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Runtime: 10:53
0:00 Hyundai To Build EREV Pickup in U.S.
1:14 UAW Files Complaint Against Trump, Musk
2:21 Is Zeekr Coming with New Models Too Quickly?
3:26 Zeekr Claims 10 Minute 80% Charge Time
3:49 South Korea Wants OEMs To I.D. Batteries in EVs
5:37 NACS Improves Charging Satisfaction
6:41 WeRide AVs Get California OK for Passengers
7:51 U.S. & EU Lack Materials for EV Batteries
8:55 EV Prices Inch Up
9:49 Owls Inspire EV Cooling Fan
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
HYUNDAI TO BUILD EREV PICKUP IN U.S.
Traditional American pickup brands better beware. According to a report from Korea, Hyundai and Kia want to “conquer” the U.S. pickup truck market. It says that after tearing down a Tesla Cybertruck, the Group decided to make trucks a priority. But they won’t go after pure electric trucks. Instead the plan is to build 50,000 range extended electrics or EREV trucks a year starting in 2029. Lending a little more validity to this story, at the end of last month we reported that Autoforecast Solutions says Kia will start making a pickup truck at the Hyundai Group’s new assembly plant in Savannah, Georgia in December of 2028 and Hyundai will move Santa Cruz production to the same plant in 2029. So, the timelines line up and while the report from Korea didn’t say where the EREV trucks will be built, it’s highly unlikely that the automakers would want to deal with the 25% tariff that’s slapped on all imported trucks in the U.S.
UAW FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST TRUMP, MUSK
Shawn Fain did not enjoy the interview between former president Trump and Elon Musk. So much so that the UAW filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over comments Trump and Musk made during their conversation on Monday. The two talked about firing workers who go on strike, which the UAW says was a threat to intimidate workers. It’s against the law to fire workers for going on strike and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. However, the NLRB has limited power to punish those violations. Remember, the union filed a complaint with the NLRB against Mercedes back in May after it lost a vote to organize the automaker’s plant in Alabama, claiming the election was unfair. It’s also filed complaints against GM, Stellantis, Hyundai, Honda and VW. And so far we haven’t heard anything about any of those, so we think this new complaint by the UAW will probably go nowhere.
IS ZEEKR COMING WITH NEW MODELS TOO QUICKLY?
Are Chinese automakers coming out with new models too quickly? Some of Zeekr’s customers sure think so. In the last 12 months, Zeekr launched 3 new versions of its 001 sedan. It’s not that the body styling changed, it’s that the batteries, motors and intelligent driving system were upgraded. In February, the 001 got CATL’s newest batteries and an 800v electric system. Earlier versions of the 001 have chips from Mobileye, while the newest ones come from NVIDIA and they have longer range lidar, giving them more autonomy and safety capabilities. In other words, the older cars can’t be upgraded with an over-the-air-update. Car News China reports that this upset customers who bought the earlier versions of the car. And no wonder. These updates in a way obsoleted their cars and will hurt their resale value, because having the latest electronic features is extremely important to Chinese consumers.
ZEEKR CLAIMS 10 MINUTE 80% CHARGE TIME
Let’s stay with Zeekr a moment because yesterday it came out with the 2025 version of its 007 sedan that uses a 75 kilowatt-hour LFP battery that can be charged from 20% to 80% in just over 10 minutes. Zeekr developed the battery itself and says it can charge faster than an NMC battery.
SOUTH KOREA WANTS OEMS TO ID BATTERIES IN EVs
Speaking of EV batteries, South Korea is thinking of asking automakers to publicly divulge who made the battery in their electric cars. This was prompted by a Mercedes-Benz EQE battery fire that started in an underground garage in Seoul that destroyed 40 cars, damaged 100 others, and took 8 hours to put out. The buildings above the garage lost power and hundreds of residents had to evacuate. Then it turned out that the Mercedes had a battery pack from a Chinese company most people have never heard of: Farasis. And two years ago, SAIC had to recall 32,000 EVs with Farasis batteries because they could catch fire. So now Hyundai, Kia, BMW and Mercedes are posting who makes their batteries on their Korean websites.
NACS IMPROVES CHARGING SATISFACTION
EV charging satisfaction is improving thanks to Tesla opening up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla vehicles. According to J.D. Power’s U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study, satisfaction with public EV chargers grew in the first half of the year compared to a year ago, and it’s the first time the experience improved for two consecutive quarters since J.D. Power launched the study four years ago. Non-Tesla owners using Tesla’s network reported higher levels of satisfaction than with other public charging networks. However, at the same time Tesla owners reported a slight decline in satisfaction due to more EVs using the Supercharger network. Other factors that helped improve the charging experience were charging companies fixing and expanding their networks. But charging reliability is still an issue with 19% of public charging attempts failing because the charger was out of service or didn’t work.
WERIDE AVs GET CALIFORNIA OK FOR PASSENGERS
Chinese autonomous tech company WeRide may have picked the wrong time to expand in the U.S. It’s been operating self-driving test vehicles in California since 2021, accumulating over 42,000 miles last year. And it recently received permits from California to add passengers to its tests and to give rides with or without a backup driver. WeRide also announced last week that it’s planning to do an IPO in the U.S. with a potential $5 billion value. But all this could go nowhere because the Commerce Department is expected to propose a rule in the next couple of weeks that will ban Level 3 and higher autonomous vehicles that use Chinese software as well as connected cars that use Chinese-developed wireless communication. It’s all about national security. But WeRide does have a few things going in its favor. It’s been operating in the U.S. for years, it’s still only doing tests, the rides won’t be open to the public and it can’t charge passengers. Even so, it will still be interesting to see how this turns out.
U.S. & EU LACK MATERIALS FOR EV BATTERIES
The U.S. and Europe may not have access to enough minerals to meet demand for EV batteries. A study by the International Energy Agency says that at the current pace of production, only 70% of global demand for copper and 50% for lithium will be met by 2035. The University of Michigan and Cornell also released a study that says there isn’t enough copper to meet future demand. The slowdown in EV sales has eased supplies and caused prices to drop, but that’s expected to be short lived with EV production forecasted to grow later in the decade. Battery mineral supplies will also be further constrained because the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act restricts where materials can come from. Battery recycling could also help with supplies but that business isn’t expected to be fully up and running for another decade or so. In order to meet future demand, the IEA says $800 million in new mining investment is needed around the world by 2040.
EV PRICES INCH UP
Even with generous incentives, EV prices actually went up last month and are only down slightly year-over-year. The average transaction price for an EV in July was just over $56,500, down 1.5% from 2023, but still over $8,000 more than the industry average. Plus, the incentive packages offered on new EVs last month averaged more than 12% of the price, which is nearly double last year and the highest level in three years. And when compared to the industry average, EV incentives were 74% higher. But despite all that, many experts expect EV prices to come down quickly because more lower priced models are coming into the market and lithium, a key ingredient in batteries, has seen prices drop sharply.
OWLS INSPIRE EV COOLING FAN
Nature can be a great inspiration for trying to solve engineering problems. So when the engineers at Mahle wanted to reduce the noise of cooling fans in EVs and fuel cell cars, they studied the wings of owls. That’s because owls make almost no noise when they fly or glide. So, Mahle put little ridges on the edges of the fan blades that mimic the trailing edges of an owl’s wing. It says this cuts fan noise by 4 decibels, which actually cuts the noise in half. Better still, the fan is 10% more efficient and 10% lighter than conventional ones. While you might not think about it, EVs use cooling fans to keep the battery and power electronics at the proper temperature.
And with that we wrap up today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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I think if EV manufacturers are going to tout their 20-80% charge times and maintain that’s the recommended operating range then they should also provide the actual range is just 60% of the battery capacity. That 300 miles becomes 180 and then in the winter becomes 135.
Good idea on the new fan blade shape but I was looking for a video showing and hearing the difference. It should have been easily demonstrated since the reduction of sound and performance was as dramatic as stated.
Two stories; one states that lithium prices are going down while the other mentions copper (and lithium) going up……………………..hmm.
I’m with you Lambo; how many ICE fuel tanks are filled to 80% (for quickness). Still apples and oranges when it comes to comparison.
Maybe Shawn Fain should be more concerned about the money he is embezzling from the UAW and giving to his family and friends. Stopping himself from embezzling funds will help the membership far more than complaining to the NLRB about people who have no direct involvement with the UAW.
Shawn Fain, keep looking over your shoulder, the Humanoid Robots are coming!
On a day to day basis, EV range is about 60% of battery capacity. It’s when you go on a longer trip that you dip into the top and bottom of the battery. It is different than with a gas tank but not all bad.
It’s still early days for EVs. Not everyone can fit them into their lives currently, but those that can really like them.
Interesting that major gas retailers are looking forward to the EV transition. They make so little money on gas and most on food, snacks, and other facilities. With EVs charging slower than gas plus not having to hang around your car while filling up, they expect to be installing more ways to separate you from your money..
Is Shawn Fain crying again because someone thinks different and expresses what they think. No matter which of these 2 candidates win the American people will be the losers.
Gas station/convenience stores having EV chargers should be good for lottery ticket sales. It should be good for beer sales in Florida, where gas stations sell cold beer. Maybe FL, and probably other state legislators should rethink allowing the sale of cold beer at gas stations, soon to be EV charging stations.
Depending on how high the price of copper gets, I would expect car companies to use more aluminum for wiring. It should work for most things, but there might be a “learning curve” on how to maintain reliability, especially at terminations/connectors.
Regarding technical learning curves, in the recent NASAcast, I heard that there seem to be two perennial problems: designing reliable parachutes and valves. Especially the latter is a little astonishing to me.
Long-range EV travel is most efficient time-wise when you stop for a quick 15 minute charge a little more often. At least in Europe – in the US, SuperChargers (as the measure of all such things) may not be spaced so ideally throughout.
Saw another Mach-E this morning: they finally seem to be getting some visibility here in Switzerland.
From the last ALD’s comments, I too see more fuel-efficient (smaller) cars as a hedge against fuel-price shocks. There should at least be one such model in a lineup.
Fain can file suit, but I doubt it will go anywhere. For those that did not watch the interview what actually was said was the following: (Trump speaking to Elon) You, you’re the greatest cutter. I mean I look at what you do. You walk in, you want to quit? I won’t mention the names of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, “that’s okay, you’re all gone”. Elon didn’t say anything. I think we still have free speech so saying something and doing something is completely different and it was Trumps speaking his perception of Elon, not Elon threatening any workers. I could see it come off as a threat to workers if it came from Elon but it didn’t. I think he knows better than to say anything on the subject which is why he just chuckled. So, I suspect this will get dropped.
I drove a Mach-e last night. For me ingress/egress was horrific due to my torso height. My neck had to fold to a 90 degree angle to get in and out. Once in, I had to duck down to see out the side windows because my eyes were inline with the side curtain airbags. That was very annoying. It also had severe road noise which was surprising for such an expensive car. More than I have heard in other EVs I have driven. I was really shocked by that. The seats were also not that comfortable for me. The ergonomics of the interior in terms of infotainment were not that great either. I did like having traditional buttons, turn signal stalks, speedometer in front of me, and that everything was very intuitive. That was a far better experience than I have had driving Tesla cars. I find Tesla cars to have nothing intuitive and goofy steering wheels and a lack of buttons for common functions and everything buried in sub menus of sub menus. I can get in and out of tesla easily though, so at least it has that going for them.
MERKUR, I’m surprised the Mach-E had so much road noise. I haven’t driven one, but hadn’t seen that mentioned in reviews I’ve read. The tires and tire size make a difference. The 19 inch wheels with taller tires would have less road noise than the 20 inchers they also use.
Did you have the seat most of the way down, and still couldn’t see out of the side window without ducking? You have me curious. I’ll go take a look, and maybe drive one. As far as ingress and egress, I guess i don’t have a problem with that, even though I’m old. Corvettes and Caymans are not particularly easy to get in and out of, but I manage.
Merkur- How tall are you? I’m kinda surprised since the Mach-e looks like a Mustang inspired CUV with a taller roof than the car.
Lamb2015 — Again, not taking a side, but it seems that Trump is saying or suggesting that that is what Elon did when employees looked at unionizing. While what Trump said may not ever have happened, but Musk’s chuckling implies that he at the very least tacitly supports that type of action or line of reasoning. And Fain’s law suit may not go anywhere and may not be intended to. It may just say to those assembly workers who are not unionized, that you are vulnerable to whatever whims that management may bring and imply that there is strength in numbers. That may be far more powerful then any law suit, in effecting change.
Merkur — Your experience with the Mach-E and Tesla vehicles, is the exact reason why test drives are so very important. Yes, you can order and buy a vehicle online and that may work for many people. Also there is thought that vehicles are looking so much alike today. Yet, seeing a feeling a vehicle in the metal, while it may look similar to another, it’s execution and how it fits you and you in it, may be completely different from one automaker to the next! As great as the Model S and Air may be, they will never have the interior feel, look and execution of a Mercedes! A Mercedes will never feel like a BMW and a BMW will not be an Audi and so on and so forth! That’s not in anyway saying that each are not good vehicles in their own right, but even in a sea of sameness, there is and will alway be a lot of individualism between brands!
I am 6 foot tall, but it is mostly Torso height. It makes a lot of vehicles difficult for me. Trucks are great though but that is because the roof heights are very tall compared to the location of the seat bottoms. It just means I really have to be careful with buying cars and test drives are mandatory. Buying online without a test drive would be a special kind of hell for me.