The Dutch solar car company Lightyear has entered into a development cooperation with the Swedish manufacturer Koenigsegg. The technologies of the company, known for its extremely powerful sports cars, are to be incorporated into the mass-market model Lightyear 2.
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The Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg has presented a self-developed electric motor as well as an electric drive unit. The electric motor, named Quark, generates 250 kW and up to 600 Nm of torque – at a weight of only 30 kilograms.
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The Chinese real estate group Evergrande looks like it is on the verge of withdrawing from the automobile business. According to a media report, the indebted group is looking into selling the division to other Chinese carmakers.
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The Chinese real estate group Evergrande Group is investing the equivalent of around 23 billion US dollars in the construction of three plants for electric vehicles and their components in Guangzhou.
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The Chinese real estate group Evergrande Group announced that it intends to start production of its first electric vehicles in June. The company will use production technologies from Saab and Koenigsegg.
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Chinese-owned Saab successor NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) has invested 150 million dollars to acquire 20 per cent of the shares in the Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg. The deal is part of a strategic partnership between the two manufacturers.
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Electric mobility index sees China ahead: Roland Berger’s ‘E-mobility Index Q2/2017’ shows China in pole position for the first time, due to its lead in both industry and market for electric transport. The index compares Germany, France, Italy, USA, Japan, China, and South Korea. Germany even lost its “Vorsprung durch Technik” to France, that took the technology lead mainly because of the high PHEV share German manufacturers currently have in their portfolios.
rolandberger.com
JLR to strengthen EV unit: Jaguar Land Rover intends to create 5,000 new jobs, mainly in Great Britain by 2018, in line with its plans to accelerate its EV and autonomous driving businesses. Still, JLR’s first electric model I-Pace, shall be produced at Magna in Austria, however, the firm said it is keen to build such electric cars also in Great Britain – if conditions prove favourable.
independent.co.uk
Meanwhile Magna has been chosen to produce BMW’s 5-series PHEV as well starting this summer, when the plug-in hybrid will begin to roll off the lines in Graz, Austria.
reuters.com
Porsche hattrick at Le Mans: In a dramatic race, the Germans won the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans for a third time in a row. Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley confidently steered free of the incident-packed course and once again triumphed in their Porsche 919 Hybrid.
reuters.com, autocar.co.uk, theguardian.com
Model X comes to Indonesia: While the Western hemisphere is expecting the Model 3, other parts of the world have yet to receive the Model X. Like in Indonesia, where the wait of Tesla fans has only come to an end by now. The price is set at the equivalent of 200,000 dollars.
thejakartapost.com, insideevs.com
Koenigsegg’s Regera sold out: All 80 units of the 1.9m dollars sports car by Swedish Koenigsegg have found their buyers. First introduced as production-ready in Geneva last year, the Regera programme has been the largest single vehicle series in the company’s history.
electriccarsreport.com
“As an alliance, we have more than a 50% market share for electric cars globally. So obviously, we want to maintain this leadership. Now with Mitsubishi, we are going to do even more to maintain leadership. But it means we are going to be commoners – electric platforms, motors, inverters – all the technical blocks that go with electric cars.”
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance and now Mitsubishi, announced that the three carmakers will align and standardise their electric drive train technologies.
nikkei.com
Mercedes-Benz USA chief Dietmar Exler said even if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump were to loosen fuel efficiency requirements, the carmaker will go ahead with its EV strategy. But to go full throttle, battery technology still needs to improve.
bizjournals.com
Koenigsegg here replied to a fan asking why the carmaker doesn’t have a four-wheel drive car. The carmaker confirmed that it has long-term plans to add one to its line-up.
autocar.co.uk
Mitsubishi Outlander at IAA: The 2016 plug-in variant will make its European debut at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, before going on sale on September 26th. The rally version will also be shown, as will be a display explaining the Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) electricity supply system that will be available for the new Outlander PHEV.
greencarcongress.com, worldcarfans.com, automotiveworld.com
BAIC comes to Silicon Valley: The Chinese manufacturer has opened a research facility for ‘new-energy vehicles’ in the California region that said to roll out four to six new electric and hybrid models a year. The aim is to increase sales of Chinese new-energy vehicles abroad.
chinadaily.com
Futuristic oldtimer: ‘Midget’ is what Toyota will call its new hybrid sports car that draws inspiration from the 1945 MG TC Midget and original Caterham 7. It is expected to be presented at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, and if feedback is positive, could already be available next year. Moreover, Toyota is expected to show two new fuel cell studies, probably the Lexus LS FCV and Toyota Crown FCV.
motoring.com (sports car), motoring.com (fuel cell)
Porsche keeps the crown: Following its win at the 24 hour of Le Mans, the carmaker’s 919 hybrid was the first to reach the finish line at the Six Hours of Nürburgring. Despite receiving a three minute penalty for exceeding fuel consumption, the second Porsche team took second place, followed by the Audi R18 e-tron quattro.
sportscar365.com
Hybrid all-wheel drive will come: In recent a peer-led interview, Koenigsegg CEO and founder Christian von Koenigsegg said that he will use a hybrid all-wheel drive in his supercars, once in-wheel motors get smaller. Right now, space and weight are still too much of an issue.
motorauthority.com
At the Eurobike, Berlin-based start-up coModule showed the world’s first autonomous electric cargo bike, controlled only by a smartphone app. It is based on the Veleon cargo bike and powered by an electric motor from Heinzmann. electrive’s Nora Manthey took it for a test spin.
Read more on electrive.com >>
JLR’s electric plans: An all-electric Jaguar Land Rover SUV is getting more concrete, German auto motor und sport reports. Under which brand the new model will be offered has not been said, however, earlier rumours hint at an electric Range Rover. A plug-in hybrid can be expected already in 2017.
auto-motor-und-sport.de (in German)
Megacar from Sweden: “The Regera will reign as the king of the road, as the fastest accelerating, most powerful production car ever.” This is how sports carmaker Koenigsegg promotes its hybrid super car, ahead of its debut in Geneva. Obviously, it is designed to compete against Porsche, McLaren, and Ferrari but strives to top them all. So far, “only” about 500 kW delievered by electric motors are confirmed but as it is dubbed a “megacar,” expect more than 1,000 kW from the hybrid system.
carscoops.com, hybridcars.com, jalopnik.com
Transatlantic innovation: California and the Netherlands have agreed on initiating joint funding for innovative electric vehicle development. While the Dutch will spend 6 million euros, the rest of the total of 24 millions is to come from the Golden state and other investors.
telegraaf.nl, rijksoverheid.nl (both in Dutch)
1,000 hp McLaren: While the official premiere is only set for the Geneva Motor Show, the Brits could not wait to show the production-ready super hybrid P1 GTR. The race track version of the P1 boast 1,000 hp instead of the 916 hp of the standard version, while its weight was decreased by 50 kilos.
electriccarsreport.com, worldcarfans.com, indianautosblog.com
Kia estate: The Koreans will present the Sportspace Concept in Geneva which is said to give an outlook on the 2016 Optima station wagon. The latter is likely to be offered as plug-in hybrid, too.
autoexpress.co.uk, indianautosblog.com
“As an alliance, we have more than a 50% market share for electric cars globally. So obviously, we want to maintain this leadership. Now with Mitsubishi, we are going to do even more to maintain leadership. But it means we are going to be commoners – electric platforms, motors, inverters – all the technical blocks that go with electric cars.”
“We want to make sure that if you buy a new car, the battery is not dead after four years.”
“Mechanical 4WD doesn’t make sense for us. Electric 4WD is more likely but not for some time.”