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Runtime: 11:16
0:00 Tesla to Sell Robotaxi for $30,000
2:50 CEO Carlos Tavares To Retire from Stellantis in 2026
3:50 Quartz Miner Resumes Operations
4:53 Nissan To Offer Bi-Directional Charging in the UK
5:22 GM Offering Energy Storage Solutions
6:17 Future of VW Plant in Germany Up in The Air
7:15 NEV Sales in China Up 51% Last Month
8:02 BMW Unveils Skytop Roadster
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TESLA TO SELL ROBOTAXI FOR $30,000
And let’s dive right into Tesla’s big event last night that it called ‘We, Robot.’ Its top hands-free driving system right now is called Supervised FSD, but Elon Musk says that Tesla will launch Unsupervised FSD next year in the Model 3 & Y. He expects it to first be available in Texas and California and will expand to wherever regulators will allow it. All of its models will be capable of having the feature, which will still be based on an AI and vision system, but Elon says you could fall asleep behind the wheel and wake up at your destination. That would mean to me that Tesla is going from a Level 2+ system with Supervised FSD up to Level 4 or 5 with Unsupervised. The company will also put what Elon called an “overspeced” version of the system in the Cybercab that it revealed at the event. To me it looks like the model is based on the Model 3 & Y, but it won’t have a steering wheel or pedals. So, it too could be limited by regulators. It also won’t have a charging port and will instead rely on inductive charging. Tesla will make the Cybercab available for purchase, estimated to start in the low $30,000 range. Elon believes that it could be used 5-10 times more than a regular car and will one day be 10 times safer than a human and cost $0.20 a mile to operate. He predicted it could be available in 2026, but then quickly said before 2027. Beyond the Cybercab, Tesla pulled the wraps off the Robovan. It’s spelled Robovan but Elon pronounced it Ro-bov-en. The autonomous vehicle can deliver packages or other goods or carry up to 20 people. Elon thinks it could one day operate at $0.05 – $0.10 a mile. There was no time given for when the Robovan will launch, but Elon says it will build it and it will look like this. To quote the CEO “the future should look like the future.” The last highlight of the ‘We, Robot’ event was Tesla’s actual robot, Optimus. Musk envisioned a future where the robots cost less than the price of a car and people might have one or even two in their house, serving drinks and doing chores, like mowing the lawn. But like any Tesla event hosted by Elon Musk, we’ll have to wait to see if the company can pull it off in the CEO’s projected timeline and for it to operate at the level of capability talked about during the presentation.
CEO CARLOS TAVARES TO RETIRE FROM STELLANTIS IN 2026
That big shakeup at Stellantis we reported about yesterday happened today. The headliner is that the contract of CEO Carlos Tavares will not be extended beyond 2026. So, the company is hunting for a new leader. And maybe that person is one of the other people that it just promoted. At the top of our list would be the CEO of Jeep, Antonio Filosa, who just added COO of North America to his title, replacing Carlos Zarlenga, who’s next position will be “subject to a further announcement.” The same was said about the CEO of Alfa and Maserati who was replaced as well. The COO of Europe and the CFO were also replaced, but they decided to leave the company rather than take another position. Tavares’ contract expires in early 2026, so he has just over a year left at Stellantis.
QUARTZ MINER RESUMES OPERATIONS
Good news for automakers, it looks like the industry will avoid another chip shortage. There was concern after flood damage from Hurricane Helene shut down two companies that mine high-purity quartz in North Carolina. The quartz is used to make semiconductor chips and the sites in North Carolina are one of the only ones in the world that mine it. But one of the companies, the Sibelco Group, announced that it has restarted operations and is ramping up to full capacity. The other company, the Quartz Corp, says it’s too early to tell when it can resume but it doesn’t expect supply disruptions to customers. So, it looks like the auto industry can breathe a sigh of relief.
NISSAN TO OFFER BI-DIRECTIONAL CHARGING IN THE UK
Nissan says it’s going to start offering bidirectional charging with its EVs starting in the UK in 2026. Customers will be able to use energy stored in their EV’s battery to power their home or they can sell it back to the grid. The system requires a special home charging unit, but Nissan says it’s trying to get the cost comparable to a one-way home charger. While the UK is first in 2026, other markets in Europe will follow after that.
GM OFFERING ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS
And one way to really take advantage of bidirectional charging is with home energy storage. Not only can you use wind and solar to charge the unit, which you can also use to power your home or sell electricity back to the grid, but your bidirectional charging EV can be added in for even more storage capability or to charge the home storage unit itself. And GM is launching its own solution that it calls Energy PowerBank. They have either 10.6 or 17.7 kWh units available that can also be combined together for more storage. The Energy PowerBank is part of the GM Energy Home System bundle, which also includes the charger, the inverter and everything to operate it, costing $12,700. Or you can just buy the storage unit if you already have the home system, but we weren’t able to find the price for that.
FUTURE OF VW PLANT IN GERMANY UP IN THE AIR
Last month, Volkswagen shocked the auto industry when it warned it will likely have to close factories in Germany, something it has never done in its history. And now it looks like we know one of the plants that could be shut down. Porsche, which is part of the VW Group, announced that it is halting production of the Cayman and Boxster at VW’s Osnabrueck plant in Germany. It will instead produce them at its main factory in Germany starting in 2026. The Osnabrueck plant also builds the VW T-Roc but it’s going out of production next year, which puts the plant’s future up in the air. It has the capacity to build 100,000 vehicles a year but last year it only made 28,000 vehicles. The site employs 2,800 workers but Germany’s Manager Magzin reports VW could cut up to 30,000 jobs in Germany, so that’s why more closures are expected.
NEV SALES IN CHINA UP 51% LAST MONTH
Car sales in China were up last month. According to the China Passenger Car Association, retail sales of new passenger vehicles totaled more than 2 million units in September, up 2% from a year ago. It was the first increase in retail sales in China in the past five months. Not surprisingly, new energy vehicles or NEVs fueled the growth. Sales of BEVs, PHEVs and EREVs reached 1.12 million units, a 51% gain. Through the first nine-months of the year, automakers have sold 15.5 million vehicles in China, up 2%, with electrified models accounting for 7.1 million sales, up 37%, from last year.
BMW UNVEILS SKYTOP ROADSTER
BMW is showing off an open-top, two-seat roadster that it calls the Skytop. Its design is highlighted by a spline that extends all the way from the hood to an aluminum bar on the trunk. The illuminated twin-kidney grille also adds a nice pop. The roof consists of two removable sections that stow into a special compartment in the luggage area. The Skytop is powered by a gas-burning 4.4L V8 that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, which sends its power through an all-wheel drive system. It cranks out 625 horsepower and can move from 0-100 km/h in 3.3 seconds. But the Skytop is a limited-edition model with only 50 examples being built.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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Every time I see those domestic robots I’m reminded of how that Will Smith blockbuster, iRobot ended.
The current 718 Cayman/Boxster are being replaced with EVs in the next year or two, so it sounds like the current cars will be built out at Osnabrueck, and the EVs will be built elsewhere. So far, there seems to be little information about the 718 EV. I don’t see how it can retain the “character” of the outgoing car, as the EV will probably gain 1000 pounds of weight, but time will tell.
No price quoted for the BMW Skytop? I guess it falls into the “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” range.
I don’t understand why anyone would want to use their EV for two-way charging. The daily cycling will definitely wear your battery out faster, you may not have the range you need when you want to drive it, and I have not seen any math that shows how much it benefits a consumer. If I was buying a used EV, I would definitely want to know if the first owner used it this way. I would certainly expect to pay significantly less for it than a comparable EV that was not used for two-way charging.
The only way two-way charging makes sense to me is to have a home battery like the Tesla or new GM setup. And, that is only if the math makes sense. I am skeptical of the electrical utilities that have “adjusted” how much they pay consumers who generate excess electricity from wind or solar, after those homeowners purchased and installed the equipment.
Last quarter in China, GM sold more EVs than ICE powered vehicles. First time that has happened. Their overall sales were down dramatically though, continuing a trend of the last two years. The Chinese government’s plan to takeover the world’s auto industry continues, as was predicted in the early 90’s when GM decided to make cars there with Chinese “partner” companies.
I know the CyberCab is only a prototype at this point, and will likely change quite a bit by the time it finally goes into production six years from now (or three years in Elon-time). But, why would you build a cab that only seats two people? The luggage compartment looked huge, which is a plus for people traveling to or from an airport, but only two people? Seems ill advised and short sighted.
The bus looks eerily similar to the ones in the iRobot movie as well. And, how do you not scrape the front end of that thing on California’s famously tall curbs?
I’m not a Tesla hater and I honestly want to see all automakers thrive, but I I am concerned about their cybertaxi. The first FSD and Autopilot users were beta testers for the company, most without their knowledge! If a when the Cybertaxi goes live, will the riders be beta testers as well? Though FSD and Autopilot has gotten better over the years with on going updates, but at least the operators using them had a steering wheel, brake and accelerator paddles to take over control of the vehicle. The Cybertaxi and Robovan will not! And why does the Cybertaxi only have two doors and two seats? If my three person family wanted a ride to or from the airport, we’d have to use two Cybertaxis?! Maybe we could ride three deep if it were a bench style seat, but families or parties larger then that would need more Cybertaxis or have to Robovan.
@MJB, late reaction to your yesterday’s comment with “Who in the U.S. would drive a Lexus off-road?”
I found them: I was driving my Jeep off-road in Silver Lake Dunes in Western Michigan. All vehicles were true off-road capable vehicles. Shows up a family with three kids in a brand-new white BMW X7. They deflated the tires and went full-blast on the dunes.
The Cybertaxi without controls probably won’t exist for ten years, but when/if it arrives, won’t two seats be enough for most fares? Essentially all of my taxi and Uber rides have been solo, or with one other person.
…the only way the Cybertaxi makes since over a $25K+ EV, IMHO, is that Elon knew it would not be able to keep up with demand, for one. Then with it going out to a much wider audience, any challenges the model might face regarding perceived quality, repair costs, potential recalls, etc., would go up exponentially! Offering a taxi keeps keeps the customer base smaller, with Tesla only needing to deal with the company owners, as opposed to millions of individual customers with crazy expectations!
So, hear is my question, if FSD and Autopilot can cost almost $10k apiece, if purchased for your Model S and X, that would mean that the Cybertaxi actually costs $10K, since one would imagine that it is using both of those systems, right? It is also said that half the cost of an EV is the battery. So how does it work that Tesla can sell the Cybertaxi for $30K, with the battery potential costing $15K and the autonomous driving kit it uses retailing for close to $20K by itself? I get the feeling that this taxi will cost more than what has been suggested at the WeRobot event!
Sean, you reported yesterday about GM considering moving its downtown headquarters. I shutter to think that the great Renaissance Center building may sit close to empty if they do relocate. For those unaware, that building (at the time it was built) was the largest privately funded construction project in the nation. In fact, here’s a short documentary on it: https://youtu.be/zU0NPAhlXMI?si=25eg7cCEztM8i7yr
Wim van Acker, there’s always one 🙂
Anything Elon Musk says can be taken with a grain of salt, like the $25K “Model 2,” the $40K Cybertruck available in 2021, etc.
So am I to assume the “10 cent per mile” of the ROBOVAN is actually 10 cent per INDIVIDUAL PASSENGER mile? The other way is financially impossible.
Simon Moores from Benchmark Minerals (experts on the battery supply-chain) has an impressive chart up with regards to the required investment for their ‘base case’ scenario.
https://twitter.com/sdmoores/status/1843222477998104732
I didn’t watch Tesla’s presentation. While I like the pod’s design, they need a more compact global crossover next (never mind cheaper batteries, but those are inevitable).
My auto insight says Carlos may plan to retire at the end of his 2026 contract. I don’t think he’ll last that long. Soon as the board finds a replacement, he’s out the door. I’m sure he already knows that too.
I have to assume Elon was a big fan of the movie i-Robot as his robots and the bus look as if their designs were taken right from the movie. Although the bus in the movie was larger and used to haul robots the similarity is uncanny.
I wouldn’t be using bi-directional charging unless it’s a lease. Or maybe if I only planned to keep it 2-3 years.
Lambo,
I think you are correct. Unfortunately Stellantis, at least the US arm of Stellantis, will be a hollowed out shell of a company with all of Carlos’s job cuts. Cuts that he recently stated may continue even deeper than they already have been. There will be nobody left to make a success of this company. At this point, If you have high talent would you stay at Stellantis or head for the first available stable company where you can thrive and be valued?
The people that remain will need to perform a miracle and save the company from the fire. It is going to be years before Stellantis comes back post Carlos Tavares….if they even can get back on track at this point. I worry that Stellantis won’t exist after 2026. There is a high probability that they will start selling off the pieces beginning in 2026 unless sales turn around in 2025.
Merkur- Totally agree, and for anyone that’s been in the auto industry for more than 20 years they’ve seen this old, tired scene play out before. Top management screws up with product planning. Then sales drop, then cuts are made, Then the good talent leaves for fear of being cut or left to do two people’s job. Then a re-organization and restructure costing millions. Lastly the elimination of the real problem the top management. Then as you said someone needs to come in and try and salvage what’s left and rehire good talent to make things happen.
Jeep, Ram and Chrysler have a long road ahead. No longer a US company so no government bailout this time either.