AD #3905 – GM on Pace to Hit 200,000 EV Production Rate; New Material Prevents Thermal Runaway in Batteries; Ford in Talks to Build EVs In India

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

NEW MATERIAL PREVENTS THERMAL RUNAWAY IN BATTERIES
EV fires are harder to put out than gas car fires, requiring a lot more water, thousands of gallons more in some cases. But LG Chem just published a scientific paper about a new material its developed to prevent thermal runaway in batteries. It’s a thin composite material, only 1 micrometer or 1/100th the thickness of a human hair, that’s placed between the cathode layer and the current collector of a battery. It starts altering its molecular structure when the battery’s temperature goes beyond its normal operating range, which drastically increases the material’s resistance and cuts off the flow of current. LG says there’s been other fire-surpressing materials put inside of batteries before but it claims those had issues with slow reaction times and reduced energy density. It says this new material can increase its electrical resistance by 5,000 ohms for every 1-degree Celsius that the battery’s temp goes over its normal range. In tests, batteries with the material either didn’t catch fire or if they did, they went out quickly or would have likely prevented a full-blown thermal runaway event. LG has already completed safety tests for mobile devices, but says EV safety tests will continue through next year. 

GM ON PACE TO HIT 200,000 EV PRODUCTION RUN RATE
We’re getting more sales reports from automakers in the U.S. market, and while we’re still waiting for Ford and Tesla to report their numbers, September sales were pretty weak. But we did find some interesting tidbits in the numbers, especially when it comes to EV sales at General Motors. It sold over 32,000 EVs for the third quarter, up 60% from a year ago, and up 46% from the second quarter. All of GM’s EVs sold well, with the Chevrolet Equinox topping the list with 9,772 sold. But guess what? Honda’s Prologue, which is built by GM, did even better than that. Honda sold 12,644 Prologues in Q3. When you add up both GM’s and Honda’s EV sales, GM built 44,839 EVs, which is getting close to the run rate that it promised it would hit by the end of the year. GM said it would hit a run rate of 200,000 EVs a year by the end of December, and these numbers suggest it’s on its way to hitting that goal. But don’t forget that’s down significantly from its original EV projections. 

GLOBAL CAR SALES WEAK
Global car sales are also pretty weak. Kia says it sold just under 250,000 vehicles in September, down 4.5% from last year. Volvo bucked the trend, but not by much. It sold 62,458 cars last month, up only 1%. In a possible sign of how weak the market is, especially in Europe, Tesla will be exhibiting at the Paris Auto Show at the end of the month, for the first time in 6 years. It really doesn’t have anything new to show off, but needs to attract more buyers. In August, its sales dropped 36% and in July, BMW actually sold more EVs in Europe than Tesla did. Until it gets new models in the pipeline, Tesla may need to rely on old-fashioned auto shows to get more people to look at its cars.

SUBPRIME AUTO LOAN DEFAULTS RISING
Bloomberg reports that the warning lights are flashing when it comes to subprime borrowers for auto loans. People with low credit scores are defaulting on car loans at a rate not seen since the end of the Great Recession. And that is causing stock prices to drop for loan companies like Ally and the Credit Acceptance Corporation. But that’s because they dove into the subprime market, while traditional lenders like banks did not. And when interest rates and car prices soared in 2022 and 2023, that made it a lot harder for many subprime borrowers to make their car payments. Hopefully, now that interest rates are on the way down, we’ll start to see fewer delinquencies.

 

BMW WANTS GERMANY TO VOTE NO ON CHINA EV TARIFFS
German automakers continue to voice their opposition to Europe’s tariffs on Chinese made-EVs. EU countries are expected to vote on the tariffs this Friday and BMW CEO, Oliver Zipse, is calling on the German government to vote against them. BMW, along with Volkswagen and Mercedes, rely heavily on China for sales and revenue and they’re concerned China could retaliate if the EU imposes the tariffs. And it looks the automaker’s lobbying has paid off because Germany has signaled it will abstain instead of voting against the tariffs. And in order to stop the tariffs, a majority of EU members, 15 countries representing 65% of the EU’s population, need to vote against it.

XPENG LOOKING FOR EU PRODUCTION SITES
But if the tariffs do pass, Chinese automaker Xpeng is making plans to avoid them. A company executive told Bloomberg that it’s considering several options to build vehicles in Europe, including contract manufacturing, working with existing plants or opening a new one.

FORD CUTS BLUECRUISE PRICE
Ford is dropping the price for BlueCruise, its hands-free driving system, as well as giving the option to buy it outright for a one-time fee for the first time. Previously you could pay $2,100 for a three-year subscription or $800 for a year or spend $75 a month. But with eligible 2025 model year vehicles, buyers can get BlueCruise with a one-time purchase of about $2,500 or subscribe to it for $500 for a year, instead of $800, or $50 a month, instead of $75. Ford is also going to offer the one-year BlueCruise subscription standard on some trims and optional on others and even if you don’t opt in, it will give a free 90-day trial. The hands-free driving system is currently offered on the Explorer, Expedition, F-150, F-150 Lightning, and Mustang Mach-E. But why do you think Ford is making this move? It thought the price was too high, the take-rate too low, with more scale it could lower the price or maybe some combination of those? Let us know in the comments. 

FORD IN TALKS TO BUILD EVs IN INDIA
Speaking of Ford, we have an update on its plan to return to the Indian market. It stopped selling vehicles there in 2021 and ended production in 2022. But last month reports came out that Ford had held talks to fire one of its plants in India back-up to export cars to other markets. And now an Industry Minister of the region where that plant is located hinted that the automaker could build electric cars in India. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Ford’s $25,000 skunk-works EV getting built there and use that plant as a low-cost source to export EVs to other markets. And with the world’s largest population of 1.4 billion people, India is likely to emerge as a massive car market. And that could be another reason why Ford wants to get back in. 

RENAULT ADDS IN-CAR VIDEO STREAMING
Renault is bringing video streaming into its vehicles. The automaker signed a deal with French TV provider Canal + to make its app available in connected vehicles from Renault so users can watch movies, TV shows, documentaries, sports and more, either live or on demand. It will come installed on new models or owners can download the app starting on Friday. The feature will first be available in France, Switzerland and Poland. But for safety reasons, the app will only work while the vehicle is parked.

SKODA LAUNCHES NEW ELROQ EV
Volkswagen’s Skoda brand is launching a new, somewhat more affordable MEB-based EV that’s called the Elroq. Fitting into the compact SUV class, it will be offered in rear- or all-wheel drive with three battery sizes and a starting price around 33,000 euros. The smallest battery pack is 52 kWh and is paired with a 125 kW or 167 horsepower electric motor, which combines to provide a range of over 370 kilometers or 230 miles. There’s also a 59-kWh battery paired with a 150 kW or 200 horsepower motor that combines for 400 kilometers or about 250 miles of range. The biggest battery is 77 kWh and can be paired with a 210 kW or 280 horsepower electric motor or with that same motor and an additional motor on the front axle for AWD. The rear-drive version will have over 560 kilometers or roughly 350 miles of range. Skoda says the Elroq will go on sale in Europe in the first quarter of next year. 

At the top of the show we talked a lot about how the U.S. car market and even the global car market is weaker than expected. We want to dig deeper into the details and that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow on Autoline After Hours. Our guest will be the analyst and forecaster Warren Browne, who has some of the best insight into the hows and whys and wherefores of what’s going on in the wholesale and retail side of the business.

But that’s it for today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.