SK Continental, B-Class ED, ZAP Jonway & AIMA, Brazil, KIA, KTM.
Bye-bye EV battery: The joint venture between Germany’s Continental and South Korea’s SK Innovation, established in 2013, might come to an end. Developing batteries for EVs is just not paying off, executives say, as the market is increasing more slowly than expected. Continental doesn’t see “any economic basis in the medium-term for the business operations in our joint venture” and “existing activities and investments have already been reduced considerably,” Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chairman of Continental’s Executive Board, stated.
bloomberg.com, continental-corporation.com
Sales kick off for B-Class ED in Germany: Pricing starts at 39,151 euros (49,186 USD), while the electric cars can be leased at a monthly rate of 399 euros (501 USD). The B-Class ED comes in three equipment lines and with an “Exclusive package” for an additional 1,309 euros (1,644 USD).
puregreencars.com, automotive-business-review.com
ZAP-AIMA deal: The Chinese-American company ZAP Jonway has signed a deal with electric motorcycle manufacturer AIMA in order to develop a new version of the Urbee, Starting in January, the new model will be sold via the 2,000 AIMA dealerships in China.
money.cnn.com
Brazil to introduce subsidies: Minister for development Mauro Borges said at the Sao Paulo International Motorshow that Brazil will introduce subsidies for manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicles. A few weeks ago, the government had announced that it would cut import duties for hybrid vehicles only, because it feared the national grid could not support EVs (we reported).
laht.com, greencarreports.com (earlier report)
Driving the Kia Soul EV: The Telegraph is not the “biggest fan” of the EV from South Korea, saying that performance nods off at about 50 mph and that the car “shivers and shakes on anything but billiard tables.” Lastly, pricing is an issue and the Kia Soul EV costs about as much as the BMW i3 in the UK.
telegraph.co.uk
Riding the KTM Freeride E-SX: The electric off-road motorcycle weighs only 108 kilos and the battery last for a maximum of 45 minutes of “moderate driving,” but can be swapped easily. Moreover, range is not really an issue, as KTM hopes to set up E-Park off-road tracks, where one can easily change or charge a bike.
pistonheads.com
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