EQC SUV: Mercedes to build 100 electric cars a day
Mercedes is planning to produce 100 fully electric EQC SUVs every day this year, according to a manager. The company opened the order books for the EQC just a few days ago.
Weiterlesen
Germany: Mercedes to deliver 56 eCitaro to ESWE
Mercedes-Benz has received a major order from the ESWE public transport operator in Wiesbaden for the electric city bus eCitaro. The local transport company of the Hessian capital ordered a total of 56 units of the electric bus, which is manufactured in Mannheim.
Weiterlesen
BMW & Mercedes considering shared EV platform?
Following the merger of their mobility services and the planned cooperation in the development of autonomous cars, BMW and Mercedes could also use common platforms for electric vehicles in the future. According to media reports, confidential discussions have been going on for months already.
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Kamenz: A visit to Daimler’s battery assembly factory
Daimler’s battery assembly facility in Kamenz is the cornerstone of a battery production network spanning a total of seven production facilities around the world. Our colleagues from electrive.net were recently able to accompany the assembly of Mercedes Benz batteries – an exclusive factory visit.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes consolidates fuel cell business
With the completion of the fuel cell system development for the Mercedes GLC F-Cell, the Daimler subsidiary NuCellSys will receive a new name for the upcoming development projects: Effective immediately, the company will operate under the name Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH.
Weiterlesen
Daimler delivers first fuel cell vehicles in Germany
Mercedes-Benz is handing over the first GLC F-Cell models to selected customers in the German market. These include various ministries, the National Organisation for Hydrogen (NOW) and H2 Mobility as well as Deutsche Bahn.
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Tesla Model 3 hijacks sales from major brands
After Tesla reported a profit this Q3 due to strong sales of the Model 3, reverberations are being felt across the industry. Carmakers like BMW and Audi are losing the bracket for their middle class models such as the 3 series and Audi A4.
Weiterlesen
BYD and Daimler increase spending on Denza
China’s BYD and Daimler will put more money behind their joint electric vehicle venture Denza in China as they increase their investment. Both will add another 400 million RMB, (about 53M euros) in order to build on production and service.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes hires beatboxer to make some noise for EVs
Mercedes wants to give people some time to ease into the silence of an electric car. Their latest clip advertising the arrival of their first EQ concept comes with a rather unique ICE soundtrack – not from an artificial but most organic source.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes shows off the Project One’s baby steps
Mercedes is known for fast and luxurious cars. Their newest marketing strategy shows their concept progress crawling along, but still moving forward.
Weiterlesen
Daimler to pull expertise from all sites for GLC F-Cell
Daimler’s plug-in with fuel cells is coming together through symbiosis as Mercedes is banking on expertise from various subsidiaries and neighbouring specialists. The GLC F-Cell is to launch this year and so Daimler talks details.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes-Benz EQC and GLC F-Cell undergo winter tests
Mercedes has starting testing its fuel cell plug in GLC F-Cell, which will be released on the market this year, as well as the battery electric EQC, which will be released next year, on a winter track in northern Sweden.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes eVito van undergoes winter testing
The development team behind the Mercedes electric van was in Northern Sweden testing the van during the past few weeks. The focus of the testing series in Arjeplog, near the arctic circle, was to test cold starts as well as charging and driving behaviour at minus temperatures.
Weiterlesen
Tesla Model S beats premium carmakers in Europe
A total of 16,132 Model S were sold in Europe during 2017, meaning Tesla has been outselling the continent’s established premium manufacturers such as Mercedes or BMW with their S-Class or 7 series respectively. And by a couple of thousand units.
Weiterlesen
First images of Mercedes C-Class PHEV and serial EQC
Ahead of the debut at the Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes has released pictures showing the facelifted C-Class that will be on display with two plug-in hybrid variants. Daimler also announces a serial EQC model and a new edition Smart EV for the Swiss salon.
Weiterlesen
Mercedes C-series with 2 PHEV variants at Geneva
Daimler has a facelift scheduled for the C-Class this March. Once the updated Mercedes sedan takes to the spotlight in Geneva, it will preview a tech revamp that includes two plug-in hybrid variants.
Weiterlesen
Hubject partners with Volta Charging in the States
Hubject Inc., a U.S. subsidy of German roaming joint venture Hubject created back in autumn, teams up with Volta Charging. It is the first cooperation it set up in the States.
Weiterlesen
New A-class series to include PHEV
The next Mercedes A-class is ever more likely to bear the EQ Power label designating electric propulsion. Rumours were fuelled anew through pictures from the inside of the latest model.
WeiterlesenHonda, Tesla, Daimler, Owl, Bentley, Mercedes.
Honda accelerates electrification: Each and every new Honda model launched in Europe will offer some form of electrification, be it it hybrid or all-electric. The hybrid Honda CR-V marks the start next year, followed by the Urban EV (we reported). The Japanese carmaker wants to make two thirds of its sales from electrified models by 2030 but aims to reach this target 5 years earlier in Europe.
carscoops.com, insideevs.com, hondanews.eu
Tesla decelerates for once and has rescheduled the presentation of its Semi truck. Initially due this month, it will now be shown on Onctober, 26 in Hawthorne, California. Taking a time out as well is Tesla VP Diarmuid O’Connell, who decided to depart after eleven years to spend more time with his family.
electrek.co, insideevs.com, teslarati.com (O’Connell)
Daimler’s all-electric truck however has just launched and the first four FUSO e-Canter have taken up their work at NGOs based in New York City. Serial production is on and 500 units shall be delivered to clients in the U.S., Europe and Japan over the next two years before production is to seriously scale up.
media.daimler.com
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www.ecomobiel.nl
Why would you name a racer Owl? Because you want to underscore its silent flight, well drive, as is the case with Aspark’s Owl that has seen the light of day at the IAA. With a carbon body it weighs just 850 kilos and is allegedly fast too, going from 0 – 100 in less than two seconds powered by a 320 kW two motor system and supercaps. Order on request from 2019.
autoblog.com, jalopnik.com
Bentley confirms plug-in plans: There is an electric sports car cooking that will utilise Porsche’s Mission E platform, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer confirmed. A first concept appeared in Geneva this year where the EXP 12 Speed 6e wowed a crowd. Expect production to commence by the end of the decade but first there will be three Bentley PHEV, namely the Bentayga, Continental and Flying Spur.
autoexpress.co.uk
Luxury PHEV: Mercedes positions the S 560 e as the S 500 e’s successor at the IAA. The novel plug-in hybrid drive allows for electric cruising over 50 kilometres and offers 90 kW plus the 270 kW of the engine. It is the 8th model in Daimler’s plug-in line-up, only an on sale date is missing.
electriccarsreport.com, greencarcongress.com, media.daimler.com
BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Volkswagen, Opel.
600 km range and a top speed above 200 kph, that is BMW’s i Vision Dynamics. Rather than the Gran Coupé being just visionary a EV, series production has been planned but not yet scheduled. In any case, it will sit well between the i3 and i8 and amongst the 25 electrified models the carmaker has promised to launch by 2025.
carscoops.com, motor1.com
All electric Mercedes: Long has it been teased and now it is released, the EQA, Daimler’s electric compact concept. It has an electric drive at each axle with a combined output of 200 kW. Range was given at 400 km, depending on the chosen battery that can also fast-charge inductively.
carscoops.com, autoblog.com, autocar.co.uk
And the fuel cell Mercedes has been revealed in full as well and is ready to go on sale by 2018. The GLC F-Cell plug-in hybrid carries 4.4 kg hydrogen on board, enough for 437 km with another 49 km of range being kept inside an additional 13.8 kWh battery.
autoblog.com, autocar.co.uk
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Baden-Württemberg will demonstrate E-Mobility expertise at EVS30: The State Agency e-mobil BW and its cluster networks “Electric Mobility South-West” and “Fuel Cell BW” participate in the joint booth “German Regions” at EVS30. The partners will proudly present the accumulated know how of the German South-West in the field of electric mobility solutions. Come and visit us at Hall 1, Booth A33. EVS30 will take place on October 9-11, 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany. www.e-mobilbw.de (Exhibitors at a glance – PDF)
Urban EV by Honda: The Japanese surprise with an electric concept for city-dwellers in Frankfurt and say a series version would make it to Europe no later than by 2019. Technical details of the litte four-seater are scarce but Honda has dedicated a whole new platform to it.
electriccarsreport.com, autocar.co.uk, carscoops.com
VW I.D. Crozz revised: Known since April, Volkswagen has further developed its fully electric SUV for the IAA, bringing it closer to the series version that is expected by 2020 (we reported). Its twin electric motors come with a combined power 0f 225 kW and VW targets a 500 km range.
carscoops.com, electriccarsreport.com, autocar.co.uk
Opel’s first PHEV: The brand based in Rüsselsheim is not dead but tries to venture further into electric territory instead. At the IAA, Opel now announced the Grandland X to become the first model with a plug-in hybrid variant. It will most likely borrow the drive from the Peugeot 3008.
autonews.com, gm.com
EV Sales in Norway.
Norway’s PEV share exceeded 40 percent for the second time ever this August. The record of 42.4% was set last June. BEVs alone were sold 2,784 times and account for 20.8% percent marketshare. The remaining 19.4% are made up of 2,609 PHEV.
insideevs.com
Audi, Nissan, Mercedes, NEVS, WM Motor, Indonesia
Significant changes at Audi: Electrification is the new norm, or shall be in Ingolstandt and so Audi decided to get rid of power output designations such as 2.0 TFSI oder 3.0 TDI. Instead, two digits that stand for the output in kW followed by the actual motor technology such as TFSI, TDI, g-tron, or e-tron shall describe each variant. Audi explains this step with new technologies taking over in the future, which will make cylinder capacity less relevant for customers.
greencarcongress.com, audi-mediacenter.com
Latest tease for Nissan Leaf: The countdown is on for the launch of the next-gen Nissan Leaf and so the Japanese continue to serve one little piece of tease after the other. Not sushi of course but an animated video and a snapshot of the rear light. However, the web was faster as usual so the full menu, meaning a naked Leaf and spec, have been put on the table already.
greencarreports.com
First view of the Mercedes EQA: We missed a tiny little detail when announcing Mercedes’ IAA line-up lately. If you look very closely, you can discover the compact EQA already in the picture.
electrive.net (picture)
New NEVS investors: Saab successor NEVS has got a new co-owner in Beijing Zhenghuon Technology, an investors group that just poured 108m dollars into National Electric Vehicle Sweden. Didi Chuxing, China’s equivalent to Uber, is also thinking about taking a stake in NEVS, and “discussions have been going on all summer,” according to NEVS CEO Stefan Tilk.
just-auto.com, saabplanet.com
German design for Chinese EVs: WM Motors has turned to Isdera, a design and engineering firm based in the German town of Saarwellingen and led by former Porsche engineer Eberhard Schulz, to give their electric cars some substance. Founded in China last year, WM Motors wants to cooperate across all business areas with Isdera, including manufacturing and raising capital.
autonews.com, autonewschina.com
Indonesia’s EV incentives: A new policy by the Indonesian government wants to favour electric and hybrid vehicles by granting them a break from taxes. The goal is to reduce emissions by 29 percent by 2030 and the Ministry of Industry, intends to make its plans public by the end of the year.
nikkei.com
Hyundai, Audi, Future Mobility, Mercedes, Mazda, Smart
Hyundai’s new FCV: The Koreans have presented their latest fuel cell SUV in Seoul, which will hit the shelves by 2018. The FCV comes with 120kW while range is given at 580 kilometres. In total, Hyundai and Kia have lined up 31 electrified models until 2020 – eight all-electric ones, eleven PHEV, two FCV as well as ten simple hybrids.
koreaherald.com, koreatimes.co.kr, paultan.org
Audi is running the e-Tron for real as these first spy shots from testing reveal. Launch is set for 2018 and the electric SUV will be the German carmakers first attempt to compete with the likes of the Tesla Model X or Jaguar I-Pace. The e-Tron range is said to be 500 kilometres.
autocar.co.uk
200m dollars for Future Mobility: A start-up led by former BMWi Manager Carsten Breitfeld and already backed by Foxconn and Tencent has generated another 200m dollars in a new round of funding. Future Mobility Corp (FMC) wants to use the money for R&D mainly and has scheduled its first model, an SUV, for next year’s CES. Once it launches by 2019, it is to cost 300,000 Yuan (45.000 dollars) and FMC plans two more models until 2022.
reuters.com
Mercedes’ diesel scrappage scheme is now available to buyers in the UK. Those willing to swap their old diesel guzzler for a hybrid or even the new electric Smart will receive a 1,000 (Smart) or 2,000 pounds throughout 2017.
autocar.co.uk
Mazda cleans its act: Mazda is working on new petrol engines labelled Skyactiv-X, which are supposedly more fuel efficient. Comes 2021, the motor may also work in combination with an electric drive, Autocar learnt. An all-electric Mazda model may hit the road even sooner though, 2019 that is, and it may include a range extender too.
autocar.co.uk
The New Smart ED is off to a rough start in the States as the EPA gave it a range of a combined 58 miles only. That is 10 miles less than the previous Smart Fortwo Electric Drive despite the battery having stayed the same. So it must be an issue related to weight and/or aerodynamics.
insideevs.com
Nissan, Hyundai, Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche.
Nissan Leaf leak: In what might be the biggest breach to date, a performance specc has been published that puts the next-gen Nissan EV at 110 kW and its power pack at 40 kWh. It remains unclear, if a 60 kWh variant will become available but U.S. pricing now stands at 29,990 dollars. While the price undercuts both the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3, the Leaf stays behind its closest competitors when it comes to performance. The full reveal is due on September, 5 in Japan.
autoblog.com, insideevs.com, jalopnik.com
Hyundai to enter India all-electrically: After the government of the world’s largest democracy announced to tax hybrid vehicles at the highest rate, Hyundai adjusted its strategy. Rather than launching hybrid or even mild hybrid models, the Koreans now want to introduce all-electric versions of the small i10 and i20 as well as a compact electric SUV. The move makes sense as EVs have been taxed at a lower rate of 12 percent in India (we reported).
financialexpress.com, auto.ndtv.com, autocarindia.com
Mercedes EQ-A preview: First renderings of Daimler’s compact EV have been floated by Auto Bild, who thinks a concept EQ-A will be shown at this year’s IAA before hitting the shelves by 2020. The standard EQ-A shall deliver 150 kW with a 60 kWh battery that is to last for about 400 km.
autobild.de
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EVS30 in Stuttgart: New standards in e-mobility From 9th to 11th October 2017 the entire e-mobility industry will meet in Stuttgart for the EVS30. Find out about latest trends as well as applications of the electric drive train – at the exhibition or in the international conference. Don’t miss EVS30 and also visit the co-located events BATTERY+STORAGE and f-cell.
www.evs30.org
More from Mercedes’s may come in the form of a Maybach convertible designed to cruise on electric power alone. First shown last year as Mercedes-Maybach 6, a video teases another study, destined to debut at the Concourse D’elegance in Pebble Beach and likely to be a cabrio based on the 6.
autocar.co.uk
Spotted: The Jaguar I-Pace has been shot charging and the photographer also managed to peak inside. Pictures reveal the camouflaged EV to be pretty close to the concept, inside-out.
insideevs.com
Porsche copy as PHEV: Chinese Zotye says it will offer its Porsche Macan “inspired” SUV SR9 as plug-in hybrid at the Chengdu Auto Show later this month. Said range stands at 80 km.
carnewschina.com
GM, Mercedes, DS, China, Korea, BYD.
GM shuts down Bolt plant: As inventories swell, GM has halted the lines in Michigan, where the Chevy Bolt and Sonic are made. While the carmaker claims the shutdown was temporary and down solely to slow Sonic sales, there is an oversupply of its EV as well. Still the Bolt is only available in some states before a nationwide roll-out in August. At the same time, only a few Ampera-e have been allocated to Europe – too few maybe but it is impossible to simply rebrand the Bolt for Opel due to specific parts suppliers cannot deliver quickly enough.
reuters.com, electrek.co
S-Class facelift: Mercedes unveils its latest luxury flagship that now includes 48-Volt tech and a plug-in hybrid variant with a bigger battery at 13.3 kWh for a range of 50 km. The 7.2 kW on-board charger and a new wallbox promise faster charging but the S-Class PHEV won’t be available at on-sale this fall.
autoexpress.co.uk, daimler.com
DS electric SUV by 2019: PSA fledgling DS prepares to fly solo and revealed a second model to follow the DS7 Crossback PHEV. Next up will be a compact SUV comes 2019 and it will also incorporate an all-electric variant. Two years later anoter SUV is to join the club, this time as a standalone hybrid.
autocar.co.uk
German “Extrawurst”? Beijing might make an exception for German carmakers regarding China’s EV sales quota, WiWo reports after speaking to the German embassy in the Chinese capital. They revealed, there would be “a satisfactory solution” but how that could look like or, what that actually means or, if it will also apply to other countries has not been said. Only recently, OEM associations from the four biggest car nations had turned to Beijing begging for mercy so they could pollute the planet a little longer.
wiwo.de (in German)
Korea grants special treatment to Tesla as Seoul wants to open its subsidies from September to include the Californian EV maker. Its models had been excluded before because Korean regulation limits incentives to electric vehicles that take less than ten hours to charge.
koreajoongangdaily.joins.com, theinvestor.co.kr
Dreaming ever bigger: BYD is about to expand again further with the extension of its production facility in Lancaster, California set for completion next month. The plant will then be able to produce 1,500 electric heavy-duty vehicles, i.e. buses as well as trucks, a year with its 700 employees.
cnbc.com
Porsche, Volvo, Tesla, Mercedes, Lucid, LION E-Mobility.
Porsche first to discontinue diesel?: The premium brand may exit diesel, surely in an attempt to put some distance between its label and the treacherous mothership Volkswagen. Additionally, Porsche is currently pouring a billion euros into its Stuttgart plant to accommodate for the Mission E production with employees even foregoing parts of their regular pay rises temporarily. A decision on the engine line-up however, will only be made at the end of the decade and depends on EV sales and the effect of the electrification strategy that includes PHEV and the e-Macan. Together with Audi, the brand further plans to share a custom platform codenamed PPE to save money on components. To top it up, Porsche’s high-power charging tech has only recently been revealed and awaits its (inter?) national roll-out.
autonews.com
All-electric compact Volvo? An XC20 is in the making in Sweden and designed to complement the SUV range with a small model below the XC40 by 2019, Auto Bild reports. The XC20 shall sit on a modified platform already used by both Volvo and Geely’s Lynk & Co so it is very likely that this one will come electric only and in line with the latest electrification strategy.
autobild.de
Murdoch son on Tesla board: After shareholders had called for a board less familiar to Elon Musk, the EV maker hired two new directors, both with powerful bonds to media enterprises. Namely they are James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and CEO 21st Century Fox as well as Linda Johnson Rice who heads the Johnson Publishing Company. On a more productive note details on the Model 3 launch have been released. It will take place on July 28, at 7pm in Fremont, that is 4am in Europe and broadcasted via live stream.
tesla.com (board), insideevs.com (Model 3)
Sprinter spotted in Spain: Mercedes’ next-gen van has been caught testing in Spain but was still covered. An electric version is planned as well and will reportedly be made in Düsseldorf.
carscoops.com
Lucid is playing for money and time: The EV start-up from California has turned to the big guys such as Morgan Stanley and Ford as it continues to seek financing for its first electric sedan and a production plant planned in Arizona. Ford however turned an offer to buy Lucid Motors down as it is undergoing a 100-day review of its own operations. Lucid Motors now set the start of production by 2019, a year later than initially announced. It’s Air EV is up for speed records though.
bloomberg.com
LION E-Mobility in the States: Swiss Holding LION E-Mobility has set up a subsidiary with head quarters in New York City. Under CEO Roland Bopp it will offer electric storage solutions and engineering services to suppliers and other transport sectors as well as.
dgap.de
Mercedes, DoE, GM, Volvo, Ricardo.
Mercedes strengthens EV activities at home: After an intense struggle between Daimler’s management and the works council, the Untertürkheim site will become home to Mercedes’ fourth battery production as well as a hotspot for electric drives and components with more than 250 jobs to be generated. Apart from batteries, the agreement includes assemblage of powertrain modules for EVs of the EQ brand and the creation of a “project house eATS” in order to gain additional know-how for the next-gen electric drive systems. Finally, the ‘E-Technikum‘ agreed on in the first stage of negotiations, shall significantly expand to form a competence centre for electric mobility.
greencarcongress.com, europe.autonews.com, media.daimler.com
The DoE raises 19.4m dollars to support 22 research projects, among them activities of Mercedes-Benz and GM. Both look into Li-sulfur batteries. Key topics are advanced battery tech, lightweight materials, engine emission control technologies and energy efficient mobility systems (EEMS).
greencarcongress.com
Hybrid wheel loader by Volvo: Supported by the California Energy Commission, Volvo presented a prototype of its LX1 hybrid wheel loader that shall have 50% better fuel efficiency while doing the work of an even larger wheel loader. The new model couples a much smaller diesel engine (3 litre instead of 13 litre) with electric motors and hydraulics and a battery energy storage system.
greencarcongress.com
Ricardo’s new EV battery control tech: The British supplier draws attention to its new BMS for EVs that is said to be adaptable to a broad range of applications. Partly developed in the frame of a Li-sulfur project, the BMS shall optimise the performance of cell chemistries.
greencarcongress.com, ngtnews.com
Mercedes, BYD, Tesla, DS, Cummins, Dok-Ing.
Bye-bye B-series electric: There will be no more electric Mercedes B 250e once the third quarter of 2017 ends, a Daimler spokesperson confirmed. Launched in 2014, Mercedes used Tesla technology but with its switch to the EQ line and with no updates in three years, the B-series EV is outdated and has never been a big seller anyway. Instead Daimler is gearing up for EQ production at its Rastatt facility and we expect an outlook on the first EQ model at this autumn’s IAA show in Frankfurt.
electrive.net (in German)
BYD to sell battery cells: The Chinese EV maker decided to offer its battery cells to other OEMs, not entirely voluntarily though. Instead the cuts in subsidy required to open up the supply chain for battery production to stay competitive and BYD said it has received interest from large makers already. Deals will be made for cells only with packs coming from third parties.
autonews.gasgoo.com
Tesla targets India and Elon Musk says signs stay on green for a deal with the government to allow the Californians to sell despite not having set up a local factory – yet. The stock market welcomes such news and values Tesla higher than BMW at the moment, making it the world’s 4th valuable carmaker.
teslarati.com (India), insideevs.com (stock market)
Six DS PEVs until 2023: PSA premium brand DS is on track to become the groups electric arm and pland to lauch one new electrified model each year over the coming six years. First to come is the DS 7 Crossback E-Tense whose hybrid system delivers 300 hp and 60km electric range.
autocar.co.uk
Cummins for CEV: The U.S. manufacturer plans to make electric drives for buses from 2019. More industrial and commercial uses shall follow in the years to come, said Cummins.
reuters.com, drivespark.com
More EVs made in Croatia: Dok-Ing was founded in 2010 already but only now comes round to plan its electric line-up. It includes a car, a jeep, a small truck as well as a motorcycle – all electric. However, the Zagreb-based firm is still in talks with investors so the above are all a maybe.
total-croatia-news.com
MotoChimp, BMW, Mercedes.
Video tip I: Jonny Smith swings a leg atop the electric mini scooter MotoChimp in this episode of Fully Charged. This is low riding at a whole new level.
youtube.com
Video tip II: Both BMW and Daimler see their plug-in hybrids go head to head in this factual battle between a BMW 330e vs a Mercedes C350e.
youtube.com via carscoops.com
Events for the upcoming week: GREAT Midterm Conference (June 8; Copenhagen, Denmark) ++ WAVE 2017 (June 9-17; Switzerland) ++ eTourEurope (June 9-18; nine European countries) ++ FIA Formula E, Round 7 & 8 (June 10-11; Berlin, Germany) ++ You can find a complete list of events at electrive.com/calendar
Mercedes, Ola, BMW, Tesla, Ford, London.
Mercedes spreads EQ models evenly as Rastatt is the third plant in Germany that will join in to produce plug-ins for Daimler. The facilities in both Bremen and Sindelfingen had come to an agreement earlier, making the German carmaker’s electric endeavour a national one. For now. A decision to involve factories on other continents will depend on market demand. Mercedes calls the chosen sites “centres of competence” where EVs will be integrated in the regular working of the plants. The agreements had been reached with each workers’ councils and Rastatt will concentrate on compact EQ models such as the one expected to debut at the IAA later this year.
daimler.com
Another Indian EV maker? India’s equivalent to Uber, Ola is reportedly pushing electric transport and wants to put 1m hire EVs on the roads within the next 5 years. To get there it may step into manufacturing itself but has not turned to Mahindra but Toyota rather to allegedly deliver car bodies. Behind this move is SoftBank, the Japanese investor that holds large stakes in the cab-hailing service and now wants to make its investment count. India already is the world’s 4th largest car market and pushes for zero emission vehicles only by 2030. Still, Ola is keeping its options open and is behind the
electric cab pilot in Nagpur featuring 100 Mahindra e2o and another 100 EV of other makers.
factordaily.com
BMW i3 make over: The Bavarians will bring a revamped version of their all-electric model to this year’s IAA, including a performance version. While the i3 changes are rather stylistic, the BMW i3S will likely boast 15 kW more in peak power over the standard i3, adding up to a total of 140 kW. This extra push is to help with acceleration without eating into the renewed range of 300 km from the new 94 Ah battery.
autocar.co.uk
Model 3 update: Tesla released some more details as it lists options for its economy EV. Drivers will have a choice between two wheel size options, an optional glass roof, and coil suspension. Furthermore, a picture reveals a first glimpse of the dashboard. which looks like an oversized iPad fixed horizontally.
insideevs.com, electrek.co, dashboard
Ford strengthens is Smart Mobility unit as it lures back its former electric powertrain engineer Sherif Marakby, who left for Uber last year. Marakby will now serve as vice president of Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification under Jim Farley.
electrek.co, greencarcongress.com
As London prepares to ban non-electric cabs from its centre, competitors for the renewed TX5 of the London Taxi Company already line up before its launch. Where the classic comes with a range extender, Nissan bets on an all-electric model. The Dynamo Taxi, developed together with Dynamo Motor Company, is a repurposed Nissan e-NV200 with enough room for a wheelchair. Range is said to be 100 miles only but may be balanced with a recharge time of just 30 minutes. Sales are to start this summer with a London-ready version to be expected by autumn.
insidermedia.com, coventrytelegraph.net
