AD # 2885 – Could GM Change Its Name?; Panasonic Improving 2170 Battery Cells; Our Best Look at GMC’s Hummer EVs
July 30th, 2020 at 11:49am
Listen to “AD # 2885 – Could GM Change Its Name?; Panasonic Improving 2170 Battery Cells; Our Best Look at GMC's Hummer EVs” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:01
0:07 Could GM Change Its Name?
0:59 Could GM Spin Off Its EV Operations
1:19 What Would You Do?
1:35 GM Grows Its EV Lineup in China
3:00 EV vs. ICE Price Parity Still 10 Years Away
3:58 Panasonic Wants to Improve 2170 Battery Cell
4:39 BMW Working on Pilot Plant for Battery Production
5:25 Northvolt Secures $1.6 Billion for Battery Plant Expansion
6:00 Renault Posts Stunning Losses
6:35 VW Group Also Posts Big Losses
6:55 Our Best Look Yet at GMC’s Hummer EVs
7:38 Sony Tests Vision-S Prototype in Tokyo
8:07 Barn Find Revealed
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COULD GM CHANGE ITS NAME?
Say, could General Motors end up changing its name? Adam Jonas with Morgan Stanley posed that question to GM CEO Mary Barra on yesterday’s earnings call with Wall Street analysts. He suggested that with a new name and an emphasis on electric cars, GM might be able to get a much higher stock price. Barra’s answer was intriguing. She said that’s something they’ve looked at. But she added that they would have to decide when the time is right and have enough “proof points” so that everyone believed GM was truly becoming an EV company.
COULD GM SPIN OFF ITS EV OPERATIONS?
And then, Emanuel Rosner from Deutsche Bank asked her if GM would consider spinning off its entire EV operations into a separate, stand-alone company? Barra did not say yes, but noted that GM is open to any idea to improve shareholder value, and added that “nothing is off the table.”
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
So what would you do if you were Mary Barra? Would you rename General Motors? Adam Jonas suggested changing the name to Ultium, which is the name of GM’s new generation of EV batteries. What would you call it? And would you spin off GM’s EV operations?
GM GROWS ITS EV LINEUP IN CHINA
Barra also talked about how GM is growing its EV lineup in China. Despite the pandemic, GM’s EV deliveries were up by more than 25% in the first half of the year. And it’s adding new entries such as the Chevrolet Menlo, the all-new Baojun E300 and E300 Plus, which can be charged in an hour using DC fast charging. There’s also Wuling’s first EV, the Rong Guang electric minivan and the Hong Guang Mini EV, and the Buick Velite 7, Buick’s first all-electric SUV.
Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this afternoon when we’ll take a deep dive into how Ford designed the new Broncos. Our guest is Paul Wraith, the program chief designer for the Bronco. We’re curious to know how they decided on the form language and we want to know how customer centric design played a role in developing the Bronco and Bronco Sport. Chris Paukert from Roadshow by CNET will also be on the program, so join John and Gary to go behind the scenes on how Ford went about designing the Bronco.
EVs STILL 10 YEARS AWAY FROM PRICE PARITY WITH ICE
One thing holding more people back from buying an EV is the price difference compared to a similar vehicle with an internal combustion engine. According to a new survey from WardsIntelligence, we’re still about 10 years away from reaching that break even point. Most of the participants said that the price of lithium-ion battery packs wouldn’t reach $100 per kWh until 2025 or after. $100 per kWh has long been considered the magic number to make EVs cost competitive with ICE. But there’s a lot of factors, like what segment a vehicle fits into – it’s a bigger deal for a Hyundai Sonata than say a Porsche Taycan – and then we must also consider the chemical makeup of the battery. The Wards survey says lithium-ion will still dominate the market between 2025 and 2030 but lithium-sulfur and solid-state batteries will start to gain share.
PANASONIC WORKING TO IMPROVE 2170 BATTERY CELLS
Another popular option could be cobalt-free batteries and Reuters reports Panasonic wants to make cobalt-free versions of its 2170 battery cells, the same kind it supplies to Tesla, within the next two or three years. These kinds of batteries are cheaper and last longer, but also have less energy density, which means less range. So, Panasonic also plans to increase the energy density by 20% in the cobalt version of those 2170 cells and it hopes to do that in 5 years. Panasonic first debuted the 2170 lithium-ion cell in 2017 with the Tesla Model 3.
BMW READIES PILOT PLANT FOR BATTERY CELL PRODUCTION
BMW is developing a closed and sustainable material cycle for battery cells and will open a pilot plant to produce recyclable battery cells in order to improve performance and demonstrate large scale manufacturability. The automaker wants to control all aspects of the value chain, including selection of raw materials, battery cell composition and design, all the way to near-standard production and recycling. The main focus will be optimizing production efficiency, costs and quality of the cells. The pilot plant, which will be located near Munich, will be capable of testing new technology and production processes. And it will go into service beginning in late 2022 at a cost of about 110 million euros.
NORTHVOLT SECURES $1.6 BILLION FOR NEW BATTERY FACTORIES
Speaking of battery cell production, Swedish company Northvolt says it secured $1.6 billion in financing to expand its factories in Europe. Northvolt has contracts with Volkswagen and BMW and says it hopes to make 25% of all the batteries used in Europe for the auto sector.
RENAULT POSTS STUNNING LOSSES
Renault posted a stunningly big loss for the first half of the year. It lost over $8.5 billion. And Nissan played a big role in that loss. Renault owns over 43% of Nissan and always gets a big dividend payment from the Japanese automaker. Because of the pandemic, Nissan is losing money, so Renault isn’t getting much of anything from Nissan. With Mitsubishi just announcing it’s pulling out of the European market, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance sure looks like it’s on shaky ground.
VW GROUP ALSO POSTS BIG LOSSES
The Volkswagen Group also posted big losses for the second quarter, but not nearly as bad as Renault. VW says its production for the last three months was down 40%, and it’s revenue dropped 37%. It posted a loss of 1.5 billion euros, compared to a profit of 4.1 billion a year ago
GM GIVES US OUR BEST LOOK YET AT THE NEW HUMMER EVs
GM is once again teasing the upcoming Hummer electric truck. The short video, featuring NBA superstar LeBron James, revealed it will debut later this fall, with reservations beginning at the same time and production will begin in fall 2021. It also teased product features named Adrenaline and Crab Mode but didn’t share any details. We imagine Adrenaline is going to be something like Ludicrous mode in Tesla’s. And Crab mode probably has something to do with hard core off-roading. It also teased these silhouettes of the vehicle, one a pickup and the other a SUV. That’s all we have for now but we’ll learn more, closer to its reveal.
SONY TAKE VISION-S PROTOTYPE TO TOKYO FOR TESTING
At CES this year, Sony gave us a bit of a shock when it unveiled an electric and autonomous vehicle called the Vision-S. And now the company says the vehicle has arrived in Tokyo to test its audio and sensing technologies. The vehicle features over 30 sensors which allows for Level 2 autonomous driving and it has 33 speakers. The prototype is also currently under development for public road testing this year.
BARN FIND REVEALED
Another Barn Find up, another Barn Find down. Viewer Sam Fiorani provides some good insight into this one. He says, “The truck looks like a 1941 Chevrolet. The lack of trim along the hood differentiates it from the very similar 1942 model. It is also similar to the ’41 GMC, which would have a “General Motors Truck” badge where the side hood louvers are on the Chevrolet.” And if only this truck could talk, I bet it would have some stories to tell.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (41)
July 30th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Is the cover picture a profile of the FJ Criser? I had one and it sure looks like it.
July 30th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Is the cover picture a profile of the FJ Criser? I had one and it sure looks like it.
July 30th, 2020 at 12:42 pm
I would find it difficult to see the renaming of GM. It has a long history and loyal customers. However when it comes to stock price I’m sure everyone wonders why no matter how well GM or Ford perform the stock never really climbs much. My guess is they think a new name might change that and give it the same opportunity that Tesla is seeing with its stock.
1) A new name wont dissolve GM of its history and I doubt will have much affect on the ability for the stock to climb even when it should.
2) You think a new name will give a warm fuzzy to customers that anything has changed? It wont.
3) A name change just distances you further from your loyal customers and creates a risk you don’t draw in new ones.
With that said I think its best for GM to create a separate division solely committed to EVs. Doesn’t much matter if its Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer or something new. That division needs to be as independent of the other GM products as much as possible.
Since EVs are becoming most popular because of their performance than the “green initiative” I believe it would be best for GM to bring back Pontiac and launch performance based EVs.
The Hummer EV may work, but still seems weird to be using the one vehicle that became the symbol of American access gas guzzling SUVs for a “green” EV truck. If it indeed will have 1000HP seems it would fit well within the Pontiac division. A Trans/Am truck perhaps?
July 30th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
3 cont- Also I would imagine stock holders would like a company that is known for being better than just General. As the word General itself comes off as average. Like go grab a general tool or you’re nothing special just part of the general public. But just like General Electric which emphasized the initials and changed its logo to be just GE, GM has already done that. So not sure much else can or should be done other than emphasize the division names.
July 30th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
I was very recently in the Smoky mountains. On my way up to Clingman’s Dome, I witnessed 2 Tesla Model 3 being towed back down the mountain. Rumor had it they had both run out of battery on the way up. If true, we are not quite fully capable of moving completely away from ICE just yet.
July 30th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
I agree that it would make no sense to change the name of GM, but it would makes sense to create a separate “brand” for EVs. Maybe Electra would be a good name. A car like the Bolt could be Electra 100. A Tesla 3 size sedan or hatch could be an Electra 150, and a bigger sedan, Electra 225. Maybe they could add an “X” for crossovers, with Electra X150 being a mid-size crossover.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:15 pm
1, No that is not an FJ; that is the leaked silhouette of the upcoming Hummer (the SUV model) that was from a GM release. Earlier in that same video was the silhouette of the pickup truck. GM is going full force with this vehicle and it shouldn’t disappoint (well, there’s no making everyone happy) but this will be all out effort including the new battery that will accompany it.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:20 pm
7. To me, the revived Hummers will be disgusting, but I hope they sell well enough at high prices, to help keep the company in business, and to subsidize making vehicles more to my liking.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Having a separate EV brand for GM makes no sense. There may come a point where ICE vehicles cease to exist. The whole point is to migrate existing GM brands (with their long history and customer good will) to a new propulsion technology.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:29 pm
Time will tell how Polestar works as a separate brand for Volvo. The Polestar 2 sounds interesting. It is a mildly lifted hatch, on the order of the Ford E-Thing, and will sell for about $60K. I just saw British youtube video that was mostly positive about it.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
In answer to your question, Sean/John, if I was Mary Barra, assuming I had ANY Decency, I would cut my salary from the RIDICULOUS and UTTERLY UNDESERVED $22 million per year, to 10% of that,
which is still $2.2 Million a year, an AMPLE salary even if she was doing great, AND 10 to 20 times what her mindless supporters in this forum EVER made.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
10 the Polestar available now, at $150k or more, is about the same price and performance than the FAR more refined and reliable Acura NSX, which barely sells 5 units per year, so Polestar can declare victory if they can sell 3 units, (after the initial foolish purchases by the impatient and the curious). 3, not 3,000, units, per YEAR. And this is 3 more than it DESERVES to sell.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:45 pm
Larry D.: since I could not reply to your reaction yesterday, I am posting it here for you:
Larry D.: …WHat planet do you live in????? Have you seen which nation gets almost ALL the Science NOBEL PRIZES EVERY YEAR????? Hellooo?”
My reply:
Try to have facts instead of your emotions rule your key board: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates Columns “Physics” and “Chemistry”
That takes care of science. Let’s get back to engineering, which was my point: would you say that the research & development and engineering departments of BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley, etc. are staffed with U.S.-trained engineers? And would you say that the vehicles developed and engineered by U.S.-trained engineers, such as Ford, GM and the likes are far superior to the aforementioned vehicles?
July 30th, 2020 at 1:49 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zggq8aHZH_Y
For those who mindlessly plan to vote in Nov without checking who they are voting for. Your very liberal and well known Sam Donaldson exposes the blatant lies.
AND… 78th in a class of 85? That is not mediocrity, this is a TOTAL UTTER LOSER. Why in the world did Obama choose him as his VP? To make the Secret Service protect him even more, thinking about what lying moron would take over in case they screwed up!
July 30th, 2020 at 1:54 pm
GM changing names is silly talk. It didn’t really work out for Chrysler, I meant to say Daimler Chrysler, I meant to say Cerebus, I meant to say FCA, I meant to say Stellantis. It will not make a bit of difference to change the name and be same old GM underneath. What needs to change is the culture at GM. A culture that can be more dynamic and forward thinking.
July 30th, 2020 at 1:57 pm
13. Also, check physiology/medicine, with a number of European, Japanese, and Chinese winners in recent years.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
15. Most people not in the car biz still call it Chrysler, and would still call GM GM, if they changed the name.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:11 pm
Maybe GM could change their name to General Electric Motors. Oh wait that won’t work. Ah just change the name to what they’ve been called for years (GM) Garbage Motors . Seriously though that would a idiotic move. You don’t scrap a 100+ year old name for something that no one will understand the reason for. If they ever really get their Electric program going It would make sense to call the Electric division General Motors and the fuel side called General Engines. The names of companies with the name Motors was always on the confusing side as combustion powerplants are called engines and electric powerplants are called motors.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:16 pm
11 I really hate to point this out again cause I’m not sure if its a disability or reading comprehension. But Seans question was “Would you rename General Motors?” What would you call it? And would you spin off GM’s EV operations?” Three questions her mindless supporters can easily comprehend yet you struggle with.
Nothing about Mary’s salary or your #14 post but you often go off on a completely different tangent. You belong in a university where you have a captive audience. Free choice would leave an empty auditorium.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
General Electric has kept their name, even though they are almost completely out of the business of anything electric. They make jet engines and are into “financial services,” but sold the appliance business to a Chinese company, quit making light bulbs, and haven’t made radios, TVs, etc. in decades. GM should stay GM.
Maybe GM could revive the Electro-Motive name which they used for locomotives. Maybe that name isn’t available, though, and whoever bought the locomotive business is still using the name.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:25 pm
19. Regarding Sean’s 3rd question, they should not “spin off” the EV operation. That would only be a preparation for GM to fade into the sunset, as the ICE car business fades….
July 30th, 2020 at 2:35 pm
You can’t ask IF GM should change names unless you can answer WHY GM should change names. If it were me, I would organize the company into a US domestic company (GM), a Chinese domestic company (Wuling), an EV company that is more of a components company than a maker (Ultium Tech Co), a Ferrari like high stock multiple company (Corvette) and an international company for the remaining bits and import/export. This last one, I would call General Motors Worldwide, because I’ve always liked the initials GMW (ie the BMW of trucks)
July 30th, 2020 at 2:35 pm
GM – Or they could revise name to CM – For China Motors.
July 30th, 2020 at 2:41 pm
#5 – The YouTube video in the web link shows a Model 3 climbing Pike’s Peak. The narrative:
“… a quick, quiet climb to the clouds at 14,115 feet. On the 19-mile drive to the top, I used about 20% of my Long-Range (310 mile) battery (from 80% down to 60%), but recaptured about 8% on the drive back down (back up to 68%).”
BTW, I remember driving those roads in the Smokies on a still night and smelling overheated brakes and passing vehicles parked on the side cooling them. There sure are a lot of tow and vehicle repair services in that area.
July 30th, 2020 at 3:00 pm
21 I thought about that too. Would having a EV division put GM in position to sacrifice all the other divisions when and if everything pure EV? Certainly each division will want to have an EV offering as they become more popular. So will having an exclusive EV division mean Cadillac and Buick no longer get EVs? If they do why have an EV division at all?
Or will EVs never materialize into anything more than a niche market never exceeding 12% of the US sales.
We could be 4 or 25 years from EV acceptance on a large scale.
July 30th, 2020 at 3:03 pm
General Electriq
July 30th, 2020 at 4:10 pm
24. That’s interesting. I’d wondered what the recovery percentage would be when doing something like that.
I never drove up Pikes Peak, but have driven up Mt. Evans, about the same height, but on a paved road. The first time was with my parents as a kid, in the early ’60s, before I drove. I remember people pulled off the side of the road, to let brakes cool. Also, there were people on the way up with hoods up, to watch the radiator boil over. I suspect the overheating wouldn’t have happened, if they just did the climb in a lower gear.
The second time I drove up Mt. Evans was in the ’90s, in a rental Camry. I don’t remember many people having brake or overheating problems that time.
July 30th, 2020 at 4:37 pm
That’s odd my tesla has a guage that tells me how far I can go so make sure battery topped off before you go those distances surely there was a plug somewhere on the way to get some charge Maybe should have watched those videos of EV’s running out of charge It is not pretty
July 30th, 2020 at 5:53 pm
27 I believe they have paved the entire road up the mountain for environmental reasons. Sad and good. Still no guard rails. YES
July 30th, 2020 at 7:03 pm
28 Yeah, it was a long time ago that my dad didn’t want to drive up the mountain on a gravel road without guard rails. I’ll try to look up when it was paved.
July 30th, 2020 at 7:08 pm
Pikes Peak road paving completed in 2011.
July 30th, 2020 at 8:32 pm
13 I never bothered to see a reply to the OBVIOUS TRUTH that the USA has had, AS I SAID, for the last several DECADES, if not 75 years, the BEST universities IN THE WORLD. IN THE PLANET.
YOu seem to require proof that 1+1=2.
Just OPEN YOUR EYES and ask yourself WHY people not only from the US but From ALL OVER THE WORLD spend an arm and a leg to send their kids to US universities, when they could have saved a BUNDLE and sent them to the tin roof universities of their countries.
You sent a link with the nobel prizes. I never needed it. EVERY EFFING YEAR in October I look at the SCIENCE and ECONOMICS prizes, and the USA DOMINATES all these fields, frequently getting ALL the Nobels for some years.
I STRESSED, the last 75 years, NOT always!! Before WWII, Germany and other EUropean nations had a TON of Nobels, BUT after the war, with the BRAIN DRAIN, US Universities were HUGELY strengthened and reached the TOP, which THEY KEPT TO THIS DAY.
In case you still believe that the earth is flat, along with old Joe and Cwolf here, YOU TELL US, with a straight face:
In YOUR uninformed and non-expert opinion, WHICH of the 200 nations of this planert, if NOT the USA, has the BEST, TOP OF THE TOP, univesities in this PLANET????? DID YOu send YOUR kids there? LOL.
Thanks for wasting my time again, this time BIG time. I will not spendf (waste) it so much in the future.
July 30th, 2020 at 8:37 pm
https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/ford-posts-surprise-11b-profit-argo-ai-investment-gain?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200730&utm_content=hero-image
Analysts were surprised, it seems. because their predictions 99% of the time (and just like with GM yesterday) are off target.
Apparently killing the unprofitable models works.
July 30th, 2020 at 8:40 pm
32 Speaking of predictions, 1% of the time they are correct, and an example was that of the US GDP steep drop (waas it 33%? that was exactly the prediction I heard weeks or days ago).
BUT (and this is a big But!), DW news today on a PBS station, these are news in English from Germany, stated that IF the GDP drop was measured the way they do it in Europe, it would be les than…. 10%!!! DW is very anti-Trump in its coverage, BTW.
Even more amazing, they said that Germany, which did far better than many other major Euro nations (France, UK, italy, spain, Belgium, NL) in CV deaths, shrank its GDP EVEN MORE than the US!
July 30th, 2020 at 9:07 pm
31. From what I’ve seen, both while at school, and while working, people from India, UK, Iran, China, and other countries get 4 year degrees at home, and go to U.S. schools for advanced degrees. I suppose that will change, if Trump is reelected. There will be a brain drain to Canada, the UK, and some other countries.
If you actually looked at the list of Nobel winners for physics, chemistry, and physiology/medicine, yeah, the U.S., with 330M population has more than any other country, but UK+Germany+France, with much less total population, has as many over recent years.
July 30th, 2020 at 9:09 pm
32. What does it say? AutoNews won’t let me read it?
July 31st, 2020 at 8:25 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country
here is a detailed list of all the Nobel Prizes each country has EVER won, and it includes even the Mickey-Mouse Peace and Literature prices, as well as the SERIOUS SCIENCE and ECONS prizes:
For those of you that can’t click, here is proof I was 10,000% RIGHT and WIM 10,000 % WRONG:
NUMBER ONE: (BY FAR) is the USA, with 383 Nobel Prizes!!!!!
No 2, far behind, the UK with 132 , No 3, Germany, 108, and allothers are well below 100.
So repeat after me, WIM:
The US has the BEST universities of ANY nation in the WORLD, AND the VAST Majority of Nobel Prizes!!
ALSO, most of the other nation’s priuzes were given BEFORE W W II and Most of the US prizes AFTER WW II.
DO NOT REPLY, WIM, just try to LEARN. Do not waste my time any further.
July 31st, 2020 at 8:29 am
https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/fca-loses-124-billion-q2-north-america-ekes-out-profit?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200731&utm_content=hero-headline
FCA loses more bills than Ford made in Q2.
July 31st, 2020 at 8:35 am
37. Look at the most recent several years, for physics, chemistry, and physiology/medicine, not the Micky Mouse Literature, Peace, and Econ. Again, comparing the U.S. with the UK and Germany, with 1/5 and 1/4 the population, respectively, does not mean much.
August 1st, 2020 at 4:08 pm
@3,4,15,17 – AGREED!!
GM, please don’t waste your time and money changing your name. Quite frankly, it’d be a huge gamble to think that a name change could garner (lasting) success on Wall Street.
The reason for Tesla’s stock success has much more to do with the owner of the company than it does the name of the company. Elon is full of magnetic, never-say-die charisma. He’s a cat with nine lives. Investors will always back someone like that.
Tesla’s a person (metaphorically). GM’s a corporation. Spin the electric division off, GM. Don’t try to pull off a Houdini, or you may not reappear where you’d like to.
August 7th, 2020 at 9:19 am
GM NAME CHANGE and EV’s: Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan did not become successful because of their name. What GM call’s itself is irrelevant. First and foremost is the true business case for battery EV’s….is that a good bet on the future of light vehicles. EV advocates for MANY years now have been saying the hockey stick of EV growth is coming and it NEVER has happened. Current evidence/facts clearly show EV’s have no mass market future in the USA using current technologies and cost structures. EV’s have been available for sale for a decade now and are only 1.5% of sales in the USA. Key issues is they are expensive, have low range, take long to charge, and there is little fast (or slow) charging infrastructure across the USA. There is little value offered by EV’s that majority of Americans desire. These fundamental issues are not going away anytime soon. It is Business 101 and Engineering 101 which many companies fail to faithfully execute and assess. Tesla attracted a tiny niche of wealthy green people who want luxury and performance. They own that market. GM trying to conquest a niche market is not wise as they offer little incremental value above Tesla and the niche volume will not justify return on investment. “If we build it they will come” business decision process is not wise. Group think is sadly pervasive in the auto industry. Sadly, the only hope for EV’s today is in Socialist and Communist tyranny nations that must use FORCE to create EV market. Creating a business case around regulation mandates is the opposite of innovation and creativity. It is not a long term viable strategy. I wish GM the best of course and want GM to be a large success in the future.