Welcome to the latest edition of the Electric and Autonomous News! As we head into the weekend, we're excited to share the most important updates and developments from the world of electric and autonomous vehicles. We'll be covering updates on sales, Mercedes, ChargePoint, Tesla, chargers, AFEELA, strollers, and a ton more.
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Wishing you a great day and an even better weekend!
EV News
As the electric vehicle market continues to expand, it becomes increasingly clear that the current charging infrastructure in the United States is not sufficient to meet the demands of EV drivers. According to a report from S&P Global Mobility, the US will need to quadruple the number of EV chargers between 2022 and 2025 and grow more than eightfold by 2030. This is a significant increase from the current level of 126,500 Level 2 and 20,431 Level 3 charging stations in the US plus another 16,822 Tesla Superchargers and Tesla destination chargers.
However, there is hope on the horizon with organizations like ChargePoint, Mercedes-Benz, and MN8 Energy partnering to build more than 400 electric vehicle charging hubs in the US and Canada, offering more than 2,500 ports for EV charging in major cities, along major highways and near retail and service destinations. This expansion of charging infrastructure is necessary to ensure that EV adoption can continue to grow in the coming years. We’re gonna need more though. A lot more.
In other EV News
- Sony Honda Mobility Inc. has a new brand, AFEELA, that was introduced at CES 2023 alongside a prototype with 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle.
- Vinfast and NXP Semiconductors have partnered to produce Vinfast’s Automotive applications in the early stages of development.
- Mercury launched a 100% electric outboard boat motor for its Mercury Avator 7.5e. The motor, battery, and electronics are contained together with a 1 kWh battery and 750W of power.
- The Ram 1500 Revolution Battery-electric Vehicle (BEV) Concept was unveiled at CES 2023 and is designed to redefine the pickup truck segment. The RAM 1500 Revolution can add up to 100 miles of range in approximately 10 minutes with 800-volt DC fast charging up to 350 kW.
- Stellantis and Element 25 have entered a partnership for Element 25 to supply a total of 45 kilotons of manganese sulfate for EV batteries over 5 years.
- Students at Georgetown High School in Texas have built an electric vehicle from scratch using a 1993 Ford Fox body Mustang. Students have been working on the vehicle for about 5 years and had the chance to drive it last fall.
- In 2022, Volkswagen delivered around 330,000 EVs, which represents a 23.6% YoY growth. In 2022, the Volkswagen Group's top electric world car was the ID.4, with around 170,000 units delivered to customers.
- Ford sold 61,575 battery-powered EVs in 2022 which doubled its sales from 2021, as it tried to catch up with Tesla sales.
- Global plug-in registrations hit a record in November with 1,060,000 new passenger plug-in EVs registered. This is 46% more than in November 2021.
- Plug-ins consisted of 55.4% of auto sales in Germany during December, marking the first time that electric vehicles made up over half of the sales.
- Some of the best-selling EVs in the nation were the Chevrolet Bolt EUV with 38,120 cars sold in 2022. But what were some of the worst-selling EVs?
CES
Attending CES always leaves me feeling energized and excited about the future of the automotive industry. This year was no different.
As a mechanical engineer, I find it fun to nerd out on reading the spec labels on charging stations, seeing the inside of an inverter or differential, or simply talking to the people that engineered these products. You can only learn so much about a company and product online, the true understanding comes from seeing them, touching them, and talking to the people that engineered them.
This year's highlights include:
-Joe @ Mobility EVo
AV Corner
Glüxkind has launched a $3,300 self-driving stroller for those days when you’d love to grow another set of arms. The Ella Stroller has a maximum speed limit of 4 mph, and electric motors assist with pushing. The Ella also has an automatic “Rock-My-Baby” feature and a white noise machine built in.
In other AV News
- A Tesla owner took a 6,392-mile road trip using mainly Autopilot and Full-Self Driving for 99% of the journey.
- Mercedes is the first automaker to launch Level 3 self-driving in the US. Nevada approved its Drive Pilot system.
- Pennsylvania’s D.O.T. will assist in autonomous testing in Philadelphia alongside researchers from Drexel University and AECOM.
- Oxbotica has raised $140 million to support its growing B2B autonomous vehicle platform.
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.