10 August 2018 | Tesla Autopilot Upgrade ‘Free’, Kia Niro EV On Sale and e-tron Has Boost Mode
EV News Daily
English - August 09, 2018 23:01 - 19 minutes - 19.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 303 ratingsTechnology Leisure Automotive Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Friday 10th August edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.
NEW TESLA AUTOPILOT HARDWARE UPGRADE FREE FOR ‘FULL SELF-DRIVING’ PACKAGE
Last week we first heard about Autopilot 3.0 coming sometime this year, with new processing speed on new hardware an order of magnitude faster than hardware in existing Teslas. They called it “the world’s most advanced computer for autonomous driving’" However let's split out the new things, Autopilot 3.0 which can be handled by existing hardware under the Enhanced Autopilot package, and the new computer to enable Full Self Driving.If you have an existing Autopilot package you will get the hardware upgraded for free. It's a plug for plug job but clearly still requires a trip to a service centre or mobile technician if you're in that service area.
Electrik point out: "It consists of a new computer based on a chip developed in-house by Tesla especially to run a computer vision neural network, which Tesla has been using to power the latest generation of the Autopilot." And it was a tweet I saw from Fred Lambert to Elon which prompted this response. Elon Tweets! "Probably 4 to 6 months. Those who order full self-driving get the upgrade at no cost. It isn’t needed just for enhanced Autopilot."
So the new computer is just for those who purchased Full Self Driving during their order or subsequently purchase it over the air.
https://electrek.co/2018/08/08/tesla-autopilot-hardware-upgrade-free-with-full-self-driving-package/
KIA NIRO EV ON SALE IN KOREA
"The EV version of the Kia Niro crossover has gone on sale in Korea, joining the Niro’s existing Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid variants. The Korean carmaker says it has received more than 5,000 pre-orders for the new EV, which is to go on sale in Europe at the end of 2018, and in North America in the first quarter of 2019." according to Charles Morris at Charged EVs: "The Niro EV’s lithium-polymer battery pack is positioned low, beneath the trunk floor. It’s available in two sizes: 39.2 kWh, which delivers a range of 153 miles; and 64 kWh, with a range of around 239 miles. A 150 kW (204 ps) motor drives the front wheels, producing 395 N·m of torque and accelerating from 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds."
2019 AUDI e-tron BOASTS 355 HORSEPOWER, MORE IN LIMITED BURSTS
Joel Stocksdale has clarified the e-tron power in a new article for Autoblog. " the E-Tron's power output is a bit complicated. The 355 horsepower and 414 pound-feet of torque are the main rating, and the motors are capable of producing those numbers for 60 seconds of sustained acceleration. Going beyond that point will result in reduced power. While that sounds limiting, remember that you'll rarely be foot to the floor for that amount of time, and would likely hit the crossover's electronically-limited top speed of 124.3 mph well before the full 60 seconds elapsed." "There's a high-power mode activated when shifting from drive to sport, and then fully depressing the throttle pedal. In this mode, power jumps to 402 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque for 8 seconds."Are you in the market for the Audi e-tron, a Jaguar I-PACE, a Tesla Model X or a Mercedes EQC?
https://www.autoblog.com/2018/08/08/2019-audi-e-tron-horsepower-torque/
IIHS EXAMINES DRIVER ASSISTANCE FEATURES IN ROAD, TRACK TESTS
"On-road and track tests are helping IIHS craft a consumer ratings program for advanced driver assistance systems. Evaluations of adaptive cruise control and active lane-keeping show variable performance in typical driving situations, such as approaching stopped vehicles and negotiating hills and curves." "Unnecessary or overly cautious braking is an issue IIHS noted in the Model 3. In 180 miles, the car unexpectedly slowed down 12 times, seven of which coincided with tree shadows on the road. The others were for oncoming vehicles in another lane or vehicles crossing the road far ahead." "Only the Model 3 stayed within the lane on all 18 trials. The Model S was similar but overcorrected on one curve, causing it to cross the line on the inside of the curve in one trial. None of the other systems tested provided enough steering input on their own to consistently stay in their lane, often requiring the driver to provide additional steering to successfully navigate the curve."
TESLA TWEETS PAINT ROBOTS
There's only one word for it. Udders. I could say teats but that sounds weird. Tesla official account tweeted out a video of their paint show and i must sat the paint machine which does the Model 3 line can only be described as covered in cow's udders. It also coincides with the launch of Obsidian Black for Model 3. Well the launch was a month ago but production is now underway.
TESLA'S SOLAR FACTORY TRYING TO MEET ELON MUSK'S HIGH STANDARDS
"Two years ago, Elon Musk promised the world that Tesla would produce solar panels virtually indistinguishable from roof tiles. But his solar factory isn’t producing panels that are to his liking yet, and that’s leading to some major production issues, according to a report from Reuters." Jennings Brown from Gizmodo has the lowdown: "current and former employees of Tesla and Panasonic told Reuters that the solar factory was hitting production snags because of “assembly-line problems” and difficulties meeting CEO Elon Musk’s aesthetic desires. Aesthetic look is the key point that Elon is always not satisfied with,” one unnamed former Tesla employee in California told Reuters. “That’s the big issue.”" For this article a Tesla spokesperson said: "We are steadily ramping Solar Roof production at Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo and are also continuing to iterate on the product design and production process, learning from our early factory production and field installation".
https://gizmodo.com/teslas-solar-factory-is-reportedly-struggling-to-meet-e-1828193282
BYD SALES
According to the announcement of BYD on August 6, the company sold 18,793 new energy vehicles in July. From January to July, it sold 93,677 new energy vehicles.
HOME ELECTRICITY SUPPLY SYSTEMS SHOULD BE UPGRADED FOR EVS
"The single "phase" electricity supply system, which has been the norm in UK homes since before the Second World War, should be scrapped for new homes, a report has urged." according to Edie.net: "The study, published by the Renewable Energy Association (REA), calls for all new dwellings to be fitted with a three-phase electricity supply to encourage the uptake of solar, heat pumps and electric vehicles."
HMRC TO PUBLISH AFR FOR 100% ELECTRIC CARS
Fleetnews: "HMRC will introduce an advisory fuel rate (AFR) for pure electric cars from September 1 at 4 pence per mile (ppl). The new rate, called the Advisory Electricity Rate (AER), has been set at 4p per mile and will be published alongside AFRs for petrol, diesel and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cars based on engine size. Plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars will continue to be treated as either petrol or diesel models for mileage reimbursement purposes." “HMRC will accept that if employers pay up to the Advisory Electricity Rate of 4p per mile when reimbursing their employees for business travel in a fully electric company car there is no profit - there will be no taxable profit and no Class 1 National Insurance to pay."
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