1238: Audi: EV Close To Profitability Of Fossil Cars | 08 Oct 2021 - a podcast by EV News Daily

Show #1238

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 8th October. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

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Matthias Schmidt @auto_schmidt

"China's electric car manufacturer, Nio, will enter the German market from Q4 2022, their European spokesperson confirms"

"Audi, which accounted for more than a quarter of Volkswagen's first-half operating profit, has embarked on an ambitious shift towards battery-powered vehicles, meaning all new models it will release from 2026 will be fully electric." says Reuters: "Meantime, production of internal combustion engines will be gradually phased out up to 2033. Audi's CFO in August said it would only take 2-3 years before profitability of electric vehicles (EV) would match that of combustion engine cars. [Markus] Duesmann thinks this could happen even more quickly." according to the Audi Chief Executive: "Apart from efforts to challenge Tesla (TSLA.O) and become the biggest seller of EVs, Volkswagen, the world's No.2 carmaker, is also doubling down on efforts to develop software, which CEO Herbert Diess said is the industry's real gamechanger."

Duesmann: ""The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices"

Strong performance of the all-electric Volkswagen ID.3 after its first year in the European market.  By the end of September, the car had already been ordered around 144,000 times in Europe – 50 percent of buyers had not driven a Volkswagen before and were new to the brand, found a study commissioned by the company.

For comparison: On average, the ratio of new customers for other Volkswagen models is around 36 percent. In the first half of 2021, the strong demand for the ID.3 and other ID. models made Volkswagen the market leader for battery-electric vehicles in Europe within a very short time. In August, the car was the most popular electric car in many markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland. Based on new registrations, the ID.3 also ranked top in Western Europe overall in August. In order to meet the strong demand, some 1,200 of the best-selling electric cars are leaving the production lines in Zwickau and Dresden every day, with Zwickau operating three shifts on both production lines. Moreover, production for the local market has started in Anting in China – the car will be launched on the Chinese market in the fall of this year.

Read more: https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/volkswagen-gains-some-70000-new-customers-with-best-selling-id3-in-the-first-year-7536

"Audi has been selling the E-Tron, its first ground-up electric SUV, since 2018, so it was already in need of a mid lifecycle refresh. Our spies just sent us the first photos of what appears to be the facelifted E-Tron in its coupe-like Sportback version wearing some camouflage that shows us where the manufacturer made changes." says InsideEVs: "Looking through the photos, we notice that the front end of the vehicle is getting a completely revised fascia, along with new headlights, a new bumper and new grille (most of which was hidden but it does look different). Audi also added camouflage that extends back onto the front fenders and side skirts, so we presume there are some changes hiding under there as well. We’re expecting to see the updated Audi E-Tron Sportback (as well as the more traditional non-Sportback model) debut sometime next year; in the US they will be sold as 2023 model-year and it looks like the model's popularity has been increasing in the second quarter of 2021."

Read more: https://insideevs.com/news/538900/audi-etron-facelift-spy-photos/

"The Swedish electric truck start-up Volta Trucks wants to expand its research and development team in the UK to accelerate the development of the Volta Zero. The company is therefore launching a recruitment drive with the aim of employing more than 280 people by the end of 2021." says electrive: "Currently, Volta Trucks says it has over 150 employees, up from a “handful” at the beginning of the year. Volta is currently looking for industrial and commercial experts, but above all for “talented and forward-thinking engineers”. Seventy positions have been advertised." Earlier in September, Volta Trucks had announced that series production of the Zero would start at Steyr Automotive in Austria. The first examples are to be used in pilot fleets in Paris and London."

Read more: https://www.electrive.com/2021/10/05/volta-trucks-expands-uk-team/

"Today the first EV6 left in Norway from the vessel "Morning Lily" in the port of Drammen. There are high expectations for the new Kia electric crossover that has finally made its way to Norway. " says Wataha.no: "awaiting the cars. As planned, the first cars will be delivered at the end of October. There are also demonstration cars on board for many dealers. So some customers will be able to book a test drive soon. Later this year, there will be more such vehicles to more dealers."

Read more: https://wataha.no/en/2021/10/04/the-first-kia-ev6-on-norwegian-soil/

"After a flurry of price increases in the first half of the year, Tesla held vehicle prices in the United States relatively steady throughout the third quarter, only adjusting the base price of the Model S and Model X back in August. Now, days into the fourth quarter, Tesla has continued the earlier trend of price increases on the Model 3 and Model Y." writes The Street.com: "Model 3 Standard Range Plus increased by $2,000 to $41,990. Model 3 Performance increased by $1,000 to $57,990. Model Y Long Range increased by $1,000 to $54,990. Model Y Performance increased by $1,000 to $61,990. Due to Tesla's order backlog, it's likely that Q2 did not reflect the full impact of those price changes. Investors may get an even better understanding when Tesla reports third quarter earnings, expected on Monday, October 25th."

We started the year with a SR+ costing $37,990. That's $4000 more, and $5000 more for Model Y Long Range.

" The Model Y made in China for the local market gets a range increase of up to 28 miles while keeping the same purchase price. According to the company's Chinese website, spotted by @ray4tesla/Twitter, the manufacturer has increased the range of Model Y Long Range and Model Y Performance while car prices have remained the same." says Tesmanian: "Model Y for overseas markets is also expected to receive an increase in range. Tesla recently registered several new Model Y variants, including an export version. There is a possibility that this is the variant with the increased range, in accordance with the updates for Model Y in China."

But is it more range, or more reported range? Is it a change to the NEDC testing standards? And WLTP/WLTC should start soon in China.  Could it be a change from the 4.6Ah LG Chem 2170 cells to the 5.0Ah LG Chem cells, so the total pack goes from 75->81kWh?

"In an auto manufacturing first, Tesla has started building Model Y bodies with two giant single casting pieces for the front and back of the electric SUV. Tesla has already been producing the Model Y with a single rear body piece that replaced 70 different parts in the vehicle." says electrek: Earlier this year, a picture of the first single front casting part of the Model Y produced at Gigafactory Texas leaked. Tesla has been wanting to go a step further and joined those two parts with a structural battery pack powered by its new 4680 battery cells unveiled last year. However, the automaker has lately indicated that the integration of the new cells and structural battery pack might not be introduced with the start of Model Y production at the new factories."

"If Tesla owners have Sentry Mode, Rivian owners will have Gear Guard for security. Recently, a Gear Guard buddy was spotted actively working in a seemingly parked Rivian vehicle. " says Teslarati: "A short clip from Twitter user @D_Love revealed Rivian’s rather kid-friendly Gear Guard buddy at work while the vehicle’s owner is away. The character captured in the short clip was also seen in a Rivian video posted last month. According to Rivian’s Director of UX Design Brennan Boblett, owners can activate a suite of security products through Gear Guard.  Gear Guard seems to be an umbrella term for a list of security features. It will most likely use Driver+ hardware installed in all R1 Rivian vehicles, which includes 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, five radars, and a high-precision GPS antenna. Rivian has not fully discussed Gear Guard’s suite of security features in detail yet."

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