A Jaguar I-Pace having its battery removedJaguar BMW and Jaguar Land Rover will collaborate on their next generation of electric cars, following similar moves by other automakers that have teamed up to share the burden of developing the expensive new technology. Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India’s Tata Motors, will cooperate on BMW’s fifth generation of electric drive technology, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday. It forms the backbone of a BMW electric model offensive set to start next year with the introduction of an electric X3 sports utility vehicle. The move follows Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ proposal last week to merge with Renault, creating the world’s third-biggest automaker. The deal would bring the Italian-American automaker into a global alliance that includes Nissan, maker of the pioneering Leaf, and Mitsubishi Motors. The world’s largest automaker, Volkswagen, and U.S. rival Ford are cooperating on building vans, a project that could extend to autonomous cars or sharing production platforms. The need for record spending on the technology coincides with a time of low profit and stagnating sales. BMW is currently working through a US$14 billion savings plan, while Jaguar is undergoing a 2.5 billion-pound savings program of its own and cutting 4,500 jobs. The carmakers will form a joint team of experts in Munich that will develop power units together. Both companies will still produce drivetrains in their own factories, they said in the statement. BMW was an early entrant into the electric-car market with the i3 hatchback, which began production in 2013, though sales haven’t taken off. Jaguar started deliveries of the all-electric I-Pace last year, one of a crop of premium SUVs being launched by traditional carmakers to take on the Tesla
Origin: BMW and Jaguar Land Rover will join forces on electric-car technology
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Volkswagen just set a new electric-car Nürburgring lap record
If the test driver for Volkswagen, Romain Dumas, started playing Tuesday’s Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd on an iPod when starting his record-setting lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, there would still be 87 seconds remaining in the song when he took the checkered flag. With an average speed of 206.96 km/h, Volkswagen’s ID.R adds another notch to its all-electric belt. After setting lap records at Pikes Peak and Goodwood for its type of car, Dumas wheeled it around the Green Hell in just 6:05.366 minutes, setting the fastest emission-free lap of all time at that facility. To prepare for the challenge, the boffins at Volkswagen Motorsport gave the ID.R a complete rethink compared to the record outings at Pikes Peak and Goodwood. Romain Dumas (F) in the Volkswagen ID.R at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife chasing a new e-record Volkswagen “For this evolved version of the ID.R, the aerodynamic configuration was more strongly adapted to the highest possible speed, rather than maximum downforce,” explains François-Xavier Demaison, Technical Director. “With extensive test laps in the simulator and on the race track, we adapted the ID.R to the unique conditions of the Nordschleife, focusing mainly on chassis tuning, energy management, and optimal choice of tires for the record attempt.” Check out the on-board footage, released today by the company. As you’d expect, it looks like a session of Forza Motorsport on fast-forward. The sound of this electric racer at full chat is an unholy metallic shriek like that of Paul Bunyan sharpening his axe on the world’s largest airport Movator. If you’re wondering, the current production car record is held by Lamborghini, which recorded a relative walking pace of 6:44.97. For those of you with short memories, the Volkswagen ID.R is powered by two electric motors, cranking out roughly 670 horsepower. The old EV record was set by the NIO EP9, whose name reminds your author of a telephone, which was bested by the VW to the tune of 40.564 seconds. In racing, that may as well have been a
Origin: Volkswagen just set a new electric-car Nürburgring lap record
VW adds electric-car plants in China to overtake Tesla numbers
VWs power bank for electric cars—the companys solution for a mobile quick-charging station.Handout / Volkswagen In about a year, Volkswagen Group may catch up to Tesla’s capacity to make electric cars. VW said Tuesday it is building two plants in China to produce a total of 600,000 vehicles on its dedicated battery-car platform, MEB. The new factories in Anting and Foshan will open a few months after Germany’s Zwickau, which will assemble as many as 330,000 cars annually and is slated to get started by year-end. Following through with plans to reach this level of scale will likely leave Tesla trailing behind. Its lone vehicle assembly plant operating in Fremont, California, can make about 500,000 cars. The electric-car leader expects to start output on the outskirts of Shanghai at the end of this year and produce 250,000 vehicles a year initially. VW has little time to lose after Tesla resolved manufacturing problems in Fremont and its battery factory near Reno, Nevada, which may start also building Model Y crossovers. While Model 3 sedan deliveries tailed off in the first quarter following a strong second half of 2018, CEO Elon Musk has dismissed concerns about demand and stuck to a forecast for as many as 400,000 vehicle deliveries this year. VW plans to produce some 70 battery-powered models across its 12 auto brands by 2028 and make 22 million electric cars over the next decade. CEO Herbert Diess, who says alternative technologies like fuel-cell cars will struggle to compete, is helming the auto industry’s biggest effort in the transition from combustion engines costing some 30 billion euros (US$34 billion). Volkswagen leads the competition on e-mobility, Diess said in speech notes at the company’s annual meeting in Berlin. As a company, we’ll make a success of the electric car—with the right products, superior underpinnings and global economies of scale. The German automaker, which is also considering sites for more electric-car plants, this month opened reservations for its electric ID3 hatchback. It’s garnered more than 15,000 orders from buyers putting down 1,000-euro deposits. Tesla, meanwhile, is mulling a factory in Germany, Musk said in a tweet last month. Last year, he stated that Europe’s No. 1 market was the leading choice for a car and battery site in
Origin: VW adds electric-car plants in China to overtake Tesla numbers
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