Month: March 2021

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  This is Kia's next electric vehicle, called the EV6. [credit: Kia ]

Last year we learned about E-GMP, the new 800V electric vehicle architecture that Hyundai Motor Group has been developing over in South Korea. In February, we saw the first of the new EVs to use E-GMP, the attractive Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover that goes into production later this year. And on Sunday, sister company Kia showed off the initial images of its first E-GMP machine ahead of a proper debut later this March.

It's called the EV6, and it's the first vehicle to use Kia's new "opposites united" design philosophy that the brand's press materials say takes inspiration "from the contrasts found in nature and humanity."

"With EV6 we aimed to create a distinctive, impactful design by using a combination of sophisticated, high-tech features on pure and rich volumes, while providing a unique space as a futuristic EV," said Karim Habib, SVP and head of Kia's global design center.

Enlarge / Panasonic Corp. lithium-ion batteries manufactured for Tesla Motors Inc. Model S electric vehicles are displayed at Panasonic Center Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

Panasonic plans to reduce its heavy reliance on Tesla by making batteries that are more compatible with electric vehicles from other global carmakers, according to the Japanese conglomerate’s outgoing chief executive.

The comments by Kazuhiro Tsuga come as Tesla begins developing its own batteries and expands its purchasing partners to South Korea’s LG Chem and China’s CATL to support growing sales of its electric vehicles.

“At some point, we need to graduate from our one-legged approach of relying solely on Tesla,” Tsuga, who will step down after nine years as CEO to become chairman from April 1, said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We are entering a different phase and we need to keep an eye on supplying manufacturers other than Tesla.”

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  SpaceX launched its 21st batch of operational Starlink satellites on Sunday morning. [credit: SpaceX ]

SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites early on Sunday morning and, in doing so, came close to a substantial rocket reuse milestone. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that lofted this payload toward orbit, Booster no. 1051, was making its ninth flight. It successfully landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship.

As this is the first Falcon 9 rocket to launch nine missions, it raises the prospect of a first stage making a tenth flight in the near future, probably within a month or two. Reaching ten flights would accomplish one of the main goals set by SpaceX with the Falcon 9 rocket, after optimizing the vehicle for reuse about three years ago.

The company debuted its "Block 5" version of the Falcon 9 rocket in May 2018, and since then this vehicle has flown 55 missions, all of which have successfully delivered their payloads to orbit. More importantly, the changes SpaceX engineers incorporated into this new rocket to ensure its robustness for reuse, such as strengthening its "Octaweb" engine bay, have largely been validated.