EVs

Once niche, Tesla capitalises on Japan’s late embrace of EVs | Automotive Industry

By Michael J. Moody 5 months ago

Tatsuya Arai, a 36-year-old entrepreneur in Tokyo, never saw the appeal of owning a car until he watched a YouTube video featuring a Tesla Inc. The Model 3, with its sleek exterior and innovative dash, looked like a neat solution considering he was moving from the city’s bustling Shibuya district to a quieter waterfront area and needed a way to get around.

“It was like buying a gadget,” he said.

Arai joined a small but growing number of electric vehicle owners in Japan. While EVs account for only 1% of overall car sales, well behind China and parts of Europe, they’re finally starting to catch on. In 2021, new registrations of imported EVs nearly tripled to 8,610, a small but remarkable shift in a country where overall automobile sales have stalled.

With its high per-capita income and enthusiasm for high-end European cars such as Mercedes-Benz, Japan initially looked like a

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Electric Vehicle Spotlight (EVS): ECD Automotive Design is building badass one-of-a-kind electric Land Rovers using Tesla motors

By Michael J. Moody 5 months ago

Earlier this month, Electrek got an invite from ECD Automotive Design to come visit its facility in Orlando and discover how its team builds completely custom 1:1 electric Land Rovers. The company has recently begun building electric versions of its one-of-a-kind vehicles by integrating Tesla motors and battery packs. After a tour of its entire footprint and a test drive in a completely custom electric Defender, it’s fair to say that ECD Automotive Design puts the “custom,” in “customer service.”

Humble beginnings

ECD Automotive was founded eight years ago over several adult beverages between two of the three founders – Scott Wallace and Tom Humble. They’re friends with no automotive manufacturing experience who thought it might be a great idea to open a custom vehicle shop – a business focused on one-of-a-kind Land Rovers from their native UK, designed with the customer in mind throughout the entire process.

Wallace

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United Kingdom Automotive Market 2021 to 2028: Outlook for Passenger Cars, Commerical Vehicles and EVs

By Michael J. Moody 7 months ago

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “United Kingdom Automotive Market Outlook, 2021 – Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Ev Market Size, Share, Companies and Developments” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

The United Kingdom Automotive Market Outlook report presents forecasts of different vehicles including Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, EV along with market Size, Share, Companies and Developments.

The global automotive industry is showing signs of recovery in H1-2021, after a weak backdrop during the last year. Continued momentum for electric vehicles is observed during the year and is likely to continue through 2022.

Strong consumer demand coupled with purchasing power parity is encouraging the underlying demand trends for vehicles in the United Kingdom, with the market recovery to pre-pandemic levels. On the other hand, challenges related to supply chain disruptions, shortage of materials, in particular, semiconductor shortages, consumer demand fluctuation in major segments and others pose risks.

Leading industry trends including rapidly

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Watch Android Automotive OS take over the GMC Hummer EV’s dash

By Michael J. Moody 1 year ago

Google may not sell a car, but it does have an increasingly large footprint on the dashboard, with Android set to become your digital car key and even your dashboard OS on models like the Hummer EV. Announced at Google I/O 2021 today, the newest Android Auto and Android Automotive OS functionality further blurs the distinction between your phone and your car or SUV.

Android Automotive OS is taking over the Hummer EV dashboard

GMC’s reboot of the Hummer as an all-conquering electric super-SUV is set to turn some heads on the road, what with its futuristic styling, but inside it’s Android Automotive OS that’s calling the shots. So far both Google and GMC have played that fairly close to their chests, but at I/O 2021 we’re seeing the first run-through of what to expect.

What’s particularly interesting is how different GMC’s implementation looks, compared to what we’ve seen in

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