Tuesday 15th May 2018.
MERCEDES’ EQ WILL DEFINE AN ELECTRIC ECOSYSTEM
As you may have seen on the recent Fully Charged show, the Mercedes EQ C is in the final stages of testing, in fact the body is so complete it’s driving around in camouflage panels. So they’re behind Jaguar but ahead of sister company Audi with the e-tron Quattro and BMW with the iX3. And it seems the EQ brand is central to their plans for electric cars. I did notice, as a keen F1 fan as well as Formula E, sometime ago now Mercedes added “EQ Power” to the side of their cars. “Putting the Mercedes line-up of full- electric vehicles under the EQ umbrella is meant to shine a light on the automaker’s technical competence, says Britta Seeger, Mercedes-Benz global sales and marketing boss” according to Automotive News. But perhaps more importantly than clear branding they also REALLY want you to test drive one. And that means having one. Which sounds obvious but when you turn up a dealership, for any maker, and ask to test drive an electric car…you get mixed results. “Mercedes is working with dealers globally to set up test-drive events. So far, the events are with plug-in hybrid models and sibling brand Smart’s electric vehicle. Dealers in Europe have been asked to keep one or two hybrid models on hand for test-drive experiences, Seeger said.” I can imagine sections of the showroom different colours or styles for the EQ cars. However that might not be the best option. I wonder sometimes if they’re making life harder by putting their cars in silos, especially those which are based on platforms which will also see combustion variants like the BMW and Mercedes. So rather than going into a showroom and there being a special area, EVs will almost need to be less special. Here are all our models, oh and these are electric. Comparing apples with apples if you like. On the flip side, you could argue that Tesla has done such a good job at stealing those big spenders, you could argue you should have electric specialists surrounded by only EVs. Automotive News continue: “Tesla sold an estimated 28,800 top-of-the-line Model S sedans in 2017, more than triple the number of BMW 7-series sedans sold and nearly double the sales of the Mercedes-Benz S class. Both the Mercedes and BMW large cars are down significantly from their U.S. highs.”
BAIC GROUP SELECTS MAGNA TO DEVELOP ELECTRIC VEHICLE ARCHITECTURE
And whilst US and European EVs makers are just getting started, their production numbers are dwarfed by some Chinese companies. One of those being BAIC. As they say, they’re not mucking around! Many of those companies have long held ambitions to conquer the domestic market, learn their lessons, and then sell their cars to USA and the rest of the world. Whilst that idea was seen as far-fetched by some recent research has show that, in terms of electric cars, ‘Made In China’ is not a problem. And so the news came through yesterday that one of those big Chinese manufacturers, BAIC, is moving into Europe. BAIC’s EC series was the World’s #1 selling EV car in 2017 – and only available in China. The Austrian Magna, those who make fully built cars for companies who need extra capacity for instance, have signed a deal with BAIC. And yes, Magna are the ones making the Jaguar I-PACE. The luxury I-PACE. “BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd.) and Magna today announced that they will jointly develop a next-generation smart electric vehicle architecture for the Chinese market. China is currently the leading market for electric mobility in the world, with around 700,000 electrified cars sold in 2017. By 2020, the number of all-electric cars on China’s roads is forecast to reach around five million, due in part to subsidies and quotas by the Chinese government. Magna was selected to be BAIC’s partner due to its innovative and cost-effective solutions throughout its complete vehicle manufacturing and engineering services as well as its full-scale electronic/electrical architecture and lightweight technologies”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES MAKE DRIVERS CALMER, HAPPIER AND MORE FOCUSED
A new study undertaken by LEVC (London EV Company) has shown that the quieter driving environment of an electrically-driven vehicle can have significant mental health benefits. The work, in conjunction with academics from the University of York, has been released during Mental Health Awareness Week (14-20 May) which is focused on stress and stress reduction, and shows that moving from driving diesel to electric vehicles improves mental well-being for commercial vehicle drivers. In a world first, LEVC (London EV Company) commissioned an experiment to monitor mental activity – among a host of other physical factors – of drivers in both the new electrically-driven taxi and previous diesel model to find out if the quiet cabin of the state-of-the-art electric vehicle had an effect on the wellbeing of hard-working taxi drivers. The…
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