AD #3429 – BYD Almost Worth More Than GM & Ford Combined; Celestiq Utilizes Megacastings; Rolls Reveals Its 1st EV

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

BYD ALMOST WORTH MORE THAN GM & FORD COMBINED
As we reported last week, BYD took the EV sales crown from Tesla in China in September. And thanks to that jump in sales, the automaker’s profit soared in the third quarter. BYD estimates that its net profit for Q3 will be between $765 to $820 million, which is up a staggering 333% to 365% compared to a year ago. BYD’s shares jumped 6% in Hong Kong on the news and the carmaker now has a market capitalization of $93 billion, nearly the same as General Motors and Ford combined. BYD has sold 1.2 million BEVs and plug-in hybrids through the first nine months of this year, up 250% compared to a year ago, making it number one in electrified sales in China.

CHIP SHORTAGE LASTING LONGER THAN THOUGHT
The chip shortage was expected to ease up by now but it looks like it will continue, at least in Europe. Speaking at the Paris auto show, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said he expects chip supplies won’t be back to normal until the end of 2023. And Renault CEO Luca de Meo sounds less optimistic and says the company is still having trouble with supplies. And while they may improve, de Meo says the “problems are here to stay for a while.”

CANOO GETS ANOTHER LIFELINE
EV startup Canoo continues to rack up orders for its pod-like delivery van. Back in July, it received a 4,000 EV order from Walmart. Last week, fleet leasing provider Zeeba ordered another 3,000 vehicles. And now Kingbee, a U.S. based company that provides work-ready van rentals for small and medium-sized businesses, is ordering 9,300 of Canoo’s electric delivery vehicles with the option to double that. Kingbee will upfit, wrap and deliver the vehicles to its customers across the U.S. This is good news for Canoo, earlier this year it warned that it was running out of cash but with these recent orders, it looks like the startup will survive.

CADILLAC CELESTIQ UTILIZES MEGACASTINGS
The $300,000 Cadillac Celestiq is not about generating billions of dollars in profits. It’s about establishing Cadillac’s reputation as one of the greatest luxury brands in the business. We did a video all about the design of the car that you can find a link to in the transcript or the description box. But right now, let’s look into the engineering and manufacturing of the car. The Celestiq is hand-made and will be built at GM’s PPO building at the company’s Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. PPO stands for Pre Prototype Operations, which is where GM builds the first prototypes of all its new models. They will make less than two Celestiq’s a day, or about 400 a year. The car has an interesting skateboard design, made from six large aluminum castings, which GM calls megacastings. The front end section is made from two large wheelhouse castings, left hand side and right. The rear end module is the same: left and right hand wheelhouse castings. The floor is also made of two large left and right hand castings. The mega castings are made in the Detroit area, and each one eliminates 30 to 40 stampings. The composite doors are made from SMC, or sheet molding compound, while the rest of the body panels are carbon fiber. The floor houses the 111 kWh battery pack, which is also a structural part of the car. It uses GM’s Ultium battery pouches that are laid on their sides to get a lower floor height. The Celestiq will have a 300-mile-plus driving range. 115 parts in the car are 3D printed. In fact, GM uses 3D printing to make the sand cores for the mega castings. There are also over 300 parts that are fabricated at the PPO building. The Celestiq uses 2 electric motors for all wheel drive propulsion. Those motors generate a combined 600 horsepower that will accelerate the car from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds. DC fast charging with a 190 kw charger will deliver 78 miles of range in 10 minutes. Some of the other features on the car include active roll control, adaptive air suspension, magnetic ride 4.0, an active rear spoiler, 5-link suspension front and rear, and 23” wheels with Michelin sport sport summer tires. As I said, don’t forget to check out that other video we did that dives more into the design.

ROLLS-ROYCE REVEALS ITS 1ST ELECTRIC CAR
And speaking of ultra-luxury electric cars, Rolls-Royce pulled the wraps off the Spectre. The two-door, four-passenger car rides on a new aluminum architecture that’s unique to Rolls. A nearly 700 kilogram or over 1500 pound battery pack is mounted in the floor of the extruded aluminum sections and is estimated to provide 520 kilometers or 320 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. Rolls doesn’t say how many kWh the battery is, but it’s 75 kilograms or 165 pounds heavier than Tesla’s 100 kWh pack. Overall, the Spectre weighs nearly 3000 kilograms or over 6,550 pounds. Power output comes to 430 kW or about 575 horsepower, which is enough to provide a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds. White, gold, red and black colors accent the interior and, like the Celestiq, is fairly minimalist and features display scenes that stretch from pillar to pillar. Customers can commission their car right now, but deliveries won’t happen until the 4th quarter of next year. Rolls says it’s pricing the Spectre between the Cullinan, which starts at about $350,000 and the Phantom, which starts at $460,000.

FOXCONN REVEALS EV PICKUP TRUCK
Foxconn unveiled a couple of new EV concepts. The first is a small crossover called the Model B that is aimed at younger buyers. It has a 2.8 meter or 9.1 foot wheelbase, a coefficient of drag of 0.26, which would put it between a Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E, and it has an estimated 450 kilometers or 280 miles of range. The other EV is a pickup, called the Model V. The 4-door truck is able to carry up to 5 people and has a payload of 1 ton and a towing capacity of 3 tons. While these are just concepts, Foxconn showed a similar prototype last year, called the Model C, which has already been turned into a production model and goes on sale in Taiwan in the second half of next year. With all its partners and now a manufacturing plant in the U.S. we wonder if these vehicles might be seen in other markets?

TOYOTA COROLLA HYBRID GETS AWD FOR 1ST TIME
The Toyota Corolla is getting a refresh. Styling wise, all models feature massaged front and rear fascias. The non-hybrid sedan now only comes with a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine that produces nearly 170 horsepower, while the hatchback only comes with a 1.8L engine and is now only mated to a CVT. The Hybrid features more powerful electric motors and the total system produces 13 more horsepower and 10 more lb-ft of torque. A lithium-ion battery replaces an old nickel-metal hydride pack and the Corolla Hybrid also gets an AWD option for the first time. But fuel economy numbers are way down. It’s rated at 50 MPG in the city, 43 highway and 47 combined. That’s 3 MPG lower in the city, 9 lower on the highway and 5 lower combined. Additional highlights include a new sportier trim for the Hybrid, called the Infrared Edition, as well as Toyota’s latest infotainment system and ADAS technology.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.