Nissan Leaf apparently.
Willy.
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Porsche have nearly lost their shirts gambling in the EV market and I suspect Ferrari could be heading ina similar direction. Their latest petrol / hybrid car designs look pretty terrible to me and interesting to see the rather dramatic increase in values of their older niche models. Perhaps even the very wealthy have had enough of being slammed with huge depreciation. Iām not sure what price bracket the new EV is being pitched at but suspect somewhere alongside the (Iām not an SUV) recent SUV model.
Not sure if I have any basis for saying this but at the moment I really think the strongest EVs as workable domestic business cases are the smaller models like the Renault 4 & 5. The larger models can serve company car users but who is going to want them when they come off lease? Case in point - a friend has a new BMW iX - not the prettiest truck but he absolutely loves it for covering long runs in silence and comfort; and thatās coming from a Range Rover. Conversely, when the lease is up, I donāt imagine there will be queues of punters lined up to buy it second hand.
Peter
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I may have some Japanese logic in me because I have long believed that the development of solid state battery technology will mark the realisation of EV transportās potential. Much lighter weight, increased efficiency, longer potential distance between charging (I hope there will be a balance between range and weight saving). If/ when this comes to market in volume, it will mark the end of the combustion engine for most of us and the end of current battery tech. The question is when and it sounds like a very important answer for the Japanese motor industry.
Peter
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Lots of motoring journalists who went to the unveiling says in the flesh itās quite striking and the build/material quality is quite something. The videos I have seen were all positive about it.
Well, now we know where Ferrari got their inspiration fromā¦ā¦
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This is welding from the Ferrari factory. Seriously. I think this is an 812 model?
Better welds on a Fiat Uno.
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It seems the market isnāt too thrilled with the new electric Ferrari Luce SUV. Since its debut on Monday, the well-known Italian car company has experienced a significant drop in stock, almost 6%, likely due to the similarity to the failed Apple Car project, which was also designed by the same person.
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Hardly surprising - it looks pretty dreadful and of course the journalists gush over it and spew out the launch material - Ferrariās management of the press is second to none!
Peter
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Well perhaps not second to Bournemouth?
.sjb
If permitted, here is a link to Chris Harris & Friends āEmergency Podcastā sharing their initial impressionsā¦. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRwH59HPLgU
Peter
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Isnāt it basically a truism that handmade low production volume sports cars are all a bit iffy around this? I mean, every Triumph, TVR, Lotus (except the mass produced Elise) was a bit 
up close. But like expensive hand-made hifi, you sort of forgive these things because they perform good and look good without your glasses on.
There is yes. With Lotus the chassis and suspension was always bang on. Wiring and panel alignment could be iffy but these were budget sports cars not highly expensive cars like Ferarri peddle.
I can see from the pic that they have used an Argon mix (probably C5) and the welder is powerful enough for a clean weld and proper penetration but the person doing the welding either doesnāt get paid enough or doesnāt care.
In the mid 1990ās a client of ours turned up in our office car park in his cousinās nearly new Ā£80,000 Ferrari .
He was extremely upset when myself, my partners & all our 19 staff looked it over & were genuinely convinced that it was a poor copy & not the real thing. The build quality was truly shocking.
It looked good from 10 yards away & I suspect that is all a lot of owners require.
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Ditto Lamborghini. I remember a car show in Birmingham, peering into a turquoise Lambo Diablo utterly convinced from the poor detailing that it was a mock up model.
It was the real thing.
A lot of high end hifi from smaller outfits is similar. But where would we be without benefit of the doubt? Getting any two NAC52s to come off the line the same was a challenge too back then.
I wonder if there are safety issues with modern electric sports cars because of this. Shoddy welding under far greater acceleration torque and higher weight. Seems like it could be.
Thereās not necessarily any more torque at the wheels with an electric car than with an ICE it just doesnāt require the use of a clutch and is more āimmediateā.
My old jalopy will push an average of 700lb/ft through each rear wheel in 3rd gear.
I know next to nothing about welding but would guess that just because the weld looks very messy it doesnāt necessarily mean that it is weaker than a neat & tidy one.
I assume that, like soldering, if not done properly, a tidy joint is just as weak as an untidy one.
Yes this can be true. What is needed with welding is penetration where the two parts become one. The above Ferrari crap is essentially āgluedā.
I seriously thinking of cancelling my Ferrari EV order nowā¦ā¦ā¦
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