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| In the UK, the The Mini Recharged Project gives new life to old Minis, replacing the engine with a 90 kW motor and a battery with a 160-km range. |
Despite its R1,2 million price tag, Volvo said it sold out its allocation of 15 units within four days of opening the order book in May last year. The XC40 P8 Recharge is only sold online.
Its 78 kWh battery pack has a 418 km range on a single charge, with 80% of its battery capacity replenished in just 40 minutes when using a fast charger. Twin electric motors gives the P8 Recharge 304 kW and 660 Nm, with torque vectoring on all four wheels enabling it to go from zero to 100 km/h in under five seconds.
Mercedes-Benz meanwhile, announced plans to sell five full electric Mercs at its 36 “agent partners”, aka dealerships, in South Africa this year.
The EQ range for 2022 includes sport utes and sedans, and all come with eight-year battery warranties. Newly appointed president of Mercedes-Benz Cars South Africa and co-CEO of MBSA, Mark Raine, said the aim is to price the EQ range as close as possible to their fossil-fuel cars, but SA’s steep import duties on electric vehicles is making this very difficult.
Local infrastructure
Jaguar and SA-based electric vehicle charging authority GridCars plan to build the Jaguar Powerway in South Africa. When complete, the project will see 22 charging stations along the N3 between Gauteng and Durban, the N1 between Gauteng and Cape Town, and the N2 from Cape Town to East London.
Most of the charging stations will be 60 kWh fast charge
rs, which should give a Jaguar I-PACE 100 km range in 20 minutes. An 80% charge will take 72 minutes.
Established in 2009, GridCars has already set up 150 charge points on the GridCars network across South Africa, with over 200 charging points installed by various players in the industry across the country.
Solid-state batteries
U.S.-based solid-state battery technology company Factorial Energy has raised $200 million (over R3 bln) as part of a Series D round of funding, backed by three of the world’s largest vehicle builders: Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Hyundai.
Factorial showed the first 40 Amp-hour solid-state cell that works at room temperature earlier this year, demonstrating the scalability of its Factorial Electrolyte System Technology (Fest).
The company said its proprietary solid electrolyte material enables safe and reliable cell performance with high-voltage and high-capacity electrodes at room temperature and offers up to 50% greater driving range than current lithium-ion technology.
Kia wins in UK
In the UK, Kia made it two for two when its all-electric EV6 won the overall Car of the Year Award in the annual What Car? Awards, alongside being named Electric SUV of the Year.
This was the second electric vehicle to have won the What Car? crown, the first being the Kia Niro EV in 2019. The EV6 has either a 58 kWh or a 77,4 kWh lithium battery, with a top “real range” of just under 400 km on a charge.
