Volkswagen’s electric people’s car looks like it could be a huge success
It was a bold statement from Volkswagen to claim that the ID.3 electric car would represent just the third chapter in the company’s long history. After all, the first two were rather successful – the original Beetle and then all generations of the Golf sold rather well didn’t they?
Still, if pre-orders are anything to go by, it seems as though the newly-named ID.3 could live up to that claim. Within 24 hours of opening up sales earlier this week, VW received a staggering 10,000 pre-orders.
VW ID.3 electric car in camouflage wrap (Image: Volkswagen)
All of those orders were for the 1st Edition spec, which includes the mid-spec battery and a range of over 260 miles at a cost of less than €40,000. Unfortunately, the camo-wrap above isn’t an option – we’ll see the final product at the Frankfurt motor show later this year.
BP Chargemaster is to install 100 rapid chargers across 50 of its petrol station forecourts by the end of this year.
Installs will begin in July, with the target of installing 400 150kW chargers by 2021.
Announced at an industry event this week by Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO of downstream at BP, the project was first teased earlier this year after BP Chargemaster opened a new rapid EV charging hub in Milton Keynes.
Milton Keynes ‘Mushrooms’ Charging Hub (Image: T. Larkum)
The chargers will add to BP’s Polar network, which currently boasts 400 rapid chargers across the UK, effectively doubling its numbers.
They are on the cusp of potentially dominating tech era
It’s no secret that the world is heading in the direction of pollution-free electric vehicles with many European and Asian countries already pledging to go electric within the next 20 to 30 years. However, it’s possible that this transition could be fast-tracked by our spending habits and constant need of the latest technology.
This is still the case, despite Tesla going through its fair share of criticisms in recent months. There being dips in sales, issues with their battery providers, controversy through chief executive Elon Musk’s Twitter usage and of course, underwhelming first quarter revenue returns. All of this has caused many investors to lose faith in the company. The only question we have to ask ourselves now is, is this loss of faith justified or a premature bailout during troubled times?
Tesla Model 3 (Image: Tesla)
Despite all the criticism involving Tesla, electric cars are still widely considered the future. But before investors or business owners planning to switch to electric could seriously consider anything to do with this so called “future,” we need to consider why electric cars are on the cusp of potentially dominating tech era.
The Changing Times
The last decade was all about the smartphone revolution, and before it was the dotcom era. Now, in 2019, it is believed the smartphone era is ending.
Therefore, we could slowly move our sights on to the next big technological advancement. Already, Uber has invested over $500 million into electric and driverless cars. Just imagine how much money ride-share companies like Uber would save annually not paying drivers.
What’s more, businesses that use many vehicles daily can also potentially save a ton of cash. This is because unlike gasoline cars, electric vehicles require less maintenance. This highlighted on Tesla’s website: “Tesla cars require no traditional oil changes, fuel filters, spark plug replacements or emission checks. As electric cars, even brake pad replacements are rare because regenerative braking returns energy to the battery, significantly reducing wear on brakes.”
In addition, our obsession for revolutionary technology, especially upgrading technology regularly, is something that can really make electric vehicles fast track from the future to present sooner than expected. It has become almost unusual for consumers to allow technology to linger around for too long nowadays.
Every school in capital is over WHO limit of 10mg of PM2.5 per cubic metre
Air pollution is thought to contribute to around 40,000 early deaths a year
Comes as Rosamund Kissi-Debrah won right for new inquest into Ella’s death
Asthma-suffering daughter lived near busy road in Hither Green, south London
Millions of schoolchildren are being poisoned by pollution every day, analysis has shown.
About 6,500 nursery, primary and secondary schools with a total of 2.6million children are in areas where levels of toxic particles exceed the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit.
The fine particles tested, known as PM2.5, are the most dangerous form of air pollution and can get into the lungs and into the blood stream.
Research by The Times using data from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory found that every school in the capital is over the WHO limit of 10mg per cubic metre, along with 234 in Birmingham. Leicester and Nottingham each have dangerous levels affecting more than 100 schools.
The revelations come days after Rosamund Kissi-Debrah from south London won her fight for a new inquest into the death of her daughter, Ella.
She says the nine-year-old asthma sufferer’s death in 2013 was caused by toxic fumes from a busy road near their home in Hither Green.
Air pollution is thought to contribute to 40,000 early deaths a year, and is particularly dangerous for the young, the elderly and those with lung conditions.
Britain’s electric vehicle revolution is being hampered by a “bottleneck” in global battery production, as demand far outstrips supply of zero-emission vehicles.
An investigation by the Press Association found that some dealers were telling customers they could be waiting more than a year if they placed an order for an EV today, with some manufacturers confirming they couldn’t guarantee the number of vehicles coming to the UK in the future.
Kia and Hyundai appear to be the worst affected, with the former’s e-Niro and latter’s Kona and Ioniq Electric experiencing 12-month-plus wait times.
Hyundai Kona Electric (Image: Hyundai)
Jaguar, Tesla, Nissan, Smart, Audi and Volkswagen are all also experiencing delays with their electric vehicle offerings of between two and five months.
A Kia spokesperson blamed global demand and battery supply, calling the e-Niro “a victim of its own success” and adding that the South Korean firm’s 2019 UK allocation of about 800 cars sold out within two weeks of going on sale in January.
He said: “The simple fact is our battery suppliers cannot make battery packs quickly enough for the demand, and if we haven’t got battery packs, we cannot sell the cars.”
Both Kia and its sister company Hyundai said they were taking reservations for 2020 deliveries and would contact interested customers once pricing and delivery time frames were clearer.
HYUNDAI has released details and pictures of the updated Ioniq Electric car which has more range, updated styling, and a few other new features.
Hyundai has unveiled the new Ioniq Electric car which has a number of modifications and tweaks to make it more compelling than before.
Of the changes to the updated Ioniq Electric car, the most important of them is a new battery pack which allows for more overall range.
New longer range Hyundai IONIQ Electric (Image: Hyundai)
The size of the battery pack has increased from 28kWh to 38.3 kWh which now allows a total range of 182-miles of WLTP of range on a single charge.
This is an increase of the previously claimed 174-miles, and what was claimed in WhatCar’s? Real Range data which stated that the car has an estimated useable range of 117-miles.
Most people who are contemplating an EV labour under the petrol station mindset.
It’s entirely understandable, because that’s how we’ve always driven. When the tank’s empty, we stop at a station, or even drive specially to one, and fill up. So when thinking about EVs, we worry about how long it takes to charge en-route, and how many chargers there are, and whether they’ll be occupied when we get there.
But once they’ve had an EV for a while, owners flip right out of that mindset. Only about three per cent of UK charging is done on roadside rapid chargers. That’s tiny. Here’s why. You’ve plugged in overnight at home. If your petrol tank was magically nearly full every morning, you wouldn’t often stop at a station.
We’re programmed to think about recharge times because with a petrol car, getting energy into the thing occurs only while we’re standing on a wet, greasy forecourt holding a hose. In an EV, energy can go into it while we’re sleeping or working or shopping. Even if we don’t shop for eight hours, it’ll still give enough juice for a useful distance. After all, you often see people putting in a tenner’s worth of petrol.
Slow charging is the EV world’s Cinderella. Forgotten but vital. The headline recharge times are the rapid DC roadside stops. But say you buy an EV with 250 miles’ range. Now look at a map and see how often you drive – in one hit – to places more than 250 miles from home. For most of us, a few times a year. That’s when you’d want a rapid charge of under 45 minutes or so. The rest of the time, slow charging is just fine.
It turns out most electric-car drivers don’t even bother to plug in every night, or necessarily to fully charge. People have regular driving habits, and if that means 40 or 50 miles a day, a couple of plug-ins a week is fine. Plus ever more shops and town centres are installing free chargers to tempt EV owners to visit.
Tesla’s entry-level saloon starts at a whisker under £40,000
UK order books are open for the Tesla Model 3, and we finally have a price: £38,900 for the rear-wheel drive Standard Range Plus (SRP) model, inclusive of the government’s £3,500 plug-in car grant. Deliveries start in June.
Maybe not as cheap as we were initially led to believe (Tesla promised prices would start at $35,000, which in today’s money is £26,600), but not bad. For a bit of context, £38,900 is around £3,000 more than a top-spec Nissan Leaf, and about the same as a 2.0-litre petrol BMW 330i.
Tesla Model3 (Image: Wikimedia/Carlquinn)
The SRP Model 3 manages 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds, will hit 140mph and claims 258 miles of range. Next up is the Long Range model, which gets dual motors for all-wheel drive. It takes 4.5 seconds to hit 60mph, has a top speed of 145mph and costs £47,900. Finally there’s the Performance. Also dual-motor, it does 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds and tops out at 162mph. It will cost from £56,900, and has a claimed range of 329 miles.
The Tesla Model 3 is the first affordable, mass-produced model in the American manufacturer’s all-electric range, offering customers something very different from conventional rivals such as the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Jaguar XE and Alfa Romeo Giulia.
The Model 3 has no direct electric rivals for now; it’s more expensive than EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona Electric but smaller and cheaper than the Jaguar I-Pace. It’s closer to the Jaguar in nature, however, thanks to its minimalist but luxurious high-tech interior, massive desirability and incredible performance.
The newest Tesla is a clear evolution from the design of the Model S but with extra emphasis on the amount of interior space that can be gained owing to the absence of a conventional combustion engine. This has resulted in a bonnet that is much shorter and a rear window that stretches almost to the tail, maximising room for passengers and their luggage. There are myriad clever features, from the key that’s actually your smartphone to a single-slot air-vent that can somehow adjust airflow and direction as if by magic.
Tesla Model 3 (Image: Tesla.com)
Three versions are available initially, starting with the rear-wheel drive Standard Range Plus that’s capable of 258 miles from a full charge and 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds. Long Range AWD and Performance versions gain an extra motor and four-wheel drive, giving the Performance almost supernatural acceleration – 0-60mph takes 3.2 seconds. These more expensive versions have 348 and 329 miles of range respectively.
The Model 3 Long Range AWD feels addictively fast and relaxing, thanks to near-silence from its electric motors. The car’s handling belies its weight, with excellent grip and good resistance to body roll, and the suspension is comfortable enough to allay our fears the Model 3 would feel too stiff on British roads.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti isn’t waiting for Congress to act on the threat of climate change.
Today he introduced the city’s own version of the Green New Deal, which establishes goals of a zero carbon grid, zero carbon transportation, zero carbon buildings, zero waste, and zero wasted water by 2050.
Citing the environmental disasters the city has faced in recent years, the mayor explains in the 150-page plan that “the scale of our ambitions must meet the magnitude of this crisis.”
“Politicians in Washington don’t have to look across the aisle in Congress to know what a Green New Deal is — they can look across the country, to Los Angeles,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti in a news release. “With flames on our hillsides and floods in our streets, cities cannot wait another moment to confront the climate crisis with everything we’ve got. L.A. is leading the charge, with a clear vision for protecting the environment and making our economy work for everyone.”
Building upon the Sustainable City Plan introduced in 2015, this new version raises the bar with goals of recycling 100 percent of the city’s wastewater and zeroing out carbon emissions generated by buildings, transportation, electricity, and trash, with a heavy focus on mobility, public transit, zero emissions vehicles.
