Renault has topped the 200,000 mark in sales of electric vehicles in Europe, building on a dedicated range launched in 2011. In France, the fourth biggest global market, Renault has registered 100,000 electric vehicles. Renault is No. 1 in electric vehicle sales in Europe for the fourth consecutive year. ZOE and Kangoo Z.E. remain the… Continue reading 200,000 Renault electric vehicles sold across Europe!
Tag: Electric vehicles
All-electric Kia e-Soul to make European debut in Geneva with more power, driving range and technology
At the rear, the ‘island’ of bodywork in the tailgate remains. Surrounded by gloss black, this panel takes on a more rounded, modern shape for the new model, and sits atop restyled rear bumpers. It is parenthesised by bold new wraparound LED combination lamps. The new e-Soul is available in a choice of seven single-tone… Continue reading All-electric Kia e-Soul to make European debut in Geneva with more power, driving range and technology
VW shuffles management responsibilities at core brand
VW brand’s chief operating officer Ralf Brandstaetter will take over responsibility for quality assurance and value engineering. FRANKFURT: Volkswagen shuffled management responsibilities at its core brand on Monday, freeing up Group CEO Herbert Diess to oversee the carmaker’s radical strategy to mass produce electric cars. The German multi-brand car and truck making giant, which also… Continue reading VW shuffles management responsibilities at core brand
SEC asks U.S. judge to hold Tesla’s Musk in contempt of violating deal
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said a federal court should hold Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk in contempt for violating last year’s settlement with the federal regulatory agency due to new statements made on Twitter, sending shares of the electric carmaker down 5 percent in extended… Continue reading SEC asks U.S. judge to hold Tesla’s Musk in contempt of violating deal
MAHLE Licenses WiTricity Technology for Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging – Business Wire
WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WiTricity, the industry pioneer in wireless power transfer over distance, today announced that MAHLE, a top 20 global Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, has entered into a technology license for access to WiTricity’s patented technology. MAHLE is a well-known international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry… Continue reading MAHLE Licenses WiTricity Technology for Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging – Business Wire
Tesla shares fall after SEC asks judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for violating deal
Robyn Beck | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an unveiling event for the Boring Co. Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018.
Shares of Tesla fell 5 percent after the SEC has asked a judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for violating its deal. The SEC cited an “inaccurate” February 19 tweet about production, Bloomberg first reported.
On that date, Elon Musk tweeted — then revised — projections for full-year Tesla manufacturing numbers.
The CEO said that Tesla would make “around” 500,000 vehicles this year, clarifying about four hours later that he “meant to say” the company's annualized production rate at the end of 2019 could be around 500,000 vehicles — or a production rate of 10,000 cars per week. Total deliveries for the year are still estimated at 400,000, Musk said.
“Musk did not seek or receive pre-approval prior to publishing this tweet, which was inaccurate and disseminated to over 24 million people,” the SEC wrote in the court filing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges with Musk and Tesla over the CEO's aborted bid to take the company private last fall, with the billionaire remaining at the helm of the company but relinquishing his chairman title and getting slapped with a $20 million fine. As part of the settlement, Musk was supposed to get pre-approval for future tweets.
However, the SEC writes, “in response to the SEC's February 20 request for information, Musk and Tesla state that, since Tesla's Policy was implemented in December 2018, Musk's tweets have been reviewed after their publication, but there is no suggestion that Musk has sought or obtained pre-approval of any tweet prior to publishing it.”
The agency concludes, “For all the reasons stated, the SEC respectfully requests that the Court enter an
order to show cause why Defendant Elon Musk should not be held in contempt of the Court's October 16, 2018 Final Judgment.”
The SEC's enforcement action is the next step in a saga which began in early August, when Musk announced via Twitter that he had secured enough funding for a massive private buyout of Tesla. The SEC complaint alleged that in doing so, Musk issued “false and misleading” statements, and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events.
“This matter reaffirms an important principle embodied in our disclosure-based federal securities laws,” SEC chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement in September.
“Specifically, when companies and corporate insiders make statements, they must act responsibly, including endeavoring to ensure the statements are not false or misleading and do not omit information a reasonable investor would consider important in making an investment decision,” Clayton added.
Read the full court filing here:
Elon Musk is ‘almost unethical,’ says outgoing AutoNation CEO
Musk is over-promising on autonomous vehicles, says AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson
10:45 AM ET Fri, 22 Feb 2019 | 00:57
Tesla CEO Elon Musk acts in an “almost unethical” way, the outgoing CEO of the largest U.S. auto dealer chain told CNBC on Friday.
Musk recently said he expects Tesla to have all the features needed for fully self-driving cars by the end of the year. That seems like an almost impossible goal, Cox Automotive executive publisher Karl Brauer said Wednesday on CNBC's “The Exchange.” Other companies working on autonomous driving technology, such as Waymo, are not making such bold predictions.
“I think he is overpromising on autonomous vehicles in an almost unethical way,” AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said on “Squawk Box,” referring to Musk.
Jackson has long been a Tesla critic and has accused Musk of using “bait-and-switch” tactics on consumers, making commitments he cannot keep, and has said the electric car maker's business will not be sustainable over the long term.
In the interview Friday, Jackson once again criticized Tesla's practice of taking orders on the midsize Tesla Model 3 sedan, saying the cars Tesla has been building are different from the ones the company had said it planned to build. Tesla initially advertised its Model 3 at a price of $35,000 but has so far sold only more expensive versions.
“There's not another retailer in America that could get away with that bait and switch,” Jackson said. Currently the cheapest Model 3 starts at $42,900. Musk has said that despite the originally advertised price, Tesla has had to prioritize the production of more expensive versions to keep margins high. At one point, Tesla had more than 400,000 reservations for the the Model 3.
Tesla has faced political and legal battles in several states over its decision to eschew the traditional dealership model in favor of a direct model that sells to customers.
AutoNation reported earnings of $1.10 on Friday, missing a consensus estimate by 4 cents. The dealership chain also said Jackson will end his long tenure in the top job in March, and Carl Liebert will succeed him on March 11. Liebert was formerly chief operating officer at financial services company USAA. He was also executive vice president of stores at home improvement retailer Home Depot.
AutoNation shares sank 6 percent in early trading Friday. Tesla's stock was up 1.2 percent.
“It was a challenging quarter, no question,” Jackson said. New vehicle sales across the industry were down 10 percent in California, and environments in Texas and Florida were also problems.
“But even beyond those two explanations, I think retail automotive is getting more difficult,” he said, attributing the challenges in part to the cyclical nature of the business.
Jackson said he expects a gradual downturn across the industry. He expects sales in 2019 to be about 16.8 million vehicles, down from 17.2 million in 2018.
Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment about Jackson's remarks.
Zero Motorcycles unveils two rapid-charging electric motorcycles to fend off Harley-Davidson
Source: Zero Motorcycles
Zero Motocycle unveils new SR/F model.
Electric motorcycle manufacturer Zero Motorcycles unveiled two new models on Monday, the latest step in its quest to challenge gas-burning bikes and fend off competition in the small but growing segment.
The California company is releasing its newest bike just months after American heavyweight motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson unveiled its LiveWire motorcycle in November. Other established bike manufacturers intend to produce electric motorcycles, but Zero has something of a head start. It specializes in electric motorcycles and has been making them since 2006.
“We sell more full-size premium electric motorcycles than all our competitors combined,” said Zero Motorcycles CEO Sam Paschel, at a launch event in New York on Monday. The Zero SR/F is a brand new product “from the ground up,” he said.
The bike comes in two trims, a standard model starting at $18,995 and a premium model available starting at $20,995.
That means Zero's higher-end version is about $10,000 cheaper than the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, a new electric bike the venerable motorcycle company hopes will help it attract new riders, including those who are excited about the potential for electric powertrains. The LiveWire's price hovers around $30,000, which means it could need to come down if Harley-Davidson wants to compete with an upstart like Zero.
The Zero SR/F will feature a brand new battery motor and rapid charging system. The SR/F has 140 pound-foot of torque and “unbelievable acceleration,” Pashel said. It has a top speed of 124 miles per hour and over 100 horsepower. The bike can drive up to 200 miles in the city with its largest available battery, about the same as Zero's current motorcycles. It can be charged to nearly full capacity in about an hour.
The company said the motorcycle, which will begin shipping in April, will connect to the cloud and comes with an integrated mobile app.
“I certainly applaud Harley's efforts to attract new riders with electric bikes, which should appeal to a younger, urban dwelling demographic,” said Raymond James analyst Joe Altobello. “That said, it will likely take time to really move the needle for them given the relatively small size of the market, the potential improvements in battery life, and the relatively high price point, with LiveWire starting at nearly $30,000.”
Rising sales of all electric vehicles indicates there is a future for a plug-in motorcycle, Pashel said.
“From 2008 to 2010, over that three year period, the total number of plug-in vehicles of all types sold in the United States, were under 5,000 units,” Paschel said, speaking to a room full of reporters at the vehicle launch. “Now if you compare that with last year, there were over 300,000 plug-in vehicles of all types sold in the United States. Your presence here indicates that the idea of electrification has gone from something of a novelty to something that has a lot of excitement around it.”
Chinese Kandi electric cars a step closer to U.S. arrival
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BYD Breaks Ground On New 20 GWh Battery Plant In China
5 H BY MARK KANE Additional 20 GWh to secure future EV expansion BYD has broke ground on its new lithium-ion battery factory in Chongqing, one of China‘s traditional auto manufacturing hubs. The planned output is to be 20 GWh annually using eight fully-automated production lines. The first stage of the plant is expected to… Continue reading BYD Breaks Ground On New 20 GWh Battery Plant In China