Happy Thursday. We have news on e-bike adventures, a surgery involving a Rivian, electric semi trucks, Tesla, and so much more.
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EV News
I had to do a double-take on this one. Dr. Christopher Yang performed what is probably the world’s first Rivian-powered vasectomy at his medical clinic when his building experienced a power outage in Austin, TX. The patient couldn’t reschedule the procedure and Dr. Yang had to think quickly. He had his generator in the parking lot. He hooked up his Rivian R1T to the building, restored power, and proceeded with a successful surgery. That’s a story to tell your grandkids.
- The Genesis G80 is now on sale in NY, CT, NJ, and CA. The G80 will have a range of 282 miles, do 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds, and charge at a 350-kW DC faster charger from 10%-80% in 22 minutes.
- Porsche has seen such tremendous success with the Taycan that they are planning on electrifying the Panamera to compete with the Lucid Air and the Mercedes EQS. The Taycan was so successful that it even outsold the iconic 911 in 2021.
- Piedmont Lithium will build a lithium refining plant in Tennessee, with construction beginning in 2023. Piedmont has no active mines in the U.S., so the new plant will process lithium from Canada.
- If you had your eye on a Polestar 6 Roadster, you’d need to make a reservation for the next round of production because the Roadster sold out in one week.
- In an effort to encourage EV adoption, Buick offers buyouts to car dealerships that don’t want to invest in the necessary developments to sell electric vehicles.
- Faraday Future will open a showroom in Beverly Hills to show and sell electric vehicles.
- We have the electric semi truck guide for you if you are in the market. Currently, there is only one electric semi in operation and that’s the BYD 8TT with around 100 units on the road. There are four new models expected on the road this year with the Freightliner eCascadia, Volvo VNR Electric, Peterbilt 579EV, and the Nikola Tre BEV.
EV Stories
As some of you may know, we picked up a Sur-Ron X a few weeks ago and we finally made it up to the mountains this past weekend and had a chance to put the e-bike to the test. The leaves are starting to change on the Aspens and our bike was at 100% SOC. We rode several rocky trails and the Sur-Ron kept up with my Pop’s Yamaha 250, even taking the 250 off the line with ease.
My stats for the day were a top speed of 49 mph and 27 miles traveled with a 27% SOC. The big event was the race around the house. We had SPA in mind when designing the dirt track around the house. With the lines envisioned and the apexes ready, we were off. Joe would go first. After a few runs, he came in with a top hot lap of 24.6 seconds. I would be second. I strapped on my helmet and attempted my runs but I only managed a 25.2. Joe would take P1. P2 isn't so bad though.
All in all, this bike is awesome and I think I even convinced my dad to sell his gas-guzzling 250 and get one. What a good weekend and I’ll have the lap better figured out next time.
-John @ Mobility EVo
AV Corner
Tesla has raised the price of its Full Self Driving Beta software to $15,000 - up $3,000 from its previous price of $12,000. The software is still a work in progress, which leaves critics questioning the raised cost.
In other AV News
- To assist airline passengers with limited mobility in getting around airports, the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport is testing A&K Robotics’ autonomous pods.
- California’s Senate passed a bill that may outlaw Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta software due to misleading advertising. Tesla advertises the software as autonomous, but the Beta software still needs active driver supervision.
- DHL Express is testing Cleveron’s autonomous delivery vehicles in Tallinn, Estonia. The Clevon 1 delivery robot will be tested over a 100 km range.
- Gregory Baratoff, the former Vice President of Hyundai MOBIS’s Autonomous Vehicle Lab, has been hired by Apple as Project Titan’s Sense Architecture Lead.
- After an odd accident, Cruise has recalled a specific self-driving car software, Delta/2022.05.13.00, and will slowly reintroduce the software with fixes.
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.