Switch Mobility has announced plans to invest £300Mn across the UK and India to develop its electric buses and light commercial vehicles. The British subsidiary of India’s Ashok Leyland has similar targets for Europe, where a new facility is under construction in Spain.
The Slovakian battery company InoBat Auto wants to build its third gigafactory for electric car batteries in Western Europe. A decision on the specific location is to be made this year. The company is also recruiting its board of directors.
InoBat Auto from Slovakia presents what it claims is the world’s first “intelligent” battery cell for electric vehicles. And not only that, the company says their approach to battery production makes it possible to produce better cells faster and more efficiently while offering more range.
PHEVs won’t be part of Aston Martin’s line-up. That is, what CEO Andy Palmer said „Auto Express“. However, he made clear that Aston Martin will stick to its objective to electrify all of its models until 2025.
“For me, the use of the two cars reinforces the range anxiety. That will change, and then it starts to get interesting.”
Aston-Martin-CEO Andy Palmer’s remark refers to the Formula E, about which he also said, the brand would be very interested to take part once the change of cars becomes obsolete in season 2018/19. autonews.com
“These car manufacturers admit they’ve got to cut emissions from their vehicles, but they confine their funding to Germany alone. This is ridiculous, as their vehicles are driven all over Europe, including on London’s roads.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called out Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen to help fund clean air initiatives in Britain as they were otherwise operating with “double standards”. autocar.co.uk
“The obvious answer is Tesla has helped pave the way. That’s the truth of the matter. They tested the market and became very credible, and that’s a fact. But now what’s coming over the hill is an armada of EVs.”
Andy Goss, head of global sales for Jaguar Land Rover, has observed a continuously growing consumer pull regarding EVs over the last 18 month. He’s convinced that a lot of things came together to fuel this development – among others, what he calls the “Tesla factor”. autonews.com
“Are we trying to solve clean air? In this case, ban diesels. Or are we trying to solve CO2? In this case, you need to use less fossil fuel. The two are different. And a lot of the dialogue right now is mixing those messages.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer criticises that more and more governments tend to define the future’s powertrain technology. “Policy makers should not try to be engineers”, he says. Instead it would be better to prescribe the emission, “and then let the engineers figure out what the right technology is”. cnbc.com
“I think FE is trending at the moment – everyone wants to be part of this electric movement, which is fully understandable. But when there are seven or eight manufacturers involved, not all can win.”
Haas team boss Gunther Steiner believes Formula 1 has no reason to feel threatened by the electric upstart but sees it as an “additional series” rather and one that is comparatively cheap to join. motorsport.com
“If I was to list my priorities from top to bottom I start with non-tariff barriers being the thing that I worry about the most.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer is touring Japan alongside British prime minister Theresa May and here worries about the consequences her hard Brexit may have. usnews.com
“I am confident that already the first cars will be profitable, not hugely profitable but profitable.”
VW brand boss Herbert Diess shows confidence in the firm’s first MEB model, the VW I.D. that he believes will be profitable from the start. autonews.com
“Looking further down the line, at under 95 [g/km by 2020], diesel will not be able to help us. Only electrification can.”
Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson leaves no doubt about where we are going in the future, or better how – electric, esp. as he considers “improving the efficiency of the combustion engine more or less done, so the next step has to be hybridization and pure-electric cars.” wardsauto.com
“The next thing you will see is that some cities demand you have an electric car on certain days.”
Says Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, who also confirmed the electric RapidE for 2018, which will render the petrol variant redundant. motoring.com
“From that perspective, undoubtedly, the debate about whether it’s hydrogen, whether it’s electric, I would say that debate is now over because it definitely is electric.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer based his verdict on VW’s diesel-gate after which “the whole German industry has gone electric,” and thus set a course for others to follow. wheels.ca
“Hyundai Motor will contribute to the expansion of the eco-friendly car market by introducing carsharing services, mainly offering electric car models.”
Chang Jae-hoon, a senior VP of the customer value division at Hyundai, on EV sharing services, which the company launched in Korea. In the USA too, Hyundai deployed 400 Ioniqs free to share last month. hybridcars.com
“From 2020 to 2025, we foresee an age of electrification. No carmaker will avoid EVs. Toyota does what we assumed it will be doing. Whether you have EVs or not will no longer be competitive argument.”
Nissan’s Chief Competitive Officer Hiroto Saikawa comments on Toyota’s entry into the EV market and called it a “a natural consequence.” forbes.com
“We are starting to see signs of big company disease, such as low individual performance and organisational redundancies.”
This is from a letter that Jia Yueting, CEO of LeEco, wrote to his staff. He announced cost cuts. Investors had feared that the company was spreading too thin before. reuters.com
“There is a space clearly above Tesla that today nobody exists in.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer again positions the RapideE scheduled for 2017/18 in the luxury segment but also said that “all cars will be EV” in the long run. ft.com
“The California Air Resources Board is being incredibly weak in its application of ZEV credits. The standards are pathetically low. They need to be increased.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is rather enraged and even calling on CARB “to be ashamed of themselves.” His words come at a time when CARB is reviewing regulation and is in danger to give in to lobbying pressure by conventional carmakers. teslarati.com
“EVs are our compensation for V12s.”
Says Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. Question is if they can build enough EV to make up for all that upcoming supercars the British have scheduled?! autocar.co.uk
“Within five years you’ll only have electric garbage trucks. Nobody will buy a diesel engine garbage truck.”
Ian Wright, formerly Tesla and founder of Wrightspeed today, gives a bright outlook for a future when garbage collection will finally be silent. Still, the company’s trucks use a natural gas turbine to recharge the batteries on board. qz.com
“In the long term, it is difficult to predict where diesel will be 10 years from now. I am pretty sure that the electrification of powertrains and pure electric cars will increase. Hybrid technology and plug-in hybrid adoption will increase. What will be the balance, nobody knows.”
Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich expects a slow but steady decrease in diesel car production in Europe, following the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Though suppliers will continue to develop a wide range of technologies, it is unclear which will come out on top. europe.autonews.com
“At some point in the future we have to move to electric drive, be that via a hydrogen pack or battery pack. It just is how it is.”
According to Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, James Bond could soon find himself behind the wheel of an electric car, a testament to the changing automotive industry climate. cnbc.com
“It helps. It helps the whole industry. Every story about the Model 3 includes a mention of the Bolt EV and our target date is ahead of theirs. We’re on track.”
Chevy Bolt EV manager Shad Balch remains calm in the face of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Balch considers Tesla’s popularity a positive development, as it continues to boost interest and keep competitors on their toes. latimes.com
“The organisation has to learn, and the technology is moving so quickly, I’m more keen to get an EV into the market and get experience with an EV, rather than having a theoretical, academic argument about what the long term view is on battery technology.”
That is a hands-on approach Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer takes here. He seems eager to launch the Rapide EV as rapidly as possible to get some feedback and learning experience with electric cars. themotorreport.com.au
“That’s a position we intend to keep. It’s clear EVs are here to stay.”
Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn on the Leaf’s top spot in the EV market, as it is the best-selling electric car worldwide. And one, he says, that does not need to fear competition by internet firms. usatoday.com
“The next Mayor of London needs to deliver an ambitious set of policies to clean up London’s air.”
Says Richard Howard, head of environment and energy at Policy Exchange. With mayoral elections looming in the British capital this May, civil society and researchers are proposing policies like electric or hybrid buses to clean up the big smoke. standard.co.uk
“It will definitely be zero emissions. When you look around the world … there is no alternative to electric mobility.”
BMW CEO Harald Krüger explains his company’s thinking behind the autonomous Vision Next 100 concept car that was presented yesterday on the occasion of BMW’s centenary. Safe to say that its drive is electric in one way or another. wsj.com
“In the future you could imagine ever-converging technologies between the two companies.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer talks about the cooperation with Chinese LeEco. The RapidE is confirmed for 2018, however, the joint developments might go further to include the likes of Faraday Future and in-car connectivity. autonews.com
“The Volkswagen brand is repositioning itself for the future.”
VW brand chief Herbert Diess announced Volkswagen’s rethinking of its diesel strategy in the midst of the emission scandal. The new path will see more electrification. dpa-international.com
“Aircraft and ships and all other forms of transport will go fully electric. Not half electric, but fully electric. No question.”
Thinks Elon Musk. He also said he already had a design for an all-electric “pretty cool supersonic, vertical, take-off and landing electric jet” in mind. techinsider.io
“It means our customers aren’t going to trust us for a while. It also means that time is up for the diesel. In markets where you have a lot of installed capacity, diesel will go through a slow death.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer assessment of VW’s diesel gate scandal rings realistic. The sooner the better, we might add. bloomberg.com
“I confirm that we will make a fully electric car with a range between of 250 to over 300 miles.”
Daimler’s head of development Thomas Weber promised a cool and emotional all-electric car that will most likely be the Mercedes-Benz’ answer to the Audi Q6 and the Tesla Model X crossover SUVs. caranddriver.com
“We will make the decision at the back end of this year, October or November. We will say yes, the only question is where we will make it. And that’s depending on our ability on grants and logistic costs. It’s about finding the best economic solution to the project, but we will definitely do it.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer is talking about the DBX electric crossover and keeping up hope that the car will arrive in 2019. The electric architecture will probably come from Daimler. pistonheads.com
“The ‘i’ unit will continue to develop.”
BMW sales chief Ian Robertson says the company is considering different options for its electric sub-brand. It currently focuses on electrifying other non-i models such as the X5 SUV or the 3-series, which are being launched as plug-in hybrids. bloomberg.com
“What Tesla clearly shows you is we haven’t hit the ceiling in terms of price. But I think it’s hard, though not impossible, for them as a relatively new brand to keep pushing up and to go into that super premier area.”
Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer is confident that there is a large potential market for higher-priced, attractive electric cars, pointing to the success of Tesla. But: “We don’t do Ludicrous because Ludicrous speed is stupid.” autonews.com
“We already see high interest from our customers in India. The government is offering a significant subsidy on electric vehicles.”
Volvo Buses India chairman Akash Passey confirms plans to produce hybrid buses in India and export them to Europe. business-standard.com
“It’s a really a terrific story for technology and manufacturing and electrification in this country.”
Pam Fletcher, chief executive engineer for EVs at GM, backs the tale of the Bolt as an inclusive and now even patriotic electric vehicle and points out that production facilities for cars like the Volt and electric motors are located in Michigan. forbes.com
“I think something like an electric car would be interesting, to sit squarely above a Tesla. Most people who buy Teslas are buying fully loaded ones, so it implies there’s room for that.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, who has plenty of experience in introducing EVs, considers doing the same for the British brand. Aston is currently overhauling its line up that will also include a hybrid. Furthermore, Palmer mentioned a prototype “running around” that looks like a “1,000bhp Rapide.” telegraph.co.uk
“We see this as an expansion of public transit and Indianapolis has an active downtown that doesn’t close down after 5 p.m, like some cities.”
Hervé Muller, president of BlueIndy, here states one reason why Bolloré chose Indianapolis to set up electric car sharing. The city (or its mayor) was more than willing and despite financing problems, Bolloré says it is in for the long run. ecomento.com (with video)
“The car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?”
Remarks Apple Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams. Intended as a punt or not, it appears that Apple is now openly feeding rumours surrounding the iCar, which seems to be still under evaluation. time.com
“Power, Beauty, Soul doesn’t say it has to be a gasoline engine. It just needs to be really powerful, beautiful and set your heart on fire.”
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer invokes the appeal any well-designed car can have, no matter its power source. He himself still believes electric is the way to go. motoring.com.au
“In Saudi Arabia, we recognize that eventually, one of these days, we’re not going to need fossil fuels. I don’t know when – 2040, 2050 or thereafter. So we have embarked on a program to develop solar energy. Hopefully, one of these days, instead of exporting fossil fuels, we will be exporting gigawatts of electric power.”
Saudi Arabia’s minister for oil Ali Al-Naimi proves hindsight here as he puts his country on course for an age without or little oil.
“From the compliance perspective, if we as a sports car company want to continue to make V-12s — I’d hate to be the guy that killed the Aston V-12 — then we can make the V-12 itself meet the emissions requirement, but you can’t expect your fleet average to be very good. So if you’re going to make your fleet average really good you have to have a low- or zero-emissions car.”
While Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer did not confirm any technical details about the Rapide, he did confirm that it will be coming in the next two years. topspeed.com
“We’ve started the engineering work on hybrid solutions and electrification of the GT. We had a close look at a purely electric driven car as well on the GT, but of course, nothing has been finally decided yet.”
According to Mercedes AMG boss Tobias Moers, we can probably expect a hybrid or even an all-electric version of the GT. topgear.com
“If we don’t find a solution to burning oil or transport and we then run out of oil, the economy will collapse and civilisation will come to an end.”
Elon Musk called again for more use of renewable energies and described digging up oil and burning it as fuel the “dumbest experiment in history.” businessinsider.com.au
China gives EVs a tax break: As previously announced, the Chinese government now stopped levying sales tax on 17 models of so-called new energy vehicles. While Nissan, GM and Daimler joint-ventures are among the beneficiaries, BMW’s and Tesla’s all-electric offerings are exempt from the rebate as they are not made in China. reuters.com, tax-news.com
South Korea uncertain: The government has given in to pressure by the car industry and postpones the implementation of its low carbon vehicle incentive system by five years until 2020. Instead, incentives for electric and hybrid cars will be intensified, a move that will surely please the domestic battery industry. reuters.com, yonhapnews.co.kr
Palmer leaves Nissan: Renault-Nissan’s top executive Andy Palmer resigns to become CEO of Aston Martin instead. While his move might have to do with money or power only, we cannot help but to hope that maybe he will electrify the British brand just as he did so brilliantly in his former role. autoblog.com, autocar.co.uk
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New Outlander concept: Mitsubishi announced to show its latest study based on the Outlander PHEV at the Paris Motorshow. First pictures released now, show the Outlander PHEV Concept S and give an idea of the new design to come while the drive will remain pretty much unchanged. autocar.co.uk, electriccarsreport.com
Infinitiwill also be in Paris and show its updated Q70 Hybrid. According to Nissan’s luxury branch, the new version boasts an improved drive train. In Europe, the Q70 Hybrid will go on sale by the end of this year, whereas it is already available in the States. carbuyer.co.uk
“We’ve got major plans, and not just within the automobile industry.”
Professor Jens-Peter Ellermann, NanoFlowcell Chairman, on the company’s QUANTe that runs on a flow cell system with saltwater driving four electric motors. dailymail.co.uk
“We don’t lose money on electric cars anymore, that’s clear. But when you enter a new technology, there’s a curve to be gone down and we’re obviously faster into that curve than anybody else.”
Andy Palmer, still Chairman of Infiniti at that time. Will he be willing to lean into that curve again when at his new employer Aston Martin?! caradvice.com.au
“When I went to London and saw people wearing face masks, I hit on the idea of the hybrid vehicle. When I saw a woman struggling to get a buggy onto a bus, I began to think about the more accessible entrances. When I saw that the aircraft men were using composites and carbon fibre, I thought we could do the same.”
William Wright, founder of Wrightbus in Northern Ireland, takes his inspiration from everyday struggles and looks for innovative solutions. He has now been awarded the 2014 Innovation Founder prize at the age of 80. belfasttelegraph.co.uk
“It won’t be a dream to charge an electric car for 10 minutes at minus 20 degrees and it will run 300 kilometers.”
Lin Cheng, deputy director of China National Engineering Lab for Electric Vehicles, says heaters and cooling systems to keep batteries in their power zone might soon be a thing of the past. Scientists are just four to five years away from a scientific breakthrough. ecns.cn
“What we need is a ‘halo’ car to underpin the high-performance character. I also envision an electric vehicle with the latest charging facilities to serve consumers’ desire worldwide.”
Andy Palmer, Nissan Motor’s chief planning officer, talks about his vision for Infiniti. He wants the brand to play a more important role not only in the U.S., but on the international market as well. businessworld.in
“We don’t have the smell of diesel on our hands anymore.”
Nissan vice president Andy Palmer confirms that there is an Infiniti with an inductive charging system in the making. He did not say, however, when we might see it. autoexpress.co.uk
Said a rather desperate Sebastian Vettel to its team, when his Red Bull F1 car stopped working during the Spielberg race in Austria. He got back on track after turning the car off but was advised not to push the “overtake button” again. jalopnik.com
“When it comes to zero emissions, we’re absolutely religious. We’ll be the absolute No. 1 leader in zero emissions. No doubt. That’s our positioning.”
Nissan’s CPO Andy Palmer emphasising once more the company’s all-electric strategy adding that simple “hybridisation doesn’t work.” Vettel is surely with him on that! autonews.com
“I would rather invest my dollars in fuel cell development than in another 2,500 EVs.”
Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, clearly opposes Palmer’s view. He takes a stand for fuel cell technology and hints a the end of an R&D deal with Tesla to supply over 2,500 all-electric RAV4 (we reported). autonews.com
“Nissan is committed to the complete elimination of emissions from cars, not partial improvements such as those achieved simply by clean diesel or hybridisation. We believe the ultimate goal is zero.”
Said Nissan’s Chief Planning Officer Andy Palmer when introducing the e-NV200 which will go on sale in Japan this October. The Japanese carmaker is hoping to sell about 500 electric vans a month. eco-business.com
“We will be making a submarine car.”
The streets are not enough for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who promised the audience in Britain to make an underwater car. And yes, he talked about flying cars too… latimes.com
“PSA is more looking to develop hybrid technology than only 100 percent electric technologies.”
These are the words of an unnamed spokesperson for PSA, reasoning why Peugeot-Citroen will reconsider their cooperation on electric vehicles with Mitsubishi. just-auto.com
“It’s the right combination between power and fuel efficiency, that’s what we believe. It should be class-leading.”
Volvo’s chief product planner, Lex Kerssemakers is undoubtedly proud of the new XC90 plug-in hybrid. electriccarsreport.com
“There are 22,000 cabs in London, so the potential for the electric version depends on the infrastructure and we are having discussions about that. But London lends itself to the E-NV version: 40 per cent of the particulates in the air in Westminster comes from cabs.”
Nissan‘s Andy Palmer is responsible for planning and while the British capital is certainly challenging, it is an ideal playing field as well. thegreencarwebsite.co.uk