This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
INDIA PAVES WAY FOR GREAT WALL & GM DEAL
China and India don’t exactly get along these days. Their soldiers got into a fight on the border last year with fatalities on both sides. But things have simmered down somewhat, so India is cautiously opening the door to Chinese investment. That will probably give the green light for Chinese automaker Great Wall to buy GM’s former plants in India. Reuters reports that GM will get $250 to $300 million. And SAIC, China’s largest automaker, plans to invest more money in India. It already sells cars there under the MG brand.
BRITISH GAS WON’T BUY ICE VEHICLES EVER AGAIN
The UK’s largest energy provider, British Gas, says it will never buy another internal combustion engine vehicle again. And the first step of that commitment is ordering 2,000 electric Vivaro vans from Vauxhall. By 2025, British Gas plans to convert its entire 12,000 vehicle fleet to EVs. The UK is banning sales of new ICE vehicles by 2030.
VITESCO HELPS PHEVs IMPROVE EMISSIONS
Did you know that 80% of the emissions that spew out of an ICE engine happen in the first 2 to 3 minutes before the catalytic converter comes up to temperature? And a plug-in hybrid can have many cold-starts as the engine comes on and off at different times, meaning the converter may never really get a chance to properly heat up. The EPA and CARB are looking at applying this to their ratings of PHEVs, which is why we think this announcement from Vitesco Technologies, which is part of the supplier Continental, is so important. Using a new DC to DC converter with its electrically heated catalyst that can work with 12 and 48 volt systems, it’s able to heat the catalyst in seconds and provide up to 95% efficiency.
RIMAC CLOSE TO BUYING BUGATTI
Last September we heard reports that Volkswagen would sell Bugatti to supercar maker Rimac. Now, Porsche’s CEO expects that to happen in the first half of this year. Oliver Blume also added that the two brands are a “good technological fit.” But it sounds like the structure of the deal has been what’s put off the sale up to this point. Porsche already owns a 10% stake in Rimac, but will likely boost that to over 15%, so Rimac has the money to get the deal done. Plus it still gives the VW Group some say in the future direction of Bugatti.
NHTSA DOWNGRADES NISSAN ROGUE IN PASSENGER-SIDE CRASH TEST
New vehicles are usually much better than the outgoing model, but the new Nissan Rogue took a step backward in some crash ratings. NHTSA gave the model only 2 stars in the front passenger-side crash test, while its predecessor earned 4. Overall, the new Rogue earned 4 stars, which is the same as the old model. This rating applies to models built in Japan before the end of January. Nissan says it’s aware of the issue and made updates to models in both Japan and the ones made in Tennessee. The updated vehicles will be re-tested and results are expected in May. But Nissan seems to be struggling with crash protection. The current Sentra got 3 stars from NHTSA for front-passenger impact protection, while the IIHS also downgraded the new Titan in the same area.
KARMA UNVEILS NEW GS-6
It’s been a long time coming but Karma is close to rolling out its GS-6. That’s the refreshed, low-priced version of the Revero. It comes with either pure battery power, or as an extended range electric with an onboard ICE. Interestingly, the BEV, at nearly $82,000 is slightly cheaper than the EREV at nearly $86,000. The BEV comes with either an 85-kilowatt-hour battery that delivers about 230 miles of range, or a 105-kWh pack that delivers over 300 miles. The EREV has a 28-kWh battery with 60 miles of electric range. Karma plans to make 15,000 cars a year at its plant in California, but is looking for a second plant to make an SUV called the GX-1. We think it’s very likely that plant will be built in China, and maybe with Magna. So who’s going to buy these Karmas? Jost deVries, the VP of Sales and Marketing, says “We’re not focused on Tesla. That 2% already moved to an EV. We’re going after the other 98%.” Karma is targeting customers of the Mercedes E-Class, Lexus RX, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ford F-150.
MERCEDES PUTS BIG TRUCKS THROUGH WINTER TESTS
There sure is a lot of interest in electric trucks and vans for commercial fleets, but how will they perform in cold weather? Mercedes put the electric versions of its Actros and Econic trucks through winter tests. Engineers were testing how well the truck’s batteries and electric powertrain handle the cold weather and both passed with flying colors. The eActros goes into production later this year and Mercedes says it will have better range, power and safety compared to the prototype. The eEconic, which is mainly used as a garbage truck, goes into production next year.
RENAULT PARTNERS WITH FAURECIA ON FUEL CELLS
It seems like every time we turn around another automaker is working on fuel cells. This time its Renault partnering with the supplier Faurecia for hydrogen storage systems for light commercial vehicles. This is also interesting because in a roundabout way, Renault and Peugeot are teaming up. Stellantis, which owns Peugeot, also has a 40% stake in Faurecia. If you’d like to learn more about the future of hydrogen vehicles, check out our recent Autoline This Week with Bryan Pivovar from the National Renewable Energy Lab. Bryan’s got great insight into the progress being made, but he’s also realistic about when it will happen.
WHY THE CHIP SHORTAGE WON’T GET SOLVED ANYTIME SOON
The chip shortage that is crippling automotive production worldwide will get resolved. But not anytime soon. On Autoline This Week we took a deep dive into what caused the shortage, the impact it’s having, and how automakers hope to solve it. Scott Craig from On Semiconductor, explains why it’s going to take months to get this resolved.
“I think that one of the things that will come out of this is an appreciation and a recognition that many of these chips take 500 to 700 process steps to manufacture. And you’re looking at 26 week lead times to produce one chip, in some cases more. And so that complexity adds to the frustration of an automotive company who says, ‘Why can’t I get back in line?’”
Who knew the lead time for chips took 6 months? And what can the auto industry do to fix the problem? There is a ton of good information in that show about this crisis, and you can watch it all on our website or on our YouTube channel.
But that wraps up today’s show, thank you for watching.
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Comments (27)
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:22 pm
this just shows the problems with just in time inventory that was to save the industry
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:27 pm
So your saying that the Executive order that Biden signed to resolve the chip shortage (you guys reported on Feb 12th) is going to be as comprehensive as his Covid plan.. Gotchya
Guess we cant rule out fuel cells yet, Seems to still be lots of R&D going on.
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:40 pm
VW sells Bugatti to Rimac and buys a chunk or Rimac?? OK,what was the point of that.
I’ve always thought and still think that fuel cells are the future and that electric was just the stop gap till they can figure it out. Time will tell of course.
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:53 pm
Bugatti never seemed to make much sense for VW. Somehow, a “halo” brand selling million dollar plus cars doesn’t fit with a the company. It’s not like just another “premium” brand like Audi or Porsche.
I’m still not convinced that fuel cell cars make any sense. The hydrogen has to come from somewhere. The main commercial source is currently dissociating natural gas. How does that make sense as a fuel for cars? You can also get hydrogen by electrolyzing water, but why not just use the electricity in other ways? I might be convincible, but I haven’t yet heard any good arguments for having 10,000 psi tanks of gas in a very complex car with limited range, and almost no place to refuel it.
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:53 pm
I still don’t get it on the chip shortage; sure it may take 6 months to get a chip in production, but hey, we’re not (or shouldn’t) be starting from scratch. These things were already in production. I guess I’ll need to see the Autoline show in full to see if it enlightens me.
February 22nd, 2021 at 12:56 pm
Where can Bugatti go?
They are kind of the pinnacle of ICE cars speed & price wise so must turn to EVs but there seem to be lots of competition of high end EVs.
Nissan safety mistakes are glaring and not a good sign. Of course they key is how you recover.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:06 pm
I agree with Kit on FC/EV. A friend and I have debated the issue since the late 90s; I see the Fuel Cell as the stop gap to electrics until the battery technology is better (which it is quickly doing). The potential for energy density, simplicity, cost, and efficiency can all be developed better with batteries. Even though some of the manufacturers like Toyota & Honda still believe in FC potential, as I see the electric infrastructure outpacing hydrogen and money backing battery tech, I still believe EV will supersede FC in the near future.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:13 pm
While Karma may not be going for the same customers as Tesla, the ones that they are may not be to impressed since they are offering looks the same as the vehicle that originally came out and had the fire issues. It only looks like they did a mild refresh, in that time frame. It’s true that the Model S has only had modest undated too visually, but the vehicle that was the Karma has had a change in company ownership, a reworking of its hard and software and still doesn’t look that much different then it did almost a decade ago! I would think that if they were chasing a new/different audience, the styling of the car would have had bigger changes to it, so that it would at least scream all, almost or somewhat completely ‘new’. I’m not saying it’s not attractive, for its still a very beautiful car al, these years on, but to the uninitiated it just still looks the same!
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:25 pm
8 I’d think Karma, formerly Fisker, would have a hard time outliving the fact that its first car just wasn’t any good. It had very limited range on plug-in power, and then was a noisy gas hog after those few electric miles were used up. The new, improved one is better, but still, only 26 mpg combined on gas.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=32516&id=43481
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:37 pm
Fuel cells make more sense for large vehicles than for regular passenger cars/trucks/SUVs. Most of the recent development work has centered around medium duty and semi trucks. While you don’t hear that much about it, the technology is also being integrated into ships, buses and trains. The fuel cell powertrain reduces or eliminates the need for a very large and heavy battery, which means more cargo can be carried. Its a solution that combines much cleaner emissions and moving the freight that is key to our world economy. It will soon be commonly available in most large work and freight vehicles.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:49 pm
As with BEV’s, it’s the batteries; so goes fuel cells, it’s the hydrogen. I believe that hydrogen will eventually be figured out but even the experts have resigned themselves that it won’t be quick.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:13 pm
The fuel cell challenges are addressable with current technology. The battery challenge — energy density — requires at least one if not several leaps in technology to fully address. Most of my friends in the electrical industry are still scratching their heads, so to speak, about how we’re going to overcome challenges with rare earth availability, manufacturing energy costs, disposal/possible-recycling, and serial discharge / recharge degradation.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:15 pm
10,11 Currently, more than 90% of commercially produced hydrogen is from natural gas, oil, and coal, with CO2 as a byproduct, which is dumped to the atmosphere. What is the point of that? Yeah, maybe one day we will have infinite supplies of free electricity to hydrolyze water, which will change things.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:36 pm
With electric cars there are two major problems. 1 recharge times – that might be fixed in the near ish future… maybe. That’s a huge problem for the 10′s of millions of cars that park on the street. 2 electrical grids in 1st world countries are barely up to the task, now picture the rest of the world. Yea, not so much.
I don’t think fuel cells share these major hurdles.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:37 pm
With Nissan struggling to make money I wonder if they are scrimping on the high strength steel in their chassis to squeeze a bit more profit out of them.
February 22nd, 2021 at 4:05 pm
need to do an autoline exclusives on vitesco helps PHEVs improve emissions.
February 22nd, 2021 at 4:53 pm
Another type of clean fuel being tested:
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1130590_porsche-backed-pilot-plant-to-produce-synthetic-fuel-at-industrial-scale
February 22nd, 2021 at 4:59 pm
17 That’s interesting. They are using wind power to get hydrogen, but instead of using the hydrogen for fuel cells, they do a bunch more processing to get liquid fuels.
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:59 pm
18) The bright spot in developing these fuels is that they are as clean as EV’s,… so they say!
These fuels would be a good eco-friendly combo with a hybred.
How knows where we are headed if fusion power becomes doable. That is… if someone can find a way to deal with the radioactivity issue.
February 23rd, 2021 at 4:19 am
HYDROGEN There’s a pilot plant in Germany’s north close to the offshore wind turbines where they produce hydrogen by electrolysis and feed it into a natural gas pipeline (hence obviating the need for costly added steps).
PORSCHE I think their rather astute medium-term goal is to enable greenhouse-gas free production and running of the classic aka iconic Porsches old and new. Owners can absorb the premium (recalling the $8000 color options) ((and $1500 enhanced sound of the Taycan!)).
It’s a pity plant-derived Ethanol can’t be used more widely, the US produces enormous amounts of it. Looked it up – 16 billion gallons in 2018, or just about a million barrels per day. Source: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36774
SEMICONDUCTORS Chuck – that’s 6 months it takes just for production. The porc cycle has long applied to things like humdrum but very high-tech/high-capital memory chips – once supply and demand get out of kilter it’s definitely felt in the market.
Buzzard – parked EVs can be slow-charged with no more power than it takes to run an oven given the average daily mileage.
The more I see of the alternatives to pure EVs, the more I’m convinced they’re too complex and costly, especially considering the continuing improvements in battery tech and cost. There will be outliers, and those should be interesting to investigate.
February 23rd, 2021 at 4:24 am
One more thing: Faurecia is one of the world’s top ten automotive suppliers.
February 23rd, 2021 at 9:00 am
For as much faith as we are putting into EV’s and the development of battery technology, there may be a large roadblock ahead. China has 80% of the rare earth minerals and purchase all they can get. Their aim to hoard these materials could be used to control auto manufacturing and to hinder US growth as we become more reliant in the future.
I have voiced my views towards China clear many times when commenting. For as much as I realize the importance of all US/China trade and commerce, we must never forget that China is our adversary. Becoming over reliant upon them and having false beliefs that buying their many less expensive goods(perhaps made possible from pirated technolgy) may become a big mistake we will come to regret.
I hope to be proven wrong,….but just saying….
February 23rd, 2021 at 10:50 am
22 Your right, and I expressed the same concern as many OE manufacturers wanted to cash in on the emerging Chinese auto market, even though the Chinese government required manufacturers to share the technology and employ a minimum 50% local labor. So for the quick buck many set up shop taught them how to manufacture cars and freely provided technology that they will now use to undercut the competition.
Everyone seems to forget that the one with the money makes the rules and China is buying and owning more and more key elements that will provide them the control they need to rule the world at least economically.
February 23rd, 2021 at 11:31 am
So the UK wants to ban the sale of ICE by 2030. You can’t force the public to buy what they don’t want. So what do I see happening? There will big increase in the demand for used vehicles, and others will travel to nearby country’s France or Germany to buy their NEW vehicle and ship it back home.
Meanwhile the sales of new EV’s will soldier on at a snails pace.
February 23rd, 2021 at 11:33 am
22 China doesn’t have 80% of the “rare earth” reserves, but they have a lot.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/277268/rare-earth-reserves-by-country/
The biggest reserve of cobalt, used in many of the batteries, is concentrated in Congo, and is being bought up and controlled by China. Fortunately, there are alternatives to cobalt for batteries, and there are significant cobalt reserves in Australia and Canada.
February 23rd, 2021 at 11:38 am
24 I seriously doubt that Britain will allow new LHD gas cars to be imported from France and Germany, if no new gas cars are being sold in the country. Of course, it’s highly likely that Britain will “change its mind” about ending sale of new gas cars in 2030, after reality sets in.
February 23rd, 2021 at 12:08 pm
Completely agree that we should not trust nor facilitate the so-called Communist party of China. Fortunately, “rare” earths exist in quite a few places. I wom’t shed a tear if our good Saudi friends lose out in the transition either.
Incidentally, I think the Tesla approach of innovating at a breakneck pace serves us best and actually poses the smaller risk long-term.
Intel got a little too comfy being king of the silicon. Boeing tried its best at pushing out big investments and necessary change always a little further out. GM went bankrupt and subsequently retreated from the world.
24 & 26 UK banning ICEs by 2030. I think it can and will be done – but that doesn’t mean it applies to every country.
By then, there will be better-than price parity. Smaller cars gain even more in driveability from the shift. But charging and manufacturing will really need to kick into high gear to satisfy demand.
Also, the UK would gain from that target by being able to trade freely with the neighboring EU again.