The United States and United Kingdom have reached a deal on vehicle import tariffs into the U.S. that could serve as a model for future deals between the U.S. and other countries. 

As part of a larger trade deal, the UK will get preferential treatment on auto tariffs for the first 100,000 vehicles imported.  Import tariffs, which started on April 3rd for UK vehicles, are currently at 25-percent and will be reduced to 10-percent on that first 100,000 units annually.  The U.K. conversely agreed to lower its tariffs from 5.1-percent to 1.8-percent. The U.S. also dropped tariffs on U.K. steel.

While 10-percent on vehicles is still four times the 2.5-percent charged prior to April 3rd, it is likely to still be a lower tax than those levied on many vehicles imported from Mexico or Canada that contain only 50-percent U.S. made parts.

The 25-percent Tariffs on auto parts appear to remain in place.

While Jaguar and Land Rover are the obvious benefactors of this trade agreement, Nissan has manufacturing facilities in the U.K. that could be utilized for production in North America.  Previously, the Nissan plant in Sunderland, England produced the Infiniti QX30 for North America.  The plant currently produces the Nissan Juke and Nissan Qashqai (Rogue Sport), neither of which are still sold in the U.S.  Honda closed their UK manufacturing facility in 2021.

House Republicans, lead by Sam Graves, Republican for Montana and head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are proposing a $250 annual charge for electric vehicles as part of an effort to shore up funding for the national highway system and other transportation projects. Graves stated that with the increase in electric, hybrid and just overall efficiency in internal combustion automobiles that the federal tax collected per mile traveled has dropped, making it a challenge to keep the Federal Highway Administration funded. With the new fees, Republicans hope to raise $50 billion in new funding over the next 10 years. The additional money would go to pay for highway repairs and additional funding for air traffic control. Republicans point out that since 2008, more than $275 billion has been shifted from the general fund to pay for road repairs. 

The federal government has not raised fuel taxes, currently 18.3 cents per gallon, since October of 1993.

The latest proposed fee schedule would be $250 per electric vehicle per year and $100 per hybrid-vehicle per year. An earlier proposal had the electric vehicle fee at $200 per year and also included a $20 per year fee for gasoline and diesel powered vehicles.  The Federal fee would be on top of any state fees imposed. Many states have adopted EV fees to replace the loss in gas tax revenue at the local level.

The federal fees are tied to inflation and would be recalculated each year and grow over time.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has pointed out that the proposed $250 fee would require the average EV owner to pay the equivalent 1366 gallons gas tax while hybrid owners would pay roughly the equivalent of 547 gallons of fuel tax on top of paying 18.3 cents at the pump. For an EV owner, they would be paying as much tax as someone driving 15,000 miles per year in an 11 mpg vehicle.

The average amount of gas used by non-hybrid gasoline vehicles is roughly 489 gallons per year.

This latest proposal comes just two months after the House attempted to propose a bill that would have killed the Biden-era electric tax credit system and funding for manufacturing of batteries to EVs. With state republicans worried about billions that would be lost due to killing of the IRA bill, house republicans have focused on how to make everyone pay more into the federal system. The GOP says it is only fair that Hybrid and Electric vehicle owners pay their fair share into the federal Highway Administration department.

How many times have you heard people say EVs are too expensive! Only the rich can afford an EV! Funded by Jeff Beso, SLATE set out to bring back the simple needs of the bulk of America by building a basic two-person electric truck that would do truck things basically and not much else. Yet if you wanted, you could expand later on to let the truck be so much more.

SLATE set themselves a clear goal, build a truck that would be inexpensive, offer radical customizable and affordable options that would allow one to personalize their own transportation ending in a beautifully simplified means of transportation.

SLATE CEO Chris Barman at their reveal tonight stated the following: “Slate exists to put the power back in the hands of customers who have been ignored by the auto industry. Slate is a radical truck platform so customizable that it can transform from a 2-seat pickup to a 5-seat SUV.”

One would be right to ask, how does one go about being a disruptive business model in an industry that has taken things to the ultimate luxury level, ignoring the basic entry level needs? Simple, start with a simplified manufacturing process, removing unnecessary content while increasing reliability.

SLATE delivered tonight the basic EV Pickup that starts with things many might not know existed at one time by traveling back to the 1970's.

• Steel Wheels
• Manual Crank Windows
• Manual HVAC knobs
• Large Frunk that handles 1,400lbs payload

This just for the beginning brings so much more that many have probably never thought about in a DIY Unlimited personalization approach to autos. Slate starts with having over 100 accessories that can be purchased as a bundle or ala-cart. One can do this at the time of order or over time.

SLATE points out that the truck can be anything, need more people room, get the flat-pack, an accessory kit that creates a five person SUV. The kit includes additional bench seat, roll cage, airbags that can be done by yourself or be done for you.

The truck is designed as a clean SLATE that allows unlimited personalization in vehicle wrapping by yourself or a pro. Yet they do not stop there, we all have heard "Bring your own tech". Rather than learn a new interface, use the one you love. Slate introduces the universal phone mount and USB power. Add a dedicated tablet if you want to.

This made in America truck was designed for top personal safety and will have the following standard features:

• Emergency braking
• Forward Collision Warning
• Up to eight airbags

This EV pickup for everyone has the following features in regards to the battery pack, range and charging:

• Two battery packs
  • 52.7 kWh, rwd estimated 150-mile range
  • 84.3 kWh with an estimated range of 240-miles
• NACS charging port
  • Home charging overnight 
  • DC fast charging to 80% in under 30 minutes using 150 kW charger.

SLATE has stated transparent pricing is the key, expected starting price to be under $20,000 after current federal incentives. Just a $50 deposit to reserve your pickup / SUV today. Build your SLATE today: SLATE Auto | The Customizable EV That Works for You

TELO started in 2023 with a dream, design and build a modern EV truck from the ground up that incorporates electrification and 21st century technology. TELO states that they would build a modern EV truck that had Toyota Tacoma capabilities, Tesla-like range and efficiency, in a footprint of a Mini Cooper.

June 13th, 2024, Tela announced a partnership with Aria Group, a leading manufacture to build their first fully functional EV truck called the TELO MT1.

TELO Trucks

TELO is the brain child of 3 influential men, Founder CEO Jason Marks to the left in the photo, Founder CTO Forrest North center, and Founder CCO Yves Behar right in the photo.

A little history to understand the men:

• Jason Marks - Jason led the Autonomous Vehicles and Driver Assistance Systems test programs at National Instruments (NI), where he was a Chief Business Development Manager. He developed the test systems for five major U.S. automakers' Autonomy and ADAS test systems for their 2024 model year vehicles. He's an experienced Sales, Marketing, and R&D leader with patents in LiDAR.
• Forrest North - Forrest was on the early Tesla team where he developed the battery pack on the Roadster that's on its way to Mars. He founded Mission Motors, one of the first electric motorcycle companies that broke the land speed record for an electric motorcycle. He founded and sold Plugshare, which was the #1 app for finding charging stations. He's an experienced entrepreneur with over 15 patents in electric vehicle batteries and charging.
• Yves Behar - Yves founded Fuseproject in 1999, an award-winning, international multidisciplinary design studio. As CEO and Creative Lead, Béhar works with brands like Herman Miller, Samsung, L'Oreal, Puma, SodaStream and Prada and has also co-founded start-ups including August Home, Canopy Space and FORME Life. Béhar's works are included in permanent museum collections worldwide, and he speaks frequently on topics including design, technology and sustainability.

In September 2024, TELO hired Automotive Design Luminary Dale Beever as Director of design technical operations. Dale was formerly the President of ICG Inc., Beever has been the creative force behind some of the most iconic vehicles on the road today. He served as the design engineering lead for award-winning efforts in both automotive and aerospace, including Ford Motor Co.’s 50th Anniversary edition Mustang, the Lincoln Continental Concept, the Airstream Nest RV, and the Icon A5 by ICON Aircraft. Beever’s expertise in digital modeling, design engineering, and industrial design—combined with his deep understanding of advanced 3D technologies—enables him to evolve the look and feel of iconic machines while staying true to classic vehicular design.

With a top notch assembly of automotive folks to lead the company, TELA built their first simple roll cage version to test their RWD/AWD powertrain.

TELO has since expedited to building their minicooper sized five passenger, four door EV pickup with a bed equal to that which comes on a Toyota Tacoma.

The TELO MT1 is 152 inches in length, 73 inches wide and 66 inches in height. 

Compared to a Toyota Tacoma truck that is 212.3 inches long, 75 inches wide, and 71 inches in height.

TELO MT1 also drives home their efficient packaging design by comparing it to a Ford eTransit Connect van that has an overall length of 176 inches, 75 inches wide, and 72 inches in height.

TELO motto is "Designed to do more with less" had been a driving goal that has delivered on it in more ways than one. Taking a page from Chevrolet Avalanche, the MT1 comes with a mid-partition or what Chevrolet called a mid-gate. This allows the 60-inch bed to expand to carry a full 4-by8-foot plywood sheet of wood. Yet TELO also allows this to give configuration change that can accommodate up to eight passengers. 2WD will have a 2,000lb payload capacity versus 4WD will have a 1,700lb payload capacity.

This all while delivering a 0-60 mph time of 4 seconds, up to 350-mile range and up to 500hp depending on powertrain configuration. The RWD has 300hp and AWD has 500hp. Battery choice is standard with 260 miles of range or long range with 350 miles of range. Wheel size is 215/65 R 16 in a General Grabber A/T tire for ultimate in traction of your lifestyle choice from mountains to beach.

TELO MT1 is an innovative approach to modern lifestyle living that allows one to haul just about anything or anyone.

From a truck standpoint you have a secure tonneau cover to protect ones belongings, be it work tools during the week to weekend essentials on the go. TELO has picked up some of the best ideas across the auto industry to incorporate it into one of most versatile pickup trucks.

The TELO storage tunnel takes what Rivian has done one step farther as mentioned earlier when stated that the midgate could be folded down to be converted into hauling 8 passengers. The storage tunnel becomes the footwell for a third row of seats, converting your truck into an SUV.

TELO has taken the motto of "Nothing in Excess" in their approach to the interior. Blending clean, understated patterns with natural fabrics and recycled materials in a TELO approach to minimal, but functional comfort and utility. Official interior images have not been shown yet in their test mules, but their press release images are as follows for digital design.

Safety is a key part of the TELO company philosopy. As such, TELO will be incorporating the latest safety technology from sensors to predict and classify collisions before they happen to airbags, and structural technology to make the auto safer for everyone on the road.

TELO has stated the "Range to Roam" is key, the long range battery is a 106 kWh battery pack with a 20 minute to 80% fast-charge within the footpring of this subcompact EV.

Being classified as a Subcompact, means the ease of city parking is that much easier while having the interior space of your average midsize vehicle.

With the pricing of current on market EVs, many would wonder how expensive will the TELO MT1 truck be and what is a reservation fee?

TELO MT1 Pre-Order

One can reserve their TELO MT1 with a $152 deposit which gets you a promised base price before configuration of $41,520 2WD 260 mile range 300 hp truck base truck. The same deposit fee if you choose the 500hp / 4WD with standard 260 mile battery at $46,019. One can also choose to pay an additional $3,980 for the long range 350 mile battery pack which makes the prices $45,500 in 2WD or $49,999 in 4WD.

Currently TELO offers eight color choices.

• Blizzard White
• Ocean Blue
• Dark Emerald
• Sand Dune
• Sunset Orange
• Cool Steel
• Night Shadow
• Sable Bronze

At this time, no official start of manufacturing has been announced. Will update once I hear back from TELO on estimated manufacturing of the MT1 truck.

To say that 2025 is business as usual is an understatement in that it is anything but usual. As the new administration attempts to destroy society moving forward with Electric Vehicles and return to a 1970's or 60's way of thinking with inefficient ICE or internal combustion engines this begs the question:

How are EVs doing in the marketplace right now?

According to ARENAEV.COM website dedicated to tracking sales globally, EV sales globally are expected to increase by 30% at a time that the industry is expecting a contraction in ICE sales of less than 1% for 2025.

Specific to regions, the industry is looking to sales to be as follows:

 The BEV market share is for the end of the year 2025 by region. So specifically, the projection is that the U.S. will have an 11.2% market share of new auto sales standing at 11.2% come December 31st, 2025.

Europe's race for market share is interesting as while car sales declined 2.6% overall, BEV grew 34% and HEV grew 18.4%. The looser was in ICE auto production / sales.

Latin America is another interesting auto Market where auto sales are peanuts compared to the U.S. market, yet EV sales have taken off going from 2% in 2023 to standing at 6% in 2024 and yet for January / February 2025 EV sales have hit 16% of new auto sales as BYD from China and other asian EV auto companies expand offering inexpensive EVs in the market.

Isreal is another interesting market where EVs stood at 18% in 2023, grew to 24.5% in 2024 and while overall auto sales are down 21% in 2025, EVs have continued to outpace ICE sales with an interesting leader, BYD.

Africa is another place that many would not have thought about as due to the lack of consistent infrastructure EVs are something that folks would tend to think would not sell. Nigeria has seen the ICE industry crash in sales as people struggle to fuel their autos when it takes approximately 18,000 to 20,000 naira a day to run an auto compared to 4,000 naira a day to fuel an EV. Nigeria and other African countries are taking advantage of moving to Solar power by the gigawatts to spread electricity across the continent faster than the ability to build gas stations. With this has come an explosive expansion of EV sales brought by two countries. China and Vietnam are leading the EV revolution with inexpensive EVs.

With this information about the world around us, it brings us to the U.S. as we have two months under our belts and the U.S. stands as follows:

January saw EV sales in the U.S. 30% higher than a year ago with EVs making up 9.1% of all new auto purchases coast to coast at 102,243 EVs sold. An interesting highlight of auto sales is that American's bought 30.5% of used auto's as EVs with 40% of them having an average price under $25,000 and the overall average price of used EVs stood at $37,476. Used EV sales are up 3.5% over December 2024.

February saw EV sales in the U.S. of all new auto sales make up 10% of new auto purchases coast to coast. Specifically over all new auto sales fell in February 2.7% over the same time last year. There were clearly winners and losers in the industry and the list of winners is much easier to list: Kia, Hyundai, Genesis led with sales up 7%, 3% and 20%. Eking out small gains of 1% or less were Mazda, Subaru, and Lexus. Everyone else has negative sales compared to the same period a year ago. Fleet deliveries were also down 18.8% for the month.

As the U.S. economy takes a roller coaster ride, Cox Automotive has reported that for the first time, all auto companies have a 94-day average supply of unsold new vehicles. This is 2% higher than at the start of the year, 15% higher than at this same time last year compared to having a desired 60-day supply. The following auto companies are running from 100 to 160 days inventory supplies are Ford, Lincoln, Buick, Ram, Jeep and Dodge. Ford is the rare auto company that saw a 12.7% drop in ICE sales while Hybrid sales jumped 27.5% and a 15% gain in EV sales.

Tesla that does not report numbers monthly but quarterly is projected to have a massive drop in sales globally as registrations are showing huge declines as Germany showed a 60% drop, France was a 63% drop and China showed a 22% drop in new registrations. In the U.S. till they report the numbers for the quarter, Tesla has had the majority of the EV market to themselves with California being their largest market. California market share for Tesla stood at 60% in 2023, dropped to 52.5% in 2024, and with looking at EV registrations in California at the end of February / January, Tesla is showing only a 11.6 percent market share of the California EV market based on new EV registrations. Depending on the report you read, Tesla is looking at only having a 44% market share of EVs at this time in the U.S as other auto companies grow their market share of EVs.

While overall auto sales have been down, EV sales have continued to go up with 222,589 EVs sold for the first two months of 2025 based on total new autos reported sold. 

In some states that have high gas taxes such as the west coast, fuel cost compared to electric rates have played into people buying EVs along with their lower cost of maintenance. Sales are expected to continue to grow as lower priced models come on the market such as the Kia EV2, 3 & 4 car and SUVs that have much more interior space over a traditional ICE auto.

In asking the questions at the start of "How are EVs doing in the marketplace right now?" One could say they are doing much better than expected, especially with the headwinds of the current administration.

April 2024, three companies came together wanting to address an industry opportunity that they saw in the European market and to hopefully take it globally. Renault Group, Volvo Group, and CMA-CGM came together to announce a new EV startup called FLEXIS. Flexis would be a skateboard platform that would allow a last mile delivery solution that would be efficient by using cutting-edge technology to offer a cutting-edge solution focused on offering a comprehensive suite of services that would help companies optimize fleet operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Like any modern company, a mission statement is only as good as what is actually delivered by the company. Flexis’ mission is to provide innovative and cleaner solutions, essential for the future of urban logistics. What modern media calls last mile deliver.

Flexis aim is to offer seamless integration of uptime management, energy efficiency, driver monitoring, routing optimization, and cargo management or what Flexis states as "Revolutionizing Urban Logistics".

Flexis calls their platform "SDV" or Software Defined Vehicle that offers a seamless integration into client's operational systems. Flexis has assembled what they believe is the tailor-made solutions for major players in urban delivery.

Flexis has three fully electric, fully customizable fleet designed vans for city delivery needs:

• Step-in Van
• Cargo Van
• Panel Van

All three work with an embedded solution for connected logistics. The platform enables the vehicles to send real-time data to fleet management operators to maximize operational efficiency, as well as receive over the air updates, essentially making the vehicle a computer on wheels.

The fully EV-native range of vehicles are designed with logistics operations in mind to significantly improve efficiency. All vehicles have: a low floor height to ease the loading and unloading of parcels; the possibility of fully customizing the interior of the vehicles without the constraints of retrofitted hardware; the integration of high-capacity battery solutions allowing for fast charging (80% in less than 20 minutes); and the best range for urban operations (up to 450km WLTP per charge or 280 miles U.S. range).  

The vehicles are designed with superior ergonomics to increase driver safety and provide the comfort of a passenger car; for example, the driver seat is positioned at a height to reduce the impact on driver’s knees (reducing up to 250 up-and-down movements per day).

Flexis has already invested €350 Million in the development of the product range and has now entered the industrialization and pre-production phase in 2025. Serial production will start mid-2026 at Renault Group’s Sandouville plant in France. As part of the development process, twenty representative prototypes have been built and are currently being tested, cumulating more than 9,000 hours of driving , since March 2024.

Step-in Van

The Step-In van features a unique silhouette in the medium van segment featuring front sliding doors and a rear shutter door for loading optimization; a first for the European market. The van features easy access between the cockpit and cargo areas with a 1.9 meter or 6 foot 2 inches tall height clearance allowing drivers to comfortably walk upright throughout the vehicle.

Cargo Van

The vehicle is adapted to urban last-mile delivery needs and beyond with an easily convertible box, capable of integrating different widths, heights, and beds, as well as modular solutions including, but not limited to, refrigerated boxes.

Panel Van

The urban-proof, multi-purpose design addresses all limitations of current market offerings, including superior maneuverability and an overall height of 1.9m or 6ft 2 inches, enabling it to enter underground city parking and garages easily.

Embedded solutions for connected logistics

Beyond the family of electric vehicles, Flexis is developing a portfolio of B2B-oriented services to help logistics operators decarbonize and improve operational efficiency. The Flexis fleet management solutions are developed based on an open platform leveraging the capabilities of the Software Defined Vehicle and able to seamlessly integrate the vehicles in the existing digital environments already existing at customer operations.

Flexis services are centered around four main pillars: uptime management, operational efficiency, energy and charging infrastructure management, and financial services, and will be delivered through:
➢ A central digital platform for Flexis clients called the “FlexE Connect”
➢ Existing service networks across Europe supported by Renault Group and Volvo Group
➢ A Customer Operational Centre, offering clients a team of experts dedicated to conducting real-time fleet monitoring, providing diagnostics, proactive recommendations to customers, and sharing personalized performance reports.

Flexis has also announced their first 10 letters of intent signed with logistic providers across France, Germany and the UK for 15,000 vehicles once production begins in spring 2026.

FLEXIS MOBILITY

Flexis is offering the following:

Innovative skateboard platform:

• 800V batteries
• Long driving range
• Rapid Charging
• High Power Output
• Low floor height
• State-of-the-art ergonomics for operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness

B2B-centric interfaces and services

• Dedicated customer interface
• Tailored customer support
• Fit-for-purpose built solutions and services
• Optimized TCU or Total Cost of Usage
• Streamlined operations

SDV - Software Defined Vehicles

• Flexibility and scalability through software-defined vehicles
• Seamless integration of new services and continuous upgrades

Flexis believes they have a winning solution based on the three key areas:

Urban Friendly

• CO2 free
• Access to low-emission zones - European cities
• Silent
• Compact footprint
• Tight turning radius for better maneuverability
• Various body types to adapt to operational needs of customers

Driver First

• Low Cab position for easy access
• Step in Van - safe and direct access
• Innovative cockpit for optimum driver efficiency
• Lowest floor height

Fleet Management Effectiveness

• Predictive maintenance
• Midlife battery upgrade
• Remote charging and monitoring of battery state of charge
• 200km or 124 miles charged in less than 30 minutes
• Seamless integration and open platform
• Eco design with use of recycled materials

Flexis partners see great growth in the near future as this new EV startup brings a industry software solution with dedicated EV platform together to address the needs of companies making deliveries.

With a modern B2B-centric solution of interfaces and services in a dedicated EV platform, can Flexis survive in a market that has seen many EV companies parish as they focus on delivering an end-to-end solution for the urban logistics market? Is this the ultimate systems and solutions service product that companies are looking for? Can it beat GM Brightdrop or Rivian's vans to name a few?

Hyundai, BMW, Stellantis, Kia, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota are eight of the worlds' largest automakers and today are celebrating the successful launch of their purpose-built redefinition of charging as an end-to-end integrated customer charging experience. 

This purpose-built charging solution delivers on the mission they set forth in February 2024. with 100 sites contracted, over 1000 charging bays, enabling EV road trips coast to coast by the end of 2025 with 400 kWh DC Ultra-Fast chargers.

February 2025 marks the beginning of a massive nationwide buildout of ultra-fast DC charging stations. This milestone marks a historic moment for the American road, as eight global automakers join at the first ever IONNA Rechargery in Apex, NC, and new HQ and Customer Experience Lab in Durham, NC. A joint ribbon-cutting event signifying an unprecedented commitment to build a best-in-class charging network – designed, engineered, and built right here in the USA.

The motto that the fantastic eight automakers stated in 2024 was "Measure Twice and Cut Once". This happened with a rigorous testing phase in the second half of 2024. Automaker vehicle fleets and everyday drivers helped stress-test the IONNA network, completing more than 4,400 charging sessions, on over 80 unique vehicle models, and dispensing nearly 63 thousand kilowatt-hours of energy. IONNA has refined its hardware, software, and customer experience to confidently step into a new phase of nationwide expansion.

To mark this next national release stage, IONNA is proud to announce in excess of 100 contracted sites nationwide, including this week’s opening of new Rechargeries in Houston, Texas and Abilene, Kansas, with Willcox, Arizona joining another six additional locations under construction today. In addition, the opening of its headquarters and customer experience lab, a hub dedicated to ongoing testing, innovation, and unwavering commitment to a driver-first experience.

iONNA is just not deploying infrastructure; this is a substantial investment in American Jobs, American Manufacturing, Growing the next Golden age of Driving across America. iONNA has committed to building 30,000 charging bays by 2030 representing new jobs across the nation, cutting-edge technological innovation, igniting a new fire under Americans with a vision to drive America's roads, seeing the country.

IONNA will set a new standard for interoperability and ease of use in 2025. Plug & Charge technology, already available now, will grow to include a leading number of automakers as the year progresses. Through vehicle integration, IONNA will also enable features like AI-driven smart reservations/routing optimization, in-car payments, and other features – the most integration-rich charging network in America is on its way.

Beginning in Q1 2025 at the Garner, NC location, IONNA will introduce computer-vision powered by AI and sensor fusion technology to enable automated grab & go offerings. Made possible by collaborating with Amazon and leveraging their industry leading “Just Walk Out” technology, these cutting-edge retail spaces will allow drivers to grab refreshments and essentials 24/7 and without checkout lines.

Today, iONNA has moved forward to Juice up America, one Rechargery at a time. Check out more of this EV charging company by visiting their website.

iONNA

With an Average of 10 ultra-fast 400 kWh charging bays that support both CCS and NACS, iONNA is planning to have 3,000 new EV charging stations nationwide by 2030 if not more.

Where can I find my local rechargery?
You can always check the iONNA website for the most up to date information on locations, including those that are 'coming soon'! You can also find them by searching for "IONNA" on Plugshare, Google Maps, Apple Maps, ChargePoint, Shell, and more. 

One point to make about Tesla, if the Tesla was built before 2020, it will require a hardware upgrade to be able to charge properly. Contact your Tesla Service center or check your owner's manual for details on third-party charging.

MOU means that these companies have signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" to explore the participation, involvement and synergy sharing in relation to the business integration through a joint holding company.

Back in August 1st, 2024 Nissan and Honda created a Joint Holding Company for the commencement of a strategic partnership focused on intelligence and electrification. This was to start the consideration towards integration of the two companies. Mitsubishi Motors has now signed onto this MOU to explore the possibility of achieving synergies at an increased level through business participation or integration.

In basic terms, the three companies have agreed to join forces in sharing costs to move forward with EV platform R&D while they also look at the ICE "Internal Combustion Engine" gas side of having shared platforms to reduce costs and hopefully save the three auto companies by keeping them alive. 

While Nissan and Honda have agreed to move forward in this integration of the two auto companies, Mitsubishi Motors will make a final decision by the end of January 2025 about possibly joining in with the integration of Mitsubishi Motors into this joint 3 auto company venture.

Nissan and Honda have already agreed to a full SDV or Software-defined vehicles program moving forward that will allow them to have a solid crucial collaboration of intelligence and electrification for future products. Both companies have stated that the acceleration of technology and the rapid change of the auto industry will allow these two companies to maintain global competitiveness and deliver more attractive products and services for customers worldwide. Nissan global mobility product line merged with Honda four-wheel-vehicles, motor cycles and power products can allow both companies to become more attractive to shareholders and innovation of products to sell to customers worldwide according to the CEOs of both companies.

Nissan and Honda have stated the following:

Nissan and Honda aim to become a world-class mobility company with sales revenue exceeding 30 trillion yen ($190 Billion U.S. Dollars) and operating profit of more than 3 trillion yen ($19 billion U.S. Dollars).

The expected synergies from the business integration at this time are:

1. Scale advantages by standardizing vehicle platforms

• By standardizing the vehicle platforms of both companies across various product segments, the companies expect to create stronger products, reduce costs, enhance development efficiencies, and improve investment efficiencies through standardized production processes.
• The integration is projected to increase sales and operational volumes, allowing the companies to reduce development costs per vehicle, including for future digital services, while maximizing profits.
• By accelerating the mutual complementation of their global vehicle offerings - including ICE, HEV, PHEV, and EV models - Nissan and Honda will be better positioned to meet diverse customer needs around the world and deliver optimal products, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

2. Enhancement of development capabilities and cost synergies through the integration of R&D functions

• In accordance with the MOU to deepen strategic partnership and the joint research agreement on fundamental technologies dated August 1, the two companies have started joint research in fundamental technologies in the area of vehicle platforms for next-generation software-defined vehicles (SDVs), which is the cornerstone of the field of intelligence. After the business integration, both companies will encompass more integrated collaboration across all R&D functions, including fundamental research and vehicle application technology research. This approach is expected to enable both companies to efficiently and swiftly enhance their technological expertise, achieving both improvements in development capabilities and reductions in development costs through the integration of overlapping functions.
   

3. Optimizing manufacturing systems and facilities

• The companies anticipate that optimizing their manufacturing plants and energy service facilities, combined with improved collaboration through the shared use of production lines, will result in a substantial improvement in capacity utilization leading to a decrease in fixed costs.
   

4. Strengthening competitive advantages across the supply chain through the integration of purchasing functions

• To fully leverage the synergies from optimizing development and production capacity, both companies intend to boost their competitiveness by improving and streamlining purchasing operations and source common parts from the same the supply chain and in collaboration with business partners.
   

5. Realizing cost synergies through operational efficiency improvements

• The companies expect that the integration of systems and back-office operations, along with the upgrade and standardization of operational processes, will drive significant cost reductions.
   

6. Acquisition of scale advantages through integration in sales finance functions

• By integrating relevant areas of sales finance functions of both companies and expanding the scale of operations, the companies aim to provide a range of mobility solutions, including new financial services throughout the vehicle lifecycle, to customers of both organizations.
   

7. Establishment of a talent foundation for intelligence and electrification

• The human resources of the companies are an invaluable asset, and establishing a strong human resource foundation is crucial for the transformation that will come with the business integration. After the integration, increased employee exchanges and technical collaboration between the companies are expected to promote further skill development. Moreover, by leveraging each company's access to talent markets, attracting exceptional talent will become more attainable.

Method of business integration and stock listing
Nissan and Honda, with the result of the consideration, plan to establish, through a joint share transfer, a joint holding company that will be the parent company of both companies. This will be subject to approval at each company's general meeting of shareholders and obtaining necessary approvals from relevant authorities for this business integration, based on the premise that Nissan's turnaround*1 actions are steadily executed. Both Nissan and Honda will be fully owned subsidiaries of the joint holding company*2.

Additionally, the companies plan to continue coexisting and developing the brands held by Honda and Nissan equally.

• Shares of the newly established joint holding company under consideration are planned to be newly listed (technical listing) on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (“TSE”). The listing is scheduled for August 2026.
• With the listing of the joint holding company, both Nissan and Honda will become wholly owned subsidiaries of the joint holding company and will be scheduled to be delisted from the TSE. However, shareholders of both companies will continue to be able to trade shares of the joint holding company issued during this share transfer on the TSE.
• The listing date of the joint holding company and the delisting date of both Nissan and Honda will be determined in accordance with the regulations of the TSE.
• Regarding the organizational structure of the joint holding company, and both companies which will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of the joint holding company after the business integration, the optimal structure for realizing synergies, including the integration of R&D functions, purchasing functions, and manufacturing functions, will be discussed and considered within the integration preparatory committee, with the aim of establishing an organizational structure that enables efficient and highly competitive business operations after the business integration.

The CEO's of all three companies had the following to say:

Upon looking at the press releases, it makes total sense that these companies would look to merge as each company is having a challanging time.

Nissan globally has seen a 33.7% reduction in sales taking the estimated 2024 market share to 5.2%. 

Honda globally has seen a 9% reduction over all with a 32% reduction in the asian rim leaving them with a 2024 estimated 5.4% market share.

Mitsubishi Motors globally has seen a reduction year over year of a 10.7% drop leaving them with a 2024 estimated market share of 4.6%.

All three auto companies lag the industry in technology connected auto's, feature / functions and especially EVs. All three companies have seen their profits turn into negative earnings for their respective companies leaving them with no real ability to perform R&D in building EVs to compete in China or the U.S. let alone Europe that has mandates in place for the end of ICE by 2035.

End result is it looks like for these companies to survive, merging into one company that shares platforms and technology especially in the software and battery sectors will be the only way to move forward.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created a rule last year to help consumers against unfair practices and fees. Known as the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS), this was supposed to take effect on July 30th, 2024. Now, lobbyists were able to get this paused indefinitely. 

This new development of CARS was fought by the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. They filed a petition with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and challenged the law. The Court agreed with NADA and the Texas Automobile Association to stop CARS from happening. 

One of the biggest issues with this legal battle concerns if the FTC has the jurisdiction to impose this. Both dealership groups called the rule "an abuse of discretion" which they used in court to stop the rule from being implemented. The FTC agrees, saying the rule "does not impose substantial costs, if any" for non-shady dealerships. They guarantee a more even playing field for consumers and dealerships by eliminating hidden costs and junk fees.

If the courts decide to rule for the FTC, the FTC thinks the CARS rule will be delayed by a few months. This means CARS could be enacted before 2025. Even with the FTC fighting and possibly winning this, dealerships have pressured Congress to make laws removing the FTC from regulating car sales. If a dealership breaks the rules, they would have a violation of $50,120. 

Automakers have been struggling since 2020 to launch their new vehicles on time. Shifts to creating electric vehicles and the COVID-19 pandemic created large supply chain issues. These issues have increased delays for new vehicles to be launched. 

PwC Consulting discovered in a report that 34% of vehicle launches 2023 had production delays. An additional 21% of delays were "due to other factors". PwC did a calculation of production delays with issues such as quality standards, supply chain issues, and workforce situations. They compared actual to planned production dates.

Within this analysis, automaker delays can cost them around $200 million annually. Compare this to 2018, where 5% of launches faced delays and 18% had setbacks from other issues.  2023 saw automakers complete 45% of their launches, the most since 2019. Delays dropped to 30% in 2022 with 39% of production delays. 

According to the PwC report, there are several reasons for the delays. These include the advancement of driver assistance systems, various software issues, and more EV vehicle launches.  PwC's reports expect that the production setbacks will last until 2026.  

Cummins Inc., the manufacturer of diesel engines, has reached an agreement with the United States and the State of California. The $1.675 billion settlement would be the largest penalty for Clean Air Act Violations. Hundreds of thousands of engines were found with an emission-cheating defeat device. There were 630,000 defeat devices from 2013 to 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. 

The Clean Air Act requires automakers and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits. Defeat devices can be hardware or software, which can modify emission tests. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland from The Justice Department issued the following statement:

“The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the environmental laws that protect the American people from harmful pollutants. 

“Today, the Justice Department reached an initial agreement with Cummins Inc. to settle claims that, over the past decade, the company unlawfully altered hundreds of thousands of engines to bypass emissions tests in violation of the Clean Air Act. As part of the agreement, the Justice Department will require Cummins to pay $1.675 billion, the largest civil penalty we have ever secured under the Clean Air Act, and the second largest environmental penalty ever secured.

“The types of devices we allege that Cummins installed in its engines to cheat federal environmental laws have a significant and harmful impact on people’s health and safety. For example, in this case, our preliminary estimates suggest that defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides. The cascading effect of those pollutants can, over long-term exposure, lead to breathing issues like asthma and respiratory infections."

Cummins released a statement on Friday, December 22nd, stating Cummins “has seen no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith.” Along with this statement, Cummins said they "fully cooperated" with regulators. 

Automakers are trying to achieve price parity between EV and ICE vehicles. This is a key objective so EVs become more attainable to buy. Price parity would help consumers who are interested in EVs. Kelly Blue Book's (KBB) November average transaction price data for new vehicles shows that we are moving slightly in the right direction. In 2024, certain EVs will lose the federal tax credit.

The industry average transaction price (ATP) for every type of vehicle was $48,247. The new EV average transaction price (ATP) was $52,345, or 8.5% more expensive. November had the highest incentive for EVs at 8.9% of the average transaction price (ATP). Last year, EV incentives were less than 2% of the ATP. Kelly Blue Book (KBB) has not revealed all vehicles' average transaction price (ATP). Hybrids/alternative-powered cars had an average transaction price of $49,680.

The Director of Strategic Planning at Cox Automotive, Stephanie Valdez-Streaty told Inside EVs: "In recent months, price parity between EVs and ICE has almost seemed possible. It is a complicated measure with plenty of variables, but newer products and higher discounts have brought down average EV prices, even before potential tax incentives. A year ago, the EV premium was more than 30%. Today, it's less than 10%."

Reporting through December 20th, 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has data about manufacturer recalls for the year. Ford has issued 54 recalls affecting 5,692,135 vehicles. Not only is this the highest of any automaker, but it marks the third year in a row that Ford is at the top spot for recalls.

Ford had almost twice as many Kia vehicles at 3 million. This was related to leaking brake fluid which is a fire risk. Stellantis came second with 45 recalls and 2.7 million affected cars. Third to fifth place goes to BMW with 29 recalls, Mercedes-Benz with 27 recalls, and Nissan with 22 recalls.

Ford had the highest number of recalls but didn't have the largest recall in 2023. That honor goes to Tesla for its Autopilot safety system. This affected 2,031,220 Tesla vehicles. According to NHTSA, Autopilot currently is not set up to prevent misusage. Tesla plans to remedy the Autopilot recall with over-the-air (OTA) updates.

Car dealers have more cars in stock as of December since the spring of 2021. The metric car dealers use to measure their supplies is "days of inventory". This measures how long it would take to sell a new car at today's sales price. The age-old industry guideline is 60 days on a car lot.

According to Cox Automotive, the average dealer has a 71-day supply. When you have an oversupply, prices start to lower. KBB states that the average for new car prices dropped from November 2022 to November 2023. It's the third straight month with year-over-year pricing decreasing. 

Due to anticipation of a union strike, automakers stocked up on cars during the summer. When the United Auto Workers (UAW) initiated their strike, they utilized a different tactic. A few factories were closed, but many factories were at full capacity. 

Several automakers are slowing down factories. Stellantis has announced it is cutting one of its shifts at a Jeep plant In Detroit. Stellantis is also cutting jobs and production at a Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. Meanwhile, GM is putting several assembly pants with scheduled downtime for product changeovers and maintenance. 

Not all brands are affected by the oversupply issue. November 2023 Toyota dealers had an average of 32 days, with Honda, Kia, and Lexus below 50. Jeep has the worst oversupply issue with a 128-day supply. Nine brands had over 100 days' worth of vehicles. 

Cox Automotive group released their Q3 2023 EV sales for the automotive industry in the United States showing that in Q3 EV sales jumped past 300,000 for the first time in the U.S. market. EV sales through September reached just over 873,000 which puts the market on track to surpass 1 million EV sales. This milestone is estimated to be reached some time in November.

Q3 EV sales estimates are 313,086 EV sales, a 49.8% increase over the same period last year. This is an increase from the 298,039 EVs sold in Q2. Sales of EVs posted noticeable gains over 2022 with Hyundai, Nissan, Volvo and Mercedes having a 200% increase in EV sales thanks to the new products they released to market.

Total industry sales in Q3 showed EVs had a 7.9% market share. This is up from 6.1% a year ago and 7.2% in Q2 2023. As pointed out by Cox, EV sales have now had 13 straight quarters of increased sales.

EV transaction prices were down in Q3 compared to a year ago with most of this due to Tesla slashing prices to increase sales. Prices are now down 25% across the board for all EVs year over year. While price cuts helped Tesla grow their sales which is showing a 19.5% year over year increase and an industry overall growth rate of 16.3% this does come with the downside that Tesla has lost market share hitting 50% as more EV options from competitors hits the sales room.  Tesla had a 70 plus % market share ending 2022, closed out Q1 2023 at 62% and now closes Q3 with a 50% market share.

German luxury makers showed rapid EV sales as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes showed a tripling of sales year over year with Audi posting the largest increase of a 94% sales increase in EV sales.

While we have the 100% club of Fisker, Rivian, Tesla and Vinfast who only sell EVs, the rest of the automotive industry is a mix of ICE and EV sales and as such was led by BMW who closed out Q3 with 15.6% of their auto sales being EVs in the U.S..

In 2020 the U.S. had sold just 250,000 EVs with the bulk of that being Tesla. Three years later we are primed for EV sales crossing 1 million sold. Tesla still is the undisputed leader in EV sales, but their market share is dwindling.

The coming flood of EV models over the next 18 to 24 months have analyst forecasting a doubling of EV models offered and a major shift in marketshare for every auto company.

Full details of the sales report can be read here:

Q3-2023-Kelley-Blue-Book-Electric-Vehicle-Sales-Report.pdf

The key takeaway for Q3 is that EV transaction prices are down 22% with an average transaction price of $50,683 paid in September. This on top of other companies rapid increase in sales such as Rivian who delivered 15,564 EVs for Q3 representing a 126% increase year over year. GM began deliveries of the Silverado EV with 18 units delivered at the end of September.

October 2023 the IRS released this clarification that the Inflation Reduction Act will offer the provision that allows consumers to transfer their credit to the car dealer, instantly reducing the purchase price of new and used EVs at the time of sale.

Registration Requirements PDF

rp-23-33.pdf

This guidance also provides proposed eligibility rules for the previously owned clean vehicles credit. End result is that ELIGIBLE CONSUMERS may transfer the full value of the new or previously owned EV credit regardless of their individual tax liability to the dealership.

Per the IRS press release: 

“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is focused on lowering transportation costs for consumers and giving American car companies the tools to lead the market,” said Chief Implementation Officer for the Inflation Reduction Act Laurel Blatchford. “For the first time, the Inflation Reduction Act allows consumers to reduce the up-front cost of a clean vehicle, expanding consumer choices and helping car dealers expand their businesses. The IRS has focused on streamlining this process for car dealers as part of its commitment to improving service and helping taxpayers claim the credits they are eligible for.” 

Later in the month of October, the IRS will allow auto dealerships to register via the IRS Energy Credits Online, this new website will allow the dealerships to signup and take part of this new instant rebate program that the IRS has stated will be a 72 hr turnaround for the dealerships to get the rebate deposited into their bank account.

Benefits for the consumers are that the rebate will be instantly taken off the agreed too purchase price reducing the amount they need to pay via finance, cash or lease.

Full details for those wishing to read the long winded and dry IRS press release is here:

Inflation Reduction Act Rebates

So what do you think about this Instant Rebate for EVs? Good Idea? Will it Jump Start EV sales? 

Sound off and let the debate begin!

October 5th was a major press release for Genesis-Hyundai-Kia as all three auto companies announced that they would begin shipping their EVs at the start of Q4 2024 with NACS ports on their EVs.

With NACS ports, Genesis, Hyundai and Kia EVs will gain access to the 12,000 plus North America Tesla Supercharger stations which have over 50,000 charging stations. 

Genesis, Hyundai, Kia EVs are built on the E-GMP or Electric Global Modular Platform that is an 800V fast charging platform. The current EV owners that have CCS ports will have access to the Tesla Supercharger network starting the beginning of Q1 2025 and upon receiving their CCS to NACS adapter.

This also includes that Genesis, Hyundai and Kia have joined six other global leading auto companies in building their own high power North American Charging Network that has a committed 30,000 chargers. This new network will have the first of the Charging Stations opened in Summer 2024 in the U.S. and later in the year in Canada.

All three auto companies have stated that their specific EV applications on the customers cell phone will be updated allowing them to use the Tesla Supercharger stations, pay for their charging and any other needs at the tesla sites giving customers the ultimate experience in a single smartphone app for all their EV needs.

Genesis Newsroom (genesisnewsusa.com)

Hyundai Electric Vehicles to Add North American Charging Standard - Hyundai Newsroom

KIA TO ADOPT NORTH AMERICAN CHARGING STANDARD IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2024 (kiamedia.com)

April 2020 Honda / Acura signed a deal with GM to use the Ultium Platform to produce two SUVs, one for Honda and one for Acura that would target the 2024 model year with an end of 2023 on sale date.

Today we give you the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX:

Let's dive into how much these two vehicles are the same and yet different. Both are built on the GM Ultium platform and will come off the same assembly line according to Honda.

We will present a bullet list here for quick comparison of the basic info that folks like to know about these two vehicles:

• Pricing
  • Honda Prologue to start upper $40K with top end hitting $60K
  • Acura ZDX to start around $60K and top end hitting $70K range
• Mileage
  • Honda Prologue to have an EPA range rating of 300 miles
  • Acura ZDX to have an EPA range rating of 325 miles
• Charging
  • Both models will handle 800V DC fast charging
    • Honda will recharge 65 miles of range per 10 minutes, charging rates up to 155 kW
    • Acura will recharge 81 miles of range per 10 minutes, charging rates up to 190 kW
• Battery Capacity
  • Honda - 85 kWh
  • Acura - 102 kWh
• Powertrain details
  • Honda - 288 HP / 333 lb-ft AWD - 2WD TBA
  • Acura - ZDX 340 HP RWD / TBA AWD - ZDX Type S 500 HP torque for all models TBA
• Trim Levels
  • Honda - EX, Touring and Elite
  • Acura - A spec and Type S
• TouchScreen Auto Android
  • Snap Dragon system powered by Android that will allow Apple CarPlay & Android Auto cell phone connectivity use
    • Honda and Acura will have 11" instrument display and 11.3" central touch screen
• Safety systems are marketed under the Honda or Acura name, but include things like a 360-degree vision camera system, blind spot detection of autos and humans, a various assortment of Smart technology
• Cargo Space
  • Honda - 25.2 cu-ft behinds rear seats, with seats down 57.7 cu-ft and a .5 cu-ft hidden space under rear cargo area
  • Acura - TBA
• Wheel options
  • Honda 19" or 21" depending on trim
  • Acura 20" or 22" depending on trim
• Suspension
  • Honda - multi-link, fixed coil
  • Acura - A spec multi-link, fixed coil with amplitude reactive damper system. Type S multi-link Air suspension with High-performance Adaptive damper system
• EV Size
  • Honda
    • Wheelbase - 121.8"
    • Length - 192"
    • Width - 78.3"
    • Height - 64.7"
  • Acura
    • Wheelbase - 121.8"
    • Length - 197.7"
    • Width - 77"
    • Height - 64.4"
• Towing Capacity
  • Honda - 5,000 lbs
  • Acura - 3,500 lbs
• Audio Systems
  • Honda - 12 speaker Bose system with subwoofer 
  • Acura - Bang & Olufsen Surround sound system
• Charging ports - 3.0A - USB C 45W charging ports for both brands
• Brakes
  • Standard Honda Brakes
  • Acura has an option to upgrade to Brembo brakes from a premium brake

More details can be found at either website:

2024 Honda Prologue – All-Electric SUV | Honda

2024 Acura ZDX Type S | Electrified Performance

With having taken a crash comparison course between the two SUV's based on the GM Ultium platform, let's see visually how these two vehicles stack up.

Interior Dashboards

Back storage area

Acura has been very limiting in their interior pictures of the ZDX compared to Honda. With what is available, one can say that interior space and layout will be pretty identical in many ways from the 60/40 split rear seat to the dash and sky roof.

Honda has talked highly about how the SUV will have a very open green house feel.

One noticeable area of identicalness between Honda and Acura is the blah black and white two-tone interior both models seem to be sharing.

This is what GM had on the Chevrolet Bolt and makes one wonder why Honda and Acura are doing this blah, cold interior?

Style is as expected with Honda taking a very conservative approach to their exterior look compared to Acura more aggressive look.

The final part of Honda/Acura EV approach is that they have also joined the NACS party. While the 2024 model year will come with CCS ports, in 2025 as a 2026 model year, they will move to the NACS ports. They have also joined the other auto companies that are planning to build out a large North American charging company to compete with Tesla Super Charging stations and with other companies like ChargePoint and Electrify America.

Depending on what a person seeks with their EV, it is a personal choice about spending more or less for an auto and both have a wide variety of options for buyers with these two SUVs.

AEHRA is an Italian EV startup that believes they can deliver a vision with a mission to the world. This company was assembled with an introduction of their leadership team in June 2022.

AEHRA Vision

Synthesize the elegance of Italian design global engineering, and American customer service with the future of EV monobodied manufacturing. AEHRA is intensely-focused on creating a driving experience that is always extraordinary. For business or pleasure, AEHRA is a valued necessity to everyday life that is as beautiful as it is functional.

AEHRA Mission

The mission of AEHRA is to provide customers with an unparalleled driving experience that is beautiful, environmentally respectful, and functional.

AEHRA is led by a team of industry experts who has deep auto credentials including the fact that they brought in former Lamborghini design boss Filippo Perini who is the Chief Design officer that is overseeing both their SUV and Sedan.

While the SUV was revealed in November 2022, the sedan was revealed at the 2023 Milan Motor Show this past Friday, June 16th 2023 to what one would call an Auto Fashion Show.

What is AEHRA? 

The company in their press release has stated that they will be a new global ultra-premium electric automotive brand. AEHRA EVs will have an exceptional three-meter (108 inch) wheelbase, providing class-leading occupant space, setting new standards for comfort, technology, materials and usability.

AEHRA believes that their bold strategy unlocks the full potential that only an EV focused platform affords. The AEHRA platform offers an avantgarde exterior design, while delivering a revolutionary interior concept. The AEHRA EVs exceptionally short overhangs, long wheelbase and completely flat floor have enabled their designers to create unique solutions that transforms the interior environment for drivers and passengers.

While AEHRA has not shown an actual interior for the autos, they did release the following interior design drawing.

AEHRA dashboard is what they call the HMI or Human Machine Interface. To quote them:

"The screen sits in a lower position, to display all the information the driver requires, such as speed, range, heating and ventilation settings and navigational instructions. The two outer areas of the screen serve as virtual exterior mirrors, relaying high-definition images from two front exterior side cameras. When the vehicle is parked, occupants can choose to extend the screen upwards, instantly transforming the AEHRA into a home theater or an office environment. 

This is a direct result of the game-changing approach taken by AEHRA to the exterior shape of its EVs. In traditional vehicle layouts the interior dimensions do not allow the front row passengers to operate such a flexible and expansive HMI screen because it would sit too close to their eyes. AEHRA has filed a patent for this solution, and it believes it will set new standards in terms of productivity and entertainment inside a vehicle."

To quote AEHRA Chief Design Officer Fillippo Perini:

“With the screen fully extended, the occupants can relax and enjoy a movie, perhaps when the car is charging or when a parent is waiting to pick up a child from school or a party. And for those who have work to do, the screen and the spacious interior afford the perfect solution for video conference calls. Instead of staring at your smartphone or laptop, you can sit back and not only see all the participants on the call-in perfect high-definition clarity, but also listen to them with crystal-clear, pitch-perfect audio quality.” 

As one can see in the pictures above, there is a secondary smaller touchscreen, this enables both front-seat occupants to control many of the vehicle's functions such as navigation, heating, ventilation as well as entertainment.

The aeronautic industry has been drawn on for inspiration in strength from lite weight design. As such, the seats have been created for low-weight, high-strength construction and optimum comfort levels. The seats will be constructed from Aluminum, recyclable carbon fiber composite and leather as one would find in first-class aircraft accommodations. Rear seats will have reclining levels greater than the front seats and on par with business class airline accommodations.

Where you have the SUV above, the Sedan also has the same inspired aeronautical seats but with a slight door difference.

AEHRA has stated that production will start in 2026 for both the SUV and the Sedan. The only other specification given at this time is that the driving range will be 800km or 497 miles of range for the sedan, a little less for the SUV. 

The rest of the specification will be released when reservations are opened to the public.

 

 AEHRA Electric Sedan and SUV - Cheers & Gears (cheersandgears.com)

Moving road trips to the electric age. — Lightship (lightshiprv.com)

Preserving the planet while exploring new corners of the planet is the bold vision of Lightship RVs. Lightship first RV is the L1 travel trailer.  The company was launched March 8th, 2023, to the public, by co-founders Ben Parker and Toby Kraus who both worked for Tesla on various projects till the Pandemic.

Taking time off to explore the U.S. in an RV, they discovered the opportunity to take the RV industry into the 21st century in an electrified manner.

Ben Parker and Toby Kraus both saw opportunities much like the early days of Tesla for the RV industry. Here is an industry that has stagnated with little genuine innovation, the result is a market dominated by just a couple of large companies.

The research showed some amazing statistics and according to Ben Parker, Lightship Co-Founder and CEO:

“One in 10 American families own an RV, but the RV industry hasn’t experienced innovation for decades.” 

 “Inefficient, unreliable product designs and a power experience that relies on smelly, noisy, gas or propane generators fundamentally hinder the amazing experience of traveling in the outdoors.”

Lightship Co-Founder and President, Toby Kraus had the following to say:

“With 90% of the market comprising of towable RVs, we began by creating an all-electric travel trailer that is unlike any RV available today and that is just the beginning.”

  “We are leveraging our expertise in automotive EV development and design to build a brand that creates delightful outdoor travel experiences for everyone and brings even more people into the pastime of RVing.”

Lightship has taken a clean-sheet approach to building an all-electric RV trailer. The lightship team is made up of alumni from Rivian, Proterra, Lucid and Zoox in addition to Tesla. This wide range of electric vehicle experiences has allowed them to deliver on the following:

• A hyper-efficient design that is three times more aerodynamic than a traditional travel trailer for longer range and greater efficiency, which means a 300-mile range electric vehicle (EV) used to tow it remains a 300-mile range EV, and a 25-mpg gas truck remains a 25-mpg gas truck.
• An electric powertrain with up to 80kWhof onboard battery capacity allowing the trailer to propel itself and achieve near-zero range or efficiency loss for the tow vehicle.
• A no-compromise battery system that can provide a week of off-grid power without charging. Coupled with up to 3kWof solar power, the RV can power the living needs of its occupants and eliminates the reliance on propane and other fossil fuels.
• An ecosystem of all-electric appliances, connected features, and modern amenities for a seamless camping experience.
• The Lightship L1 has a starting price of $125,000 or $118,400 after an available tax credit and is available now for a $500reservationatwww.lightshiprv.com. Production is expected to begin in late 2024.

Lightship L1 Travel Trailer specifications:

• Length: 27 feet
• Width: 8 feet 6 inches
• Height: 6 feet 9 inches (road mode); 10 feet (camp mode)
• Interior height: 7 feet 6 inches
• Gross Vehicle weight: 7,500 lbs (fully loaded)
• Sleeping capacity: 4-6 depending on configuration

Solar roof is the key to allowing the RV to not need fossil fuels.

The LT1 Lightship Travel Trailer has the following electrical features:

• Drive Motor: All-electric (L1 Long Range Version)
• Battery Capacity: 40 kWh, 80 kWh options
• Towing Range: Up to 300 miles
• Solar Generation Capacity: Up to 3kW
• Off-grid power: 7 days (while running appliances)

L1 Lightship is a premium level RV and while today you can find many 27 foot long travel trailers from the mass market that is under $50,000, the premium segment has continued to show growth.

Lightship is focused on the lifestyle folks that want to go and explore the world while treading as careful as possible.

A $500 deposit is all it takes to reserve a Lightship travel trailer. There are two options at launch:

L1 Essential, All-electric Camping - Starting price of $125,000 ($118,400 after tax credit)

L1 Long Range, All-electric camping + drive motor - Starting price of $151,500 ($139,600 after tax credit)

L1 Lightship Reservation Link

 

The Korean Herald News outlet is reporting that South Koreas second-largest automaker Kia will start production of their full-size EV9 SUV in the first half of 2023 after Kia's labor union (Korean Metal Workers) and Kia management fame to agreement on production, strategy and future employment security.

According to the new source, the Kia EV9 will be produced at the company's Gwangmyeong factory in Gyeonggi Province. The EV9 SUV is expected to officially start taking pre-orders in April. The specifications of the EV9 Concept that Kia has stated has been kept close to the concept are 194 inches long, 122 inch wheelbase, 81 inches wide and 70 inches tall. This has it on the smaller side of the fullsize SUV market but on par with the Ford Explorer.

Comparison of Full Size SUVs provided by carindigo.com.

The Kora Herald is also reporting that this same production site will start producing two more EVs next year in 2024. These will be global EVs filling in the Small Car and Mid-sized car categories. The projects are labeled as "CT" and "SV" with industry watchers predicting this is the EV3 and EV4 as Kia stays with their EV naming scheme.

The agreement with the unions have confirmed that Kia will build a new plant in the province and will be the first new plant since 1997. The new factory will produce only EVs with the addition of the PBV's products at this plant which will be Kia unmanned subcompact cars for delivery and robot taxis.

Kia has previously unveiled its plan to release two new EVs every year expanding their global lineup of EVs to 14 by 2027 as released at last year's 2022 investor's event held in March.

Details of the EV9 at the time of the reveal was as follows:

• Battery Range options of 220 to 290 miles or 354 to 467 kilometers
• RWD versions would have 150 kW output  (201 HP)
• AWD versions would have 300kW output (402 HP)

Kia had stated at the time of the reveal that the EV9 would sell for between $56,000 and $73,000 U.S. dollars and that additional specifications would be released just before pre-ordering was opened, so more should be coming in April 2023 about the EV9.

When thinking about making vehicles greener, most people think about how green a vehicle is; they typically think about fuel economy or the shift toward electric propulsion. But there are plenty of other petroleum products in vehicles, the largest being the tires on all 4 corners.

Goodyear Tire announced last week that they have developed a demonstration concept tire that is made of 90% sustainable materials, and most importantly, it has already passed all regulatory testing. This demonstration concept is part of Goodyear’s quest to make a tire from 100% sustainable material by 2030. The company first debuted a 70% sustainable tire in January 2022 that they intend to put into production later this year.

The 90% sustainable material tire uses the following recycled or replacement materials:

• Carbon black, which is included in tires for compound reinforcement and to help increase their life, has traditionally been made by burning various petroleum products. Goodyear’s demonstration tire features four different types of carbon black that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil, and end-of-life tire pyrolysis oil feedstocks.
• The use of soybean oil in this demonstration tire helps keep the tire’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures. Soybean oil is a bio-based resource that helps to reduce Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products. While nearly 100% of soy protein is used in food/animal feed applications, a significant surplus of oil is left over and available for industrial applications.
• Silica is an ingredient often used in tires to help improve grip and reduce fuel consumption. This demonstration tire includes high-quality silica from rice husk waste residue, a byproduct of rice processing that is often discarded and put into landfills.
• Polyester is recycled from post-consumer bottles by reverting the polyester into base chemicals and reforming them into polyester used in tire cords.
• Resins are used to help improve and enhance tire traction performance. In this demonstration tire, traditional petroleum-based resins are replaced with bio-renewable pine tree resins.
• Bead wire and steel cords reinforce the structure of a radial tire. This demonstration tire uses bead wire and steel cord from steel with high-recycled content, which is produced using the electric arc furnace (EAF) process. The utilization of the EAF process allows for steel to be produced with reduced energy use and higher recycled content. The EAF process has the potential for lower greenhouse gas emissions than steel produced using a blast furnace.

Aside from the sustainability in the tire’s construction, the 90% sustainable-material tire has a lower rolling resistance than a traditional tire, allowing for better fuel economy or a longer electric vehicle range.
Goodyear plans to further develop this tire into production, though a timeline has not yet been released.  Customers interested in purchasing the 70% sustainable-materials tires can register for updates at Goodyear.com/SustainableMaterialTire

Just how slippery is the Lightyear 0 EV? Try a confirmed 0.175 coefficient of drag (Cd) for this solar assisted electric car with testing having been done by FKFS wind tunnels in Stuttgart, Germany, under WLTP protocols.

I know, I know, how much more aerodynamic is this than others and here is the top 3 cars till today. Lucid Air, Tesla Model S and Mercedes-Benz EQS have all come in at 0.20 to 0.21 meaning the Lightyear 0 is slippery.  Even GMs EV1 which only had 1,117 leased to customers in California had a Cd of 0.195.

Initial first year run is 946 EVs with a reserve cost of $250,000 euros.

What does one get for the Euro $250,000 dollars?

Standard Equipment

• 10.1" infotainment display with Android Automotive OS
• Side and Rear-view camera system
• Vegan interior made with naturally sources materials 
• Seating for five
• 4 independently controlled in-wheel motors
• 1,000km estimated driving range (621 mile range)
• 60 kWh battery pack
• Top speed of 160 km/h or 99.4 mph

Why it might not be right for you:

• Acceleration - 0-60 mph is just under 10 seconds
• To reserve a Lightyear 0, payment of $250,000, vehicle purchase price excluding taxes
• Initial sales only in UK, Switzerland, and Norway. As sales increase, company plans to expand sales to other countries 

High-volume model to follow once all Lightyear 0 models are built.

According to the Lightyear web site, the Lightyear car has 474L of trunk space with the seats up. In Standard language this is 17 cubic feet of space. The ground clearance for this car is 183 mm or 7 inches of space.

The Solar roof and frunk hood allows for 70km (43.5 miles) of driving distance added per day in sunlight.

The lightyear is built using reclaimed carbon fiber and has a weight of 1,575 kg or 3,472 pounds. Dimensions are 5083 x 1972 x 1445 mm which equates in the antiquated US Standard as 200" x 77.6" x 57".

Never let it be said that someone could not get any more minimalist than Tesla has done as I think Lightyear has them beat with their extreme minimalist interior.

Lightyear uses a state-of-the-art thermal management system that is AI aware to maximize range, battery and drivetrain cooling with a heat pump system that uses waste heat to from the drivetrain and energy storage components to chill the battery and heat up the cabin.

The lightyear 0 will have 10 initial colors choices at launch.

Frequently Asked Questions — Lightyear

Lightyear — Solar Electric Vehicle | Lightyear

The Pandemic had at the start made investors fearful that companies would be hurt, and profits and stock payouts would fall if not be stopped right out as companies looked to find ways to save cash as people stayed home due to Covid-19. Yes, some companies did stop many things and some companies even closed due to the global pandemic, yet Auto companies found that having control of a tight inventory actually pushed up record profits and in this their workers have also prospered along with the executives. Here we are posting just how well the OEM auto companies have done for their workers.

44,000 UAW members, GM employees were eligible profit-sharing payouts of up to $10,250. GM is negotiating in good faith with the UAW to also address due to the chip shortage those employees that were unable to be eligible for profit-sharing due to plant closures. GM employees since 2015 have earned $72,000 in profit-sharing bonuses.

56,000 UAW members, Ford employees are eligible for $7,377 profit-sharing. Ford is expecting even better earning in 2022 which should push up next year's profit-sharing.

43,000 UAW members, Stellantis employees are eligible for $14,670 profit-sharing, the largest in 35 years since the bonus cap was removed.

100,000 Unionized employees at Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG will receive $6,762-dollar profit-sharing bonuses.

As more auto companies announce their results this story will be updated.

As profits soar for the auto company segment, one must ask will this increased profitability keep the dealer lots on the lean side of inventory? Is a made to order model the new 21st century model of how to buy an auto?

GM autoworkers eligible for up to $10,250 in profit-sharing for 2021 (detroitnews.com)

Ford's UAW workforce to get average of $7,377 in profit-sharing checks (freep.com)

Stellantis UAW workforce set for $14,670 profit-sharing checks (freep.com)

Mercedes-Benz Giving German Employees Record Bonus, Close to $7,000 - autoevolution

Short and sweet, what is not to love about the Superbowl ads. Tell us what you like, as more are released, hopefully we get them all posted here.

Seems there is a whole series of Dr. EV-il commercials at the GM Youtube channel.

General Motors - YouTube

GMC has released a whole series of Declassified videos on new technology.

GMC - YouTube

While not all auto ads, if you're looking for Superbowl ads, click here:

superbowl ads for 2022 - YouTube

Affective January 1st, 2022, Rimac Automobili became two companies, Rimac Group which is a majority shareholder in the Bugatti Rimac with a 55% stake and Porsche owning the remaining 45%. Rimac Technology is a sister company 100% owned by Rimac Group.

 

Rimac found themselves working with multiple auto companies to engineer, develop, produce and supply high-performance battery systems, electric drive units, electronic control systems, and user interface components. Rimac has established a reputation for providing leading advanced performance electronic technologies. 

Rimac Technology is the major supplier of performance electronic BEV components to the following customers:

Concept to series production, Rimac is dedicated to providing high-performance automotive technology solutions. Experience Rimac Technology.

Rimac Technology currently is commissioned by more than 10 global OEMs using their over 10 years of battery development to produce high-performance battery packs that provide some of the highest power and energy density in high volume production. This starts with cell R&D and integration to multi-Use module design, thermal management from ultra-cold to extreme heat management, battery management, power distribution and DC/DC converters to the final vehicle integration.

Rimac Technology is based in Zagreb, Croatia with a 1,000-person based team. This team has developed and has for sale to the global auto industry an extensive portfolio that you can find here: Portfolio | Rimac Technology (rimac-technology.com)

From motors to gear boxes, controllers, distribution systems and even encrypted smart key systems. Rimac motors and gear boxes deliver some of the finest power output with torque vectoring possible. An example is that Rimac has two motors, SPM 280 which offers 375 HP / 205 lb-ft of torque and their SPM 900 motor which offers 603 HP / 664 lb-ft of torque. Taking this into account as an AWD version using the SPM 280 would be a total of 1,500 HP / 820 lb-ft of torque or with the SPM 900 in AWD form is 2,412 HP / 2,656 lb-ft of torque. With the use of Torque vectoring managing the 4 motors you would have world class grip in performance driving as well as possible in hauling a trailer or freight.  The image below shows the independent motors and the combined motor units that can be used in RWD, FWD or AWD. They also have their gearboxes that allow for additional extended combinations for BEV use.

With a full portfolio of components when it comes to controllers, management systems, power converters, on board chargers, low voltage and high voltage power distribution systems, Rimac believes they have you covered to ensure optimized performance.

Expanded ECU, ICU and Smart Key systems allows one to just about do a one stop shopping to build ones desired BEV.

In support of Rimac Green initiative, Rimac has started development on their Green Campus that will allow employees to live and work in harmony with the environment as 36% of the space will be natural vegetation.

 

Rimac Technology Officially Becomes Its Own Entity - Rimac Automobili (rimac-automobili.com)

Press Releases Archive - Rimac Automobili (rimac-automobili.com)

Rimac Group (rimac-group.com)

Company | Rimac Technology (rimac-technology.com)

Home | Rimac Technology (rimac-technology.com)

Consumer reports has had individual reports in the past on various specific models of electric vehicles, but they now publish the following report on the current state of EVs and the reliability of what is out there.

Consumer-Reports-Insights-for-More-Reliable-Electric-Vehicles-Jan-2022.pdf

Per the attached report above, we start looking at the latest overview they have put together:

• Per an Executive Order from President Biden, by 2030, half of all new vehicles sold should be zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles.
• While EV sales are trending up, they currently make up only 4% of 2021 new vehicle sales. (Source: Wards Intelligence)
• CR’s 2021 Auto Reliability and Satisfaction survey results reveal that current EV owners are highly satisfied. In fact, survey respondents with EVs report the highest owner satisfaction (76%) of all vehicles (model years 2019 and higher).
• However, respondents also report significant reliability issues with EVs. Electric SUVs were the least reliable car category.

Consumer Reports then had the following key insights and takeaways for auto manufactures:

• The reliability of EVs has significant room for improvement in order to appeal to the majority of new-car buyers who are looking for reliable vehicles. Reliability is “extremely important” (top box) to 71% of new-car buyers, according to CR’s most recent National Car Buying Survey.
• Despite the high satisfaction rates of current EV owners, who may have been early to adopt EVs for specific reasons such as environmental concerns or interest in new technologies, the mainstream car buyer prioritizes reliability. By providing additional data on EV reliability problem areas, CR hopes to influence future manufacturing decisions that make EVs more reliable, and in turn, more appealing to the majority of new-car buyers.
• There are lessons to be learned from CR’s Auto Reliability data to improve EV reliability:
  • Compact Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids are the most reliable. While “simple” electric drive systems can and do have electrical failures and battery pack problems, most of these vehicles are built on proven systems.
  • Electric SUVs are the least reliable. The highest problem areas in EVs often have no connection to the drivetrain. Issues are most commonly found in other components: In-car Electronics, Noises & Leaks, Power Equipment, Climate System, Body Hardware, Drive System, and Paint & Trim.
• Automakers should focus on building an electric platform and establishing the EV itself as a mainstream vehicle with the same systems and technology that have already proven reliable in their current lineups. If components other than the drivetrain have proven to be reliable, including them may increase the likelihood that the vehicle will have fewer issues.

Next step in the Deep Dive of Consumer Reports was the EV Reliability Data which shows that for the 2021 Auto Reliability analysis, compact hybrid/plug-ins were the most reliable auto and electric SUVs were the least reliable per auto catagory.

Consumer reports then shows that for 2019 to 2021 models, electric vehicles had higher problem rates than internal combustion engine vehicles. The sample showed the following:

The EV reliability problem rates and top problem areas show that the following issues from electronics to noise and even paint and trim were considerable. These rates were from the optional survey questions that people filled out.

While CR stated it was just an example of EV reliability problem areas, this does seem to show that one manufacture has more problems than others and begs the question of how legacy OEMs will do as they start to produce BEVs.

• In-car Electronics o Audi e-Tron MY 2019 In-car Electronics problem rate is 11 compared to the model year average of 3.4. Problems reported by CR members include the display screen going blank.
• Noises & Leaks o Tesla Model X MY 2020 Noises & Leaks problem rate is 9.6 compared to the model year average of 1.3. Problems reported by CR members include seals and weather stripping, air and water leaks, wind noise, and squeaks and rattles.
• Power Equipment o Audi e-Tron MY 2019 Power Equipment problem rate is 5.1 compared to the model year average of 1.5. Problems reported by CR members include exterior lights.
• Climate System o Tesla Model S MY 2020 Climate System problem rate is 6.9, 6.1 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include automatic climate control and temperature sensors failing.
• Body Hardware o Tesla Model X MY 2020 problem rate of 5.8 is 5.1 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include issues with gull wing doors not closing properly.
• Drive System o Chevrolet Bolt MY 2019 Drive System problem rate is 4.0, 3.3 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include electrical failure, drive unit replacement, and other faulty components.
• Paint & Trim o Tesla Model Y MY 2020 Paint & Trim problem rate is 7.2, 6.5 points above the model year average. Problems reported by CR members include trim coming loose, and blotchy/mismatched paint on body panels.

This report makes one wonder if GM and Ford are paying close attention and how will Rivian fare when this report comes out in January 2023 for the 2022 year. Will we still see Tesla as the leader of EV reliability issues, or will some other auto company take its place?

Insights for More Reliable Electric Vehicles - Consumer Reports Data Intelligence

Insights and Impact - Consumer Reports Data Intelligence

In the summer of 2019 the British Columbia province of Canada shocked the rest of Canada and many countries by stating that all new car and light truck ICE auto sales would be banned beginning January 1st 2040. They then stated that 10% of all new auto sales had to be electric by 2025 and had at the time a $57 million Canadian incentive program to encourage people to buy BEVs.

The Canadian province of Quebec then in November 2020 joined the British Columbia province in banning all new ICE car and light truck sales starting January 1st 2035. Premier Francois Legault told reporters this was necessary to ensure they hit their target of a 37.5% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and over all clean air plan for reducing health issues for the citizens.

Quebec being the second most populous province behind British Columbia has joined the California initiative to move everyone to BEVs. This has not come without push back from the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association which has criticized these provinces with the following statement: “Consumers need more support to buy new (zero-emission vehicles) ZEVs, not bans on internal combustion vehicles.”

At the time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised sweeping measures to fight climate change, boost economic growth which included making zero-emission auto's more affordable to the Canadian citizen and investment in a country wide charging infrastructure. Yet due to the Pandemic, the current focus was on emergency aid to help businesses and people get through the pandemic.

Now that Canada is daily increasing their vaccinated rate for Covid19, the Canadian government had moved onto long range business and with that we get the June 29th 2021 announcement that Canada will ban the sale of fuel-burning new cars and light-duty trucks beginning January 1st 2035. This will help Canada reach their commitment to the Paris accord of reaching net-zero emissions across the country by 2050.

Canada is committed to aligning with zero-emission vehicles sales targets with the most ambitious North American Jurisdictions as stated by the Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. This supports following the lead by California that has moved to ban new car and light-duty truck sales beginning January 1st 2035 even while the United States has not yet set a fixed date for this.

Canada did state that they will work with the United States to harmonize fuel efficiency regulations by investing in consumer rebates, charging stations, business tax breaks and industry transition costs per Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

Canada also stated that they cannot reach their targets in emission reductions without the ban on ICE cars, SUVs, and Trucks especially as the SUV/Truck segment is the fastest growing segment of new auto sales as BEVs only make up 3.5% of new auto sales at this time.

Ford has committed to helping Canada change by stating that all Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus ICE production for North America will end by December 31st 2023 with BEVs production worth at least $2 billion will start beginning of 2024. The Oakville, Ontario plant will produce five new electric vehicles under Unifor Union workers. This joins Fords union work force commitment to manufacture BEVs across North America that covered at the time the US and Mexico and now Canada becomes part of that equation.

With the end of ICE production, Unifor union workers at the Windsor, Ontario plant that builds ICE engines was worried, but have since have commitment to change over the electric motor production ensuring the 3,000 Ford workers will continue to work and retire with a pension per Fords commitment.

This shows the growing Ford commitment to a BEV future globally as in February 2021 Ford had gone ALL-IN on EVs for Europe with their $1 billion transformation of the Cologne Germany auto production site to change over to production of BEVs and plug-in hybrids only by mid-2026 with all-electric only by 2030.

Ford is backing up the transition to a zero-emission future both in Canada, Europe and the greater North America by ensuring jobs as they transition plants. Currently the Van Dyke Transmission plant is now in conversion and renamed to the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center in support of the F-150 Lightning retaining the 225 jobs there much in concert with the preservation of jobs in Canada. Ford has stated that the Van Dyke will produce a new eMotor every 75 seconds as full production begins this summer 2021 and will lay the ground work for the same performance of work at the Windsor, Ontario plant and other plants globally.

Canada sees a bright future for electric auto production and cleaner air with reduced CO2 emissions in the near future.

Canada to ban sale of new fuel-powered cars and light trucks from 2035 | Reuters

Quebec to ban sale of new gasoline-powered cars from 2035 | Reuters

British Columbia Bans Sale of Gas-powered Cars by 2040 | (ens-newswire.com)

Ford Canada to Build Electric Cars, The Canadian Business Journal (cbj.ca)

Ford Europe Goes All-In On EVs On Road To Sustainable Profitability; Cologne Site Begins $1 Billion Transformation | Ford Media Center

Van Dyke Plant’s Name Change Aligns with Expanded Production Line, Ford’s Commitment to Electrification | Ford Media Center

Around this time last year, rental car companies found themselves selling off a fair amount of their inventory as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the travel industry. With travel starting to bounce back, rental car companies now find themselves with a new problem - a shortage of vehicles to rent. Usually, they would turn to automakers and buy up a batch of new cars to shore up inventory. But the on-going semiconductor shortage has automakers cutting back on production, and causing rental companies to look at used cars.

“You would never go into auction to buy routine sedans and SUVs. These are special circumstances. There is a shortage of cars,” said Maryann Keller, an independent consultant.

Bloomberg reports that rental car companies do buy a small amount of used cars in the event of an sudden rise in demand, but not to fully outfit their fleet.

New car production has been hampered since last year as plants were shut down to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Production was starting to climb back up later in the year only to be hampered again by another crisis, the lack of semiconductors and chips needed for various systems. In their first-quarter earnings call, Ford reported production was down 17 percent and could fall as much as 50 percent in the second quarter. Other automakers are making similar statements.

“Our fleet acquisition team is working hard to secure additional vehicles -- both new and low-mileage used vehicles -- through all channels to meet the ongoing increase in demand.Overall, though, both new and used car inventory remain low. Our teams will continue to do everything we can to help customers with their transportation needs,” Enterprise spokeswoman Lisa Martini said via email.

There is a silver lining for rental car companies as they'll be able to charge higher rates as many people begin to take vacations after spending a lot of time at home. For example, the average rate at Avis increased 3 percent in the fourth quarter, to $59.43 a day according to Hamzah Mazari, an analyst with Jefferies & Co. He expects that number to rise to $60.00 when Avis reports their first quarter results.

Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required)

Yamaha Motor Co. announced April 12, 2021 their new Hyper-EV motor allowing them to reach the highest output density for the EV class. In the past, Yamaha has been selling their first generation EV motor that had a range of 35 - 200 kW for auto's and mobility applications. Today's new generation of Hyper-EV motors now boasts output up to 350kW (469 hp) @ 800 volts per motor or a total of 1.4MW or 1,877 hp in a four motor AWD configuration.

Yamaha is taking EV motor development to a new industry leading level by leaving behind the module components mechanical and electrical separate units. This newly developed electric motor is a compact unit that combines mechanical and electrical as a single entity, integrating the gear, inverter into a single unit. This is in anticipation of installation of multiple units on a single vehicle.

Yamaha will be presenting this new motor line at the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2021 in Yokohama scheduled for May 26th to May 28th 2021.

More information is expected to be released at the auto engineering show, but one can make some assumptions based on the few details on this new motor line and past details of Yamaha EV motors. Torque vectoring and redundancy of controllers is a benefit of this compact single unit in a multiple motor application.

Consider also that Yamaha Motor Co has a considerable investment in ownership by Toyota Motor Company and since Toyota currently uses Yamaha ICE engines in certain Toyota/Lexus auto's, that this motor line could very well show up in Toyota's BEV product line that is coming. Toyota has also stated they will show off this year their 800 volt solid state battery system in a BEV that will launch a complete line of auto's for global sales. It would make sense that this motor could cover from entry level to luxury level and performance BEVs.

Another interesting take is this motor line could find it's way into 3rd party sellers of conversion products. Convert your ICE Chevrolet Avalanche to AWD four Yamaha Hyper-EV motors with 1,877 HP giving you a large potential FRUNK with a battery pack between the wheels for a low center of gravity.

Electric Motors | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (yamaha-motor.com)

Yamaha Motor Begins Accepting Orders for Prototype Hyper-EV Electric Motor Development — New electric motor reaches 350 kW class in maximum output — - News releases | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (yamaha-motor.com)

October 5th, 2020 Hino Trucks, a subsidiary of The Toyota Group Company announced their Project "Z". This was the Company's development plan to offer zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) for class 4 to 8 medium and heavy duty trucks in the North American market with customer demonstrations in 2022 and production starting in 2024.

Project Z was a development plan to bring Fuel Cell and BEV to the whole medium and heavy duty product line for customers along side Diesel as the industry started to convert over. The long 5 year plan was expected due to the continued R&D that would be needed on Diesel trucks to meet global emission standards and the development time for fuel cell and BEV trucks.

During the Virtual 2021 NTEA Work Truck Show, Hino Trucks announced their intent to produce all class 4 to 8 trucks using Cummins engines for sale in North America. This is the Cummins B6.7 and L9 motors to start being produced in the Hino's L and XL Series models at the end of 2021. Additional models moving forward will come out to cover all truck lines allowing for a much reduced investment in R&D while at the same time allowing Hino to ramp up their efforts to move over sooner to a Zero Emission fleet of trucks.

As such, this announcement allows Hino and Cummins to secure long term diesel motor production for existing sales of such trucks and Hino is able to focus on Zero Emission vehicles (ZEV) using BEV and Fuel Cell technology. Hino has now moved up their time line with production of Fuel Cell and BEV trucks in Q4 of 2022 with full production by the end of 2023 rather than the end of 2024.

A couple of take aways from both the Cummins and Hino announcements and projects:

• Hino can shift resources from Diesel R&D to Project Z. Cummins secures long term diesel powertrain commitments. Both OEMs secure a new partnership that helps offset R&D investments.
• Cummins partnership contracts for diesel powertrain also secures revenue stream allowing Cummins to invest in their own ZEV Powertrains.
• Both companies have stronger long term growth prospects with this partnership allowing both stocks to grow.
• Additional commitments by HINO to the battery production industry securing large size battery cell production contracts. Battery suppliers another grow industry to consider.

HINO is a very popular truck line used in inner city deliveries as well as the suburbs and rural areas. Having a diverse portfolio of ZEV and Diesel trucks with a solid know power train from Cummins is a win win for Fleet buyers. Hino is lookin to lead the medium / heavy duty truck market in North America as well as around the world being ready for the needs of ZEV solutions while strongly supporting the needs of Diesel fleets.

Per Norway's own news and electrek story following up on the local news in Norway, they hit a record 54% electric auto sales market share for 2020. As more and more EV options come to market, gas and diesel sales have crashed. 

March 2021 gas auto sales were 4.8% of the market with diesel following at 4.7% market share. This is less than half of the market share they had for the same period a year ago. Norway originally set 2025 as a target of electric auto sales only for the whole country and now are on track to ensure this happens without any issue.

As electrick story does point out, Norway is a small and rich country with strong EV incentives. As such, this has made the auto industry take notice and try to figure out how fast the rest of the world could follow.

Industry analysts believe the global market will hit 30% at best by 2030 for EVs. Even with or without incentives by local governments, there is strong belief by some that once enough variety is on the market, many will forgo ICE auto's for the simpler to maintain EV's.

Frp vil fjerne bensinbilene | DN

Norway's gas car sales are crashing to a crawl and rest of the world will follow faster than you'd think - Electrek

Libertine a UK firm was awarded a 2.6 million British pounds or $3,572,543 US dollars to take their free-piston generator concept to commercial production.

Per Libertine web site, the IntelliGEN 20-40 kWe Smart Engine platform is for OEM builders of Hybrid buses, trucks and auto's as well as distributed power applications.

Quoting their web site:

• Robust and flexible platform for lab-based combustion development and prototype validation
• 20-40kWe* two stroke engines with uni-flow scavenging, configurable for light, heavy and gaseous fuels
• Ground-breaking free piston motion control solution for the most demanding combustion applications
• Advanced controls platform and analytics for low temperature combustion methods
• De-risks and accelerates Smart Engine generator product development programmes

This free-piston engine propels magnet-equipped shafts back and forth generating electricity, the design does not produce torque. A big benefit of this motor design is that it can run on a variety of fuels from bio-fuels to renewable alcohol fuels. A small battery pack with efficient onboard generator using 100% renewable fuels Libertine believes is a solution that can drive uptake of net zero trucks before the end of this decade.

This engine concept is not new and has been around since the early 1900's. The solution that Libertine brings to this is the software management and problem solving on how to incorporate this design into a hybrid auto. 1934 is when the first patented free-piston generator happened and these crank less engines have many characteristics that people feel benefit being applied to hybrid auto's.  

Free-Piston motors can easily have variable compression ratio for optimized operation. Based on modern computer control allows for variable stroke length by pulse pause modulation control. Frictional losses and manufacturing costs are reduced greatly allowing for less maintenance and increased lifetime. Less lubrication is required due to the purely linear motion also giving much less vibrations due to reduced balancing issues. The advantages of a free-piston engine are pretty clear with them being as follows, simple design with fewer moving parts, giving a compact engine with low maintenance costs and reduced frictional losses. Operational flexibility via variable compression ratio allows operational optimization with multi-fuel. High piston speed and a fast power stroke expansion enhances fuel-air mixing, reducing heat transfer losses and formation of NOx or nitrogen oxides.

gm did considerable research for the time in developing the XP 500 free-piston concept auto. Multiple reasons for not coming to market as management of the motor via software and enhanced controllers was not available then.

Today, Libertine is leaving no stone unturned in finding solutions to help the European Union and the world become fossil free by 2040 for all heavy-duty vehicles as their pledge. The details of the intelliGEN platforms key performance was delivered in a webinar organized by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

For more information you can reach out to the company about their various free-piston solutions / uses. 

Home - Libertine

intelli-GEN (intelli-gen.com)

News & Press - Libertine

Free-piston engine - Wikipedia

Libertine is not the only company researching the use of free-piston motors. Durham Energy Institute is also looking to use this technology for range extending electric auto's. If costs are able to be kept low, then free-piston range extenders are a potential game changer for fully electric commercial trucks that have big energy needs.

Full details of the Libertine technology can be reviewed here: Technology - Libertine

Alpha Motor Corporation or AMC released for reservation the WOLF pickup truck March 11th 2021.

The WOLF has the following projected specifications:

• MSRP $36,000 to $46,000 depending on configuration (does not include $7,500 federal EV tax credit)
• Battery range of 250 to 275 plus miles with rapid charging, battery heating/cooling for optimum performance
• Single motor FWD or Dual motor AWD
• 0 to 60 mph of 6.2 seconds acceleration
• 1360kg or 3000lbs towing capacity
• Length - 4765mm or 188 inches
• Width - 1930mm or 66 inches
• Truck bed - 1652mm or 65 inches (5ft 4 inches) length, 1490mm or 59 inches wide, 397mm or 16 inches deep
• Wheels - 16" to 18"
• LED lighting with Daytime running lights
• Two passenger seating
• Interior cargo 34.5 cubic feet
• Digital display for driver and wide format center display
• Premium seat and trim material
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Premium Sound system.

The WOLF truck is a multi-purpose electric utility truck designed for those wanting a solid four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive pickup with no carbon emissions representing Alpha's commitment to move humanity with innovations in electric vehicle modularity, customization flexibility, and practicality.

This is one of 6 auto's to be built on the Alpha platform with deliveries currently scheduled to start in 2023 to customers.

https://youtu.be/BQNW-eiXRR4

This is where old school truck looks meet 21st century technology allowing for the best of both worlds in a comfortable clean air mini pickup.

As comparison, the shortest Toyota Tacoma pickup is 212 inches, if you go back to the 70's such as the Chevrolet Luv truck with it's standard 6ft bed was only 173.8 inches long or 190.9" long with the optional 7 1/2ft long bed.

AMC Wolf Electric Pickup - Cheers and Gears

Alpha Motor Corporation (alphamotorinc.com)

Magna's eBeam technology announcement today aims to reduce the cost of building a new EV or electrical vehicles platform. The costs associated with a new platform to move to electrification from a traditional ICE is slowing down the ability to get product to market.

Magna's eBeam technology is focusing on allowing to keep the existing pickup trucks capabilities while transitioning to electrification. This is the first significant solid beam rear axle change in more than 100 years according to Magna.

Magna's eBeam technology is scalable giving auto makers the ability to electrify their trucks without sacrificing utility and functionality. eBeam technology can be integrated with a battery for pure BEV or connected to a Hybrid system thus supporting high-payload vehicles and matching continuous-duty power usage.

This technology supports existing breaking and suspension systems giving auto makers a quick way to electrify their trucks and preserving towing and payload capabilities.

Magna's eBeam family comes in power choice of 120 kW (161hp) and 250 kW (335hp) and allows three variants.

• Single motor, single speed
• Single motor, two speeds
• Twin motor, single speed including torque vectoring

Magna has additional powertrain solutions for the front of the truck to support electric 4WD that includes software and controls for a seamless integration.

News Release - Magna Drives Pickup Truck Electrification With Its New eBeam Technology

FedEx has 700 planes and over 180,000 vehicles that range from Semi's to delivery vans. Reducing emissions is not easy especially with daily package volume grew by 99.2% from 2009 to 2019. Yet over this same period FedEx reduced CO2 emissions by 40%. This is not an easy feet.

FedEx has focused on a simple three-pronged approach to sustainability:

• Reduce
• Replace
• Revolutionize

This simple focus has allowed FedEx to reduce their environmental impact in their fleet, facilities and material choices. FedEx has accomplished much through upgrading their fleet of planes to be one of the most modern around to reusable shipping packages.

FedEx now move to make another major change and that is to replace their diesel delivery fleet of vans with electric vans. FedEx has choosen BrightDrop, a gm startup that has two new products at the lauch. An electric ePallet and the electric delivery van.

The electric ePallat or EP1 is a propulsion-assisted electric pallet developed to move goods over short distances. Examples are from the delivery vehicle to the customers door. The EP1 will reduce touch points, costs and physical strain on delivery drivers. The EP1 features and benefits include the following:

• Built-in electric hub motors with adjustable speed up to 3 mph depending on the operators walking pace.
• Maneuverable in tight spaces.
• Carries and secures approximately 23 total cubic feet of cargo.
• Payload capacity of 200 lbs.
• Adjustable shelving organizes contents.
• Lockable cabinet doors allow for secure, remote access to contents.

BrightDrop EV600 which will be their first electric van out in late 2021 is a light commercial vehicle purpose-built for delivery of goods and services over long ranges. The EV600 includes advanced safety features and conveniences found in modern day consumer electric auto's. EV600 features and benefits include the following:

• Powered by the ultium battery system, the EV600 has an estimated range of 250 miles per charge.
• Peak charge rate of 170 miles per hour via 120kW DC fast charger.
• Over 600 cubic feet of cargo area
• GVWR of less than 10,000 lbs
• Segment leading safety features
  • Standard safety features² include: Front and Rear Park Assist, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Following Distance Indicator, Front Pedestrian Braking, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning, IntelliBeam automatic high beams and HD Rear Vision Camera.
  • Additional available safety and driver assistance features include: Rear Cross Traffic Braking, Blind Zone Steering Assist, Reverse Automatic Braking, HD Surround Vision, Rear Pedestrian Alert, Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking, among others.
• Cargo area security system with motion sensors to help keep cargo secure.
• 13.4 inch diagonal full color infotainment screen
• Front Sliding pocket doors, wide cabin walkways and a large auto-open cargo bulkhead door all contribute to optimize driver efficiency.

FedEx in partnership with gm found that their delivery drivers using the EP1 were able to deliver 25% more packages per day. BrightDrop and FedEx have additional pilots of new products taking place in 2021.

Quote: “Our need for reliable, sustainable transportation has never been more important,” said Richard Smith, FedEx Express regional president of the Americas and executive vice president of global support. "BrightDrop is a perfect example of the innovations we are adopting to transform our company as time-definite express transportation continues to grow. With this new suite of products, we will help improve the safety, security and timeliness of FedEx Express deliveries, while reducing our environmental impact and protecting the well-being of our couriers."

FedEx is the official launch customer for the BrightDrop EV600 and EP1 in the Americas region with Canada and the United States being first before expanding across the rest of Americas.

Per FedEx, they are assessing all options for their global operations and will expand existing supplier products as possible to new regions as well as consider other products from various vendors.

FedEx Sustainability

GM Launches BrightDrop, a New Business That Will Electrify and Improve the Delivery of Goods and Services

BrightDrop | Electric first to last mile delivery products (gobrightdrop.com)

Oshkosh Defense was awarded a 10 year contract by the USPS to create, build and deliver up to 165,000 auto's for postal delivery across the United States of America. These auto's will be made up of traditional internal combustion engine, Hybrid and electrical vehicles. These purpose built, right-hand-drive vehicles will be used for mail and package delivery. A minimum of 50,000 to a maximum of 165,000 auto's over a 10 year time frame was agreed upon contract for a modern AC equipped NGDV or next generation delivery vehicle.

Under the initial $482 million up front payment to Oshkosh Defense is the commitment to finalize the production design of the NGDV on a undefined new platform that will support ICE, Hybrid and battery electric powertrains. This is to include in this initial payment plant tooling and build-out of the U.S. manufacturing facility where final vehicle assembly will occur.

According to the press release by the USPS, the following is to be included in the final design of the NGDV.

• Modern air conditioning and heating
• Improved ergonomics
• Advanced vehicle technology to include
  • 360-degree cameras
  • advanced disc brakes
  • traction control
  • air bags
  • front and rear collision avoidance system
  • visual, audio warning
  • automatic braking
  • increased cargo capacity with standing room in the back
• Modern powertrains to meet the needs of extreme rural to inner city delivery

The contract is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. The USPS will have the ongoing ability to order more NGDV over the 10 year period. This is part of the current USPS Boards plan for a 10 year plan to transform the USPS into a efficient preferred delivery service provider for the American Public

ZETA or Zero Emissions Transportation Association which is made up 51 major companies from the Auto industry to the electrical and high tech industry have come out in protest to this contract. 

ZETA has come out protesting the locking in of the worlds largest government fleet of auto's for the next 40 years at a time when some of the largest industry leading companies are working to reduce over the next 20 years to be carbon neutral. This move by companies to be BEV leading from UPS, FedEx and Amazon shows that our own USPS needs to also move to a pure BEV. ZETA questions if the U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has the USPS best interests at heart and mind with this decision which is seen as a reckless contract awarded to a company driven by building petrol powered military vehicles.

ZETA is asking companies across the U.S. to speak out and call on Congress to act on what is best in the U.S. interest for clean air.

FedEx has committed to being Carbon-Neutral by 2040 by going Green Globally with an initial investment of $2 Billion dollars for auto electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration. 

FedEx has started their corporate march to a greener cleaner planet by pledging $100 million dollars to Yale University in establishing the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. In the drive to offset current airline emissions which is a big part of FedEx business, they are heling to support the research into various methods of carbon sequestration at scale. This is where they scrub the CO2 emissions from our air and lock it away much the way trees and plants take it in and capture it inside the tree or plant which does not get released till you burn the wood or plant and release all that CO2.

FedEx has put forth an ambitious carbon neutral goal with the following key points in this Carbon-Neutral plan.

Quote

• Vehicle Electrification. By 2040, the entire FedEx parcel pickup and delivery (PUD) fleet will be zero–emission electric vehicles. This will be accomplished through phased programs to replace existing vehicles. For example, by 2025, 50% of FedEx Express global PUD vehicle purchases will be electric, rising to 100% of all purchases by 2030.  
• Sustainable Customer Solutions. FedEx will work with customers to offer end-to-end sustainability for their supply chains through carbon–neutral shipping offerings and sustainable packaging solutions.  
• Sustainable Fuels. FedEx will continue to invest in alternative fuels to reduce aircraft and vehicle emissions.  
• Fuel Conservation and Aircraft Modernization. FedEx will build on its successful FedEx Fuel Sense initiatives designed to reduce fuel consumption in its aircraft. Since 2012, the FedEx Fuel Sense and Aircraft Modernization programs have saved a combined 1.43 billion gallons of jet fuel and avoided over 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. 
• Facilities. FedEx will continue efforts to make its more than 5,000 facilities worldwide more sustainable through continued investments in efficient facilities, renewable energy, and other energy management programs.  
• Natural Carbon Sequestration. FedEx funding will help to establish the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture to support applied research into natural carbon sequestration solutions.  

Per FedEx own statement, since 2009 they have reduced their own CO2 emissions by 40% while package volume has increased 99%. FedEx has also ranked first in the industry on Just Capitals 2021 list of "America's Most Just Companies" for environmental category as well as first for the travel, transport and logistics sector of Newsweek's "America's Most Responsible Companies 2021".

FedEx is leading the way for businesses who have a large impact on CO2 in reducing it and the affect on climate change.

FedEx Press Release FedEx Commits to Carbon-Neutral Operations by 2040

It has not been an easy go for the organizers of the Detroit Auto Show. Last year, they had to cancel the revamped show due to concerns about the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The hope was to launch the indoor-outdoor event that would sprawl various parts of Detroit for 2021. But with COVID-19 still a major issue, organizers this afternoon announced the 2021 version would be canceled.

Automotive News reports that a new, outdoor program called Motor Bella will take its place from September 21st to 26th at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac - about 40 minutes north of Detroit. The new program "will bring next-generation mobility and exciting vehicle debuts to media, show-goers and the automotive enthusiasts," according to a statement released by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) - the organizers of the show. Plans are to have "1.6 million square feet of dynamic vehicle and technology display space," along with the 1.5-mile road course for technology and vehicle demonstrations.

“The pandemic has caused changes in our society and world in ways not previously imagined, and we all should be looking for new and highly creative ways of doing business. This new event captures that creative spirit. It will provide new mobility experiences and increasingly innovative approaches to tapping into the industry and its products," said Rod Alberts, executive director of DADA.

Motor Bella was originally planned to be a festival for European supercars that would take place with the updated Detroit Auto Show. 

"With our new program for 2021, we will take the Motor Bella concept to the next level with multiple brands and mobilities represented, from hometown to international nameplates, autonomous vehicles to high-performance supercars, and everything in between, It will be a mobility-filled event. One that will provide our show partners with a cost-efficient backdrop to share all of their brands, products and technologies in a fun and festival-like atmosphere that's completely outdoors," said event chairman Doug North.

There are some big questions that face organizers. Will they be able to get the revamped Detroit Auto Show launched for 2022, or will Motor Bella take the place? Plus, will COVID-19 be a point where all of us can go this event safely?

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), DADA

New All-Outdoor Motor Bella at M1 Creates Bridge to the Future While North American International Auto Show Pauses for 2021

TROY, Mich. – (January 11, 2021) – The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) today announced it will not hold its 2021 auto show as planned. Instead, show officials revealed a "bridge to the future" with an auto-centric event called Motor Bella.

The new event will bring next-generation mobility and exciting vehicle debuts to media, show-goers and the automotive enthusiasts' world in a never before experienced way while also addressing continued COVID-19 concerns about indoor events.

Motor Bella will be held from Sept. 21-26, 2021, at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Mich. Centrally located in the metro Detroit area, M1 Concourse, often referred to as an "87-acre playground for auto enthusiasts," enables exhibitors to showcase key vehicles and technologies in an outdoor setting.

Plans call for 1.6 million square feet of dynamic vehicle and technology display space including terrain ideal for showcasing off-roading capabilities. M1 Concourse also offers a 1.5-mile hot track on the grounds for technology and vehicle demonstrations.

"The pandemic has caused changes in our society and world in ways not previously imagined, and we all should be looking for new and highly creative ways of doing business," said Executive Director Rod Alberts. "This new event captures that creative spirit. It will provide new mobility experiences and increasingly innovative approaches to tapping into the industry and its products."

Alberts said attendees can expect a multi-sensory experience at the new event. "This all-outdoor venue, with adrenaline-pumping track activities and a full complement of OEM and technology exhibits, is going to offer the sights, sounds and even the smell of all that the new world of mobility has to offer." 

As auto shows around the world are being reimagined and will continue to do so in the wake of the pandemic, NAIAS had been reimagining its position for some time.

"While auto shows remain an important platform to promote new mobility innovations and to help people make major vehicle purchase decisions, the traditional auto show model is changing," Alberts said. "We cannot ignore the major disruptions caused by the pandemic and the impact it has had on budgets. As such, we will be providing an amazing experience to the media, the auto industry and the public in a cost-effective way."

Event Chairman Doug North noted that the M1 Concourse was envisioned as part of the 2021 Motor Bella activities, so it was "a natural progression" to build upon it in light of the growing demand for experiential mobility shows and an increased appetite for outdoor events as a result of the pandemic. Motor Bella was originally conceived as a celebration of Italian and British supercars and classic vehicles and was to have debuted at the June 2020 NAIAS.

"With our new program for 2021, we will take the Motor Bella concept to the next level with multiple brands and mobilities represented, from hometown to international nameplates, autonomous vehicles to high-performance supercars and everything in between," North said. "It will be a mobility-filled event. One that will provide our show partners with a cost-efficient backdrop to share all of their brands, products and technologies in a fun and festival-like atmosphere that's completely outdoors." 

Jordan Zlotoff, CEO of M1 Concourse, said, "We are proud and honored to be hosting this world-class automotive event. Motor Bella will allow journalists, industry executives and the public to interact with vehicles in a fully dynamic and experiential format, well beyond the limitations of static displays. As the largest Private Garage community in the world, we at M1 Concourse share the enthusiasm for creating a unique automotive environment built specifically for car enthusiasts."

North added, "We see this outdoor experience at M1 as a bridge to the future. One that will continue to evolve as we explore new ways of presenting mobility and as we navigate through these unprecedented times. We are very cognizant of the importance and impact our show and our events have on the state and the entire metro Detroit area. This will always be part of our considerations for the future."

Dates for the 2021 Motor Bella are: 

• Press Preview, Tuesday, Sept. 21
• AutoMobili-D, Tuesday, Sept. 21 through a half-day Thursday, Sept. 23
• Industry Preview, Wednesday, Sept. 22 and a half-day Thursday, Sept. 23
• Public Show, Thursday, Sept. 23 through Sunday, Sept. 26

Securing American global EV manufacturing leadership, dramatically improving public health and significantly reducing carbon pollution is some of the key goals that ZETA or Zero Emission Transportation Association was formed for.

This industry association is focused on creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. In quoting their www.zeta2030.org web site they state the 3 core points.

1. Job Creation - Enacting ambitious, but realistic policies to accelerate transportation electrification will create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs. Congress must seize this opportunity or risk ceding this economic growth to others.
2. Cleaner Environment - The transportation sector emits more carbon pollution than any other sector of the U.S. economy. Electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions and are 67% less carbon intensive than gasoline-powered auto's over their lifetime.
3. Real Savings - By going electric, vehicle owners can save over $700 a year in Fuel and an additional $330 in annual maintenance costs. Federal, state and local incentives can drive greater consumer benefits.

Their press release has the ZETA five key policy pillars:

1. Outcome-driven consumer EV incentives. Point-of-sale consumer incentives drive adoption, provide cost reductions and achieve real results in pushing transportation electrification. In addition, incentivizing early retirements while encouraging EV adoption will speed the transition and meet the urgency of the moment.

2. Emissions / performance standards enabling full electrification by 2030. Emission targets are a key piece of protecting public health and sending the correct market signals to support and accelerate the transition to zero emission transportation.

3. Infrastructure investments. Strong federal charging infrastructure investments will drive the electric transportation transition and ensure that the United States is leading the way in a clean recovery where everyone is better off.

4. Domestic manufacturing. We should not only accelerate U.S. transportation electrification, but also work to ensure that we secure domestic economic growth and leadership in EV manufacturing. Federal policies must encourage job creation and economic activity across the entire EV supply chain and lifecycle, from critical materials to vehicles.

5. Federal leadership and cooperation with sub-national entities. Federal support should invest in research and development, provide an aligned vision for electrification, and ensure local leaders are empowered with the expertise and resources to support full vehicle electrification.

 Further details about their key issues can be found here: https://www.zeta2030.org/key-issues/

ZETA includes the following founding members:

1. ABB
2. Albemarle Corporation
3. Arrival
4. ChargePoint
5. ConEdison
6. Copper Development Association, Inc.
7. Duke Energy
8. Edison International
9. Enel X
10. EVBox
11. EVgo
12. Ioneer
13. Li-Cycle
14. Lordstown Motors
15. Lucid Motors
16. Piedmont Lithium
17. PG&E Corporation
18. Proterra
19. Redwood Materials
20. Rivian
21. Siemens
22. Southern Company
23. SRP
24. Tesla
25. Vistra
26. Volta
27. Uber
28. WAVE

ZETA mission statement:

ZETA brings together those whose values and strategic interests support 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030.

This diverse non-partisan group coordinates public education efforts and federal policy development to promote EV adoption with the goal of creating American electric vehicle manufacturing jobs, better serving consumers, improving air quality and public health, and significantly reducing carbon pollution.

ZETA can be contacted at the following:

Joe Britton
Executive Director, ZETA
joe@zeta2030.org

David Ganske
Communications and PR for ZETA
david@zeta2030.org

IHS Markit recently published their analysis on how long Americans are holding onto their vehicles. The average according to the firm stands at 11.9 years, the highest amount since they have been tracking this. Also, about one in four vehicles is over sixteen years old. We should note that this data came before COVID-19 started to wreak havoc on the U.S. IHS notes that new cars only made up 6.1 percent of vehicles in operation in 2019, down 0.8 percent when compared to high of 2016. This highlights falling new car sales.

But the question lingering over automakers and analysts is will the pandemic cause sales to fall even further as more people hang on to their vehicles.

"People are going to keep their vehicles because they don't know if they're going to be driving to work in the future, they don't know if they're going to be driving to work anytime soon even. If you're not accumulating the miles, you might keep that vehicle on the road a little longer," said Todd Campau, associate director of aftermarket solutions at IHS Markit.

IHS estimates that new cars in operation could drop to 5% or less in the coming year or so. The firm also expects the age to climb upward in the coming years as owners consider whether or not to spend the hefty amount on a car, when their current vehicle is still quite good.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), CNBC

Automakers for the most part were hurting in sales during the second quarter. The COVID-19 pandemic and the economy coming to a screeching halt for a brief time caused new car sales to drop by a third according to Automotive News. But there is a slim silver lining to this, full-size pickups have moved into being the best-selling segment of vehicles.

According to data from Automotive News, one out of four vehicles sold between April and June was a pickup truck. This helped put them ahead of compact crossovers, which have held the top spot for some time. The reason is that trucks didn't take as big of a hit due to 0 percent financing offers from automakers to help bring in buyers. A large number of dealers said they sold the majority of trucks sitting on their lots.

Mark LaNeve, Ford's vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service provides another reason why trucks didn't fall off a cliff. Speaking to AN, he said that people need trucks for work and "affluent consumers who often buy such vehicles have been less affected by the pandemic."

Trucks still took quite the hit in the quarter,

• Chevrolet Silverado: Down 14%
• Ford F-Series: Down 23%
• GMC Sierra: Down 4%
• Ram: Down 35%

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

The COVID-19 pandemic has basically brought most of the world to halt. Orders to stay at home, businesses either having workers to their work from home or closing down, and unemployment skyrocketing is causing the economy to crater. There are efforts to try and jump-start the economy such as $1,200 stimulus checks. But an executive at Ford wants to see a return of a "cash for clunkers" like program.

“We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the auto industry and our dealers, which are a huge part of our overall economy, but will help the customers as well,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service to Bloomberg.

“Cash for clunkers was very effective at that time. It would be nice to think we could have something equally as effective for 2020 when we get out of this because it was a great program.”

According to LaNeve, internal discussions are taking place at Ford about doing a similar program and there are plans to bring the Government in to these talks.

When asked by Automotive News about this, Ford spokeswoman Rachel McCleery said, "The auto industry is America’s economic engine.We are encouraging Congress to look at a variety of ways to drive job creation, increase demand, support customers and provide long-term stability for the entire auto ecosystem."

A brief refresher on the Cash for Clunkers program. In 2009, the U.S. Government introduced a billion initiative called the Car Allowance Rebate System, which gave a voucher worth between $2,900 and $4,500 to anyone replacing a vehicle newer than 1984. Their old vehicle would be taken away and disposed of. The program was nicknamed Cash for Clunkers.

On the surface, the program was a success. Within first month, all of the funds were exhausted. This prompted the U.S. congress infuse an addition two billion into the program, which would be all gone within 17 days. But begin to look deeper and the results are mixed. In 2012, a study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics described the program as being a bit of a wash,

"...the effect of the program on auto purchases is almost completely reversed by as early as March 2010 — only seven months after the program ended.”

Other studies have come to the same conclusion.

There's also the question of how many perfectly good used cars were taken off the road due to the program.

Source: Bloomberg via Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Drive, The Truth About Cars

A Pittsburgh Port Authority Bus became stuck in a sink hole in downtown Pittsburgh this morning.  The bus was waiting at a traffic light when the road gave way.  There were two people on the bus who were able to get off the bus safely. A Kia Optima was also left with its front wheels hanging into the hole.

The incident occurred at about 7:40 a.m. outside the Westin Hotel downtown on the corner of 10th street and Penn Avenue. The hole is about 20 feet deep and 75 feet wide.  The bus is sitting on three powerlines, two of which are high voltage 22,000 volt lines.  Several gas lines and fiber lines have also be impacted. 

The cranes to lift the bus out of the sink hole are being set up and will take 6 to 8 hours to assemble. 

Traffic and bus routes will be rerouted around 10th street until it can be repaired. 

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a temporary halt in production in November as the threat of disruption from a No-Deal Brexit looms.  BMW and Toyota have already announced plans for temporary work stoppages at their UK factories. All four of JLR's UK factories are affected. 

Although No-Deal Brexit is still not a certainty. Manufacturers like JLR have to plan for the worst.  JLR uses 20 million parts a day and needs to have those parts available at just the right time. 

Toyota will be stopping production of the Corolla Hatchback and Avensis on November 1st. BMW is planning on stopping Mini production in early November, but Rolls-Royce and BMW engine plants are expected to continue production. 

A near-production prototype Bugatti Chiron on special Michelin tires has broken the 300 mph barrier in Germany at the Ehra-Lessien proving ground. Though full specs were not announced, but it is suspected to have 1,578 horsepower, carbon fiber components, taller gearing, lowered suspension, and specialized Michelin tires. 

The test mule received a clip on rear tail with a more aggressive diffuser. If the car makes it into production, it will hold the record as the fastest production cars. The current holder is the Koenigsegg Agera RS that maxed out at 277 mph.

Just after the record setting run, Bugatti's president Stephan Winkelmann has said that the brand is done chasing speed records. He added, "From now on, we will focus on other areas". 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun testing vehicles that have cameras in place of real mirrors.  The request to test such devices goes back to March of 2014 when the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers along with Tesla filed a petition with the NHTSA to get approval to install based rear or side vision cameras and screens  in their vehicles.  Daimler filed a similar petition in 2015 for their heavy duty trucks. Japan and Europe have already approved the technology. 

The first car with cameras replacing the side mirrors was the Lexus ES sold in Japan, followed by the Audi e-tron in Europe back in December.  Both vehicles are sold in the U.S. with standard mirrors instead of the cameras.  Honda's coming Honda e will have the technology standard when it goes on sale in Europe later this year.

Mirrorless systems are an area where the legislation has not yet caught up with the technology according to Mark Dahncke of Audi.

Ford and GM, the U.S.'s top two auto manufacturers are bracing themselves for the worst.  They have been running economic modeling to determin the steps they would take given a medium or severe recession in the US and across global markets.  General Motors has a stockpile of $18 billion in cash while Ford has $20 billion saved up.

GM is relying on deferring non-essential capital expenditures and a shift in production to lower cost vehicles as part of its plan to save costs in the event of a a strong downturn.  Ford says is is evaluating its future moves. 

Fears of a recession have plagued Wall St. most of 2019 while a trade war with China rages on.  Higher costs of materials due to tariffs is adding to the pain of weak product demand in the U.S., China, and Europe.  In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, growth shrank by 0.1 percent in Q2 2019 as trade conflicts and auto industry troubles weighed heavily on the economy.  Both exports and lagging demand at home have put a strain on German automakers already looking to slash costs. 

Today, a strong signal that a recession is looming appeared as the 10-year treasury yield dropped below the 2-year treasury yield while do Dow Jones Industrial Average sank over 450 points.  

Related:
Honda Slowing Production, Cutting Shifts
Nissan Profit Plunges 99%; 12,500 Job Cuts Eminent
Ford Europe Laying Off Another 12,000
Daimler Books First Quarterly Loss in Ten Years

Protean Electric is proud to introduce their latest innovation to the auto world, the Protean 360+. A super-efficient, fully integrated in-wheel motor that brings 922lb-ft of torque or 1250Nm with 107hp or 80kW of power per wheel. This give the mobility solution a total of 428 hp or 320 kW of power with 3,688 lb-ft or 5,000 Nm of torque to move the auto.

Urban mobility has never had a better option for ultimate maneuverability with the Protean 360+ delivering the following:

• Limitless 360-degree steering provides exceptional vehicle maneuverability.
• Pneumatic ride-height control enables 'kneeling' for stepless curb-to-vehicle access.
• Patent-pending quad-pivot lower wishbone design allows ultra-compact suspension setup.
• Fully integrated in-wheel motor delivers power with maximum efficiency.
• Module enables front, rear and side access into vehicles.
• Single module design is common across all four corners of the vehicle.

Transport-as-a-service urban mobility is gaining momentum and with it a new class of urban transport auto's is possible with the Protean 360+ solution.

Premium battery manufacture of Germany, AKASOL has announced that they will open a battery system production plant in Detroit Michigan USA. This dedicated operations in North America will ensure that AKASOL's customers comply with the Buy America Act Regulations and is in response to demand for their high energy battery modules from various OEM manufacturer of Trucks, Buses and auto's. This considerable investment will create over 200 jobs within the next 5 years.

State of Michigan awarded AKASOL a Michigan Business Development Program Grant for the construction of the production facility. Barry Matherly, President and CEO of Detroit Regional Partnership added: " The Detroit Region is thrilled to have been selected by AKASOL for its first battery production facility for the commercial vehicle market. The company is a global leader in the design and build of e-mobility solutions and our team is pleased we were able to demonstrate a highly compelling business case around the strengths of the region."

AKASOL's new Michigan production facility will have similar capacity to the company's current plant in Langen, Germany. Production is due to begin in 2020, with a focus on the 2nd generation AKASystem OEM PRC battery system. By early 2021, AKASOL expects production to increase to 400 MWh in a three-shift operation. These high performance lithium-ion battery systems will be developed, tested and produced locally here in Detroit Michigan.

AKASOL's commitment to quality, performance and flexibility is reflected in their European Top Tier customers. Daimler and French railway giant Alstom to name a few.

China is the world's largest EV market with sales of electric auto's reaching 2.61 million up 70% in 2018 over 2017. This constitutes 4% of the total Chinese market today. China is requiring 10% of total sales to be EV in 2019 and raised to 12% for 2020. In comparison, the US saw EV sales jump 81% for 2018 to a total of 360,000 EVs sold out of a total of 17.2 million auto's sold.  Yet the US has only 1 million EVs on the road and the auto industry is projected to spend a mind blowing $255 billion in R&D and Capital for electric models by 2023.  Due to high-system cost and low volumes with intense competition EVs in the short run will be unprofitable as OEM's bring the 207 models offered to market. Automakers have hopefully factored these costs into their EV strategies.

The most expensive part of an EV is the battery pack. Current technology held by Tesla has their packs at 250 watts per kilogram and the holy grail is 400 watts per kilogram which reduces the size of the battery by half. How is one to achieve this?

To date, EV battery packs such as Tesla, Nissan or Chevrolet have relied on a production system that causes contamination of the battery surface inside due to auxiliary materials or lubricants that is used in manufacturing. Commercial production of high density low cost batteries has been hindered to date by the current wet process of battery production. Franhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS, have created a process for creation of EV battery packs that uses a dry film coating process rather than liquids. The process does not use toxic solvents and is less energy -intensive ending in a cheaper to produce battery pack as much higher density. Quoting Dr. Benjamin Schumm, project manager for IWS, "Our dry transfer coating process aims to noticeably reduce the process costs in electrode coating." Why would this matter one might ask, currently EV battery production is mostly in the asian rim where cheap labor and cheap electricity allows a corner on the market. Trying to manufacture EV batteries in Germany where labor and electricity is some of the highest prices around make EVs expensive. Having a much cheaper, environmentally safer production allows the battery production to be done closer to the assembly line and reduces component costs in transportation also.

With so many breakthroughs in battery technology in the last few years, it would make one think that batteries would be cheaper by now and yet it is the most expensive component of all EVs. So how would this tech be any different as the floor is littered with breakthrough after breakthrough that never made it into commercial production. IWS has been teamed up with a Finnish battery company "BroadBit Batteries" where they have a production line setup using this dry electrode material instead of a wet paste to coat electrodes for battery production. Currently IWS with BroadBits has proven they can coat several meters per minute of battery electrode foil at consistent production speed. BroadBit is currently using this technology to create and sell new Sodium Ion batteries.

Currently an expensive wet complex and toxic paste is applied to the Lithium Ion foil which then requires expensive high energy costs to dry the foil before it can move to the next stage of battery production. IWS dry electrode coating allows foil creation without the ecologically damaging and expensive drying process steps. The result is a much quicker way to create the 100 micrometer thick film onto the aluminum foil creating the battery electrode in a much denser design. Dr. Benjamin Schumm states that this process allows new battery generations where the classic wet process failed and will allow faster and easier development of solid state batteries which uses ion-conducting solids over flammable liquid electrolytes. 

This breakthrough in battery production is expected to allow European and Americas manufactures to break the asian strangle hold on battery production for not just EVs but all electronic devices.

The tariffs that Trump had threatened to impose on Mexico starting June 10th will not be going on to effect.  Trump tweeted out that Mexico had made concessions to deploy their newly formed Nation Guard to their own southern border and that it only took two days for Mexico to bend to Trump's demands.   This is false.

The truth, according to a report in the New York Times is that Mexico had already agreed to do that back in March 2019 during secret talks between the (at the time) Director of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and the Mexican Secretary of Interior Olga Sanchez. Further, Trump claimed a victory via his tariff efforts saying that he had reached an agreement that Mexico would hold more asylum-seekers on the Mexican side of the border while the U.S. processes their cases.  The timing of this is also false.  The agreement was already reached at the same meeting in March.   Where Trump failed was in getting Mexico to accept a "Safe Third Country" treaty that would have given the U.S. the ability to reject asylum seekers if they had not first sought asylum in Mexico. 

In opposition to the tariffs was many Senators from Trump's own party, including the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who said, "There is not much support in my conference for tariffs, that's for sure". Many in the GOP were whispering that the Senate was going to pass a resolution disapproving of the tariffs, causing embarrassment for Trump and making him look weak.  Most likely that whispering got to Trump himself and so then he laid claim to the previously agreed "concessions" from Mexico in order to save face and drop the tariff while claiming victory. 

Many business leaders too were calling for relief from the tariffs, the auto industry would have been hit especially hard with a significant number of components passing over the border multiple times.  

Below is a list of vehicles that are currently assembled in Mexico for U.S. consumption:

Audi Q5
BMW 3-series
Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet Equinox
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
Chevrolet Trax
Dodge Journey
Fiat 500
Ford Fusion
Ford Transit Connect
GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab
GMC Terrain (certain models)
Honda Fit
Honda HR-V
Hyundai Accent
Infiniti QX50
Jeep Compass
Kia Forte
Kia Rio
Lincoln MKZ
Mazda 3
Mercedes-Benz A-class
Nissan Frontier (certain models)
Nissan Kicks
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Versa
Nissan Versa Note
Nissan NV200 Cargo
Ram 1500 Regular Cab
Ram 2500/3500/4500/5500
Ram ProMaster
Toyota Tacoma
Toyota Yaris
Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
Volkswagen Jetta
Volkswagen Tiguan

Fiat Chrysler Automobile has abruptly pulled back on their merger offer with Renault after the second day of negotiations came to a close. The Wall Street Journal reports that Renault's partner, Nissan declined to support the deal according to sources. During a vote today on the Renault board, the two Nissan representative abstained, raising concerns for both FCA and Renault that Nissan would back out of the alliance.

This, in turn, caused the French Government (major stakeholder in Renault), to not pledge its support of the deal. The government asked for a delay on the vote until Nissan would guarantee that it would continue with the alliance. The falling of these dominos prompted FCA to withdraw their offer.

The move is a heavy blow as FCA had reached a tentative agreement with the French Government on the merger according to two sources speaking to Reuters.

FCA, Renault, and the French Government declined to comment.

We'll update this story if any new details come to light.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)

Not content with a trade war just with China, Donald Trump has opened a second front in what is slowly turning into a trade world war.   Yesterday evening, Trump announced that beginning June 10th a 5% tariff would be slapped on all Mexican products coming into the country. That tariff would increase to 10% by July 1st and then go to its 25% maximum in October.  For automakers with razor thin margins, there is absolute certainty that the American consumer will end up paying these tariffs. 

The White House said in a statement:

Quote

If the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment, the Tariffs will be removed. If the crisis persists, however, the Tariffs will be raised to 10 percent on July 1, 2019. Similarly, if Mexico still has not taken action to dramatically reduce or eliminate the number of illegal aliens crossing its territory into the United States, Tariffs will be increased to 15 percent on August 1, 2019, to 20 percent on September 1, 2019, and to 25 percent on October 1, 2019. Tariffs will permanently remain at the 25 percent level unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory.

Goods from Mexico account for 13.6 percent of all imported goods to the U.S, totaling about $346.5 billion. Automobiles and their components are high on the list of goods that are imported from Mexico.  Further complicating matters is that components can move over the border up to 20 times before reaching their final assembly location. 

General Motors and other domestic manufacturers are going to be hit especially hard.  GM imported 811,000 vehicles from Mexico last year. One of their recent vehicles, the Chevrolet Blazer, caused a stir for being Mexican built when it was put on display at Comerica Park in Detroit at a time when GM was closing five U.S. manufacturing facilities. General Motors eventually took the display down and replaced it with a US built Traverse. 

Stocks fell sharply Friday morning in response to the tariff announcement. 

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC) made a big splash at the Detroit Auto Show this year with a number of models destined for the U.S. The plan at the time was to begin talking with dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in March, with sales to follow early next year. But GAC has postponed plans of coming to the U.S. due to the trade war.

In a statement issued to Bloomberg, GAC said “the escalation of China-U.S. trade frictions” and distribution “uncertainties” had made them decide to put their plans on hold. It's unclear how long this postponement will last, but it will likely be some months - maybe years.

Many Chinese automakers have made pronouncements to sell vehicles in the U.S. for over a decade, with none coming to shore. As Automotive News notes, Chinese Automaker Zotye as recently as this month was still recruiting dealers and planning to begin sales in the U.S. late next year. Bloomberg reached out to other Chinese automakers,

• Great Wall: No immediate comment on whether or not it plans on adjusting its plans to coming to the U.S.
• Lynk & Co. (under the Geely umbrella): Spokesperson said they are "evaluating" plans for North America

Source: Bloomberg, Automotive News (Subscription Required)

There has been a prevailing thought about the likes of Uber and Lyft that once they switch from human drivers to self-driving vehicles, they would stand to see a significant reduction in overall operating costs. This possibly means consumers could see these services as an alternative to owning a vehicle. But a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) disputes that claim.

Researchers Ashley Nunes and Kristen D. Hernandez examined the San Francisco market on the per-mile cost of an automated taxi service to owning a vehicle. They found an automated taxi would range between $1.58 and $6.01 per mile, while the conventional vehicle would be at $0.72 per mile.

"When we started going into this work, we found there's a lot of hand-waving. There was a notion that 'All we have to do is remove the driver, assume a reduction in insurance, and there's our great number.' We said, 'Let's hold it up to scrutiny.' It didn't hold up," explained Nunes to Automotive News.

The massive disparity gap isn't due to ownership or maintenance, rather a fundamental issue about the taxi market in general. Nunes said taxi operators drive too many miles without a paying customer - hence their higher costs. In San Francisco, the MIT researchers found a 52 percent utilization rate for ride-hailing. Even if they were able to reach 100 percent utilization, Nunes said they would still be "unable to provide a fare that's comparable to car ownership."

"Their approach with the investment folks has been, 'Trust us, we'll figure this out and it'll be this great utopia where everyone is jumping from an Uber to a scooter to an air taxi.The future may well be all those things. But you need to demonstrate you can offer the service at a price point that consumers are willing and able to pay. Thus far, they are unable to do so," said Nunes.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

If you're the owner of an Android phone and an Android Auto enabled vehicle, this summer there will be a big upgrade coming to the interface of both. The new design will allow you to do more with fewer taps, while also showing more information on the screen at a time. 

As soon as you start your car,  Android Auto will pick up where you left off with your media and automatically show your navigation app of choice. Navigation will show a suggested list of places or the user can say "Hey Google" to navigate to a new place.

At the bottom will be a navigation bar that will allow users to control apps and see turn-by-turn navigation instructions even while on a Media or Phone screen. 

The color pallet has changed to a darker theme which is easier on the eyes. The font has been changed to be easier to read.

In vehicles with wider screens, Android Auto will now fill that extra space with additional information such as next-turn direction, playback controls, or ongoing call information.

You can see the new animations and look at the video below.

These changes will be available on all Android Auto capable devices this summer. 

The European car market as a whole has been in decline for six consecutive months as of March 2019 with 19 out of 27 markets posting declines.  March numbers were down 3.6 percent over the same month in 2018.  Looking at the first quarter of 2019 paints an even bleaker picture with only 6 countries recording growth.

While overall demand is down, the demand for electric vehicles grows. The sales of EVs exceeded 100,000 units for the first time ever with a total of 125,400 EV and PHEVs sold.  That is an increase of 31%, mostly in Germany, Norway, Spain, and the Netherlands.  Much of that growth is attributed to the Tesla Model 3 entering the market and becoming Europe's top selling electric car.  Model 3 sales jumped from 3,747 units in February to 15,755 units in March. It was also the best selling premium mid-size car in the EU. 

Diesel on the other hand is facing continuing losses. Registrations of new diesels have moved from 44.8 percent of all registrations in March 2017 to 31.2 percent of all registrations in March 2019. Analysts expect diesel to continue to fade as more cities put in diesel bans and stricter emissions regulations come into effect. 

Revolution most commonly starts in the heart of what is to be disrupted. In this case, oil country is where one of the most revolutionary new motor designs is coming from. The minds at the University of Texas in Dallas, Dr. Babak Fahimi and the Renewable Enery and Vehicular Technology Laboratory brings us this new startup "Linear Labs Inc. A Smart Electric Motor Company" who just completed their funding round to allow them to market and produce their flagship motor, the Hunstable Electric Turbine motor.

Currently today's electric vehicle has a high revving horsepower motor with low torque, as an example you can find many electric motors that produce 50 horsepower at 10,000 rpm with 26 lb-ft of torque. The Hunstable Electric Turbine motor produces that same 50 horsepower at 1,300 rpm with 200 lb-ft of torque thus eliminating the need for a gear box as well as other components which in turn reduces cost and complexity.

The Hunstable motor while eliminating geared reduction thus being useful for direct drive applications retains the capability to perform at extremely high speeds and maintains maximum efficiency throughout the loading curve.

Let's get into the technical chops of the Hunstable Electric Turbine (HET) motor.

• Permanent magnet circumferential flux 4 rotor motor
• 3D magnetic structure produces four active torque producing areas all with the same polarity
• 30% reduced use of copper in the coil
• Maximum torque production from all magnetic field interactions
• Reduced motor size due to patented unique design requires no unproductive open spaces
• Large Lorentz Force that peaks with a large reluctance force. Best way to explain this is to quote their website: " by extending the length of the magnetic tunnel region, the torque that is present throughout the coils travels without regard to the coils at pole face length. Unlike existing conventional machines where torque is only present at an optimum point as it approaches a magnetic pole, the HET has no single optimum point but rather all positions exhibit maximum torque. The torque and force will exist while the coil in in the tunnel, regardless of tunnel length.

Traditional electric motors have always had a current pulse from the three phase supply requiring a timed rotation that allows for optimum torque production at a single instant in time where only a single phase is active. Electronics have been used to manipulate and soften the pulsations to some degree to gain performance as seen by the current leading EV manufacturers.

The HET motor is able to use a different approach due to the large force presented. One could talk about coils, poles and phases but the end result is that the the technology used by the HET Motor allows for all phases produced to create a continuous pulse of power. These power pulses overlap rather than being sequential thus eliminating torque pulsations ending with maximum torque production.

The HET Motor has an advantage that no other electric motor can equal and that is that via software control, the phases can be controlled into particular patterns allowing for true variable pole count ending in adjustable speed / torque development. To quote Linear Labs: "This allows a speed change increase with no changes in frequency, current or voltage level, which makes an electronic transmission possible."

Current electric motors use what is called Field Weakening. This is where one has peak torque at 0 RPM but trades torque for speed as it goes faster. Excitation speed increases as torque drops by weakening the magnetic fields.

Induction motors increase speed by reducing this excitation current, permanent magnet motors inject an opposing current to control this which is known as a D axis current injection. The constant horsepower region is what this area of speed increase is called. Torque being traded for speed, but total horsepower does not change.

Efficiency drops off in the uses as stated above and this is what the HET motor addresses with its revolutionary design. To quote Linear Labs: " By slightly rotating a single side rotor, an axial magnetic component is introduced. This weakens , as far as the coils are concerned, the total magnetic field experienced by the coils. The degree of field weakening controls the trade-off between torque and speed.

For the first time in electric machine history, as the HET Motor enters the Constant Horsepower Region, core losses drop and overall efficiencies actually climb."

At this time you would not be blamed for saying "SO WHAT" what does this get me?

The benefits of this revolutionary new motor or as Linear Labs likes to call it their electric turbine is the following list:

• Magnetic Configuration producing 100% more torque than any other design.
• Efficiency, reduced copper losses resulting in reduced on-board energy storage.
• Power, testing has shown that the HET motor with standard cooling produces continuous and peak power at 1.9 kW and  2.7 kW at a base speed of 3000 RPM superseding any other commercially available electric propulsion unit.
• Cost and Compactness, resulting in less cost of on-board electronics, converters, controllers, etc.
• Thermal Management, superior design due to less copper and what is known as end windings that contribute nothing to torque or output giving you superior efficiency.
• Variable speed applications, perfect for low speed constant use but also for high speed applications.
• Acoustic Noise, HET motors being smaller than current commercial counterparts along with limited torque pulsation provides a quiet drive system removing most noise heard by the human ear.

Some of the markets that are ripe for Linear Labs motors are of course the auto industry, HVAC industry, industry manufacturing, pretty much any market where constant and variable electric motors are being used. This results in potential energy conservation on a large scale.

Linear Labs see's the potential benefits from scooters, to drones, motorcycles, cars and trucks. The uses of their HET Motor will revolutionize the world while contributing to energy conservation.

The Society of Automotive Engineers has announced today that they are joining with Ford, General Motors, and Toyota to form the Automatic Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), a group that will work together to test the deployment and development of Level 4 and Level 5 automated vehicles. 

The AVSC will provide a safety framework for the advancement of the technology in a safe and responsible manner. The group will use the expertise of its current members to establish a set of guiding principles for safety. 

GM, Ford, and Toyota already have autonomous vehicle development well underway.  GM is producing driverless Chevrolet Bolt EVs as part of a development and testing program via its GM Cruise unit. 

If you're currently running with an older GPS system, either built into your car or via an external device, you may need to check if a firmware update is available.  Tonight at midnight, the UTC clock used by the satellite navigation system will roll over to 0000000000.   That number is a 10-bit "week number" that counts the number of weeks since August 21, 1999, the date of the current GPS "epoch". 

Most newer GPS devices will know about the coming rollover and will just continue working, but older ones that haven't been updated could fail with timing data jumping backwards by almost 20 years. This isn't a new issue, this will be the second time the GPS system has seen such a flip.  Eventually, the GPS system will be upgraded to a 13-bit date system and greatly increase the length of time between epochs.

If you have an older GPS device or car with GPS built in, you may want to check with the manufacturer if a firmware update is needed. 

The President has threatened to slap tariffs on the import of all cars in a year if Mexico does not completely halt the flow of illegal immigration, a near impossible task.  This is after he backtracked on his previous threat to completely close the US-Mexico border, a move his own advisers recommended against.  Such actions would have massive economic repercussions on both sides of the border, raising prices for many consumer goods. 

Trump said, "Mexico understands that we're going to close the border or I'm going to tariff the cars. I'll do one or the other. And probably start with the tariffs".  He further added, "I don't think we'll ever have to close the border because the penalty of tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Mexico, at 25%, will be massive".

One problem with this threat is the fresh trade agreement with Mexico that Trump has already negotiated. Going back on a fresh trade agreement adds to the longtime concerns by other world leaders on whether Trump's word, and the U.S. Government, can be trusted.  Tariffs on imported goods aren't paid by the exporting country, they are paid by the consumers of the importing country, so it is unclear who Trump is targeting with these tariffs. 

One of the biggest automotive importers from Mexico is General Motors.  GM recently had to remove a Chevrolet Blazer display from a stadium in Michigan after backlash over its Mexican origin. GM has recently closed two plants in Michigan costing the state thousands of jobs. 

Truck owner loyalty is legendary.  Buyers typically pick one brand and stick with that brand for as long as they buy trucks. Indeed my own father has owned only one brand of pickup, the Ford F-series, since before I arrived on earth.  In 2018, Ford moved more than 900,000 copies of its F-series pickups out of a total segment of 2,944,395. 

But have rising prices started to crack that loyalty?   CarGurus did a survey and found that 70% of truck owners would switch brands if their truck raised prices by $10,000, that is up from 64% last year. While $10,000 seems like a big jump, even an increase of $5,000 would cause 42% of owners to ditch their current brand.

Of those considering switching brands, 54% responded that it was due to price, and 47% cited fuel economy as a concern.

More concerning for manufacturers is that 17% of current truck owners say they are unlikely to buy another truck, with Toyota and Ford truck owners being 43% of that total. 

We may see some strong incentive competition in the market soon if these trends continue. 

Financial Times is reporting that Renault wants to make the marriage to Nissan more official and formally merge.  Renault wants to start talks within the next 12 months and include a potential bid for automaker FCA .  The combined companies of Nissan, Renault, Fiat, and Chrysler would be a conglomerate that rivals the size of Toyota and Volkswagen.

Carlos Ghosn tried to start merger talks prior to his arrest for financial wrongdoing, however, the French government stopped his proposals. Renault currently owns roughly 43% of Nissan.

FCA has recently been in the news for potential talks with Peugeot to merge. Those reports were squashed when it came to light that the Agnelli family, who has a controlling stake in FCA, was not interested in a deal that was paid for with PSA stock.

Market forecasts of the future is a fragile thing, yet LMC Automotive has a strong reputation as a consulting firm looking at the global markets. The daily announcements of electric-car churn, major production investments, battery supply, etc. is cause for people to want to take a reality check of the projections by various OEM producers to individual government pronouncements.

US projection is that fossil fuel light-duty autos will still be 69% or 7 out of 10 autos on the road in 2030. According to the LMC Automotive research report, 2018 saw that globally light vehicles running on fossil fuels were 95%. This is expected to drop to 92% by the end of 2019 yet a slowing of the change over from ICE to BEV is expected over the next decade. LMC is expecting a contraction of just 3 to 4 percent annually. This respected report is showing that more than half of the global vehicle demand will still have tailpipes and fuel tanks.

So let’s take a look at some of the facts starting with the country India where in 2017 it stated that they would be fully electric by 2030. Yet LMC own research points to India being only 3% electric by 2030. On the other end of the spectrum, we have China where LMC expects the country to have a majority of light autos be electric. LMC expects fossil fuel light autos to make up only 48% of the market by 2030 in China, BEV's will be 52%.

This is backed up by many other analysts that point to the massive growth of EV's in the next decade that eventually will taper off as costs stop falling for battery production and EV charging infrastructure. Electric cars are expected to be 55% of the global market by 2040 according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance. One reason for slowing is the acknowledgment that not all markets will have the electrical infrastructure to support BEV auto's when many in countries like Africa do not even have electricity at their home.

Looking at the three major automotive markets of China, India and the US, LMC points to the differences in how the change will happen. China will use the carrot and stick approach pushed by the political elite to ensure the New Energy Vehicles (NEV) come to market. Automakers are getting subsidies to manufacture these NEVs and receive strict penalties if they fail to meet the government goals. Here is where demand for ICE autos will fall off the fastest. 

In the US, demand is expected to be gradual with growth being slowed by the oil industry that has every reason to keep the price of gas low. This is also being tempered by the popular rise of the pickup truck and SUV sales that will keep BEVs in check till these full-size autos are offered in pure electric mode.

Then we have India, per the LMC report where government ministers made global headlines in 2017 with their ambitious target to electrify the whole country by 2030 retiring all ICE autos. Including all types of transportation, 2, 3- and 4-wheel vehicles, the India government has since set a target of 30% BEVs by 2030 which LMC believes is unachievable.

Despite having adjusted goals, the India government has approved a 3-year $100 billion program to promote electric vehicle adoption. Even with this big push, LMC sees India with a 97% ICE market share in 2030.

Based on LMC's own 3-4% ICE decline annually, where ICE made 95% of global sales in 2018, expected to be 92% in 2030 ICE globally is still expected to make up 62% of global market if the 3% a year drop stays constant, yet numerous external factors will also affect this globally.

Yet to make this change happen, one critical area is needed to grow. Batteries are the new OIL of the 21st century. Bloomberg expects $548 billion in investments by 2050 in the battery production industry as costs fall, homes and businesses push for a more reliable clean energy source. Battery prices per kilowatt-hour are expected to be below $70, down 67% from today’s cost. Annual batteries to be commissioned by 2050 is expected to exceed 1,288 gigawatts of power.

To quote the Bloomberg story: “It’s a matter of ‘when and how’ and not ‘if’ wind, solar and battery technologies will disrupt electricity delivery all over the world,” Seb Henbest, lead author the report, said in an interview.

A few weeks after Honda announced the closure of its manufacturing plant in Swindon, Sky News is reporting that BMW and Nissan are both looking at moving operations out of the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

BMW currently produces the Mini-Cooper in Oxford.  BMW's Peter Schwarzenbauer has said that the company would "need to consider" moving production out of the UK. In addition to Mini production, some engine production would move to Austria from Birmingham.

Likewise Nissan, which produces the Qashqai and Leaf in Sunderland would cut back production and potential plant reductions of about 400 jobs.  Nissan has already announced that due to Brexit uncertainty, the manufacturer would not be producing the Nissan X-Trail in Sunderland. Sunderland is the largest automotive manufacturing plant in the UK.

The Trump Administration and the EPA officials have scrapped all further talks with California and canceled the $929 million in federal funds for a California high-speed rail project.

California's Governor has responded that this is in response to California leading a 16 state coalition challenge to President Trump's national emergency to take funds from the defense department and apply it to building a wall from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.

California has already filed suit to block the Trump administration proposal to roll back federal fuel economy targets for 2022-2025.

CARB Chair Mary Nichols is on record that they are willing to work with the auto industry in giving more flexibility to comply with the greenhouse gas limits. This came as the White house administration instructed the EPA to break off talks before Christmas and have not responded to any suggested areas of compromise by California and the 19 states they are representing nor the auto industry suggestions for compromise.

While FCA declined to comment, GM and the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers did not respond to a request for comment. Ford has stated they are very disappointed in the failure of continued talks. Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of global operations said in a statement: "The auto industry needs regulatory certainty, not protracted litigation."

The auto industry is on record as opposing freezing the emissions / fuel efficiency standards to 2020 levels but also want relief from the roughly 5 percent annual carbon reduction targets for all vehicle classes fuel efficiency.

According to research issued by AAA, 40 percent of Americans expect driver assist systems with names like ProPilot, Co-Pilot 360, or Autopilot to give the vehicle the ability to drive itself.

In a quote to Automotive News, Director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations at AAA says "Somewhere in there, you'd think a pilot is involved, but indeed no, human driving is still required."

AAA examined 34 vehicle brands to identify the number of driver-assistance names used and found 40 different terms used to describe automated emergency braking, 20 terms for adaptive cruise control, and 19 different lane-keeping assist names. 

At CES this year, a coalition of automakers, safety advocates, and others launched Partner for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE). This organization is dedicated to the promotion of these technologies while simplifying the language used to describe them.

The number of automakers teaming up to share and develop new vehicles and technologies is growing in an effort to help reduce costs. A new report from German paper Handelsblatt says that BMW and Daimler are considering such a move.

Speaking to sources at both companies, BMW and Daimler are looking into possibly jointly developing their next-generation compact cars (BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class) - as part of a wider cooperation that includes sharing autonomous car tech. Working together on a new compact car platform would save the two companies billions in investments. If the two decide to move forward with this, the first cars aren't expected to arrive until 2025.

But trying to sell this idea to BMW and Mercedes-Benz engineers may be the difficult part according to the report.

Daimler and BMW have teamed up before,

• In 2015, the two along with Audi purchased Nokia's mapping software, Here.
• Last year, BMW and Daimler merged their short-term rental services to create a better presence in the mobility market.

Source: Handelsblatt, Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Ask Peter Welch, the CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) what worries him the most, he'll admit that it is average consumers getting priced out of new cars.

He admitted this yesterday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit. Welch said that the latest figures he has seen - through October of last year - reveal the average retail price of a new car climbing to a new high of $35,366. The average monthly payment is hovering at $538, and interest rates have climbed to an average of 5.76 percent (new) and 9 percent (used). Longer loan terms are becoming common, with the average length standing at 64.3 months.

"You know, people buying $55,000 pickup trucks with $1,000-a-month payments — I've never seen it. A lot of people don't think that's sustainable," said Welch.

"That is going to put a giant dent in the SAARs and it almost makes me wonder if at some point we're going to see another Henry Ford," offering new and more affordable vehicles.

Aside from more people buying more expensive trucks and utility vehicles, Welch said other reasons for the increases in prices come down to new fuel economy standards and safety equipment. He sees new car prices rising towards $40,000 with $800 monthly payments.

On a slightly positive note, NADA predicts that 16.8 million light vehicles will be sold in 2019. While down from 17.3 million in 2018, Welch notes there are some positive economic indicators "such as high employment rates, a solid GDP and a healthy economy overall."

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required) 

The recently announced alliance between Ford and Volkswagen will not bring any benefits to North America at the beginning. Both companies said that the partnership will focus on Africa, Europe, and South America beginning with commercial vans and the next-generation Ranger/Amarok pickup. Down the road, both Ford and Volkswagen said there could be a potential product for the U.S.

While Ford is keeping quiet on what that product could be, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said that a commercial vehicle being jointly developed by the two could come over.

"Some of those, yes, but it's not yet decided which vehicle comes to America," said Diess.

Volkswagen's commercial vehicle lineup is extensive with vans ranging in size from the compact Caddy (Transit Connect-sized) to the large Crafter (about Transit-sized). We would guess something like the Caddy and possibly the Transporter coming to the U.S. in the next few years. Of course, there is talk about a pickup truck - something dealers have been asking for some time. While there is a very slim chance of the Amarok coming, the Atlas Tanoak concept shown at New York last year seems to have a better chance.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), 2

2018 saw a continuation of near-record sales and large profits for automakers in the U.S., but that appears to be coming to an end. Bloomberg reports various factors are conspiring to end this trend such as increasing interest rates and the average price of a new vehicle hitting record highs. While some may point out that 2018 saw a 0.3 percent increase in vehicle deliveries (17.6 million according to AutoData), analysts point that this is due to the tax cuts brought by President Donald Trump last year and automakers selling more vehicles to fleets.

Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive said that the big U.S. automakers saw deliveries fall at a faster rate "in the last three months of the year than for all of 2018."

"For some automakers, the slowdown has already begun,” said Chesbrough.

Look at General Motors as an example. For the fourth quarter, GM reported a 2.7 percent drop in sales - 785,229 vs. 806,739 for 2017.

“We’ve had a gradually declining trend on retail even with the tax changes. That’s the kind of trajectory we would anticipate given continued headwinds on the economic side,” said Emily Kolinski Morris, Ford’s chief economist.

What are we expecting in terms of sales for the coming year? It seems everyone agrees that it will be at or under 17 million vehicles, but estimates vary widely with one predicting 16.5 million due to reductions in fleet purchases. Executives are quick to caution that sales won't implode this year. Scott Keogh, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen of America said on a conference call that unemployment is low and consumer confidence is high. But the issue uncertainty with Keogh saying consumers are watching "interest rates rise and are wary of what’s been a volatile stock market of late."

“When the headlines say that the market has had the worst falloff since 2008, that will rattle consumer confidence,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required)

Towards the end of last year, the fate of Faraday Future looked to be bleak. Their main investor, Chinese company Evergrande Health Industry Group filed a complaint with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that claimed Faraday tried to cancel a deal to sell a 45 percent stake to them. Evergrande claimed the company didn't meet various milestones to get the full $2 billion it had agreed to in the summer. But Faraday fought back, saying that Evergrade didn't cough up the cash.

This would only signal the beginning of various issues. Throughout October, reports started to emerge that Faraday started implementing austerity measures that included a 20 percent cut in salaries and laying off a small group of workers. Later in the month, one of the co-founders of Faraday, Nick Sampson would step down.

But there is some good news for Faraday. Earlier this week, Faraday Future announced that it and Evergrade have agreed to a new restructuring agreement. According to a statement, the new agreement will “terminate the previous investment contract, withdraw and waive all litigation and arbitration proceedings, and release all security including the asset preservation pledge and equity financing rights.” This agreement will see Evergrade's stake be reduced from 45 to 32 percent. 

The agreement also opens the door for Faraday to look for new financing, something the company has badly needed for months.

Source: Faraday Future on Twitter

China has announced today that it would be reducing tariffs on U.S.-built cars and car parts from 40 to 15 percent beginning on January 1st. This reduction will last for three months as the U.S. and China begin hashing out a new trade deal. We first reported the reduction of the tariffs earlier this week.

China's Ministry of Finance posted on their website said it hopes the talks between the two can go quickly and remove "all additional tariffs on each other’s goods" that were brought forth before the current trade-war.

“China just announced that their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our Trade War with them. They have just suspended U.S. Tariff Hikes. U.S. is doing very well. China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon!” President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter in response to the announcement.

China raised the tariffs on U.S.-built vehicles and parts back in July in response to the U.S. raised tariffs on Chinese-built vehicles and parts to 27.5 percent. The move caused a number of headaches for automakers which had to increase prices on models sold in China or change up various plans. Various automakers and groups welcomed the news.

At the moment, the U.S. hasn't announced any plans to reduce the 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese-built vehicles and parts.

Source: Associated Press, Reuters

The Chinese government is considering a proposal to reduce tariffs on U.S.-Built vehicles from the current 40 percent back down to the 15 percent before the trade war broke out between it and the U.S. Sources tell Bloomberg a proposal has been submitted to the cabinet to be reviewed in the coming days.

This proposal stems from a trade summit in Buenos Aires where U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce on the trade war earlier this month. After the meeting, Trump tweeted out that "China agreed to “reduce and remove” tariffs on imported American-made cars, something China did not confirm at the time." Shares of various automakers including Diamler, Ford, and Tesla rose on the news.

The trade war between the U.S. and China has taken a toll on automakers. Both BMW and Dimaler have warned of lower profits as tariffs have forced them to raise prices in China. Others such as Volvo and Ford have made changes to production and vehicle plans. 

China's Finance Ministry didn't respond to Bloomberg's request for a comment.

Source: Bloomberg

Back in June, Ford and Volkswagen signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a new alliance that would focus on commercial vehicles. Since then, the two companies have been in discussions about it and there have been various rumors flying about. Yesterday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess added some more fuel to the fire.

Speaking to reporters outside of the White House, Diess revealed that the German automaker is interested in using Ford's plants in the U.S. to build vehicles.

"We might use Ford capacity here in the U.S. to build cars for us," said Diess.

“We need additional capacity here in the United States, we need an additional car plant for VW and Audi combined.”

The company is in "quite advanced negotiations in Tennessee" about a new plant in the state - Volkswagen operates one in Chattanooga for the Passat and Atlas. But Diess did say "there might be other options as well," most likely talking about using some of Ford's plants in the U.S.

For now, this is an idea being floating out there. The two are continuing their talks about what this alliance will look like. Diess said more details would come out in January.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

It is already tough for a number of people to afford a new vehicle as the average transaction price keeps rising. According to Kelly Blue Book, the average transaction price for November rose 2.1 percent to $36,978. This isn't being helped by American automakers deciding to stop producing cars due to changing consumer tastes. This was brought to light last week when General Motors announced that it would be cutting a number of cars including the Chevrolet Cruze. Most automakers and dealers believe consumers will move towards utility vehicles, but some dealers believe that consumers may defect from American automakers because they don't offer the vehicle they are looking for.

Chad Martin, a Bowling Green, Ky., dealer tells Automotive News that consumers feel the "affordability pinch" when automakers decide to drop cars to focus more on utility vehicles. For the most part, consumers "generally seem to be shopping for a particular type of vehicle, such as compact cars." Remove them out of your lineup and consumers are likely going to look elsewhere.

"What this is going to mean is, you're going to see a somewhat higher defection rate because you don't have the product lineup that particular consumer wants," said Martin.

Another big hurdle facing consumers who want to stick with the domestics is pricing. Martin explained that there is more than a $5,000 difference in pricing between compact crossovers and compact sedans. 

Obviously, the consumer is going to have to absorb that $5,000 difference," said Martin.

The numbers from Kelly Blue Book tell the story.

• Compact Car Average Transaction Price: $20,458
• Subcompact Crossover/SUV Average Transaction Price: $24,210
• Compact Crossover/SUV Average Transaction Price: $28,765

Jeremy Acevedo, Edmunds' manager of industry analysis agrees with the sentiment said by some dealers that consumers loyal to a segment may look elsewhere.

"It's easy for shoppers to move from a Cavalier to a Cobalt to a Cruze. But it's a whole different ballgame moving from a car to an SUV."

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Developing autonomous vehicles in sunny, dry locales like Phoenix, Arizona has proven to be difficult due to numerous variables such as traffic and human behavior. But an upcoming study from Michigan State University reveals that autonomous technologies still have a number of hurdles as testing begins in areas with changing conditions.

Automotive News had the chance to speak with Hayder Radha, an MSU professor of electrical and computer engineering who oversaw the upcoming study. The findings reveal that the algorithms that are used to distill the various bits of information coming from the cameras and radar/lidar sensors have issues when it lightly rains.

"When we run these algorithms, we see very noticeable, tangible degradation in detection. Even low-intensity rain can really create some serious problems, and as you increase the intensity, the performance of what we consider state-of-the-art mechanisms can almost become paralyzed," said Radha.

"Once you throw in a few drops of rain, they get confused. It's like putting eyedrops in your eye and expecting to see right away."

Researchers looked at various parameters in their study, including the size of the raindrops and the effect of wind. Using a scale that ranged from a clear day to a major downpour, the study revealed that algorithms failed to detect as much "as 20 percent of objects when the rain intensity was 10 percent of the worst-case scenario." This increased to 40 percent when the intensity of the rain increased to 30 percent.

Other weather-related issues that were revealed in MSU's study,

• The high-resolution maps that autonomous systems to determine their location may need to be updated due to the changing seasons.
  • "You can imagine in environments where there are a lot of leaves on trees or on shrubs close to the road, they are an essential part of the map. So summer and winter are completely different. When they fall down in winter, you have nothing to work with. So that tells you that for this technology to be robust, it needs to be developed in different conditions than you see only in Arizona and Silicon Valley," explained Radha.
• Cold temperatures play havoc with lidar sensors. The study reveals that the amount of "poor-quality or irrelevant returns from lidar sensors" increased as if the temperature was at 10 degrees Fahrenheit or less.

Some of these issues can be addressed by getting more information from radar and lidar as engineers develop various ways to use them to classify objects. But Radha explains the big improvements will come when self-driving tech is tested in other locations such as Michigan and Pittsburgh to name a couple.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Most buyers don't tend to think of resale value until it comes time to sell their vehicle. But which models keep their value and which ones don't? iSeeCars.com recently published a study that looked into more than 4.3 million new and used car sales to determine which models lowest and highest loss in value after a five-year time frame.

What vehicles had the lowest depreciation? According to iSeeCars, that would be SUVs and trucks. Taking the number one spot was the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with an average depreciation rate of 27.3 percent. One only car, the Subaru Impreza would make the list - ninth place with a 42.3 percent average depreciation rate. On the opposite end, the Nissan Leaf has the highest depreciation at 71.7 percent. The rest of the list is made up mostly by luxury vehicles like the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

"While the average new vehicle loses 50.2 percent of its value after five years, there are vehicles that retain more of their value and depreciate less than average. For consumers who buy new vehicles and sell them around the five-year mark, choosing a model that retains the most value is a smart economic decision,” said iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly.

Some other findings from iSeeCars.com study,

• Toyota Prius c and Prius owners are sitting pretty as they are the lowest depreciating hybrid models in iSeeCars' analysis - 51.5 and 54.1 percent respectively. 
• The BMW X5 and X3 lose a fair amount of their value over the course of five years - 65.6 and 64 percent.
• For sports cars, the lowest depreciation models are the Subaru Impreza WRX (35.9 percent), Volkswagen Golf R (43.3 percent), and Chevrolet Corvette (44.6 percent).

Source: iSeeCars.com

Back i n May, the U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation into car imports to determine the impact of car imports. The investigation falls under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which states "whether imports of automobiles, including SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts into the United States threaten to impair the national security." This could allow the Trump administration to levy tariffs as high as 25 percent on foreign-built vehicles.

Yesterday, the Commerce Department submitted their draft report into the investigation. The Trump administration has 90 days to determine whether or not to move forward on various measures such as implementing tariffs if the report concludes that imports are a security threat. But Bloomberg is reporting that the administration is holding off on imposing new tariffs. Two sources tell the publication that top officials are considering revising plans due to the report. The sources also said that the report "would be subject to further changes."

President Trump has been using the threat of tariffs as leverage during negotiations with trade partners. Already, Trump has promised not to impose any auto tariffs on Europe while the two work on a new trade deal. But a number of foreign governments and companies have said the tariffs would cause more harm. The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates tariffs would add $2,270 to the cost of U.S.-built vehicles and $6,875 to the cost of imported vehicles.

It doesn't help that many in Trump's senior economic team believe slapping tariffs on imported cars is a bad idea. According to a report from Axios yesterday, "about every member of his senior economic team besides Peter Navarro believes this is a terrible idea."

The battle to be the first Chinese automaker to make it in the U.S. is heating up. Ford's Chinese partner Zotye has been setting up agreements for about 20 dealerships in the US,  The goal is to bring the Zoyte T600 to the US in 2020. Previously Guangzhou Automotive had planned to bring their vehicles to the U.S. in 2019, but Trump's tariffs would delay their arrival. 

The T600, which looks like a cross between an Audi Q5 and previous generation VW Tiguan, sells between approximately $12,000 and $20,000 in China. 

Zotye plans to position themselves as a budget brand and is looking towards GM's Saturn dealership model as inspiration for its retailers.

Currently, the only Chinese built vehicles sold in the US are sold by US (Buick Envision, Cadillac CT6 PHEV) or European brands (Volvo S60 Inscription previous generation)

Since Volkswagen and Ford announced a new partnership back in the summer, there have been rumors flying around if it could expand into other areas. The two said it would primarily focus commercial vehicles, but they were open to other opportunities. As we reported last week, the two are discussing the possibility of expanding into autonomous tech and electric vehicles.

Recently, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess gave an interview to Automotive News. He reiterated that the focus of the partnership is for commercial vehicles, but could expand.

“There’s nothing signed yet with Ford. We are in talks. Most of the talks have been centered around our light-duty vehicles — our small commercial vehicles business in Europe, where we found huge synergies. We are both relatively small in size against our peers, so what we’re talking about is sharing a few platforms and manufacturing sites there, which makes sense. And within the dialogue, we are also touching other options, but this will be the main focus if we come to a conclusion,” said Diess.

One example Diess brought up is using the Ford Ranger as a replacement for the Volkswagen Amarok. The current truck has been on sale since 2010 with a range of diesel engines to compete against the likes of the Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Nissan Navara. Developing a new model would cost a fair amount of cash that Volkswagen would like to use elsewhere. This is where Ford could in and allow Volkswagen to use the Ranger as a basis for a next-generation Amarok. This may allow Volkswagen to sell the Amarok in the U.S. Of course, there is also the Atlas Tanoak concept shown at the New York Auto Show earlier this year that Volkswagen is considering sending into production.

“If the Ford relationship works out well, we would have an Amarok successor, which would be then appropriate for sales worldwide — potentially as well for the United States. The other option is a unibody pickup, which is something for America, which is probably still a bit risky,” said Diess.

This is one of many decision that Volkswagen might make in the near future. Another is allowing Ford to use their MEB toolkit for electric vehicles.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

A new report from the German publication Handelsblatt says that Ford and Volkswagen are considering expanding their partnership "that stands to change the German industry.” The two are reportedly looking into working together on autonomous tech and electric vehicle development.

There are a number of ideas under consideration between two. One example is for Volkswagem's Moia self-driving subsidiary to take a 50 percent stake into Ford’s Autonomous Vehicles LLC. In return, Volkswagen could share their MEB toolkit with Ford on electric vehicles. The expansion in the partnership could also see Volkswagen buying combustion engines from Ford in an effort to reduce investments into diesel engines.

Why are the two considering this expansion? For one, it would allow the two companies to pool their efforts to catch up with various competitors such as Tesla and Waymo, while saving cash. It is also being seen as a survival tactic in certain markets. Ford is struggling in Europe and South America, while Volkswagen is having issues in North America.

Volkswagen's supervisory board will be holding a meeting later this month to consider whether or not it will expand this partnership.

Source: Handelsblatt Global

The future of Faraday Future is becoming dimmer. The Verge reported yesterday that the automaker has decided to shut down some operations this week at their headquarters in Gardena, California, and at its factory in Hanford, California. Workers who started after May 1st of this year “must take a furlough,” according to an email sent by FF CEO Jia Yueting. Those working before "will have the option to remain on board with a reduced salary of $50,000 per year," employees told The Verge. Yueting said the furlough will last at least through December, and is dependent on finding new funding.

“We are grateful to all of the hundreds of employees who are willing to stay with the minimum wage [sic] and continue to work on the FF91 core project. This was an extremely tough decision to make, and we recognize the emotional stress and financial strain this puts on people’s personal lives.”

In addition, Nick Sampson, one of Faraday Future’s three co-founders resigned yesterday. This follows the departure of Peter Savagian, former chief engineer of GM's EV1 and Faraday Future's senior vice president of technology and product development.

“The company is effectively insolvent in both its financial and personnel assets, it will at best will [sic] limp along for the foreseeable future. I feel that my role in Faraday Future is no long [sic] a path that I can follow, so I will leave the company, effective immediately. I cannot continue knowing the devestating [sic] impact we are having on the lives of our employees, their families and loved ones as we as the [sic] ripple effect this will have on lives throughout our suppliers and the industry as a whole,” Sampson wrote in an email obtained by The Verge.

 “I have tried as best as I know how to find solutions to the problems but have met insurmountable barriers that I have not been able to resolve. I am sorry and sad that this day has been reached but I must do what my heart tells me.”

Sampson added in his email that “if circumstances should materially change, I certainly would consider returning to the company.”

A Faraday Future spokesman confirmed the departures of Sampson and Savagian in an email.

Last week, Faraday Future announced that it would staff salaries by 20 percent and layoff a number of workers in an effort to save some money. Good news would come later in the week as an independent arbitrator allowed Faraday Future to look for funding without getting approval from its main investor Evergrande Health.

Source: The Verge
Pic Credit: Faraday Future

The bad news keeps hitting Faraday Future. Earlier this month, we reported on the fight between the automaker and its latest backer, Evergrande Health Industry Group. Faraday claims that Evergrande failed to provide additional funds as part of an investment deal. Evergrande has denied this claim and has brought in lawyers to fight this charge. But this row has caused the electric car start-up to make some difficult decisions.

The Verge obtained an email sent to Faraday Future staff on Sunday night, announcing that staff salaries would be cut by 20 percent, and laying off some workers. The email also states that FF CEO Jia Yueting has decreased his annual salary to $1.00. The austerity measures will begin next week.

“The company is committed to monitoring its finances and will reevaluate this decision with the goal of restoring salaries once funding is available,” the email states.

It's unclear how many people will be laid off. A representative for FF did not respond to The Verge when asked for a comment.

Source: Bloomberg, The Verge

On the surface, Faraday Future appears to been having a run of good luck. It had gotten a major investment from healthcare division of Chinese real estate group Evergrande; testing is continuing on their first EV, the FF 91; and the company has started building pre-production vehicles at its US plant. But trouble always seems to be looming and it has struck once again for the start-up automaker.

Yesterday, Reuters reported on a filing made by Evergrande Health for the Hong Kong stock exchange accusing Faraday Future of trying to cancel a deal to sell a 45 percent stake to Evergrande. Back in June, Evergrande Health agreed to buy the 45 percent stake into FF from previous owner Season Smart for $2 billion. It would begin with an $860 million initial payment, followed by installments of $600 million for 2019 and 2020. But Evergrande was notified a month later that FF had spent the $800 million it received from Season Smart back in December and was short on cash. It had agreed to pay $700 million ahead of schedule provided FF met certain undisclosed payment conditions.

But FF and CEO Jia Yueting has opened arbitration to nullify the deal as it said Evergrande did not fulfill its end of the bargain - providing the cash. Evergrande sees it very differently, accusing Yueting of manipulating board members to move forward with arbitration. The company also claims that FF wants to revoke Evergrande's ability to approve plans to raise more money.

That isn't the only money trouble FF is having. The Verge has learned from sources that a number of vendors and suppliers have not been paid in weeks. Emails that date back to August reveal Faraday Future representatives trying to explain the delay in payments is due to issues in payment processing. There are other excuses,

Quote

Others show repeated promises that checks were being issued, but awaiting signature, or held by the company’s “treasury department” for over a month, which two former employees who worked closely with Faraday Future’s finances say was the same stall tactic used in 2017 when the company was nearly out of money.

Emphasis mine.

One vendor told The Verge that an FF rep suggested they should hire a collection agency. Three other vendors have filed liens with the California Secretary of State - one of those totaling $400,000 for equipment sold to FF.

If that wasn't enough trouble for the company, FF's sole preproduction version of the FF91 caught on fire last month. The fire took place a few hours after the vehicle debuted at a “Futurist Day” event for its employees and families. The extent of damage is not clear as FF "made employees sign non-disclosure agreements specifically related to the fire," according to former employees. This is a major setback to the company's plan to begin production later this year.

Source: Reuters, The Verge

Prices on new pickup trucks have been steadily increasing as more people are choosing them as their family vehicle and in turn are wanting more luxury features. But this rise in prices has been making it harder for the average buyer to afford one.

Data from Edmunds shows through September, the average transaction price for a full-size pickup is $48,377; a 48 percent increase when compared to 10 years ago and 19 percent increased when compared to 2013.

"A 48-percent increase in price is the highest price increase for that time period out of all vehicle categories. Even at $45,000, it prices a lot of people out," said Ivan Drury, senior analyst at Edmunds to the Detroit Free Press.

"There are consumers who can afford the bare bones basic vehicles at $30,000, but once you're shown an option like a ventilated seat versus a cloth seat and it's 90 degrees outside, it becomes a very compelling argument to say yes. Ten years ago, comfort packages weren't offered on trucks. People are saying, 'I want those even if those vehicles are used to haul mulch.' "

A very telling sign that truck prices are beginning to push people out is the massive difference between the expected and the actually average transactional price. Cox Automotive reports that buyers of a full-size pickup expected to pay an average of $38,529 through the month August. The actual average transaction price through August was $47,987 according to Cox.

Also seeing a rise is the average income of truck buyers. Alexander Edwards, president of consultancy Strategic Vision tells the Free Press  that the median household income of a truck buyer has risen form $76,660 in 2009 to $100,305 in 2018. More telling is that the truck buyer has a higher income than a car buyer ($95,355).

Some are beginning to worry that pickup trucks are becoming a bit too expensive.

"In 1988, I sold my first pickup at $20,000 and I thought, 'Man, who could ever afford this?' Now, they're $60,000, $70,000, $80,000. ... I'm not sure everybody wants all that technology, but we're adding all of it. We're actually in the luxury business at those prices," said Charlie Gilchrist, owner of Gilchrist Automotive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

A survey done by CarGurus correlates Gilchrist's view. Asking 203 current pickup owners from their user panel, CarGurus reports that owners would call paying $35,000 on a truck a good deal. But increase it to the average price of $45,200 and its too much. Respondents also said they would be willing to give up such features as a automatic open-close tailgate and Wi-Fi hotspot for a lower price.

“This survey showed that pickup truck owners believe some of the new technology is nice to have, but not essential and not worth the price. We’re at an interesting time in the pickup truck category where many people are using their pickup trucks for more than just work. Those looking for a truck purely for work purposes don’t need all of the new luxury features, and those looking for a truck for commuting or leisure don’t need all of the new work features,” said Madison Gross, CarGurus' senior manager of customer insights.

Source: Detroit Free Press

The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) has been giving automakers in Europe various headaches. As we reported last week, Volkswagen has pushed back the U.S. launch of the Arteon to help boost inventory in Europe due to a delay in WLTP testing. Other automakers aren't so lucky.

According to Automotive News Europe, a number German automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have halted sales of some plug-in hybrids due to WLTP. In the new procedure, the way that PHEVs are tested reduces the effect of the fully-charged battery.

"The vehicles are tested with a full battery, then the test is repeated until the battery is empty, when they are tested again," according to ANE.

Germany's VDA on their website goes on to say that "the CO2 value is then calculated as the ratio of the electrical range to the total range."

This in turn has pushed the "crucial CO2 emissions figure above 50 grams per kilometer". Why is it so crucial? Many European countries off tax benefits on vehicles that produce less than 50g/km of CO2.

 Matthias Schmidt, an analyst for Sweden's AID automotive research company tells ANE that in Germany, many PHEVs have lost their 3,000-euro (about $3,500) incentive. To qualify again, automakers will need to fit larger batteries to their vehicles to qualify for the incentives. Automakers now find themselves in a tough place deciding whether to bite the bullet and add the larger battery or pull PHEVs off the market for the time being.

Here is the status of the various German automakers:

• BMW: Says its current lineup will meet WLTP, but ANE notes that certain models exceed the 50g/km of CO2 - example is the 225xe Active Tourer that produces 57 g/km. The 330e, the brand's second best-selling PHEV will not go back on sale until the next-generation model arrives next summer.
• Mercedes-Benz: Has no PHEVs on sale at the moment, but a spokesman said that the E-Class and S-Class PHEVs will go on sale within the next two months.
• Porsche: Has pulled sales of the Cayenne and Panamera PHEVs. "We will not start taking orders again until the cars are being built, the timing of which has not yet been confirmed," said a spokesman.
• Volkswagen: Stopped sales of the Golf and Passat GTE, both models appear in the top ten best selling PHEVs in Europe. A spokesman said both models would return next year with the introduction of updated models.

Source: Automotive News Europe (Subscription Required) 

On Friday, California regulators voted to require that automakers stick with the Obama-era emission regulations for vehicles sold in the state, no matter the efforts of the Trump administration to weaken the standards. This basically means vehicles built for through 2025 model year comply with the state’s standards and can legally be sold there. Beginning with the 2026 model year, vehicles have to meet the stricter standards if automakers want to sell vehicles in the state, along with the 12 other states and Washington D.C. that follow these regulations.

This is the latest salvo in the fight between California and Trump administration over emission standards. Back in August, the administration unveiled a new proposal that would freeze fuel efficiency requirements at 2020 levels through 2026. This proposal earned a large amount of criticism and a lawsuit filed by a group of states led by California.

In a statement, California Air Resources Board's Chair Mary Nichols said the state would “continue to work to keep a single national program,” but that the vote “ensures that California and 12 other states will not fall victim to the Trump administration’s rollback of vehicle standards should its proposal be finalized.”

Source: Reuters

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to open trade talks between the two nations. Previously, the president had threatened a 25 percent tariff on cars to reduce imports and encourage more production in the U.S. The two agree that the "sanctions on auto exports won’t be applied while the talks take place."

A key topic of talks will likely be giving better access to U.S. cars to be sold in Japan, something President Trump has complained about before. Data from Japan’s auto industry associations said only 0.3 percent of the 3.2 million vehicles sold in the country this year when American brands. Contrast this to 40 percent of the U.S.' market share being made up by Japanese automakers according to Bloomberg.

But there arises a problem with Trump's ambition, Japanese buyers aren't interested. Japan has argued time and time again that the reason American automakers don't do some well is the perception of that American cars are " bulky and inefficient". There is one American brand that bucks this trend, Jeep. According to Bloomberg, Jeep sold more than 7,000 vehicles in the first eight months of this year - beating all other U.S. brands combined.

Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required)

Many new cars are fitted with various driver assist systems; backup cameras, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, and lane-keep assist to name a few. But this has introduced the problem of drivers becoming too reliant on these systems, causing them not realize the limitations and taking their own "preventative measures".

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published a report this month looking into drivers' experiences with the assistance technologies and seeing how they relate to their understanding of it. The group commissioned researchers from the University of Iowa to survey over 1,200 owners of 2016 and 2017 model year vehicles equipped with ADAS technologies.

The study revealed that the majority of drivers have a favorable impression of ADAS tech, with at least "two in three owners of vehicles with each respective technology reported that they trusted it." Seven out ten respondents said they would want the respective ADAS tech on their current vehicle to be standard on their next one.

But, the study revealed that many drivers overestimate the capability of ADAS systems. Here are some of the key findings,

• Over 80 percent of drivers surveyed don't fully understand the limitations or believed that blind-spot monitoring systems could detect a large number of  fast-approaching vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.
• 25 percent of drivers surveyed said they don't look for oncoming vehicles when they change lanes because their vehicle has blind-spot monitoring.
• Nearly 40 percent of drivers don't understand the limitations of forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems. A number believed that the former would bring the vehicle to a stop, when in actuality only warns a driver of a possible collision.
• One in six drivers didn't know if their vehicle came equipped with an emergency braking system.
• About 29 percent of drivers admitted "feeling comfortable engaging in other tasks while driving" when using the adaptive cruise control system.

“When properly utilized, ADAS technologies have the potential to prevent 40 percent of all vehicle crashes and nearly 30 percent of traffic deaths. However, driver understanding and proper use is crucial in reaping the full safety benefits of these systems,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in a statement.

“Findings from this new research show that there is still a lot of work to be done in educating drivers about proper use of ADAS technologies and their limitations.”

AAA says automakers, dealers, and rental agencies need to provide better education to drivers about ADAS tech and their limitations.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), AAA

Drivers Rely Too Heavily on New Vehicle Safety Technologies In Spite of Limitations

• Misunderstanding and misuse of driver assistance technology could lead to a crash

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 26, 2018) – More and more, drivers are recognizing the value in having vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) like blind spot monitoring systems, forward collision warning and lane keeping assist. However, while many of these technologies are rapidly being offered as standard, many drivers are unaware of the safety limitations of ADAS in their vehicles, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. For example, researchers found that nearly 80 percent of drivers with blind spot monitoring systems were unaware of limitations or incorrectly believed the system could accurately detect vehicles passing at very high speeds or bicycles and pedestrians. In reality, the technology can only detect when a vehicle is traveling in a driver’s blind spot and many systems do not reliably detect pedestrians or cyclists. Lack of understanding or confusion about the proper function of ADAS technologies can lead to misuse and overreliance on the systems, which could result in a deadly crash.

“When properly utilized, ADAS technologies have the potential to prevent 40 percent of all vehicle crashes and nearly 30 percent of traffic deaths. However, driver understanding and proper use is crucial in reaping the full safety benefits of these systems,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Findings from this new research show that there is still a lot of work to be done in educating drivers about proper use of ADAS technologies and their limitations.”

In 2016, more than 37,400 people were killed in traffic crashes- a five percent increase from 2015. “With ADAS technologies offering proven safety benefits when properly used, it is important that automakers and others play a greater role in educating motorists about the technology available in the vehicles they purchase,” said Jake Nelson, AAA director of traffic safety advocacy and research. “AAA also urges drivers to take charge of learning their vehicle technology’s functions and limitations in order to improve safety on the road.”

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety commissioned researchers from the University of Iowa to survey drivers who recently purchased a 2016 or 2017 model-year vehicle with ADAS technologies. Researchers evaluated drivers’ opinions, awareness and understanding of these technologies and found that most did not know or understand the limitations of the systems:

• Blind spot monitoring: 80 percent of drivers did not know the technology’s limitations or incorrectly believed that the systems could monitor the roadway behind the vehicle or reliably detect bicycles, pedestrians and vehicles passing at high speeds.
• Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking: nearly 40 percent of drivers did not know the system’s limitations, or confused the two technologies- incorrectly reporting that forward collision warning could apply the brakes in the case of an emergency when the technology is only designed to deliver a warning signal. Moreover, roughly one in six vehicle owners in the survey reported that they did not know whether or not their vehicle was equipped with automatic emergency braking.

False expectations for ADAS systems can easily lead to misuse of the technology or an increase in driver distraction. In the survey:

• About 25 percent of drivers using blind spot monitoring or rear cross traffic alert systems report feeling comfortable relying solely on the systems and not performing visual checks or looking over their shoulder for oncoming traffic or pedestrians.
• About 25 percent of vehicle owners using forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems report feeling comfortable engaging in other tasks while driving.

“New vehicle safety technology is designed to make driving safer, but it does not replace the important role each of us plays behind the wheel,” Yang continued. “The prospect of self-driving cars is exciting, but we aren’t there yet.  Automakers have an ethical and important responsibility to accurately market, and to carefully educate consumers about the technologies we purchase in the vehicles we drive off the lot.”

As part of its ongoing traffic safety mission, new AAA Foundation research also evaluated the potential these popular advanced driver assistance technologies have in helping to reduce or prevent crashes. The findings show that if installed on all vehicles, ADAS technologies can potentially prevent more than 2.7 million crashes, 1.1 million injuries and nearly 9,500 deaths each year:

Despite the findings that show confusion about some ADAS technologies, at least 70 percent of vehicle owners report that they would recommend the technology to other drivers. The greatest proportion of drivers reported trusting blind spot monitoring systems (84 percent), followed by rear-cross traffic alert (82 percent), lane departure warning (77 percent), lane keeping assist (73 percent), forward collision warning (69 percent) and automatic emergency braking (66 percent).

These findings should prompt additional focus on the importance of educating new and used car buyers about how safety technologies work. “The training drivers need to properly use the safety technologies in their vehicles is not currently offered,” added Nelson. “If educating consumers about vehicle technology was as much a priority for the automakers and dealers as making the sale, we would all reap the benefits.”

Only about half of the drivers who report purchasing their vehicle from a car dealership recalled being offered a training on the ADAS technology. However, for those who were, nearly 90 percent took advantage of the opportunity and completed the training.

For now, drivers are their best safety advocate to ensure that they understand their technology’s features, functions and limitations before leaving the lot. In order to reduce misuse or overreliance on the systems, AAA encourages drivers to:

• Read up: Read your owner’s manual to learn what systems are installed in your vehicle.
• See it in action: Insist on an in-vehicle demonstration and test drive to better understand how the systems will engage on the roadway.
• Ask questions: Ask plenty of questions about the alerts, functions, capabilities and limitations of the vehicle’s safety technologies before leaving the dealership. For example, ask if there are scenarios when a technology will not function properly on the road.

New cars are getting more and more expensive. Kelly Blue Book reported earlier this month that the average transaction price of a new car was $35,541, up 1.8 percent compared to the same time last year. This has more consumers checking out the used car lot, causing demand to rise.

“Customers forget a new car is now more than $30,000 and they expect it to be $20,000,” said Brian Allan, a senior director at Galpin Motors Inc., to the Wall Street Journal.

“When people see the price has gone up, it is sticker shock, especially when people only buy a car every five to six years."

Data from Edmunds reports that the gap between the price of a new and used car is now at one "of its largest points in more than a decade". Key reasons for this gap include consumers trending to trucks and SUVs, and automakers adding more expensive tech.

This summer saw a strong demand for used cars and analysts are predicting this trend to continue throughout the rest of the year, partly due to dealers stocking more trucks and utility vehicles. Prices of used cars are also on the rise. Edmunds reports that buyers paid an average of $22,489 for a three-year old used car in the second-quarter - up $865 from the same time last year.

This isn't good news for automakers as new car sales are starting to slow down and pressure could begin building to deepen discounts to lure consumers back. Lenders have been extending the length of loans and introducing 0 percent financing to make buying new more attractive.

Source: Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on about $200 billion in Chinese goods beginning next Monday. The tariffs are set at 10 percent and could rise to 25 percent in January if the Chinese government refuses to offer concessions. Today, the Chinese government announced that it would take retaliatory action by placing tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.

This is bad news for automakers as the Detroit Free Reports that more than 100 car parts - ranging from tires to batteries - will be hit by the tariffs.  Analysts told the paper the increased tariffs will raise prices and cause sales to fall, along with profits being cut for automakers.

It's going to be felt by Americans and it's going to be a big deal. Tariffs are taxes on consumption. Eventually, costs will be passed down to the consumer. This will drive vehicle costs higher. It also includes a lot of body shop equipment," said Peter Nagle, senior analyst at IHS Markit.

Analysts all agree that prices will go up, but aren't sure by how much.

"Prices are going to go up, but they won't go up by 25 percent. It is most unfortunate that this is coming at a time when the auto cycle is in very late stage. Vehicle sales already are in slow decline. This will probably will be quite a gut punch when they are forced to raise prices," explained Jon Gabrielsen, a market economist who advises automakers and auto suppliers. 

"It covers literally everything that goes into the construction of an automobile, from the smallest components and material inputs like the cords in tires and shafts and gears and bearings all the way up to completed engines and, in some cases, chassis with engines mounted. Thing is, it takes about three years to source each product. It takes many years and possibly a decade to make that full move."

Automakers didn't comment as to how they plan to absorb and pass the cost onto consumers. They did reiterate pleas for both governments to sit down and work this out.

Source: Detroit Free Press, Bloomberg via Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Last month, we reported on a rumor that that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was in talks about possibly providing funding to electric car start-up Lucid Motors. The fund would provide an initial investment of $500 million, but would expand it to a billion if certain milestones were met.

This morning, Lucid Motors announced that it signed an agreement with the PIF totaling over $1 billion, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. If given the go-ahead, Lucid will use the money to finish building their plant in Arizona, complete development on Air, and begin production by 2020.

“By investing in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, PIF is gaining exposure to long-term growth opportunities, supporting innovation and technological development, and driving revenue and sectoral diversification for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said a spokesman for the PIF.

The PIF made headlines last month when Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the fund as being the provider for the automaker to go private. This was based on discussions between the two, along with the fund purchasing a small stake. But as we reported later in the month, officials at the fund were not so keen on this idea.

Source: Lucid Motors