Category Archives: Electric Cars

News and reviews of the latest electric cars (full electrics and plug-in hybrids).

Toyota Is Trying to Catch Up in the Crowded EV Race. It May Be Too Late.

May 19, 2022News, Reviews and Comment, Toyota, UncategorizedRepost

Toyota Motor became the world’s most successful car company through the spirit of or continuous improvement. Now, with electric vehicles on the rise, kaizen might prove to be its undoing.

Kaizen is all about evolution and refinement. It helped Toyota (ticker: TM) break into the U.S. market with the Toyopet Crown sedan in the late 1950s, take 5% of market share by the 1980s with its fuel-efficient Corollas, and finally become the top-selling auto maker in North America. Along the way, it became the car manufacturer to emulate,…

Investors have piled into energy stocks this year, sending prices sharply higher, but bargains remain in the sector. Shell, the United Kingdom–domiciled energy giant, is one.

Shell (ticker: SHEL) has some of the most attractive assets in the global energy business, notably the world’s largest liquefied natural-gas business and the biggest network of service stations. But at a recent $55, its U.S.-listed shares trade for just six times projected 2022 earnings of $9 a share. Exxon Mobil (XOM), at $86, fetches nine times estimated…

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Farewell, BMW i3: how EV changed the face of motoring

May 18, 2022BMW, i3, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

We take one last look at pioneering city car which forged the i-brand template a decade ago

The year is 2013 and the BMW i3 has just been launched.

Cast your mind back: the world was mercifully free of Covid, we were still three years away from teenagers TikToking, Prince Harry was mates with his brother and no one had yet thought that chucking a bucket of iced water over your head would lead to millions in charity donations.

It feels like a lifetime ago, and in car terms it was. Nine years is a life cycle and a half in most model runs, yet here we are today, still looking at a new i3 and still marvelling at it. And mourning it, because production will end in July.

It has been tipped as a future classic, no less than in our recent Autocar-Beaulieu Future Classics competition, and little wonder. There were other EVs before the i3 (heck, BMW itself had one with the Mini E trial fleet), but the i3 is the one that felt – and still feels – like it defined an era. A movement, even.

Why? I think it’s due to the integrity of the idea: the i3 was born electric.

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Volkswagen says its electric cars have ‘sold out’ for 2022 as demand for EVs in Europe doubles

May 17, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, VolkswagenRepost

German carmaker Volkswagen has “sold out” of battery-electric vehicles in the United States and Europe, meaning new customers will have to wait until 2023 to get one.

VW Group CEO Herbert Diess told the Financial Times that the company’s brands – which include Volkswagen, Porsche, Škoda and Audi – had a backlog of 300,000 orders for EVs in western Europe alone.

“We have very high order books and… order intake on electric vehicles,” Diess told the FT.

“We are basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States. And in China, it’s really picking up,” he added.

Volkswagen delivered 99,000 EVs worldwide in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Top rival Tesla, the world’s biggest electric car maker, delivered over three times that number in the same period, at 310,048.

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SMMT figures show battery electric vehicles bucking the trend of declining new car sales

May 16, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales have continued to rise year-on-year despite overall declines in the new car market according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The SMMT figures show that during April 2022, 12,899 BEVs were sold, an increase of 40.9% on the same month last year. New car sales overall, however, fell 15.8%.

BEV sales during April 2022 made up 10.8% of the market, up from 6.5% last year.

It follows March being the best ever month for sales of BEVs, with more sold in the month than in the entirety of 2019. This is of particular note as overall new car sales in the UK fell by -14.3%, making it the weakest March since 1998.

The SMMT April figures can be compared to figures from New AutoMotive, released earlier this week, which put the market share of BEVs at a very similar 10.77%. However, New AutoMotive’s figures show there were 11,685 BEVs sold during the month.

SMMT’s figures, meanwhile, show that to date this year, there have been 77,064 BEV sales – a 88.3% year-on-year increase. Sales of BEVs to date this year therefore represent a 14.4% market share, compared to a 7.2% market share this time last year.

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Volkswagen already sold out of electric cars for 2022

May 13, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Uncategorized, VolkswagenRepost

Volkswagen is “basically sold out” of electric cars for this year in Europe and the USA, according to Group CEO Herbert Diess, as persistent bottlenecks in the supply chain are affecting global production.

In the first quarter, the Wolfsburg-based group handed over 99,100 BEVs to customers worldwide across all brands. In Western Europe alone, the order backlog for the electric vehicle models stands at 300,000 vehicles, Diess now stated in the context of the announcement of the business figures for the first quarter of 2022. Customers who now place orders for electric cars in Europe and the USA would not receive their vehicles before 2023.

VW’s 99,100 BEVs made it the world’s second-largest EV manufacturer in Q1 in terms of volume – but market leader Tesla delivered more than three times as many vehicles to customers, with over 300,000 units.

VW is targeting a total of around 700,000 electric vehicle sales for 2022 as a whole. However, production has been hampered, especially in China, where only 28,800 electric cars were sold in the first quarter due to pandemic-related lockdowns.

Despite the restrictions in China and the shortfalls in Europe due to a lack of Ukrainian-made wiring harnesses, Diess said demand had remained robust. “We have very high order books and […] order intake on electric vehicles,” Diess added. “That accounts for all of our models from ID.3, ID.4, the Audi models — [all] are extremely well received in the markets, Škoda models are also very well received in Europe.”

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Electric vehicles: separating the fact from the fiction and scaremongering

May 10, 2022Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, UncategorizedRepost

The transport industry is currently on the precipice of a revolution. 27% of all emissions in the UK come from transport, meaning it is a race against time to decarbonise. This revolution is most apparent with the fast roll-out of electric passenger vehicles. Data from New AutoMotive shows that over 190,000 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the UK last year, making up 11.65% of the new car market, just nudging past the diesel share. 2022 looks set to be another record-breaking year for EV sales, but it could be even higher with the right government policies. Despite the fact that EVs are a hugely popular practical solution to the climate crisis, considerable misinformation is stalling progress.

Common anti-EV myths

The term ‘technology agnostic policy’, for the most part, is the strategy the UK government is implementing in order to reach the Net Zero by 2050 target. They are not choosing a certain technology to get us there but simply pushing the market to reach the target in the most viable way possible. However, a common criticism levelled at the transition to electric is that the market is being artificially pushed by the government and neither the market nor consumers want this change. The reality is that these things are not mutually exclusive and in order for a fairly distributed transition to occur some government intervention is necessary. Over 40 countries have signed up to gasoline and diesel phase-outs and many major OEMs have pledged to transition to an all-electric fleet. And the customers have followed in increasing numbers—an estimated 4.2 million EVs were sold worldwide last year.

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EVs dominate 2022 World Car Awards

May 6, 2022Electric Cars, Hyundai, Ioniq 5, IONIQ Electric, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

In a nod to the assured arrival of the battery-electric age, electrified vehicles swept the World Car Awards presented at the New York Auto Show this week.

This year marks the first that EVs dominated the annual awards, which are presented at the show every spring. The awards, which are chosen by 102 jurors from 33 countries (including myself), underscore the industry’s acceleration toward electrification.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 took top honors, claiming three of the awards’ six categories: World Car of the Year, World Electric Car and World Car Design. Hyundai’s newest EV bested the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Kia EV6 from its sister brand to earn the top title.

The crossover represents the automaker’s next-generation mobility strategy, with efficient powertrain technology, cutting-edge features and futuristic utilitarian design.

The Mercedes-Benz EQS, the futuristic, electrified version of the automaker’s S-Class executive sedan, was named World Luxury Car for its performance and premium cabin.

As World Performance Car, the Audi e-tron GT couples sporty performance with everyday usability. “Our big goal with the Audi e-tron GT was to reimagine the gran turismo philosophy for the electric age,” says Christiane Zorn, Audi’s head of product marketing.

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The Toyota bZ4X: Solidly middling EV

May 5, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Toyota, UncategorizedRepost

The bZ4X leaves us wondering who Toyota made this for?

Toyota isn’t the first automotive brand that pops to mind when it comes to battery electric vehicles.

Toyota might be the largest automaker in the world — reportedly selling more than 9.5 million vehicles globally and stealing the crown from Volkswagen Group — but the company has been markedly absent from the battery electric vehicle (BEV) space.

That is, until the 2023 Toyota bZ4X came along.

Toyota has shown off 30 different hybrid, battery-electric and alternative powertrain concepts in everything from a pickup to a sports car and has promised to deliver them all by 2030. The company has even committed a whooping $17.6 billion investment in battery technology and announced that it will build a battery plant in North Carolina.

For now, the 2023 Toyota bZ4X is the lone representative of the company’s EV plans — an awkwardly named crossover that raises some questions about what the company really believes to be the future of battery-electric vehicles and just how committed they are to the entire thing.

TechCrunch, along with other media, had a chance to get a first drive of the Toyota bZ4X. Here’s what we found.

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Study breaks down electric cars against their petrol equivalents

May 4, 2022Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, UncategorizedRepost

The LV= Electric Car Cost Index, created in partnership with Euan McTurk of Plug Life Consulting, has explored the purchase price, tax, insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs for 13 pure electric cars against their petrol or diesel equivalents to establish the total cost of ownership. It found that the Nissan Leaf, MG5 Long Range Excite, and the Mini Electric Level 1 were three of the best value electric cars for drivers considering going green.

The same three electric cars turned out cheaper whether bought, leased, or financed via PCP agreement.

All 13 electric cars analysed were cheaper than their petrol or diesel equivalent models if bought upfront, saving drivers £3,862 over the average ownership period of seven years. Seven of the 13 were cheaper across a four-year lease term, while four were cheaper on a three-year PCP agreement.

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World’s Electric Vehicle Fleet Will Soon Surpass 20 Million

May 3, 2022Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, UncategorizedRepost

The world is about to pass an important milestone in electric vehicle adoption, which will help combat the rise in worldwide emissions

Pandemic restrictions in 2020 caused the largest absolute drop in carbon-dioxide pollution from energy use since the Second World War. However, lockdowns eventually lifted, and as economic activity picked up, emissions resumed quickly by the year’s end. In December, worldwide emissions were 2% higher than the same month in 2019, according to new data from the International Energy Agency.

On the other hand, electricity generated from the sun and wind reached a record 20% of the mix of global energy sources for the first time, and electric vehicles (EVs) sold in record numbers.

At the moment, the world is about to pass an important milestone in electric vehicle adoption: 20 million plug-in vehicles are on the road globally, according to BNEF estimates. That’s a remarkable growth from only 1 million EVs on roads in 2016.

In the second half of 2022, almost a million EVs a month will be added to the global fleet, according to BNEF estimates. Vehicles eventually get retired from the fleet due to age, wear-and-tear, crashes and battery degradation. But that’s not a big part of the EV story so far, mostly because the majority of EVs in the global fleet were sold in the past 18 months. By the end of 2022, BNEF is expecting over 26 million plug-in vehicles on the road.

China accounts for 46% of the total sales to date, followed by Europe at 34%. North America is at third place with 15%, but policy support should get the EV market moving this year and next. All the remaining countries combined account for 5% of the global EV fleet.

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