The all-new Skoda Enyaq iV 80 (with a 82 kWh battery), the cousin of the Volkswagen ID.4, was recently range tested by Bjørn Nyland.
As it turns out, the Skoda Enyaq iV with 21″ wheels not only looks very good, it is also quite efficient – especially at highway speeds.
According to Bjørn Nyland, the range at 90 km/h (56 mph) is 452 km (281 miles). That’s nearly 16% below the WLTP rating of 536 km (333 miles) for the most efficient version with 19″ wheels (according to the manufacturer, the switch from 19″ to 21″ increases energy consumption by 3%). At 120 km/h (75 mph) the range is 316 km (196 miles).
Results at 90 km/h (56 mph):
range of 452 km (281 miles)
energy consumption of 166 Wh/km (267 Wh/mile)
Results at 120 km/h (75 mph); up 33% compared to 90 km/h:
range of 316 km (196 miles); down 30%
energy consumption of 236 Wh/km (380 Wh/mile); up 42%
One of the most interesting things is that the Enyaq iV noted better efficiency and higher range than the ID.4 at 120 km/h in similar conditions (the difference at 90 km/h is negligible).
Skoda Enyaq iV
2021 Volkswagen ID.4 1st
The Skoda Enyaq iV (21″) noted a 6.4% higher range than Volkswagen ID.4 (with smaller, 20″ wheels), which suggests better overall aerodynamics. As both cars are based on the same platform, there is not much space to improve the efficiency of other elements we guess.
It’s a strong advantage to opt for Skoda instead of Volkswagen, as more range is usually needed during longer trips, which usually happens at higher speeds.
Results at 90 km/h (56 mph):
range of 449 km (279 miles)
energy consumption of 167 Wh/km (269 Wh/mile)
Results at 120 km/h (75 mph); up 33% compared to 90 km/h:
range of 297 km (184 miles); down 34%
energy consumption of 251 Wh/km (404 Wh/mile); up 50%
Anyway, Bjørn Nyland’s range test results seems in-line with InsideEVs’ 70 mph (112 km/h) range test, which resulted in 377 km (234 miles) – right in the middle of Bjørn’s 90/120 km/h tests.
See also EPA range tests:
2021 Volkswagen ID.4 1ST :: EPA Range rating by InsideEVs [Electric Vehicle 2-cycle label]
Combined City Highway
250 mi (402 km) 266.8 mi (429.3 km) 230.2 mi (370.4 km)
Additional info: “Combined range voluntarily lowered from 252 miles”
EPA Energy consumption (including charging losses):
Elon Musk won’t be the only thing related to the quickly-growing electric car industry to make an appearance during Saturday Night Live this evening. Tesla rival Lucid Motors will also be making an appearance during the famous television program, likely in the form of a commercial.
Musk’s appearance on SNL has been a heavy point of focus for the past week in both pop culture and the electric vehicle industry. It was announced recently that Musk would be co-hosting the May 8th show with Miley Cyrus in what is sure to be one of the most viewed episodes of the show that started nearly 46 years ago.
It appears that the hype surrounding the episode may have drawn some attention from big-name companies who will purchase air time in the form of advertisements and commercials during the show. With Musk being on the air, plenty of electric vehicle enthusiasts will likely be tuned in to see what humor Musk brings with him. However, competing companies of Tesla view this as an opportunity to plant seeds in viewers’ minds, and Lucid Motors is one of them.
Lucid announced yesterday, on May 7th, that it, too, would be making an appearance on SNL. How? It seems that Lucid will advertise the Air, its first-ever sedan. With an all-electric powertrain and an already considerable number of pre-orders and support, Lucid definitely has some momentum in the sector. However, its planned and coordinated effort to derail Musk’s episode through a commercial during his hosting of SNL seems to be a continuation of some very contentious and somewhat abrupt drama between both Lucid and Tesla. The two companies, and their CEOs, have made several comments and strategic moves through the past few months that have seemed to hint toward a potential rivalry in the EV sector.
Interestingly, Lucid tested its Tri-Motor Air variant at the Laguna Seca just two days before Tesla’s Battery Day in September 2020. It was rumored to be running laps several seconds faster than the Model S Plaid ran at the same raceway nearly a year earlier. It seemed that Lucid was almost teasing Tesla and Musk to release the Plaid variants to customers, or at least release more details regarding the Plaid Powertrain to the public.
Tesla eventually obliged, but not at the Battery Day event. Tesla announced the Plaid Model S in January 2021 and plans to begin deliveries in the coming months. However, the animosity between the two companies has gone past that.
In a recent Tweet, Musk clarified what Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson’s job title was when he was employed at Tesla. It has been said in the past that he was Chief Engineer of the Model S, but Musk is not willing to give him that credibility because of what his actual job responsibility entailed. While Rawlinson did handle the Model S body engineering phase, he did not handle any issues related to powertrain, battery, software, production, or design. He left “before things got tough,” which seems to be a thorn in Musk’s side.
Rawlinson was never chief engineer. He arrived after Model S prototype was made, left before things got tough & was only ever responsible for body engineering, not powertrain, battery, software, production or design.
Interestingly, Rawlinson’s LinkedIn tells a different story. He lists his time at Tesla from 2009 to 2012 and lists his job title as “Vice President & Chief Engineer for Model S.”
What Rawlinson’s actual job title was at Tesla remains to be confirmed. However, a 2010 press release from Tesla lists Rawlinson as “Vice President and Chief Vehicle Engineer” and says that he was “responsible for the technical execution and delivery of the Model S.
Nevertheless, the rivalry between Musk and Rawlinson rages on, and in 2021, the two CEOs are still combating for the overall domination of the EV sector. However, one thing is clear: Tesla is light years ahead. Lucid will begin delivering its Air sedan during the second half of 2021.
Lucid Motors is ‘making an appearance’ during Elon Musk’s SNL episode
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The popular YouTube channel Engineering Explained has a problem with Tesla’s claim that the Model S Plaid and Plaid Plus can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under 2 seconds.
And that means Tesla has a problem because the host of the channel, Jason Fenske, doesn’t make claims he cannot back up with science, facts, a whiteboard and a bunch of multi-colored dry erase markers.
The issue at the heart of the problem is the fact that Tesla uses “rollout” to achieve the claimed sub-2-second 0 to 60 times for the New Model S Plaid and Plaid+. In other words, it’s not 0 to 60 mph, it’s more like 6 to 60 mph since the Plaid and Plaid Plus will likely have accelerated to 6 mph by the time they have traveled the one-foot rollout and Tesla’s stopwatch starts.
Fenske says he has three main problems with Tesla’s method of hiding the fact that rollout was used in achieving the 2-second 0-60 times.
Most people don’t even know what rollout is – and they shouldn’t have to.
He finds it deceiving that the information is hidden in the detail section, and not shown on the main Model S order page.
Tesla doesn’t use the same method of recording 0-60 times for the less expensive models.
Number three is one of the most interesting points of this. If Tesla used the same method of measuring 0-60 miles for all of its vehicles, they could argue that’s just how they do it, but they apparently don’t. When you look at the details page you find an asterisk next to the 0-60 times for the Plaid and Plaid+, but not next to the base Model S Long range.
So I looked at all of Tesla’s models and found the same inconsistency. For the Model 3 and the Model Y, the performance models have the asterisk next to them, but the other less expensive models do not. With the Model X, just as the Model S, only the Plaid version has the asterisk that denotes rollout was used to arrive at the 0-60 figure.
In doing so, Telsa gives the false impression that there is a wider gap in 0-60 times between the Performance and Plaid models and their respectively less expensive counterparts than what actually exists. That’s dirty pool.
The “Feature Details” section of Tesla’s website reveals that he claimed 0-60 times aren’t always starting from 0, as implied.
And it’s not just Engineering Explained and us that feel this way. Dan Edmunds, a longtime auto journalist and suspension specialist, saw the Engineering Explained video and was compelled to add his thoughts on the subject on Twitter. Edmunds has been testing and reviewing cars for a long time and is universally respected in his field.
In the tweet, Edmunds pointed out that using rollout in quoting 0-60 times isn’t a new phenonomon, and he calls it “flat-out lying to the consumer”, and we agree. One important point in this is that the magazines, and most OEMs, make it very clear that they are using rollout when they publish figures that use it.
In this case, Tesla doesn’t add an asterisk to the main ordering page. Instead, they only show this pertanant information in the “feature Details” page when they could have easily added the asterisk on the main page, alerting perspective buyers that there is additional information on the quoted 0-60 time that they should consider.
Fenske does a great job (as he always does) of explaining his position and why he disagrees with Tesla on this. He whips out the whiteboard and uses his engineering experience to explain acelleration and decelleration, the role of downforce and the effect of having larger tires on the rear wheels for acelleration. He does conclude that theoretically achieving a 0 to 60 time in under 2 seconds is possible, but that Tesla’s use of rollout to achieve it is really more of a marketing ploy than reality.
So check out the full 11.5-mimute video and let us know if you agree with Fenske and Edmunds. It Tesla fudging it with its sub 2-second 0 to 60 claim, or do you think it fair game because some others use rollout to quote incorrect 0-60 times also?
Elon Musk chatted with the paparazzi in New York City (NYC). His appearance in the streets of the Big Apple hints that Musk might be preparing for his “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) debut on May 8.
Elon Musk was spotted at the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on Monday with Grimes and Baby X. His family might be present for his SNL debut later this week. Baby X turns one on May 4, so Grimes and Musk might celebrate their son’s first birthday this week, too.
Recently, TMZ caught up with Elon Musk in the middle of an NYC sidewalk as he signed autographs for a swarm of people surrounding him. When asked about his upcoming SNL appearance, Musk said he was feeling “good” about it. As he signed numerous pictures, the Tesla CEO asked some of the paparazzi for any skit ideas.
One paparazzi asked Musk if he was planning on spitting out some Doge jokes. Musk and Dogecoin have been something of a running joke recently. Last month, Musk took his Doge interests a bit further and announced he was getting a Shiba Inu–the dog that inspired all the Doge memes.
In a recent note, Oanda analyst Edward Moya stated that Elon Musk’s SNL appearance might have caused a surge in Dogecoin. The meme-inspired cryptocurrency went up nearly 30% on Tuesday.
“Dogecoin is surging because many cryptocurrency traders do not want to miss out on any buzz that stems from Elon Musk’s hosting of Saturday Night Live,” wrote Moya.
Moya strongly believes Musk will have some Doge jokes prepared for his SNL debut.
“Also known as the Dogefather, Musk will undoubtedly have a sketch on cryptocurrencies that will probably go viral for days and further motivate his army of followers to try to send Dogecoin to the moon. The Dogecoin bubble should have popped by now, but institutional interest is trying to take advantage of this momentum, and that could support another push higher.”
The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, email us at [email protected] or reach out to me at [email protected].
Elon Musk arrives in NYC for SNL debut with Baby X and Grimes for support
Aventon has long offered some of the sleekest e-bikes available in the realistic every-man’s price range. Until today, the company’s e-bikes all ranged from $1,199 to $1,699. With the launch of the new Aventon Aventure fat tire e-bike, Aventon has managed to expand into the adventure class of e-bikes without seeing a huge price bump.
But for those extra couple hundred bucks you get a lot more on your plate.
The Aventon Aventure improves upon the Aventon Sinch – the only other fat tire e-bike in Aventon’s lineup – by going full size.
The large 26″x4″ fat tires make quick work of sand, snow, dirt, grass or pavement. Basically anything surface you can think of, a full-size fat tire bike can probably ride it.
And since the bike is full-size, you don’t have the limitations of a folding frame or the small diameter wheels that go with it.
With the Aventure, the same bike can hop in the bike lane to get you out of the city and then turn off at the trailhead or onto a beach path for more adventurous riding.
When an e-bike is equipped with these big tires, you’ll generally want a big motor as well to make sure the bike doesn’t feel sluggish. Aventon has outfitted the Aventure with a 750W continuous motor that pulls a peak power rating of 1,130W.
That’s enough for 28 mph (45 km/h) speeds on pedal assist, or 20 mph (32 km/h) on throttle-only riding.
That beefy motor is fed by a 48V 15Ah battery with 720Wh of capacity – or enough for up to 45 miles (72 km) of range, according to the company.
Aventon is one of the few e-bike companies that provides real-world range data, and it turns out that the listed 45 mile range figure is actually achieved when using pedal-assist level 2.
Riders who drop down into pedal assist level 1 will see an even higher range of 53 miles (85 km), while riders who indulge themselves with higher power in level 5 will see the range dip to 19 miles (30.5 km) while flying at 28 mph (45 km/h).
Riding throttle-only at 20 mph (32 km/h) nets you 27 miles (43 km) without using the pedals.
I’ve always been impressed that Aventon provides the real world range data for every pedal assist level, plus throttle-only riding. They don’t hide behind “ideal conditions range ratings” or simply advertise the best level 1 pedal-assist range.
The battery is also entirely hidden in the frame’s downtube, yet remains removable with a keyed lock.
Speaking of the frame, the bike comes in either a step-over or step-thru, and each has multiple size and color options. In a world of one-size-fits-most e-bikes, this level of customization is a much appreciated rarity.
Other nice components on the bike include an 8-speed Shimano Acera derailleur, Zoom Forgo 80 mm travel fork, Bengal Ares 3 hydraulic disc brakes on 180 mm rotors, full fenders, plus a fancy new color screen with accompanying smartphone app.
There’s also a headlight integrated into the handlebars and a tail light built right into the seat stay on the rear of the frame.
Aventon has both front and rear racks designed for the Aventure as well, making it easy to haul more stuff with you on your own adventures.
We’ll have a review of the new Aventon Aventure coming up shortly, so keep checking back for that. So far the bike is shaping up to be a win though, showing that Aventon has been able to successfully take its urban/recreation roots and employ the same level of attention to detail and sleek design chops towards the adventure segment.
