AD #3168 – Honda Passport TrailSport; Precept Wins EyesOn Design Awards; Chip Shortage to Cost OEMs Billions

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

CHIP SHORTAGE TO COST AUTOMAKERS $210 BILLION
The global chip shortage continues to wreak havoc on the auto industry and now AlixPartners says it is worse than it expected. Earlier in the year, AlixPartners estimated the shortage would cost automakers $110 billion, now it’s forecasting $210 billion. And it upped its estimate for lost vehicle production from 3.9 million to 7.7 million vehicles. While chip supplies were expected to start to return to normal by the end of the year, that’s unlikely to happen. A number of chip makers in Southeast Asia have had to shutdown production due to COVID disruptions and automakers say it’s now taking a record 21 weeks to fulfill chip orders.

NIO LAUNCHES NEW HYBRID BATTERY PACK
Chinese automaker NIO is launching a new hybrid battery pack. Not hybrid in the sense that it will power a hybrid vehicle. But hybrid because it uses two types of battery cell chemistries. The 75-kWh pack uses both ternary lithium, which is typically made up of nickel, manganese and cobalt, as well as lithium iron phosphate cells. One of the advantages of a hybrid battery is that you can tap into the best qualities of each cell type, including high energy density and good cold weather performance. In fact, when combined with a new thermal management system, NIO says the hybrid battery pack reduces the range loss in low temps by 25% compared to its 100-kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. Vehicles equipped with the new hybrid pack will start arriving in November.

POLESTAR PRECEPT WINS THREE EYESON DESIGN AWARDS
The automotive design community really loves Polestar’s Precept Concept. The vehicle just won three EyesOn Design awards at this year’s Motor Bella show for Best Concept Vehicle, Best Designed Interior and for Innovative Use of Color, Graphics or Materials. The vehicles are judged by designers from all over the industry, past and present, who get together to pick out the best cars you can see at the show. The judges also awarded the Ford Bronco as the Best Production Vehicle, which beat out the Lucid Air and Ferrari 296. Normally, the EyesOn Design award takes place during the Detroit auto show but it was cancelled this year and replaced with Motor Bella. And be sure to check out our coverage of Motor Bella, just look for the videos on our website in the Autoline on the Road section or you can find them on our YouTube channel.

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MERCEDES JOINS BATTERY PARTNERSHIP WITH STELLANTIS
Mercedes says it needs more than 200-GWh in total battery production capacity by the end of the decade to supply its electrification efforts. In order to reach that goal, it’s investing in the Automotive Cells Company, a European battery cell manufacturer that was established by Stellantis and TotalEnergies. Each company owns a 33% stake and with Mercedes’ participation, the manufacturing capacity of the project has been increased to at least 120-GWh by the end of the decade. Mercedes will invest around 500 million euros next year and while the entire project is going to take an investment of more than 7 billion euros, Mercedes doesn’t expect to spend more than a billion. 

JAPANESE AUTO INDUSTRY PARTNERS ON DEVELOPMENT
Speaking of collaboration, every major Japanese automaker and supplier – including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Mazda as well as AISIN, JATCO, DENSO, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric – have come together to lead the Japan Automotive Model-Based Engineering center. Its goal is to promote Model-Based Development across the Japanese automotive industry. That’s a style of development which uses virtual models instead of actual prototype parts during the design and R&D process. Not only does it save time, but it also allows changes to be made early in development and for the companies to more easily share these digital models. So the purpose of the center is to make an advanced development community, which it hopes will make Japan’s auto industry more competitive internationally. 

WULING TO INTRODUCE NEW COMPACT EV
As we’ve reported, the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV is red hot in China and the number one selling electric vehicle in the country. And now the automaker is getting set to expand in the small EV segment. Next week, it will unveil the NanoEV, a small two-seater that’s built on the same platform as the Hong Guang MINI EV, which believe it or not is actually a four-seater despite its small size. The NanoEV is expected to be equipped with a 24-kW electric motor compared to the 20-kW motor in the Hong Guang. That’s about all we know for now but we’ll learn more once it makes its debut.

HONDA UNVEILS PASSPORT TRAILSPORT
Earlier this month, Honda announced its launching a new off-road focused brand, called TrailSport, and here’s the first version, the Passport TrailSport. It comes standard with all-wheel drive and a terrain management system, but other than that the ruggedness of this vehicle is all cosmetic. The real upgrades are said to be coming over the next few model years. And while these images are only of the TrailSport version, you can see the Passport is getting a complete refresh. Pretty much everything from the A-pillar forward is brand new and the rear bumper, which includes larger exhaust outlets, was given a more rugged look. The main differences with the TrailSport is a unique grille treatment and more aggressive front and rear bumpers with the middle sections painted silver to look like skid plates. The 2022 Passport is expected to hit dealers sometime this winter.

But that’s a wrap for today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.