This Week in EV News: $21,000 Electric VW, BMW Electric Plans, Arc Vector Electric Motorcycle, and More

An Even Cheaper ID-Series VW Car is Coming, Priced at Around $21,000

Volkswagen continues to hype up their ID cars. Just a couple of weeks age we reported on how VW CEO Herbert Diess will have as good of a car as the Model 3 at half the price. Most of the EV journalists scoffed and were skeptical at the idea of an EV from Volkswagen costing in the low $20,000 range. As far as most of us knew at the time, the ID Hatchback (or Neo as some are calling it) would be the cheapest ID car, and even that car is speculated to be around $30,000. But according to a new unnamed source, VW is currently trying to work out a new electric sub-compact crossover that will start at around $21,000. The source additionally states that the car may come as soon as 2020 and is expected to have 200,000 units built in the first year. This is already in addition to the 100,000 units of ID Hatchbacks that VW also wishes to produce in 2020. To be frank, VW is really throwing out a lot of big expectations and numbers. Having a reliable EV with a reasonable amount of range for $21,000 would be a very impressive feat. At the end of the day I don’t believe that car will compete with the Model 3 like Diess wants, but it will be at a price point that Tesla (and almost every other automaker) will not be able to compete at for the time being.
Read More Via: Bloomberg

BMW Reiterates its Future Electric Plan

Moving on towards another German automaker, with slightly less grandiose plans, BMW has given a more precise release order of its electric cars and how many we should expect by 2025. From CEO Harald Krüger:

“With the launch of the BMW i3, the BMW Group established itself early as a pioneer in the field of electric mobility. Electrification is one of the key pillars of the Group’s Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT. By 2021, the BMW Group will have five all-electric models: the BMW i3, the MINI Electric, the BMW iX3, the BMW i4 and the BMW iNEXT. By 2025, that number is set to grow to at least twelve models. Including plug-in hybrids – whose electrically powered range will increase significantly in the coming year – the BMW Group’s electrified product portfolio will then comprise at least 25 models.”

So between now and 2025, there will be at the very least 7 more models coming from BMW that are fully electric. And before we all get excited, we all have to remember that BMW is still pretty cautious about electric transition, or at least Klaus Frohlich, BMW’s Chief of Product Development is. According to him, he estimates that by 2030 only 15% of BMWs will not have engines (so PHEV are not included in the 15%).
Read More Via: BMW

Faraday Future Employees Start a GoFundMe

If you read the previous week’s news roundup, you know the mess that Faraday Future is in. Thankfully, Dag Reckhorn, former Faraday Future’s senior vice president of global manufacturing, and last of the founding executives to leave the company, stated that he was thinking about starting an emergency fund and putting up $10,000 last week. And while he did not start the fund itself, he did indeed put up the $10,000 of the $50,000 that the employees are trying to raise. I don’t know if it was incompetence or bad luck that had Faraday Future head down this road, but regardless it is sad to see employees turning to crowdfunding because they might not be able to afford their rent next month. They have already passed the $20,000 mark, so hopefully they’ll be able to reach their goal.
If You Want to Donate GoFundMe

Jaguar Land Rover Invest in Electric Motorcycle Arc Vector

While Jaguar and Land Rover are trying to make headway with 4-wheeled EVs themselves, they have taken an interest in the upcoming 2-wheeled venture. Through their investment fund InMotion, they have invested in Arc, which is headed by former Jaguar executive Mark Truman. His new Arc Vector is seriously cool, and seriously costly. The price for one of these is 90,000 GBP (roughly $117,000) and there will be only 399 of them made in the first year. The bike sprints to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds and hits a top speed of 120 mph. Depending on how spirited your riding is, Arc claims a range of 200 miles in an urban setting and 120 miles on the highway, which is very good considering most electric motorcycles’ range. On top of all that, it only weights 220 kg, so you can probably drag it into the gym for your deadlift sets and impress everyone around you. Along with the price of the bike, Arc also throws in a helmet with a HUD and jacket that gives you haptic feedback when it senses a car around you. Overall this is all a very cool package, a pretty unattainable package for most, but still cool.
Read More via InMotion, Arc

Uber Wishes to Resume its Self-Driving Tests

It has been nearly 8 months since one of Uber’s autonomous test vehicles hit and killed a women in Arizona. But now they want to resume their tests and have filed an application with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to conduct tests in Pittsburgh. Along with the application, they also gave a very lengthy safety report. The biggest change among other safety precautions, is that there will now be two drivers in the car rather than just one like there was during the accident. Obviously Uber is going to have to do a lot of win back the trust of the public and the government, and they know that. “Our goal is to really work to regain that trust and to work to help move the entire industry forward,” Noah Zych, Uber’s head of system safety for self-driving cars, said in an interview. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has until November 13 to accept, deny, or inquire about the application, so be on the lookout for more news.
Read More via Associated Press