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Runtime: 9:25
0:00 Musk Says Robotaxi Will Be Revealed in August
1:44 Didi & GAC Aion To Produce Robotaxis Next Year
2:09 BYD Targets Premium Segment in Europe
2:53 VW Says Its EVs Can’t Keep Up in China
3:45 Changan Subsidiary Merges with HiPhi
5:19 Hyundai Group Signs Battery Deal in India
5:53 Toyota’s Daihatsu Unit to Focus on Electric Minicars
6:38 GM Part of Group Developing Lunar Rover
7:39 How to Market EVs To People Who Don’t Want Them
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
MUSK SAYS ROBOTAXI WILL BE REVEALED IN AUGUST
Is Tesla’s $25,000 car, what most call the Model 2, in trouble of not getting built? In January, CEO Elon Musk said the affordable EV would be made at its U.S. factory in Texas in the second half of 2025. But shortly before we posted Friday’s show, Reuters reported that Tesla had canceled the project. It cited two company sources who attended an employee meeting about the plans and reviewed internal messages that talked about the program’s cancellation. However, not long after the report came out Elon tweeted “Reuters is lying (again).” But he provided no specifics to what he was talking about. Even so, there is one thing the two sides can agree on. That Tesla is pushing development of a robotaxi, which would be built on the same platform as the Model 2. Reuters says Musk is “all in” on the robotaxi and that’s one reason why the Model 2 has been scrapped. And not long after his “Reuters is lying” tweet, Elon also posted that the robotaxi unveil is coming on 8/8. While there was not a year attached to it, we took him to mean this August. And we’ve read there’s some concern that this push into robotaxis will mean a pivot away from achieving self-driving on its existing vehicle fleet. The only real way to know that will be when the robotaxi is detailed, but let us know what you think in the comments.
DIDI & GAC AION TO PRODUCE ROBOTAXIS NEXT YEAR
And speaking of robotaxis, Chinese ride hailing company Didi and EV maker GAC Aion, announced they’ve received a license to mass produce Level 4 self-driving vehicles in China. The two companies launched a joint-venture last year, called Andi, to develop autonomous vehicles and they’ll build the first model, an electric SUV, starting next year.
BYD TARGETS PREMIUM SEGMENT IN EUROPE
While the European auto industry is mainly worried about affordable Chinese EVs swamping the market, BYD is also attacking the upper end. Its premium NEV brand Denza showed pictures of its new fastback sedan, the Z9 GT, which has a similar shape to a Porsche Panamera, testing in Europe. The production model is expected to be shown off at the Beijing auto show later this month before launching in China later this year and then followed by other global markets after that. It’s possible that the Z9 could offer both plug-in hybrid and pure battery electric powertrains and CarNewsChina reports there will also be a sedan version.
VW SAYS ITS EVs CAN’T KEEP UP IN CHINA
Volkswagen’s market share in China keeps falling and its CEO says its EVs can’t keep up in China. Oliver Blume made the comments to a German newspaper and added that the company shouldn’t have “utopian expectations” when it comes to the Chinese market. He said anything above 10% market share was very respectable. But it’s even in danger of missing that mark. In 2018, VW controlled about 18% of the market in China, but last year its market share dipped to under 10.5% and it lost its #1 sales crown to BYD. But Blume thinks new models that are being launched in the future will help improve its sales in the region. And like Stellantis the VW Group is teaming with Chinese automakers to develop some of its upcoming electric models.
CHANGAN SUBSIDIARY MERGES WITH HIPHI
One of the reasons competition is so fierce in China is because there’s so many brands selling cars. But really there’s too many and we’ve said before there will certainly be companies that fail or get bought up by larger automakers. And it looks like that is starting to happen. We recently reported that EV startup HiPhi was showing clear signs that it’s running out of cash and now CarNewsChina reports that Avatr, which is a subsidiary of Changan, has reached an agreement on a merger with HiPhi. And as I said, we expect to see more of this.
HYUNDAI GROUP SIGNS BATTERY DEAL IN INDIA
Hyundai and Kia just signed a deal to produce EV batteries in India. The companies signed a deal with Indian battery company Exide Energy to make lithium iron phosphate or LFP batteries in the country. The batteries will be equipped in future Hyundai and Kia EVs that are sold in the market. They didn’t reveal how much they’re investing or when production will start. But they did say India is a highly promising market and that they’re aiming to establish themselves as frontrunners in the country’s EV market.
TOYOTA’S DAIHATSU UNIT TO FOCUS ON ELECTRIC MINICARS
Toyota is reshaping the structure of its Daihatsu subsidiary after a safety scandal tarnished the image of the company. Toyota announced that Daihatsu will hand over some development of compact cars for international markets to Toyota. Daihatsu’s management was also restructured to improve communication and cooperation between different development groups. And employees will also be encouraged to speak up if they spot problems. Lastly, Toyota is shifting Daihatsu to focus on developing low-cost mini EVs, starting with commercial vehicles. Toyota is falling behind competitors Nissan and Honda in the minicar market in Japan, and that is a very popular segment in the country.
GM PART OF GROUP DEVELOPING LUNAR ROVER
The auto industry doesn’t just make cars to drive on Earth, it’s also heavily involved in developing vehicles for the moon. Toyota and Hyundai are working on lunar vehicles and Bridgestone is developing the tires. And now NASA has selected three teams to continue development of a lunar vehicle for its Artemis missions. One of those teams includes General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Goodyear and MDA Space. Its vehicle will be powered by GM’s Ultium batteries and will also be able to operate autonomously, with or without astronauts. It can run as long as a two-week span of lunar nights at temperatures as cold as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Each of the three teams will develop the lunar vehicles over the next year to meet NASA’s requirements. Then, the vehicles will be demonstrated to NASA and it will pick one for validation ahead of the Artemis missions which will kick off next year.
HOW TO MARKET EVs TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T WANT THEM
EVs have become highly politicized and consultant Mike Murphy has the data to back that up. He’s a conservative Republican who is pro-EV and thinks that automakers are marketing them wrong.
Mike Murphy goes on to say that automakers need to get off the environmental aspect of EVs. Stop talking about saving the polar bears and start talking about their benefits. And if you’d like to watch more, we’ll post a link to that interview on our website and YouTube channel.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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Saving the polar bears isn’t a benefit?
Full Self Driving is much improved. Just drove 300 mi to see the eclipse and FSD did it all.
Somethings need polish like lane choice with an opposite side turn. Coming up. But it didn’t miss an exit or dart across multiple lanes.
I would agree with the EV advertising. Many people straight up don’t care about the environment, many to accept that they are better and many more think it’s a sign but not one they want. Just sell them like any other car, highlight their benefits.
A large lunar explorer on the moon with a giant Ultium battery pack? Can you say HUMMER?
What a great promotional opportunity that would be. And maybe some of their research into ensuring the battery pack will perform at those super cold temperatures will help to improve the cold-weather range of GM Ultium vehicles here on Earth.
Dealers need better trained sales people to sell EVs. EVs are ideal for some things, especially commuting, for people who have a garage with power. Millions of people could use an EV for their normal commute, charging at home with nothing but a 120 volt outlet, but how many people know that, and how many car salesmen know that, or will tell potential customers?
Boeing made the ’70s lunar rovers, with a lot of GM parts, but Boeing probably didn’t try for it this time, because of the bad PR they are dealing with.
If they used a Hummer for a lunar rover, the rocket wouldn’t get off the ground. Well, performance would be impaired. The Apollo lunar rovers had a curb weight of 460 pounds, on earth.
So, Tesla said the Model 2/Redwood would cost $25K, I take it as a base price, but would offer FSD and AutoPilot. Yet those to along could add anywhere to $15-to-$20K to the purchase price of the base, before any other options! So, we’re right back at the $40K plus price point, even if those two items were included with financing. SMH on that one
Will these Robotaxis be another sub brand of Tesla/revenue stream, like their charging network, or will they sell them to other Robotaxi services? Again, the FSD and AutoPilot are expensive, even if the vehicle itself is not. If the taxis remain in house, the cost for the software will no doubt be minimal. Yet, if they are selling the taxis to a second or third party, I can see where that might get to be cost prohibitive.
So, everyone is still around after the Eclipse? It wasn’t the end of the world or start of the purge, or signal for aliens to land or whatever people envisioned it would be? Oh, just another day with a couple minutes of being in the shadow of the moon. Very reminiscent of W2K when it comes to anticlimactic. Was cool to see though as it turned out to be a clear day here in Ohio.
Speaking of anticlimactic the announcement of a 25K Tesla is just about as speculative as all the conspiracies around the eclipse. Tesla makes these announcements years in advance knowing full-well that by time it comes to market they will say due to cost of living increases or a number of other excuses the car wont actually be 25K. They’ve already beat this dead horse before. So maybe it will be cost of products, new battery tech, some taxes or they expected some incentives to be included in that price. Who knows but I’d say there is about a 1/100 chance we’ll ever see a 25K Tesla model 2.
Northern Ohio weather turned out perfect for the eclipse. We sat in our backyard with a cheep telescope and a fancy electronic camera. The camera decided to die two minutes to totality. One more reason for my distrust of electronic devices including cars.
Being in Florida this time of year, the eclipse wasn’t much, only about 55%