On today’s show…the EPA changes its test procedures as a result of Volkswagen’s cheating…Elon Musk goes from one hell to another…and you can’t believe how fast an electric semi can accelerate. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the voice of the automotive industry.
ELON GOES TO HELL
If you told Elon Musk to go to hell, he’d probably tell you he’s already there. At first Musk talked about the “production hell” Tesla is going through, trying to get the Model 3 up to speed. And now he says the company is going through “delivery logistics hell.” Elon made the comment in a tweet responding to a woman who was complaining about how the delivery of her car was postponed yet again. He said the company is making progress and the problem should be resolved shortly. In the second quarter, Tesla built more than 53,000 vehicles but only delivered 40,000 of them.
DIXON WINS 5TH INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Lots of racing over the weekend. In IndyCar, Scott Dixon won the championship in his Honda-powered car for the Ganassi team. That makes 5 IndyCar championships for the New Zealander, second only to the legendary A.J. Foyt. But the last race of the season at Sonoma Raceway was actually won by Ryan Hunter-Reay, in his Honda-powered car for the Andretti Autosports team. In fact, Honda took the constructors championship for the first time.
HAMILTON WINS SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
In Formula One, Lewis Hamilton took his Mercedes from pole position to checkered flag and won the Singapore Grand Prix, extending his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel whose Ferrari finished third, with Max Verstappen taking his Renault-powered Red Bull to second place.
KESELOWSKI HANDS PENSKE 500TH WIN
In NASCAR, Brad Keselowski took his third win in a row in his Ford Fusion at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and giving Penske Racing its 500th win including all the motorsports categories it has raced in. 500 is a lot and arguably makes the Penske organization the best racing team in history.
Still to come…BMW morphs the i3 into the iNext.
ELECTRIC SEMIS ARE FAST OFF THE LINE
When you come up to a traffic light and you see a semi-truck ahead of you, do you try to get in the other lane so that truck won’t hold you up? Of course you do. Some semis are so slow that the light will turn red again before you can get through the intersection. But electric semis are significantly faster than diesel ones. Toyota released this comparison, with a diesel semi on top and a fuel cell powered on the bottom. Both are loaded with 35,000 pounds of weight. And it’s no contest, the electric semi is significantly faster than the diesel–so much so that you’d probably be happy to stay in the same lane if you came up behind one at a red light.
BMW’S TESLA FIGHTER
BMW showed off its vision for the future with a concept called the iNEXT. It’s an electric crossover that combines autonomy, connectivity and mobility services into one vehicle. The driver can choose to drive themselves, what BMW calls “Boost” mode, or have the vehicle do the driving or “Ease” mode. When the vehicle is driving autonomously, the steering wheel retracts to provide more space for the passengers. The display screens also switch from driving related information to “Exploration Mode,” which provides suggestions of places to go. The iNEXT will be produced at BMW’s Dingolfing plant in Germany and it will be introduced into the market in 2021.
Coming up next, the EPA changes how it tests cars to prevent automakers from cheating.
EPA CHANGES TEST PROCEDURES TO PREVENT CHEATING
One of the results of the Volkswagen diesel cheating scandal is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has changed the way that it tests cars because it felt it was too predictable. So now it’s going to what they call 3 by 3 testing. The EPA will now test cars at three different times during their lifetime, using 3 different test methods. And it is not divulging what one of those tests are to make it more difficult to cheat. The agency is even doing random testing of cars right off the assembly line. And it’s visiting OEM test labs in Japan, China and Europe to see that they’re properly calibrating and measuring cars that will be shipped to the U.S. market. The EPA says it has to ensure a level playing field amongst all OEMs, so that those who try to cheat don’t get an advantage.
CHINA MARKET DOWN…YET AGAIN
And here’s something that caught our attention. We all know that China is now the largest car market in the world and is growing by leaps and bounds. Well now we’re starting to see a slowdown that’s caught everyone by surprise. WardsAuto reports that sales in China, including heavy trucks and busses, fell nearly 4% in July. Automotive News is reporting they fell 4.6% in August. Sales in China are still up for the year, but we’re going to have to keep an eye on this and see if trouble is brewing in that market.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (37)
September 17th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
That’s great, hydrogen fuel cell semi tracks that accelerate quickly, with NO corresponding improvement for braking! Talk about not wanting to be behind a semi, now I don’t want to be in front one.
The EPA is pushing for big improvements in semi truck fuel economy, I guess Toyota did not bother to disclose what happens to their economy when you accelerate quickly.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Yes the electric truck CAN accelerate faster than the ICE conterpart buuuuuut the tacoma I was following in the left lane today COULD go faster than he was going buuuut, no. Many times the operator is the limiting factor.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm
I think BMW must have hired the designer that did Subaru’s bugle mouth front end a few years ago. Hope they came cheap.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:20 pm
Elon needs to stop putting himself out on the world stage. To most people including myself it seems like he is coming apart or will soon have a nervous breakdown. I for one am very impressed by his accomplishments and would only like to suggest to Mr. Musk to concentrate on your goals and let other people deal with the day to day operations within Tesla and Space X.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
From what little I saw of the Singapore track it looked a little sketchy, not much run off room.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
When are we going to see EV technology in the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain? I test drove both vehicles and found that these two vehicles are well suited as daily drivers. If they had Volt / Bolt powertrains the adaption of EV’s might increase as long as the price increase is marginal and Federal credits are still applicable. I did find the “Precision Shifter” in the 2018 Terrain did not free up center console space. In my opinion it takes away space for storing a cell phone and or other small personal items. GMC should adapt the Chevy Equinox center shifter which is more fun and intuitive to use and reduce the size of the AWD rotor dial or convert it to a push button on/off selector. This would improve the Terrains interior and also communize the center shifter console for both vehicles reducing cost, assembly differences and inventories of differing parts. One other point is that GM should mothball the 1.5L turbo for now and only offer the 252hp 2.0L turbo in both vehicles for the next model year. I do not believe the 1.6L diesel is in high demand and should be also be mothballed IMHO.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Why doesn’t VW offer the VW Bug in an EV version?
The Iconic shape and history of the Bug should not be thrown away! The Bug is perfect to be an inner city EV which would certainly outsell the competition. The cache of the Bug would make it a desirable second vehicle for empty nesters or primary vehicle for first time EV buyers IMHO.
September 17th, 2018 at 12:51 pm
Another day, another “Tesla Fighter” which is just a concept. At least this BMW is not as laughable as the “Silly Friday” “Illuminati” high school ‘science’ project.
The BMW is all hat and no cattle. I wish we knew the tech specs and performance, as well as the price. Without them, it is just another concept.
BTW, the BMW concept is obviously an SUV or a van masquerading as an SUV. So it will NOT be a Tesla S fighter, or even a Tesla 3 fighter, but at best a Tesla X fighter.
ANd my guess is all premium makers, Merc, BMW, Jag and all the rest of them planning to make “Tesla Fighters” are going to offer less and/or price it much higher than the Tesla models, so they will have the fate of the Bolt. (when the Tesla 3 was not produced and sold, they sold 3,000 Bolts a month. Now that the Model 3 is available, even only the $50k version, Bolt sale have plummeted to one-third their pre-Tesla 3 numbers.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:04 pm
6 If they made a pure electric, or a plug-in hybrid Equinox/Terrain with equivalent range to Bolt and Volt, respectively, they would end up costing about $55-60K, until and unless batteries get a lot cheaper. Would people pay that much for such a car? Maybe it would work for the Cadillac XT4, which is similar size to Equinox/Terrain, and starts out more expensive.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
While Elon was out to prove that direct sales can be a viable model like it was in the days of old, he did not bother to learn why that model was eliminated. It was eliminated for the reasons he is in delivery hell right now. Later on he will be in service hell also. Some say he is already in service hell as it can take weeks/months for parts to arrive to a tesla service center.
All his “disruptive” ideas are a rehash of old and outdated concepts. It only worked somewhat when the company was a niche player. Now that he wants to be a volume player, he will need to change the game or face limiting his company size due to the constraints on delivery and service.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:12 pm
8 I find it interesting that Tesla is so successful selling, uh, cars, even as Ford is almost completely abandoning selling cars in the U.S. market.
I saw another Tesla 3 last night in a parking lot, in dark metallic grey. From the back, I wasn’t sure what it was, until I saw the emblem. Of the ones I’ve seen, my favorite color, by far, is the metallic red.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
10 Direct car sales were partly, or largely eliminated because most of the states have laws disallowing it, or making it difficult.
I agree, though, that it complicates things delivering the car to each customer, rather than to only a few hundred different dealer locations. You can’t ship a car using the postal service or UPS, like Amazon does with all of their stuff.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Companies such as Honda and Nissan are perfectly capable of producing EV and PHEV SUV’s, but they choose not to. So we get sedans and hatchbacks, which we’re routinely told don’t sell anymore. Those then depreciate at a horrible rate, especially in states that have little infrastructure and no tax incentives for ownership, which is the majority of the 50 states. While I can appreciate the concept, I can’t make economic sense to purchase one here in Pennsylvania.
September 17th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
I visited the Nashville Tesla store Saturday and had to drive by the next door, Lexus dealer. There were 3-4 salesmen sitting in lawn chairs waiting for customers.
At the Tesla store, the Saturday staff had a steady stream of customers coming in to pickup their Tesla. Each staff member was taking time to go over the systems of their new Tesla which makes sense to avoid subsequent service calls.
A Tesla is not an ordinary car that you can toss the keys and wave ‘Good Buy.’ The Model 3 doesn’t have an array of legacy buttons, knobs, and sliders like ordinary cars. You have to be touch-screen adept (a skill sometimes missing in some auto reporters.) It was quality over quantity and I place I would love to work.
September 17th, 2018 at 2:22 pm
Do we see Detroit trying to do to Tesla what they did to Tucker? Fear of advanced tech and design by an upstart?
September 17th, 2018 at 2:47 pm
#14,
Would the main stream auto companies want to see Tesla go the way of a ‘Tucker’; sure, less competition. Have we seen Detroit (or any others) deliberately trying to ‘trip’ Tesla (other than normal competition), I’m not seeing any of this. Tesla certainly does not deserve some sort of “golden parachute”; it’s a tough business out there and you need to get the job done. Arguably, the governments are lending helpful hands for the ‘electrics’ (all brands), which might be considered sometimes ill conceived directions. Competition will prevail and I think for any propulsion available; put up or shut up.
September 17th, 2018 at 3:01 pm
14 Tucker never had much of a chance, even without “Detroit” trying to do them in. They built about 50 cars, no two alike, and used salvage yard Cord transmissions, modified airplane engines that, alone, would cost more than you could sell a car for, etc.
15 Aren’t governments, at least in the U.S., still subsidizing gas cars with the “oil depletion allowance,” at least a small amount of the oil company savings resulting in lower gas prices?
September 17th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
16, Yeah Kit, I should have been more generic when saying “ill conceived directions”; happens with a lot of guidance from on-high.
I think the Tucker had a modified helicopter engine (but probably moot in regard to the discussion).
September 17th, 2018 at 3:25 pm
17 It was a Franklin flat six that started out air cooled, and they added water jackets. According to wikipedia, it was used for both helicopters and fixed wing airplanes. One of the fixed wind applications was Stinson Voyager.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_O-335#Applications
September 17th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Great show on autoline.tv. Keep up the great work…
Bmw s reworking of the horrible I3is a smart move…just get it to market sooner than 2021…
Thats a long long time and mercedes is moving faster.
September 17th, 2018 at 4:17 pm
13 Bob, did you ask the Lexus salesmen what they thought of the nose jobs on their current cars?
September 17th, 2018 at 4:38 pm
1 If we want to look at Class 8 truck safety, I would say that the relative low power/torque ability to climb long hills with a heavy load is a far bigger concern, than generically, braking. It seems the new tech would help that considerably. Also braking from 60 MPH is the same whether you got to that speed in 10 seconds or 30 seconds, right?
September 17th, 2018 at 5:16 pm
I bet those electric trucks lose a lot of range, if you repeatedly use that (relatively) quick acceleration.
September 18th, 2018 at 7:34 am
#20 I have as much interest in Lexus as Lexus has in efficient, plug-in cars.
September 18th, 2018 at 9:53 am
Sunday afternoons I go to the central public library downtown (free parking, only day of the week) and last Sunday I saw a ridiculous Mercedes SUV-coupe, the AMG 63 GLE COUPE, parked next to me. A bulky tall vehicle, ugly proportions, ridiculous styling (coupe while an SUV). Looked it up, you can get one for $110-$120k with options. 14 MPG City (make it 7 for short drives in the winter) and a lousy 18 highway. Full size pickup trucks do so much better HWY. What an irresponsible vehicle for buyers with really bad taste.
I also see a few Tesla Ss and the occasional X, but have not seen a Tesla 3 yet.
September 18th, 2018 at 9:57 am
20 the cowcatcher grille in new Lexi has probably resulted in the older ones fetching higher prices used. In my experience, most car salesmen know very little about what they sell, are paid too little, and change jobs very frequently.
I would like to ask the question to the idiot execs who approved these ridiculous designs, and ask them how many legal or illegal pharmaceuticals did they have before they approved of them.
September 18th, 2018 at 9:59 am
16 Depletion allowances are not subsidies but are widely used by many industries world-wide.
There are other, tiny subsidies to the oil industry, last time I checked they amounted to a total of about $36 bill, for an industry worth several trillions, but these were actually put in place to help the small independents compete with the ‘big oil’ cos.
September 18th, 2018 at 10:02 am
14 No independent automaker in the US in the last 70 years had any success, not Tucker, not Delorean, not Bricklin and not anybody else.
Tesla and Tucker are totally different cases. Tucker barely made 50 cars, Tesla has revolutionized the auto industry and soon they will sell their 200,000th EV in the US market alone (and probably more than 200,000 in the rest of the world), as can be proven when buyers stop getting the $7,500 credit, but half that (once sales cross the 200,000 mark. GM will soon get there too with its Volts and Bolts)
September 18th, 2018 at 10:05 am
10 Musk should stop talking, and especially stop calling every little problem Tesla has “hell”.
As far as service, they would be really smart to include it in their operations, as it is the most profitable business in an auto dealership, more profitable than used car sales, and much more profitable than new car sales, and all this by their own admission and data (I wish I could post the NADA graphs here, but I can’t)
September 18th, 2018 at 10:05 am
24 I suppose that GLE Coupe tall lifted hatchback was intended for the truck crazed US market, where people want tall vehicles. It probably, and rightly, appeals to almost no one. I like some of the expensive car height hatchbacks from Audi and BMW, but wouldn’t buy one because of the price.
September 18th, 2018 at 10:07 am
Meanwhile Subaru (whose styling I never found good looking) is going from sales record to sales record, and I expect this to go beyond its incredible 60 or 80 month streak of continuous records, because of its new and very affordable larger SUV (3 row) the Ascent, which even if you pile on the options, still sells well below $50k.
September 18th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Kit @ #11 I don’t think it’s as much as Tesla being successful selling cars vs. Ford. I think it’s that they are elated with numbers that Ford would call a failure. It wasn’t all that long ago that if Ford didn’t sell 100K units of a model per year they considered it a failure. I think that mentality still exists. If Tesla could sell 100K cars all models combined a year I think they’d be overjoyed . Expectation vs. reality .
September 18th, 2018 at 10:12 am
Proof of what I mean about Ford is that in 1997 when they cancelled the 4 seat T- Bird it was outselling the Monte Carlo and Grand Prix 3 to 1 combined.
September 18th, 2018 at 10:17 am
24 I’ve seen 4 or 5 Model 3′s in the Cocoa Beach FL area. Most have been parked at restaurants, etc., and I haven’t seen them come or go. I get the impression that they are used mainly within range of home. I’ve never seen a 3 on the highway.
September 18th, 2018 at 11:26 am
31 Tesla is on track to sell 250K Model 3′s a year, but yeah, S and X volume is small.
September 18th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
22 Barry T. Have you ever looked at brakes on cars that accelerate quickly? They are a hell of a lot bigger than on a standard car. When you increase performance in one area you have to increase the performance of other components to match the new capability.
September 19th, 2018 at 4:49 am
So how many times has Lutz predicted the Tesla demise?
He did it again on CNBC.