AD #3354 – Tesla Shanghai on Track for 1M EVs/Year; June Sales Forecast; VW’s MQB Spawned Over 32 Million Vehicles

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

JUNE SALES: FANTASTIC FOR FORD, DISASTER FOR HONDA
Automakers in the U.S. will count up their June sales on Thursday. And Wards Intelligence says it’s going to turn out to be a fantastic month for Ford but a disaster for Honda. It predicts Ford’s sales will shoot up 34%, while Honda’s will plummet 51%. Overall, Ward’s expects sales of 1.1 million vehicles, which is down 4% from May on a daily selling rate basis. The SAAR will come in at a weak 13.3 million vehicles. But there is one sign of hope. Inventory levels are starting to slowly go back up. In May automakers had a 25 days’ supply. Now it stands at 29 days.

TESLA SHANGHAI READIED TO MAKE 1 M CARS
Tesla is going to shut down its assembly plant in Shanghai for two weeks next month. But that’s because it’s getting ready to really boost production. The expansion will take the plant’s output from roughly 17,000 cars a week right now to 22,000 when it’s back to line speed. That would put the plant on track to make about 1,000,000 cars a year. We’ll have to watch and see if Tesla uses the increase in production to sell more EVs in the Chinese market, or continues to export half of those cars to other markets.

TOYOTA LOBBIES JAPAN TO PUSH HYBRIDS
Toyota built its future strategy on selling hybrids and the company has been very vocal about criticizing EV mandates. Now, Reuters reports that the President and Chairman of the company, Akio Toyoda, pressured the Japanese government to support hybrids just as much as BEVs in its environmental policy. The automaker argues that fossil fuels are the problem, not the internal combustion engine and that hybrids running on synthetic fuel are just as good for the environment as BEVs. Hybrids accounted for nearly 44% of new car sales in Japan last year while BEVs were less than 1%.

JAPAN PUSHES G7 TO WELCOME HYBRIDS
Looks like Toyota’s lobbying is paying off. Now the Japanese government is trying to get the G7 countries to remove a zero-emission vehicle target to combat climate change. Japan wants the other major countries to eliminate their goal of having half of all vehicles to be zero-emission by 2030. Instead it wants to replace that with a vague target of increasing the sale of light duty zero-emission vehicles, including hybrids. We’ll find out if Japan’s lobbying efforts paid off tomorrow. That’s when a final version of the proposal will be released.

 

VW ID. AERO IS LATEST EV EFFORT
Here’s a better look at the production-intent version of the ID. AERO sedan that VW teased in design sketches last week. This will be the top-of-the-line model in VW’s family of ID vehicles and it goes on sale in China in the second half of next year, followed by Europe and North America. Our guess about battery size was right at a usable space of up to 77 kWh. And VW says it will have a range of up to 620 kilometers or 385 miles, based on WLTP. This concept also features flush-mounted door handles and 22-inch wheels and while items like those sometimes don’t make it to production models, we bet they do in this case.

32 MILLION VW’S BUILT ON MQB
Speaking of VW, as it transitions to an all-electric lineup it’s reflecting on what is probably one of its last ICE-based platforms, MQB. Launched 10 years ago it’s supported everything from the Audi TT to the VW Atlas SUV. And with more than 32 million vehicles produced from it, MQB is VW’s most successful platform ever. Not only did it get big economies of scale, there’s a number of carry-over parts from one model to another. For example, the number of engine and gearbox combinations was cut in half and HVAC units went from 102 down to just 28. But Volkswagen is not completely done with MQB yet. It says it will continue to improve standards in terms of quality, value, functions and digital experience and will be used for new versions of its top sellers, like the Passat and Tiguan.

1,000 HP “SUCKER” CAR SMASHES GOODWOOD RECORD
EVs took over the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Not only were there plenty of electrics on display, some of the fastest cars at time trials had to plug in. Ford’s nearly 2,000 HP SuperVan was more than just a beauty queen, it set the 5th fastest time of any vehicle, screaming its way through the track. And the fastest vehicle was this wild bat-mobile-looking EV, called the McMurtry Speirling. It’s a 1,000 HP fan car that sucks itself to the track and actually broke the overall record set last year by VW’s all-electric ID.R race car. If you end up having a minute check out this whole video put out by Goodwood and watch the 10th fastest car, then skip to the Speirling. The difference in speed just watching the video is pretty amazing.

EVGO ADDED TO RUSSELL INDEXES
EVgo, the largest public fast charging network for electric vehicles, is being added to the Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 indexes. The indexes are used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and a benchmark for the stock market. We find it noteworthy because it’s a sign of how important EV charging is becoming.

CADILLAC CELESTIQ WILL COST $350,000+
The Wall Street Journal reports that Cadillac’s hand-made luxury car, the Celestiq, will cost over $300,000. We think it’s going to be more than that: over $350,000. And there will be a bespoke version that could well top $400,000. Why did Cadillac decide it needs to build a car like this? We’ve got a video that dives into why Cadillac desperately needs the Celestiq and you can find the link in today’s show notes, or in the description box below.

CLARIOS DEVELOPS LOW-VOLTAGE LITHIUM BATTERY
Most electric cars still use a lead acid battery for all their low voltage requirements. That’s because they’re far less expensive than a lithium battery. But they’re heavy, which hurts EV range. Now a company called Clarios developed what it calls an absorbent glass mat so that it can make low-cost lithium batteries for low voltage applications. And we’ll have Mark Wallace, the CEO of Clarios on Autoline After Hours this Thursday to explain why every electric car will probably start using it.

 

But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for joining us.