21 Feb 2020 | Tesla Firmware Reveals Range-Busting Battery Pack

Show #704

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 21st February 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story to save you time.

 

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CHEVROLET BOLT APP MAKES CHARGING EASIER

Finding an available public charging station and starting your charging session is now easier for Chevrolet Bolt EV owners. GM is making enhancements to Energy Assist, a standard feature available in the myChevrolet mobile app for Bolt EV owners.

Energy Assist, first available for customers back in 2017, currently enables Bolt EV owners to plan and manage their routes more effectively, locate available charging stations – both along their route and in the area – monitor their route and receive real-time alerts if their range projections change dramatically. Energy Assist is integrated with data from the vehicle, which enables intelligent planning and precise charge time predictions.

GM is now displaying dynamic data from charging networks EVgo and ChargePoint within Energy Assist, and information provided by charging networks includes real-time data on charge station status to indicate if a charging station is available. At eligible charging stations, owners can now link their EVgo account to activate and pay for charging sessions right from the myChevrolet mobile app, eliminating the need to toggle between apps and streamline the payment process. Eligible charging stations are noted within the myChevrolet mobile app.

 

TESLA FIRMWARE REVEALS ~110 KWH BATTERY PACK

"Tesla is working on a new 110 kWh battery pack configuration that can stretch range well beyond 400 miles, according to a new discovery made in Tesla’s battery management system (BMS) firmware." says Teslarati: "Jason Hughes, a notable Tesla owner and hacker who first uncovered the company’s plans for a “P100D” variant in 2016, found references to a larger battery pack capacity in the latest BMS firmware. “There is a packID that starts life set to ~109 kWh usable (400+ miles),” noted Hughes via Twitter, further suggesting that Tesla might be preparing for a battery pack as large as 115 kWh in capacity when factoring Tesla’s battery reserve. Additionally, Hughes discovery points to a new battery pack configuration with 108 cells per group at ~450 volts per pack that could very well be a universal design to replace the aging Model S and Model X battery pack, while centralizing architecture for the Model 3 and upcoming Model Y."

 

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-110-kwh-battery-pack-400-miles-range/

 

A LOOK INSIDE THE NEW LOTUS EVIJA PRODUCTION FACILITY

"The new assembly hall is next to the Lotus test track where each of the 130 Evijas to be hand-assembled will be tested before delivery. Lotus says series production and first customer deliveries begin in the summer, with the first year’s production allocation of the circa £2m hypercar already assigned." reports Goodwood.com: "Lotus says the Evija employs its two thousand metric horsepower to get to 62mph in under 3.0 seconds and (more significant) goes from 0-186mph in under 9.0 seconds. The top speed is past 200mph."

 

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/road/news/2020/2/a-look-inside-the-lotus-evija-production-facility/

 

LITHIUM-ION BATTERY CELL DENSITIES HAVE ALMOST TRIPLED SINCE 2010

"BloombergNEF‘s Colin McKerracher took to the stage at the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco last week where he made a case for electric vehicles reaching the “end of the beginning.” The case for electric vehicles moving into the mainstream or out of the early adopter stage of growth has been fueled by the increase in energy density in lithium-ion batteries and the corresponding drop in cost that comes along with it." says Kylie Field for Cleantechnica: ". As energy density increases, more energy can be extracted from a battery pack of the same weight. “Battery energy densities keep getting better,” Colin McKerracher, Head of Advanced Transport at BloombergNEF, said. “They’ve almost tripled at the cell level since 2010.”. McKerracher commented about battery pricing as well, noting that the price of lithium-ion batteries has continued to fall in recent years. The trend is expected to continue in 2020, with BloombergNEF estimating a price drop from $156/kWh in 2019 to $135/kWh in 2020."

 

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/19/bloombergnef-lithium-ion-battery-cell-densities-have-almost-tripled-since-2010/

 

AMERICAN MANGANESE ANNOUNCES UP TO 99.72 PERCENT PURITY FROM RECYCLING TEST

"American Manganese Inc. (TSXV:AMY)(OTC US:AMYZF)(FSE:2AM) (“AMY” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce analysis results for the Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese products generated from disassembled electric vehicle battery packs" says Lithium Investing News website: "The Company’s independent contract lab, Kemetco Research, generated recycled products with purities of 98.91%, 99.72% and 99.27%."

 

https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/manganese-investing/american-manganese-announces-up-to-99.72-purity-from-recycling-test-results-on-electric-vehicle-battery-materials-from-u.s.department-of-energy-critical-materials-institute-project/

 

PORSCHE OPENS 7MW CHARGING PARK IN LEIPZIG

"Porsche is expanding high power charging infrastructure in central Germany with the opening of a new charging park called Porsche Turbo Charging in Leipzig. The park has a total capacity of seven megawatts drawn entirely from renewable energy" writes electrive.com: "The park in the German state of Saxony now sports twelve high power charging points with 350 kW (DC), and four 22 kW charging points (AC). Drivers who want to use the Porsche charging park can reach the charging station at the customer centre via the visitor gate in Porschestrasse near the Leipzig-Nord motorway exit. The official opening party of the charging park is on Saturday, 29.02.2020, from 10 am to 4 pm. Electric car drivers of all brands are cordially invited, free of charge."

 

https://www.electrive.com/2020/02/20/porsche-opens-charging-park-with-12-hpc/

 

PORSCHE TAYCAN SETS NEW MOTORTREND QUARTER-MILE RECORD

"According to MotorTrend (MT), the all-electric all-wheel-drive 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S beats all previously tested battery-electric cars in the quarter-mile by .04 seconds. It holds the new time and speed records for the publication, at least in terms of fully electric vehicles based on MT testing.

 

The car enthusiast magazine states, the "previous battery-electric vehicle (BEV) record holder was the Tesla Model S P100D (aka "Plood") Ludicrous+ with its 10.51-second pass at 125.0 mph." However, the tested Taycan Turbo S went "a significant 5.7 mph faster with a 10.47-second, 130.7-mph pass.""

 

https://insideevs.com/news/399558/porsche-taycan-quarter-mile-record/

 

PORSCHE TAYCAN REPORTEDLY GETTING ENHANCED BATTERY PACK

"Porsche is reportedly planning to roll out an enhanced battery pack for Taycan Turbo, Turbo S, and 4S." says Teslarati: "The news about the Porsche Taycan’s enhanced battery pack come amid a barrage of negative reports about the electric car, many of which were driven by the vehicle’s subpar EPA range ratings. Whether it will come as a software or hardware update, this development can help reshape the negative narrative around the Porsche Taycan so far. In December, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated the range of the Taycan Turbo at 201 miles per charge, which shows it lags behind competitors such as Tesla, Audi, and Jaguar. "

 

https://www.teslarati.com/porsche-taycan-enhanced-battery-better-range/

 

VOLKSWAGEN AND PARTNER ASSOCIATION AGREE NEW SALES MODEL FOR ID.

Volkswagen and “Volkswagen und Audi Partnerverband” (Volkswagen and Audi partner association) have agreed a new sales model for the all-electric ID. family in Germany. A format similar to the agency model for major customers that has already proven its worth over many years will also apply for ID. models sold to private customers and small commercial enterprises. Following the go-ahead from retail partners, the agency agreement is to be added to the new dealer contracts that come into effect from April.

 

In their role as agents, dealers make the arrangements for selling the ID. family to private customers and small commercial enterprises. This primarily relates to acquisition, sales consultation, organizing test drives, transaction processing and vehicle handover in coordination with Volkswagen. The customer’s preferred dealer receives a commission and a bonus identical to showroom-based business, even if the vehicle is bought online. At the same time, the partner is no longer tasked with vehicle financing and the sales process is simplified because the partner no longer needs to negotiate the price.

 

https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/volkswagen-and-partner-association-agree-new-sales-model-for-id-family-in-germany-5793

 

LEVC STARTS MAKING RANGE EXTENDER VANS

"The maker of Britain’s iconic black cabs is building a plug-in hybrid van that can travel for 377 miles without recharging or filling up, in a bid to win over long-distance delivery firms and other companies that rely on purely gasoline vehicles." says Bloomberg.com: "The as-yet unnamed one-ton van goes on sale in October and is derived from the TX5 London taxi launched two years ago. The vehicle can run for 80 miles on its electric motor, after which a 1.5.-liter “range extender” engine kicks in to recharge the battery and increase its span to almost five times that. “You get zero emissions in the city but you can also drive the length of the country with the range extender, so range anxiety becomes a thing of the past. LEVC, owned by China’s Geely sold 2,500 TX cabs last year, almost all of them in the U.K. That was more than double the total for 2018. That still leaves huge untapped capacity at its plant near Coventry in central England, which is capable of churning out 20,000 autos annually.”

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-19/range-busting-electric-van-targets-parcel-firms-to-plumbers

 

 

 

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