On this week’s show : GM commits to a fleet
of self-driving Chevy Volts in Canada, Japanese
Bureaucracy holds up the hydrogen revolution,
and a Nissan LEAF deal that’s too good to
miss if you live in Colorado
These stories and more, coming up next, on
TEN.
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to today?
Just head to our website at Transport Evolved
forward slash TEN, where you’ll find today’s
show notes -- as well as links to the latest
future car news, buying guides, tech primers,
and car reviews.
It’s Friday, December fourth, twenty fifteen,
I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, and since we
didn’t have a show last week, this week
we’re covering the big stories from the
past two weeks, so I’ll try and cram in
as many as I can. Strap on in!
Just before Thanksgiving last week, Tesla
Motors announced the start of ‘general production’
of its Model X electric SUV, disclosing full
pricing for both the entry-level Model X 70D
and Model X 90D for the first time.
While the Model X has been in production since
September, all the cars made thus far have
been special edition models, packed with high-end
technology and commanding a similarly high
price tag. But assuming you’ve already put
down a five thousand dollar deposit on the
Model X, you can now configure your dream
car via Tesla’s online configurator app.
Pricing starts from eighty thousand dollars
for the 70D, which comes with a 220-mile range
and six-second 0-60 mph time. Add in all the
bells and whistles, plus a longer-range battery
pack and ludicrous 3.2-second 0-60 time, and
you’ll have little change from one hundred
and thirty grand. So if you’re looking to
buy, you’d best get saving.
For nearly a year now, we’ve heard rumors
suggesting BMW is preparing to beef up the
range of its i3 electric car, something that
even BMW boss Harald Krüger has confirmed
himself.
But last week, british magazine Autocar claimed
that the increase in range will come from
a brand-new battery pack and drivetrain that
is far more efficient than those used in the
current model-year BMW i3 yet stores exactly
the same amount of energy.
The claimed additional range -- more than
124 miles per charge -- is unlikely given
an identically-sized battery pack, unless
BMW has managed to significantly reduce the
weight of this new, next-generation pack compared
to the original.
Given Autocar confused the terms energy density
and power density, we’re also not sure if
its sources are 100 percent reliable on this
one, but it’s certainly an intriguing rumor
we’re keen to prove true or false.
Thanks to their drive-by wire control systems,
electric cars make ideal autonomous vehicle
test beds, and so far, we’ve seen autonomous
versions of everything from a Nissan LEAF
to a BMW i3.
This week, we were able to add the Chevrolet
Volt to the list of autonomous vehicle prototypes
with the news that General Motors Canada would
be putting a fleet of autonomous Volts on
the road.
Collaborating with their colleagues south
of the border in Michigan, the work of GM’s
Canadian technical team will form the basis
of a much larger autonomous vehicle program
which will include kerbside pickup and dropoff
using Volts through a car-sharing app.
We might not see the results of this program
on the roads in the short term, but as always,
we’re excited to see yet another autonomous
vehicle program get the go-ahead.
Staying with autonomous vehicle technology
for a second, we told you last week about
a new recruitment drive at Tesla Motors, specifically
to find ‘hardcore engineers’ to join Tesla’s
autopilot autonomous drive program.
The announcement, made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk
on -- you’ve guessed it -- Twitter -- is
part of a major push from the Californian
automaker to be the first to bring fully autonomous
drive capabilities to market. With its autopilot
beta now already in the hands of the public,
Musk said that the autopilot software team
is undergoing a full ramp up to ‘achieve
generalized full autonomy’.
While no prior experience with cars is necessary,
Musk did mention that he’ll be interviewing
engineers for the role personally -- and that
the autopilot team reports directly to him.
So if the thought of being drilled by Mr.
Musk scares you, it’s probably not your
dream job, okay?
It reminds me in some ways of the humble Morris
Minor -- the very first car i bought and as
such, the diminutive bubble-shaped Mitsubishi
i-Miev shares a special place in my heart.
But this week, we told you that Mitsubishi
has finally announced its intent to shelve
the four-seat urban runabout along with the
gas-guzzling lancer sedan. The reason? a push
towards crossover SUVs at the Japanese automaker
in order to capitalize on the massively-popular
vehicle segment.
While we’re sure many will be as sad to
see the i-Miev go as we are, there is at least
some good plug-in news coming out of its demise.
Of those new SUVs, Mitsubishi plans to offer
two plug-in hybrid and one all-electric model
to fill the space left by the tiny (and low-volume)
plug-in.
If that means more people plugging in than
before, we can’t complain. Can you?
Of all the world’s nations, Japan is undeniably
the most bullish about the prospects of hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles. And with good reason,
Toyota and Honda -- two of the largest fans
of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles -- are based
there.
Yet while the Japanese government, led by
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, wants Japan to
shift its transportation and energy infrastructure
to become a hydrogen nation, we told you this
week that plans to roll out hydrogen filling
stations are being held up by bureaucracy
over just what rules small-scale H2 filling
stations must adhere to.
Regulations for larger-scale installations
are now set in stone, but since the majority
of refuelling stations will be smaller in
size, there are few refuelling stations accessible
to the public right now. And that means cars
like the Toyota Mirai fuel cell sedan and
Honda Clarity FCV are hardly practical right
now. Instead, if you want a clean, green car
in Japan, electric is still your best choice.
At least you can fill that up at a household
outlet if you really need to.
For as long as there have been electric cars
on the road to buy, the mile-high city of
Denver -- and the state of Colorado in which
it is located -- have been known for their
supportive attitude towards electric vehicles,
sporting one of the highest-value state electric
car incentive programs in the U.S.
But on Black Friday last week, Drive Electric
Northern Colorado -- a community-wide initiative
designed to encourage the adoption of electric
cars in the region -- announced a deal which
is simply too good to miss if you happen to
live in the area.
Put your name down to buy a new 2015 Nissan
LEAF S with quick charge package before the
end of December, and you’ll pay an effective
price of just ten thousand, six hundred and
twenty three dollars after incentives and
discounts.
The deal, originally negotiated as part of
an exclusive deal with local businesses, has
proven so popular that DENC decided to open
it up to members of the public too. And while
we don’t ordinarily feature deals on this
show, this one is so cheap it’s more than
four thousand dollars less than we just paid
for a two year old high-end LEAF. ‘Nuff
said.
Following on from its high-end XC90 plug-in
hybrid earlier this year, Volvo announced
a brand-new S90 luxury sedan this week, complete
with range-topping T8 plug-in hybrid variant.
While we’re already hearing from plug-in
fans that this particular model -- which manages
around 20 to 25 miles in all-electric mode
-- is something of a let down for the swedish
automaker, we’re mentioning it here today
because it also includes some impressive new
safety features designed to keep car and occupants
safe.
In addition to building on the XC90’s safety
features, the S90 features large animal avoidance
detection, which should cut down on accidents
involving large wild animals like deer or
moose, while a new autonomous drive feature
offers to auto-steer on a variety of roads
up to speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour.
And while we’re sure most wanting a plug-in
with autonomous tech will opt for a Tesla
Model S, it’s good to see other automakers
offering their own takes on both revolutionary
technologies.
And finally, we’ve criticized south Korean
automaker Hyundai before on this show for
its tendency to turn pretty much anything
into a press release, but this week we think
it may have outdone itself by proudly announcing
it Hyundai Tucson FCV has set a brand-new
speed record for a production hydrogen fuel
cell vehicle.
The speed?
An eye-popping 94.6 miles per hour, which
if we’re honest, isn’t all that fast.
indeed, we’re pretty sure most of you watching
this today have pushed your own car at some
point or another into the triple digits.
But, if you’re a fuel cell fan, perhaps
this record is noteworthy. If we were to advise
Hyundai however, we’d have refrained from
celebrating a double-digit land speed record.
Don’t ya agree?
No records from me either today, except perhaps
one for falling asleep from exhaustion when
today is done.
We’ll be back next week as usual, but in
the meantime you’ll find all the news that’s
fit to print at our website at transport evolved
dot com, catch up with us on twitter at transport
Evolve, or check out our latest shows on our
usual YouTube channel. And if you liked what
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us out.
As always, there’s a lot we haven’t managed
to fit into today’s show, including Elon
Musk’s proposals for carbon taxation to
rid the world of fossil fuels, Faraday Future
plans to unveil its enigmatic car at CES -- and
if we have the money we’ll be there to cover
it, a New Orleans resident fights with the
local city council over electric car charging
stations, and we give you our beginner's guide
to shopping for and installing your charging
station for home.
So when we’re done, be sure to head to our
site to read them all.
Thanks for watching, I’m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,
have a great weekend, and until next time,
keep evolving!
