AD #3170 – Ford Announces Massive EV Investment; VW Still Paying Diesel Fines; 1st Photo of New Chevy Corvette Z06

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

FORD ANNOUNCES MASSIVE EV INVESTMENT
Ford is making a massive investment in electric vehicles. It’s building a gigantic, vertically integrated manufacturing complex that will cover 6 square miles in western Tennessee. It’s the largest manufacturing investment the company has ever made. They call it Blue Oval City and we call it the 21st Century version of the historic Rouge plant. Ford will make the next generation of the electric F-150 there, a clean sheet design that will have little in common with the Lightning pickup that goes on sale next year. The complex will also have a battery plant, a supplier park and a battery recycling center. And not far away in Kentucky, Ford is working with SK to build two other battery plants. Add it all up and Ford and SK will spend $11.4 billion, will create 11,000 new jobs and will build 129 gigawatts of battery power a year. Ford says the complex will be up and running in 2025. It’s going to be carbon neutral, will reuse all the water it needs for manufacturing and will generate zero landfill waste.

EV PICKUP PRODUCTION PLANS
Meanwhile, Autoforecast Solutions reports that Ford is going to build electric versions of its Super Duty pickups at its Detroit Electric Vehicle Center, which is located at the historic Rouge plant. Those trucks will go into production in August, 2025. And it reports that Rivian will start making its R1T electric pickup at a new $5 billion assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas in September, 2023.

VW STILL PAYING OUT DIESEL FINES
Six years after its diesel cheating scandal came to light, Volkswagen is still being punished for it. The automaker announced it agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle lawsuits in New Hampshire and Montana. And it will build another high-speed charging station in New Hampshire by 2024. The automaker also faces a similar lawsuit in Ohio that has the potential to cost even more. VW has paid more than $20 billion in the U.S. in fines and settlements related to the cheating scandal.

 

CITROEN ADDS LONG LENGTH TO ELECTRIC SPACETOURER LINEUP
Citroen is expanding its electric van lineup. The electric version of its SpaceTourer van, called the e-SpaceTourer, will now be offered in the longer XL length, rather than just one standard length. It’s available in two grades with one geared more toward family and commercial use, while the other is meant to be more upscale. Both have seating for up to nine people in three rows of seats, but since the additional length was added to the body and not the wheelbase, there’s no change in battery capacity or anything like that. The setup features a 100 kW electric motor and 55 kWh battery pack, which returns 143 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. Pricing for the long length e-SpaceTourer starts at just under 35,000 pounds before any incentives, which is roughly $47,500.

FIRST OFFICIAL CORVETTE Z06 PHOTO
The first official photo of the new Corvette Z06 is out. There are three main design differences we see in this image; the lower front fascia is much more open, the side intakes have a tuning fork shape and the rear wing is fully attached to the body. It’s rather subdued, especially in this silver paint color, but we’re guessing it’s going to let the engine do all the talking. Which is strongly rumored to be a 5.5L flat-plane crank V8 that produces around 600 horsepower. The Z06’s official debut is October 23rd so I’m sure we’ll have to live through a few more teasers before then.

 

CHEVY TAHOE & SUBURBAN UPDATED
And sticking with Chevy for a moment, it’s updating the Tahoe and Suburban. No cosmetic changes here, but its 420 horsepower 6.2L V8 engine will now be available on RST, Z71 and Premier trims. Also available is a new electronic limited slip differential, which helps improve driving performance. The Tahoe and Suburban now have the ability to tap into 13 different camera views to aid towing, which will make the new, larger 12.3 inch center display on LT trims and above even more useful. Those same trims get Google built-in as well. That allows users to make calls, send texts, change radio stations and volume, use navigation and adjust the HVAC with voice commands. Production of the new Tahoe and Suburban kicks off this month.

 

 

BMW TESTING AV TRANSPORTERS OUTSIDE OF PLANT
Automated transporters in manufacturing plants are nothing new. The devices carry parts or components around a plant autonomously. But now BMW is testing several different automated transporters outside its plant in Dingolfing, Germany. Two of them are tugger trains, one is transporting door handles and the other is transporting sheet metal parts. A self-driving car box is moving containers back and forth between locations where empty containers are stored. The other is an automated car trailer that moves containers arriving by rail to docking gates for outgoing goods. BMW hopes these automated transporters will help the plant run more efficiently. And while it sees potential for them in the future, it says there’s more challenges operating the devices outside and more sensors and systems are needed to make them work better.

CAN YOU NAME THIS MYSTERY CAR?
Autoline viewer Henry is looking for your help identifying this car spotted on the back of a car carrier. It’s a beauty of a classic with what appears to be a number of resto mods. Our first guess was a Datsun, but the taillamps and bumper are all wrong. But what say you? Let us know in the comments.

Race cars without drivers doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. But the Indy Autonomous Challenge that takes place at the Brickyard at the end of October is not about replacing drivers, it’s about finding extreme edge cases in autonomy. That’s going to be one of the topics on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Also, Michael Sprague, who runs Lincoln in North America will be on the show. So join John and Gary for an insider’s view of what’s going on in the automotive industry.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching.