AD #1867 – EPA to Increase Renewable Fuels, Volvo Reveals 40 Series Concepts, Cadillac Kills Off the ELR
May 19th, 2016 at 11:55am
Runtime: 7:30
To watch this episode on YouTube click here.
- Suzuki Blames Misconduct on the Wind
- EPA Wants to Increase Renewable Fuel Use
- Cars About to Get a Whole Lot Smarter
- Volvo Reveals 40 Series Concepts
- ROUSH F-150 Very Popular
- BMW 7 Series Plug-In Details
- Cadillac Ends ELR Production
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On today’s show… Volvo reveals two concepts built on a common architecture, Cadillac kills the ELR and the ROUSH F-150 is now more popular than the ROUSH Mustang. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for the 19th day of May in 2016.
SUZUKI BLAMES MISCONDUCT ON THE WIND
Yesterday Suzuki revealed the methods it used to calculate fuel economy ratings for its cars violated Japanese regulations. And now we have more info about the misconduct. Over two million vehicles sold in Japan are affected but not any sold outside the country. Suzuki denies it did it to make its ratings look better. Instead of doing a single reading for a car, it tested individual components in a wind tunnel and combined the results. The company did this because wind at its proving ground would cause erratic readings. But it didn’t have much of an impact. The company reviewed 16 models it currently sells but says it won’t need to revise the numbers because the previous results are close enough.
EPA WANTS TO INCREASE RENEWABLE FUELS
One of the fastest ways we could reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to reduce the amount of carbon in fuel. And that’s why the EPA is proposing to increase renewable fuel levels for all types of biofuels. The agency wants to increase total levels for cellulosic ethanol, bio-diesel and advanced biofuels, by 700 million gallons between 2016 and 2017. The EPA plans to hold a public hearing about the proposal next month in Kansas City. And for more about the EPA and its mid-term review of the CAFE regulations, make sure you check out our newest Autoline This Week with Margo Oge, the former EPA Director of Air Quality and Transportation. Look for that episode this afternoon on Autoline.tv.
CARS ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE LOT SMARTER
Today’s vehicles are sophisticated machines, but supplier Delphi thinks that future connected cars will make today’s seem dumb by comparison. The average premium car today operates with 100 million+ lines of code. That’s about 4-times that of a fighter jet. But in the 2020 timeframe Delphi believes connected cars will operate with 200 billion+ lines of code. To support that, data speeds in cars will have to increase over 2,000% using high-speed ethernet. Power will go from 12V up to 600V with a mile more of wiring, an additional 70 connections and 700 more diagnostic parameters. This will require a centralized brain, or supercomputer, that can make decisions 34,000-times faster than a human. With that amount of data producing ability, it’s easy to see why OEMs are fighting to keep it to themselves.
Still to come… Volvo reveals two concepts that hint at its future design direction.
VOLVO REVEALS 40 SERIES CONCEPTS
New products are what the car business is all about. That’s what brings customers into the showrooms. So it’s critically important to keep up with what’s new in the market. And here are two new concepts from Volvo, a sedan and a crossover, called the 40 series. The vehicles are built on its new Compact Modular Architecture and also hint at the company’s design direction. The new cars, which go into production next year, will be available with a range of connectivity services and safety equipment. Its new small car line-up will also include a pure battery electric and plug-in hybrid variant. Volvo is targeting sales of 800,000 vehicles annually, it’s currently at half a million, and these new vehicles will be critical in achieving that goal.
ROUSH F-150 VERY POPULAR
On a recent episode of Autoline After Hours we learned that ROUSH sells about 2,000 to 2,500 Mustangs every year. But its new F-150 is so popular it’s now outselling the Mustang. That certainly surprised us. Besides its cosmetic enhancements, the truck features ROUSH’s supercharger kit that boosts output to 600-horsepower and 557 lb.-ft of torque. We got a chance to drive one these bad boys and we’ll have a full review coming soon.
And speaking of After Hours, don’t forget to tune in later today. Our special guest is Doug Fehan from Corvette Racing. So, if you have any questions, shoot them to viewermail@autoline.tv. Then tune in at 3PM eastern time for some of the best insider discussions in the automotive industry.
Coming up next, BMW shines some light on its new plug-in hybrid while GM shuts the light on one of its plug-ins.
PLUG-IN BMW 7 SERIES DETAILS
When BMW introduced its all-new 7 Series it announced it would offer a plug-in hybrid version of the sedan and now we’re learning some of the details. The system pairs a turbocharged 2.0L gasoline engine with an electric drive unit that’s integrated into an 8-speed transmission. Total output comes to 326-horsepower, which is good for about a 5.5-second sprint from 0 to 100 km/h. Depending on the model, pure EV range is a little less than 30-miles and fuel economy of 107 to 117 miles-per-gallon equivalent. These numbers are based on the European cycle, so in the U.S. they’re more likely to be around 23-miles of EV range and about 80 MPGe. The 7 Series plug-in goes on sale in July.
CADILLAC KILLS THE ELR
And speaking of electrified vehicles, the Detroit News reports General Motors is ending production of the Cadillac ELR. It doesn’t come as much of surprise. The ELR has been a sales dud. A little over 350 have been sold so far this year and less than 3,000 have hit customer hands since its launch in early 2014. Production actually stopped at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant in February and only a small number of units still remain on dealer lots.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and making Autoline Daily a part of your day.
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Comments (19)
May 19th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
I got a very interrupted show transmission today; I don’t know if this was a fluke or it was because I loaded Windows 10 last night. Has anyone else noticed a similar occurrence; thank s for any replies.
It’s a shame about the ELR, not so much because it was an extended range electric, more so that to me it was a drop-dead gorgeous design exercise. I think is would have done well if conventionally powered (oh, and at a lower price point). JMO
I saw that GM is also going to be offering carbon fiber wheels on some of its performance cars though the details were not firm (as to when but it was said from the same company that Ford is using out of Australia). Here’s a link if anyone wants more data: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_146367474443612&key=79728d06ba490f8b139932a3a6027864&libId=ioei5b7a01000bi5000DAi3golwa6&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcaddyinfo.ipbhost.com%2Findex.php%3Fshowtopic%3D46425%26hl%3D&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autoblog.com%2F2016%2F05%2F18%2Fgm-carbon-fiber-wheels-performance-cars%2F&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fcaddyinfo.ipbhost.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsearch%26do%3DviewNewContent%26search_app%3Dforums&title=GM%20plans%20carbon-fiber%20wheels%20for%20performance%20cars%20-%20Cadillac%20V-Series%20Forum%20-%20CaddyInfo%20Cadillac%20Forum&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autoblog….rformance-cars%2F
May 19th, 2016 at 12:29 pm
ELR; Glad to see it died. Just another example of GM old school thinking of launching a Chevy or other brand and throwing new fascia’s and interior on it and trying to grab 30k more cause it has a Cadillac emblem on it. Guess they will never learn.
The Volt had mediocre sales to begin with and they thought splitting volume with Caddy would increase sales.. Idiots.
May 19th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
When they first announced the pricing of the ELR, I knew it wouldn’t sell.
With a conventional power train, it could have been a viable competitor to cars like Audi TT, if sold for a similar price to the Audi. At ~$30K more than a TT, it was not going to sell, no matter what type of power train was used.
May 19th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
2 The bad thing was that, apart from the power train, the ELR was a much different car from the Volt. That means they spent a whole lot of money tooling it, to sell only a handful of them.
May 19th, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Yes, video very choppy today.
May 19th, 2016 at 12:53 pm
@1 Couldn’t agree more on the ELR, Chuck. An absolutely gorgeously style vehicle.
@2 I hear ya, Rob, concerning rebadging. But that argument holds zero weight with the general car buying public. Nobody besides the gear heads smart enough to know even cares that the ELR may share the Volt platform. Case in point: GMC Yukon Denali & its rebadge kissing-cousin, the Cadillac Escallade. Those two have peacefully co-existed for a very long time now. And I don’t see any shortage (where I live) of folk willing to fork over the extra scratch for that Cadi.
May 19th, 2016 at 1:19 pm
Chevy needs to come up with a new Avalanche, so they can again sell a Cadillac pickup. The Escalade EXT would have been quite a good money maker for the general.
May 19th, 2016 at 1:32 pm
The sedan market is getting gobbled up by CUV s…
Who would have thought a non performance two door coupe would have success at 65 to 85 grand….
Even BMW s I8 isn’t selling well and that’s mid engined…
GM should just creat a bolt based Porsche Macan fighter with AWD starting at under 45 grand…
Just make it look sexy and badge it either a GMC or Cadillac..
Two door coupes that don’t perform at the prices of the ELR was a disaster waiting to happen…
I don’t think even tesla had success from a sales volume prospective with its little lotus based electric car…
COUPE BUYERS WANT PERFORMANCE AND LOOKS…not just looks and even then unit sales are never that high…
I wonder how long GM will take to create a bolt based CUV that competes with the Porsche Macan….or jaguar f pace..
Mr McElroy….any idea?
May 19th, 2016 at 1:44 pm
Honda must have about 2/3 of the non-performance coupe market in the U.S., with the Civic. It least it seems that way, based on the number I see on the road.
May 19th, 2016 at 1:48 pm
#6 I agree most people have no idea what vehicles share platforms but in the case of the Escalade its no secret its essentially the same as a Denali. You’ll always have the consumers that likes the “status symbol” of a luxury vehicle even if they can buy the same truck with the same options for 10k less in a GMC.
Sales support having both trucks, but when the Volt never met expectations to begin with there was no reason to create a Caddy version. Even with improvements it was a failed attempt with just more wasted tooling dollars.
May 19th, 2016 at 2:08 pm
ELR is dead ??? I am so shocked. Why wouldn’t anyone want to spend twice as much for a Chevy Volt with a Caddy badge. Oh wait they don’t sell a lot of the Volt either. Yet because of federal mandates manufacturers are forced to engineer, produce and try to sell these over priced dust collectors. Every one is a money loser. I remember on here stating that Fiat had to sell 5 gas 500s to pay for 1 EV 500. That is just stupid. If they ever did start to sell in large numbers the manufacturers would even worse off than not selling them.
May 19th, 2016 at 4:55 pm
Design engineer’s mantra—do SOMETHING ! even if it’s wrong !
Started learning the trade in 1945 , washing parts for Dad’s mechanics . Auto mfg-ing is just like politics, nothing ever changes, except for the worse
May 19th, 2016 at 5:45 pm
Come on, W.L. Today’s cars are better in every way than those of the the 60′s. They are quicker, handle better, are much safer, are quieter, use half as much gas, are more reliable, and last much longer. Yeah, it takes more specialized training to work on them, but still…
May 19th, 2016 at 6:10 pm
Oh, and they are much cleaner, important if you are in an urban area, less so, if you are in an area with few vehicles.
May 19th, 2016 at 8:22 pm
Please provide the link to the DELPHI report you showed in CARS ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE LOT SMARTER
May 20th, 2016 at 8:32 am
No problem with the show on Windows 10 here.
May 20th, 2016 at 11:13 am
@Paul – Sorry, but there’s no link to provide. The information in that stories was obtained during a 48-Volt mild hybrid event put on by Delphi that Autoline attended.
May 22nd, 2016 at 10:43 pm
Kit @13 You are correct . They are also now all but impossible to do your own work on. Which leaves you at the mercy of $120 @ labor rates. Also 99% of todays cars lack a soul. They certainly lack individuality . Almost all the mid size cars have the same side profile . Now they even have the same grilles. When I was a kid I could identify every car that went past the house .
May 23rd, 2016 at 9:45 am
A lot of beautiful cars were not great performers. That didn’t stop them from becoming collector’s dreams. Buy an ELR now and hold it for a few years. Money in the bank.