Listen to “AD #3273 – Elon Musk Invites UAW To Hold Vote; Volvo Tests Wireless EV Charging; Ram Teases New BEV Pickup” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:08
0:08 Elon Musk Invites UAW To Hold Vote at Tesla’s California Plant
1:22 Tesla Receives Green Light to Start Building Cars in Berlin
1:44 Kia Shares BEV Plans
2:56 Traffic Deaths Jump Despite Fewer Drivers
4:17 Geely Wants More Battery Swapping Stations in China
4:59 Volvo Tests Wireless EV Charging in The Real World
6:11 Ram Teases New BEV Pickup
7:21 February New Car Sales Weak
8:19 U.S. BEV Sales Show Solid Growth
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ELON MUSK INVITES UAW TO HOLD VOTE AT CALIFORNIA PLANT
It looks like Elon Musk had a change of heart. Tesla’s CEO tweeted that he’s inviting the UAW to hold a vote at Tesla’s plant in California and said the company will do nothing to stop them. The union hasn’t responded to Musk’s comment. In that tweet, Elon said “Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave!” So he invited the UAW to hold a vote. But Elon hasn’t been welcoming of the union in the past. Back in 2018, the National Labor Relations Board found that Musk violated labor laws after he tweeted employees would lose stock options if they formed a union. I think it’s also telling that he talked about treating people well. Tesla currently has a discrimination lawsuit filed against it. And it’s important to remember that the Biden Administration is considering offering an extra $4,500 incentive to buyers who get an EV made in the U.S. by UAW labor. And Joe Biden was one of the people Musk was replying to in his tweet.
TESLA RECEIVES GREEN LIGHT TO START BUILDING CARS IN BERLIN
And speaking of Tesla, it just received a big victory. The EV maker finally won approval to start building vehicles at its plant in Berlin. Tesla originally planned to begin production last year but government red tape delayed the process. A formal announcement from the local German government is scheduled for tomorrow.
KIA SHARES BEV PLANS
Yesterday Ford, Stellantis and Hyundai all made big EV announcements. Well, now it’s Kia’s turn. It says it’s going to expand its BEV lineup to 14 models by 2027, which now includes an entry-level BEV model and two electric pickups with one of them for emerging markets. Its flagship electric vehicle, the EV9, a large SUV that’s around 5 meters or 16.5-feet long, is set to launch next year. It’s said to have roughly 540 kilometers or 335 miles of range, will be able to do 0-100 km/h in 5-seconds, OTA capability, in-car purchases for software functions and Level 3 autonomous driving. No doubt Kia will leverage the same Integrated Modular Architecture that Hyundai revealed yesterday for its future BEVs. In total, Kia says plans to sell 1.2 million BEVs a year by 2030. And if you combine that with Hyundai’s targets, the Hyundai Group will make over 3 million BEVs a year by the end of the decade.
TRAFFIC DEATHS JUMP DESPITE FEWER DRIVERS
Despite fewer people driving, traffic deaths jumped in 2020. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 38,800 people died in car crashes in 2020 in the U.S., up 7% from the year before and the highest total in 13 years. That’s despite an 11% decrease in total miles traveled due to pandemic lockdowns. Even more counter intuitively, total crashes decreased 22% and injuries fell 17% in 2020. But more drivers were driving recklessly, almost half of the deaths were caused by speeding, driving drunk or not wearing a seat belt.
GEELY WANTS MORE BATTERY SWAPPING STATIONS IN CHINA
Geely Chairman Li Shufu wants to see more battery swapping stations in China and is calling on the government to help expand the network. Currently, there are just under 1,200 swapping stations in China compared to 2.6 million EV charging outlets. So Li Shufu wants government standards for battery swapping packs, making the stations compatible for any brand and to move faster to standardize hardware and software for battery swapping interfaces. He says battery swapping offers a number of advantages over regular charging and says it’s ideal for heavy-duty trucks, taxis and ride-hailing services.
VOLVO TESTS WIRELESS EV CHARGING IN THE REAL WORLD
In other EV charging news regarding a Geely brand, Volvo is testing wireless charging in a real environment. A small fleet of fully electric XC40 Recharges will be used as taxis in Gothenburg, Sweden. They’ll be driven for more than 12 hours a day and will rack up 100,000 kilometers or 62,000 miles a year during the three-year project. The charging stations will feature wireless charging pads embedded in the street and provide more than 40 kW of charging power. So, drivers don’t have to get out of the car, they just park over the pad. And the XC40 Recharge’s 360-degree camera system helps with proper alignment. Wireless charging or what’s also called inductive charging requires a special contraption mounted under the vehicle as well. It’s the same idea behind those charging mats that you can toss your phone on. And if you’d like to learn more about inductive charging, we recently posted a video to our website and YouTube channel that goes into more detail, including in-road charging solutions that provide a charge while the vehicle is in motion.
RAM TEASES NEW BEV PICKUP
One of the things from the Stellantis presentation that we didn’t get to cover yesterday was the reveal of two new teaser pictures for the Ram BEV because it didn’t come out until we had already recorded the show. They show that lighting will be a key way to distinguish this truck from others. But also note the bulging hood with what looks like a heat extractor, distinct character lines over the fenders and a very raked-back windshield for a truck that helps make for a lower-looking cabin area. It looks like the same kind of effect hot-rodders get when they chop the top of a car. The truck will come out in 2024 and Ram says it will offer fully electrified solutions in the majority of its segments by 2025. We think that means everything but its heavy-duty trucks.
FEBRUARY NEW CAR SALES WEAK
New car sales in the American market were pretty weak in February. The SAAR came in at only 14 million vehicles. In January, it was at 15 million, and a year ago it was nearly 16 million. So that’s a big drop. But the problem is with tight inventory, not so much a lack of demand, and if the chip shortage ever ends, sales should pop back up again. Automakers sold just over 1 million vehicles and some had a better month than others. The top 5 gainers were Tesla, which was up a staggering 74% according to estimates from Wards Intelligence. BMW posted a 21% gain, Hyundai was up 10%, Mazda was up 8% and Porsche wasn’t too far behind.
| TOP 5 GAINERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tesla | 28,000 | +74% |
| BMW | 30,000 | +21.4% |
| Hyundai | 55,900 | +10.2% |
| Mazda | 28,166 | +8.3% |
| Porsche | 6,000 | +7.7% |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | ||
But for others it was a terrible month. Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen, Ford and Honda all saw their sales fall off a cliff.
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|---|---|---|
| Nissan | 61,490 | -28.6% |
| JLR | 6,500 | -28.4% |
| VW | 20,440 | -21.4% |
| Ford | 124,000 | -21.1% |
| Honda | 84,400 | -20.6% |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | ||
U.S. BEV SALES SHOW SOLID GROWTH
Meanwhile, sales of electric cars continued to grow, with over 44,000 customers driving away in a shiny new EV. Sales were up 68% from a year ago, and were even up 6% from January. Overall, BEVs accounted for 4% of the total market, and while Tesla is fueling most of that growth, others are starting to catch on, too. If you lump Audi’s different e-Tron models together they accounted for over 10% of Audi’s U.S. sales. And the Taycan accounted for over 15% of Porsche’s sales. While that may not be a tipping point for those brands, it’s only a matter of time before they hit it.
| TOP 10 EVs IN U.S. MARKET FEBRUARY 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Tesla Model Y | 14,731 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 12,436 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 2,555 |
| Kia EV6 | 2,125 |
| Ford Mach-E | 2,001 |
| Audi e-Tron | 1,404 |
| Nissan Leaf | 1,390 |
| VW ID.4 | 1,057 |
| Kia Niro | 993 |
| Porsche Taycan | 912 |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | |
Nissan is revamping the design of its entire lineup, from the new Z sports car to the electric Ariya. We thought it would be good to hear first-hand how the company is changing its design, so we invited David Woodhouse to join us on Autoline After Hours this afternoon. He’s the vice president of design for Nissan in the Americas, and many of you will remember he previously was the head of design at Lincoln, where he transformed the look of the luxury brand. Eric Noble from CarLab will also be on the show, so join John and Gary as they give you access to the top people in the automotive industry.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
