AD #3214 – BMW Makes Curious EV Claim; Aston Martin Revives Iconic V12 Vantage; USMCA Dispute Could End Up in Court

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

CANADA & MEXICO UPSET AT U.S. OVER VEHICLE ORIGIN RULES
Canada and Mexico are upset with the U.S. They don’t like how it’s interpreting the rules for vehicle parts under the USMCA free trade agreement. Canada and Mexico say the deal allows them to make more parts to qualify for free trade than the U.S. allows. The U.S. wants more U.S. content, especially when it comes to EVs and their components. Canada and Mexico are evaluating their next steps, and this thing will probably end up in court.

RENAULT EXPECTS RECYCLING PLANT TO GENERATE BIG REVENUE
We know it takes fewer workers to assemble an EV, and one way automakers are trying to curb that job loss is by repurposing plants for other uses, like Renault’s Re-Factory. That’s where it’s converting a plant in Spain to do training and R&D for EVs, to recycle and create 2nd life applications for used batteries, build gearboxes and refurbish used vehicles. All this can generate a surprising amount of money. Renault’s CEO Luca de Meo expects the Re-Factory to generate over a billion euros in revenue by the end of the decade. And then they can recycle that money into developing new vehicles.

STELLANTIS & VW CONCERNED OVER EV TRANSITION COSTS
Automakers are going to need every penny they can get their hands on. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says it costs 50% more to make an EV compared to a conventional vehicle. He says that will push costs “beyond the limits” of what the industry can sustain. So, Stellantis is working to drastically boost productivity to offset that cost. It doesn’t want to raise prices, sell fewer vehicles, accept lower profits, or chop out more jobs. And Volkswagen says its six planned battery plants in Europe and the raw materials needed to supply them will cost 30 billion euros. VW says it can’t do it alone. It’s looking for outside partners and wants them to pay for 50% of the costs. 

BMW MAKES CURIOUS EV CLAIM
We thought you’d get a kick out of these pictures. They show a camouflaged prototype of the BMW i7 EV undergoing winter testing in northern Sweden. But we thought you’d get a kick out of it because BMW calls this the world’s first electric luxury sedan. Apparently the burgermeisters in Munich have never heard of the Lucid Air, are completely ignoring the Tesla Model S, and don’t even want to acknowledge the Mercedes EQS. Obviously, BMW is not clueless as to what’s going on in the market. So we’ll just chalk this up to marketing babble-talk. 

ELECTRIC AVIATOR TO BE BUILT ALONGSIDE MACH-E IN MEXICO
Looks like the Mach-E is getting a companion that will run down the assembly line in Cuautitlan, Mexico. AutoForecast Solutions reports that the all-electric version of the Lincoln Aviator will go into production in September, 2023. That makes us wonder if it will be built on the same platform as the Mach-E, or if it will go on one of the all new BEV platforms that Ford is developing.  

We invite you to join us for Autoline After Hours tomorrow. Jennifer Newman, the editor in chief at Cars.com and Dan Neil, the Pulitzer winning car critic from the Wall Street Journal, will be on the show. So join John and Gary as they talk about all things automotive. 

GM JOINS SUSTAINABILITY & HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE
One of the big topics in corporate boardrooms is what they call ESG, environmental, social and governance. It’s all about making sure a company has policies and procedures to help the planet and the people who live on it. That’s why General Motors just joined IRMA, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. The move to electric cars is kicking off a massive mining effort worldwide to extract more lithium, cobalt, copper, manganese and rare earths. IRMA is there to make sure that it’s done in a carbon neutral way and does not exploit the people who do the mining. 

NISSAN TO INSTALL BIG SOLAR FARM AT UK PLANT
Let the sun shine. Nissan is going to build a 20-megawatt solar farm at its Sunderland plant in the UK. This will double the amount of renewable energy generated at the plant to 20%, which will be enough power to build every Leaf EV sold in Europe. The new solar farm will be built alongside the factory’s current wind and solar farms and is expected to be completed next May. This is all part of Nissan’s goal to become carbon neutral across its entire product lifecycle by 2050.

BMW INVESTS IN ACTNANO
Earlier this year, we interviewed Taymur Ahmad, the CEO of actnano, a company that developed a nanocoating to protect electronic components from water, humidity, condensation and salt. And now BMW i Ventures, the automaker’s venture capital firm, is investing in the company. Its nanoGUARD technology is sprayed directly on the electronic component and unlike traditional coatings, can be applied to antennas and connectors, as well as underneath large components and processors, without the need for masking. The coating is more cost effective over current solutions and can be easily implemented in the manufacturing process, only taking 30 seconds to dry. And best of all it’s made from sustainable materials. actnano’s coating has already been applied to 2 million vehicles, including 80% of EVs in North America.

ASTON MARTIN REVIVES ICONIC V12 VANTAGE
With so much being invested in electrification from every corner of the industry, we know some of you get tired of hearing all that EV news. So, we’re happy to report that we finally have a gasoline burning, piston thumping, exhaust piercing story for you. Aston Martin revealed it’s bringing back the iconic V12 Vantage in 2022. But sadly, it seems like this could be the swan song for the Vantage. Aston says it’s not a limited edition. It’s the final edition. 

But with that exhaust burble we wrap up today’s show. Thanks for joining us and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.