⚡️🔋Current Events 3/28/23: Tesla Investor Day, Ford Explorer (by VW), and the Trailer of Dreams.
The excruciating wait for the release of Tesla's Investor Day white paper, our upcoming articles, and Ford unveils an SUV for Europe that has Americans saying "Honey, they shrunk the Explorer."
Good morning friends,
No matter which hemisphere you happen to be in, happy Spring or Fall to all of you. Welcome back to Current Events, where we bring fascinating ideas, news, and developments from the world of electrification and lightning-quick EVs. Today’s newsletter is a bit different from usual articles as we give you a rundown of a few different developments in the EV world. Let’s jump in!
Tesla’s Investor Day presentation on March 1st revealed fascinating looks into the inner workings of the EV giant featuring their plans for how to electrify the planet fully, titled Master Plan Part 3. Unlike the usual presentations, Elon Musk spoke briefly at the beginning and had an extraordinary lineup of less-known technology wizards from across each department at Tesla present the work they’ve been doing. Here are just a few of the most notable happenings at the event:
Confirmation of a next-gen vehicle factory in Monterrey, Mexico, although there is no information on the vehicle itself. Many in traditional media, for whatever reason, felt this was a critical fumble by Tesla. I, and many others, disagreed with a chuckle given Tesla’s apparent need to avoid Osborning their current bread and butter, the Model Y and Model 3.
New motor designs announced that utilize absolutely zero rare-earth minerals for production as well as considerable improvements to energy-intensive components for HVAC (like the glorious Heat Pump!), making their vehicle designs agnostic to battery chemistry. Why is this important? It allows the manufacturer to choose any chemistry that leans more towards sustainability and lower costs at any time, even through global supply chain disruptions.
An updated Cybertruck prototype makes an appearance! Also, the head of the design team, Franz von Holzhausen, confirmed that Cybertruck is on target for limited first production during Q4 of 2023. It has been delayed multiple times since its release, so it’s good to see a date hold consistent across at least a year of guidance. I’m looking forward to seeing the production version after having enjoyed a preview of one of our first articles in NYC some time ago.
Rollout of Tesla Electric. The service will be available in Texas beginning in July. This will be a subscription service provided by Tesla, which gives customers unlimited free overnight charging for $30 per month. We will be dedicating a whole article to the virtual power plant (VPP) technology that Tesla and others are bringing to the table against incumbent utilities with services like this.
I’m sure readers are wondering why this presentation alone wouldn’t be worth an entire article. A fair question! Current Events is working on a full deep dive of the presentation. It will be completed only once the white paper Tesla has promised to release becomes available for public scrutiny. This presentation was enormous, nearly 4 hours, intended for investors, and littered with assumptions. They have yet to release the paper which holds all the assumptions and underlying data to back up their claims from the presentation, so naturally, I’m going to hold critiques until we can report on them too. Please stay tuned for that!
Ford has unveiled a new electric Ford Explorer exclusively for Europe! It might not be apparent from the released images, but unlike its titanic American namesake, this new Explorer is a smaller (and more easily parkable) midsize SUV.
It’s set to be the first of a new range of electric vehicles that will be built in Cologne, Germany in a partnership between Ford and Volkswagen, with the electric drive based on Volkswagen's MEB platform. Indeed, a new Ford Explorer is being built on the same platform as a Volkswagen ID.4. The EV world never fails to surprise.
Ford has yet to release any detailed technical information on the new SUV. They have announced though that pricing will likely start below €45,000 in Germany. It will come in two variants, with one being the largest MEB battery option offered by any car thus far with 82 kWh gross/77 kWh net. The rear-wheel drive produces 150 kW of power and VW said they will also offer two different all-wheel drive options, producing either 195 kW or 220 kW in the added motor depending on customer preference.
The fast charging capability is lacking from both involved OEMs with a reported 10% to 80% charge in 25 minutes. While that is an improvement from other MEB cars, it’s 2023 and to be as blunt as possible, customers expect at least 200 kW of charging power at Level 3 stations for vehicles anywhere near this price point, inflation or not. Vehicles that cannot handle higher charging speeds are at a massive disadvantage in competing for high-mileage or the most range-anxious customers. That all said, I expect most customers for this vehicle in Europe will likely rely on at-home charging or at-work charging for almost all their needs. Despite the MEB platform, the electric Explorer’s interior is entirely designed by Ford. The company has begun taking reservations online, with the aim of delivering the first vehicles before the end of the year. Best of luck, Ford Europe!
A new challenger approaches! The company, Lightship, has unveiled its first product, called the Lightship L1 Trailer. It’s an all-electric, RV trailer designed with the goal of net-zero range loss while towing it. What a challenge this team undertook and the results so far look beautiful.
So how is this achievable? An oversimplified answer would be less weight, more batteries, better aerodynamics, its own EV motors, and enough roof real estate (plus retractable awnings) for large solar energy-generating PV cells. While it does not drive on its own, they designed the vehicle assuming it would, so it is rated at 300 miles on a single charge. 80 kWh of onboard battery capacity allows it to also provide a week of off-grid power without charging. When paired with its 3 kW of solar power, the RV can handily power all its livability features including a full kitchen and HVAC system without the combustion of any fossil fuels. Other than some interesting features like a tablet designed to control the whole trailer and an electrified camp kitchen, not much is known about the technical details of the product yet or what will actually make it to production.
For those of us who have been in the EV world since the early days, we all dreamt of it, now someone is actually selling it… at a premium. Lightship L1 is expected to deliver for a price starting at $125,000 for the L1 Essential and $151,500 for the L1 Long Range which includes the drive motor. I’d like to thank Lightship for making me both laugh and cry as I only half-jokingly consider their glass-adorned behemoth as a “cost-effective” alternative to the future mortgage of my first house.
Production is expected to begin in late 2024 and reservations have already begun. Kudos to Lightship for choosing production timing that crucially lines up with the production ramp for F150 Lightning as well as Cybertruck's first production. Without vehicles capable of towing it, this product would be unlikely to get many orders so it’s good news that they’ve considered this timing on their roadmap. Reservations on Lightship’s website are fully refundable and go for $500 dollars. Best of luck to the Lightship team on their long journey to full production and happy customers.
I figured it was important that I let people in on the process of how I work a bit more. I’m always eager for feedback so feel free to send it my way any time. Here are the one-liners for new articles I’ve been working on for the coming weeks at Current Events:
Tesla’s Investor Day White Paper (Deep Dive of Master Plan Part 3)
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 Test Drive Comparison
BMW i4 Test Drive Review
A Multiyear Owner’s Porsche Perspective: Taycan Over Time
Tesla Electric, how it works, is it the model for solving utilities in an electrified world?
Rivian and Lucid, an honest report card
Any new ideas I have along the way
I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for reading and supporting the sometimes chaotic process of what I do here with Current Events.
To help guide people into the electrified future is always my goal. I hope everyone has a great rest of their weeks and you enjoy all that I have planned so far. Remember to share your thoughts, share with friends, and subscribe today to get the all-electric newsletter directly to your inbox. We look forward to seeing you again next time!
With love and gratitude,
Renato Amboss
Renato A. Amboss is the author of Current Events, The All-Electric Newsletter. He is also the Founder and First Pilot of Ronin EV. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are his own. None of the views expressed are intended as investment advice of any kind and should not be taken as such. Have a lovely day!