EV Startup Banks on Super Computer to Out Compete Tesla

“You Do You, Born in Los Angeles” IndiEV’s motto, is getting a lot of attention lately. The company, IndiEV , debuted its high-tech electric small sports utility vehicle, Indi One, at the Los Angeles Auto Show late last year, made a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, and plans to display its vehicle at the New York International Auto Show in April. The Los Angeles startup—founded by video game mogul Shi Hai of Suzhou Snail Digital Technology Co., Ltd., commonly known as Snail—sees the crossover sport utility vehicle Indi One not as a conventional car, with the gas engine replaced by electric drive technology, but as “an extension of the super computer” under its hood. Shi said that the small startup does not see its competition as GM and Volkswagen, who are just trying to convert existing gas powered vehicles to electric drive, but Tesla, which has sold more electric cars than any other automaker. To do that, Shi notes, the Indi One is about both transportation and customized software running on the onboard super computer that can allow passengers to play virtual reality video games, sing Car’aoke, and even mine bitcoin while caught in Los Angeles traffic. Each car would serve as a new blockchain node connected to the cryptocurrency trading system. Shooting zombies or betting on Bitcoin You could actually make or lose money while riding in the Indi One, but as one who eschews Bitcoin I chose to wear virtual reality goggles and shoot zombies from the back seat of the Indi One during a test ride last month. The vehicle is equipped with three computer screens, one the instrument panel for driving the car, and the two others for watching movies, catching up on e-mail or social media, editing videos, composing music, and managing investments, just about anything you can do with a computer. The car looks nice and strives to match the Tesla Model Y in performance, with a range of 300 to 360 miles, 470 horsepower (that’s a lot of ponies). It has enough torque to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5 seconds or less. By comparison, the Model Y boasts a range of 330 miles on a charge. IndiEV executives expect the battery packs in the car will last eight to 10 years and say they are designed to enable the replacement of any bad cells that develop. The battery system was designed by Tom Gage, an early pioneer of EV technology through his company AC Propulsion in San Dimas, Calif. Gage is credited with inspiring Tesla founder Elon Musk with a battery design he developed. $59,000 vs. $45,000 Unlike Tesla’s Model Y, with a base price of $59,000, Shi plans to sell the Indi One for around $45,000. To get started, IndiEV plans to build 2,000 to 6,000 Indi Ones in 2023, mostly at its factory in Vernon, Calif. The vehicles will be customized to meet the needs of buyers, for instance, loaded with software of their choosing and potentially reprogrammed to accelerate quicker and reach higher speeds for police departments, an early target market for the company. Customers also will be able to choose from a number of storage compartment configurations in the car’s trunk. As orders increase, IndiEV hopes to eventually see the vehicles produced at an auto plant in Ohio and then in more massive numbers at a plant in South Korea. IndiEV executives note that a deal is pending with a major electronics company to back mass manufacturing. IndiEV plans to announce its distribution and service network plans at the New York International Auto Show this spring. Stay tuned.

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EV Startup Banks on Super Computer to Out Compete Tesla

William Kelly

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