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In this Update: Get a supply chain partner, or die tryin’ • Buying an E30 • EV Links of Note


This update’s short(er).
 

Get a supply chain partner or die tryin’


R Motors' fate might turn on an EV conference in Germany about month from now.

This business cannot be credibly built on other people's misfortune with their wrecked Tesla. R Motors needs to work with a supplier that shares our vision – that classic GT vehicles can be given a robust second life with superior EV engineering – and is willing to take a risk on a startup producing a car or two (or three?) in this calendar year.

I'm attending Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology in Stuttgart from May 7-9. Most every company we might want to talk to about drive units, controller units, and battery packs is going to be under one roof. Goal: build relationships that allow us to negotiate a prototyping-friendly, small-unit purchase agreement for drives, battery power, and control electronics that approach Tesla performance while enabling service, support, and future upgrades that grave-robbing wrecked Teslas cannot. I wouldn't buy a restored car from a company that just goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ if trouble occurs with the brand-new part of the product. And yet: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is the general state of aftermarket support. Fug dat. Our future customers deserve (and will no doubt demand) better.

If I leave Stuttgart without a clear path to that purchase agreement, R Motors can't move forward as anything more than a hobbyist effort capable of one-off builds. As JW advised, you need to be modular and future-proof, or highly future-adaptive, to sell a car to an audience increasingly accustomed to smartphone disposability, OTA update-ability, and eventual depreciation. If the car's new feature set feels frozen in time, it's one more (big) reason for buyers to say "no".
 

Buying an E30


I'm buying this 1988 BMW 325is. 7500 bucks. 110K miles, a two-owner history, and not much work needed to have it ready for conversion - mostly cosmetic interior stuff. This is still the platform we believe to be the foundation for low-scale conversion, consumer appeal, and end product driveability/excitement. It'll be my daily driver (when I'm not biking to work, that is) and will become R Motors' SN #002 if we keep this lemonade stand open beyond this summer.🤞 If we don't, well, it will remain a nice daily driver or a quick flip back to the hot market for these coupes.

 

EV Links of Note

  • Most promising recent powertrain provider discovery: https://integralp.com - they are working on an Aston Martin project and are sort of a UK-based Rimac (minus making hypercars of their own). I will be meeting with them in Stuttgart.
     
  • Nearest-by recent powertrain provider discovery: https://cascadiamotion.com. They were recently acquired by BorgWarner and are a merger of two small companies in our backyard (northern Oregon). After a promising initial series of email exchanges confirming their interest in working on low-scale projects, it looks like they're attending the Stuttgart show as well – so I should be able to directly compare their specifications and options with Integral and all the others we find. Working with a 'local' partner could be a real boon.
     
  • A fascinating read about the rippling disruption new EV production will have on traditional combustion engine jobs - all the way through the supply chain. Germany will be hit quite a bit harder than the US because automotive is a 20% share of total exports. Excerpt:

    "The electric cars of tomorrow will have a lot less “potential for differentiation” as they all use the same batteries from LG Chem, Samsung, Panasonic and others." (Score one for the R Motors electric cars of yesteryear? —Ed.)
     
  • From the extreme frontier of the demand curve dept.: $338K electrified Porsche 911, restomodded in Amsterdam. Production target: 1 car per month. I've asked them about their own power supply chain and fully expect crickets in response.

R Motors


Vision
Timeless automobiles reimagined to inspire drivers worldwide.

Mission
To craft exhilarating and sustainable motoring experiences, designed for people who love to drive.

Tag
Classic Cars Electrified and Outfitted for 21st Century Drivers. Like You.

How Did This All Get Started?
Find out from Update 1! • The full archive of R Motors Updates
Copyright © 2019 R Motors


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