AD #3180 – China Has Most Vehicles in the World; Ford Reveals All-New Tourneo Connect; GM Settles with LG Chem

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

CHINA HAS THE MOST VEHICLES IN THE WORLD
We start out today in China which just passed a historical milestone. It now has the most vehicles on the planet. According to the Ministry of Public Security there are 390 million vehicles registered in China, of which 297 million are passenger vehicles. According to Wards Intelligence, there are 289 million vehicles in the United States and 269 million in Western Europe. But it was only a matter of time before China had the most vehicles. It has four times the population of the U.S. or Western Europe.

CHINA’S ELECTRIFIED SALES SOAR
But the most recent sales story in China is the same as anywhere else in the world. Sales are plunging because of the chip shortage. They fell 20% last month. But sales of New Energy Vehicles, which includes BEVs and hybrids, were up more than 200% and captured 17% of the total Chinese market. Tesla led the way. It sold a stunning 52,000 cars in China last month, including 33,000 Model Ys. Tesla also exported 3,800 cars, so in total it sold over 56,000 Chinese-made cars. And that means it’s now running at a production rate of 600,000 vehicles a year at its plan in Shanghai.

TOYOTA TO TEST SOLAR PANELS IN CARS
Hey, maybe solar panels on cars make sense after all. Toyota, like most automakers, is forming partnerships to improve its environmental impact. So it teamed up with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science in Japan to develop carbon neutral technologies. One thing that caught our eye, is that they plan to develop cars with solar panels. Unfortunately, Toyota didn’t provide any other details but it’s not the first automaker to equip vehicles with solar panels. Hyundai and Kia offered them on their hybrids to help charge the battery.

GET TO KNOW THE LATEST AUTOMOTIVE VOCABULARY
To know what’s going on in the auto industry you need to be up to speed on the latest vocabulary. So here are some new terms to learn: digital twin, as well as SIL, HIL, MIL and DIL. Engineers now develop new cars in the virtual world, where they make a virtual model, what’s called a digital twin, which can do exactly what a car does in the real world. They can test out everything before they ever have to build a prototype, which saves a ton of time and money. And there are various components that go into making a digital twin. Hardware in the loop, or HIL. That refers to the parts and components that are developed in simulation. Then there’s software in the loop, or SIL. Same thing, only it applies to software. And then there’s MIL, model in the loop. That includes the entire car, both software and hardware. And then there’s DIL–driver in the loop, where drivers can drive the car in simulation to see how it performs. All these inputs–HIL, SIL, MIL and DIL–are used to make the digital twin more accurate. And it can reduce the time it takes to develop a new model by nearly a year.

FORD REVEALS ALL-NEW TOURNEO CONNECT VAN
Ford has a van for practically every occasion in Europe and it’s showing off its newest people mover, the Tourneo Connect. The all-new version of the van gets styling inspiration from it’s passenger cars, but you’ll notice some nuance between the different trims, like the Active model, which features extra black cladding, a honeycomb grille pattern and unique 17-inch wheels. There’s both a short- and long-wheelbase version available and seating for up to seven with three rows of seats. Sticking with the interior, an 8 and a quarter inch center display screen is standard, but there’s a 10-incher available that can combine with an optional 10 and quarter inch digital instrument cluster. Under the hood will be a range of gas and diesel engines, which can be mated to either a 6-speed manual or 7-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is also available for the first time on the model. Orders for the new Tourneo Connect open early next year with deliveries to customers kicking off in the spring.

HONDA TESTING NEW CIVIC SI ON-TRACK
Honda says the new Civic Si will be revealed “soon,” but in the meantime it’s showing how some of its engineers are developing a version of the car for on-track competition. We think that strongly suggests the new Civic Si will be doing some racing, but we should know more “soon.”

MOPAR TEASES SEMA CONCEPTS
Mopar always has something fun in store for SEMA and this year is no different. It’s showing off a number of design sketches of the vehicles it will have on display, which hints at some pretty cool stuff. One looks like a modified version of the Wrangler 4xe or it could also be a Gladiator. Another looks like a 4xe version of the Ram pickup and possibly even a version of the TRX. It will also have a military-syle off-roader and we’re guessing it has a modified Wagoneer or Grand Wagoneer as well. But we’ll learn more around the time SEMA kicks off on November 2nd.

GM REACHES SETTLEMENT W/ LG OVER BOLT BATTERIES
General Motors reached a settlement with LG Chem over faulty batteries in Chevy Bolt EVs that could lead to fires. And LG is going to pay for $1.9 billion of the $2 billion that the recall cost. GM was forced to recall more than 140,000 Bolt EVs and EUVs because a manufacturing defect in the battery could cause it to catch fire. Last month, GM and LG came out with a fix for the batteries. Prior to that, GM told owners to park their cars outside and not charge them overnight.

MORE ULTRACRUISE DETAILS
We’ve got more info on GM’s UltraCruise, which will make its debut in an unnamed 2023 Cadillac. It will provide hands-free driving in 95% of all situations, including on highways and surface streets. It will make left and right hand turns, handle stop-and-go situations like traffic lights, and will even park in your driveway. About the only thing it can’t handle right now are roundabouts. It uses Lidar, radar and cameras. It also uses maps that GM generated, not bought from 3rd parties. When GM launched SuperCruise it had 130,000 miles of roads mapped in the US and Canada that the system could use. It now has 200,000 miles of mapped roads. But UltraCruise will launch with over 2 million miles of mapped roads, and will go to 3.4 million miles after that. GM’s vision is for drivers to be able to drive from Michigan to Florida, a 21 hour trip, and have 20 hours of that be hands-free.

If you’d like to learn more about the design of the new Ford Maverick, be sure to tune in to Autoline After Hours on Thursday afternoon. Our guest will be Scott Anderson, who led the interior design team. That truck has a lot of clever design features, including door trim that uses plastic regrind, yet looks pretty good. That’s Autoline After Hours this Thursday, starting at 2 pm eastern time.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.