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Battery Maker CATL Opens First North American Center In Detroit

New EVs with CATL batteries coming to U.S. “very soon” Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) is opening its first North American sales and service facility in Detroit. The Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer says that wants to strengthen its presence in the U.S. and the new subsidiary will serve local automotive industry. According to CATL, several… Continue reading Battery Maker CATL Opens First North American Center In Detroit

Rivian off-road rally performance car could follow electric pickup, SUV

Rivian R1T electric pickup concept
Rivian announced a new electric pickup and SUV at the LA Auto Show—but apparently the startup electric automaker is so full of ideas it couldn't resist teasing yet another plan.

Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe told British auto magazine Autocar that the company plans a third model that will take advantage of all the power and all-wheel drive that the company's pickup and SUV boast, but with a sporty twist: an off-road rally car.

The new model could share the R1T pickup and R1S SUV's four electric motors producing a total of 750 horsepower and 820 pound-feet of torque, as well as the smaller of its two battery packs, containing 105-kilowatt-hours, to save weight compared with the larger 180-kwh pack. (Not to rule out the larger pack, but even the smaller battery could give a smaller rally car a range in the neighborhood of 300 miles, driven conservatively.)

DON'T MISS: Rivian R1T all-electric pickup revealed: 400-mile range, 160-kw DC fast charging

Scaringe told Autocar that the company's third model will have a shorter wheelbase than the R1S SUV but have similar ground clearance for off-road capability.

Rivian has developed a “skateboard” chassis that includes the cars' structure, its battery pack, motors, and power electronics.

READ THIS: Rivian R1S electric SUV goes family style with 7 seats, 410-mile range

Scaringe says the company plans on selling the skateboard architecture to other automakers as long as their products don't compete directly with Rivian's. One rumored potential customer could be Pininfarina, which is launching its own line of cars, starting with a $3 million supercar. Its second model is slated to be a luxury SUV, which could use Rivian's skateboard chassis.

Rivian will buy battery cells, but will assemble its own packs at its factory in Illinois when its cars go into production, Scaringe told Green Car Reports. These battery packs would likely be part of the chassis architecture that Rivian could sell to other automakers.

CHECK OUT: Mitsubishi Evo rally sedan morphs into electric crossover concept

The Autocar report is the first indication that the company also plans to build a third model of its own off the architecture and that it has considerable flexibility in at least the wheelbase of the machine. The R1T pickup has a wheelbase almost 15 inches longer than that on the R1S SUV. Such a rally-cross car would likely have a significantly shorter wheelbase.

The Rivian rally car (the R1R?), would be similar in concept to the Mitsubishi e-Evolution concept, another electric off-road rally car shown at the LA show.

The R1T and R1S are scheduled to go on sale in 2020 and 2021, so the new rally car would appear sometime later.

Pininfarina names 1900bhp electric hypercar ‘Battista’

Pininfarina to launch electric super-SUV using Rivian tech

Automobili Pininfarina will follow its electric hypercar, the PF0, with three SUVs, of which the most powerful one – codenamed PF1 – will rival the Lamborghini Urus. As first reported by our sister site Autocar India, development work on the PF1 SUV has already begun back in the Mahindra-owned car maker’s headquarters in Munich. “Work… Continue reading Pininfarina to launch electric super-SUV using Rivian tech

BMW to build new Mini convertible in the Netherlands

The VDL Nedcar factory in Born will begin production of the new Mini convertible next month, news agency ANP says on Friday.
The Mini convertible is the second car to be made in Born since the factory relaunched after Mitsubishi pulled out in 2012. The plant also produces Mini’s 3-door hatchbacks.
The Born plant is the only place in the world where BMW will produce the new version of the Mini, ANP says.
VDL Nedcar is now an independent car manufacturer with a workforce of some 2,350. That is 850 more than when Mitsubishi pulled out, the Financieele Dagblad says. The new Mini deal will not lead to any further expansion in the workforce in the short term, the paper says.

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BMW cuts Mini production in Limburg after strikes

German car maker BMW has cut the number of cars it is producing at the VDL Nedcar plant in Limburg following concerns about the number of strikes.
In total, BMW has slashed the production of new Minis by 1,000 and dozens of jobs are at risk, the Financieele Dagblad said at the weekend.
There have been three one-day strikes over the past six months and a fourth is planned for Monday.
The VDL Group’s Jan Mooren told the paper part of the production of the Mini Hatch is now being transferred to Oxford. BMW itself has not made a connection between the strikes and the production cut, the FD said.
According to local broadcaster L1, Mooren is concerned that other orders may be lost because of the damage to the company’s image.

VDL Nedcar to take on more staff for new Mini order

Dutch car maker VLD Nedcar has won an order to build a new type of Mini for German car manufacturer BMW, which will create some 1,200 jobs.The plant in Limburg already produces the three-door Mini and the Mini Cabrio and will now add a new generation of Mini Countryman to the range. The new car will be built exclusively in Born for the global market.
The new order will take the total workforce at the plant up to 4,000 plus 1,200 robots. Local officials are already talking about further expanding the plant and developing a direct railway link to make shipping easier, the Financieele Dagblad said.

Pininfarina reveals near-complete PF0 electric hypercar

Race for Tesla plant heats up as four northern towns join forces

Four towns in the northern Netherlands – Hardenberg, Emmen, Coevorden and Hoogeveen – have joined forces in an effort to attract a new Tesla car production plant.Hardenberg mayor Peter Snijders told the Financieele Dagblad that neighbouring German towns may also join the group which has raised €12m for the campaign.
However there is a lot of competition for the car plant. Groningen is preparing a bid book for the venture, while Tilburg in the south is interested in having Tesla build a battery plant for the plug-in car there.
Tesla already has an assembly plant in Tilburg which is a centre for car components manufacture. And VDL Nedcar in Limburg is also seeking partnership with Tesla, the FD says.
Eastern Europe
There is heavy compeition throughout Europe for a long-awaited Tesla plant. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer of CAR-Center Automotive Research in Duisburg Germany argues that eastern Europe has the most to offer the California-based car maker. ‘Germany has the highest energy prices in the world and southern Europe has very rigid labour laws,’ he said
Dudenhöffer reckons eastern Europe has the best chance of attracting Tesla. The region has low energy costs, low corporation tax and low labour costs, the Financieele Dagblad quoted him as saying.

VDL Nedcar plant to roll out new BMW series

German carmaker BMW has confirmed it will begin production of its BMW XI sports utility vehicle at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born in the southern province of Limburg.
BMW chief Harald Krüger said in an interview with the Automotive News Europe website that the SUV would be produced alongside the Mini Hatchback, Cabrio and Countryman models in the Dutch plant.
The increase in production capacity at Nedcar is relatively simple because the BMW XI uses the same platform as the Mini Countryman. The extra production capacity in Born is needed because BMW’s capacity at its main plant in Regensburg cannot be further expanded despite adding another shift.
The work at Born will create hundreds of jobs at the plant which was threatened with closure four years ago when it was owned by Mitsubishi, The plant started up operations again in 2014 after being acquired by the VDL Groep two years earlier.