Kerrville Breaking News

The EV manufacturer Lucid is parading its Air sedan as a better performing vehicle than Tesla’s Model S. The chief executive of Lucid, Peter Rawlinson, who engineered the car’s development, stated that this car is a milestone that they have been working on for the longest time. He added that the electric model is the best in terms of both the battery and technical design. 

Rawlinson explained that the top-notch model of the Air sedan surpasses Tesla’s cars by close to 20% since it has a big mileage range and hosts few energy cells. Lucid appears to have adjusted the Air model they launched four years ago by increasing the side mirrors and curving the model’s internal screens. 

The car can cover a distance of 520 miles before the next recharge. Tests revealed that this mileage exceeds the 402 miles for Tesla’s frontier in the electric vehicle models, Model S. Rawlinson explained that this model has a higher horsepower than the Tesla models making the Air Sedan the rival for Tesla’s technology. 

Lucid reported that the Air sedan could charge a voltage to carry it through 300 miles in the third hour. The company has announced that the face value of the Air sedan will range from $80000 to $169000. The higher price is for the grand model, while the lower price is for this car’s standard sedan model. 

Lucid revealed its intention of making the model in three colors: gold, white, and black. The more expensive models will enter the electric vehicle market mid next year, while the cheaper models will grace the market in 2022.

Lucid’s senior executive for design, Derek Jenkins, explained that these cars’ price determining factor is the interior design. He submitted that the interior reveals a range of technologically advanced features like a touchscreen dashboard. 

Rawlinson revealed that the Air sedan is the introducing model for its line of electric vehicles under development. One of the other models still under construction is an SUV called Gravity. The executive explained that the different models would be developed to meet customers’ rising demands after evaluating the performance of the Air sedan. 

Lucid also revealed its ongoing plan of installing recharging facilities at homes and in business apartments. This sector is where Tesla beats Lucid since Tesla is developing its public charging stations. 

To sum up, it is good to witness growing competition for Tesla, especially from startups like Lucid. Lucid will inform a competitive approach towards battery development technology for the electric vehicles, thereby expanding the electric vehicle industry’s scope.  

Global initiatives continue to encourage nations all over the planet to switch to cleaner energy to power their transportation sector. Many countries are formulating and endorsing policies seeking to promote their citizens to replace their fossil-fuel-powered vehicles for electric-powered vehicles. Some governments take it a notch higher by developing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate electric mobility adoption. 

The Telangana government endorsed the Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Solutions Policy to enhance EVs’ uptake, attracting investors’ interests within the green mobility. The policy provides privileged market access for electric vehicle automakers based in Telangana.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of IT, Industry, and Commerce, stated that EV companies receive preferential consumer market access to set-up manufacturing units within Telangana. Jayesh’s announcement came during a conference on the Integration of Energy Storage and Mobility conducted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Ranjan explained that Telangana’s EV policy offers different incentives to enhance EVs’ transition and attract investors looking to fund projects within the green mobility initiative. The state government identified the need for e-vehicle owners to access EV fast-charging stations and plans to develop the charging infrastructure to serve future consumer demand. 

Anil Srivastava, the Mobility Mission Director at NITI Aayog, said that India plans to enact policies and plans that facilitate the implementation of sufficient energy storage and the country’s mobility. There is an increasing emphasis on initiatives such as the recycling of lithium-ion batteries to satisfy the growing demand for EVs. NITI Aayog plans to invite funding for EV manufacturing units and proposed direct incentives to the automakers. India’s car businesses and transportation industry are preparing to shift towards EVs, opening up tremendous growth potential.

Mayank Jalan, the ICC director, stated that the Indian government continues to create momentum for EV adoption by endorsing favorable policies and strategies. Most notably is the scheme on raw materials and supporting business sites for energy storage and e-vehicle manufacturing. The Indian government focuses on enlarging the country’s capacity to process materials supplied to advanced production ecosystems. The plan is to concentrate on government-based initiatives that address the industry’s challenges and implement solutions.

In conclusion, green mobility is the future of transportation for any nation seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve a cleaner and safer environment for the next generations. The transition rate to initiatives such as adopting zero-emission EVs entirely depends on how much state governments, private companies in the automotive industry, and the general public invest and implement policies and schemes that favor electric vehicles’ adoption. 

Africa is finally transcending into off-grid renewables to ensure that electricity is available to its vast population. The deviation from policies to devolution of electricity is now the new trend gracing the electricity suppliers. Initially, the challenge of venturing solar power was the high prices of installing the facilities and the low quality of this technology’s equipment to take effect. But currently, the materials’ costs are low, and the technology to proceed with the installation process is ready for the generation of off-grid renewable energy.

The need to counter global warming and the health advantages for this process are steering the quick advancement in renewables’ venture. Off-grid in African countries refers to solar energy ranging from devolved units to powering significant towns.

The market for renewables is growing significantly in East Africa, where over 2 million solar products have been sold. Reports indicate that people who have replaced their systems with renewables enjoy a better life with clean air and no power outages. Initially, people would complain of blackouts in the best part of the evenings when they return from work since there was a surge in the number of users plugging into the grid. Currently, people can use electricity from renewables for profitable activities. In Africa, people need to tune in to the off-grid renewable energy and avoid kerosene and other fuels since they are hazardous.

The IEA estimates that Africa can surpass the previous renewable energy capacity from 6 GW last year to 15 GW. This growth will be visible in the next two decades, provided the countries continue to pursue the transition to renewables. Nonetheless, investors in the private sector will run for these profitable projects to gain from the venture while it is still anew.

There are over 100 million African homes without electricity. This statistic proves that supplying renewable energy in these homes would require both the government and the private sector’s persistent efforts to enable them to realize zero-emissions and urbanization of all countries. Additionally, the investors would feel the burden of supplying power to rural areas where it is less profitable than in urban areas where high demand leads to high profitability.

Although there is some progress in installing renewable energy facilities, the current challenge of the pandemic is impeding the financial growth of solar energy firms. The firms have to invest financially in the projects and paying employees to propel them to resume operations. 

To conclude, African countries must focus on deploying renewable energy technology to propel electricity’s accessibility to rural areas. Mountainous regions can develop mini-grid power systems to supply electricity to residents and businesses dwelling in those places.

Honda E‘s first sight exemplified a revolution in the EV industry that we would have loved to experience. The love emoticons bracing the car showcased a pure sense of creativity. This product should have rocked the automotive industry because of its spectacular artistry. 

It was evident that this car would be the face of electric vehicles after pacing up with the new trendy design. There was hope that this vehicle would inspire the uptake of electric vehicles by the general public globally. This car is the only model that displays a unique design that surpasses the copy-and-paste models in the current diverse EV market. 

Nevertheless, the Honda E launch plummeted the anticipated anxiety that this product would perform spectacularly on the market. The campaign team for this electric car model did a disservice to the brand. When they should be enthusiastic about the brand, they faintly advertised and marketed the car, lowering consumers’ desire to purchase the vehicle. Additionally, this model’s advertisements are insensitive to the car’s animated features, maybe for fear of competition. 

To other matters, The EV uptake is growing sluggishly in some countries, while in others, it is accelerating at the highest speed. Charging stations and their technology are under development with countries like the UK projecting charge points in sidewalks where most citizens love parking their cars. 

The increased tax incentives and environmental regulations are also catalyzing the speedy uptake of electric vehicles globally. It is no longer an issue of discussion as it was in the past. Governments are placing grace periods on the ICE cars to ensure that they buy Evs instead of these pollutive cars. 

Not long ago, electric vehicles were future projects. But it appears that we are in that future with many automakers and gas suppliers implementing strategies that will ensure they remain relevant in the future transportation industry integrated with electric vehicles. 

Gas companies like BP and Shell are strategically buying into renewables to meet their profit levels and remain in business. Otherwise, they face the danger of being shut down indefinitely because of their pollutive products. 

Tesla remains the leading manufacturer and car seller because they have invested in futuristic technology. Tesla is bold enough to replace its ICE cars with their subsequent EV models to attract the future market. 

In conclusion, Honda must make a bold decision to transition into the EV market and advertise its Honda E model violently to revitalize the initial desire that consumers had for this car. The fear of competition will only result in the product erasure while they have not explored its full potential. Making the right decision will help the firm focus its undivided attention on technology and product variation to attract the consumer market. 

Some themes emerge when you bring in the discussion about electric cars. The majority of people say that EVs cannot cope with the national system since they suddenly catch fire. They go for 50 miles during winter. They are made of unique minerals extracted by children from Congo, and the electricity used to charge those EVs originates from coal and many other excuses. They have admitted that the cost of the EVs is not the big hate. There appears to be a specific turn off.  

The high cost of EVs is something one cannot deny because most EVs cost $13,000, which is more costly than internal combustion engine (ICE) models. That only is a considerable disincentive for buying an EV, despite many offers in some countries like France. However, the strong resistance against you see on social media is filled with politics, resistance against crucial changes, lack of electric vehicle choice for other brands, and not mainly the cost. 

Rupert Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer at Chinese EV maker WM Motor, said that there is reluctance in the purchase of EVs because the current makers refuse to vend electric vehicles. He added that it is not a surprise that many main associates in the EVs field are not qualified, but stubborn entities like Tesla. As much as electric vehicle costs surge faster, for example, up to 175% year-on-year in the U.K by July this year, they are still affordable in Britain. The majority of current EVs show that 95% of their sales are still in ICE. That means there are few EVs to enable the creation of electric platforms.

Having 95% of vehicles still using the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) mode, we will have to focus mainly on developing the electric vehicle platform instead of placing more funds on starting new electric cars.  Also, problems encountering workers in the carmaker industry, whereby their powerful unions are afraid of losing their occupations. 

The workforce can be retrained; however, the making of electric vehicles only needs a smaller number of crews. China appears to be less affected since the ICE vehicle industry was impoverished instead of the U.S or Europe. As a result, China has more hopes in electric vehicles to be used for domestic purposes. The majority of China’s carmaker industry bases mainly on cooperative ventures, some of them being VW. So, in China, the EV drive is on consumer startup, and not on incumbents. 

GM is shifting its technical team in the Chevrolet Corvette section of the firm to its electric vehicle program, detaching as an independent service to explore the EV technology. These engineers will venture into the possibilities of advancing the EV battery technology and the EV components. 

GM’s vice executive for global product development, sales, and supply link, Doug Parks, stated this statement in a memo to the engineering team that they will be changing departments to go and give their support to the electric vehicle program under the leadership of Ken Morris. This transfer becomes effective at the beginning of this month. 

Morris stated that GM’s commitment to transitioning to an all-electric company involves transferring these engineers into the department. The advantage of having these engineers in the EV team is to propagate the team’s skills that refined the Corvette into the electric vehicle systems and technology. GM hopes that the engineers can venture deep into the electric vehicles’ potential to develop their technology and models that their customers can fancy and easily buy because of the value they are offering. 

These engineers have what it takes to stir up the interest pf customers since they developed the current bestseller Chevrolet Corvette. Nevertheless, the Corvette will continue to advance since the senior chief engineer Tadge Juechter will remain in his position to spearhead new products in this line of cars. 

The Corvette chief engineer Ed Piatek will lead future services and programs and be submissive to Tadge. Piatek will become the EV future program facilitator making Josh Holder take over his position as chief engineer of Global Corvette. 

These strategic changes came after various communications and investments in EV technology. The carmaker invests its funds in electric trucks, sedans, and automatic vehicles that can auto-drive itself. The firm also intends to invest in spare parts and tools that will be useful in creating electric vehicles. 

GM plans to develop electric pickup trucks and develop them through next year. The next project that will follow is Cruise Origin, which auto-drives itself. GM submitted that they would be developing over 20 electric vehicle models in the coming three years using the Ultium technology. 

To conclude, GM is also developing a factory that will be developing battery cells and packs that will run the EVs for long mileage. The automaker said that they would be collaborating with the likes of LGChem to develop the battery technology.