AD #2332 – Carmakers Call for High Octane Gas, Tesla Feuds with the NTSB, Big Oil Seeks Biofuels Waiver
April 13th, 2018 at 11:44am
Runtime: 8:14
0:34 Chevron & Exxon Seek Biofuels Waiver
1:25 Automakers Call for Higher Octane Gasoline
2:06 Have We Hit the Transmission Gear Limit?
2:56 Big Truck Sales Indicate Good Times
3:43 Tesla Feuds with the NTSB
5:16 Why It Takes So Long to Create a Car Color
Visit our sponsors to thank them for their support of Autoline Daily: Bridgestone , Dow Automotive Systems and Lear Corporation.
On today’s show…Tesla is feuding with the NTSB over its Autopilot crash investigation…GM, Honda, FCA and Ford want 95 octane gasoline as the minimum standard…and color experts explain why it takes so long to pick a new color for a car. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
CHEVRON & EXXON SEEK BIOFUELS WAIVER
There’s a battle brewing between the oil and corn industries over biofuels. Last week we reported that the EPA gave Andeavor, one of the nation’s largest oil refiners, an exemption from the Renewable Fuel Standard. The law mandates that refiners blend biofuels, like ethanol into gasoline or purchase credits from other refiners. The exemption is reserved for small companies that would be hurt financially by the rule. But now Reuters reports, that Exxon Mobil and Chevron, are seeking exemptions for two of their smaller refineries. But it’s not known if they received a waiver since the EPA doesn’t disclose which companies receive exemptions. In the past, the EPA has awarded 10 exemptions a year but that’s now doubled. And proponents of the standard are worried more large oil companies will receive waivers.
AUTOMAKERS CALL FOR HIGHER OCTANE GASOLINE
And in other fuel news, at the SAE World Congress yesterday powertrain executives from GM, Honda, FCA and Ford called for 95 octane gasoline as the minimum standard in the United States. By making it the standard blend, this would add about 5 cents a gallon over regular 87 octane gasoline. But motorists would recoup that cost because automakers could raise the engine compression to 15:1, which would make them 3% more efficient. Wards reports that GM’s VP of Powertrain, Dan Nicholson, will be pitching the idea to the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives today.
HAVE WE HIT THE TRANSMISSION GEAR LIMIT?
Those same executives also predict we have hit the limit with how many gears can be stuffed into a transmission. But it’s not a technical issue. They could actually make 12-speed transmissions if they wanted. But with most powertrains getting electrified, at least to some degree, the extra torque that provides, means the engines don’t have to work as hard, and so they can get by with transmissions that have fewer gears.
Still to come…Tesla and the NTSB are in a feud.
BIG TRUCK SALES INDICATE GOOD TIMES
Heavy truck sales in the U.S. continue to grow strongly. Overall, they were up 11% last month, and Wards reports that Class 8 trucks, the biggest semis, shot up 26%. As we’ve reported before, analysts use sales of Class 8 trucks as a leading indicator of how the economy will perform. Last summer sales of those trucks turned a corner and really started to climb, and we here at Autoline wondered if that was a signal that sales of light vehicles would turn around and start going up. Well, that’s exactly what happened. As you know, sales of cars and light trucks came in much stronger than anyone expected last month. So the latest sales numbers for the big rigs suggests that the good times will continue to roll.
TESLA FEUDS WITH THE NTSB
As we reported previously, the NTSB is not happy with Tesla over its disclosure of details related to a fatal accident involving one of its Model Xs in Autopilot mode. Things seemed to be getting put back together after the NTSB spoke with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday, but it’s completely fallen apart since then. The NTSB has kicked Tesla off the crash probe after it says the automaker again violated its disclosure policy. That lead to a statement from Tesla, “It’s been clear in our conversations with the NTSB that they’re more concerned with press headlines than actually promoting safety,” and adds it has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to “understand the reasoning behind their focus on the safest cars in America while they ignore the cars that are the least safe.” This now seems more like a power struggle between the NTSB and Tesla rather than what the real focus should be on, figuring out what caused the accident and keeping motorists safe.
It can take two to three years to create a new car color. So why the heck does it take so long? We’ll have the answer coming up next.
WHY IT TAKES SO LONG TO CREATE A CAR COLOR
It takes an enormous amount of planning and engineering to create a new car color, anywhere from two to three years. On Autoline This Week, we’re joined by color experts from Axalta, BASF and PPG and they explain why it takes so long to create a new color.
(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
For more about new trends in vehicle color, you can watch that entire show right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we’ll see you again on Monday.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
Share
Permalink
Comments (23)
April 13th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
I wonder if Scott Pruitt has his hand in the middle of the Bio-Fuel decisions? I’m sure if Big oil gets an exemption we will see the gas prices come down right away because they will pass along all the savings to the drivers!
April 13th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
95 octane gasoline – “By making it the standard blend, this would add about 5 cents a gallon over regular 87 octane gasoline”. I think you better check you math! Here in California the difference between 87 and 91 octane gasoline is 20 to 30 cents. I think it would be more like 40 to 50 cents more for 95 octane.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:18 pm
George ,you beat me to it. I call BS on 5 cents more. 87 octane in SEPA is now $2.899 @ gallon. Premium 93 is at least 50 cents more if not higher depending on the station. So how is 95 only going to be 5 cents more than 87 again? The worse part is when you know your being ripped off and can’t do diddly about it. Except continue to be financially raped.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Gas may only need to be 5 cents more expensive partially due to economy of scale, no need for multiple grades, and probably because they ‘can’ charge this 30 or 40 cents more for higher octanes whether is costs them that much or not.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Chuck- I believe you’ve hit the nail on the head. Also, it doesn’t matter if it only costs 1cent more, Americans will complain.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Let’s add one more thing to the deal and get rid of the ethanol glands and give us pure gasoline at 95 That won’t ruin our older carburetors and small engines! Then I’m in.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:53 pm
95-octane will take years to phase in so by the time it’s the “standard” we’ll be used to paying 70-80 cents more a gallon for it anyways. It’s kind of like the reverse of when they took the lead out of gasoline. Many engines won’t function properly on a 95 octane fuel. Look at the folks who enjoy cars from 40s-50s that operated on a high 6 to low 7:1 compression ratios. They won’t have enough spark to light off 95 octane fuel. I found out the hard way. I have a tired old push mower and I poured what was left of my 93 octane fuel from a gas can into the tank. Like to have never gotten the thing started.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:56 pm
Sean can you please find out more information on the bio-fuel? Like is Ethanol cheaper than gas and if it is, is it because it is subsidized. If it is cheaper and not thru subsidies I would think the oil companies would want to use it. Is blending that expensive?
Another step further was I was always told Diesel required less refining which is why it used to be so much cheaper. Thats no longer the case. Has the new requirements for low sulfur made the difference?
April 13th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
i believe the reason for this is that there are cars out there that require premium fuel but there are not enought to justify the cost of refining and dispensing it. with one grade it would cut the manufactures costs. the problem is people with cars that run on regular would be paying extra for fuel they do not need and would not increase their MPG or performance.
April 13th, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Elon Musk always thinks he can have his way and the other party is wrong. The same rules apply to everyone else so what’s the fuss?
April 13th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
Like it or not, increased ethanol content is the easiest way to boost octane, so this could put the oil industry in an opposing position to the automakers and the ethanol industry.
April 13th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
I am disappointed that the 2019 Jeep Cherokee does not have a dark blue exterior color choice like the Grand Cherokee (true blue) or Compass (Jazz Blue).
I would like to see the 2019 Jeep Cherokee in a Dark Blue exterior color with a Cream or Tan interior cloth and leather choice.
April 13th, 2018 at 6:27 pm
2, 3 The price difference between regular and premium is based on what the market will bear, not what the gas costs to make. The 5 cent difference seems likely, especially if the simpler station setup with one tank, and one-grade pumps is factored in.
April 13th, 2018 at 11:19 pm
I think there is one market factor that might benefit from a single octane level. Right now, premium gas is priced all over the place. Some stations near us will sell at 20 cents over price of regular, some as much as 60. If there was one standard gasoline octane level, now all the stations have to compete on price alone. That should make for a more competitive market.
April 13th, 2018 at 11:29 pm
Elon Musk is the most egotistical CEO there is, and his foul-ups on production levels and his version of autonomy demonstrate his incompetence. He just lashes out to stir up his supporters, much like the president. His claim that he wants to get information out to protect people is b.s. He signed a very clear agreement with the NHTSA that he cannot communicate intermediate results until the NHTSA is ready. If there is something meaningful that needs to be said to protect the public, the NHTSA will give interim reports, just as they have in the past. His decision to break that promise just demonstrates his arrogance. They are right to kick him out of the investigation. If he really wants to protect his buyers, he should turn off autopilot on all of the Teslas until they sort out why this happened.
April 14th, 2018 at 2:41 pm
Regarding paint issues: (1) “GUARANTEED to fade grey plastic” around wheel openings, air dams, rocker panels, diffusers, etc. Why do they put something on a car that looks like HELL in 2 years?
(2) I have noticed that the paint color on many vehicles with “flexible bumpers” has slightly different “shade (and or texture) of color” when compared to the rest of the body panels. This is apparently due to the different materials added to the paint to make it “flexible.” However, this makes some “new” vehicles “appear” to have been repainted due to an accident….or whatever!
April 14th, 2018 at 5:26 pm
16. The differences in color you notice in many cases is because there typically is an angle change where the bumper meets the fender. But some match better than others due to the type of color and how the shade changes with slight angle differences.
Another contributing factor is making st bumpers are not painted with the body. In fact most st are manufactured at a supplier painted in a different state. They may be using water base paint for the car while the bumper may be still solvent based. Plus painting over metal is different than plastic. The plastic material is typically black while car primers are often grey. So they produce plaques that the car and the bumper need to match. The additives for flexibility are clear and don’t really affect the color but many other variables do.
April 15th, 2018 at 10:49 pm
I watched the TV show on colours and the comment was made how popular silver and white as well as most buyers want to buy the new car off of what the dealer has on his lot. A few years ago, my sister wanted to buy a Corolla S but with in a deep blue pearl colour which is quite attractive for that model. The dealer (in a small town in the interior of BC) tried to talk her out of it and instead sell her from the typical silver, tan and white ones he had in stock. She stuck to her guns and had a blue one ordered and waited a month for the delivery. The dealer later admitted that they preferred to have the bland coloured cars on the lot because they were easier to keep clean. Wonder how many more colourful cars would be sold if they were carried on the lot. I have leased Subaru WRX’s for quite a few years now and always insist on their World Rallye Blue colour which is one of the few attractive colours Subaru does offer. Another example is a ’17 Suburban I purchased new last summer and its standard colours were only Black and White. Any other colour cost more.
April 16th, 2018 at 9:26 am
18 Interestingly, in the US, only two colors are extra cost on Suburban, according to the “build and price” tool, while in Canada, only black, white, and silver are “standard.”. Actually, the Chevy Canada site didn’t show the Suburban, only Tahoe, which I checked. I’m surprised they would have a different price structure for such things as colors in the US and Canada.
April 16th, 2018 at 9:56 am
Years ago, when the first New Beetles came out (2000?), I was checking out one in the showroom that happened to be yellow. The salesman was excited to finally have that color on the New Beetle and told me yellow had been delayed because at first they couldn’t get the plastic fenders to match the metal bodies.
As for color choice, my sister tried to buy a blue Hyundai Elantra back in the 90s. They would only sell it in that color as a GT for thousands more $. She didn’t want to pay the extra for a GT (and her color), so she ended up with a silver one. I’m sure that is just one of the many stories leading to the bland colors available.
April 16th, 2018 at 10:15 am
20 A current Hyundai, the Genesis G80 is that way. They have a very nice pearl red, but you have to pay $13.5K extra for the G80 “sport” to get that color.
April 16th, 2018 at 1:42 pm
18 I think dealers stock the neutral colors because they don’t annoy buyers to the point of walking away. We bought and leased two vehicles in 2016. Once we located vehicles with our must have features, the colors were secondary. We would have preferred something a little jazzier but we ended up wit a charcoal gray van and a silver pickup–we settled on colors but the other features were showstoppers. But easier to keep clean–that’s one I hadn’t thought of.
April 18th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
they need to mention that 95 RON is equivalent to 91 (R+M)/2 so folks can relate that to what we have available now