AD #3867 – EV Push Will Hurt Plant Output; BMW Calls EU E-Fuel Plan “Bogus Solution”; Dodge Reveals Pricing for 1st EV

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EV PUSH WILL HURT PLANT OUTPUT
Most automakers already lose money on every EV that they sell and the push to electrification is projected to make their operations more inefficient, which will make turning a profit even harder. According to GlobalData, the average plant in North America builds about 70% of the vehicles that it’s capable of. A rule of thumb in the industry is that a plant becomes profitable right around 80% utilization, but that 70% is an improvement from the pandemic and chip shortage, which dragged it down to 61%. However, as the need to build more EVs rises, plant utilization is projected to drop to 65% by 2028 and keep going down to 63% by 2033. The problem is that some plants are only dedicated to building ICE or EV, so they won’t be fully utilized. But some of that could be offset with an increase in sales. GlobalData forecasts that sales in the U.S. will rise to 17 million units, which is a very healthy number. They haven’t been that high since 2019 and is a big increase from last year’s 15.6 million.

CHINA NEVs TOP 50% MARKET SHARE
In April reports came out that Mexico was holding off incentives for Chinese automakers to invest in the country, under pressure from the U.S. But it looks like SAIC may have found a way around that. MG, a former iconic British brand now owned by SAIC, announced that it’s going to build a plant and set up an R&D center in Mexico. It will use the facilities to expand into Latin America and the Caribbean and says that IM, another brand under SAIC that makes premium EVs, will also enter the Mexican market. However, no word yet how much it’s investing or when construction starts.

MG ANNOUNCES MEXICO PLANT & R&D CENTER
One reason Chinese automakers want to expand overseas is because sales in their home market continues to fall. According to the China Passenger Car Association automakers sold a little over 1.7 million vehicles in July, a drop of 3.1% compared to last year. That decline came from gas and hybrid models. New Energy Vehicles, which includes PHEVs and BEVs, saw their sales jump 37% from last year and finally crossed the 50% market share milestone. July NEV sales also increased even more over June sales, which itself saw a year-over-year jump.

HONDA SUPPLYING YAMAHA WITH EV MOTORCYCLES
Honda is going to start supplying Yamaha with electric motorcycles for Japan. Specifically, it will supply Yamaha with versions of its EM1 and BENLY models, which are powered by swappable battery packs. They’re meant for both personal and business use and fit into Japan’s Class 1 category, which is a vehicle with two or more wheels and an engine displacement of 50cc or less or an electric motor with .6 kW or less, which is about .8 horsepower. But no word on when they’ll go on sale yet.

BMW CALLS EU E-FUEL PLAN “BOGUS SOLUTION”
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse isn’t happy with Europe’s plan to allow ICE vehicles to run on synthetic fuel or what are sometimes called e-fuels after 2035. The EU originally planned to ban all ICEs in 2035 but it is considering an exemption for cars that run on e-fuels. BMW isn’t necessarily against the exemption but Zipse called it a “bogus solution.” He doesn’t believe the EU is committed to the plan and says the government would need to provide funding to ramp up the use of e-fuels. Without the assistance Zipse says the e-fuel exemption effectively remains an ICE ban “through the back door.” And we’ve heard similar concerns from other powertrain executives at car companies that say e-fuels will take too long to get to the market and will cost too much. And that’s why Zipse is calling for help.

BMW MAKES SEAT WITHOUT SUPPORT STRUCTURES
And in other BMW news, the automaker just received an award for developing a lightweight and more sustainable car seat. Called the BMW M Visionary Materials Seat, it features natural fibers, fiber composites, leather alternatives and algae-based polymers. A new additive manufacturing process also allowed engineers to completely eliminate support structures, chemical post treatment and finishing. And thanks to the natural materials and manufacturing process, the seat’s CO2e footprint is 90% lower than BMW’s current carbon bucket seats. It’s not clear if it will make it into production but BMW says it will incorporate what it has learned into future processes.

DODGE REVEALS PRICING FOR 1ST EV
Dodge revealed pricing for the new Charger Daytona electric. R/T models that produce 496 horsepower and 404 lb-ft of torque start just over $61,500. And Scat Pack models that crank out 670 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque start just over $75,000. Both prices include destination charges and are for two-door models, which go into production this summer. And the models only qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit when leased. Four-door models go into production in the first half of 2025 but we don’t know their pricing yet. The Charger Daytona is equipped with a 100.5-kWh battery pack and two electric drive modules at the front and rear. Each module produces 335 horsepower or 250-kW of power and 300 lb-ft of torque. The first Charger Daytona’s will arrive at dealerships in the fourth quarter of this year.

EV CHARGER STATUS OFTEN WRONG
We often hear complaints about the lack of EV charging stations but for the ones that do exist there’s another big issue. They aren’t accurately reporting their charging status. According to a study from ChargerHelp, a company that handles and maintains EV chargers, more than a quarter of stations either appear out of service when they’re functional, showed up as functional but were not operating or appeared to be in use when they were actually available. The study also found that chargers with payment issues were significantly more likely to be at stations that were down. The researchers recommended that station operators keep data accessible and that the industry needs to develop a way to accurately report uptime and to build more chargers.

Don’t forget to tune into Autoline After Hours today. John is off but co-host Gary Vasilash will get into the latest news with EVs, AVs and ICEs. And Sam Abuelsamid from Guidehouse Insights and the Wheel Bearings podcast, Stephanie Brinley from S&P Global and John Beltz Snyder from Autoblog will join us. And you can catch it all at 3PM EST today. But that’s it for this show. And I hope to see you later.