Tuesday EVwatch

This is a great review. First the on-screen talent admits up-front that he’s not been provided the Hyundai SUV by the manufacturer.

Tuesday EVwatch
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MG Cyberster Roadster is One Hot Car

HotCars provides deep background on the MG Cyberster, a roadster being producer by SAIC in China. MG conducted a crowd-funding campaign to raise a portion of the businesses capital and promised a car to be available to each person who contributed. Between that and the drop dead gorgeous design of the roadster, there’s a lot to this article.
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My Take-I’m a big fan of two seaters (I own a 2018 Jaguar F-Type R Dynamic and a 1995 Nissan 300 ZX Twin Turbo) and have been driving sporty cars most of my life. This is a real head turner and the specs come off as a wow. The preview is an engaging read.

Scotty on the Hyundai Ionic 5

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My Take-This is a great review. First the on-screen talent admits up-front that he’s not been provided the Hyundai SUV by the manufacturer. Second, his experience as a mechanic comes through in the way he’s talking about the car and showing things. Third was his analysis of charging the car up and what could happen. Most of all, his style is perfect for anyone who is not a car expert. This is not a “message point” review but someone telling like it is.

EV Charging is Broken

Autoweek has a timely and relevant story about broken charging stations that dot the landscape. It’s a point that Scott Kilmer brought up in his Hyundai Ionic 5 review listed above. It seems the maintenance of the charging stations is coming under scrutiny…Scarcity of charging stations is also keeping some people from buying Electric Vehicles according to FOX Business.
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When asked about the top concerns preventing them from making the jump from gas to electric, 61% cited charging logistics, followed by 55% saying the number of miles the vehicle can go per charge and 52% saying the costs of buying and maintaining an electric-only vehicle.
My Take-To say that charging stations have lots of moving parts would be an understatement. There’s a lot that makes them work, and given how demand is growing and usage increasing, it’s no surprise that some break. But the percentages are what is eye-catching. Why? The law of large (well in this case small) numbers. The lower the overall universe of something, the higher numbers will be as the percentage of devices not working is based upon a small number. As the number of installed EV charging stations increases, then the percentage of out-of-service plugs will go down. Then comes who is responsible for these locations. Early day adoption of technology always comes with teething pain. For EV owners, this is no different.

TESLA Brain Drain

TESLA recently had a series of layoffs. This report in Electrek shows just where the former team members are heading. At the same time Seeking Alpha has a story on Rivian potentially laying off some of its workforce, a meme that Bloomberg is also writing about saying it will be about 5 percent of Rivian’s workforce.
 
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My Take-People come and go, and in the tech world long-term employment is a fleeting thing. It’s no longer a “cradle to the grave” approach like IBM of the 60’s and 70’s, when you were hired right out of college, and spent the next 25-30 years toiling away. Today, with the ups and downs of tech companies, people job jump and hope to land on their feet. Given the demand for talent all across the various sectors of tech, none of this is surprising.

Apple Self Driving Car’s Ride Is Bumpy

Jalopnik has a timely story on Apple’s pursuit of a self-driving car. And it’s not so tasty right now.
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My Take-It seems everyone likes to take pot shots at Apple, and Jalopnik is not pulling punches. Rumors. Second hand reports. Scuttlebut. All this is found in the story as Apple doesn’t talk about things until they’re ready to. My view is that when it comes to Apple, we never really know what a product will be until Apple shows it at one of their debut events, so always take rumours about them with a grain of salt.

Short Takes on EV News

Moving from one state to another and want to register your leased TESLA? Good luck. Electrek provides a blow-by-blow account on how convoluted TESLA and the states have made dealing with title and registration of a leased car….CarBuzz talks about how Porsche wants to speed up the charging process…Do Citizen Developers hold the keys to future cars? Check out the premise in Venture Beat and decide for yourself.
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