Highlights from this week include: Not everyone is sold on flying cars; Clarkson has a farm; Richard Branson gets into charging; there’s plenty of life and future in ICE vehicles; compact SUV Sales bomb; the Cdn government changes their mind and Road Trip Rules – don’t break them, plus more…
Rivian
EV truck maker Rivian has released a closer look at its camp kitchen that fits inside its R1T electric pickup truck. The kitchen resides in a storage space that sits between the bed and the cabin, which they call “Gear Tunnel.”
Rivian describes the package: “The Camp Kitchen x Snow Peak package combines three accessories: The Camp Kitchen, Rivian Gear Tunnel Shuttle and Snow Peak Kitchen Set. The entire system effortlessly slides out of the R1T Gear Tunnel so you can enjoy dinner with a view.”
The kitchen system consists of two modules, a 1,440-watt, two-burner induction cooktop and a sink module with a 4-gallon capacity.
And now the totally insane part – the price: $6,750 Cdn ($5,000 U.S.)!!! Seriously?!
What are they smokin’ at Rivian?
You could make a short trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot to achieve the same thing – for about $300.
Self-Driving Cars
As few as 12% of the U.K. public are confident in sharing the road with self-driving cars with 51% stated that the technology is still too young to trust it. The motoring public differed considerably from the public’s overall opinion (assuming shoe-transport people), with 30% excited about the development of self-driving cars, 35% neutral, and 36% concerned. More HERE
Great NEW!!! Clarkson’s Farm will be back for second season on Amazon – or will it?
Jeremy Clarkson’s smash hit farm show has secured a second series after breaking Amazon Prime Video records. The trials and tribulations of the Diddly Squat Farm has been such a success that Amazon revealed the show was their most highly-rated series of all-time.
On July 1, Jeremy tweeted: “Dear everyone. There has been some speculation that a second series of our farming programme has been commissioned. It hasn’t but we are hopeful.”
If you haven’t watched this show yet, make sure you do – it’s funny and interesting. Although Clarkson does some typical Clarkson-esqe things, he’s genuinely trying to make a go of being a proper farmer. His side-kick Kaleb is hilarious, be sure to watch clips/ highlights on YouTube
The Biggest Problem About The Future Of Electric Cars
As is probably obvious from our articles and That’s A Wrap roundup – we’re very pro-EV, but we’re also pragmatic. Would we jump 100% into an EV as our sole vehicle today? Nope. We have a 10-year old Ford Ranger in mint condition with only 50,000 kms on it that we’ll keep for probably another 10 years – or more.
We use it as a truck all the time, not just once a year. Someone was kind enough to post this video in a comments section of CarScoops and I had to share it. Please take the time to watch it – this guy makes more sense than virtual everybody that’s pushing EV or ICE vehicles with much fanfare. It’s only 10 minutes long, and quite entertaining but one thing is certain – the ICE engine is going nowhere fast.
The Truth About Electric Cars Biggest Problem
Canada Moves To Ban Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) By 2035
The Canadian government announced a new timeline to completely phase out new gasoline and diesel-powered cars and light-duty trucks from 2035, but makes no realistic mention of how it’s going to happen! Joining just about every other country in the world, they’ve decided to bring the death-knell of ICE vehicles forward from 2040 to 2035. We’re thinking more and higher Carbon Taxes, after all, Trudeau and Trudeau 2.0 haven’t met anything that doesn’t justify more taxes.
Here’s a great article by David Booth that asks the questions that the government doesn’t have any answers to, and in reality – it doesn’t all look rosy for EV’s future….
Compact SUV Sales Decline Significantly In First Quarter Of 2021
The compact mainstream crossover segment expanded overall in the U.S. by 11.4% to 672,818 units in Q1 2021, but several manufactures took a significant hit in that time period. The Ford Escape sales have plummeted lately – posting its 10th consecutive quarterly decline during Q1 2021 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In Canada, the Ford Escape deliveries decrease about 34%, while in the U.S., it has declined about 15%, with Mexico dropping about 68%. However, the Escape was not alone in experiencing a drop in sales, as four other models posted even higher declines. The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross deliveries slipped 69%, the Mitsubishi Outlander declined of 68%, the Dodge Journey saw a drop of 55% while the GMC Terrain fell 33%.
For a breakdown of all the compact crossover sale – good and bad, click HERE
Richard Branson Gets Into The EV Supercharger Business
A company backed by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson plans to build electric vehicle charging hubs that can recharge a car with enough power in five minutes to drive 100 miles (162 kms).
Gridserve Holdings Ltd. aims to install 50 supercharging hubs in the U.K., with 10 expected to be ready this year, the company said in a statement. The £100 million (U.S. $138 million) investment could go a long way to elevate range anxiety consumers that are reluctant to buy an EV because they fear running out of juice on longer drives. To ease driver anxiety, the British government wants every motorway service station to have at least six fast-chargers by 2023.
Gridserve opened the nation’s first dedicated charging station for EVs on 9 December 2020, with the capacity to replenish the batteries of 36 plug-in cars simultaneously
Pretium Resources in B.C. Orders 9 Sandvik Electric Underground Dump Trucks
Canadian mining company Pretium Resources has ordered nine special electric vehicles for their gold mine at Brucejack in B.C. from Danish trucking company Sandvik. The order for the battery-electric mining vehicles is worth around 140 million Swedish kronor (more than $20m Cdn). The order includes seven Sandvik Z50 50-tonne electric underground dump trucks and two Sandvik LH518B 18-tonne electric loaders and according to Sandvik, was a result of successful customer trials.
Pretium Resources will use them to replace its diesel fleet at its underground gold mine in North-Western British Columbia. The new units are to be delivered starting next month and ending in early 2023. The mining company – based in Vancouver, was swayed in their decision by the dimensions of the Sandvik Z50 which are are among the smallest 50-tonne forklifts on the market, plus it generates twice the peak power and only one-eighth of the heat compared to their diesel counterparts.
Jacques Perron, President and CEO of Pretium stated: “The implementation of the battery-electric Sandvik Z50 haul trucks is expected to improve operations at Brucejack, including the potential reduction of ventilation requirements and increased haul capacity.”
And Finally…
That’s A Wrap! For this week. Until next time…
Copyright © 2021 by Iain Shankland. All rights reserved.
Text: Iain Shankland / Images: Respective Manufacturers / Outlets
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