Archive for the ‘Electrified Vehicles’ Category
Annual sales expected to rise from 1% to 1.5% of total sales.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.23, 2018
The Chevy Bolt will be joined by two dozen other GM battery-electric vehicles by 2023.
Sales of battery electric vehicles are growing steadily and impressively, according to a key executive at Robert Bosch Gmbh, one of the world’s top automotive suppliers.
Sujit Jain, Bosch Group regional president, Passenger Cars and Electric Vehicles, Powertrain Solutions Division, noted the market share of battery electric vehicles has steadily grown in the U.S. since 2013, reaching nearly 1%.
EV News!
On the surface, the number appears small, but the rate of growth has been impressive with EV sales possibly reaching 1.5% this year, Jain said after a presentation at the Bosch Mobility Experience at the company’s North American test track in suburban Detroit. (more…)
Tags: Bosch executive hypes EV sales, EV sales U.S., TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, electric vehicle sales, ev news, joseph szczesny, new EV sales, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Asia Pacific, Automakers, Automobiles, China, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Europe, Executives, Hybrids, Markets, NAFTA, Personalities, Sales, South America, Technology, Trends, U.S./North America | No Comments »
CEO suggested problems were related to software issue.
by Michael Strong on May.22, 2018
Tesla's Elon Musk took to twitter to defend and explain some of the issues Consumer Reports came across in reviewing the Model 3.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to twitter – as he often does – to defend his company and the Model 3 and explain problems that Consumer Reports told its readers about were easily fixed.
The magazine, which stopped short of giving the Model 3 an endorsement, pointed out that the new sedan performed poorly in braking tests. In fact, it said it tested two vehicles and each of them performed worse in the 60-to-0 mph test than a new Ford F-150 truck.
EV News!
This happened even after the car it owned received a software update to improve the vehicle’s braking system. (more…)
Tags: Consumer Reports reviews Model 3, Edmunds reviews Model 3, Model 3 problems, Musk defends Model 3, Musk explains Model 3 problems, Musk strikes back over Model 3 reviews, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, elon musk, michael strong, tesla news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Executives, Markets, Personalities, Quality and Reliability, Safety, Sales, Technology, Tesla, U.S./North America | No Comments »
Consumer Reports, Edmunds point out problems with new sedan.
by Michael Strong on May.21, 2018
Tesla's Model 3 isn't getting the rave reviews from some media outlets the company would like.
Tesla’s Model 3 is slowly working its way on to the driveways of the tens of thousands of folks who ordered one — including Consumer Reports and Edmunds, and the results are not what the EV maker had hoped.
Consumer Reports said it “found plenty to like about the luxury compact sedan (which starts at $35,000 but goes all the way up to $78,000), including record-setting range as well as exhilarating acceleration and handling that could make it a healthy competitor to performance-oriented cars such as BMW’s 3 Series and the Audi A4.”
EV News!
However, it quickly pointed a few flaws in the new model, primarily long stopping distances in the magazine’s emergency braking test and difficult-to-use controls, that prevented it from earning a recommendation. (more…)
Tags: Consumer Reports pans Model 3, Edmunds long list of Model 3 problems, Model 3 issues, Model 3 news, Model 3 problems with media, Tesla Model 3 problems, Tesla Model 3 quality issues, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, michael strong, tesla news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Infotainment, Markets, Quality and Reliability, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Tesla, U.S./North America | No Comments »
Will “beat anything in its class on a track,” tweets Tesla’s Musk.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.21, 2018
Tesla CEO Musk claims the performance Model 3 will not only be faster, but handle better than the BMW M3.
Despite a painfully slow ramp-up of production, Tesla is planning to add a new high-performance version of its Model 3 sedan that CEO Elon Musk claims will be “quicker than a BMW,” and be able to “beat anything in its class on a track.”
In a series of tweets over the weekend, Musk fleshed out details about the all-wheel-drive electric vehicle, noting that it will launch from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds, top out at an Autobahn-burning 155 mph, and still yield 310 miles per charge – at least when driven a bit less aggressively. But the yet-unnamed performance version of the Model 3 will also cost $78,000, or about twice as much as a base version of the electric sedan.
News Now!
That steep jump actually isn’t entirely out of line, at least when comparing to the likes of a BMW 3-Series sedan. The German sports sedan starts at $34,900, around the same figure as a Model 3 before factoring in the $7,500 federal tax credit. The BMW M3 starts at $66,500, though appears to have less standard equipment than the Model 3 performance version. The Tesla includes AWD, for example, an otherwise $5,000 option.
(more…)
Tags: BMW 3-Series, auto news, bmw m3, bmw news, car news, ludicrous mode, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, tesla bmw, tesla ludicrous mode, tesla model 3, tesla model 3 performance, tesla news, tesla performance model 3, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Executives, First Look, Muscle Cars, Personalities, Product Reveals, Sales, Super Cars, Technology, Tesla | 1 Comment »
Company plans to move to just gas and electric only.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.18, 2018
The Volvo S60 will be the first sedan from the automaker that is offered without a diesel powerplant as an option.
Volvo Cars is implementing plans to stop offering diesel engines in its future vehicles.
The company announced this week the new Volvo S60 sedan – to be launched later this spring – will be the first Volvo to be produced without a diesel engine. The decision to eliminate a diesel engine on a model that will be sold worldwide highlights Volvo Cars’ “commitment to a long-term future beyond the traditional combustion engine,” the company said.
Product News!
“Our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. (more…)
Tags: S60 first Volvo with no diesel, TheDetroitBureau.com., Volvo S60 sedan debut, Volvo cutting diesel engines, Volvo diesel engines, Volvo diesel news, Volvo ends diesels with S60, Volvo moves toward electric, joseph szczesny, thedetroitbureau, volvo news
Posted in Asia Pacific, Automakers, Automobiles, China, Diesel, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Europe, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, South America, Technology, U.S./North America, Volvo | 1 Comment »
Japanese maker's first PHEV will use modified Toyota driveline.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.14, 2018
For 2019, Subaru will add a plug-in version of the Crosstrek likely to deliver over 20 miles per charge.
Little Subaru is about to get a helping hand from Japan’s biggest automaker, Toyota lending out its Prius Prime driveline for the smaller manufacturer’s first-ever plug-in hybrid.
Subaru has been teasing us with electrified concepts for quite a few years, mostly through its palindromic Viziv concept series. Now, finally, we’ll be getting the real think with the launch of the 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid.
We Keep You Plugged In!
“The new Crosstrek Hybrid maintains all the capability of the traditional Subaru Crosstrek with increased fuel efficiency,” the automaker revealed in a terse statement. “It can be driven as a normal Hybrid, using both gas and electric power and eliminating range anxiety, or driven on pure electric drive for local commuting.”
(more…)
Tags: 2019 subaru crosstrek hybrid, auto news, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, phev, subaru crosstrek hybrid, subaru crosstrek plug-in hybrid, subaru electric, subaru phev, subaru toyota, thedetroitbureau, toyota mazda, toyota news
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Chevrolet, China, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, Europe, Fuel Economy, GM, Hybrids, Kia, Markets, SUVs, Subaru, Technology, Toyota, U.S./North America | No Comments »
Batteries catch fire after high-speed impact.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.10, 2018
The National Transportation Safety Board launched a second investigation into a Tesla crash. This time a Model S burst into flames after spinning into a wall.
Even as federal investigators probe the cause of a fatal March crash in California, the National Transportation Safety Board is sending another team off to Florida to look into a fiery crash that killed two Ft. Lauderdale teenagers and seriously injured a third this week.
While the California probe focuses on the Tesla Autopilot system in use at the time of the crash, the new investigation aims to find out why the battery pack in the Model S sedan the teens were riding in burst into flames after the vehicle spun out of control into a wall.
Safety News!
“NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium-ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium-ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” noted NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt in a statement. (more…)
Tags: NTSB investigating Tesla, Tesla Autopilot crash, Tesla Model S crash and fire, Tesla NTSB second investigation, Tesla crash investigation, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, paul a. eisenstein, tesla news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, Driverless Vehicles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Markets, NHTSA Investigations, Safety, Technology, Tesla, U.S./North America | 4 Comments »
Delivery company keeps up history of using alt-fuel vehicles.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.10, 2018
UPS is working with UK tech firm Arrival on the development of new battery-electric delivery vans for Europe.
UPS has announced that it is working with UK-based technology firm Arrival to develop a pilot fleet of 35 electric delivery vehicles that will be tested in London and Paris.
Both cities are moving towards tighter restrictions on vehicles with internal combustion engines and zero tailpipe emission, lightweight composite vehicles have a battery range of more than 150 miles.
EV News!
The range is considerably better higher than other EVs currently in service, UPS officials said. (more…)
Tags: TheDetroitBureau.com., UPS EVs Europe, UPS battery-electrics Europe, UPS buys EVs for Euro cities, UPS electric delivery vans, auto news, battery-electric UPS vans, ev news, joseph szczesny, thedetroitbureau, ups news
Posted in Automobiles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Europe, Markets, Technology | No Comments »
Aiming for 800,000 annual EV, hybrid sales by 2025 – but still has to cope with ongoing diesel emissions problems.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.09, 2018
Audi hopes its new Q5 EV variant will help the automaker sell 800K EVs by 2025.
While it is only now preparing to launch its first long-range battery-electric vehicle, a variation on its Q5 SUV theme, Audi is laying out ambitious sales plans for its electrified line-up, starting with the August debut of its E-Tron SUV on Aug. 30.
The automaker this week said it intends to sell 800,000 battery-based vehicles, models ranging from conventional hybrids to long-range, all-electric offerings. It is expected to offer some form of electrified powertrain for essentially future models and will use two different platforms designed specifically to take the best advantage of battery power.
Product News!
The announcement comes even as Audi continues to struggle with problems related to the broader cheating on diesel emissions tests by parent Volkswagen Group. VW’s largest luxury group this week alerted German regulators that they had found problems involving 60,000 more diesel-powered vehicles. (more…)
Tags: Audi EV news, Audi Q5 EV variant, Audi ambitious EV plans, Audi selling 800K EVs, Audi wants to sell EVs, Audi's 800K EV goal by 2025, TheDetroitBureau.com., audi news, auto news, paul a. eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Asia Pacific, Audi, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, China, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Europe, Markets, NAFTA, Sales, Sales, South America, Technology, Trends, U.S./North America | 1 Comment »
Record R&D spending could hurt operating profit.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.09, 2018
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda is not only pushing for automotive sales growth, but leading the company into the emerging mobility sector.
Toyota saw earnings jump 21% between January and March, the final quarter of its fiscal year, despite having to sharply ramp up incentives in a slowing U.S. automotive market.
The automaker reported a profit of 480.8 billion yen, or $4.4 billion, up from 398 billion yen the year before. Toyota’s sales also rose 2% to 7.58 trillion yen, or $69 billion. For the full fiscal year, it earned 2.49 trillion yen, or $23 billion, a 36% increase, with sales rising 6%, to 29.38 trillion yen, or $268 billion.
Beyond the Numbers!
The strong performance helped highlight the cost-cutting efforts initiated by CEO and President Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder declaring, “We’ve become a leaner, trimmer company … and in the past year we’ve developed our remaining fat into muscle, so that we’re in a strong position to be more competitive.”
(more…)
Tags: Akio Toyoda, Toyota RAV4, auto news, car news, e-palette, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota earnings, toyota earns, toyota electric, toyota incentive, toyota mobility services, toyota news, toyota profit
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, Business, CES, Concept Cars, Driverless Vehicles, EVs, Earnings, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, Executives, Financials, Financing, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrids, Lexus, Markets, Monthly Results, Personalities, Product Reveals, Ride-Sharing, SUVs, Sales, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Toyota, Trends, U.S./North America | Comments Off
