Coming up on today’s show: Tesla gets ready
to produce the Model 3, Audi trash-talks the
competition, Honda does weird things with
children’s heads, The Hyundai IONIQ EV begins
U.S. deliveries, VW wants to Electrify America,
Nissan gets into trouble over cheat devices,
Lucid’s PR machine sweeps into play, how
you can open a Model X frunk with a screwdriver,
Elon Musk’s companies stand up to Trump,
there’s a new self-driving Bolt EV video
from GM, EV sales spike in the UK, BYD crowned
the biggest plug-in car maker in the world,
and Nikola Tesla gets in a Tesla.
All of this, and a little more of me, next
on TEN.
LIke all our content, today’s show is funded
by the in-stream ads on today’s video and
by the kind donations of viewers like you.
Follow the link at the end of today’s video
to make a monthly donation to our Patreon
crowdfunding campaign to help keep us independent
and impartial. And if you’re already donating,
thanks for your continued support.
It’s Friday February tenth twenty seventeen,
I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield and this is
T.E.N., the YouTube show that takes all the
worthy news in the world of cleaner, greener,
safer and smarter transportation and trims
off the excess gristle to leave you the perfect
bite-sized start to your weekend.
And to start today’s show we’re off to
California, where Tesla has temporarily halted
production at its Fremont facility in order
to make the necessary retooling tweaks to
it production line so it can begin making
Tesla Model 3 electric cars.
The story, originally broken by Reuters, suggested
Tesla would begin building the Model 3 as
early as February 20th, just ten days’ time,
but according to Tesla’s official statement
released in response to other news outlets
that this month’s planned production halt
won’t lead to production models coming down
the line any time soon.
Instead, expect the re-tooled factory to test
various Model 3 production parts over the
next few months as it builds various engineering
and production prototypes before full production
later this year. Given that it’s still ordering
initial parts runs for Model 3 -- and various
beta test mules have been spotted in the wild,
including a 70 kilowatt-hour dual-motor Model
3 variant -- it’s unlikely we’ll see a
production model any time before the start
of Q4.
What makes a car premium? Is it the brand?
The trim? The finish? The build quality? The
attention to detail?
Whatever it is, Volkswagen’s premium brand
Audi has been trash talking the Tesla Model
X a little this week, with its Chief of Sales
and Marketing Dietmar Voggenreiter telling
the UK’s Autocar magazine that the twenty
eighteen release of its first long-range electric
SUV -- called the Audi e-tron Quattro SUV
-- will be “the first real premium manufacturer
doing a premium electric SUV.”
This of course means that, surprise surprise,
Audi doesn’t view the Tesla Model X (or
Tesla for that mean) to be a real premium
electric car or a real premium automaker.
Either that, or there’s some trash talking
going on because Audi is genuinely scared.
Y’know, like that bully at school who secretly
bullied everyone for the thing that they feared
most about themselves? Say no more.
From premium electric -- whatever that means
-- to Hydrogen fuel cells next, and Honda’s
really weird new marketing campaign for its
Clarity Fuel Cell Sedan.
The five-seater is Honda’s first mass-produced
hydrogen fuel cell car, and while it’s only
currently available in a few limited markets
around the world, Honda is pushing the boat
out with a massive ad campaign designed to
advocate and educate for the brand and fuel
cell cars.
And it’s chosen to do so using a series
of adverts in which disembodied talking (and
singing) heads -- both those of children and
adults -- are turned into the proton of a
hydrogen atom, while an animated single electron
wizes around them. In other words -- a human-ish
representation of a hydrogen atom? Yeah. I’m
struggling to explain it, so the chances are
viewers will struggle to understand it too.
Still, one of the ads has kids singing Fleetwood
Mac so I guess there’s a cute musical number
in there… or something…
One car which doesn’t have flashy ad campaigns
meanwhile is the Hyundai IONIQ EV, which,
after officially beginning deliveries in Europe
and Asia is due to begin U.S. deliveries this
month.
With an EPA-approved range of 124 miles per
charge, the Hyundai IONIQ won’t be able
to beat the range of the Chevy Bolt EV in
the electric car marketplace. But for those
who can’t afford the Bolt EV, there’s
hope that the IONIQ EV will be a lot more
affordable.
At least that’s the hope, because Hyundai
hasn’t announced pricing yet. Yes, this
is the softest of soft launches, so don’t
expect a massive inrush of customers with
pockets full of cash. Given its range isn’t
all that exciting, I can’t blame Hyundai
for launching this as quietly as possible.
Still, it’s another vehicle to consider
if you’re in the launch market of California.
*cough* Compliancecaranyone?
As part of its massive fines for building
many many diesel-engined cars with so-called
cheat devices designed to circumnavigate emissions
tests around the world, Volkswagen has finally
launched Electrify America, the court-mandated
pro-EV program it has been forced to invest
$2 billion in as part of its dieselgate settlement
plan.
Over the next few years, the independent program
will focus on spending two billion dollars
on electric car charging infrastructure across
the U.S., alongside funding electric car advocacy
and education.
But the site -- Electrify America -- is only
the start. What’s more, VW is wanting members
of the public and other groups to submit proposals
to tell it how that two billion dollars should
be spent. So if you want to have a say, head
on over to Electrify America… or we might
end up with the usual poorly-planned infrastructure
frittering of money that we’ve seen so many
times in the past from similar programs…
Talking of Dieslgate, Japanese automaker Nissan
got its knuckles well and truly wrapped this
week when a South Korean appeals court sided
with the South Korean government and said
that fines levied against Nissan last year
for allegedly cheating in emissions testing
were valid.
Nissan has always maintained its innocence,
but the car in question -- a diesel-powered
Qashqai -- uses a Renault-sourced diesel engine,
variants of which have come under fire for
higher-than-allowed nitrogen oxide emissions
in Europe too. In all of these cases, the
allegations center on a sensor which turns
off an exhaust gas recirculation system at
temperatures in excess of fifty degrees celsius
to prevent overheating.
That’s a fairly standard practice, but in
the case of the Diesel Qashqai the allegations
are that the system turned off the EGR system
at just thirty-five degrees celsius, meaning
it fell foul of the emissions tests.
To be honest, I’m a little disappointed
that Nissan -- like every other major automaker
-- is still getting into such trouble over
these emissions -- especially when it has
the solution staring it right in the face.
Plug-in, anyone?
For the past few years, Lucid, the company
previously known as Atieva, has been teasing
us with videos of its Mercedes Sprinter test
mule setting insane 0-60 mph times thanks
to its super-fast, high-spec electric drivetrain.
And earlier this year at CES, the company
began to show off its first production car
-- the Lucid Air -- to interested investors
and customers.
Well now, Lucid’s PR machine has gone into
full overdrive, giving select test-drives
in and around LA and San Francisco, making
sure plenty of media get behind the wheel
and sharing some truly stunning footage of
it undergoing various road tests. With a price
tag expected to be in excess of $160,000,
the high-end, one thousand horsepower electric
car has the tech and the performance to match
(or even beat) Tesla, and unlike Faraday Future,
seems to be a fully-finished vehicle. As you
can guess, we’re eager to get a ride for
ourselves, so when we do, we’ll let you
know if this is a serious contender in the
plug-in marketplace or just more vaporware
to ignore. Watch this space.
As the most advanced car on sale today, the
Tesla Model X has automatic everything. Automatic
doors, automatic tailgate, autonomous driving.
The lot. But when it comes to its front trunk
-- or frunk -- a video went viral this week
showing how easy it is to break into a Model
X frunk with just a screwdriver.
The video -- courtesy of well-known Youtuber
Alejandro Salomon -- who happens to own a
massive number of high-end cars including
a Tesla or two -- shows that, once you’ve
removed a bumper trim panel with a screwdriver
-- you can indeed open a Tesla Model X frunk
super easily. And it’s caused quite a lot
of hysteria on line.
But here’s the thing. The Model X is designed
to operate that way, because gaining access
under the hood is a required thing in the
event of an accident. That’s because the
emergency disconnects that keep first responders
and everyone else safe are located under the
hood -- as they are in the Model S. Is it
a big deal that people can get into your car?
Well, that depends on if you leave valuables
in there but Tesla is supposed to warn owners
of this ‘feature’ so really, if you didn’t
know about it you do now. Given I’ve owned
plenty of cars with quirks like this, I’m
really not all that bothered… Are you?
As with last week’s show, we’re trying
really hard here at Transport Evolved to stay
out of the political world, unless the political
world has something to do with electric cars.
And this week, it did, when Tesla and Elon
Musk’s other big company Space X joined
a total of ninety seven different companies
in signing an amicus brief condemning the
White House for President Trump’s executive
order that intended to halt the issuing of
travel and work visas to citizens of seven
middle eastern countries with primarily Muslim
populations.
Musk, who has been part of Trump’s Business
and tech team of advisors, had initially responded
to the travel ban by promising to broach the
issue with Mr. Trump in a future meeting,
and did appear to do just that last week.
This week however, Tesla and Space X both
joined up to the brief which, originally,
did not have either firm listed. Either last
week’s chat with 45 didnt’ go very well,
or both companies felt the need to add their
names anyway. Either way, it’ll be interesting
to see what the reaction will be from Tesla
Model 3 reservation holders who cancelled
their orders last week in protest of Musk’s
involvement with the White House. I wonder
if they’ll reinstate their reservation?
For almost as long as the Chevrolet Bolt EV
has existed, we’ve been told how GM’s
first long-range production electric car will
play a future in the world of autonomous cars.
Indeed, the car was designed from the ground
up to one day operate as a fully-autonomous
vehicle.
And this week GM released the latest in a
series of videos showing the progress that
recently-acquired Cruise automation has made
to teach the Bolt EV how to drive itself.
The video shows the Bolt EV confidently driving
itself through the streets of San Francisco,
with the driver attentively ready to jump
in and help out if required. While it’s
not ready for production yet, it shows that
in the not-too distant future like Tesla,
Nissan and so many others, electric cars and
autonomous vehicles will become synonymous
with one another.
It’s taken quite a while, and I’m not
sure if me leaving the UK has had anything
to do with it -- but electric car sales in
the UK have well and truly taken off, so much
so in fact that electric cars accounted for
4.2 percent of all new cars sold last month.
The reason? Well, EV charging infrastructure
is on the rise, but so too are attitudes toward
electric cars, with cars like the Tesla Model
S and Nissan LEAF a mainstay in any major
British city. But Renault’s new Zoe has
helped too, with its 41 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion
pack bringing longer-range capabilities within
reach of budget-minded buyers for the first
time.
And talking of which, used prices are on the
drop too. With the earliest Nissan LEAFs going
for as little as five thousand pounds, you
don’t have to be on a big salary to get
behind the wheel of a plug-in car. So, well
done UK, and here’s to an ever-increasing
market share for plug-in cars.
Here’s a question for you: who is the world’s
biggest manufacturer of plug in cars? You
might think that’s Tesla -- or perhaps the
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.
But you’d be wrong. In fact, you’d be
wrong if you chose any of the well-known automakers
who happen to make plug-in cars, because the
actual answer is Chinese firm BYD, which made
(and sold) a total of one hundred thousand
one hundred and seventy-eight plug-in cars
during twenty sixteen.
Those sales were split fairly evenly between
electric cars (just under forty-seven thousand)
and plug-in hybrids (almost fifty-three thousand
three hundred). But perhaps the most shocking
thing is the number of plug-in cars sold by
BYD in 2016 is nearly double that of the number
of plug-in cars it sold in twenty fifteen,
showing that the Chinese market for plug-in
cars is hotting up very quickly indeed.
So the next time someone tells you China doesn’t
have a part to play in encouraging people
to dump the pump, be sure to point them to
this piece of news.
And finally,
As many who follow the electric car world
will know, Tesla has never really had to spend
a whole lot of money on advertising its cars,
relying instead on word-of mouth, the evangelizing
of its existing customers, and epic fan-made
commercials that put many an ad agency to
shame.
Well, last week, a new ad hit the YouTubes
that is just such an ad, asking the question
“What if Nikola Tesla -- the inventor after
which Tesla is named -- could get behind the
wheel of a Tesla Model S?”
The result is a beautiful piece of filmmaking
and (save for the slightly dodgy moustache)
is one you’ll just want to watch in its
entirety from start to finish. Beautiful!
And as that’s the end of the show, you can
do just that in a few. But before you do,
don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe,
as well as find more Transport Evolved vids
on our YouTube Channel, which this week includes
a peek inside an electric car charging station
and an explanation of why you use more energy
driving through water than you do on dry roads.
And if that’s not enough, don’t forget
to follow us on Twitter and catch up with
the occasional news article on the Transport
Evolved website. As always, if you liked what
you saw today and want to help us make more
shows like this, please consider making a
donation to our Patreon crowdfunding campaign,
a link for which is in the description and
at the end of today’s show.
Thanks again for joining me, I’ll see you
next week, I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,
That was TEN, have a great weekend, and until
next time, keep Evolving!
