Electric Farming From a Phone
Happy Thursday. We have news on the Truck of the Year, Hyundai, $2.5 Billion, Einride, and a ton more.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share this newsletter with your EV friends. Have a great day.
EV News
The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck has been crowned the 2023 MotorTrend Truck of the Year. The victory is notable because the F-150 Lightning is the first electric truck to win the award by a unanimous vote among judges. It is only the second time in the history of MotorTrend's Of The Year competitions that an electric vehicle has won unanimously. Since its May introduction, the F-150 Lightning has been a success, with sales of 2,062 in November and 13,258 to date.
In other EV News
EV Lessons learned with InsideEVs
- EV odometers don’t matter.
- Used EV shoppers are getting smarter.
- EPA range estimates are… confusing.
- New EV models are accelerating adoption. Yay!
- High gas prices drive people to electric vehicles.
- Not to beat a dead horse, but you’re running out of time. Every EV that qualifies for the current and future tax credits.
- Mahindra will invest $1.2 billion over seven to eight years in the manufacturing of electric vehicles in Maharashtra, India. The Indian automaker’s investment has been approved under the state government’s industrial promotion scheme for EVs. The funds will be used to set up a manufacturing facility, with the production of the company’s upcoming electric vehicles to begin at the site.
- Hyundai Motor Group will use silicon carbide (SiC) power modules to increase the range and performance of its electric vehicles.
- BYD is looking at building EV factories in Europe to take advantage of sizzling home-market sales and expanding its lead over Tesla. The Shenzhen-based carmaker, backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, confirmed it’s checking the "possibility" of building one or two plants in Europe, but did not reveal locations or capacities. BYD dethroned Tesla as the world's largest EV maker in Q2 and has been extending its lead since, with a record 9th straight month of sales in November.
- Volkswagen and Enel X Way have launched the joint venture Ewiva to accelerate the uptake of electric mobility in Italy. Ewiva is already deploying the largest ultra-fast charging network in the country, with 750 points. The company aims to reach 3,000 charging points by 2025.
- Owners of EVs in California are reducing their own carbon footprints and are helping to lower utility bills for everyone else, according to a recent study funded by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
EV of the Week
If you had a tractor that could drive itself or be operated with your phone, would you become a farmer? Maybe Jeremy Clarkson could improve upon his skills with this technology. New Holland has revealed the electric autonomous tractor, the T4 Electric Power. It can take on a full day’s work on the farm, operate autonomously, and operate remotely. @ Jeremy, dump that Lamborghini. The T4 is the EV of the week.
- 120 Horsepower
- 324 Ft Lbs of Torque
- “Shadow Follow Me” Mode
- Top Speed of Around 25 mph
- 360-Degree Smart Detection System
-John @ Mobility EVo
Ned's Corner
It was hard to give the Ioniq 5 back after enjoying it so much. A car like this would make a night-and-day difference for me on road trips. I loved it. I need to try the EV6 before I pick a favorite, though.
Highlights:
- HPC is almost as fast as a gas station stop
- Autonomy features are excellent for road trips
- Creature comforts and ergonomics are top notch
- Large enough for kid stuff but still fits in my garage
- Good range and great efficiency
- Striking design aesthetic
Cons...
About Ned
Ned is an EV professional with experience with chargers from 1 to 500kW and EVs ranging from unicycles to buses and class 8 trucks. An EV owner since 2014, he is currently a Technical Solutions Manager with Electrada where he develops and refines charging solutions for fleets using his engineering experience to drive for high uptime, reliability, and efficiency.
AV Corner
Einride has secured $500 million in financing, including $300 million in debt from Barclays Europe and $200 million in equity from investors including Swedish pension fund AMF and EQT Ventures. The financing, which is the largest asset-backed facility in heavy-duty electric transport to date, will help Einride bring its updated self-driving electric truck to market and develop its freight mobility ecosystem. Einride plans to use the funds to expand its offerings to new markets and clients and develop an autonomous and electric freight mobility ecosystem.
In other AV News
- Did you know there were thoughts of a self-driving car back in 1918? Check out the last 25 years of autonomous vehicles.
- If you’re in Sin City next year, you may have the opportunity to check out the electric semi-autonomous Fun Utility Vehicles (FUVs) from Arcimoto and Faction. If you are in a rush to catch an autonomous vehicle, you can always catch a robotaxi in Vegas right now, with plans for expansion in 2023.
- Self-driving technologies across the automotive industry are starting to come of age. The "robotaxi" industry is seeing small commercial deployments, while autonomous trucks are on the cusp of real-world use. In 2023, IDTechEx predicts robotaxis to expand, driverless commercial trucks will enter a training phase, and more level three vehicles will be present in Europe.
- Waymo has applied for a final permit in San Francisco for driverless rides. The decision for this permit could take months. Good luck Waymo!
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.
