From China to Amsterdam to Atlanta to Los Angeles, the electric vehicle industry continues to grow and improve at a rapid clip. In fact, it is the only climate solution that is growing enough to put us on track for only 1.5°C of global heating.
I’d say that the biggest EV news of the week was the launch of a trio of new EVs in China that look set to score massive sales. Auto Guangzhou 2023 is ongoing over in China, and the first day of the auto show included the launch of the BYD Sea Lion 07, Zeekr 007, and XPeng G9. These are some compelling, beautiful, high-tech EVs that I only wish we could see in the United States!
Across the Pacific, Lucid launched the luxurious Gravity SUV at the LA Auto Show. It quickly claims its spot in the top tier of electric SUV options, but it’s also in that tier in terms of cost….
Much bigger news from the LA Auto Show, Hyundai and Amazon announced that, starting next year, you will be able to buy Hyundai automobiles (electric and fossil-powered) on Amazon. Yep, it’s happening. Let’s see how fast other automakers make such announcements.
Also on the topic of Hyundai’s leadership in innovation, a recent Edmunds study found that Hyundai EVs were the most efficient vehicles in terms of miles charged or added per hour. Together, Hyundai and Kia models clearly topped the charts. Excluding different variants of the same model (which Edmunds uses to break down the results), Hyundai and Kia EVs were 3 out of the top 4 models! The Hyundai Ioniq 6 (particularly, the RWD version) was first, the Kia EV6 was second, the Porsche Taycan 4S was third, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (dual motor) was fourth. The very popular Tesla Model 3 (which I own) was 8th, and the even more popular Tesla Model Y was 10th.
Interestingly, while the big Auto Guangzhou show and the big LA Auto Show have been going on, Mercedes-Benz launched its first US EV charging station … in Atlanta, Georgia. Our own Paul Fosse went to the unveiling event and interviewed Mercedes-Benz executives about their EV charging plans and their broader electrification transition. He also relayed some of the highlights from the Q&A session with EV journalists and those Mercedes-Benz execs. Great questions, and interesting answers!
On the charging front, and particularly because Mercedes-Benz partnered with ChargePoint for that charging initiative above, it’s noteworthy that ChargePoint just launched 500 kW chargers. Remember when fast chargers were 50 kW chargers? ChargePoint also just gave its app a big update.
Bringing the Asian EV market and the US EV market together, VinFast is eager to sell its EVs in the US, and 70 dealers have already put in their applications to move VinFast vehicles. I guess no Amazon for VinFast … for now.
We also got some notable news from Volkswagen. The mass-market German automaker has rolled out a new flagship electric vehicle, the ID.7, and it’s a beauty! This definitely looks like it will be Volkswagen’s best EV yet. The company also announced that it would produce some electric cars in Mexico — probably starting in 2025.
The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) market may finally be rising. The first eVTOL flight in Florida was recently logged, and that was also the first eVTOL flight from a major international airport in the US. Additionally, we got the first eVTOL flight over New York City from another next-gen aviation company.
Leaving New Amsterdam (the original name for New York City) and going back over to the OG Amsterdam, we have news that 42% of new cars in the Netherlands were plugin cars in October, and 29% were full electrics. That’s winning! And it’s just one of 1,000 reasons why we love the Netherlands.
And then we’ve got the fact that ExxonMobil is now drilling for lithium (or extracting lithium, we should say). The oil giant wants to be a top lithium producer for the EV industry by 2030, just a little more than 6 years from now. So, there’s that.
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