It’s time for another weekly dose of exciting EV news to help promote EV adoption.
Check out the full newsletter for the week, which includes more Electric Vehicle News, and also news about Autonomous Vehicles. This week includes news about Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, and more. Check it out here.
Luxury Cruiser
In high school, my friend Butler would often borrow his dad’s e32 7 series. I can remember the sound of it starting up and what a luxury cruiser it was. From my high school days, through the Bangle design days, to an electrified 7 series, wow how the 7 series has evolved.
This week, BMW unveiled details about the i7. The i7 is anticipated to hit showroom floors in Q4 of this year with a price tag of $119,300. The electric 7 series features the typical luxuries expected in a 7 series, including plenty of screens for the driver and even a 31.3-inch screen for the passengers in the backseat. The i7 will produce 536 horsepower and 549 lb./ft of torque and get to 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds. Not bad for a luxury vehicle.
German Focus
In more German news, Mercedes’ second EV has been launched, the EQS sport utility vehicle. Expect the SUV to go on sale in the fall and offer 410 miles of range to consumers. The EQS sedan is around $103,000, so anticipate the SUV to be priced in that range.
Mercedes is also focused on efficiency and aims to launch electric vehicles consuming 10 kilowatt-hours of energy per 62 miles (100 km). The announcement comes as Mercedes just completed a 1,000 km single-charge journey using 8.7-kilowatt-hours per 100 km in its Vision EQXX. These stats would make this new line of EVs a third more efficient than the average of current EVs. Check out our newsletter for a video on the EQXX.
No Gas
California leads the way with the most EVs registered, at over 400,000 according to NREL. It is no surprise that CA would be leading with additional ways to expand EVs. Last week, California launched a proposal to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 amid an energy crisis within the state.
The bill, if passed, would require 35% of new vehicle sales to be electric-powered, either through batteries or hydrogen. Currently, the transportation sector contributes to 40% of the state’s pollution. Will other states follow suit?
100k and Record Revenue
In major milestone news, Tesla’s FSD Beta has over 100,000 drivers actively participating, and Elon Musk is very confident that Tesla will achieve full-self driving by the end of this year. In other milestone news, Tesla reported $18.76 billion in revenue for Q1 and also record margins. This beat analysts’ expectations.
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Keyword: Tesla, California's Dominance And German Rivals: EV News April 22, 2022