EV News, Developments and Releases

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Back in 2012, Saab had become NEVS. Chinese conglomerate Evergrande had bought in in 2019, but went bankrupt. A few days ago, Lebanese startup EV Electra bought NEVS.

If you hadn't heard of EV Electra, there's multiple reasons why you should.

For example, the Quds Nostrum is a coupé with a 480 hp electric engine, a 90 kWh battery, and a total weight of 1300 kg. See it with your own eyes, if you dare


https://evelectra.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1VAkXNTR1Y

The "Saab" EV is a great car.

[Gerard C]

Hope it will look like this Capri project: https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/indus...6-b9555197d5ac

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Hope it will look like this Capri project: https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/indus...6-b9555197d5ac

Actually a good modern update of a 70s classic.

[Gerard C]

Yep, first time I see an acceptable evocation of the past. When you see what Renault is doing with the Five…

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Yep, first time I see an acceptable evocation of the past. When you see what Renault is doing with the Five…

There’s no need for Renault Five as long as we still have a Clio…

[Gerard C]

Dont miss the Zoe! Quite an experience in a driver's life. Still I don't catch the spirit of the EV's designers and the hydrogen Toy is a pure nugget of bad taste imo.

[joeb]

I had a thought about EV's on my way to work this morning. The question I had was, are there any EV's that you see on the road and say "that is a good looking car"? And I mean this in an aesthetics kind of way, powertrain makes no difference here. I see combustion powered cars all the time that I think look good, but EV's..... Off the top of my head the only one I can think of that I genuinely like is the KIA EV6. The pictures don't do much for me, but in real life it has different proportions than anything on the road, and it is more wagon than suv.

[JHamilton]

I don't like the rear of the EV6 but I do like the front. I think the Hyundai Ionic 5 looks good. The Rivian truck is pretty sharp. The Ford Lighting is fine if you like F-150s. These all look like normal cars.

I never saw an Honda e and they've been discontinued but I thought they looked great.

[broadrun96]

Everything on a Rivian is fine EXCEPT the horse collar headlights. That's huge downer to the rest of the truck

And some of the Polestar and Fiskers are interesting, nothing extraordinary but nice design and good colors

[joeb]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I don't like the rear of the EV6 but I do like the front. I think the Hyundai Ionic 5 looks good. The Rivian truck is pretty sharp. The Ford Lighting is fine if you like F-150s. These all look like normal cars.

I never saw an Honda e and they've been discontinued but I thought they looked great.

Haven't seen much of a Rivian around here. But they are decent too, and does anybody like an F150 looks?

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Everything on a Rivian is fine EXCEPT the horse collar headlights. That's huge downer to the rest of the truck

And some of the Polestar and Fiskers are interesting, nothing extraordinary but nice design and good colors

I forgot about Polestar, they do have a sharp look.

[Gerard C]

Auto China fair first reports talk about a raging battle between EVs makers. Prices are going down over there. As to find a working plug or get rid of traffic jams it seems they have not found a proper solution so far.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

Haven't seen much of a Rivian around here. But they are decent too, and does anybody like an F150 looks?







I forgot about Polestar, they do have a sharp look.

The Lightning can be ok but I've seen a few with the front trim WAY out of alignment on the frunk with the quarters (wings for your weird English speakers).

Forgot about Lucid, they're not too bad but some are TERRIBLE with contrasting roof and pillars from the body. Saw one maroon over silver, it was not good

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by joeb

does anybody like an F150 looks?

evidently a half million people every year like them. I find it to be an incoherent design with folds and creases everywhere.

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Auto China fair first reports talk about a raging battle between EVs makers. Prices are going down over there. As to find a working plug or get rid of traffic jams it seems they have not found a proper solution so far.

EV sales are slowing over here too but it's because they don't make sense for a huge portion of the population. Hybrids and extended range EVs are a sensible solution but aren't being incentivized by the government like EVs are. If you live in a rural or suburban area in the biggest oil producing country in the world with cheap fuel, why bother?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

evidently a half million people every year like them. I find it to be an incoherent design with folds and creases everywhere.

I'll see your Ford crease and raise you whatever it is Toyota is doing lately

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

EV sales are slowing over here too but it's because they don't make sense for a huge portion of the population

Not true.

https://insideevs.com/news/712685/us...s-january2024/

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Not true.

https://insideevs.com/news/712685/us...s-january2024/

That article backs up what I said. EV sales are indeed slowing.
"All-electric vehicle (EV) registrations slightly outpaced the general market, but the growth rate is significantly slower than in 2023."

Here is another re: Ford

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...on-2024-04-04/

Here is an article about the Tesla layoffs:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/23/tesl...ructuring.html

This has been in the news here over the last few months and I'm not making it up. Ford has stopped Lightning production and are pivoting to hybrids. GM delayed most of its EV production last year. You can't force the market to accept something it doesn't want, especially with no infrastructure in place, it has to be incentivized.

[joeb]

My friend just got a new i7 BMW. Yes it is even uglier in person. I haven't gotten a chance to be in it yet, but she told me the dealership was trying to sell her the electric version over the ICE sedan. She has ties to the oil and gas industry so was torn about going electric, but they made the deal good.

But one thing she said struck me. The dealership told her she will have to replace the batteries after 4 years and it will cost $20,000. None of that seems like legit information. So what is the game here? Why would the dealership say this? To tell the customer they have to spend $20,000 in 4 years, will this make them just want to buy a new car instead?

[broadrun96]

I'm guessing someone somewhere sued and got that added as a legality BMW put in. From what I've gathered many of the replacement costs are exaggerated and there's a pretty good core from recyclers since most of the battery itself can be reused. We were warned at Bartlett about Prius batteries and 7 years of around town driving not an issue in the fleet once with batteries. But they were older style

[E.B]

Tesla owner blows up his Model S with dynamite over $22,000 battery replacement

A Tesla Model S owner in Finland decided to blow up his electric car with dynamite after it needed a battery replacement, which Tesla said was going to cost $22,000......

(link has full article and yes there is a video of the explosion)

[Gerard C]

I think all car makers should consider a core exchange on the batteries of the EV's they sell. Or include the replacement cost in the asking price when new.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by E.B

Tesla owner blows up his Model S with dynamite over $22,000 battery replacement

(link has full article and yes there is a video of the explosion)

Couldn’t have found another use for it then…

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

I think all car makers should consider a core exchange on the batteries of the EV's they sell. Or include the replacement cost in the asking price when new.

Porsche already covered their batteries in the Taycan for 8 or 10 years and split the system in 2 batteries with replaceable modules in each pack. I think Polestar has a similar thing but you're paying a boatload more for those cars. Part of the cheap is not covering batteries just like Kia doesn't cover their engines long either

Apparently California is realizing the loss of road tax when it's linked to carbon based fuel purchase. And they thought about charging for electric charging but that would catch many people twice. And now the electric car buyers are all ****y they may have to pay for the roads they abuse at a much higher rate per pound. Heavy weight and small tires/contact patch actually degrade the roads faster, there's some info tracking it and it's a newish area of study for road construction and parking decks

[Mike Harte]

Concerns have been raised in the UK about the long-term integrity of multi-storey car parks due to the extra loading from EVs because, at the time they were designed and built, EVs were not really on the agenda.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Apparently California is realizing the loss of road tax when it's linked to carbon based fuel purchase. And they thought about charging for electric charging but that would catch many people twice. And now the electric car buyers are all ****y they may have to pay for the roads they abuse at a much higher rate per pound. Heavy weight and small tires/contact patch actually degrade the roads faster, there's some info tracking it and it's a newish area of study for road construction and parking decks

We had a similar issue here in Victoria. EV and hybrids get rebates for buying, then also get (or did get) big reductions on registration / road tax costs here as well as obviously avoiding paying the tax on petrol / diesel, which funds road upkeep etc.

Basically they were getting to use roads for zilch that us gas guzzlers were paying for.

So the State Govt. implemented "The Zero- and Low-Emissions Vehicle (ZLEV) levy" ... this mandates owners of electric cars pay 2.6 cents for every kilometre driven, while plug-in hybrid owners must pay 2.1 cents per kilometres – regardless of whether they were driving on battery or petrol power. EV owners then had to submit a proof of mileage every quarter by photo for calculating their 'ZLEV' tax due.

Failure to provide proof when the demand is sent out leads to cancellation of reg.....owners have 13 days to provide a photo of their odometer reading. If one isn't provided, the car's registration is suspended after 56 days, and then cancelled after 78 days.

However a couple of EV users (probably lawyers)mounted a High Court challenge, arguing the tax was an illegal "tax grab" because it was an excise, which only the Commonwealth could impose (rather than the State).

Last October, the High Court agreed, finding the Victorian tax was unconstitutional. . The Govt is having to repay all the ZLEV taxes to the owners. With interest. They are procrastinating.

Full story here. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-...-tax/103163994

It ended up with many EV owners 'unknowingly' driving cars with cancelled reg. https://www.drive.com.au/news/victor...-car-rego-tax/