ZOE Mon Amour — You Reached 200,000!
November 29th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
It's official. I am in Love. Today, Friday the 29th, I picked up the new Renault ZOE50 for a long test weekend
About Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Maarten Vinkhuyzen Grumpy old man. The best thing I did with my life was raising two kids. Only finished primary education, but when you don’t go to school, you have lots of time to read. I switched from accounting to software development and ended my career as system integrator and architect. My 2007 boss got two electric Lotus Elise cars to show policymakers the future direction of energy and transportation. And I have been looking to replace my diesel cars with electric vehicles ever since. And putting my money where my mouth is, I have bought Tesla shares. Intend to keep them until I can trade them for a Tesla car.
Author Archives: Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla Pickup — Cybertruck or Cybercar?
November 28th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
The recent excellent article by my colleague Jennifer Sensiba about the advantages of a body-on-frame architecture for trucks created a heated discussion. The versatility of a body-, or better, structure-on-frame architecture for the hundreds of different special purpose applications of professional vehicles is beyond dispute. The cost advantage of building one-off structures on such a platform are huge
Tesla Cybertruck — Pure Logic On Wheels
November 23rd, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
"Yes, that is the way to do it. Pure logic. Form follows function. The only way to solve the aerodynamics problem of a pickup." Those were my thoughts when the Tesla Cybertruck rolled onto the stage
Surviving The Transition — Management Guide 101 For Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
November 18th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
I have learned that it is easy to say what is wrong, but more productive to look at possible improvements. After recently making clear what I think of the new Renault hydrogen initiative, I owe them a follow-up about the realistic, not-so-realistic, and fanboy-dreamt possibilities they have at their fingertips
Peugeot Is Taking Huge Gamble By Merging With Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
October 31st, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Peugeot SA (PSA) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) have announced that they are creating a new company owned 50% by current PSA shareholders and 50% by current FCA shareholders
Tesla Full Self Driving: Feature Complete ≠ Experienced Driver
October 29th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
There is much confusion about "feature complete" Full Self Driving, a Tesla-only product. Many think that is when Full Self Driving is available and you can take a nap while the car is driving. When you think about the features that have been released up until now, you will understand better
Tesla Is Starving USA Market In Favor Of EU & East Asia
October 28th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla does not publish its sales per region, and certainly not in advance. But we, the obsessive Tesla watchers, have our secret methods to determine what is happening
Tesla Full Self Driving — How To Get A Driver’s License
October 28th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
For a fully autonomous system to be allowed on the road, it needs regulatory approval. There have been many discussions about how to prove it can drive safely enough, but how to develop a system to convince the authorities
Tesla Full Self Driving — When in Rome …
October 28th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) might be feature complete by the end of this year. That means a Tesla will be able to drive itself in normal traffic from one location to another, using highways when needed, but in a rudimentary way. As a human driver with a learner's permit, who is allowed to drive but only with an experienced driver beside him or her who can intervene when needed, these Tesla vehicles have to be monitored by a normal human driver
Renault Loses Its Marbles, Dissolved In Hydrogen
October 22nd, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
I am probably the biggest Renault fanboy among the contributors to this site. That I feel compelled to write a scathing comment on the latest Renault plans for zero-emission vehicles is something I did not see coming. Renault is going with a hybrid strategy of both hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and 100% battery electric vehicles. I have tried to come up with a rational explanation to do this
How Much Is Tesla FSD (Full Self Driving) Worth For Me?
October 18th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
My Renault Twingo 1.5 dCi is 7.5 years old, and while it is a great little car, it is not electric. With new longer range models that have less problematic prices, the time to switch has finally arrived for me
Tesla Smart Summon Is Deemed Safe Enough & Came Just In Time
October 17th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Some argue that Tesla Smart Summon should not be released because it is "beta" software. That is not a strong argument. According to Lifewire.com: Beta refers to the phase in software development between the alpha phase and the release candidate phase. Beta software is generally considered "complete" by the developer but still not ready for general use due to a lack of testing "in the wild."
Fastned Continues To See Rapid Revenue & Customer Growth, + Geographic Expansion
October 16th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Fastned's Q3 quarterly update shows the growth we have become accustomed to from this company. It is usual exponential growth, albeit slowing from 2018. The numbers are impressive, but they appear more impressive when looking at this graph
Tesla Reached 7,000 Cars Per Week In 3rd Quarter & Nobody Noticed
October 8th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
From the start of Tesla Model 3 production until about a year ago, the most important, nearly daily, Tesla news was about the weekly production numbers. We visited the Bloomberg tracker regularly to stay abreast of the news, and the FUD. And then Tesla started producing over 4,000 vehicles per week regularly and the interest disappeared. Tesla finished the marathon many doubted it could endure for more than a mile, two at the most. Those were fun times
European Car Leasing System Will Blow Up Tesla & Other EV Sales
October 8th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Our recent article about the consequences of depreciation and resale value on the financial health and calculations of leasing companies begs for a European leasing sequel. In Europe, leasing is a bit different from the thing with the same name in the
Tesla’s End-of-Quarter Rush — Avoidable or Unavoidable?
October 5th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla end-of-quarter rush is unavoidable, inevitable, inescapable, necessary, unescapable, needed. We all hate Tesla's end-of-quarter delivery hell. It is the price Tesla pays for its direct sales model. Other companies also try to score some extra sales at the end of a period, but no one gets into a frenzy like Tesla
The Netherlands Surpasses Wildest Predictions For Tesla Model 3 Sales
October 3rd, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Normally Norway is the biggest Tesla market in Europe. When the Dutch market absorbs nearly three times the Norwegian number of Model 3s, that is crazy
Tesla Model 3 Takes #1 Spot In Dutch Auto Market
September 21st, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
At the end of August, Tesla reached the #3 spot in terms of 2019 Dutch auto sales, as Zach wrote yesterday. That was a memorable achievement for a model that started deliveries only halfway through February in earnest. But we also have September sales data for the top 3 automobiles, and September is a last-month-of-quarter month. All Tesla watchers know what that entails — the end-of-quarter delivery rush that Tesla still hasn't gotten rid of
Tesla Dealer Loophole Ideas
September 14th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Tesla is not allowed to sell its cars in some states of the USA. That is, it can't open "dealerships." Sometimes, even service centers are prohibited. That is unfortunate for Tesla and its (prospective) customers. But as many people are aware, all laws have loopholes
Tesla China Fairy Tale For Bulls — How To Achieve Happily Ever After
September 13th, 2019 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
All my talk this week about fairy tales started with the Tesla [TSLA] bear assumption that the Tesla factory in Shanghai was a huge mistake. Lack of demand in China following all of that investment would bring inescapable bankwuptcy soon. Really soon now. Any day. Really
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