Exceeds its own top-speed spec!

Officially, the Hyundai Kona Electric can zip from a standstill to sixty miles per hour in 7.6 seconds. That sounds reasonably impressive for a subcompact crossover. But what’s that look like in the real world? And what if its top speed isn’t actually the same as the official specification, but something even faster? Those questions both have answers in the video above.

The Kona Electric spec sheet says the crossover’s award-winning 201 horsepower (150 kW) motor can power it to a top speed of 104 mph (167 kph). However, this video, which appears on the Schwaben – Checker YouTube channel, appears to disagree. In it, a driver apparently gives the Korean car maximum throttle from a standstill until it finally tops out. It accelerates impressively, and after about 23 seconds it appears to reach its maximum velocity: 110 mph (177 kph). Nice!

The test appears to begin on an onramp to what we assume is a speed-limit-free section of the German Autobahn. Of course, in the U.S. there are no public roads where this can be legally done. Still, it’s nice to know what a vehicle a capable of.

Interestingly, while preparing this post, we noticed that both Car &Driver and MotorTrend have documented much quicker 0-to-60 times for the Kona Electric than the figure we noted above, 6.4 and 6.6 seconds respectively. However, when we clocked the run in the video, it was definitely more in line with the official, slower number. This is something we’ll have to explore further. Perhaps one of our Canadian owners in the Kona Electric section of the InsideEVs Forum can, under safe conditions, shine a light on this important piece of the performance puzzle.

If that happens, we’ll tell you about it. For now, though, check out the video above and let us know what you think in Comments.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

We must remember, EV education is a primary goal.

While we try to spend most of our time bringing you the latest news surrounding EVs, we have to continue to remind ourselves of the utmost importance of EV advocacy. In addition to promoting EVs, we try to provide educational articles for new and soon-to-be electric car owners. Lack of information is one of the biggest obstacles that restricts EV adoption. On top of this, we find it refreshing to see new YouTubers with few followers and views, who attempt to educate and inform EV owners, despite the fact that they’re clearly not making money or winning referral-based incentives.

YouTuber MrKristel runs a small DIY YouTube channel, in an effort to help people with various tasks. He also happens to be a new Chevrolet Bolt EV owner. Since he doesn’t cover Tesla, very few people have watched his informative, well-produced video share. In fact, sadly, few viewers have watched any of his videos. If you own an EV and haven’t yet invested in an EVSE for home charging, this video should help immensely. Additionally, if you’re considering buying an electric car, this video should give you a solid idea of what you need to do to prepare your home.

Check out MrKritel’s educational video and let us know your take in the comment section below. Please remember, as EV owners and advocates, it’s part of our job to help and inform newbies.

Video Description via MrKistel on YouTube:

Electric Car Charger Installation, Bolt EV Level 2 Charger Install

A video demonstrating the installation of a at home, level 2 electric vehicle charger. I show how I installed a Siemens VersiCharge EV charger in a garage to charge a 2019 Chevy Bolt EV. This is a hardwired car charger install demonstration where the EV charger is wired directly to a 240 breaker inside the house electrical panel.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

About 1,000 plug-in electric cars were sold every day (on average)

The year 2018 is behind us. It was a great year for plug-in electric car sales in the U.S. and also ended perfectly with an all-time record of about 49,900 sales in December (up 91% year-over-year) at a decent 3% market share.

We can be very happy from the progress, as every single month was better compared to the previous year, the market share is getting noticeable and the perspectives are good. Let’s see how the sales results look on the graphs.

U.S. Plug-In Car Sales – December 2018

Total sales for the year 2018 amounted about 361,307 (estimated exclusively by IEVs), which is 80.8% more than a year ago. The average market share almost doubled to 2.1%.

In the case of models rank, we can just repeat: the Tesla Model 3 totally dominated 2018 sales and was the first electric car to exceed 100,000 sales in a year.

Almost 140,000 sales in U.S. (plus thousands in Canada) makes the Model 3 the best selling car globally. Tesla took three places in the top 4 and wasn’t that far taking the top three.

The short bars for other models raises the question of what the automotive industry will do to compete with Tesla.

Here is the car that turned out to be most popular with about 38.7% share of the total U.S. plug-in electric car market.

Some of our readers were waiting for the updated LOL chart and here it is. The Tesla Model 3 is going up like there is no tomorrow. Probably we are just weeks from seeing Model 3 on top of the cumulative sales chart, despite it being the youngest model in Top 10.

Year 2018 seems to be the most successful in history as the growth returned to a level seen only in the early beginning in 2012 or 2013.

And here we are with more than 1.1 million plug-in electric cars sold since December 2010.

In 2019, we expect more than 500,000 to be added with ease.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

The promoter of Formula 1’s Russian Grand Prix is aiming to hold an ABB FIA Formula E race in Saint Petersburg in 2020.

Source: Electric Vehicle News

While the Fremont Police Dept. has adopted some F-150s, its new Tesla Model S patrol car is sure to make an impact.

We’ve said all along that government agencies should be racing to buy EVs for an abundance of reasons. They’re fast, reliable, cheap to fuel, and environmentally friendly. With the current U.S. administration in place, we doubt this will become a real trend, at least for now. Nonetheless, we’ve seen and shared several instances in which municipal organizations across the globe have added electric vehicles to their arsenal. Now, long after we anticipated, the Fremont Police Department has adopted a Tesla Model S.

The Fremont Police Department was smart in terms of its budget. It didn’t pony up the big bucks for a brand-new Tesla. Instead, it took ownership of a 2014 Tesla Model S. This is partly due to the fact that it also plans to spend extra on several necessary upgrades. In the end, the used Model S, plus its upgrades will cost the agency about $65,000. According to SFGate, the department plans to add “a partition cage, sirens and lights, push bumper, ballistic barriers, equipment console and more.”

A recent press release quoted Fremont Police Captain Sean Washington. He said that this new acquisition is just one of many upcoming Fremont initiatives to adopt and utilize clean energy. He shared (via SFGate):

Given that Fremont Police vehicle fleet is responsible for a total of 980 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, this program has the potential to eliminate 10 percent of all municipal greenhouse gas emissions.

In Comparison

Fremont PD’s Ford Explorers ($32,365 base MSRP) cost about $40k to modify. On top of that, the department spends as much as $32,000 to gas them up over five years. Moreover, maintenance adds some $15,000 over that course of time. Crunching these numbers strongly suggests that a used Tesla will be less of a financial burden overall. On top this, even when buying a Tesla used, the department assumes the EV will have a longer active lifespan than that of most traditional ICE vehicles.

Hopefully, the used Model S will work out well for the agency, and Fremont, as well as other police departments will move forward with similar investments. This only makes sense since the city of Fremont intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 25 percent by 2020, as compared to its initial study of emissions in 2005.

If you’re interested in obtaining a used Tesla Model S, check out our sister site, MYEV.com.

Source: SFGate

Source: Electric Vehicle News