This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
SUPPLIERS DROPPING OUT OF TURBOCHARGER BUSINESS
Five years ago, supplier companies were falling all over each other trying to get into the business of making turbochargers. Today, there’s a rush for the door. Bosch and Mahle got out of the business three years ago, not long after they started making turbos. Continental is reportedly trying to sell its turbocharger business, even though it’s only been in the segment a few years. And Garrett, one of the largest turbo manufacturers, recently filed for bankruptcy. Turbo sales are strong and growing, but many suppliers are starting to back out of making components for internal combustion engines. They want to invest in EVs and AVs instead because that’s where they see future growth.
CONTINENTAL INVESTS IN LIDAR STARTUP
And just to put a punctuation point on that, Continental announced it’s investing in a California startup, called AEye, that makes Lidar. Last year Aisin, the Japanese transmission supplier also invested in the startup. AEye says its Lidar can detect vehicles as far away as 300 meters, it can see pedestrians 200 meters away, and can detect small, low-reflective objects like a brick up to 150 meters away.
U.S. CAR MARKET CLOSE TO RECOVERING
October’s new car sales in the U.S. market are coming in really strong. Ward’s Intelligence says the SAAR will likely come in at 16.8 million units, meaning the market has almost completely recovered. Wards says that sales next year could top 16 million vehicles. Last year, without the impact of the pandemic, sales were around 17 million.
GLOBAL EV SALES UP
The pandemic hurt global sales, but LMC Automotive says sales of battery cars shot up 11%. However, the results vary widely by region, and most of that EV growth came from Europe, which has aggressive policies to boost sales of electrics. European automakers face massive fines if they miss CO2 targets. It’s cheaper for them to lose money selling EVs than to pay fines for ICEs that miss the CO2 regulations. LMC forecasts that nearly 50% of all new car sales in Europe will be BEVs by the early 2030s.
ZF INTRODUCES HYBRID CONVERSION KIT FOR BIG TRUCKS
Supplier ZF is making it so any diesel-powered semi-truck can convert into a hybrid. All an operator has to do is hook up to its eTrailer, which is integrated with an electric axle and batteries. The pack is charged through regen braking and then it can use that energy to power vehicle functions or assist the engine. Benefits include all-wheel-drive-like performance with increased traction on slippery surfaces and better acceleration, which would be particularly useful when getting on the highway. It’s not crazy to think we’ll see fleets adopt solutions like this. We’ve seen a ton of plug-in hybrids hit the market to help meet stricter emission standards and be able to drive through electric-only zones in Europe and now heavy-duty truck emissions are coming under greater scrutiny. And ZF claims its eTrailer can reduce fuel consumption up to 16% or 6.5L per 100 kilometers driven.
TESLA PLANS TO DROP SKATEBOARD DESIGN
Tesla is moving on from its skateboard design. Last month, at its Battery Day, the company announced its developing structural batteries. And during the EV maker’s third quarter earnings call, an analyst asked Elon Musk if this means Tesla will get rid of its skateboard design. He responded that the skateboard will become obsolete in the long term but the transition to structural battery packs will take years. For those of you who don’t know, the skateboard features the battery pack in the floor of the car and the electric motor between the rear wheels.
TESLA DIPS SLIGHTLY OVER CAPEX SPENDING NEWS
And in other Tesla news, the company’s stock dipped slightly in pre-market trading after it announced that its capital expenditure spending in 2020 will be on the high-end between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion. And the company said it expects capex spending to be between $4.5 billion and $6 billion in the next two fiscal years. Tesla says it will be able to continue self-fund its projects through the sales of its cars.
ELON MUSK UNLOCKS HUGE PAYMENT
And wait, there’s even more Tesla news. Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk just got the fourth payment of his outsized compensation package. So far, he’s collected $11.8 billion and has 8 more payments to go. If he continues to meet targets for Tesla’s stock market value and adjusted earnings, Musk could end up putting $50 billion in his bank account. He’s already worth over $100 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world.
VOLVO BUSES NOW OFFERING PANTOGRAPHS
Plugging into a charger isn’t the only way to power up an electric vehicle. Volvo Buses is now offering buses with a pantograph. Like an electric trolley, the buses connect to an overhead line, with the pantograph, which is mounted on the top of the bus. The feature will be available next year in Europe on its 7900 Electric buses, including articulated versions. The pantograph allows operators to charge the bus at a bus stop or bus depot. And Volvo isn’t the only truck maker that offers vehicles with pantograph, Mercedes and Scania also offer the feature.
VW PLANS TO MAKE BENTLEY A SUBSIDIARY OF AUDI
We’ve talked a lot about how Volkswagen needs to free up cash for its electrification efforts. A lot of that has focused around the sale of Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini, but here’s another possible solution. Reports out of Germany say Bentley will become a subsidiary of Audi starting next year. While there aren’t many details, we would expect to see management cuts and the consolidation of design and engineering divisions. There’s already talk of using Audi technology for an upcoming Bentley SUV.
DAIMLER CELEBRATES UNIMOG ACQUISITION
Everybody’s favorite off-road machine is celebrating a significant milestone. Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the Unimog. Production originally started in 1948 by the Boehringer Bros. but on October 27, 1950 Daimler signed the official contract to take over the Unimog. Those first models used a de-tuned version of the diesel engine from the Mercedes 170 D passenger car and as we all know the Unimog is still serving people today. To this date, over 380,000 Unimogs have been sold around the world.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and we’ll see you again tomorrow.
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Comments (31)
October 26th, 2020 at 12:04 pm
ICE is going to die eventually , or become quite small in the grand scheme of things,allthose invested it its production will be marginalized, see their bottom line drop, PURE EVs are the future, those that make batteries and EV drivetrains will be the future and Tesla will get bigger and BIGGER! Those who dont adapt will goo the way of the DODO bird or Dinosaur.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:19 pm
1 While that be the case, the real question is how soon? According to Bloomberg, by 2040, 54% of all new car sales will be EVs. So if that’s about right, we have 20 years of ICE vehicles before EVs start to overcome in sales. Which means we could easily have another 40 years of gas engines before they are completely replaced. Seems a bit premature to drop items like Turbo development, when that is one area of the ICE that seems to be growing.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:29 pm
#2,+1 Lambo,
I also see the exit of producing and improving turbo chargers way too premature. Even Europe’s stated 50% projection of BEV’s into the ’30′s leaves a lot of room there (Europe), as well as the rest of the world, which probably won’t be at those same levels for some time beyond that. Look to the future, sure, but make some product (and money) till then.
Tesla could be making legitimate profit without the BEV credits; just pay Musk a reasonable salary. Ludicrous mode should be for his speeding vehicles, not his ludicrous/ridiculous compensation.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:31 pm
When will boards get real with these CEO’s salaries. Granted Elon’s is performance based on stock which makes sense but I’m not sure how they can justify these ridiculous salaries. He could take home 1 billion dollars and still give every single Tesla employee 1 million dollars.
At some point ethics should prevail and stop the foolishness’.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
@4 –
October 26th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
Oops… no emoji…
@4 – Thumbs Up.
October 26th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
The ZF electric assist trailer is the most interesting “EV” idea in a while. Presumably, with the right software, could greatly boost the efficiency AND emissions of even nasty old rigs. The hurtle might be the fact that many fleets aren’t big on investing in the trailer part of the rig, and trailers often have a lot more downtime than the tractors…
October 26th, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Glad that Tesla is doing so well, I just thought that instead of just sell EV credits, they also sell their out going EV skate board platform too. This way, like VW Group, they can make money on their old architecture as they move on to their new one. Other European automakers have done so with their outdated platforms, so this could also work out for them.
Bentley a subsidiary of Audi doesn’t sound like a bad thing, but I thought that they were making money on their own for the VW Group? It’s also sad to hear that Lambo maybe on the auction block, for they have been such a success under Audi management! Maybe they may do like they did with Bugatti and Rimac, and sell it to someone else and turn around and buy a nearly controlling interest of that company?! Or why couldn’t/wouldn’t they just put Lambo under Porche management? While they may not be able to share architectures, if the goal was to reduce management costs, I’m sure Porches’ leadership would work for both brands!
October 26th, 2020 at 1:11 pm
Does the ZF trailer have a big battery, to be plugged in, or just a small battery for non plug-in operation? If the latter, it would be very useful for stop and go situations, and in hilly areas on the highway, but not in, say, central Indiana highway driving, going constant speed on flat land. It sounds like a great idea, for certain types of use, and all you’d need to do is hitch it to your tractor for it to be useful.
October 26th, 2020 at 1:22 pm
I’m sure Elon’s incentive is a ‘stock option’. It allows him to buy cheap TSLA, fresh off the stock certificate printer, and sell on the open market. There isn’t a cash transfer until Elon chooses to exercise any part of that option. But for accounting reasons, the stocks in the option have to be listed as an expense in the balance sheet.
The ‘skateboard’ is a frame that holds the separate batteries. This adds weight and complexity without battery energy. In contrast, the structural battery pack makes the cylindrical cells and epoxy filler into a honeycomb-like structure that is extremely stiff and strong. Sandy Munro covered this in one of his excellent Tesla videos (see web link.)
October 26th, 2020 at 1:33 pm
In the old days, US car companies sent their old model tooling to Australia and Brazil. These days I thought old businesses like turbo chargers would be sold to China, Vietnam or some other Far East country. Is there a reason the turbo charger guys don’t want to do that? There is still lots of time left to make money, especially if the price dropped from Asian production.
October 26th, 2020 at 1:34 pm
The linked article says Bentley are now under the Porsche subgroup, so I guess it makes sense to put them with Audi. The Bentley products have more in common with Audi, at least the cars, though all VW group SUVs share a lot, whether VW, Audi, Porsche, or Bentley.
I never understood VW’s buying Ducati; it doesn’t fit in with their other business much, and it is a niche brand, even of motorcycles. I never really understood the existence of the “new” Bugatti. If they continue to exist, Koenigsegg, might be a good patron.
Could Lamborghini make it on their own? I guess Ferrari does, but is there space in the world for two such car companies?
October 26th, 2020 at 1:36 pm
Big trucks often have a lot of dead space behind the cab (if the sleeper is not fitted) or above the cab where the aero fairings go. Why not use that space to house the hybrid equipment?
October 26th, 2020 at 1:37 pm
11 Are turbochargers much different from 30 years ago? The one in my 1989 Dodge Caravan seems to work about the same as the new ones, except that it’s physically a little bigger, so spools up slower.
October 26th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
13 Behind the cab should be an ok place for batteries, but in the aero fairings would raise the center of gravity, not a good thing. The trailer sounds like a good idea to me, because there is open space under the floor to put batteries, and there are axles with nothing connected, making it relatively easy to add the motor-generators.
October 26th, 2020 at 2:51 pm
The batteries under the trailers would have to be more forward for the added weight may cause the trailer to jack knife easier without a load. It is a really good idea!
Elon’s wage package is ridiculous but that is what was negotiated. Yet, being the amount is so out of proportion with profits, perhaps Tesla is no longer deserving of further federal or state incentives, including tax breaks. People’s tax monies shouldn’t be given to any company when it has enough cash to pay one person more money than many corporations profits!
October 26th, 2020 at 3:07 pm
15 My concern would be that EV motors generally have huge amounts of torque all the way through the speed range. Driving from a stop these trucks on wet pavement, maybe on an incline with the pedal down as most truckers would do. The trailer could start spinning its wheels and loose traction.. The relationship of wheel speed managed between the truck and trailer could be pretty important.
October 26th, 2020 at 3:29 pm
4, 5 and other ignorant comments: TESLA SHAREHOLDERS, NOT YOU, are the ones that SHOULD and DID approve of ELON MUSK’s VERY HIGH RISK compensation package, by which, IF HE FAILED, like HACKETT, BARRA and all your worthless, incompetent Big 3 CEO’s, he would get a Grand total of ZERO dollars per year, while if he succeeded BEYOND EVEN THE MOST OPTIMISTIC PREDICTIONS, AND HE DID, he would make out like a BANDIT, BUT AGAIN NOT FROM ANY WAGE but 100% from STOCK OPTIONS.
NEVER in my memory was ANY CEO MORE DESERVING of his BILLIONS than the BRILLIANT but ALSO Business SAVVY ELON MUSK.
SO instead of stewing in your envy for his billions, TAKE YOUR HAT OFF TO him, and WISH YOUR pet CEO (Barra, Farley and the like) ALSO AGREED to take ZERO money UNLESS THEY DELIVERED to their shareholders!!!
AND THE FUTURE IS EXTREMELY BRIGHT, which I am sure will cause more clinical depression for the unrepentant and clueless Tesla haters here. TODAY you heard in this show what you should have LISTENED when I told you 100 TIMES, forget the US market, the BIG growth areas for BEVs AND their TOTALLY DOMINANT firm, TESLA, will be CHINA AND EUROPE. 50% BEV is not crazy, since EUROPE has DONE IT BEFORE, switching from gas to Diesel even in its tiniest cars.
October 26th, 2020 at 3:33 pm
In other news, making Bentley a subsidiary of Audi is one of the STUPIDEST ideas I ever heard from the VW group, and it DID have a ton of them over the decades. It will GUARANTEE I will never bother to look at any bentley, if it is just a glorified VW-Audi. What weed are these morons smoking???
Imagine what will happen to ROlls Royce Profits (and they are HUGE despite their small sales) if it is made a subsidiary of BMW-MINI!
October 26th, 2020 at 3:37 pm
Finally, more idiotic designs from VOlvo. Trolley buses are DINOSAURS, they became EXTINCT because these systems on their roofs were very impractical and CONSTANTLY needed the conductor of the bus (in addition to the DRIVER) to get out and fix them all the time. THey were around 60 anf 70 years ago, made in some IN plant, in many Euro capitals and other cities, but for theabove Reasons they were wiped out. Just like the Dinosaurs. Now the idiots at VOlvo-Geely (of China) want to resurrect them. they will fail AGAIN.
October 26th, 2020 at 4:13 pm
18 From the CAPTAIN of ignorant comments and Head cheerleader for Tesla comes the most foolish comment yet. Set down your pom poms Larry and really say with a strait face that any CEO deserves 50 Billion?
This had absolutely nothing to do with Barra and or Hackett although I know you love to throw shade at anyone not Tesla. You are about as biased as those Trump haters you detest. Your love for Elon blinds your better judgement if you had any. (which I doubt).
BTW the comment wasn’t envy of his Billions or hate for Tesla it was a simple statement that no CEO should be raking in that amount of money. Its just an exercise in pure excess. Would his life be any worse making 1/10th that amount?
October 26th, 2020 at 4:18 pm
19 You meant making Bentley a subsidiary of Audi is smart. They have been with Porsche, which makes no sense, at least with the cars. There is no similarity between the Bentley cars, and 911 or Boxster/Cauman, but there is platform sharing with A8.
October 26th, 2020 at 4:26 pm
17 The electric motors have maximum torque at zero rpm, tapering off as motor rpm increases, but it would take smart electronics to make the system work well with varying trailer load, and other factors.
October 26th, 2020 at 5:02 pm
Sean, nice coverage of the Unimog! It’s nice to see some obscure but interesting vehicles getting media coverage. We don’t get to see much of these over here in the US now that Daimler gave up on homologation for this market. Maybe in 25 years that nice blue one from the video clip can find its way over here.
October 26th, 2020 at 5:20 pm
Garrett is bankrupt? How the hell did that happen. Another leveraged buyout victim ? It used to be US companies were (often correctly) accused of shortsighted spending, but nowadays, loading them up with cripping debts has become far too habitual.
While I’d usually agree CEOs don’t merit the outsize amounts of largely risk and responsibility-free money lavished on them, we just know Elon Musk is going to perform some hardcore engineering alchemy.
14 Kit – I remember the punch those Chrysler turbochargers delivered.
Tesla’s investments are exactly what should be expected from the enterprise at this stage and in this environment. Their mission has remained the same all along.
Keeping in mind they can be quite efficient in the use of capital (when not haring off into the wild blue yonder), that will pay for a very great expansion.
Keep in mind VW AG alone has recently targeted an additional 15b EUR in capital investments for China inside the next five years.
Regarding Pantographs, there’s a rather peculiar project by Siemens to build electric trucks with that device, and part of a German higthway has been outfitted out as a test route, if I recall correctly. Found it:
https://www.mobility.siemens.com/global/en/portfolio/road/ehighway.html
October 26th, 2020 at 5:22 pm
Gah. Multiple seances screaming for the edit button.
October 26th, 2020 at 8:06 pm
24 I’m pretty sure the turbocharger in my van is Garrett. It’s certainly not quick by today’s standards, but the torque peak at a low 1900 rpm gives it reasonable acceleration in top gear without downshifting at 50-55 mph.
October 27th, 2020 at 6:05 am
3 The BEV credits are ABSOLUTELY FAIR AND NECESSARY. THey are NOT a handout but a PENALTY to the automakers that POLLUTE YOUR AIR and a REWARD to those like Tesla who do not. Ask any SERIOUS ECONOMIST. Not Joe Sixpack.
October 27th, 2020 at 10:44 am
Apparently Elon’s stock based, compensation, $543 million, is due to reaching performance thresholds earlier than expected. In effect, he and Tesla outperformed their earlier expected stock-based, equity. Remember, Elon holds about 20% of the TSLA stock already so his stock-option based compensation is nice but not a hard cash payment.
The web link is to a favorite YouTube review of the 10Q filing with the SEC. The filing is dense data and Rob Maurer does a great summary.
October 27th, 2020 at 11:21 am
Re Tesla, has anyone heard recently about Tesla getting rid of.
1. 7 day return policy is gone (You buy you keep)
2. Reduction of warranty for used Tesla’s ?
Or was this touched on earlier?
October 27th, 2020 at 11:42 am
30) I saw that they went to a 1 year 10,000 mile warranty from a 4 year warranty. About the same as I can get from smiths used car auto sales on any street corner in the USA. For a company trying to not be like other OEMs, they are sure acting more and more like them every day. Money must be tight at TESLA apparently when they start searching the couch cushions for loose change. Maybe their CEO can loan them a few billion dollars out of his pay.