Ford is delaying shipments of Mach-E electric vehicles due to the global chip shortage that’s causing problems across all manner of industries. The company told affected owners their deliveries will be delayed by at least six weeks.
In an effort to make up for the delay, Ford is offering an additional 250kWh worth of charging on the house, which should be good for around 700 miles of driving. That doubles the complimentary charging Mach E owners receive with their EV. According to Elektrek, the delay affects EVs that were scheduled for production between July 5th and October 1st.
“We’d like you to know that while we’re working nonstop to deliver your very own Mustang Mach-E vehicle, we project your vehicle delivery will be delayed by a minimum of six weeks," Ford wrote in an email to customers. “Once your vehicle receives the required chip, your vehicle status will be updated, and you’ll receive an email with an estimated week of delivery.”
Audi has just come out with a pretty wild EV concept: A convertible roadster that extends its wheelbase to transform into a grand tourer (GT). With the touch of a button, the Audi Skysphere's entire front end can extend or retract 9.8-inches (and drop 0.4 inches).
The Skysphere is meant to show Audi's design chops as well as its technical prowess. It took inspiration from the company's 1931 Horch 853, a long, low roadster with a pushed-back cabin and rear-wheel drive. The modern concept retains those primary features, in spades, with the long snout and low, laid-back cockpit giving it a mild resemblance to rear-drive GTs like the Ferrari 812 Superfast.
Audi
In place of the straight-8 gas guzzler on the Horch, the concept car has a 623-horsepower electric motor and an 80-kWh battery, with much of it behind the rear bulkhead. That makes for a Porsche 911-like rear weight bias of 60-40, meaning it would be easy to get the Skysphere sideways if it was ever built. It also delivers 553 foot-pounds of torque, enough to take it to 60 MPH in around 4 seconds. At the same time, it will go around 310 miles on the Euro WLPT cycle, or less in EPA terms.
The interior is meant to evoke 1930s Art Deco architecture (matching the period of the Horch), with modern electronic conveniences. It has a full dashboard screen like the Honda E, along with large touchscreens at the armrest locations. The sharply angled, minimalist interior is designed for a Level 4 autonomous operation, so you can relax in GT mode and take control when you want to have some roadster-powered fun.
Roadster sport mode
Audi
Grander tourer (GT) mode
Audi
The most unique (though perhaps highly unrealistic) feature of the Skysphere is the variable wheelbase (above). Electric motors drive a telescoping structure that takes it from a long-wheelbase grand touring EV to a considerably shorter and lower roadster. It also uses active aerodynamics that are closed in GT mode and open in roadster form. When activated, they would duct air under the car for extra downforce.
The interior also transforms, pushing the steering wheel and pedals forward and the passenger seat rearward in roadster mode, while the dash moves forward to become a more driver-centric instrument panel. Despite the sporty nature of the EV, it has space for custom luggage and two golf club sets.
All told, the Skysphere concept is a fun take on an EV that could be two cars at once, offering both driver fun and some autonomy if you wanted to relax. Don't expect to see one on a road near you, but some of the ideas may one day come to Audi EVs. The automaker also announced that it will unveil two other concepts, the Grandsphere and Urbansphere, in the coming months.
Renault is looking to revive flagging sales in China. It has agreed to set up a joint venture with a major auto manufacturer in the country. Renault will share tech and resources with Geely (which owns Volvo and Polestar) to bring Renault-branded hybrid vehicles to China.
The companies plan to take advantage of Geely's supply chain and manufacturing capabilities. Renault will focus on sales and marketing.
Along with China, the companies are eyeing South Korea as a key market for their joint venture. They plan to sell localized versions of hybrids from Geely's Lynk & Co brand.
The joint venture will likely expand to other Asian markets in the future, according to Reuters, which reported that Renault and Geely are considering making fully electric vehicles as well. Renault recently announced an ambitious timeline for electrifying its vehicles. It forecasts that 65 percent of its lineup will be electric by 2025.
Having a partnership in China seems important for Renault, which has struggled to sell cars under its own name in the country. It sold just 2,324 Renault-branded cars there in 2020, a drop of 89 percent from the previous year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the global semiconductor shortage. In comparison, Jinbei and Huasong, brands owned by a joint venture between Renault and Brilliance Auto, sold 154,049 vehicles in China last year.
You'll have to temper your expectations if you were hoping to drive a Cybertruck before 2021 was over. Electreknotes that Tesla has quietly pushed the release of the electric pickup to next year on its configuration page, telling you that you'll get to customize your truck when "production nears in 2022." This applies regardless of model — Tesla had already warned that single-motor trucks would arrive later, but that now applies to the dual- and tri-motor machines.
Tesla had already hinted the 2021 target might not be realistic. Elon Musk said in January that there would only be a "few deliveries" of Cybertrucks in 2021, and that volume production was set for 2022. While the company stuck to that claim in its July quarterly report, the company only recently finished the engineering design for the EV — it would have just a few months to finish development and ship those initial trucks.
That could pose a competitive challenge for Tesla. GMC's Hummer EV is now poised to beat the Cybertruck to market barring delays. Even with setbacks, Rivian is still due to release its R1T truck in September. And while Ford's F-150 Lightning isn't due until spring 2022, the Cybertruck may have lost its first-mover advantage.
The delay wouldn't be surprising, though. The Cybertruck's cold-rolled steel body requires unique manufacturing techniques, and that's not including broader technical hurdles like the tri-motor system. Tesla is also known for optimistic timetables that clash with the realities of production. The automaker can at least count on pent-up demand, though. With over 1 million Cybertruck reservations, Tesla could have plenty of demand even if many of those would-be buyers have second thoughts.
Audi is hard at work preparing the RS Q E-Tron for the 2022 Dakar Rally in hopes that it can earn the distinction of being the first electrified vehicle to win the grueling competition. In fact, the vehicle has just completed an eight-day endurance test near the Spanish city of Zaragoza. The Volkswagen subsidiary tested the off-road SUV on unpaved ground back in July. But this was the first time it put the vehicle through its paces in actual conditions it's expected to encounter during one of the toughest rallies in the world.
Three teams with two drivers each participated in the event, dividing the eight days and 1,056 miles of intensive testing between them. On the gravel roads that stretched for up to 11 miles, the RS Q E-Tron reached a speed of 112 mph. The drivers admitted that there's still some fine-tuning to be done, but they were impressed with the vehicle's performance. Arnau Niubó Bosch, Audi's development engineer, explained that the test "was focused on getting in as much driving as possible and detecting weak spots." For the SUV's next test in September, Audi will take it into the dunes for the first time.
As we previously mentioned, the RS Q E-Tron has an electric drivetrain with two modified Formula E motors. It has an energy converter with a TFSI engine to charge its battery while driving and braking, since one wouldn't find charging stations in the middle of a rally. That means it's not a zero-emissions vehicle, though Audi says the converter is energy efficient.
President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it's a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US "outcompete" a Chinese car industry that's quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.
In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration's rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the "momentum" from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA's proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA's would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.
The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a "shared aspiration" to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden's vehicle electrification policies.
It's a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.
However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis' Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.
Nissan has unveiled its 2022 Leaf with more standard features and a lower base price tag that makes it the cheapest EV in the US, the company announced. The most basic model, the Leaf S with a 40 kWh battery, now costs $27,400 or $28,375 including the destination charge — or $20,875 if you qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit. That means it's less than the $29,900 Mini SE and can go farther, too, with 149 miles of range versus 114.
The 40 kWh Leaf SV drops from $34,935 to $28,800, while the longer-range 62 kWh Leaf SV Plus is now $32,400 compared to $38,245 (all prices exclude destination charges and federal incentives). The S and SV models deliver 147 horsepower, 236 pound feet of torque and up to 149 miles of EPA range, while the S Plus offers more powerful 160 kW motor that produces 214 horsepower, 250 pound feet of torque and 226 miles of range.
Nissan
The $4,245 price drop for the basic S Leaf compared to the 2021 model, and even more dramatic $6,135 decrease for the SV model, sounds like a lot. However, the new prices essentially match what buyers were paying for Leafs last year if you count buyer incentives, as Motor Trend reported. And of course, the Leaf has essentially become passé as Nissan prepares to sell the Ariya early in 2022.
Still, the new prices will help buyers compare prices without having to jump through hoops. And the new models do have some useful improvements. The main thing is that all Leaf models now include a CHAdeMo quick charge port, ProPilot assist and Nissan's "Intelligent Around View" monitor as standard.
The Leaf isn't as fun, nor as attractive, as a lot of other EVs out there. But $20,875 for the base model, (including federal incentives and destination charge) is the lowest number we've seen next to a brand new EV with decent range in the US, ever.
Nestled in President Biden’s sprawling 2,702-page Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a provision that could one day require vehicles sold in the US to come with a feature that detects when someone gets behind the wheel of their car drunk. First spotted by Reuters, the clause orders the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to study the feasibility of various alcohol-detection systems and establish a final set of rules within three years. After that period, automakers would have 24 months to comply with the new regulation.
The provision doesn’t lay out the exact technologies NHTSA should explore other than to say the final product should “passively monitor” a driver to “accurately identify” whether they can drive their car safely. If the agency doesn’t finalize a set of rules within 10 years, it will have to detail the hurdles it encountered in a report to Congress.
An anti-drunk driving technology isn’t the only new safety feature the bill could require automakers to implement in their vehicles. Per Bloomberg, other parts of the legislation would mandate automatic emergency braking, the inclusion of crash avoidance systems in new cars and alerts that would remind drivers to check the back seats of their vehicle after exiting it. That last feature would ideally help prevent parents from leaving their kids in a car on a hot day.
The push to use technology to address drunk driving isn’t surprising. According to a 2020 report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, cars with built-in alcohol-detection systems could save as many as 9,000 lives in the US every year. Over the past decade, drunk driving played a part in 30 percent of all roadway deaths.
Back in 2019, Tesla pushed an over-the-air update to its Model S sedans following an incident wherein the vehicle caught fire in a Hong Kong parking lot. As CNBC notes, it said at the time that the update will revise "charge and thermal management settings" on Model S and Model X vehicles to "help further protect the battery and improve battery longevity." Some Model S owners claimed, however, that the update reduced their maximum battery voltage, prompting them to take Tesla to court. Now, the automaker has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the class action lawsuit filed against it.
According to Reuters, the court documents show that the software update affected 1,743 Model S sedans in the US. The voltage limitation was temporary, but the plaintiffs experienced a 10 percent battery reduction for three months and a seven percent reduction lasting for another seven months, the plaintiffs' lawyers said. Tesla rolled out the final update that fully corrected the issue in March 2020. Among the affected vehicles, 1,552 had their max battery voltage restored, while 57 vehicles had battery replacements. The settlement documents said that any vehicle still experiencing battery throttling problems would have their maximum voltage restored over time.
While the company has agreed to pay $1.5 billion, a huge chunk of that would be used to cover lawyers' fees: Owners are expected to get only $625 each from the settlement. Affected owners in Norway could get a much bigger payday after a court in the country ordered the company to pay them $16,000 each to settle a lawsuit over the same issue. In the US, aside from agreeing to pay up, Tesla has also agreed to provide battery-related diagnostics and notifications for cars under warranty whenever battery repairs may be needed.
Tesla is adding another popular streaming service to its in-car infotainment system. As part of its latest software update, you can now watch Disney+ when you have some downtime during charging. Tesla's Theater Mode already offers Netflix, Disney-owned Hulu, YouTube and Twitch. All it's missing is HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount+ before it can call itself a true video hub. A Tesla owner shared screenshots of the "2021.24" update, which includes several additional features, in a Reddit post.
Another highlight is the new "Car Wash Mode" that secures the vehicle for a scrub down. Once activated, it can close or disable everything from the windows to wipers to sentry mode and the parking sensor chimes. For car washes with conveyor belts, the mode can switch the free roll option to neutral to prevent the car from auto-braking if you leave.
There's also a new dashcam auto-save that automatically stores clips whenever the vehicle detects a safety event (like a collision or airbag deployment). To stave off any more damagingprivacy concerns, Tesla has chosen to make the feature opt-in. Clips will also be stored locally and never shared with the automaker.
Rounding out the new additions are auto-dimming for mirrors, more battery info, remain connected to WiFi in drive, along with language support for Russian, Romanian and Hungarian. As usual, the quality of life improvements are designed to keep Tesla owners satisfied long after they've shelled out thousands on an EV.
