Indonesia is positioning itself as a key EV hub by leveraging its vast nickel reserves and attracting major automakers and mining partnerships. Porsche saw strong overall sales despite a dip in its EV model, while Chinese EV maker Xpeng introduced a Tesla-like platform aimed at cutting costs. Volkswagen unveiled upgrades to its ID series with improved range and charging, and Launchia revealed a futuristic EV concept. BMW launched its most powerful electric sedan, the i7 M70 xDrive, boasting impressive performance. Meanwhile, Ram's electric midsize pickup is likely moving forward after positive dealer feedback, intensifying competition in the EV truck market.
Topics:indonesia ev hubnickel mining for batteriesporsche sales performancexpeng ev platformvolkswagen id series upgradeslaunchia electric conceptbmw i7 m70 xdriveram electric midsize pickupev market competitionev battery technology
- Indonesia Gets More EV Investment - Porsche Sales Up, But EVs Down - Xpeng Copying Tesla Architecture - VW Pulls Camo Off ID.7 - Lancia Concept Hints At Its Next 10 Years - Volvo Increases Rear Seat Luxury - i7 M70 is BMW's Most-Powerful EV - Ram Leaves Little Doubt About Mid-Size EV
"...also see some inspiration from the famed Launchia Stratos in there as well. The interior is also pretty wil..."
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This is Auto Line Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Indonesia is aggressively trying to become a hub for evs. It's trying
to lure Tessela to build a plant in the country. It recently proposed a
free trade agreement with the US for minerals needed to produce EV batteries, and now Volkswagen is joining a four and a half billion dollar nickel mining project with Ford, the minor Veil and a Chinese mineral producer. Indonesia wants to build
up its EV sector because it sits on the largest nickel reserves in the world and nickel is an important metal needed for EV batteries. Porsche sold a wrecker
number of cars in the first quarter. The automaker delivered more than eighty thousand,
seven hundred vehicles worldwide, a gain of eighteen percent compared to last year.
But unlike its German rivals Mercedes BMW, which saw significant growth with their electrics, sales of the Porsche Taikon decline three percent. In the first three
months of the year. It delivered a little over nine thousand models of the
EV Porsche blames the decline on supply chain issues, but overall, the company recorded gains in all markets, but it was especially strong in the US and China, and over in China, evmaker x Punk saw its sales fall off a cliff in the first quarter. They were down nearly fifty percent, But
maybe this can help turn things around. It just introduced a new platform that
it developed in house that it says will help reduce the cost of developing cars and manufacturing them. Called the Smart Electric Platform Architecture two point zero. It's
very similar to what Tesla is doing right now. It integrates the batteries into
the vehicle's body, and it includes front and rear aluminum die castings. Xpung
says the new platform reduces the cost of the powertrain including the batteries by twenty five x pongs G six SUV will be the first model to use the new architecture, and with the price war going on in China, the company says the platform will give it a cost advantage with its competitors at Scheffler we Pioneer Motion Electrifying Mobility manufacturing smart, reducing CO two emissions, making energy production clean.
Scheffler Pioneer's Motion to advance how the world moves. I think it would
be fair to say that the VW Group has done well with the electric vehicles that it's launched off its MTB platform, but also that they haven't performed quite as well as the company would have liked. That's why we're so interested to
watch its newest electrics come out, like the refreshed i D three and the all new ID seven, which feature multiple platform upgrades. And we can finally
show the uncamouflaged version of the ID seven, a vehicle that it refers to as the top model within its EV family. It features a new in house
developed electric drive unit and an improved charging system. The new motor produces two
hundred and ten kilowatts or two hundred and eighty two horsepower, and VW expects charging of up to two hundred kilowatts, which is up from one hundred and thirty five right now. It also expects a pretty impressive wlt EP range of
seven hundred kilometers or four hundred and thirty five miles That is partly due to a pretty impressive coefficient of drag of zero point two three. So when do
we get to see if these improvements really translate to the real world. While
the eighty seven launches in Europe and China this year and the US next year.
Launchia, which is part of Stilantis, showed off a wild looking concept called the poo Ra HPE that's a mashup of pure and radical, while HPE stands for high Performance Electric. The two door, four seater is said to
be its brand vision for the next ten years and will first inspire a new vehicle called the Epsilon. That vehicle will come out next year and will be
sold with both a hybrid and electric powertrain. Speaking of electrification, Launcha will
launch an all new EV called Delta in twenty twenty eight, which is the same time that it will transition to only selling electrics. But back to the
Poorah and it's styling. We see a little of the Hundai Ionic five in
the front lighting, but motoring fans may also see some inspiration from the famed Launchia Stratos in there as well. The interior is also pretty wild, with
futuristic bucket seats and a large dashboard that seems more like a digital drafting table than it does in actual dash and Volvo customers in the back seat of this next vehicle will have to turn up their pinky before taking a sip of anything.
It debuted a new version of the ex ninety called the Excellence, that has a much more luxurious rear seat environment. Instead of two rows in the
back, there's only one, and all those seats have been replaced with two well appointed captain's chairs, though chairs flank a new small center console partially topped in natural wood that features multiple cup holders and the controls for the rear seat heaters and massagers. Rounding out the interior upgrades is a small fridge between the
two seats. But also in its own words, the exterior of the EX
ninety Excellence will undergo quote a few small tweaks. We want to know what
drives your testing. OTA Connected Car Diagnostics, Remote Testing, Intrepid Control Systems
is here to help you work from anywhere. Intrepid Control Systems driven by your
data. BMW took the wraps off its most powerful pure electric model, the
I seven M seventy X drive. The all wheel drive sed an cranks out
a combine six hundred and fifty horsepower and seven hundred and forty eight pound feet of torque, but when the launch control or sport boost function is activated, its torque jumps to eight hundred and eleven pound feet. The car can move
from zero to sixty and three and a half seconds and has a top speed of one hundred and fifty five miles an hour. The vehicle features a one
hundred and one point seven kilowatt hour battery pack, which provides an estimated two hundred and ninety five miles of range. The I seven M seventy X drive
debuts at the Shanghai Auto Show this week. It will be built in Germany
and it will go on sale worldwide in the second half of the year.
Pricing will be announced closer to the start of production. Now there should be
no doubt in your mind that RAM is working on an electrified midsize pickup truck.
In September of last year, RAM CEO Mike Coval said it was considering showing off a midsize concept to dealers in March to quote, see what they say and go from there. Then in February, referencing the same dealer meeting,
he said, of an electric midsize pickup, quote, we can clinic it to see if it's the right truck. Well, now that March has
passed, Coval was asked about the truck again, and, according to Green Car Reports, said quote, I had six thousand of my best friends in the arenas and I was looking for the thumbs up or thumbs down, and they would have to tell you. But I think it's overwhelmingly positive. This
all made it seem like the electric midsized truck's fate, wrote on the dealer's reaction, and with things looking positive, it should all be moving forward.
But this is quickly becoming a crowded space, with Ford, Toyota and others all working on their own models to launch. But that brings us to the
end of today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Altoline Daily is brought to
you by Bridgestone Solutions for Your Journey, Intrepid Control Systems over the Year Engineering Boost Your Game, and by Scheffler we Pioneer Motion
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