Which automaker sees 50 miles as the ideal electric range for plug-in hybrids?
How can the EV battery system become more sustainable?
This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending September 11, 2020.
The production version of the 2021 Lucid Air has been revealed, with a price ranging up to $169,000—or about $80,000 if you’re willing to wait until 2022. It also used the occasion to tease its upcoming SUV, due in 2023, with photos of the Project Gravity SUV concept.
Lucid Project Gravity - from video clip during Air debut
GM and Nikola announced a partnership that will result in GM building the Nikola Badger fuel-cell-electric pickup and supplying fuel-cell and battery components for Nikola’s commercial trucks. And GM revealed more about a technology first that’s on the way in its new generation of electric vehicles: a wireless battery management system.
Nikola Badger
With buzz building for the September reveal of the ID.4 electric crossover, Volkswagen showed some of the model’s interior and interface, and much of it follows what’s features in the ID.3 hatchback now starting to be delivered in Europe.
VW CEO Herbert Diess reportedly let Tesla CEO Elon Musk drive the ID.3 and inspect the ID.4 up close. While Musk reportedly said, "I think for a non-sporty car it's pretty good," one of Germany’s top automotive magazines gave its domestic mass-market electric car, the Volkswagen ID.3, a scathing review that criticized its assembly quality and infotainment—although it lauded the ID.3’s dynamics.
2020 Volkswagen ID 3 production at plane in Zwickau, Germany
Audi confirmed that plug-in hybrids remain an important part of its strategy this decade, with models that offer something closer to 50 miles of electric range on the way, as well as RS models that will exploit the technology’s full performance potential.
Hyundai and the battery supplier SK Innovation have allied to reconceive the EV battery “ecosystem” around sustainability and stability—with a model that might pull the market toward leasing batteries and including second-life plans from the start.
One of the best lease deals of the year on the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV is exclusive to Costco members.
2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV charging at Electrify America site, Kelso, Washington
India is considering a plan that will mandate electric-vehicle chargers at each of the country’s 69,000 state-owned gas stations.
Aiways is the first of many Chinese EV startups—as opposed to established automakers, with existing global ties—to deliver its vehicles in Europe.
BMW is recalling some 2020-2021 BMW and Mini plug-in hybrids for a battery issue that could potentially result in a fire.
The 500,000th Nissan Leaf
Nissan has made more than 500,000 Leaf electric cars. Although it took Tesla much shorter than Nissan’s 10 years, the Leaf stands out for being the first mass-produced EV.
And last weekend, we noted that Jeep is reportedly planning to build a network of solar-powered charging stations for popular off-road trails in California and Utah—so that buyers of the recently detailed Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid might enjoy the sounds of nature, not the engine.
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