Happy Thursday. We have another great newsletter this week with news on Tesla, Autonomy, BYD, Baidu, and some fun YouTube videos.
Make sure to share this newsletter with the link below and have an amazing day.
EV News
Elon Musk announced Tesla’s plans to begin shipping the company’s electric Semi Truck later this year. The Semi has 500 miles of range per charge. Musk also tweeted that the company plans to deliver Cybertrucks in 2023. The final specs are somewhat of a mystery, but at least it is almost here. Do you think Musk will deliver on his promise?
- Ford has reopened F-150 Lightning orders and increased the price by $6,000-$8,500. Battery costs have increased dramatically, prompting Ford’s business move.
- This past weekend, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes EV incentives. However, there is a potential issue as many, if not all EVs on the market today, may not qualify for the credit. The bill would require at least 40% of the materials for the batteries to be sourced in North America by 2024 and 100% by 2029 to qualify for the credit.
- Subscription-based EV company Autonomy placed an order for 23,000 electric vehicles. The order covers 45 models from17 companies including BMW, Canoo, GM, Rivian, Tesla, Vinfast, and VW.
- BYD launched the Atto 3 right-hand drive in Australia on August 2nd. The launch event had a great turnout with around 600 attendees.
- Renault’s Megane E-Tech EV sales have met turnaround standards after its launch. In three months, Renault sold 25,000 Megane E-Tech cars and was France’s best-selling EV in July.
- Lotte Aluminium Materials USA is opening a $238.7 million factory in Kentucky to produce cathode foil, a crucial ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. The company expects construction to begin in 2025.
- The China Passenger Car Association expects sales of electric vehicles to reach 6 million units by the end of 2022. Originally, China estimated sales to reach only 5.5 million units.
EV of the Week
I got my first e-bike this week. A Sur-Ron X. For the little time I’ve spent on it, it’s awesome. I hit 31mph just in the cul-de-sac. Don’t worry, I will beat that record in the coming days. I’m excited to get it up in the mountains in the coming weeks to compare it to my dad’s antiquated ICE dirt bike. That thing is a dinosaur. A little switch up this week with the Sur-Ron X being the EV of the week. If you haven’t tried one, do it. It’s impressive.
- Top Speed- 47 mph
- Weight- 103 lbs.
- Range- 50 miles
- Voltage- 60V
- Peak Power- 6000w
- Peak Torque- 28.78 ft-lbs.
- Charge Time- 2-3 hours
John @ Mobility EVo
AV Corner
Baidu has received a permit to operate fully driverless robotaxis in Wuhan and Chongqing. Baidu operated AV taxis with the public in Beijing in July but had to have a human operator in the vehicle. In Wuhan, the taxis will cover 13 square kilometers and in Chongqing, the taxis will cover 30 square kilometers.
In other AV News
- MIT’s new autonomous algorithm, the VISTA 2.0, will be open-source and for public use. The algorithm offers a simulation to test AVs.
- Shenzhen becomes the first city in China to allow fully autonomous, driverless vehicles on select public roads
- Italy’s first autonomous public transportation vehicle has hit the roads in Turin to be tested.
- StradVision brings in $88 million through a Series C funding round. The company has raised over $129 million to manufacture software for AVs.
- Queensland University of Technology researchers have partnered with Ford Motor Company to determine a communication pattern with AVs to tell the cars which cameras to use while navigating. The groundbreaking research will be displayed in Japan in October at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
EPG and Mobility EVo
Mobility EVo is brought to you by EPG. EPG is an electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle recruiting and staffing company. We created Mobility EVo to bring you the latest news on the Electric Vehicle and Autonomous Vehicle industry through our newsletter. Whether it’s Tesla, Ford, Mobileye, Cruise, Waymo, GM, Rivian, we bring it to you. We also have some electric vehicle merch too. Check out our EV hats, EV Shirts, EV Hoodies, etc… We have something for everyone.