Autocar confidential: Electric car makers, Audi e-tron to get a royal reception & more

This week's snippets of automotive news include news on the electric car industry, Prince William’s next car, Peugeot going electric and Volkswagen’s mobility cars. 

Byton CEO’s view on the electric car industry: 

Electric car makers should be all in it together, according to Byton CEO Carsten Breitfeld – who has no plans to follow Tesla’s example with a network of proprietary Supercharger points. “What Tesla did was maybe necessary for them to be first, but this will not be the approach if you want to see proliferation of the electric car,” he said. For infrastructure to grow, the industry “can’t be using proprietary charging. Every EV manufacturer should be able to use them.”

Prince William to go electric:

Could Prince William emulate brother Harry, who left his wedding reception in an electric Jaguar E-Type, and buy a new Audi e-tron? Already a well-known Audi customer, William was spotted checking out the all-new electric SUV, due to be launched this autumn, while competing at a charity event backed by the marque.

Audi E-tron now revealed: full details here

Peugeot SUVs:

Peugeot’s SUV range will not expand beyond the existing Peugeot 2008, Peugeot 3008 and Peugeot 5008 models, according to boss Jean-Philippe Imparato. He said: “I want to be stable and consistent, not producing six more SUVs.”

Volkswagen mobility cars: 

Volkswagen intends to make the American production versions of its ID Buzz and Crozz EVs in the US. “For strong product momentum, they need to be produced in the USA,” said North America boss Hinrich Woebcken. “It’s not possible to come into a high-volume scenario with imported cars. We want to localise electric mobility in the US.” While the firm will offer the Buzz and Crozz worldwide, Woebcken said the models will be ‘Americanised’ for the market.

Read more 

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Jaguar I-Pace review 

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