Electric charging
When Eric Dirksen received his first electric car in December—a new Tesla Model Y—he didn’t know gas prices would spike a few months after. But with fuel costing about $4.20 per gallon on average this week, he’s happy with the decision.
“Very fortunate at the timing,” he says. Dirksen spent $62 on charging in the last month, roughly the same amount as 15 gallons of gas. “I wanted to be more intentional with ensuring I was doing what I could to ensure a sustainable future for my daughter. It was the obvious choice,” Dirksen says of his purchase. “The savings are still mind blowing to me.”
With gas prices painfully high for the third straight month, more Americans like Dirksen have been turning to fuel-efficient vehicle alternatives as a way to save money, new data shows.
An unreleased report from CarGurus, an automotive research and shopping firm, shows that 53% of active shoppers say they are considering a more fuel-efficient vehicle in response to high gas prices. The data, shared with TIME, looks at consumer sentiment toward electric vehicles based on an online survey of 2,176 U.S. automobile owners at various points this year. It finds that 40% of Americans now expect to own an electric car in the next five years, up from 32% in February and 30% last year.
“Gas prices have really pushed shoppers to consider EVs that otherwise wouldn’t have sooner,” says Ali Chapman, a senior customer insights analyst at CarGurus. “And it’s led to increased activity in EVs on our site.”
Google searches for electric cars have also been boosted by the gas prices, reaching a record high in March. And the results are being felt all across the auto industry. Companies that manufacture electric vehicles have reported blockbuster sales in recent months, exceeding even the most optimistic Wall Street expectations.
Tesla, the largest electric vehicle manufacturer, generated a record profit of $3.32 billion in the first three months of 2022, with sales of its vehicles jumping roughly 80% from last year. German automakers Volkswagen and Mercedes also reported a bump in sales for their electric vehicle fleet, up 65% and 37%, respectively.
But despite the increase in sales and activity, data from CarGurus reveals consumer buying habits are a little more complex. In a survey of respondents last year, 56% said they’d be much more likely to consider an electric vehicle if gas prices reached $5/gallon. Today, that figure drops to a more realistic 27%.
“The initial shock of paying $5/gallon really kind of gets people looking,” says Kevin Roberts, director of industry insights and analytics at CarGurus. “But then as that awareness grows, interest slips out.”
That interest in EVs is also impacted by supply chain problems, particularly shortages of items like lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors, which are making it difficult for consumers to ride home in a new electric vehicle. For almost a year, long wait lists for electric vehicles have been common, and the war in Ukraine has further disrupted production.
It’s made finding an electric vehicle take a little bit of luck—and a little more from your wallet. At many dealerships, only a small handful of EVs—if any—are available. Ordering one could take over a year to arrive, and some dealers only have pre-owned electric inventory on their lots. The problem isn’t just the chip shortage, but that demand is significantly outpacing production.
On April 20, Ford shut down orders for the rest of the year on the Mach-E, its signature electric crossover, dubbed Car and Driver’s electric vehicle of the year, meaning anyone who wants to buy one will have to pay a premium price. “Most people come in here to ask about the Mach-E,” one Ford salesman said last week, citing higher than normal gas prices as the reason for increased interest. “If we had more of them they would sell the fastest.”
But although carmakers are raising their prices, consumers still appear to want electric vehicles. “Two-thirds of people say that they agree EVs are the way of the future,” Chapman says. “They seem somewhat inevitable.” Experts say it will take time, as less than 1% of the 250 million cars on the road today are electric, but high gas prices could be one way to encourage switching.
“EV interest is going to continue to grow organically over time,” Roberts says. “Gas prices just kind of accelerate that.”
Now, experts are looking back on the 2008 financial crisis as a potential example of what could happen in the electric vehicle industry. As gas prices spiked that year, consumers drastically shifted their driving habits and the kinds of vehicles they wanted, particularly as more electric vehicles were being introduced, Roberts says.
“But then when those gas prices went back down, people went back immediately to what their previous practices were before.”
Source : https://time.com/6173178/high-gas-prices-electric-vehicles/
This Chinese EV Sells At Just Over $5,000. So We Tried It
THE MINI EV costs around $5,000 new. It would cost more to spec the cigar humidor glove box option on a Rolls-Royce or add Apple CarPlay to a Ferrari than to buy the Mini EV outright.
So successful is Wuling’s Mini EV that not only are Chinese producers rapidly coming up with copycat cars, Wuling itself is busy making different versions of the vehicle, including a forthcoming cabriolet and a “long-range” version.
This EV is not available outside China, but we got behind the wheel of the “luxury” Macaron version in China to see if this super-cheap electric car was any good, and what US and European manufacturers could learn about how to make more affordable electric cars.
Luxury is relative, especially when you are dealing with a car as bare-bones as the original Mini EV. At the end of last year, professor Masayoshi Yamamoto at Nagoya University took apart a car shipped to Japan to see how it was possible to produce the vehicle so cheaply.
Yamamoto discovered that the parts were largely off-the-shelf and consumer-grade, rather than automotive grade. The Mini EV is therefore likely to have issues more frequently, but it will also be cheaper to repair.
The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV is the result of a three-way joint venture. SAIC Motor is the largest partner, with 50.1 percent ownership. One of China’s biggest automotive companies—in 2021 it was second by volume—SAIC is perhaps best known in Europe as the new owner of MG.
Casual observers of the auto industry may be more surprised to learn that the second-largest Wuling owner, with 44 percent, is General Motors (the small remainder of the joint venture belongs to Wuling itself). But GM and SAIC have been working together for 24 years. In 2003, China became, for a time, the second-largest single market for GM, selling Chinese-only versions of Buicks and launching Chevrolet in the jurisdiction in 2005.
Externally, the Macaron version distinguishes itself from the standard Mini EV with a choice of funky pastel colors. WIRED’s is in avocado green, but the model is also available in lemon yellow and white peach pink. That the colors are a collaboration with Pantone speaks volumes; the Mini EV has managed a cult following, and the Macaron is clearly aimed at the young and cool. “Macaron” is written on the driver’s side rear pillar black insert, and the car features color-coordinated white wheels and roof.
Inside, the Macaron gets exterior color-matching inserts for the door pulls and highlights around what pass for controls. These are very limited, with three dials for climate control and a very small LCD screen for the radio.
Source : https://www.wired.com/story/review-wuling-hongguang-mini-ev/
Corvette is the next big name in cars to roll out an electric
An “electrified” version of the Corvette will come as early as next year, followed by a fully electric version, General Motors says.
The Corvette is about to go electric.
“We will have an electrified Corvette next year, so it’s coming very quick,” General Motors President Mark Reuss told CNBC on Monday.
An “electrified” Corvette will be available first, with a fully electric Corvette to follow, he said. Reuss didn’t go into further details, such as a precise timeline or whether “electrified” means it will be a plug-in hybrid. The traditional Corvette with internal combustion engine will remain available for sale, Reuss acknowledged.
Although GM’s experience with electric vehicles goes back decades — its late-1990s EV1 was the first mass-produced electric vehicle from a major carmaker — the automaker quickly lost ground to other manufacturers.
Gas prices got you wanting an electric or hybrid car? Well, good luck finding one
After Toyota arguably jump-started demand for nontraditional vehicles with its wildly popular hybrid Prius line, Tesla ultimately became the reigning champion and now dominates the electric car industry. Tesla delivered over 930,000 electric vehicles in 2021, an 87% increase over the year before.
Now, GM is playing catch-up. The carmaker has said it plans to launch 30 electric vehicles globally by the end of 2025 and exclusively sell electric vehicles by the middle of the next decade, but for now its business is overwhelmingly based on the internal combustion engine.
Fans Getting Charged Up To See Ford’s New Electric Mustang SUV
GM sold fewer than 25,000 electric vehicles in 2021. And in the fourth quarter of 2021, GM sold only 26 EVs due to a pause in production of its Chevy Bolt line after a major recall for risk of battery fire.
Reuss says the company will compete in segments that Tesla doesn’t compete in. “We are ramping up the launches,” Reuss said. “Our pipeline is fully loaded, so here we come.”
GM faces heavy competition, as every major carmaker looks to steal thunder from Tesla.
The Electric Car Race! Vroom, Vroom!
On Tuesday, Ford announced that its first Ford F-150 Lightnings are rolling off assembly lines and heading to customers after almost a year of anticipation about the electric version of its massively popular pickup. The Lightning has received loads of attention from customers, with 200,000 preorders before the first truck rolled off the line. Would-be owners who haven’t preordered won’t be able to take delivery until 2023.
Highway Code: Watching TV in self-driving cars to be allowed
People using self-driving cars will be allowed to watch television on built-in screens under proposed updates to the Highway Code.
The changes will say drivers must be ready to take back control of vehicles when prompted, the government said.
The first use of self-driving technology is likely to be when travelling at slow speeds on motorways, such as in congested traffic.
However, using mobile phones while driving will remain illegal.
No self-driving cars are currently allowed on UK roads, but the first vehicles capable of driving themselves could be ready for use later this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
The planned changes to the code are expected to come in over the summer.
The updates, proposed following public consultation, were described as an interim measure to support the early adoption of the technology and a full regulatory framework is planned to be implemented by 2025.
They will also lay out that users of self-driving cars will not be responsible for crashes.
Instead insurance companies, not individuals, will be liable for claims in many circumstances, the DfT said.
- Major legal changes needed for driverless car era
- Milton Keynes to hold large-scale driverless car trial
- Self-driving car stopped by San Francisco police
The government announced in April last year hands-free driving in vehicles with lane-keeping technology on congested motorways would be permitted.
Automated lane-keeping system technology lets a vehicle drive in a single lane, up to 37mph (60kmph), while maintaining the ability to return control to the driver when required.
Under the new guidance, motorists should be ready take control from an automated system when prompted, for example when approaching a motorway exit.
Currently available technology is ‘assistive’, which means drivers should always retain control, the DfT said.
Experts have suggested a vehicle can stop built-in screens displaying material unrelated to driving when the motorist is required to resume control.
But there is currently no comparable system to turn off handheld mobile devices.
Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said updating to the Highway Code will be a “major milestone in our safe introduction of self-driving vehicles”.
She also claimed their use “revolutionise the way we travel, making our future journeys greener, safer and more reliable”.
The development of self-driving vehicles could create around 38,000 new jobs and be worth £41.7 billion to the UK economy by 2035, according to the DfT.
The Law Commission published recommendations on how the law should be updated in light of self-driving technology in January, concluding human drivers should not be legally accountable for road safety in the era of autonomous cars.
Car safety experts Thatcham Research described the focus on the driver’s legal responsibilities as important, adding drivers need to be made aware they “must remain engaged” and be ready to resume driving “at any time”.
Eventually, self-driving technology could “improve road safety across Britain by reducing human error, which is a contributory factor in 88% of all recorded road collisions,” the government said.
However, the technology for fully-autonomous vehicles has proved difficult to safely introduce and previous estimates of when cars will be able to drive themselves have been unrealistic.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said driverless cars “promise a future where death and injury on our roads are cut significantly”.
However, he said there is likely to be a “long period of transition” while drivers retain “much of the responsibility for what happens” while operating vehicles.
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Driverless car takes police by surprise
12 April
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Milton Keynes to hold major driverless car trial
3 January
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Major legal changes needed for driverless cars
26 January
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‘Self-driving’ cars to be allowed on roads this year
Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61155735
No gas tax? Here’s what electric vehicle owners pay in North Carolina instead
Lincoln’s first electric vehicle concept is the Star SUV
Lincoln has finally unveiled its first electric vehicle concept, and it’s now a little clearer as to where the company is headed. The upscale Ford badge has unveiled the Star, a luxury SUV that hints at the design direction for production EVs. There are some of the usual concept car excesses, but also some technological developments that might reach something you can drive.
The Star is sleeker than Lincoln’s existing lineup, and includes light-up exterior features and doors. The front trunk is covered with electrochromatic glass that turns transparent while in motion. The A-pillars (at the front) and D-pillars (the back) even use 3D-printed metal to allow more natural light. The interior includes lounge-like wraparound rear seating focused on relaxation. Accordingly, the brand is touting “rejuvenation moods” that sync displays, sounds and even scents to calm or reinvigorate you, such as Coastal Morning (complete with sea mist scent) and Evening Chill (evergreen).
In-cabin tech plays an important role, of course. A giant, panoramic front display provides both the essentials as well as a canvas for those moods, with a much smaller control screen sitting underneath. Rear passengers have their own displays, and an “Attaché” briefcase concept hiding in the rear coach door can wirelessly charge and store devices. The Star connects to other vehicles and city grids, and promises driving assistants that help with parking, vision and other common problems.
Gallery: Lincoln Star concept EV | 16 Photos
Lincoln is shy on specs, although that’s not surprising when the company doesn’t intend to sell the Star. We’d also expect any shipping vehicles to scale back the displays, seating and other flashier elements. This is more about advertising Lincoln’s EV ambitions and design language than previewing a real product.
The automaker won’t take long to electrify, at least. Lincoln now plans to launch four EVs by 2026, and expects more than half of its sales to come from electric-only models by the middle of the 2020s. It previously echoed Ford with plans to exclusively sell EVs by 2030. These aren’t the most difficult feats given Lincoln’s smaller range and a wealthier clientele that can more readily afford EVs. Even so, they suggest you might not recognize Lincoln’s selection within a few years.
The 6 coolest new electric cars at the New York auto show, from a 250-mph supercar to a Chevy pickup
The 6 coolest new electric cars at the New York auto show, from a 250-mph supercar to a Chevy pickup
Mercedes-Benz is taking on Tesla with a new electric SUV that’s dripping in luxury — see the EQS SUV
Tesla, like Apple, will now make you buy a charger for your car separately
We got a close-up look at the Volkswagen ID.Buzz — see inside VW’s nostalgic electric minivan
Source : https://www.businessinsider.com/author/tim-levin
llinois offers $4,000 incentive to electric vehicle buyers
The Biden administration has set a goal that half of all new cars sold in the U.S. will be electric by 2030, and many states are creating plans to encourage drivers to make the switch.
Christian Mitchell is deputy governor for public safety, infrastructure, energy, and the environment in Illinois.
“The governor has a very exciting goal around electric vehicles. We want to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, and we are attacking that from all ends,” Mitchell says. “On the cost side … we’re providing a $4,000 incentive for consumers to go out and buy an electric vehicle.”
Combined with federal tax credits, that can lower the price of an electric vehicle by more than $10,000.
But cost is not the only barrier to electric vehicle adoption. Some drivers are hesitant to go electric because they’re worried that they’ll run out of battery power on longer drives.
“The question is … can I take an electric vehicle from start to finish? How do I make sure there are enough chargers between here and there to know that I can get to my destination with reasonable reliability?” Mitchell says.
So to help expand charging infrastructure, the state will offer rebates and grants to cover up to 80% of the cost of installing new charging stations.
Mitchell says the investments will help position Illinois as a leader in the transition to electric vehicles.
The US lags in the race to build an electric vehicle battery industry
BMW Says Tesla’s Electric Vehicle Dominance Is Over
BMW has ambitious plans for electric vehicles, projecting that at least one of every two sales by 2030 will be fully electric.
As its sales grow, the German automaker intends to challenge Tesla’s dominance of the US electric vehicle market. As a reminder, Tesla ended the Bavarian company’s reign over the US luxury car market last year.
This year, BMW aims to sell 200,000 EVs globally, doubling last year’s deliveries. While that’s still far from Tesla’s more than 930,000 sales in 2021 and likely 1 million+ sales in 2022, BMW executives appear confident that Tesla will lose its competitive advantage.
Speaking to US journalists at a press event, BMW Group sales chief Pieter Nota said the company will focus “on a very strong and fast ramp-up of electric vehicles,” according to Automotive News.
“Tesla had a unique selling point for quite some time. That’s over.”
He added that EV customers in the past couple of years were very much early adopters, while EVs are now attractive to a much broader audience.
BMW has two fresh weapons against Tesla, the Model 3-rivaling i4 fastback and the iX SUV, which targets the Model X. Nota described the i4 as the “ultimate electric driving machine” and the “electric product that customers expect from BMW.”
The order books are already full for the i4 and iX, with US dealers having hundreds of orders for those two vehicles. Furthermore, the order time now at around six months, Nota said.
The i4 and iX are just the beginning of BMW’s US electric offensive. Three more BMW Group EVs will be coming stateside over the next two years: the i7 flagship sedan later this year, followed by the i5 large sedan and all-electric MINI Countryman in 2023.
Pieter Nota’s optimistic statements were echoed by BMW CEO Oliver Zipse.
“We will push the company to the limits of production capability. Demand will be surging. We already see that with the iX, with the i4.”
For the first two months of 2022, BMW had 54,210 new-vehicle registrations in the US (ICE+EV), compared to Tesla’s 71,250, according to data from the financial information company Experian.
Judgement Day: GM Patents Self-Driving Car That Teaches You How To Drive
GM’s back seat driver is on the phone, and the call is coming from inside the car.
We may still be several years away from seeing fully self-driving cars on public roads—if we ever do—but that hasn’t stopped General Motors from coming up with a rather obvious application for a computer that knows how to drive. You might soon be able to climb into a GM car and have it judge your driving, as the automaker has patented an instructor-less self-driving car for student driver training.
A patent from General Motors published last week and surfaced by Motor1 outlines a new driver training approach using self-driving vehicle technology. The patent describes a method “for training a trainee using an autonomous vehicle,” which wouldn’t require a human instructor. Instead, the car’s onboard processor will ultimately judge its trainee based on what the processor determines is the best course of action for driving the car.
According to the filing, the system would work by “measuring, via one or more sensors, one or more manual inputs from the trainee with respect to controlling the autonomous vehicle,” and compare those manual inputs from the human driver with the “recommended actions” from “an autonomous driving algorithm stored in the memory of the autonomous vehicle.” The car’s processor would generate a comparison between the human’s decisions and what the computer recommended, and even have the car determine “a score for the trainee based on the comparison.”
The patent filing background proposes multiple benefits over an instructor-led training program. “In certain situations, typical techniques using a human instructor may not always be optimal, for example as this may introduce biases of the human instructor, and/or may be more time consuming, costly, and/or difficult to schedule.” We may not be able to avoid user bias, since we have to remember the biases of the humans programming the self-driving software that may also be engineered into the system. It’s more likely the “cost” of paying a human instructor is enough reason to ultimately lead us to instructor-less training, if anything.
If you’re wondering why we would still need driver training in a world with seemingly full self-driving capability, well GM’s patent has an answer for you: “A human may wish to drive for personal satisfaction, and/or may need to drive in certain situations… in which an operational autonomous vehicle may not be available or permitted.” If you’re not interested in having a computer tell you how to drive, don’t worry, it sounds like GM has left space for you. We’re still a number of years from any advanced, truly self-driving tech like this going mainstream regardless, but it’s smart for GM to nail down the idea early.