Battery Makers May 2014

Batteries are a critical part of an electric car, representing up to 30% of the total cost of the vehicle, so let's see how battery makers are doing:

- Panasonic continues to grow, cementing the leadership and increasing 1% in share to 36%, all thanks to the success of the Model S and the good performance from Toyota;

- AESC, a joint venture between NEC and Nissan, provide batteries for the Nissan Leaf and most of Renault's EV's, thanks to the global success of the Nissan Leaf sales continue to grow but share continues to decline, with 25% in 2014, when in the end of last year it had 28%;

- LG has been the provider of GM and Ford, and with GM sales dwindling fast, LG continues to lose share, it's now at 11% when last year it had 18%;

 - Lithium Energy Japan (GS Yuasa / Mitsubishi), despite the success of the Mitsu Outlander PHEV, the use of small batteries in it (12 kWh), means that it's still a small player with 7% share, up 1% regarding 2013;

- BYD makes its own batteries and thanks to the success of the Qin, battery sales are going through the roof, with sales this year (137 MWh) already above last year (117) and share doubling from 3% last year to 6% in '14; 

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The new BMW X4

A fusion of the power of the X model with the design of their classic coupe, the X4 is BMW's latest crossover vehicle.

3 different types of twin power turbo engines powering the X4: 

BMW X4 xDrive35d

• 6 cylinder in-line diesel engine with 313hp and 630Nm of torque
• Goes from 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds
• It has a top speed of 153mph (247km/h)
• Fuel consumption: 47.1mpg
• CO2 emissions of 157g/km

BMW X4 xDrive30d

6 cylinder in-line diesel engine with 258hp and 560Nm of torque

Goes from 0-62mph in 5.8 seconds

It has a top speed of 145mph (234km/h)

Fuel consumption: 46.3-49.6mpg

CO2 emissions of 149-159g/km

BMW X4 xDrive30d

4 cylinder in-line diesel engine with 190hp and 400Nm of torque

Goes from 0-62mph in 8 seconds

It has a top speed of 132mph (212km/h)

Fuel consumption: 50.4-54.3mpg / Automatic: 52.3-56.5mpg

CO2 emissions of 136-146g/km

Others options include a full-colour Head-up display, surround-view which offers the driver a bird's eye view of the area around the vehicle as well as reversing assist camera which shows the area behind the vehicle.

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