Which automaker teased the possibility of getting in the insurance business starting as soon as next month?
Which startup automaker does Ford intend to invest $500 million into?
And where might a solar car that started with crowdfunding be made?
We finished the week rounding up some details in the news that we’d missed in the afterglow of the previous week’s New York auto show—such as Bentley’s not-so-bullish take on an all-electric future. And at last, there’s an equivalent to the West Coast Electric Highway in the works for commercial trucks, like electric semis.
2019 Jaguar I-Pace First Edition
On Thursday we brought you a hard reality—that the Jaguar I-Pace isn’t selling well in the U.S. yet. A marketing reboot might change that, and in the meantime the company is sending more where it can move them—like Norway.
There’s always news beyond the numbers from Tesla’s quarterly financial calls, and this week’s Q1 call was no exception. CEO Elon Musk teased a new Tesla insurance product that will be informed by Autopilot data, and he explained that the company is considering its Fremont plant after all for Model Y production.
2018 Tesla Model X
Just a day earlier—and likely no coincidence—the company had announced revamped Model S and Model X lineups, with longer driving ranges, more efficient drive systems, and new Standard Range variants.
The big tie-up of the week arrived Wednesday morning and caught us by surprise. Ford announced that it would invest $500 million in the electric-truck hopeful RIvian, and that it would co-develop a vehicle for a Ford brand (assuming either Ford or Lincoln) with Rivian’s platform. Rivian had recently disclosed that it now has a grand total of six vehicles in the works.
Sono Sion solar assisted electric car
Meanwhile, Sono Motors continues to push forward with a concept that Musk doesn’t think makes sense: putting solar cells on the top of a car, to charge the main traction battery. Sono’s eccentric Sion solar-boosted hatchback will be made, fittingly, at Saab’s former home plant in Trollhätten, Sweden.
In Colorado, the legislature passed a bill to fine ICEholes—those who park their internal-combustion-engine vehicle in an electric-only space, blocking access to a charge point.
Hyundai and Kia may soon offer an app that can offer a higher level of control over performance and charging settings and automatically make things a little easier by customizing driver settings across (electric) vehicles. And EVgo is now offering the ease of the new Plug ‘n Charge standard that doesn’t require a card or fob—if you drive for Maven, that is.
Qiantu K50 by Mullen
Earlier in the week we brought you a full download about the Qiantu K50 that California’s Mullen Technologies plans to import from China—and then assemble in the U.S. And then later in the week we were able to tell you where the company plans to assemble it, as well as lay the foundation for other future electric vehicles.
Monday, Tesla’s autonomy day for investors included an outline of Tesla’s new hardware, its software-based vision, and its plans for creating a fleet of robo-taxis.
And we started the week with an Earth Day affirmation. Add new satellite data confirming that Earth is warming, maybe at a faster pace than previously thought, to the many reasons to tread lightly in how you live and drive.
_______________________________________
