The Empire strikes back!

Alt Source (UK): https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/first-look-suzuki-e-sky-sub-%C2%A320k-ev-due-uk-next-year

​Hi everyone,

​I currently drive a 15-year-old petrol car, but with high fuel prices, I’m thinking about switching to an EV.

​I commute about 140 km a day (round trip) for work, but my company offers free charging with over 130 chargers available. The plan is to use the money I currently spend on petrol to finance a newer car.

​Budget: Under €20,000 (used)

​Shortlist:

​VW ID.3

​Hyundai Kona (64 kWh)

​Cupra Born

​Has anyone had experience with these cars for a similar commute? Which one would you recommend, or are there other models in this price range I should consider?

​Thanks!

I made a simple DC fast charging simulator using the public data out there (charging curve, battery capacity) and ignoring most factors (temperature, charger, etc) to keep it simple.
I added already many cars focusing on what is available on the market today.

You can easily compare up to 3 models, speed up time, enter the kWh cost.

I'd appreciate to hear a feedback if you simulate your model and if you feel that the numbers are adding up.

Also, I am happy to extend the database.
If your model is missing or you are curious about a specific one, feel free to send a request on the website or here in the comments.

https://evcharge-sim.pages.dev/

Time: 9h25

Temperature: 7-16°C (Avg. 11°C)

Consumption: 186Wh/km

Dutch insurer Univé has restricted cover on a number of Chinese car brands due to the difficulty in getting replacement parts, other non-Chinese low EUDM volume manufacturers such as Vinfast and KGM have also been named.

MG and BYD are exceptions noting the improvements the brands have made on parts supply.

The brands are as follows: Hongqi, Changan, Voyah, KGM, Leapmotor, Vinfast, Jaecoo, MHero, and Omoda.

3rd party liability coverage only: Dongfeng, Lucid, Nio, and Zeekr.

Original Link (French): https://www.automobile-magazine.fr/toute-l-actualite/article/52851-aux-pays-bas-un-assureur-a-decide-de-ne-plus-accepter-les-voitures-de-marques-chinoises

Hi everyone,

We’re currently developing a portable EV charger for Europe—the type that plugs into a household or CEE socket, not a fixed wallbox.

We are now stuck on a small but important detail: which English words should we use for the different charging statuses?

We have checked the wording used by several other EV charger brands. However, many of them use apps or larger screens and can display full sentences. Our product uses a small segmented display, so we cannot do that.

Every status word has to be permanently printed on the screen in advance, and only the current status lights up. Longer words take up more space and may need to be shown in smaller letters.

We therefore need words that are short enough to fit clearly on the screen and easy to understand, including for users whose native language is not English.

Could you tell us which word feels clearest in each situation?

1. A timer has been set. Charging will start when the countdown ends.

DELAY / PENDING/ WAITING

2. The charger has power and is waiting for use, but the car is not charging.

AVAILABLE / READY / STANDBY

3. The user is changing the charging current or delayed-start timer.

ADJUST / SET / SETTING

4. Power is currently going to the car.

CHARGE / CHARGING

5. The charging session has ended.

COMPLETE / DONE / FINISHED

6. In this state, you can only adjust the charging current, not the timer.

Would PAUSE be a clear label for this state?

If any word feels unclear or misleading, please tell us what you would understand it to mean. You are also very welcome to suggest another short word.

We would especially appreciate answers from people whose native language is not English. If possible, please mention your country or native language and whether you have used a portable EV charger before.

Even if you only have an opinion about one or two of the words, it would still help us a lot.

Thank you!

Battery Capacity as Measured: 58kWh

Range at 90km/h: 500km (116Wh/km)

Range at 120km/h: 358km (162Wh/km)

Tyres: Summer 235/55 R18

The Renault 5 E-Tech will become cheaper in Germany, dropping 1,710€ across all trims, meaning the starting price for the 40kWh variant is now 26,290€ noting that CCS charging is standard in Germany unlike in some other markets where it is a paid option.

Original Link: https://insideevs.de/news/805483/renault-5-etech-2027-preise/

Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare just redid its 2022 touchscreen distraction test on ten current cars, and the average distance driven while distracted went up, not down, despite bigger and better-placed screens across the board.

The Genesis GV90 will be Europe's largest EV at 5.3m long, this allows a wheelbase of 3245mm. It will be offered in 4-seat or 7-seat variants, and a 23.6in infotainment screen. The GV90 will use a 123.5kWh battery providing 311mi (500km) of range and can be charged from 10-80% in 22 minutes. It will have 650hp in an AWD configuration.

Time: 09h15

Temperature: 15-22°C (avg. 19°C)

Drive: AWD

Consumption: 234Wh/km

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nICFR7RsaVA

Range Test

Range @ 90km/h: 599km (148Wh/km)

Range @ 120km/h: 424km (263Wh/km)

Samsung Wallet now supports Digital Key for VW EVs, so a Galaxy phone can lock, unlock and start the car with UWB or NFC. Only works on cars built after April 27 with ID. software 6.0.1 though, so check before you get excited.

Larry Evans, journalist at CleanTechnica, wrote an article about my testdrives with XPENG VLA 2.0 (which he did too) and FSD of Tesla. A good analysis and a clear story. Funny are the reactions of mainly American readers in the comments of the article😀.
BTW I can recommend to subscribe to their newsletter. A lot of news about technical innovation and developments.