VW – Page 3379 – I wish I had more to offer

China’s CATL unveils cell-to-pack battery platform

FUZHOU, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, unveiled its focus on the development of cell-to-pack (CTP) batteries to improve efficiency and lower costs.
To safely and efficiently manage the battery cells mounted in an electric vehicle (EV), battery cells are installed in modules and packs. Generally, a cluster of cells make up a module and a cluster of modules make up a pack. Ultimately, each electric vehicle is installed with one pack.
CTP, the company's latest product platform, skips the process of battery modules and allows cells to be directly integrated into packs.
Using the CTP technology, which includes more than 70 core patents, CATL can increase mass-energy density by 10 to 15 percent, improve volume utilization efficiency by 15 to 20 percent and reduce the amount of parts for battery packs by 40 percent.
A CTP battery can increase the system energy density from 180 Wh/kg to more..

VW CEO shifts strategy from empire building to efficiency

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has abandoned its decades-old obsession with empire building and no-expense-spared engineering to free up resources for the development and mass production of electric cars, its CEO Herbert Diess told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Herbert Diess, CEO of German carmaker Volkswagen AG, gestures in front of an ID.3 pre-production prototype during the… Continue reading VW CEO shifts strategy from empire building to efficiency

Audi AI:Trail concept splices trail-ready with autonomous-ready

Earlier this week at the Frankfurt auto show, Audi revealed a strikingly different adventure-vehicle concept car that’s designed to show, according to the brand, “a comprehensive concept for sustainable mobility off the beaten track.”

The AI:Trail completes a quartet of concepts with similarly colon-punctuated names—the AI:Con, AI:Me, and AI:Race—that show how the German luxury brand can pull autonomous-driving modes and all-electric powertrains into vehicles for almost any kind of automotive lifestyle.

It’s an important issue to address. With just a few exceptions, the electric cars of the past decade conform into a surprisingly homogenous set. They’re far from representative of the real potential of going fully electric—that it allows a lot more flexibility for vehicles to be strikingly different and varied in design versus models with a combustion engine.

The AI:Trail has four electric motors—not in-wheel motors—summing to 435 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, and what it calls “ample battery capacity” bringing a driving range of up to 311 miles based on the European WLTP cycle.

For on-road driving, the AI:Trail has level 4 automated driving capability—meaning that it has traditional controls but in specific conditions can take over responsibility from the driver.

Audi promises confident crawling up off-road trails, and its gearing of the motor systems was chosen to deliver strong wheel torque in off-roading. It underscores that its development “was not about achieving remarkably quick acceleration or hitting breathtaking speeds on the autobahn.”

The AI:Trail, with its huge 22-inch wheels and 33.5-inch big-sidewall tires, is limited to 81 mph. But it can ford up to 19 inches of water and has a ground clearance of 13.4 inches.

Green Car Reports walked around the concept at the show and found that Audi’s own released pictures didn’t entirely do the design justice, especially from the rear. The concept is exceptionally tall—5.5 feet overall—and the “one-box” passenger-cell design and especially sharp creasing around the cabin give it the look of a sci-fi truck brought to life. Its design looks influenced by lunar-rover designs, with a passenger pod over huge wheels.

The concept has a lot of glass around and overhead, allowing an impressive view out for off-roading. Retractable running boards help with access, while an optical-sensor system reads the surface and adjusts the tire pressure accordingly.

The driver interface consists of a yoke instead of a steering wheel, plus a minimal set of buttons. Interior materials include recycled textiles, reprocessed wool, and recycled leather. Second-row seats follow a hammock-like design that helps save weight.

With a mix of high-strength steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber, the AI:Trail weighs less than 3,900 pounds despite what Audi calls a high-capacity battery.

The headlights themselves are actually drones that can detach from the vehicle and go airborne, helping illuminate the way ahead of the vehicle when off-roading, or a surrounding area when parked. While that seems like a silly use of energy and effort, it’s exactly the kind of feature we’d expect to see in an innovation-focused concept vehicle—and it’s cool.

Perhaps the most puzzling piece to ponder now is how all of these concepts fit together into Audi’s future, which so far has been mostly in the form of electric versions of pre-existing formats (like the production E-tron SUV, the upcoming Q4 e-tron, and the e-tron GT sport sedan). The future, if this is any hint, could get a lot more interesting.

SAIC Volkswagen to expand production at Xinjiang plant

URUMQI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — SAIC Volkswagen's plant in China's far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is scheduled to increase production by mass-producing an SUV model in mid-2020.
The SUV production line has been installed and is expected to start mass production of the Tharu SUV model in July next year, said Fu Xuejun, general manager of the SAIC Volkswagen (Xinjiang) Automotive Co., Ltd.
The Xinjiang subsidiary previously only produced the new Santana sedan model, with the output exceeding 20,000 units last year.
After the mass production of the SUV model, total production at the Xinjiang plant is expected to increase to 50,000 units.
The subsidiary, based in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, is SAIC Volkswagen's first production facility in western China and also Xinjiang's first passenger vehicle assembly plant.

The history: Porsche, the electrical pioneer

Ferdinand Porsche, later the founder of the company of the same name, was fascinated by electricity even as a teenager. As early as 1893, the 18-year-old installed an electric lighting system in his parents’ house. In the same year Porsche joined Vereinigte Elektrizitäts-AG Béla Egger in Vienna. After four years there, he progressed from mechanic… Continue reading The history: Porsche, the electrical pioneer

White House moving forward to strip California of vehicle authority -sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is moving forward with a plan to revoke California’s authority to set its own vehicle greenhouse gas standards and declare that states are pre-empted from setting their own vehicle rules, three people briefed on the matter said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: Morning commuters travel in rush hour traffic towards… Continue reading White House moving forward to strip California of vehicle authority -sources

The Lion Electric Co. to Deliver Michigan’s First 11 Electric School Buses as Part of the Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement

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Elon Musk Announces Plaid Performance Upgrade To Tesla Model S, X, & Roadster!

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Published on September 12th, 2019 |

by Paul Fosse

Elon Musk Announces Plaid Performance Upgrade To Tesla Model S, X, & Roadster!

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September 12th, 2019 by Paul Fosse

Elon tweeted earlier in the evening a clear reference to the most powerful mode in Tesla’s upcoming Tesla Roadster: “The only thing beyond Ludicrous is Plaid.” In a followup tweet, he noted that the Plaid option would be available on the Model S and Model X as well as the Roadster.

When Marques Brownlee noted that we are going to need details, Elon replied “Soon.” Tantalizing.

We had to wait less than an hour for some of those juicy details. Elon announced a new powertrain that includes 3 motors instead of the 2 that have been standard on the Model S and Model X for some time. The next-generation Roadster has had a plan for 3 motors since it was unveiled as “One More Thing” at the Tesla Semi unveiling almost 2 years ago in November 2017.

For those of you who don’t know why Elon names performance modes things like “Ludicrous” or “Plaid,” these are pop culture references to a scene in the movie Spaceballs. The terminology is a play on a the warp speed effect in the popular 1960s TV show Star Trek.

There has been a lot of speculation about what Tesla’s response to the Porsche Taycan would be. We know that the new Raven Model S has enhanced Dynamic Air Suspension and a more powerful motor. A track mode that adjusted stability control and increased cooling for sustained power was certainly needed. The rumor that Tesla is moving the Model S and X to the 2170 battery cells used in the Model 3 instead of the 18650 format they use today is a persistent rumor, but not more than that according to a number of tweets and statements from Elon over the past year.

I didn’t imagine Tesla would go so far as to add a 3rd motor. This could potentially add as much as 50% more power. Normally, I would say the power would be limited to the output of the battery pack, but that would be forgetting that Tesla just closed on a company called Maxwell Technologies, which not only was working on technology that greatly reduces the cost of producing cells using dry electrodes but was best known for ultracapacitors. Quoting our article linked above, “If the economics made sense, a modest ultracapacitor array could work alongside the battery pack as a cache of energy, to reduce the load on (and/or work in parallel with) the main battery during short bursts of hard acceleration or strong regenerative braking.”

Screen capture from Tesla’s YouTube channel.

Today, Tesla released a video of a Model S driven by an amateur driver setting a new record for a 4 door sedan at Laguna Seca during advanced R&D testing of the Model S Plaid powertrain and chassis. Is that the same car or setup that Tesla shipped to Germany for the Nürbergring Lap?

It is unclear from the tweet if the Model S and Model X would get the identical powertrain as the new Roadster (which would still be much faster because it is smaller and lighter) or just a similar design. I’m sure there will be much speculation over the next year on this subject. Just as I was thinking there wasn’t much left to do with the Model S and X since they are so fast already, I once again greatly underestimated the determination and competitive spirit Elon Musk and Tesla continue to display. (Editor’s note: ditto.)

Use my Tesla referral link to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging on a Tesla Model S, Model X, or Model 3 (you can’t use it on the Model Y yet), here’s the link: https://ts.la/paul92237 (but if someone else helped you, please use their link).

About the Author

Paul Fosse A Software engineer for over 30 years, first developing EDI software, then developing data warehouse systems. Along the way, I've also had the chance to help start a software consulting firm and do portfolio management. In 2010, I took an interest in electric cars because gas was getting expensive. In 2015, I started reading CleanTechnica and took an interest in solar, mainly because it was a threat to my oil and gas investments. Follow me on Twitter @atj721 Tesla investor. Tesla referral code: https://ts.la/paul92237

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ŠKODA delivers 88,100 vehicles in August

Alain Favey, ŠKODA AUTO Board Member for Sales and Marketing, says: “Thanks to strong demand for our SUV models KODIAQ and KAROQ, we were able to compensate for the effects of the current market trend in our largest market, China, in August. In the coming months, we expect new growth impetus from the launch of… Continue reading ŠKODA delivers 88,100 vehicles in August

It’s good for the environment and employees: Audi trials new sealing process at the paint shop

At its paint shop in Győr, Hungary, Audi is testing a new method of body sealing. Before a car is given its paint finish, a paste-like sealing material is applied to areas such as the weld seams. This improves vehicle acoustics, guards against corrosion and seals off the interior. The new method grants complete freedom… Continue reading It’s good for the environment and employees: Audi trials new sealing process at the paint shop