Electric Cars

Strom R3 Electric VehicleDeliveries of Strom R3 are set to commence in early 2022 with a limited production run
Strom Motors, a Mumbai-based electric vehicle startup, commenced pre-bookings for its maiden product, the R3 personal 3-wheeled electric car. Set to have a limited production run, the quirky Strom R3 has already garnered orders worth USD 1 million (~Rs 7.5 crores) in just four days.
Strom R3 – Order books open
Pre-orders of the Strom R3 will be open for a few more weeks. It is to be noted that the company neither revealed the number of bookings nor the price of the vehicle. Customers can order one for INR 10,000.
It is unclear on what basis the company arrived at the USD 1 million figure – based on the booking amount alone or on the full vehicle price which is estimated to be INR 4.5 lakh. It is most likely the latter, considering that the pre-orders are only available for Mumbai and Delhi as of now.
Overview
The Strom R3 is an unconventional urban runabout with compact footprint and a single rear wheel. The two-door two-seater electric vehicle is aimed at working professionals, families and fleet operators for journeys that are 10 km or less. The made-in-India mini EV is comparable to a quadricycle in terms of size and looks like a micro car when viewed from front.
Strom Electric 3 Wheeler
When viewed from the side, there is nothing conventional about the R3. The profile lines are angular and the single rear wheel makes for a curvy rear fascia.
The compact cabin seats two people and the car-like dashboard gets triple touchscreen interface. Things should be comfortable enough during short urban commutes. The driver seat is 12-way adjustable and both seats are equipped with 3-point seat belts.
Feature highlights include power windows, AC, voice and gesture controls, smartphone connectivity, audio system with 20 gb storage, turn-by-turn navigation, and 4G connectivity with vehicle health monitoring (SOC, brake pads, motor and power electronic status, etc). In the future, the company proposes to add automatic vehicle following system and park assist to the equipment package.
Strom Electric 3 Wheeler
Powertrain
Powering the little three-wheeled electric car is a 15 kW AC induction motor which generates a healthy 90 Nm of torque. Transmission system involves a single reduction gear. Three drive modes are on offer namely Eco, Normal and Sports. The regenerative braking also has three modes – aggressive, normal, off.
The vehicle is equipped with a 48 v lithium-ion battery (kWh unspecified) which claimed to last for over 1,00,000 km. It can be charged in 3 hours and is claimed to offer a maximum range of 200 km, representing a running cost as low as INR 0.40 per km. Top speed is electronically limited to 80 km.
Strom Electric 3 Wheeler
The vehicle tips the sales at 550 kg. As far as storage space is concerned, the Strom R3 has a 300 liters of boot space at the rear in addition to a 100 liter compartment at the front. More

MG ZS Electric Car Donated To IIT DelhiThe alliance will help to further the research being conducted in the field of electric and autonomous vehicles
MG Motor India has formed an alliance with IIT Delhi – Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART). This partnership is being forged for extensive research in the field of electric and autonomous vehicles.
The focus of IIT Delhi will be in furthering the MG Motor endeavor on Connected – Autonomous –Shared – Electric (CASE) through research in deployment of electric and autonomous vehicles through urban India.
In keeping with the new research subject, MG Motor has also donated a ZS EV to IIT Delhi and the research will also include Connected Mobility in terms of Route Planning and Navigation, Obstacle Detection, Seamless and Natural Human Interaction and AI for Inferring and Decision-making.
Child Car Safety Seat Project
This is not the first such study conducted by IIT Delhi for MG Motor. Earlier the automaker had worked with IIT Delhi to boost in-car child safety seat project via geofencing. The study also extended to innovation challenge Hackathons in partnership with IIT Delhi for a safer and greener most of travel.
MG ZS Electric Car Donated To IIT Delhi
It may be recalled that the MG ZS EV is the first internet electric SUV while the Gloster is the first autonomous Level 1 premium SUV. Both these cars make ideal case studies in developing the future of autonomous vehicles, especially so in an institute that is ranked among the top in terms of technology in the world.
CART offers high end research into areas such as battery operated electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles along with storage and alternate energy sources and autonomous and connected vehicles.
MG ZS EV and Gloster
With electric vehicles becoming popular in our markers, the MG ZS EV competes with the Tata Nexon EV and Hyundai Kona EV. More recently, at the Green Car Award by ICOTY, the Tata Nexon, Hyundai Kona and ZS EV were in the top 3 spots, scoring 106 points, 99 points and 93 points respectively.
MG ZS Electric Car Donated To IIT Delhi
The MG Gloster and ZS EV have also been contributing heavily to company sales. In Feb 21, MG Motor India recorded their highest production, booking and sales with 4,329 units sold relating to a 214 percent YoY growth. The company attributed this growth to the ZS EV and Gloster.
MG Motor India is now working on extending their charging infrastructure and localization of powertrains. MG Motor recently clocked its 50,000th unit production milestone with the Hector and plans to produce 1 lakh units annually by 2022 from its Halol plant. Current production stands at 80,000 units with the Hector 6 and 7 seater, Gloster and EV while the company also plans a fourth car – Model K in the third quarter of this year. More

VW’s Unified Battery Cell will form the electric heart of its future models.
Volkswagen
Taking a page from Elon Musk and Tesla’s playbook, on Monday, Volkswagen Group executives outlined the company’s next-generation battery and charging strategy in its first Power Day presentation, a virtual seminar. The German giant detailed plans to move a majority of its forthcoming electric vehicle range to a single next-generation battery format. Dubbed “Unified Battery Cell,” this new prismatic (as opposed a to cylindrical or pouch-style) format will enter production in 2023 and go on to form the heart of 80% of the company’s EVs by 2030. The remaining 20% of production will rely on special chemistries for unique usage cases, including heavy-duty commercial trucks and high-performance models and race cars among them. There is a clear, distinct target for Porsche’s own research and development within VWAG: “Our goal must be to ensure a permanent supply of high-performance cells that fully satisfy our specific requirements for future electrified race cars and electric super sports cars,” said Porsche CEO Oliver Blume.VW’s goal is to cut battery costs by up to 50% in these standard cells, and to ensure up to 95% recyclability, all while increasing range. According to a press release, “Volkswagen intends to gradually reduce the cost of batteries in the entry-level segment by up to 50% and in the volume segment by up to 30%.” As noted by Reuters, it’s not immediately clear what this largely in-house program means for the Volkswagen Group’s existing pouch-style battery partners, which include Korea’s LG and SK Innovation.

VW officials outlined plans for 240 gigawatt hours of battery capacity in six European factories by the end of this decade, including 40 gigawatt-hour plants in Skelleftea, Sweden (coming online in 2023), and in Salzgitter, Germany, in 2025.Consumers will first be able to experience this next-gen battery power in the company’s forthcoming Artemis platform, which is now in development at Audi, another of VWAG’s luxury brands.Bidirectional chargingBeginning in 2022, VW says models built on the company’s MEB architecture will support bidirectional (two-way) charging — that is, the ability to leverage a vehicle’s battery to power external things. That ability includes feeding power back into a home or business in the event of a blackout, or to use as a temporary storage medium to take advantage of lower-cost off-peak electricity rates. Plans call for VW to offer a home energy storage battery to take advantage of this new capability (think: Tesla PowerWall). It is not immediately clear if this two-way capability will be legal throughout the US and Canada — other automakers have announced similar capabilities, only to run into local regulatory red tape.Solid-state battery futureDuring Power Day, VW also confirmed plans to continue pursuing solid-state batteries as its end goal, and the company says that moving to this newly standardized Unified Battery Cell as an intermediate step will help the company’s models move to a liquid-free battery easier in the future. VW is working with its US partner QuantumScape to ready production of solid-state cells for the 2025 timeframe. Volkswagen believes these smaller, lighter and more robust liquid-free cells will enable up to 30% more range while delivering 80% charges in as little as 12 minutes. That’s roughly twice as quick as today’s cutting-edge batteries, which would bring refueling time much closer to parity with gasoline-powered vehicles. Lengthy charge times are seen as a primary stumbling block to EV adoption by many consumers.

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Charging network plansVolkswagen also revealed plans to ramp up its European charging network to 18,000 charge points in the near term — a quintupling of today’s footprint — with partners like BP in the UK, Iberdrola in Spain and Enel in Italy. VW is planning 8,000 150kW high-speed chargers at BP and Aral gas stations, primarily in Germany and the UK. In the US, plans call for 3,500 new fast-charging locations by 2023, and a further 17,000 charge points in China by 2025. Electrify America, the company’s US charging arm, says it is averaging four new network-point installations per week, and it expects to have 800 stations up and running in North America by the end of 2021.In the near term, on the back of its new ID range of EV models that are just now entering dealers worldwide, Volkswagen expects to double global battery electric vehicle sales to become between 6 and 8% of the company’s range of vehicles. The first of these models to be offered in the US and Canada is the ID 4 compact crossover.
2022 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo wagon looks so damn cool
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James Martin/CNET
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a new title at the automaker. In a new regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company revealed that the world’s current second-richest man title has changed to “Technoking of Tesla.”Zach Kirkhorn, Tesla’s chief financial officer, also got a new title on Monday as the company’s “Master of Coin.” The filing notes that in addition to these titles both Musk and Kirkhorn will “also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.”It was not clear why Musk and Kirkhorn changed their titles. Musk, normally active on social media, has yet to tweet on the change.While Musk hasn’t tweeted, at least for Kirkhorn the change does seem to tie into recent Tesla news. The baroque title adjustment arrives nearly a month after the electric carmaker announced that it would begin accepting Bitcoin as payment, with the company also investing $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency.

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Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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VW’s Unified Battery Cell will form the electric heart of its future models.
Volkswagen
Taking a page out of Elon Musk and Tesla’s playbook, on Monday Volkswagen Group outlined its next-generation battery and charging strategy in its first Power Day presentation, a virtual seminar. The German giant detailed plans to move a majority of its forthcoming electric vehicle range to a single next-generation battery format. Dubbed “Unified Battery Cell,” this new prismatic (opposed to cylindrical or pouch-style) format will enter production in 2023 and go on to form the heart of 80% of the company’s EVs by 2030. The remaining 20% of production will rely on special chemistries for unique usage cases — ultrahigh-performance models (e.g. Porsche models and race cars) and heavy-duty commercial trucks among them. VW’s goal is to cut battery costs by up to 50% in these standard cells, and to ensure up to 95% recyclability. According to a press release, “Volkswagen intends to gradually reduce the cost of batteries in the entry-level segment by up to 50% and in the volume segment by up to 30%.” As noted by Reuters, it’s not immediately clear what this largely in-house program means for the Volkswagen Group’s existing pouch-style battery partners, which include Korea’s LG and SK Innovation.

VW officials outlined plans for 240 gigawatt hours of battery capacity in six European factories by the end of this decade, including 40 gigawatt-hour plants in Skellefteå, Sweden (coming online in 2023), and in Salzgitter, Germany, in 2025.Consumers will first be able to experience this next-gen battery power in the company’s forthcoming Artemis platform, which is now in development at Audi, one of VWAG’s luxury brands.Solid-state battery futureDuring Power Day, VW also confirmed plans to continue pursuing solid-state batteries as its end goal, and the company says that moving to this newly standardized Unified Battery Cell as an intermediate step will help moving to a liquid-free battery easier in the future. VW is working with its US partner QuantumScape to ready production of solid-state cells for the 2025 timeframe. Volkswagen believes these smaller, lighter and more robust cells will enable up to 30% more range while delivering 80% charges in as little as 12 minutes. That’s roughly twice as quick as today’s cutting-edge batteries, which would bring refueling time much closer to parity with gasoline-powered vehicles. Lengthy charge times are seen as a primary stumbling block to EV adoption by many consumers.

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Charging network plansVolkswagen also revealed plans to ramp up its European charging network to 18,000 charge points in the near term — a quintupling of today’s footprint — with partners like BP in the UK, Iberdrola in Spain and Enel in Italy. VW is planning 8,000 150kW high-speed chargers at BP and Aral gas stations, primarily in Germany and the UK. In the US, plans call for 3,500 new fast-charging locations by 2023, and a further 17,000 charge points in China by 2025. Electrify America, the company’s US charging arm, says it is averaging four new network-point installations per week, and it expects to have 800 stations up and running in North America by the end of 2021.In the near term, on the back of its new ID range of EV models that are just now entering dealers worldwide, Volkswagen expects to double global battery electric vehicle sales to become between 6 and 8% of the company’s range of vehicles. The first of these models to be offered in the US and Canada is the ID 4 compact crossover.
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Kia EV6 Electric CarKia EV6 will be positioned on the Electric-Global Modular Platform that also spawns the Hyundai Ioniq 5
As first photos of Kia’s upcoming EV6 electric car get released officially, it can be seen that this will be the first example of the company’s new Opposites United design philosophy. This is a philosophy that is based on the 5 pillars of Bold for Nature, Joy for Reason, Power to Progress, Technology for Life and Tension for Serenity.
New Kia EV6 is also the company’s first all-electric model and the first vehicle built on the new Electric-Global Modular Platform that also underpins the new Hyundai Ioniq 5. As of now there are no plans for the car to be launched in India.
Kia EV6 Electric Car
Exterior Details
The new Kia EV6 is designed at Kia’s global design network in Namyang (S.Korea), Frankfurt (Germany), and Irvine (California, US). Being positioned on Kia’s dedicated EV platform – E-GMP, the EV6 crossover will made its world premiere later this month in a special online event.
It will boast of spacious interiors and as first images of its exteriors get revealed, it may be seen that it gets a new Kia logo, a large set of headlamps connected via a narrow upper Kia’s ‘Tiger Nose Grille’, angular DRLs and a larger lower opening that also related to better aerodynamics.
Kia EV6 Electric Car
The rear window slopes towards the spoiler with a light bar spanning the entire rear of the vehicle which could relate to less cargo space. Rear haunches and wheel arches along with a swept back windshield are also a part of its exterior features. Aerodynamics are enhanced with a sloping rear C Pillar and a prominent roof spoiler that channels air downwards towards its lower spoiler.
Interiors sport a more traditional design with ample space, bold lines, a large central console while in keeping with its Technology for Life philosophy, the EV6 gets the latest in on board technologies and in car connectivity.
It gets a high definition curved screen, a slim dashboard and instrument cluster which is positioned in front of the driver. The infotainment system and navigation are placed above the central console while the width of the screen offers the driver a better experience with minimal buttons and a more uncluttered look.
Kia EV6 Electric Car
Below the AVN screen is the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) settings below which the dashboard slopes away towards the front offering more space to passengers in the front.
Kia EV6 Performance
While no electric powertrain specs are revealed, the Kia EV6, being positioned on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, could offer a long range of 500kms, fast charging facilities and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds. More details will be revealed when the electric crossover makes its public debut later this month.
Kia Motors in India currently sells the Seltos and Sonet SUVs along Carnival MPV, while the company is also readying a new mid-size MPV for India. More

Microlino EV
The compact urban Microlino from Switzerland-based Micromobility Systems AG, borrows inspiration from the Isetta microcar

Microlino EV is finally ready for the roads. It has been under development for many years and was set to be showcased at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show which got cancelled. Now the Microlino 2.0 is set to enter production, in Sep this year.
It has received some modifications as against its earlier prototype for better safety and the company even released an image comparing the 1.0 with the updated and safer 2.0 model and a video that draws attention to its design and interior makeup. Below is the 2.0 Prototype of the upcoming Microlino EV.
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Microlino electric two seater weighs 513 kgs and has a maximum speed of 90 km/h. It is priced from 12,000 euros (approx Rs 10.42 lakh) and developed to offer just the right amount of space and range. The makers claim that their new EV can be charged in a matter of 4 hours from a domestic plug point.
Microlino Design
Having made its online debut in 2020, the Microlino EV borrows inspiration from the BMW Isetta, built from 1956-1962. It gets a single front mounted door and protruding headlamps. It gets a steel and aluminum body for better rigidity and rides on black steel wheels while suspension has been tuned to offer a comfortable ride.
Microlino EV
The cabin is kept simple and minimalistic. It houses a digital display offering vital information, a dashboard with a horizontal bar onto which phones and wireless speakers can be mounted and a bench type seat for two passengers.
The steering column is fixed to the floor and not on the door as was seen on the Isetta. Due to the compact size of the Microlino EV, it will allow users to exit straight onto the pavement and parking can be made possible in the most miniscule of spaces.
Production Plans
Micromobility Systems AG plans to build 5 such models for testing before entering production. Pre-production is set to commence from Sep 2021. They expect to receive EU type-approval in August prior to commencing series production in September while deliveries could be made by the end of this year.
Set to be priced at €12,000 (Rs.10.42 lakhs), the Microlino EV is positioned to compete with the Citroen Ami One. At this price point, it will be more expensive than the Renault Twizy (€7,350) but cheaper as compared to the Smart EQ (€22,000).
Microlino EV could also be offered on urban car share basis as is seen in the case of Renault’s new Mobilize EZ-1 two-seater. Micromobility could sell this new EV in markets of Europe and China but not in the US markets where it is unlikely to pass US crash tests. More

Future lithium-based batteries promise greater energy density, faster charging, lighter weight and more.
GM
Two of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of mass-EV adoption are cost and energy density. Addressing both concerns, on Thursday GM announced it’s hard at work on a next-generation Ultium battery chemistry. Yep, first-gen Ultium batteries aren’t even out yet and the automaker is already talking about what comes next. Here’s what that means.To develop these improved batteries, GM also revealed a joint development agreement with SolidEnergy Systems (SES), a company that has extensive experience working with lithium. GM Ventures, the automaker’s venture capital arm that helps nurture automotive-related start-up companies has been invested in SES for six years now, but this new announcement takes the partnership a step further. By 2023, the two companies plan to build a manufacturing line in Woburn, Massachusetts to make prototype batteries.SES technology promises to deliver batteries that charge faster, have greater energy density and are lower in weight. Talk about a win-win-win. Beyond that, its designs should also be efficient to manufacture and very scalable, exactly what automakers need. Prototype batteries have already withstood some 150,000 simulated miles’ worth of testing in the lab at GM’s tech center in Warren, Michigan, so the design shows promise.Advances in battery design promise to address several major hurdles in the way of mass-EV adoption. 
GM
This new battery design sounds a lot like solid state, but that’s not the case. According to its website, SES “used to pursue solid-state Li-Metal technology. However, we have developed a far more practical, better-performing, and complete Li-Metal system than today’s solid-state alternatives.” Its new designs promise greater range from batteries of the same size or the same range from smaller, lighter packs. “With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe we’re on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost,” said GM president Mark Reuss in a media release. “There’s even more room to improve in both categories, and we intend to innovate faster than any other company in this space.”GM has extensive experience working with lithium-ion batteries. The automaker currently has 49 patents related to this technology and another 45 are pending. Ultium-powered vehicles are expected to go on sale at some point in 2021, just one year after the system was unveiled.

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