Tesla BEV Competition Developments

[mongo]

3. He talks about how driving their vehicles is net negative carbon but that's simply bullshit. RNG doesn't sequester carbon, it takes bio gas and burns it, inefficiently, in a generator, which releases carbon. At best it's carbon neutral, but only if there is no carbon generated in producing and supplying the RNG, which I doubt.

Yeah, the best they could claim is that, if the methane was going to be released into the atmosphere, then burning it instead is a net improvement to greenhouse gas emissions.

 

[JRP3]

More efficient to burn it in a combined cycle generating plant and charge an EV.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

Seeing some hype around Hyliion, some of the statements from the company give me a Nikola feeling.

1. He talks about their fully electric truck, except that it's actually a hybrid that uses a natural gas generator.
2. He talks about using Renewable Natural Gas, but RNG can't scale and isn't available everywhere. They'll be using regular NG most of the time.
3. He talks about how driving their vehicles is net negative carbon but that's simply bullshit. RNG doesn't sequester carbon, it takes bio gas and burns it, inefficiently, in a generator, which releases carbon. At best it's carbon neutral, but only if there is no carbon generated in producing and supplying the RNG, which I doubt.

As Tesla surges 600% off its 2020 low, meet the next electric car newcomer going public

I have high hopes for Hyliion, because their product will supplement the Tesla Semi, with some overlap of their target market. Due to the weight savings of a CNG generator versus the additional batteries, it can handle the cargo loads that would cause the Semi to exceed the GVWR limit of 80k lbs. And some businesses just need to be able to cover 1000 miles in a day at a time. Frankly Hyliion is more of a direct competitor to Nikola's hydrogen truck if anything else.

Although the burning of CNG isn't zero emissions (agree with you on that false advertising there), it's still tons better than burning diesel.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

More efficient to burn it in a combined cycle generating plant and charge an EV.

The combustion (and energy extraction) efficiency isn't the primary consideration in a truck route, otherwise hybrid diesel trucks would've long dominated the market.

 

[RobStark]

Lucid Air's Electric Drivetrain Powers 9.9 Second Quarter-Mile Time

 

[ammulder]

Lucid Air's Electric Drivetrain Powers 9.9 Second Quarter-Mile Time

Got to think this is making Porsche a bit nervous...

 

[RobStark]

GM and Honda propose establishing alliance extending well beyond EV and fuel-cell tech

 

[wdolson]

This is sort of about Tesla's competition. Sandy Munro did a couple of online seminars comparing Tesla's motors to the competition and another comparing their inverters. There were a number of other seminars about evolving EV tech too.

You have to register to watch the Zoom video, but it's free.

Charged EVs | Conference Sessions

I haven't had a chance to watch these yet, but Sandy Munro is a high quality information source.

 

[willow_hiller]

ID3 near production car review by German car magazine (Auto Motor Sport) : electricvehicles

ID.3 review from a German magazine, translated here by a Redditor:


Runs well, fails in processing and electronics
Beginning with the Golf IV (1997), VW sets quality standards. The ID.3 cannot continue this tradition in the test of auto motor und sport. There is a massive need for improvement in processing and electronics.

The VW ID.3, currently the most important electric model for the future of the VW Group, still has problems. In the first test by auto motor und sport, the series ID.3 was able to convince with its driving characteristics. But there is still a considerable need for improvement in processing and electronics. Although the tested ID.3 is listed at a price of almost 49,000 Euros (before deducting the possible environmental bonus of 9,480 Euros), the car does not meet VW's usual high standards of accuracy of fit of body parts, minimal gaps, high-quality materials and details.

 

[mikevbf]

Lucid Air pricing revealed ahead of unveiling event

 

[RobStark]

Lucid confirms price range of its Air electric car from $80,000 to $169,000 - Electrek

• The Air, the starting point for the lineup, available in 2022 and starting below $80,000 ($72,500 after federal tax credit)
• The well-equipped Air Touring model, available late 2021, from $95,000 ($87,500 after federal tax credit)
• The fully equipped Air Grand Touring, available mid 2021, from $139,000 ($131,500 after federal tax credit)
• The all-inclusive, limited-volume Air Dream Edition, available spring 2021, at $169,000 ($161,500 after federal tax credit)

 

[MP3Mike]

Boy the Lucid Gravity is ugly. (At least to me.)

 

[JRP3]

The presentation is a snooze fest, too much design backstory hype, but I am impressed with their motor packaging, and the overall efficiency if it lives up to the claimed numbers.

 

[RobStark]

Lucid showed off a Power Pack and Powerwall competitor as well as a Model 3 competitor under car cover.

Bloomberg Story on Lucid BES

Hyperdrive - Bloomberg

 

[RobStark]

They seem to be following Tesla's lead on choice of colors.

Limited Dream Edition available in black,white, or limited color gold/bronze.

Touring Edition available in black,white, silver,grey, or "zenith red" better description would be black cherry.

No Grab Handles in the front but Grab Handles in the back. I guess for the rich old owner in the back being chauffeured?

 

[RobStark]

Like Volvo waives the Swedish flag(even in Chinese made cars) Lucid will waive the California Bear from the California Flag (even though the cars will be made in Arizona).

 

[renim]

random history

BYD was a battery company that obtained a back door car manufacturers license by taking over the license from a Xián 's Qinchuan Machinery Works. Which also happens to be the ancestral seat of power for the Han.

Anyway, BYD likes to name their new energy vehicles after historical chinese dynastry, So eventually they got to the Han.

(I don't know where the Han vehicle is made, but its permission to be made orginated in the right place (for once)).

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

The presentation is a snooze fest, too much design backstory hype, but I am impressed with their motor packaging, and the overall efficiency if it lives up to the claimed numbers.

I agree. Their motor packaging and subsequent modularity between single motor to triple motor arrangements is tight. I wonder what the tradeoffs are? TANSTAAFL

 

[ammulder]

I found this bit concerning, from a post in the main thread:

Their autonomy suite includes lidar and only the Dream edition ($170 version) has it. If autopilot makes a "quantum leap" soon, this would put their $139K, $95K and future $80K version at a severe disadvantage to Tesla. IMO, a $95K EV without some sort of autonomy suite is a letdown.​

Aren't they also going to have the same problem as Waymo and all the other OEMs that they can't collect real-world driving data from a gigantic fleet? So for every mile of data they get, Tesla gets 100, or 1000, and Tesla's already got a head start. Seems like everyone else has already conceded the market on autonomy except for highways.

 

[willow_hiller]

Good technical article on what GM means when they say "wireless BMS" : Full Page Reload

Essentially, it's bluetooth controlled.