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Citing a massive consumer demand overseas, Ford is expanding its ultra-popular F-150 Lightning to markets outside the US for the first time, beginning in Norway. Ford says it will kick off its entry to Europe with a limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Editions, equipped to handle Norway’s snowy terrain, as you’ll see in the images and video below.

Even as a nascent EV model, Ford has an absolute home run on its hands with the F-150 Lightning – an all-electric version of the best-selling truck for nearly 50 years – and it knows it. After almost immediately selling out in the US, Ford bolstered Lightning production as part of a $50 billion global investment to expedite electrification.

In early March, Ford announced it is now tripling F-150 Lightning production this year at its Rouge electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The Lightning’s older, all-electric sibling, the Mustang Mach-E, will also see a doubling of production in 2023.

Unlike the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s Mustang crossover EV has expanded to 39 global markets, including Norway, where it reigned as a best seller in 2021, and remains a top-five vehicle in the country since. Today, Ford announced the Mach-E will soon be joined by the F-150 Lightning in Norway, as the American automaker looks to expand its all-electric lineup across Europe.

  • Ford Norway
  • Ford Norway

Ford F-150 Lightning is coming to Norway. Yes, Norway!

Beginning today, Ford is opening up the opportunity for customers in Norway to apply to purchase one of a limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Edition EVs. Norway sits as a relatively small country, but it is one on the global forefront of sustainability and zero-emissions, establishing itself as a hub for early and saturated EV adoption.

As of January 2023, nearly 21% of all vehicles in Norway are BEVs and 80% of new vehicle sales are electric. According to the American automaker, one of the EV models Norwegians have been publicly longing for is the F-150 Lightning, and Ford is answering the call. Ford Norway managing director Per Gunnar elaborated:

In my 25 years at Ford, I’ve never seen anything like the passion and demand I’m seeing from drivers right now to get behind the wheel of our F-150 Lightning. I’ve had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway. F-150 Lightning is the perfect match for many customers in Norway – uniquely capable of quenching our thirst for adventure while embracing our passion for protecting the environment.

As its first market entry into Europe, the F-150 Lightning will go on sale as a single configuration in Norway – the Lariat Launch Edition with Ford’s Super Crew Cab body and Antimatter Blue exterior paint (pictured above). The electric pickups will be sold across Ford’s network of over 70 authorized dealers in Norway.

Nordic customers can now apply for the opportunity for a “limited number” of the F-150 Lightning Lariats. We’ve asked Ford to clarify just how many available pickups the term “limited” entails, but we have yet to hear back. Ford says deliveries are expected to begin in 2024. Watch the truck dominate the snowy terrain of Norway below:

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Tesla Q1 2024 earnings preview: here’s what to expect

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Tesla Q1 2024 earnings preview: here's what to expect

Tesla (TSLA) is about to release Q1 2024 financial results on Tuesday, April 23, after the markets close. As usual, a conference call and Q&A with Tesla’s management are scheduled after the results.

Here, we’ll take a look at what both the street and retail investors are expecting for the quarterly results.

Tesla Q1 2024 deliveries

While Tesla is an “AI/robotics” company, according to CEO Elon Musk, its automotive deliveries remain the biggest drivers of financial performance by far.

Tesla already disclosed its Q1 vehicle delivery and production numbers:

  Production Deliveries Subject to operating lease accounting
Model 3/Y 412,376 369,783 2%
Other Models 20,995 17,027 1%
Total 433,371 386,810 2%

These results were quite disastrous for Tesla as deliveries are down year-over-year for the first time in a long time.

Delivery and production numbers are always slightly adjusted during earning results.

Tesla Q1 2024 revenue

For revenue, analysts generally have a pretty good idea of what to expect, thanks to the delivery numbers.

However, Tesla’s average price per vehicle is changing a lot these days due to frequent price cuts and discounts across many markets, which makes things more difficult.

The Wall Street consensus for this quarter is $22.220 billion, and Estimize, the financial estimate crowdsourcing website, predicts a slightly lower revenue of $22.202 billion.

The crowdsourcing estimate is rarely lower than Wall Street consensus, but this quarter is special with the rare big delivery miss compared to expectations.

Here are the predictions for Tesla’s revenue over the past two years, with Estimize predictions in blue, Wall Street consensus in gray, and actual results are in green:

Tesla Q1 2024 earnings

Tesla always attempts to be marginally profitable every quarter as it invests most of its money into growth, and it has been successful in doing so over the last three years now.

However, like revenues, it has been harder to estimate earnings over the last year with price cuts digging into Tesla’s industry-leading gross margins and the big delivery drop last quarter is going to hurt badly.

For Q1 2024, the Wall Street consensus is a gain of $0.49 per share, while Estimize’s prediction is slightly higher with a profit of $0.52 per share.

Tesla had earnings of $0.85 per share during the same period last year.

Here are the earnings per share over the last two years, where Estimize predictions are in blue, Wall Street consensus is in gray, and actual results are in green:

Other expectations for the TSLA shareholder’s letter and analyst call

Beyond the financial results, Tesla always gives broader updates and answers shareholder questions in its shareholder letter and conference call with management following the release of the results.

Tesla gathers questions from shareholders from the “Say Technologies” website.

Here are the currently most upvoted questions likely to be answered by management:

  • Given that you moved the start of the next generation compact vehicle production to Austin, has the timeline improved so that we might see next generation platform vehicles in 2025?
  • Should retail shareholders be concerned that Elon has stated he is uncomfortable expanding AI and robotics at Tesla if he doesn’t have 25% of voting ?
  • How many cybertruck orders are in the queue and when do you anticipate you will be able to fulfill all existing orders?
  • What has been the barrier to ramping 4680 cells into the multi million cells per week rate and when do you expect to get there?
  • When will Tesla start construction on the Giga Nevada expansion and Giga Mexico, and when can we expect each of these to produce their first products such as 4680, Semi, and next gen vehicles?

But the earnings call could become much more interesting.

With the vote on Musk’s compensation package coming up and being seen as more of a vote of confidence for Musk than anything else, it’s likely that the CEO will try to justify some of his recent moves, like focusing on Robotaxi and firing up to 20% of Tesla’s staff.

It should make for an interesting call.

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Arres Prevent robot uses advanced AI to fight potholes [video]

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Arres Prevent robot uses advanced AI to fight potholes [video]

A UK-based startup called Robotiz3d claims it’s invented a world’s first: an autonomous electric vehicle that can detect and seal cracks in a road’s surface to prevent potholes from forming.

Robotiz3d’s Arres Prevent robot is designed to patrol city streets, searching for cracks and potholes using an advanced AI. Once it finds them, Prevent notes their location, shape, and severity.

The company says that capturing and analyzing that data will help reduce the time, cost, emissions, and material waste typically associated with road maintenance and repair services. They also predict that their automated workflows will enable faster fixes and a generally better experience for drivers — by saving them money.

“This is a true innovation that can help the UK save public money and save hassle for the citizens,” Amin Amiri, CEO of Robotiz3d investors, a2e Industries. “We’re confident in Robotiz3d and its highly capable engineering and management team to bring this much-needed technology to market.”

According to Robotiz3d, potholes cost US drivers $26 billion per year in vehicle damage, lost time, and repair costs.

It’s a data play

A worker analyzes Robotiz3d’s AI-collected data; via Robotiz3d.

“The Robotiz3d solution will autonomously identify and localize potholes, characterize their geometry, and collect measurements on the go,” says Dr. Paolo Paoletti, CTO of Robotiz3d. “The ability to automatically deposit sealing material, fixing smaller cracks before they evolve into potholes, is also a first. These features, coupled with a prediction algorithm to help prioritize work schedules, are anticipated to improve the safety and lifespan of road networks and contribute to reductions in road repair costs, fuel consumption, GHG emission, and tire wear.”

The battery-powered Arres Prevent can scour the streets autonomously or via remote operator control — which can simultaneously help address the industry-wide shortage of skilled labor while creating a safer working environment for crews that do exist.

Electrek’s Take

You have to be a little suspicious of a company that releases what appears to be and AI rendering of an AI-based product and buries pictures of the actual thing they are selling so deeply that you can’t even find them on the company’s own website (the images I did find, above, are from the Hertfordshire County Council).

That said, the Hertfordshire County Council seems impressed. “The test today is another step in the right direction towards solving the pothole problem this country faces … we’ve worked hard to fix over 40,000 potholes this year through the trial of new techniques and using this cutting-edge technology we could potentially prevent the potholes forming in the first place,” said Reena Ranger, Deputy Executive Member for Highways at Hertfordshire County Council. “We’re committed to maintaining our road network so that it remains one of the best in the country – we’re excited for the time we can welcome PREVENT officially to our team.”

The Hertfordshire road crew liked the Arres Prevent so much, they made a video. You can check that out, below.

World’s first pothole preventing robot

Here’s hoping it works out, then, and we see electrified robot road repairs become a real thing somewhat sooner than later.

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Range Rover’s first 100% electric vehicle finally shows its face, a stunning modernist SUV

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Range Rover's first 100% electric vehicle finally shows its face, a stunning modernist SUV

The first images of Range Rover’s fully electric SUV have been revealed, showing a modern take on the iconic SUV. Range Rover’s first electric SUV is being put through the paces ahead of its upcoming debut. Can Range Rover’s new EV compete with Porsche and other luxury automakers?

Strong demand as first EV launch looms

Jaguar Land Rover continues to see strong demand for its luxury vehicles after reporting full-year sales (fiscal), up 20% earlier this month.

The Range Rover Sport saw the highest sales growth, with 63,598 units sold, up 83% from the 34,789 sold last year. Range Rover fiscal sales also rose 34.5% YOY to 66,199. JLR’s sales are up in every major market fiscal YTD.

For example, UK sales are up 24.5%, followed by North America (+22.5%), China (+14.4%), and Europe (+9.1%). Overseas sales are up 48% as of March (Fiscal YTD).

Range Rover expects the momentum to continue with its first fully electric SUV debuting later this year.

After record quarterly wholesale numbers in Q4, JLR said the first electric Range Rover is “generating strong interest.” In February, the company revealed that over 16,000 potential buyers had signed up for the waitlist.

Range-Rover-electric-images
First images of the Range Rover Electric SUV (Source: JLR)

Range Rover’s “most refined” vehicle is being tested in Sweden to ensure its electric SUV can withstand frigid temperatures.

Range Rover unveils first images of its new electric SUV

The first images of the initial all-black Range Rover electric prototypes reveal the iconic brand is staying true to its roots. With a modernist design, the electric SUV is unmistakenly a Range Rover.

Range Rover claims its first EV will “lead the way for electric propulsion capability, refinement, and luxury travel.” The vehicle is being tested in extreme weather conditions, from the Arctic Circle, where temperatures are -40°C, to the deserts of the Middle East, where it can reach +50°C (122°F).

The first tests focused on core components like the battery and EDU. In a first for JLR, both (the battery and EDU) are assembled in-house.

Range-Rover-electric-images
Range Rover electric testing in Sweden (Source: JLR)

Range Rover’s new in-house electric propulsion system will allow the brand to “exceed its already renowned performance on low-grip surfaces, ensuring all-terrain, all-weather, and all-surface capability” remains unparalleled.

The electric SUV features a new traction control system, a Range Rover first that improves performance in slippery conditions.

Rather than a solely ABS unit-based traction control setup, the Range Rover Electric distributes wheel slip management tasks to each electric drive control unit. Range Rover says this reduces the torque reaction time at each wheel from around 100 milliseconds to as little as 1 millisecond.

Range-Rover-electric-images
Range Rover Electric SUV winter testing (Source: JLR)

“Range Rover with electric power – means customary Range Rover luxury, refinement and capability plus near-silent fully electric propulsion; with effortlessly smooth and relaxed journeys,” Thomas Mueller, JLR’s executive director of product engineering, said.

Mueller said the Range Rover electric is being pushed to the extremes “to ensure its capability remains unparalleled when it reaches you.”

Range Rover claims its new EV can plow through up to 850 mm (33.5″) of water. If true, that would top the GMC Hummer EV at 32″.

Range Rover Electric SUV first look (Source: JLR)

Following the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport EVs, the brand is expected to launch two smaller electric SUVs, which could be Evoque and Velar models. The other two EVs are due out in 2026.

The electric Range Rover will compete with the new Porsche Macan EV unveiled earlier this year and gas-powered Cayenne.

What do you guys think of the first Range Rover electric SUV? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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