The 7 coolest electric cars coming soon, from Aptera’s solar three-wheeler to Canoo’s pickup
Watch Spanx employees react to the news they’re getting $10,000 and first-class plane tickets to anywhere in the world
Source : https://www.businessinsider.com/author/tim-levin
Lucid Motor’s Air EV finally hits the roads with a range that blows Tesla away
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One of the buzziest new electric-vehicle startups to challenge Tesla is finally delivering on its promise of a model that will drive more than 500 miles on a single charge.
On Sunday, Lucid Motors tweeted a picture of the first Air Dream Edition sedans leaving its Casa Grande factory in Arizona. The $169,000 car comes with by far the longest EPA-rated range among EV competitors, with up to 520 miles—besting the closest Tesla by more than 100 miles.
While all Dream Edition cars have already been snapped up by reservation holders—in keeping with the range record, production will be limited to just 520 units—new customers can order the Air in three other equipment levels. Over 13,000 reservations have been placed to date, with a planned production rate of 34,000 cars annually in the company’s launch phase.
The vehicle is hitting U.S. markets at a propitious moment. Gasoline prices are up, on average, by about 42% over the past year. Compare that with the inflation on electricity—a more manageable 5.2% increase as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Study Calculates EVs Have Higher ‘Real World Refueling Cost’ Than Gas Vehicles
- If you’ve been paying attention to the development of electric vehicles long enough, you know that there are endless factors when calculating just how clean or dirty or cheap or expensive they are.
- To give buyers an estimate, the Anderson Economic Group has put out a paper trying to figure out the real-world cost, in time and money, of making the switch from gas to electric.
- While the study authors did point out a fair number of legitimate factors that make charging EVs more time-consuming than getting gas for your car, what they did not do was publish an honest and realistic look at how easy it is to charge up for some people. It’s an exercise in finding convenient ways to minimize the benefits and highlight the negatives.
The latest “Electric vehicles are scary!” study is out, and this one is a doozy. A new paper from the economic consulting firm Anderson Economic Group (AEG) does some novel things as it tries to comprehend the full spectrum of costs associated with making the shift away from a gas-powered vehicle to an EV. The trouble is that the authors can’t hide their biases in their quest to tell everyone that gas vehicles can refuel in less time than it takes to charge an EV.
For example, based on gas prices in Michigan, where AEG is based, the study says the “direct monetary cost to drive 100 miles in an internal-combustion (ICE) vehicle is between $8 and $12, and in an EV is between $12 and $15.” That sounds alarming, and the results show that no matter what, it costs more to refuel using electricity than gasoline.
But take a closer look at Table 2, and you’ll see that three types of gas-powered cars are listed: entry, mid-priced, and luxury. For the EVs, there are also three columns, but they include one mid-priced and two luxury EVs (one that’s “mostly” charged at home, and one that’s more often charged at a public charger). In other words, any cost benefit from buying an entry-level EV is missing from this table.
More important is noting that the study assumes odd habits for an EV driver who “mostly” recharges at home. How odd? The study assumes that it takes 2.5 minutes a day to charge using an installed home charger. This feels a bit too long, but if we accept their assumption and use an average 30-day month, we can see how they calculate that charging at home eats up 75 minutes of time a month. But the paper doesn’t use 75 minutes as a home charging example. Instead, it also assumes people with home charges actually conduct 40 percent of their charges at a public, commercial station. This, then, allows the study to claim that they spend 4.5 hours a month charging their car.
At-Home vs. Away-from-Home Charging
Being able to charge at home is key to the ownership-cost equation, and we would expect that the charging ratio of many EV owners is more like 90/10 percent in favor of at-home charging. Over the past two years, our long-term Tesla Model 3 is running at a 55/45 percent split in favor of at-home charging, and we would expect our figures to be on the high side of commercial charging as ours is constantly driven by people without a 240-volt hookup at home and also going on long trips.
Here’s another example of the study’s less than honorable methodology. The paper makes the case that charging an EV takes longer than an internal-combustion-engine vehicle. This is true for anyone who can’t charge at home—and it is undeniably a real issue—but then, in order to calculate the dollar cost of the extra time it takes an EV driver, the authors assume an annual salary of $70,000. According to the Social Security Administration, though, the national average wage index for 2020 was just over $55,000. ZipRecruiter says the average annual pay for a national in the United States is just over $74,000 a year, but also says that the “average pay range . . . varies greatly (by as much as $52,500).”
In any case, by using the higher estimated wage, the study authors are able to show that EVs “cost” more because they assume that each minute of time it takes to charge is worth more money than if they had used a lower annual salary. Convenient.
Then let’s look at how the study authors deal with “free” public chargers. They admit that these options exist, but then say that they “recognize that [‘free’ chargers] involve a cost that must be paid, and which may be embedded in property taxes, tuition, consumer prices, or investor burdens.” Their solution? They simply “price [the free chargers] using commercial rates.” Well, isn’t that convenient? And you can probably guess how they deal with the various free charging bundles that some automakers offer with the purchase of a new EV. That’s right. Instead of counting it as zero cost, they price it like other commercial rates.
Consumption vs. Efficiency
There’s more. While the paper mentions that “EV buyers typically receive a Level 1 charger along with their auto purchase,” they still include a $600 fee to buy one in their tally of costs. They also make another gaffe when calculating how much energy is needed for each vehicle. Although they cite our piece on charging losses, they apparently forgot to read the one on consumption versus efficiency, because they use EPA combined efficiency figures in their calculations—those already include charging losses—and then add another factor of 88 percent to account for charging losses. Unwinding the double counting lowers the cost figures by more than a dollar a piece to between $11.72 and $12.97. And if you instead assume home charging in a 90/10-percent split, the cost of the luxury EV drops to $10.50 per 100 miles, handily beating the luxury gas-powered example. As we have also pointed out, the percentage of commercial charging makes all the difference, as our Model 3 is no cheaper to fuel than our long-term BMW M340i when always charging at the far more expensive public chargers.
The authors at least admit that what they’ve created here is not exactly a scientific study, noting that they include data from EV drivers “posted on forums for Taycan and Tesla drivers; Reddit; and applications serving EV drivers such as PlugShare and ChargePoint.” In other words, all of the squeaky wheels who went to post a complaint got the grease here, while all of the people who had uneventful charging sessions—and thus didn’t post—were ignored.
Source : https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38043667/study-electric-cars-higher-cost-questions/
Hertz orders 100,000 Model 3 electric vehicles from Tesla, pushing EV maker’s value past $1 trillion
Hertz Global Holdings Inc., barely four months out of bankruptcy, placed an order for 100,000 Teslas in the first step of an ambitious plan to electrify its rental-car fleet. Tesla Inc.’s shares soared, pushing the automaker’s value past $1 trillion for the first time.
The cars will be delivered over the next 14 months, and Tesla Inc.‘s Model 3 sedans will be available to rent at Hertz locations in major U.S. markets and parts of Europe starting in early November, the rental company said in a statement. Customers will have access to Tesla’s network of superchargers, and Hertz is also building its own charging infrastructure.
It’s the single-largest purchase ever for electric vehicles, or EVs, and represents about $4.2 billion of revenue for Tesla, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the information is private. While car-rental companies typically demand big discounts from automakers, the size of the order implies that Hertz is paying close to list prices.
“How do we democratize access to electric vehicles? That’s a very important part of our strategy,” Mark Fields, who joined Hertz as interim chief executive officer earlier this month, said in an interview. “Tesla is the only manufacturer that can produce EVs at scale.”
The electrification plan, which eventually will encompass almost all of Hertz’s half-million cars and trucks worldwide, is the company’s first big initiative since emerging from bankruptcy in June. And it signals that Hertz’s new owners, Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management, are intent on shaking up an industry dominated by a handful of large players who are typically slow to change.
The news boosted the stock price of both companies. Hertz, which trades over the counter ahead of its relisting on the NASDAQ, rose 10.4% to $27.17 per share, while Tesla closed up 12.66% to $1,024.86 per share on the NASDAQ.
By locking up so much of Tesla’s production — the order is equivalent to about one-tenth of what the automaker can currently produce in a year — Hertz may box out rivals from copycatting the strategy. Hertz also is breaking with tradition by paying full price for well-appointed cars rather than the typical base-model, heavily discounted sedans that populate rental lots.
The discussions with Tesla go back months, to when Knighthead and Certares were putting together an offer for then-bankrupt Hertz, Fields said. Also, the relationship between the two companies isn’t exclusive: Hertz can buy EVs from other automakers and rival car-rental companies can order from Tesla, provided it has available capacity.
“We want to work with every manufacturer to help them launch EVs and drive this secular shift to electrification,” Fields said in the interview.
Palo Alto, California-based Tesla, which is moving its headquarters to Texas, didn’t reply to a request for comment.
In 2020, General Motors Co. was Hertz’s biggest car and truck supplier, followed by Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.
Teslas, with zero tailpipe emissions, will appeal to rental customers who want a green option or those eager to try out an battery-powered vehicle. Hertz said it hired Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, to star in ads showcasing the new Teslas. It also created a dedicated EV website offering free charging through the end of January.
Under Fields, who was CEO of Ford for almost three years until May 2017, the company is looking to EVs as part of a commitment to clean energy. Teslas also are less expensive to maintain and refuel as vehicles with internal combustion engines, and they typically don’t lose as much value in the resale market.
Initially, the charging network Hertz is building at its own locations will be for customers only, Fields said.
Along with the Tesla rollout, Hertz, the biggest U.S. car-rental company after Enterprise Holdings Inc., is embarking on a broader revamp of its business around mobility and digitization. One component of that will be expedited rental bookings on the Hertz app.
The hard job of teaching autonomous cars to drive
Hands off the wheel
The hard job of teaching autonomous cars to drive
Computer games help
When driving, Clara-Marina Martinez makes a note of any unusual behaviour she sees on the road. She then feeds these into machine-learning algorithms, a form of ai, which she is helping develop for Porsche Engineering, a division of the eponymous German sports-car company.
Those algorithms are intended to produce a system reliable enough for a car to drive itself. Such a fully autonomous car, known in the industry as Level 5, should be able to complete an entire journey without any intervention from the driver, and cope with all situations on the road. But this is proving hard to achieve, and many attempts to do so are being scaled back. Last year, for instance, Uber, a ride-hailing service, sold off its unit developing self-driving cars.
Home EV Chargers and How to Choose One
Unless you’re buying a Tesla, a Ford Mustang Mach-E or another model that comes with a combination Level 1/2 mobile charger that travels with the car — or you want faster charging than those provide — you’ll need to buy one of your own that mounts to the wall or somewhere near where you park. Why do you need this added expense in the first place, and how do you choose one? Cars.com has purchased chargers from popular manufacturers, including ChargePoint, Electrify America, Wallbox, ClipperCreek and JuiceBox, for installation in editors’ homes, so we’ll tell you everything you need to look for.
Related: Electric Vehicles: Understanding the Terminology
What They Do: Compatibility and Safety
Just so you understand what you’re buying, it’s helpful to know what chargers do in the general sense. We call it a charger, but technically that’s the name reserved for the component onboard the car, out of sight, that makes sure a rechargeable battery gets the appropriate amount of power — more when it’s empty and at an optimal temperature, less when it’s closer to full or is exceptionally cold.
Level 1 and 2 hardware is actually something else, technically an EVSE, which stands for electric vehicle service equipment or supply equipment. EVSEs are relatively simple and designed to ensure safety and compatibility. The following information applies whether it has a Tesla connector at the end of the cable or the other universal pistol grip, which is named after the SAE International charging standard: J1772. The most basic EVSE encloses little more than a ground-fault circuit interrupter, some switching and circuitry that communicates the amount of power it can provide to an EV.
Similarly, if you go to remove a J1772 connector from an EV, the moment you press the release button, both the car and the EVSE will shut off charging so there’s no danger. (The same happens before a Tesla will release the charging connector.)
With the exception of the different connectors — Tesla and J1772, both of which can be adapted to work with the other for Level 1 and 2 charging — all chargers (to return to the casual name) follow the SAE J1772 standard that governs EV charging. This means any charger should charge any electric vehicle, and you don’t have to worry about the charger being too strong for your car even though some chargers have more power than some cars can exploit, as we detail in 5 Things That Could Slow Your EV’s Home Charging Speeds.
Chargers Are Universal
When it comes to choosing a Level 2 charger, your task isn’t difficult, at least not in the ways shoppers often assume. For example, chargers are universal because they all use the same charging standard, so you don’t have to buy a Volkswagen-branded charger if you buy a VW. (Tesla complicates this claim with its proprietary connector, but that’s one brand, and it’s about the connector alone.)
You also won’t find a particular charger brand that’s faster than another unless it’s backed up by the specifications, which we’ll get to.
Yet Chargers Can Be Quite Different
There are many brands and types of Level 2 chargers, and the difference that matters most is how much current they provide, but that explanation gets a bit thick, so we’ll start with the simpler differences:
Hardwired or Plug-In
Many EV owners have their chargers hardwired instead of plugged into a 240-volt outlet, meaning a more permanent and clean installation, and in some applications (like outdoors) and municipalities, it might be required. If you opt for a 48-amp or higher unit, this is the only option. But there are advantages to a charger that can plug into a 240-volt outlet. One is that it can be transported to any other location with a compatible outlet, and even if you never do this under normal circumstances, moving to a new house won’t require an electrician to free your property. It might also be helpful to have a 240-volt outlet in your garage for other purposes, such as a heater. Historically, in cases where the manufacturer has sold separate plug-in and hardwired versions of the same unit, the plug has added incremental cost, though JuiceBox seems to be bucking this with a slight upcharge for hardwired models, everything else being equal. The installation of an outlet rather than direct hardwiring may also add incremental cost. Our ChargePoint Home Flex, Electrify America HomeStation and Wallbox Pulsar Plus 40 all shipped with plugs accompanied by installation instructions to remove them if not needed. Our ClipperCreek HCS-50 and Enel X JuiceBox 32 are sold in two forms, and we purchased the plug-in HCS-50P and hardwired JuiceBox 32 along with a JuiceBox 48.
Ford announcement sparks excitement for electric car owners in Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Many people call it a game changer: the news last month that Ford planned to spend billions of dollars on electric battery plants near Elizabethtown.
It’s another strong sign auto makers are moving toward electric vehicles.
For owners of electric cars in Kentucky, the news is exciting, and offers hope, that more charging stations are coming, to support their no gas transportation.
Mike Proctor, of Richmond, hass owned electric vehicles for the last nine years.
”On a cold winter day, when I see everybody out there standing out there pumping gas, and I drive right past them knowing that my nice warm garage is my place where I’m going to refuel, I’m a happy camper,” Proctor said.
Procter recharges his electric car in his garage overnight. It cost him less than a $1,000 to have a Level 2 charger installed.
”Level 2 is the same voltage as your range or your dryer work on,” Proctor said. “So, the voltage is available in most households.”
Proctor is a member of EvolveKY, a group of about 200 electric car enthusiasts. EvolveKY has 36, free charging stations around the state.
Although tiny compared to the number of fuel powered vehicles, a growing number of Kentuckians are choosing all electric vehicles, or hybrid plugs-ins, cars that have electric and gas power.
We ran into Ken Bates at a free charging station near the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort.
”I charge here two or three times a week. Rest of time I just charge at home on the Level One charger, the one that came with the car,” said Bates.
A Level 1 charger uses 110 volts. Basically, the current in your house. It’s very convenient, but it takes much longer to fully charge a car, depending on the battery size.
A Level 2 charger, like the one Mike has, uses 240 volts, about what it takes to run your drier or washer at home. It charges your car faster. Level 2 charging stations are often in public places, and are often free.
The most powerful charging stations, Level 3, known as DC Fast Charging, can fully charge a vehicle in less then 30-minutes. However, they are not free and they can cost up to a $100,000 to build.
Tesla has its own fast charging stations on the roads.
”The thing is we’ve gotten so much more infrastructure in place so there’s a lot less of a concern,” said Emily Carpenter with the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition. ”So, our goal is to have a fast charger every 50-miles on all of our major highways. So, it’s a very big goal.”
A popular App called PlugShare shows the exact location of all the charging stations across the state, both Level 2 and the fast charging stations. If you click on the station, it tells you exactly what level it is, and how much it cost, or if it’s free.
Still, charging stations are not yet on every block, and that has prompted a condition among electric car owners called “range anxiety.”
However, as newer models come out, the range of electric cars is growing, and more charging options are coming online.
LG&E and Kentucky Utilities just jumped into the electric charging station effort. They joined the Electric Highway Coalition, which is focusing on adding more charging stations.
Kentucky’s two largest utilities operate almost two dozen charging stations, and also help businesses that want to host the chargers.
Source : https://www.wkyt.com/2021/10/21/ford-announcement-sparks-excitement-electric-car-owners-kentucky/
Tesla’s Model 3 is the most American electric car you can buy
- The Tesla Model 3 is the most American electric car you can buy, according to a new study.
- American University released its 2021 Made in America Auto Index on Wednesday.
- The Ford Mustang GT sports car claimed the top spot overall. The Tesla Model 3 came in third.
The most American electric car you can buy isn’t a Ford or a Chevy. It’s a Tesla.
That’s according to the 2021 Made in America Auto Index released by American University’s Kogod School of Business on Wednesday.
The index, now in its ninth year, ranks models on sale in the US based on how much of their labor, parts, manufacturing, and research and development come from domestic sources. Vehicles also score points if their company is based in the US and if profits land in the US.
The Tesla Model 3 came in third in this year’s ranking, with 65% of its parts coming from the US or Canada. It earned an overall score of 82.5. The electric-vehicle maker builds its US-market models at a plant in Fremont, California. It’s working to open up another US factory in Austin, Texas.
The Model 3 was only beat about by the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray and Ford Mustang GT, which topped the list. Last year’s winner, the Ford Ranger pickup, dropped to 16th place after its US/Canadian content was reduced from 70% to 45%.
Tesla’s Model S sedan and Model Y SUV tied for fifth place, while the Model X SUV took eighth, tying with the Ford F-150. The next most American EV is the Chevrolet Bolt, which comes in 55th place. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E SUV took the 75th spot, with 15% US/Canadian content and an overall score of 19.5. It’s assembled in Mexico.
Source : https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-3-most-american-electric-car-mustang-mach-e-2021-10
Tesla Sold 2 Million Electric Cars: First Automaker To Reach Milestone
In the third quarter of 2021, Tesla has become the first manufacturer that cumulatively has sold more than 2 million battery electric cars globally.
It took Tesla quite some time. The company was founded in 2003 and launched the Tesla Roadster in 2008, Model S in 2012, Model X in 2015, Model 3 in 2017 and Model Y in 2020.
The 500,000th EV was sold in Q4 2018, the 1 millionth EV was sold in Q2 2020 and as the volume increased to 800,000 in the past 12 months, in Q3 2021 Tesla crossed 2 million mark.
No one is currently able to beat Tesla in the EV sales numbers, as the company simply continues to increase sales and sell more than other brands and automotive groups every quarter.
That, combined with a high average selling price and outstanding margins, as well as one of the highest average battery capacities per vehicle, makes Tesla a stand alone market leader globally.
We guess that within two quarters, Tesla will increase its production and sales rate to 1 million units per year (it’s already above 800,000 in the past 12 months).
The 2 million Tesla electric cars consist mostly of Model 3/Model Y, with a big share of Model S/X, but let’s not forget the first 2,450 Roadsters that were the starting point.
- Tesla Model 3/Model Y: over 1,505,000
- Tesla Model S/Model X: over 520,000
- Tesla Model Roadster: about 2,450
Unfortunately, Tesla does not report the sales of individual models, but rather groups them by “platform.”
Our data indicates that the cumulative sales of Model 3/Model Y exceeded 1.5 million, while Model S/Model Y 0.5 million, which in both cases is a tremendous achievement.
See also
Electric cars are more popular than ever, but Tesla is losing market share to new competitors
Electric cars are more popular than ever, but Tesla is losing market share to new competitors
