way past 45 percent.

Fastned CCS charge curve for Tesla Model 3

Compared to what users have recorded with their Model 3 sedans on Tesla’s own Supercharger network, that’s both a higher peak power and a longer time near that peak. In order to be seen as a formidable alternative to Supercharging, it’s an important assertion for Fastned to make—that it’s quite certainly not slower with the CCS port. It may take many more examples and a deeper understanding to prove whether the Model 3 always charges faster on CCS, however.

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Some of Tesla’s Supercharger hardware is capable of delivering up to 145 kw; Tesla lists 120 kw as the peak charging rate for the Model 3.
That ceiling of around 125 kw that Fastned reports is, perhaps not coincidentally, the same peak charge rate that Volkswagen is planning to accommodate with the vehicles built on its MEB architecture—to arrive in Europe late this year with a model so far known as the ID Neo.

VW MEB platform

Volkswagen is aiming to build 15 million MEB vehicles globally by the end of its product cycle, later in the next decade, with the U.S. an important part of the plan (we get our first ID product around mid-2020).

So it’s likely that if VW’s electric vehicles arrive as promised and Tesla’s momentum continues to build with the Model 3 and Model Y (expected to share its battery and charging tech) we’ll have millions of vehicles that can take advantage of 125 kw.

CHECK OUT: Tesla will soon be compatible with all DC fast charging—in Europe

The Kia Niro EV that we covered in a first drive review on earlier this month offers a peak 100 kw, according to Kia, but officials confessed that it hits that peak for a very brief time—part of the reason why that model’s 64-kwh pack takes only 15 minutes less to get from 0 to 80 percent versus the Hyundai Kona with the same size pack (about 60 minutes versus 75 minutes, respectively).

2019 Audi e-tron first drive – Abu Dhabi UAE, December 2018

Several more vehicles are expected to hit the market yet this year in Europe with the capability to charge at 150 kw on CCS. The next vehicle due for widespread delivery and capable of even higher-power fast charging is the Audi e-tron SUV, which will arrive in Europe next month and in the U.S. by late spring. It will be able to sustain its peak 150 kw for a significant portion of the charge session, allowing it to regain 80 percent of the charge on its 95-kwh battery pack in about 30 minutes.