LA-based startup, Canoo, is trying to rethink urban transport and, more specifically, how people use and consume electric vehicles. They aren't planning on launching in Los Angeles until next year, but here's what is apparent so far.
(1) The vehicles (pictured above) are far more utilitarian in their design -- though still attractive. The focus does not seem to be on creating objects of desire, which is how cars have historically been sold.
(2) The interiors are more living room-like in their seating configurations. This makes them feel less like a car and more like public transit (or a prom party limo).
(3) The plan is for these vehicles to be available through a commitment-free monthly membership, as opposed to through a traditional lease or purchase option.
These features are the sorts of things that many have been predicting would happen. But they remain signals for the future of the "car." They are also perfectly well suited to autonomy.
If you'd like to join their waitlist, you can do that here. I just did and apparently I'm #5967 in line. I have no idea when they hope to launch in Toronto, but who doesn't love a good waitlist? The illusion of scarcity can be a powerful motivator.
Update: My position in line has improved to #229 because of all of the "referrals" generated by this post. Canoo has done a good job using their waitlist system to generate exposure and solicit early customer feedback.
Update: #46.
Image: Canoo
While we were doing our West Palm Beach to Toronto road trip last weekend, I started wondering how much longer the trip would be taking had we been driving a Tesla. The drive, according to Google Maps, is normally about 20 hours and 46 minutes. It's a long one. About 2,288 km. The mountains in Virginia are nice, though.
The route I threw in is West Palm Beach to Junction House (2720 Dundas St W, Toronto):
According to Tesla, this same route using a Standard Range (400km) Model X SUV is now estimated to take 34 hours.
The additional travel time is a result of charging time (anywhere from 20 - 70min per charge depending on the device) and the fact that you need to go where the chargers are. In this scenario, you end up driving an additional 155 km. However, you will end up saving money on gas.
This reminds me of something that Bill Gates argued in the talk I recently posted. Electric vehicles are the future of personal transport, but they're not great for commercial applications: planes, boats, and so on. The battery capacity simply isn't there, and it's unlikely to be there anytime soon. But perhaps the charging times can be brought down. That would help.
I'm not planning on doing this drive again anytime soon. But if any of you are, you may want to leave the Tesla at home if you're in a rush. However, using an EV would, of course, be the right thing to do for our planet.
The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority recently completed a 350 MW solar tender. They received a total of 6 bids and the low bidder was Japan’s Marubeni Corp and China’s JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd. Their bid was USD $24.2 per MWh or 2.42 cents per KWh.
This is really low.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average cost of a new natural gas-fired plant is 5.6 cents per KWh. More than double the above solar bid.
In fact, author, blogger and futurist Ramez Naam calls the above bid, “the cheapest contract for electricity ever signed, anywhere on planet earth, using any technology.” (Blog post here.)
Huge.
Now, Abu Dhabi is obviously a very sunny locale. No shortage of bluebird days there. But that doesn’t negate the fact that we are seeing a rapid decline in solar power prices.
This, along with the growing adoption of electric vehicles is excellent news for us sustainability dorks. Just this morning I was thinking to myself that the car I currently own will likely be the last gasoline-powered car I ever own.
Hopefully they start making an electric version of the G-Class.
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