Happy Wednesday, this is Electric Avenue. The only e-mobility newsletter that’s actually fun to read. You know it’s true.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• E-mobility Hot Jobs 🌶️

• Is the Xiaomi EV a Smartphone on Wheels? 📲

• 3 Links 🔗

• Memes of the week 🤡

Not subscribed yet? Sign up here 👇🏼

Let's dive in!

E-mobility Hot Jobs 🌶️

Once again, we’ve gathered the hottest EV, charging & energy jobs we could find. These can be at corporates or startups, but they all have one thing in common: they’re so🔥that we’re almost tempted to apply ourselves…

Here ya go with hot jobs in the 🇪🇺:

• Product Manager Ford PRO Charging, Ford, UK

• Product Manager (m/f/d) eMobility – Facilities and Site Equipment, E.ON, Essen, Germany

• Product Manager (m/w/d) eMobility – Payment Solutions, E.ON, Essen, Germany

• Head of Operations 🇨🇭, Electra, Zurich, Switzerland

• Chief Information Officer, Pod Point, London, UK

… and the 🇺🇸:

• Grid Innovation ML Engineer / Data Scientist, Apple, San Diego, CA

• Trip Planner Algorithms Engineer, Tesla, Palo Alto, CA

• Sr. Hardware Product Manager, Supercharger, Tesla, Palo Alto, CA

• CPMS Lead, Charging Technology Lead, EV Interoperability Engineer + lots of other roles at IONNA, Los Angeles, CA

• Utility Sales Director, Optiwatt, San Francisco, CA

• Chief of Staff (GTM), Monta, Miami, FL

• Head of Channel Partnerships & Strategic Business Development, Monta, Miami, FL

• EV Charging Product Manager, Starcharge, California, USA

• Senior Product Manager, Greenlane, LA, CA

Is the Xiaomi EV a Smartphone on Wheels? 📲

BIG NEWS in the Chinese EV market.

On March 28th, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi presented it’s first electric vehicle - the XIAOMI SU7 electric sedan:

The Car

At first glance, the vehicle spec’s are impressive:

• 🏎️ up to 495kW AWD with 2.78s 0-100km/h on the SU7 Max top model with a 101kWh battery

• 🔋up to 830km (~515mi) of range from a 93kWh battery on the SU7 Pro model

• 🔌 the high-voltage architecture enables recharging up to 510km/~316mi of range in just 15 minutes at an 800V-capable DC fast charger.

• 🤑 starting at just 216k CNY/ ~$30k USD/ ~27.5k EUR, the base model SU7 is priced ~4,100 USD lower than a Tesla Model 3 in China! Even the top model SU7 Max is priced extremely competitive at just $300k CNY/~$41k USD/~38k EUR.

• ©️ size, dimensions, and design language (exterior + steering wheel) are clearly inspired by the Porsche Taycan EV.

The company received >100,000 orders with deposits in the first 5 days after launch. Simultaneously, the company sold out 5000 “Founders Edition” SU7 and has already started deliveries on April 3rd. 🔥

Let’s take a moment to reflect on those charging specs:

510km/~316mi of range recharged in just 15 minutes is an impressive figure. The closest comparison that comes to mind is the Lucid Air Dream Edition’s 300mi of EPA range recharged in ~22min. We’ll have to wait for some actual charging curves and real-world tests to see how the manufacturer figures hold up.

A smartphone on wheels? 📲

All those eye-watering specs aside, the REAL question is - how good is the digital experience?

Xiaomi’s customers have come to expect a lot. The company provides a whole smart home ecosystem to itss customers that includes:

• smart TV’s

• smart speakers and headphones

• Robovacuums

• Air purifiers

• Smart lighting systems

• electric scooters

• and last, but not least: a whole range of smartphones and tablets.

First, let’s take a look at the Car-to-Phone integration which looks outstanding. The infotainment looks extremely fast and can render the phone screen live on the 16-inch main screen. Additionally, any phone app can be pinned onto the main screen seamlessly.

Even better, for the Rear-seat entertainment the U7 allows the user to plug in any tablet, whether it’s an Apple iPad or a Xiaomi one, and use it to control vehicle functions like navigation, climate, and media. The connection is wired and also charges the tablet.

And last but not least, via the “Mi Home” app and the integrated voice assistant one can control all those smart home devices with natural language.

For a detailed look at all these functions check out Telescope’s video on Youtube:

So, what about the others? 👀

The race for supreme Car-to-Phone integration is heating up, and the latest contender is NIO with NIO phone (we reported).

But what about Western tech giants like Apple and Google?

Well, you can use systems like Google Built-in or Android Auto in vehicles in the US and Europe.

But if you think about it - there’s barely any connection between the phones and the infotainment systems in those vehicles. The deepest integration you’ll get is a simple “Send Route to Car” navigation feature in Google maps. Even when your car is running Google Built-In and your phone is running Android Auto, they’re really just using the same screen - but not even simultaneously…

In our opinion, this is still a missed opportunity for Google/Android. Where is the Google Pixel + Google Built-in integration that can rival the Xiami U7 user eperience?

At the same time, Apple just stopped it’s plans to build an Apple EV after a 10yr development project (we reported).

And while the upcoming Apple CarPlay 2.0 phone projection feature promises a deeper integration between vehicle infotainment and the phone, we have yet to see the system in action.

The future of Car-to-Phone integration is unfolding, and we'll be watching closely. Stay tuned. 👀

3 Links 🔗

• Nio launched battery swapping pricing 🤑: Up until now battery swapping was free for German customers that chose to lease their battery from NIO. From 1st April onwards, Nio EV drivers will have to pay 0,39 €/kWh based on the energy difference between the old and newly swapped battery. Additionally, a fee of 10 € / swap is applied after the first three swaps per month. Interestingly, the swapping stations are located close to DC fast charging hubs (e.g. partnership with EnBW) but with more competitive pricing per kWh.

• Milence In-Depth View for Truck Charging 💡: Milence, a joint venture of Daimler Truck, Traton Group, and Volvo Group and equipped with 500M €, showcased its concept of for long-distance truck charging. While today’s hubs are equipped with CCS2 connectors (EU), future hubs will be equipped with the upcoming Megwatt Charging Standard (MCS) connectors. Kempower, one of several charger suppliers to Milence, just last week announced the launch of it’s first MCS-capable DC chargers.

• Tesla Supercharger v4 with CCS but without 800V 🔌: Tesla opened its first NEVI-funded supercharging station in the US state of Maine. The charging station has eight chargepoints with magic docks to support both NACS & CCS vehicles without a need for adapters. While the dispensers are based on Tesla’s v4 design, the power cabinets still seem to be v3 as the power output is limited to 250 kW and 400 Volt. Technically the NEVI minimum requirements mandate that DC chargers support up to 920V output. It’s unclear to us how Tesla got funding approved for the stations. If you know more, let us know in the comments or via [email protected].

Bonus Link 🔗: Last week, we presented you the REVEAL CO2 project. The team is working on a digital platform to exchange auditable emissions data between all stakeholders along the EV charging value chain, including auto OEMs, fleet operators, grid operators, and Charging Point Operators (CPOs). The project team is looking for Charge Point Operators who are willing to discuss and provide feedback on the proposed initiative. Interested? → Join here 🙋‍♀️

Memes of the Week 🤡

or maybe rather…

🤣🤣🤣

That's a wrap for this week! Let us know how you feel and leave some feedback (We read every single one of these 🙂 ):

Reader Review of the Week

Selected ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ Freakin’ awesome on ⚡How to track CO2 emissions in EV charging?🔌 and wrote:

“When Chuck Norris drives an electric vehicle, the battery percentage goes up as he accelerates.”

Someone forwarded this to you? Subscribe now - it's free!

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. The Electric Avenue team may hold investments in or may otherwise be affiliated with the companies discussed.—