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Concrete Jungle Where EVs Are Made Of: NYC Cabs Now Include Tesla Model 3s

Your daily reminder that there is nothing quite like the Big Apple anywhere else in the world is here, this time in the form of reports detailing the very first sightings of Tesla Model 3s strolling around the streets of New York City while sporting a metallic finish in a rather familiar-looking yellow hue.

Namely, it would appear we have our very first Tesla owners among NYC cabbies. At a base price of just under $40,000 and with little in the way of electricity consumption costs to speak of, the Model 3 certainly doesn’t appear to be the worst choice of a taxi vehicle intended to crawl through the ever-crowded streets of the Concrete Jungle.

Then again, with Tesla’s Model 3 waiting list not getting any shorter this year, not to mention the relative lack of tourist activity, the timing of this sighting is at least slightly befuddling. Especially since the good ol’ Internet is already rife with calculations showing how a Model Y and even a Model X are a better overall choice for a taxi vehicle.

Ultimately, however, the first NYC cabbie driving a Model 3 was probably waiting for their EV since last year and was angling for this very head-turning factor that we happen to be admiring at this very moment. With that said, the possibility of this sighting being the beginning of a wider near-term trend is dubious at best and frivolous if we are being real.

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Electric Genesis eG80 EV Coming To The U.S. With Wireless Charging Support

The next electric car from Hyundai Motor Group-owned Genesis brand will also happen to be the subsidiary’s very first truly electric vehicle instead of a hybrid, the South Korean company revealed as part of a press release circulated this afternoon.

The EV in question bears a catchy name of eG80 and will offer a range of cutting-edge technologies, both in terms of hardware and software. One of those will be support for wireless charging, Genesis boastfully announced. The said solution is still being prototyped, though Hyunda’s EV arm at least did not venture into this highly experimental territory alone. Instead, it enlisted the help of wireless charging pioneers at WiTricity, a company which got its start back in 2007 as a spin-off backed by the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

WiTricity will be providing Genesis with the very latest and greatest hardware designed to enable practical wireless charging support for EV-specific use cases. Which is easier said than done, naturally, but the new SAE J2954 standard announced just last month by SAE International definitely shows promise, even if it lacks anything resembling dynamic application capabilities, i.e. what is widely believed to be the future of wireless charging tech in the EV space.

Either way, expect the Genesis eG80 to release in the U.S. near the end of 2021.

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Bentley Going All-In On EVs By 2030

Legendary luxury carmaker Bentley today announced that the fact it is rather late to the electric vehicle game means little because it intends to ditch gas engines just as quickly as the competition.

Or even faster than the competition, in fact

The company’s latest announcement was accompanied by a surprisingly detailed EV roadmap describing Bentley’s journey toward a more sustainable, eco-friendlier future. The company’s current plan is to be entirely end-to-end carbon neutral come 2030, which includes ceasing production of any and all vehicles with gas engines. By then, the luxury brand should achieve complete electrification.

There will be at least one stop-gap between that much-anticipated day and today. Namely, Bentley predicts it will still be producing at least one battery electric vehicle (BEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) come 2026. So, it should be about halfway after about half of the predicted period is up… yup, sounds about right.

Meanwhile, Bentley continues to pursue PHEVs as it’s doing what it can to amass more experience in the segment. That is why it is planning to release no fewer than two such plug-in models next year, in addition to doubling down on hiring top engineering talent that will help make this historic transition to green transportation energy sources smoother.

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