AD #2880 – Tesla Posts Another Profit; Charging Stations Could Earn Carbon Credits; Camcon Develops Cam-less Engine
July 23rd, 2020 at 11:44am
Listen to “AD #2880 – Tesla Posts Another Profit; Charging Stations Could Earn Carbon Credits; Camcon Develops Cam-less Engine” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:45
0:07 Tesla Posts Another Profitable Quarter
1:03 Charging Stations Could Soon Earn Carbon Credits
1:45 Kia Shows Design Sketch of Production Sonet
2:43 Mitsubishi Updating North American Lineup
3:53 Camcon Develops Cam-less Engine
5:10 JLR Working On Contact-less Touchscreen
6:10 BMW Makes Plastic Rider to Test Racing Motorcycle
7:15 Subaru Facing Low Inventory
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TESLA POSTS ANOTHER QUARTERLY PROFIT
Tesla officially announced that it’s picked Austin, Texas as the site for its next gigafactory, which will build the Model 3, Y, Cybertruck and Semi. And while Tesla’s vehicle deliveries and revenue were down in the second quarter, they beat analyst expectations and the company posted a profit for the fourth straight quarter. That allowed Tesla to apply to be included on the S&P 500 index. And if it is, institutional investors in the S&P 500 have to buy all the stock in that index, which would increase demand for the EV maker’s shares. One of the reasons Tesla was able to turn a profit is because it generated $430 million in EV credits. While some are critical of Tesla for this, generating profit from the sale of carbon credits has always been a part of the company’s business plan.
CHARGING STATIONS COULD SOON EARN CARBON CREDITS
Speaking of carbon credits, Electrify America announced the world’s first carbon offset project for EV charging systems. New methodology was developed to show how charging an EV at a station should be able to reduce CO2 emissions compared to fueling and driving gasoline-powered vehicles. The methodology has been validated but the project still needs to undergo verification that the systems really do reduce CO2 emissions. Once that’s done, Electrify America will be able to receive carbon credits, and just like Tesla or anyone else, it will be able to sell those credits to companies that want to offset their emissions.
KIA SHOWS DESIGN SKETCH OF PRODUCTION SONET
Kia showed off a rugged little SUV concept back in February, called the Sonet and now it’s showing a design sketch of the production model. It appears to keep much of the design flare from the concept as well as the rear pillar, which we think looks a bit like the Chrysler Pacifica. It sounds like Sonet will be offered in global markets, starting with India and is said to make its global premiere shortly.
MITSUBISHI UPDATING NORTH AMERICAN LINEUP
Mitsubishi is providing an update to its North American lineup. The automaker will launch three fairly considerable refreshes and one all-new, ground up redesign all by the second quarter of next year. While we don’t have all the details yet, here’s what we know. And just so you know, we’re only able to show you current models, other than the Mirage, which is the new model. Going on sale this winter is the upgraded version of the plug-in hybrid Outlander, which features a larger and more powerful engine and electric drive system. That will increase the model’s range, which currently sits at 22 EPA miles. In the first quarter of 2021, the highly refreshed Mirage, both inside and out, goes on sale as does a new Eclipse Cross with fresh styling front and rear, an upgraded interior and new infotainment system. Finally comes the all-new Outlander in Q2 next year. It’s said to be bigger and bolder as well as the quietest and best-equipped Mitsubishi ever sold in the U.S. Every Mitsubishi will also get standard Forward Collision Mitigation with Pedestrian Detection.
CAMCON DEVELOPS CAM-LESS ENGINE
For decades automakers have dreamed of controlling engine valves electronically instead of using a camshaft. By controlling each valve individually for lift and duration, they could get far more complete combustion. But electronic valve actuators always ended up using more power than they produced. So the idea never got into production. But an English company called Camcon Automotive says it’s figured out how to intelligently control valves that don’t need gobs of power. They use electromagnetic rotary actuators that can control all aspects of valve opening and closing, and yet the system runs on 12 volts. You may also remember that Koenigsegg developed a similar technology, called FreeValve, but it uses electro-hydraulic-pneumatic actuators. Camcon says its intelligent valve technology can reduce CO2 emission by 20% at the same time it increases performance and efficiency. In fact, it says this can make gasoline engines as fuel efficient as diesels, but it can also be used on diesels. And it says intelligent valves would be perfect to use in hybrids.
JLR WORKING ON CONTACT-LESS TOUCHSCREEN
In light of the pandemic, car buyers are more and more interested in vehicles that will protect them. Automakers are working on a number of solutions, including using UV light or anti-microbial coatings in vehicle interiors in order to get rid of the virus. And here’s another solution. Jaguar Land Rover and the University of Cambridge are developing a contactless infotainment display screen. The patented technology, known as predictive touch, uses artificial intelligence and sensors to predict a user’s intended target on a touchscreen, without touching a button. Initial tests show the technology could reduce the time and effort a driver interacts with the screen by up to 50%. Not only does the technology help reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses, it also helps keep the driver’s eyes on the road and makes selecting functions easier on bumpy roads.
BMW MAKES 3D PLASTIC RIDER TO TEST RACING MOTORCYCLE
Like so many sports, the pandemic forced the WorldSBK motorcycle racing series to shut down for several months. But teams still needed to continue tests to be ready once the season resumed. However, in the case of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, its riders weren’t able to go to its test facility in Germany due to travel restrictions. Aerodynamics are extremely important and you can’t get it right without a rider on the bike. So it created a 3D model of one of its riders, Eugene Laverty, to test its S 1000 RR bike in the wind tunnel. The company took detailed measurements of him with a 3D scanner, then made a plastic model out of him, which has now been used 50 times. The WorldSBK season resumes the first week of August in Spain.
SUBARU FACING LOW INVENTORY
Subaru was on its way to having its best year ever in the U.S. before the pandemic. Sales plunged early on because of lockdowns, but they’re picking back up for the company. While that’s good news, Tom Doll, the President and CEO of Subaru of America told us on Autoline This Week, it’s now facing low inventory.
Tom Doll, President & CEO, Subaru of America
“So far, we’re down, for the first six months of the year, we’re down about 21%, the industry is down about 24% as you’ve said. We had, in terms of market share, in June we had our best market share month ever, we had 4.8% total market share. And in retail, if you exclude the fleet and the other stuff that gets added into that, we had about a 5.4% market share. So, we’re still down. We were down roughly 12% in June. March and April, we were down 47% each of those months, recovered in May, maybe we were down about 17-18% and in June we were down about 12%. So, every month it’s gotten a little bit better from a sales standpoint. And June was not too bad all things considered. Our days’ supply is now getting to be quite low, we’ve only got about a 28-days’ supply of inventory. Some of our key product lines, the ‘Four Horseman’ as we call them, the Outback, the Forester, the Crosstrek and the Ascent, those days’ supplies are very, very low. So, efficiency is going to be key in July in order for us to be able to sustain our momentum.”
You can watch that entire show right now on our website or on our YouTube channel.
Did you know that General Motors revived its Defense division? It’s getting back into developing military equipment and just landed a big contract from the Army. It’s going to make what they call the ISV, the Infantry Squad Vehicle, and it has impressive hard-core, off-road capabilities. The chief engineer of GM Defense, Mark Dickens, will be our special guest on Autoline After Hours this afternoon. So join John and Gary at 3PM eastern time today, for some of the latest developments in the automotive industry.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching.
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Comments (36)
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:18 pm
Camcon has an interesting product. All this high tech makes some great improvements however it will also continue to make cars disposable. If that system only works for 10 or 12 years I would bet it will cost more to fix than the car is worth.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:46 pm
1. Formula 1 cars use pneumatically operated valves. That seems to be good for engines that run at 15,000 rpm, but only need to last about 4 hours.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:46 pm
I think you can some up the Mitsubishi line up with just saying ” they have upgraded all their models with blah and more blah.” I take it they are getting sold mostly because of cheap prices.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:47 pm
In the first place Tesla, as a electric only vehicle company should never have been given EV Credits, let alone allowed to sell them. EV Credits should only be used by makers of internal gas engine vehicles as rewards for increasing the efficiency of the vehicle.
July 23rd, 2020 at 12:50 pm
You think that JLR predictive touch will be as good [not] and annoying as the auto spell correct on my cell phone?
July 23rd, 2020 at 1:01 pm
5 Hopedully, it will be possible to turn off the predictive touch, like you can turn off the predictive spell on a phone.
July 23rd, 2020 at 1:53 pm
4 On one hand I agree with you that a sole EV manufacturer shouldn’t be given carbon credits that were created really for the sole purpose of preventing some manufacturers from building crap no one would want. Like Ferrari that didnt really have anything fuel efficient would have had to build some econobox thing to offset their credits. Instead they buy them from makers like Tesla and then roll that cost into the gas guzzling cars they sell. So other manufacturers probably like Tesla getting them as it makes more credits available.
So the other side of the argument is the carbon credits was to create an incentive to lower carbon emissions. Tesla does that and thus should benefit from achieving the goal. They don’t need the credits and rather than be subsidised by the government they cash in on selling those credits. The money comes from the market and not tax payers.
July 23rd, 2020 at 2:02 pm
Sean, what is the difference between the “rotary actuators” and a cam on a shaft, or camshaft? Your story stated “For decades automakers have dreamed of controlling engine valves electronically instead of using a camshaft”, I guess they will have to keep on dreaming, or am I missing something about your story?
July 23rd, 2020 at 2:10 pm
Roger @ #4 Brace yourself , you will soon feel the wrath of the mighty Tesla cheerleader for daring to say a bad word about the mighty T. I agree with you and said before it was not really helping the environment as much as a way to monetize nothing. Tesla and other EVs selling credits to companies that make higher polluting vehicles made no sense. It would be like taking money from your right pocket and putting it in the left. In the end all you did was move it around and not really change a thing.
July 23rd, 2020 at 2:10 pm
8, Ziggy, I was thinking similarly but what I think what these rotary actuators offer is independent cams to each intake and exhaust valve so that they are more flexible than even the current variable cams that are used in some of today’s engines. But you’re right, what was presented still relied on a cam, increased complexity (maybe more than they are worth) and probably aren’t the answer to the question that was originally asked.
July 23rd, 2020 at 2:14 pm
9, XA, thanks for your post. I was trying to reply and got writers block on how to express what you stated clearly. Buying credits takes money away from R&D for those same companies that could use it to make more efficient vehicles. I think that the sentiment is noble but the system flawed.
July 23rd, 2020 at 2:22 pm
7) Just pointing out that the money is still coming from the tax payers. The “market” that is paying for the credits is formed exclusively by tax payers. Calling a tax payer “the market” does not change the fact that they are still a tax payer.
July 23rd, 2020 at 3:20 pm
is the camcon cam-less system ready for prime time? market ready available now?
July 23rd, 2020 at 3:24 pm
12. With the credits, you pay more, or less for a vehicle, depending on what you buy. Since Tesla is selling the credits, their cars cost less than they would otherwise, or the company would be out of business. FCA products and some others cost more, because they are the ones buying the credits.
July 23rd, 2020 at 3:52 pm
I don’t understand why Tesla gets carbon credits in the first place. From what I have read, the gov’t set a $/ton of greenhouse gas emissions. Companies lower what is owed by reducing their emissions either by switching fuels or by adopting new technologies. But, since Tesla inherently has low emissions and any reductions are small creates the question;” why do they qualify!”
I also read some believe Tesla has a business problem. As they report to have sold $15M in credit sales in its 10-Q filing with the SEC, they did not report the $200M in non- emissions credits. At the time, doing so cut their losses by that amount or more. And as such has an effect on stock prices as well.
I know so little about how this works, but I not sure if Tesla isn’t bending the rules to use them to their advantage… perhaps deceitfully so.
July 23rd, 2020 at 4:10 pm
14 If our government was serious about Carbon emissions they would just get rid of the credits all together and just throw a tax on the vehicles that do not meet the set standard. Just like the already gas guzzler tax.
Yep the price of the trucks and SUVs would go up and suddenly the fuel efficient cars would be cheap. But you wouldn’t have this buying of credits and the market would dictate what people want. Automakers would no longer be building crap that they cant sell to suffice some carbon credit scheme.
July 23rd, 2020 at 4:32 pm
Explaining the technology as “electromagnetic rotary actuators” is probably a buzzword. I bet this is a sort of “drive by wire” in which each valve is driven by an electronic pulse that would control timing and lift. Anything mechanical would not really be an improvement on the trusty old camshaft.
July 23rd, 2020 at 4:41 pm
17 Does anyone here have an idea how much power it takes to turn a camshaft? Unless there is a lot of friction, I’d think you’d get back a lot of the energy used to open a valve, when the spring pushes the back side of a cam lobe.
July 23rd, 2020 at 8:46 pm
Filled the tank again, Diesel prices varied widely between stations, the speedway was 2.159, as was the KRoger I tanked, but Mobil a block away was 2.59 or even 2.69. Obviously some stations have to much diesel in their tanks and others too little. AND with my $0.40 plus 2% discount, I paid the lowest diesel price in 4 years, $1.742 a gallon.
More importantly, after July 4 and Bastille Day July 14, today was the biggest holiday of them all. Instead of letting you all go home early, I will allow you to do so tomorrow, so you can have a longer weekend, and ponder all of Tesla’s Triumphs.
Happy Birthday to me! (also from over 20 friends so far)
July 23rd, 2020 at 8:57 pm
4 UTTER NONSENSE, Hope you never become a JUDGE of anything What utter garbage!!!!!!
July 23rd, 2020 at 8:58 pm
7 Do not encourage the clueless fool!!!!
If you take a dump in frongt of the Supreme Court, you pay a FINE. SIMILARLY if you pollute with your car.
The problem is ONLY cars pay the price, in the form of carbon credit purchases, and NOT furnaces, and especially LAWN MOWERS and other VERY polluting widely used appliances or whatevers.
July 23rd, 2020 at 9:00 pm
16 No, if they were serious and FAIR about emissions, they would punish ALL emitters, like the god-awful 100 million LAWN MOWERS and not saddle the whole burden on SOME polluters. BUT do not expect intelligence in the CORRUPT Congress.
July 23rd, 2020 at 9:02 pm
15 bEcause they build CLEAN car, and DIRTY makers like FORD who prefer to POLLUTE and SHORTEN YOUR LIFE, (if you had an ounce of brains u would know) should PAY for their pollution.
PAY AS YOU GO, USER FEE, it;s all the same idea.
100% proper to have carbon credits AND punish the dirty makers. NOT a handout! NOT a tax. A FAIR system, BUT should ALSO apply to OTHER polluters (lawnmowers etc)
July 23rd, 2020 at 9:26 pm
22 et. al. Are you suggesting that everyone keep a goat or two to keep the grass down, rather than using mowers? More seriously, yeah, lawn mowers are have high HC and probably other emissions, for their size, but they are much better than they once were. I remember mowing the lawn as a kid with a two stroke Lawn Boy that used 16/1 gas/oil mix, and on calm, summer evenings, a ~12 acre field next to the house would sometimes be completely covered with a blue cloud, from that one little engine. Not only are the two stroke mowers gone, but also, the other mowers are much cleaner. They still don’t have catalytic converters, though, even the riders with 20 hp engines, and they still have carburetors. The new riders are much cleaner, though, than my 43 year old one. Probably the dirtiest new machines, as far as producing bad emissions to breath, and maybe smog causing emissions, are string trimmers, edgers, etc., some of which still use two stroke engines.
July 23rd, 2020 at 9:38 pm
As far as CO2 emissions, lawn mowers are trivial contributors compared to road vehicles and airplanes, but they could be much more efficient. They use 20 hp engines for mowers that only need 10 hp, and they’d use less gas with a smaller engine. I guess there is a horsepower race in lawn mowers.
July 24th, 2020 at 7:29 am
Hey John and Sean
Since many here seem to have no clue as to what exactly carbon credits are and why they are 100% fair and appropriate to be given to ANY Company which produces green vehicles, maybe you can get some decent economist (maybe one your friends at CAR) that knows about them, to give a dumbed-down presentation preferably on this show some time soon.
Enjoy the rest of your 23rd of Larry Weekend!
July 24th, 2020 at 8:25 am
24 The newer EV mowers are pretty good. My brother has a 48V push mower for his suburban home and can mow the whole yard with a single charge which is good cause he doesn’t have a second battery. He does have a pretty good sized yard too for a subdivision.
I fully expect my next push mower to be electric. I already ditched the gas weed-wacker for a cordless electric and it works great. Much quieter too.
July 24th, 2020 at 8:38 am
27. I have an acre lawn where I spend summers in Indiana, and have the 1977 John Deere I’ve mentioned. I use a ~10 year old push mower for trimming. An electric push mower would be great for that, and wouldn’t be temperamental about starting like the gas one if it’s sat a few weeks. I don’t have a week whacker; I do that kind of trimming with old fashioned manual shears. If I ever get a new rider, I’ll look into electric. They probably now exist, that would easily do my one acre on a charge.
My condo in Florida is mowed using a big, really noisy ZTR, with gas weed whackers and walk behind mowers also used.
July 24th, 2020 at 9:34 am
Quite a few of the new lawn mowers have changed over to overhead valve engines (as opposed to flathead). With increase in power per displacement, economy as well as reduced pollution has resulted. I have also switched some of my yard equipment to battery electric but this is mostly because of gasoline issues rotting out the innards of the small engine carburetors and fuel feed lines (even using Stabil, etc. for help with the ethanol in gasoline). I have an electric weed eater and blower that perform fairly well; quiet and powerful enough, though probably for professional all day/heavy duty users they may not make the grade. I will though stick to my gasoline push mower for my needs.
July 24th, 2020 at 10:12 am
29. The newer lawn tractors are also going to two cylinder engines. I don’t know if that is for “bragging rights,” or because they might be smoother, though there is little vibration from the flat head, single cylinder Kohler engine in my antique. For efficiency, a single cylinder would be better for mower engines typically ~600 cc. More cylinders are better for high rpm, like with “sporty” motorcycles, but mower engines typically run 3500-4000 rpm. My single cylinder KLR650 motorcycle has a power peak at 7000 rpm, and red line of 7500.
July 24th, 2020 at 10:35 am
I like my electric yard tools including my 56V self propelled mower. The mower is particularly good because the extra torque from the electric helps with tall and/or wet grass. I have had my electric tools for 4 years now and have never worried about any type of maintenance. There are electric riding mowers out there but I don’t know how long the charge lasts. My yard isn’t really big enough to warrant a rider.
I can see why commercial companies would not go electric given that they are using the tools for 8-12 hours per day and no ability to recharge in remote locations. Also likely no room to store all the spare batteries needed in their trailers given all the equipment that they haul around.
July 24th, 2020 at 10:44 am
I had an electric mower for a small yard in the city in the 90s. It did fairly well, acceptable for a small yard, but the battery only lasted one season. I have more recently replaced all my other yard tools (string & hedge trimmers, blower) with electric but still use an OHV riding mower occasionally supplemented by my hand/reel mower. As good as battery tech is getting, I could see getting an electric mower again for the next mower.
July 24th, 2020 at 11:19 am
Kind of surprised Tesla hasn’t tapped into that market. Seems they could do well selling EV mowers. I mean if people will pay $4k for a small John Deere, They would probably pay more for a Tesla EV mover.
With as many people that have carb issues in the north from their gas equipment sitting all winter I bet people would love not messing with gas anymore. Plus an EV mower makes much more sense. Something you use once a week and can trickle charge for days before you need it again.
July 24th, 2020 at 11:47 am
It seems that the small, diaphragm carburetors on weed eaters, etc., are a constant hassle, but the float carburetor on my 43 year old John Deere has never been worked on.
32. Was the battery in the ’90s lead-acid, or maybe NiMH? If lead-acid, the deep discharges wouldn’t have been good for it. If NiMH, if it had ever been completely discharged, reverse charging a cell or two, it would have been damaged. The service life of lithium batteries in current lawn equipment will be determined by the same things that determine life of batteries in electric cars, laptops, and phones. The batteries will last a lot longer if only the “middle” ~80% of the charge-discharge cycle is used.
July 24th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Kit, I think it was a NiMH, but I don’t remember the specifics of it, like the make or voltage. Some of the new mowers have 40v-80v batteries, so they should be even more powerful, last longer per charge, and have a longer life.
July 26th, 2020 at 8:05 pm
I used to wonder about Tesla staff turnover. But Rivian has revealed there are active recruiting programs to peal away Tesla employees.
In the 1970s and 80s, I remember the ‘head hunter’ calls.