Coming up on today' s show: Tesla' s Q1 delivery estimates send share prices soaring,
Daimlerdrops hydrogen fuel cells, Tesla tries to explain the difference between Model S
and Model 3, and we ask if Ferrari is developing an electric Formula E car These stories and
more, coming next on TEN.
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April Seventh, Twenty Seventeen, I' m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield and this is TEN, a show
that' s happy to bring you the news from the world of cleaner, greener, safer and smarter
transportation, be it land, air, or sea!
And, having just ended the first quarter, it' s that time again when we delve into
Tesla' s quarterly delivery estimate report, which plopped into my inbox some time on Sunday
last week.
The report provides a rough idea of how many cars Tesla made and shipped around the world
during the first quarter of this year to an accuracy of around zero point five percent
(give or take), and comes ahead of the release of official
figures which Tesla will release in about a month' s time as part of its quarterly
earnings report.
This time round, it shows Tesla making just over twenty-five thousand four hundred cars
during the first quarter, and delivering around twenty-five thousand, a dramatic improvement
on last year and (thanks to a fifty four, forty-six percent split between Model S and
Model X) shows that Tesla' s market share is just getting bigger and bigger.
It' s no surprise then that, despite Tesla' s financial losses in recent years, Tesla
shares rocketed after this estimate became public, catapulting Tesla shares above three
hundred U.S. dollars and giving Tesla a market cap above that of Ford.
That said however, I should note that while Tesla' s market cap is currently higher
than Ford' s, the latter is still a much bigger car company, producing more vehicles
in a week than Tesla just did in a quarter.
That fact however doesn' t mean that mainstream automakers aren' t afraid of Tesla.
In fact, Tesla' s doing so well in the plug-in marketplace that I' ve covered several stories
of late involving automakers teaming up (or pushing forward) electric vehicle programs
in order to play catch up.
And this week is no exception, with Volkswagen-owned brands Porsche and Audi making an official
announcement that they would work together on both future electric vehicle and autonomous
car projects in an attempt to bring them to market more quickly.
Audi and Porsche, both of which suffered as a consequence of the diesel gate debacle,
have traditionally kept their electric and autonomous vehicle programs separate from
one another, despite being part of the same automotive family.
But with both brands eager to tackle Tesla with full-size electric sedans and SUVs, an
agreement has been struck that will tie both Audi and Porsche electric vehicles together
until twenty twenty-five.
After that point, both brands should have enough plug-in vehicles in development to
go back to their current arrangement -- although I should note that even then, chassis sharing
and powerplant sharing are likely to continue -- just as they have done for decades already.
From two brands focusing on beating Tesla to another next, in the form of Daimler, which
confirmed at the tail end of last week that, despite pushing forward with its plans to
produce the GLC F-Cell plug-in fuel-cell crossover (for fleet customers only), it would be shifting
its company focus towards battery electric rather than hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
The reasons given?
Hydrogen infrastructure just isn' t ready for prime time and the costs of hydrogen fuel
cell vehicle production remain prohibitively high.
Electric vehicles on the other hand, are now capable of impressive range thanks to improved
battery technology, are cheaper to produce (thanks to falling battery costs) and are
super-easy to refuel.
Hydrogen meanwhile?
Well that' s off the table until the price of hydrogen fuel falls, and fuel cell stacks
are cheap to make.
I' m going to let you decide how long (if ever) that will take.
We' re off to Menlo Park California next, where startup automaker Lucid is working on
raising seven hundred million U.S. Dollars in its latest funding round in order to build
a seven hundred million dollar production facility in Casa Grande, Arizona.
According to Lucid CTO (and former Tesla Model S designer) Peter Rawlinson, Lucid' s manufacturing
facility will be built in three phases, with the first expected to cost about two hundred
and forty million U.S. dollars.
When complete, that section of the factory aims to begin construction of its luxury Lucid
Air electric sedan by twenty nineteen, ramping up to production of between eight and ten
thousand vehicles per year.
If all three stages (the final stage expected to be completed by twenty twenty-two) are
completed, the total investment will hit seven hundred million, but it' s clear at the
moment that Lucid is being as cautious as possible, presumably so it avoids some of
the pitfalls of other would-be Teslas (like Faraday Future, for example).
It' s no secret that Tesla, while it' s pushing full steam ahead with its upcoming
Model 3 electric sedan, isn' t being all that aggressive in marketing the car.
In fact, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has noted several times now, Tesla is actively engaging
in anti-selling Model 3, encouraging customers to opt for Model S (or even Model X) rather
than model 3 when possible.
Well on Thursday, things took another interesting turn when Tesla actually posted a blog post
on its site reminding customers that Model S and Model 3 are very different cars.
Reiterating that Model 3 won' t be a ' better' car than Model S, the post states that Model
S will still be Tesla' s premium, market-leading sedan, complete with more power, more room
and more technology than Model 3.
Model 3 meanwhile, it reiterated will be simpler, smaller, and come with fewer options than
Model S. And while those of us in the automotive world already know that, it' s clear that
Tesla might be worrying a little that mainstream buyers -- and perhaps the mainstream press
-- don' t know that.
Either way, it makes sense to be as upfront as possible about it, right?
Since it was founded several years ago, Hyperloop One-- one of two U.S. based firms seeking
to commercialize the world of hyperloop travel -- has unveiled details of the top eleven
routes in the U.S. that Hyperloop could revolutionize.
Sourced by teams competing in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, the eleven routes --which
join up major U.S. cities -- would have the power to dramatically slash travel times between
both nearby cities and neighboring regions, slashing the time it takes to get from Portland
to Seattle to just seventeen point two minutes for example, making the LA to San Diego sprint
in twelve and a half minutes, and traversing the six hundred and forty-mile sprint between
Dallas and Austin, Texas in just under twenty minutes.
Of course, this is still all hypothetical, but with Hyperloop One readying itself to
work with the UAE on what is expected to be the world' s first commercial Hyperloop
(once all those technical challenges have been ironed out that is) we'
re just going to have to wait and see if hyperloop can deliver -- or if it' s just vaporware
and fantasy.
Watch this space.
Here' s one for you: which companies are currently leading in the world of autonomous
vehicles?
Any ideas?
No, it' s not Tesla.
At least, that' s according to a study produced this week by Navigant Research, which puts
Ford, General Motors and Renault-Nissan at the top of the autonomous vehicle charts -- and
Tesla way down in twelfth place.
How?
Why?
Well, while this study does give Tesla the lead when it comes to technology currently
in the marketplace, it also examined autonomous vehicle technology being developed by each
of the major automakers (and companies like Waymo and Uber), as well as each company'
s strategy to bring that technology to market.
And while Tesla' s current strategy has placed it in the lead of cars you can buy
today, the hint is that this study expects other automakers to overtake Tesla in the
next few years as each bring their own brand of autonomous vehicle capabilities to market.
I guess we' ll have to wait and find out if the study' s authors are right or not.
From one study to another now, but this time one that predicts that the average price paid
for Tesla' s Model 3 sedan will be a little higher than the forty-two thousand dollar
price tag Elon Musk predicted, and quite a lot higher than the headline-grabbing thirty-five
thousand dollar price tag.
At least, that' s according to data analyst Ben Sullins, who has been tracking the data
from nearly eight-thousand Model 3 reservation holders at Model3Tracker dot info -- a site
devoted to tracking the reservation details and (expected) options that reservation holders
say they will take if offered them.
Sullins says the data suggests most reservation holders are expecting to pay between forty-five
and fifty-five thousand U.S. dollars for their car, demonstrating that while Tesla' s Model
3 is being seen by many as a mass-market, affordable car, many early customers will
be paying far more for their fully-loaded cars than could be considered ' affordable'
. I guess the real litmus test for this one will be if the price remains high after all
those pre-reservations have been filled.
Do you agree?
Leave your thoughts in the Comments below.Staying on the subject of sales, I' ve got a little
news here for you regarding U.S. sales figures of plug-in cars during the month of March.
And interestingly, it shows some fun trends that were not expected.
For example, the Nissan LEAF -- now getting pretty long in the tooth after seven years
of sales -- outsold the brand-new long-distance Chevrolet Bolt EV for a second month in a
row, selling one thousand four hundred and seventy-eight cars to the Bolt' s nine hundred
and seventy-eight.
But to be fair, some of that is believed to be thanks to some pretty big discounts being
offered by Nissan in order to clear out LEAF inventory
ahead of the expected September launch of the next-gen LEAF.
Also interesting is the number of plug-in hybrids sold last month, which eclipsed the
number of pure electric vehicles sold, thanks to good months for both the Ford Energi plug-in
hybrid, Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, and Chevrolet Volt range extended EV (which many consider
a plug-in hybrid).
At the start of today' s show, I hinted that we would be covering more than just cars
in today' s show, and this next story is proof of that, with news of a brand-new speed
record set by an all-electric stunt airplane made by Siemens.
The Siemens Extra three-thirty LE plane, powered by a super-powerful lightweight electric motor,
hit a record-breaking three hundred and forty kilometers per hour (two hundred and twelve
miles per hours) back at the end of March, putting it in the record books.
And if that wasn' t enough, it also became the first all-electric plane to tow a glider
into the air, towing a type LS8-neo glider to a height of 600 meters in just seventy-six
seconds.
And since not all gliding clubs can make use of winch lifts, this is very exciting indeed,
since gliding itself is a very environmentally-friendly thing (it' s just the getting up there that
isn' t always so green) Well done, guys!
On to trucks next, we' re off to Peloton, a startup company backed by hardware giant
Intel, which has just begun a new round of funding to try and bring its automated truck
convoy technology to market by the end of this year.
The goal of the technology is pretty simple, allowing truck drivers to virtually connect
their trucks to one another on long-haul routes in order to become massively long truck trains,
following one another far more closely than would be possible with human drivers, with
the front most truck leading the others in mother-duck-and-chick style.
The benefit?
Reduced drag and improved fuel efficiency, plus obviously less risk of driver fatigue
or injury.
While the firm has been working with regulators, truck operators, vehicle manufacturers and
technology providers to perfect its system, Peloton is still confident it will have its
technology in the marketplace -- and saving trucking firms billions in fuel costs -- before
fully - autonomous trucks hit the market.
This next story might seem a little weird, but stick with me because I think it' s
kinda cool.
Meet TankTwo, a new battery system for electric cars which instead of using either a traditional
solid battery pack or liquid electrolyte, is made of lots of tiny battery ' balls'
which you literally pour into a ' battery tank' .
Once poured in, the batteries -- which have contacts on all sides and can intelligently
orient themselves -- figure out the best way of connecting themselves to each other, and
then send the power to your vehicle' s drive train.
I' m doing a terrible job of explaining it, but, claims the Finnish-American company,
it could revolutionize the way we think about electric vehicle battery packs and, since
the modules are infinitely configurable, could lead to some pretty interesting electric vehicle
capabilities.
Oh, and if your battery became low, you' d just stop at a swap sation, pour out the
old batteries and pour new ones in.
Yeah, I' m not convinced, but this one was just too fun-sounding to not include in today'
s show.
And finally, When it comes to pathological distrust and hatred of electric cars, there
are few as vocal as FCA boss Sergio Marchionne -- who also happens to be the guy in charge
of Ferrari.
And in both positions over the years, we've heard Sergio spout frustration over Compliance
car regs to a shooting down in flames anyone who suggested an electric Ferrari, calling
the very idea "obscene".
Well, this week, Marchionne showed signs that he may be rethinking that position, telling
Auto --the FIA' s magazine -- that when it comes to the FIA' s Formula E race series,
"We need to be involved," adding that "electrification via hybridization is going
to be part of our future."Sure it' s not out and out support for electric, but hey,
it' s proof that everyone can change their opinion, right?
And on that note, I' m off.
As always, don' t forget to like, comment and subscribe, visit transport evolved dot
com for more cleaner, greener, safer and smarter transportation news, or join in the conversation
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And if you liked what you saw today and want to help us make more shows like this, please
consider making a donation to our Patreon crowdfunding campaign, a link for which is
in the description and at the end of today' s show.
Thanks again for joining me, I' ll see you next week, I' m Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,
That was TEN, have a great weekend, and until next time, keep Evolving!
For more infomation >> Evening Forecast for April 9 - Duration: 2:47. 
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