Electric Vehicles News & Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Xiaomi: Electric car buyers told they face six-month wait

9 hours ago

Just days after Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its first electric vehicle (EV), buyers have been told they may have to wait up to six months for their car to be delivered.

Screen grabs on Chinese social media show the firm advising buyers it could take 27 weeks to deliver the SU7 Max.

The company previously said pre-orders had hit 88,898 within 24 hours of it starting to take orders on Thursday.

Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

The technology giant, which is the third-largest seller of smartphones in the world with a market share of about 12%, is taking on EV rivals including Tesla and BYD in the world's biggest market for cars.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68705711

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Electric Vehicles are Lowering San Francisco Bay Area's Carbon Footprint
April 4, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) An extensive CO2 monitoring network set up around the San Francisco Bay Area by an atmospheric chemist from the University of California, Berkeley, has recorded the first evidence that the adoption of electric vehicles is measurably lowering the area's carbon emissions.

The network of sensors, most of them in the East Bay, is the brainchild of Ronald Cohen, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry, who envisions inexpensive, publicly funded pollution and carbon dioxide monitors widely distributed around urban areas to pinpoint emission sources and the neighborhoods most affected. An estimated 70% of global CO2 emissions come from cities, yet few urban areas have granular data about where those emissions originate.

In 2012, Cohen began setting up a Bay Area sensing network that has now grown to more than 80 stations, including seven in San Francisco, that stretches from Sonoma County through Vallejo and down to San Leandro.

Between 2018 and 2022, 57 of the sensors in the Berkeley Environmental Air Quality and CO2 Network (BEACO2N) recorded a small but steady decrease in CO2 emissions — about 1.8% annually — that translates to a 2.6% yearly drop in vehicle emission rates. Looking at California data for electric vehicle adoption — which is very high in the Bay Area — Cohen and graduate student Naomi Asimow concluded that the decrease was due to passenger vehicle electrification.

Additional Extract:

Los Angeles, California; Providence, Rhode Island; and Glasgow, Scotland, have already adopted Cohen's sensors to create their own pollution monitoring networks.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1039743

[weatheriscool]

[Tadasuke]

Plug-in car sales in Europe increased by 10% in February year-over-year, on par with the general market growth



Plug-in car registrations in January-February in Europe (year over year change):
BEVs: about 262,000 and 13% market share
PHEVs: about 141,000 and 7% market share
Total: 403,691 (+18%) and 20% market share

Tesla Model Y remains Europe's best-selling plug-in model with almost 20,000 new registrations in February. One in every new five cars in Europe is now a plug-in hybrid or fully electric.

In my opinion, probably by 2030, 56% of new cars in Europe will be BEVs or PHEVs and by 2038 100% of new cars in Europe will be BEVs, with buying new cars which burn fossil fuels completely outlawed in some European countries and some U.S. states and ICE cars completely banned in some cities even in 2030. Of course there will be still existing internal combustion engine automobiles on roads in 2038 (which were bought in the 2020s or 2010s). I think they may persist even to the 2050s or maybe even 2060s in some countries. By 2040, passenger road and railway transport will be mostly fully electric. Cargo transport will be also gradually moving to electricity, but slightly lagging behind passenger transport. Large electric cargo ships and electric airplanes will come even later, but will come at an accelerated pace, because AGI and general-purpose robots will be a thing in the 2040s.

Toyota U.S. plug-in car sales almost doubled in Q1 2024

Toyota Motor North America (Toyota and Lexus brands) reports that its vehicle sales in the United States during the first quarter of 2024 increased by 20% year-over-year to 565,098 units. The lineup recently expanded to 27 models.

Toyota Plug-in car sales in Q1-Q4 2023:
BEVs: 9,329 (+663%) and 0.5% share
PHEVs: 33,630 (+11%) and 1.7% share
Total: 42,959 (+36%) and 2.2% share

Toyota Plug-in car sales in Q1'2024:
BEVs: 1,897 (+12%) and 0.4% share
PHEVs: 11,674 (+82%) and 2.4% share
Total: 13,571 (+67%) and 2.8% share

Toyota car models sales in Q1'2024:
Toyota bZX: 1,897 (+12%)
Toyota Prius Prime: 3,907 (+293%)
Toyota RAV4 Prime: 7,767 (+43%)

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

$45K EV smuggles a 620-mile solid-state battery out of the lab
By C.C. Weiss
April 11, 2024

IM motors has decided that semi solid-state batteries are ready for prime time. In an omen of what Western automakers will need to contend with, it's now launched a futuristic luxury coupe with a next-gen battery pack and crab-walking capability.

The high-density lithium batteries we enjoy today were an absolute technological revolution. They blew rechargeable nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal-hydride batteries out of the water, offering such a leap in energy storage by weight and volume that suddenly all sorts of things became possible.

Smartphones, all-day laptops, drones, electric cars, skateboards, motorcycles, scooters, electric aircraft, eVTOLs, ebikes... Suddenly, you could carry enough energy in a safe, reliable, high-input, high-output format that all these ideas became (or are becoming) world-changing products at an epic scale.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/im-ls-l ... lid-state/

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Richard Hammond predicts majority of cars will still be petrol rather than electric in 2050

14 hours ago

Former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has warned that the majority of cars will still be petrol in 2050, given the current rate of electrification in vehicles.

Given that there is currently no high-profile motoring show on television, the 54-year-old suggested that there could be a need for a programme that informs viewers on self-driving and electric vehicles.

“EVs will be part of the picture, of course they are,” he told The Telegraph. “But at the current rate of electrification, even if we could keep it up – which we can’t because China is withholding the rare earth minerals we need – by 2050 the majority of cars on the road will still be, and have to be, internal combustion engines.”

Stating that is was more necessary for a prime-time motoring show than ever before, he added: “The biggest financial decision we make as individuals, with a bearing on the carbon future, is the car.

“And people might end up buying electric cars that simply don’t work in their application, or not buying one when they’d be perfect. But we’re not properly informed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 28227.html

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Arsenale’s "Plan B": lightweight, long-range, 2WD hybrid adventure bike
By Mike Hanlon
April 18, 2024

https://newatlas.com/motorcycles/arsena ... wd-hybrid/

The Arsenale’s latest offering is the Plan B: a lighweight, ultra-long-range, 2WD, low-power, hybrid gas/electric bike for wet, slippery, snowy or sandy conditions. With two failed indiegogo campaigns behind it as the 2X2 Ultrabike, it has reemerged at The Arsenale, a high end boutique for unique transportation solutions in Dubai.

It’s still one of the best ideas we’ve seen, but it ain’t perfect and it now costs more than the original US$2,000 … a lot more … coming in at $15,000.

Just the same, we’re in agreement with The Arsenale that this idea is too good to die, and we feel certain that if the Plan B’s unique virtues become widely known, the machine will be further refined and become even more useful, and hopefully a little more affordable.

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

Honda to build electric vehicles and battery plant in Ontario, sources say

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/h ... r-AA1nssne

[wjfox]

Electric and hybrid car sales to rise to new global record in 2024

Tue 23 Apr 2024 06.00 BST

Electric and plug-in hybrid car sales will jump to a new global record in 2024 despite slowing growth in some markets, according to forecasts from the influential International Energy Agency (IEA).

The Paris-based forecaster said that 17m battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be sold in 2024, up more than 20% compared with 2023.

The IEA also said most electric cars will cost the same as petrol equivalents by 2030 as prices drop. Tesla lowered prices over the weekend as it fights to retain its market share amid fierce competition from Chinese rivals such as BYD, its closest contender as the world’s largest producer of battery electric cars.

Carmakers have complained that growth in demand for electric cars is slowing, forcing them to offer discounts to compete. While this could damage some carmakers, lower prices are also likely to accelerate the transition, the IEA said.

Fatih Birol, the energy economist who heads the IEA, acknowledged that sales are stronger in some countries than others, but added that there was clear momentum for the transition.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... rd-in-2024

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[firestar464]

Honda to get up to $5B in government assistance for EV battery, assembly plants

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/h ... r-AA1nD3QD

[wjfox]

There’s Now 1 Fast Charging Station for Every 5 Gas Stations in California

Published: Apr 27, 2024

SACRAMENTO – Here’s a stat most Californians have likely never heard: for every five gas stations in California, there’s now one electric vehicle fast charging station.

Governor Gavin Newsom dropped by a Tesla supercharger during Earth Week to highlight the state’s ongoing efforts to build a bigger and better charging network, as well as Tesla’s recent work to open its fast chargers to non-Tesla vehicles.

Watch the Governor’s video to learn more about California’s work to ensure drivers can reliably charge up no matter where they are.

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/04/27/there ... alifornia/

[weatheriscool]

200 miles in 10 minutes EV charging demonstrated in Polestar 5 prototype
By Paul Ridden
April 29, 2024

On the road to delivering 100 miles of EV range in five minutes by the end of 2024, tech firm StoreDot has installed its extreme fast charging cells in a Polestar 5 prototype, and zapped the 77-kWh pack to 80% capacity in 10 minutes.

For many car drivers, the journey from home to work or the mall or school is a fairly short one, well within the per-charge battery range of modern electric family cars anyway. But those needing to make longer daily trips are going to be plugged in more often.

DC fast-charging is already available for quick top-ups, but you could still need to find something to do while you wait a while. What if such pit stops could take around the same time as filling up a gas guzzler? That's precisely what StoreDot is aiming for with its extreme fast charging (XFC) high energy silicon-dominant battery cells – with 100 miles (160 km) of battery range in exchange for three minutes plugged in as the target for 2028.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/storedo ... prototype/

[firestar464]

Tesla staff say entire Supercharger team fired- BBC

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/te ... r-AA1nYAl8

[weatheriscool]