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Tesla is determined to achieve the fastest lap time in Nurburgring: Special version Model S is ready
On the second day after Porsche Taycan’s release, Tesla CEO Musk announced on Twitter that the Model S would be on the Nurburgring track in a week. After the news was released, automotive media went to inquire about the schedule of Nurburgring and found that the track was fully booked and there was no reservation from Tesla. However, the next day, a Tesla spokesperson said that they had booked an Industry Pool (manufacturer test period) that cannot run a lap time.
After several reversals, it is now confirmed from official sources that Tesla has officially reserved lap time at Nurburgring. They are respectively on September 18th, 21st, and 25th. It is reported that September 18th will arrange a longer testing time, which is Industry Pool. September 21st will have two hours (partially cleared, no tourists or RingTaxi experience projects). From 17:00 to 17:45 on September 25th, Nurburgring will reserve 45 minutes for Tesla to swipe the lap time.
The following is the current summary of lap time vehicles at Nurburgring:
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The test vehicle is Model S P100D+, adopting the latest “Plaid” three-motor powertrain
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The test vehicle is a 7-seater model (Taycan removed seats when testing)
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The test vehicle body was widened, the brakes were made of carbon-ceramic material, and the tires were replaced with Michelin Cup 2 R
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Former F1 champion driver Rosberg, who volunteered earlier, may not be able to participate in this lap time due to procedural issues.
Brief comment: Musk directly @ Porsche after the release of Taycan, straightforwardly saying that “Turbo” does not mean what you think it means. Not satisfied with this statement, he directly said that the Model S also needs to run Nurburgring.> Before this, Tesla had not officially run at the Nurburgring, can the Tesla Model S P100D+ with the new Plaid powertrain successfully beat Porsche? Let’s wait and see.
Changan pure electric E-Rock exposed, NEDC endurance exceeded 600 km
On September 9th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the “Recommended Catalogue for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles” (the eighth batch of 2019), in which Changan’s E-Rock has a NEDC range of 605 km. It became the second SUV with NEDC range exceeding 600 km after Guangqi Aion LX.
However, unlike Aion LX, E-Rock is a compact SUV based on Changan CS55 with a wheelbase of 2650 mm, so the battery space left for E-Rock is very limited. From the documents released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, E-Rock is equipped with BYD’s ternary lithium battery, and the energy density of the battery pack is 160.20 Wh/kg.
Impression: With the significant improvement in the endurance of more and more models and the development of fast charging technology, the range anxiety of pure electric vehicles is gradually being eased. While we are amazed at the growing number of NEDC models with range exceeding 600 km, we are also looking forward to the detailed three-electric parameters of E-Rock.
Li Auto Plans for US Stock Market, Hoards Resources for the Later Stage
In recent days, there have been continuous news about Li Auto’s launch of the US stock market in 2020, with an IPO size of about 500 million US dollars. Although the head of Li Auto’s public relations department responded: “I don’t know anything about this and won’t comment on it.”
But as early as August 16th, when Li Auto announced the completion of a US$ 530 million Series C financing, the Jiangsu Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission released the “Announcement on the Transfer of 0.91% Equity of Beijing Chehejia Information Technology Co., Ltd. (corresponding to a capital contribution of 8.295455 million yuan)”. The target company (Chehejia) plans to raise funds overseas and is constructing a red-chip structure, and needs to restructure the company’s architecture.### Rivian secures additional $350M investment to compete head-to-head with Tesla
Recently, at the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show, new automaker Rivian received an additional $350 million investment to compete with Tesla directly.
Rivian aims to challenge Tesla in the electric vehicle market with their R1T electric pickup truck and the R1S electric SUV. With this new investment, Rivian has raised over $1.5 billion in total funding, including prior investments from Amazon and Ford.
Quick take: Rivian is a new player in the electric vehicle market, and their recent fundraising success demonstrates investors’ confidence in their ability to compete with industry giant Tesla. However, it remains to be seen if Rivian can deliver on their ambitious plans and become a major player in the EV market.On September 11th, Rivian, a startup electric pickup truck manufacturer in the United States, announced that it has received a $350 million investment from Cox Automotive, a giant in the American automotive services industry.
As the best-selling model in the United States, Rivian’s electric pickup truck, the R1T, has been highly sought after in the capital market since it was released in November 2018. In February of this year, Amazon invested $700 million in Rivian; in April, Ford invested $500 million in Rivian; and now, with Cox Automotive’s investment, this is Rivian’s third investment in the past eight months, with a cumulative financing amount of $1.55 billion.
Quick Comment: Unlike the domestic wave of new car manufacturers, the United States as a “country on wheels” has already developed a mature automobile industry, so there are not many companies like Tesla and Rivian. Tesla has dug out a large piece of market share in the traditional fuel vehicle market through its years of efforts while Rivian has also become a popular choice among large companies.
In my opinion, Rivian’s growth can, on the one hand, help to expand the electric vehicle market along with Tesla; on the other hand, the enemy’s enemy is a friend, and Rivian’s “joint” policy may help it grow rapidly to be on par with Tesla when competing against other traditional automobile giants.
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.