The Volkswagen Group is reorganising its management team for the planned electric offensive in the USA. There will be a change of chief at Volkswagen Group of America: the current CEO Scott Keogh will personally take over responsibility for the new electric brand Scout.
Read more
VW plans to start series production of the ID.4 at its US plant in Chattanooga in July and to bring the vehicles to dealers in “significant quantities” from September. That would be several months earlier than previously planned.
Read more
VW will start series production of the ID.4 in the USA in September or October 2022, according to its North American unit head. There will probably be slight differences to the examples of the electric SUV built in Europe.
Read more- ADVERTISEMENT -
“A full-electric Smart Fortwo will be available at the end of 2016. We’ll start in the U.S. It will be available in both the coupe and Cabrio version. The Forfour will also be offered in Europe and China in full electric.”
Smart CEO Annette Winkler is laying out the strategy for the electric Smart – finally – and hopes to increase sales beyond the USA. Especially California proves a great ground for Smart’s electric offering due to favourable policies.
automobilemag.com
“We need to make a choice – keep riding the wave or jump to something else. If you make a leap to something new, it’s a huge opportunity (…) I believe we in the auto industry can be the disruptors.”
Audi of America president Scott Keogh wants to go all in and push electrification, as he believes that “electrification of the industry to be inevitable.”
autonews.com
“We are not actively working on providing infrastructure [for the Bolt EV].”
Says CEO Mary Barra, even though the new electric car comes with the widely spread CCS charger. Time will tell if the move is wise or if GM will change its mind. After all, they want the Bolt to appeal to the masses.
greencarreports.com
“I see electric vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids as a way of bridging the gap between the internal combustion engine and pure fuel cell technology.”
Tony Whitehorn, president and CEO of Hyundai UK, believes the automobile market will change completely over the next five years. Whether the EV “bridge” will have to hold that or a little longer remains to be seen. Whitehorn says projections show that by 2030, some 300,000 FCVs will be sold in the UK annually.
autocar.co.uk
Audi of America president Scott Keogh is open to a different sales concept for electric vehicles. While there was no confirmation that Audi will open up EV stores, he acknowledges that Tesla’s methods seem to work, while traditional dealerships have trouble selling electric cars.
autoblog.com
“The pace of innovation does seem to be accelerating. We’re kind of right at the tipping point where the current performance and lifetime of batteries roughly equal that of fossil fuels. If you are able to double that, the prospects are huge.”
Tesla CTO JB Straubel explains how Tesla is not only helping climate change by pushing electric cars, but also battery development by offering energy storage solutions for homes, which enable owners to store renewable energy and use it when needed.
usnews.com
Audi of America president Scott Keogh has high hopes for the production car that will come out of the e-tron quattro concept. He believes it to become not only the “most reasonably priced” but also a “hot” electric SUV.
cnbc.com
“We understand that we need to meet that regulation, and we are doing some research and working on the electrification of our vehicles. For the Japanese market, we have produced an electric vehicle. For hybrid systems, we have a license from Toyota and are continuing research in that area.”
Mazda President and CEO Masamichi Kogai goes so far as to say that the company is considering more electric and hybrid solutions. He also mentions a rotary engine that can “switch” between hydrogen and gasoline.
latimes.com
Tesla-CTO JB Straubel here comments on the manufacturer’s possible expansion into Korea. While the Californian EV maker sees it as an important market in the future, a date for the move has not been set yet.
koreaobserver.com
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Audi of America president Scott Keogh may blend wishful thinking with necessity, but his vision is surely worth spreading and maybe even expanding. He puts his hopes in the production version that will follow the e-tron Quattro concept.
autoblog.com
“Looking back the development of China’s auto industry, there has never been a really successful high-end domestic auto brand, most of them are just stuck with low-end products and low-end markets. Denza will pioneer its own way and become a domestic EV brand that could proudly represent China.”
Xiaoqing Hu, Marketing Director at Denza, wants to position the brand as the Daimler of China, adding that Denza values quality more than sales. It surly got all the Benz genes inherited from its JV partner.
autonews.gasgoo.com
Just days after the unveiling of the e-tron Quattro concept, Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, already promises a second electric vehicle a few years down the road. Falling prices and better energy density of batteries will fuel a demand for Audi EVs, says Keogh.
autonews.com
“For us to achieve our long-term goal, which is to get people driving electric vehicles, we need the cooperation of traditional carmakers. When you hear companies like Porsche or BMW make very public commitments to this, it’s a vindication of what we’re trying to do.”
Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes says that he hopes that as German carmakers show their commitment to electrification as they did in Frankfurt, it will spur EV uptake in the country in general and therefore also Tesla sales there.
bloomberg.com
“We use different types of battery cells. We have the round cells, which are used by Tesla and we also use these in the R8. We also have prismatic cells, which we use in our e-tron cars and there are pouch technology cells. They are the three types we use.”
Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for technical development of Audi, explained that the use of different battery cells enables the VW group to influence supplier pricing and push down costs.
caradvice.com
Audi America President Scott Keogh is building a strong business case for the A3 e-tron, which he believes to be the “perfect bridge-product.”
wardsauto.com
“It’s unlikely the whole industry will shift and change to a Tesla-type battery. Whatever value is there, I do not think it’s in their batteries.”
John O’Dell, senior analyst at Edmunds, is questioning the disruptive force of Tesla publishing its patents as the Californian batteries are pretty costly. Value for the Big 3 might lie however, in the charging technology and infrastructure.
detroitnews.com
“As you are aware, the current electric drive has only been on the market since 2012. We will launch its successor by 2016.”
Smart’s head of Marketing Martin Hülder dampens expectations as he sets the electric version of the newly unveiled Smart generation in only two years time.
motor-talk.de (interview in German)
