AD #3053 – GM Announces Electric Silverado; Jeep Compass Refreshed; Segway Developing Hydrogen Motorcycle
April 7th, 2021 at 11:41am
Listen to “AD #3053 – GM Announces Electric Silverado; Jeep Compass Refreshed; Segway Developing Hydrogen Motorcycle” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:25
0:07 GM Announces Electric Silverado
1:03 Inventory Levels Could Keep Sales Down
1:54 Electric Mopeds Can Replace Other Forms of Mobility
3:12 Jeep Compass Refreshed
4:24 Mercedes CLS Lightly Refreshed
5:17 Ford App Offers Travel Recommendations
6:31 Continental Using Simulator to Develop Tires
7:30 Automotive Startups Have Banner Day
8:02 Segway Developing Hydrogen Powered Motorcycle
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
GM REVEALS IT WILL MAKE ELECTRIC SILVERADO
GM made it official. It’s going to make an electric version of the Chevrolet Silverado. But this is not a conversion of the existing Silverado. Instead, it will ride on GM’s Ultium platform and be built at its Factory Zero plant in Michigan alongside the Hummer truck and SUV. The models rolling out of that plant will be for both retail and fleet customers, so we expect a number of build combinations. GM estimates they’ll have a top range of over 400 miles. According to Autoforecast Solutions, the electric Silverado will go into production late in 2022, and GM has an initial target to make 38,000 a year. As you would expect with a volume that low, it will make and sell both ICE and EV Silverados at the same time.
INVENTORY LEVELS COULD KEEP SALES DOWN
If automakers in North America can figure out how to overcome the chip shortage, sales could go through the roof. But that may not happen if inventory continues to drop. And it’s still dropping. In the U.S., there are 1.3 million fewer vehicles in inventory than there were a year ago. Even worse, there were 266,000 fewer in March than there were in February. On average automakers only have 39 day’s worth of inventory. Some are tighter than that. Subaru only has 24 days and the Chevrolet Colorado is down to only 8 days. Normally automakers like to have about 60 days of inventory on dealers’ lots to provide customers with plenty of choices.
EV MOPEDS CAN REPLACE OTHER FORMS OF MOBILITY
Does it make any sense to get in a 4,000 pound vehicle to drive a mile to get a quart of milk? Flux Mopeds doesn’t think so. It wants people to use electric mopeds instead. And instead of towing a car behind an RV, Flux says a better solution is bringing this cool looking electric scooter that can drive 50 miles at speeds up to 38 MPH. Best of all it only costs $2,400. Is an electric scooter for you? We’ve got Matt Brueggeman, the founder of Flux coming on Autoline After Hours tomorrow afternoon. So we invite you to join John and Gary as they explore the world of micro mobility.
JEEP COMPASS REFRESHED
Jeep just revealed an updated version of the Compass. Styling changes are mild, but the front bumper has been massaged and the front and rear lighting signatures are new. Also note how the fender flares can now come in body color, which tones down the rugged look a bit. Jeep designers toned down the rugged look of the interior as well. That’s highlighted by what looks like a brushed aluminum bar that runs around the dashboard and a new steering wheel design. The center display screen, which comes in sizes from 8.4 – 10.1 inches, was pushed higher on the dash and it also features a 10.25 inch digital instrument cluster. The new Compass even features Jeep’s Level 2 autonomous system, called Highway Assist, which will keep you in the lane on the highway and adjust speed, but won’t make lane changes. Power will still come from a range of internal combustion engines, including plug-in hybrid variants. According to the The Detroit Free Press, he new Compass is expected to launch in Europe this year and come to the U.S. sometime next year.
MERCEDES CLS GETS MILD REFRESH
Mercedes gave the CLS sedan a mild refresh. The biggest change was made to the look of the lower front fascia, but there’s a new grille design as well. It also comes standard with its AMG Line package, which includes a specific bumper, side trim, chrome front splitter, unique air intakes and 20-inch wheels. The only real change to the interior is new trim and material options. The new CLS hits U.S. dealerships early next year. However, bigger upgrades, like its latest generation infotainment system and advanced driver assistance features, were made to the current CLS. So, if someone is in the market for a car like this, unless they really loved that AMG Line package, they would be better off going for what’s already out there.
FORD APP OFFERS TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS
Ford has a new app called Mappo that offers travel recommendations based on books, movies, music and more. The app contains over 30,000 point-of-interest cultural references in more than a dozen cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The points aren’t just marked on a map, they also contain content such as quotes, book clips and trivia. Users can even upload points-of-interest in their own cities that Mappo hasn’t supported yet, and add quotes or other info for the site. The app is available to owners with vehicles equipped with SYNC 3 or 4.
CONTINENTAL USING SIMULATOR TO TEST TIRES
Using simulators to develop new vehicles is nothing new in the auto industry but now the supplier Continental is going to use a dynamic simulator to test tires. It features a life-size cabin that allows professional test drivers to react and respond as they would in the real world. The simulator can test a specific tire model for any vehicle model, plus it allows the tires to be tested in any driving situation or on any surface. Not only will the simulator help speed up tire development time, it’s more environmentally friendly. The company estimates that it can save up to 10,000 test tires per year and reduce real world tests by 100,000 kilometers a year or a little more than 62,000 miles. Continental will start using the simulator at is European test center in Germany starting in the middle of 2022.
AUTOMOTIVE STARTUPS HAD A GOOD DAY
The Autoline Global Stock Index was as flat as a pancake yesterday. Literally no change up or down. But some of the startups had a banner day. Velodyne, the lidar company, was up over 12%. XL Fleet which does EV conversions of electric trucks gained more than 11%. Canoo, which took it on the chin last week, was up 9%. Lucid Motors gained 6% and Lordstown was up 5%.
| Close | $ Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velodyne | $14.29 | +$1.59 | +12.5% |
| XL FLeet | $8.36 | +$0.87 | +11.6% |
| Canoo | $9.26 | +$0.79 | +9.3% |
| Lucid | $24.46 | +$1.45 | +6.3% |
| Lordstown | $12.20 | +$0.63 | +5.4% |
SEGWAY DEVELOPING HYDROGEN POWERED MOTORCYCLE
A few years ago, Segway, the company best known for its two-wheeled personal transporter, unveiled an electric motorcycle called the Apex. Now the company is showing off a hydrogen powered bike called the Apex H2. It has 60-kW of power, moves from 0 to 100 km/h in four seconds and has a top speed of 150 km/h or about 93 MPH. As you can see from the pictures this is a concept but Segway plans to deliver the bike in 2023 with a starting price of $10,700.
But that wraps up today’s show thanks for watching.
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Comments (32)
April 7th, 2021 at 12:14 pm
The folks at Segway must be an interesting group. They keep coming up with ideas that are way out in left field, but think that they are going to revolutionize human kind. That is how they billed the original Transporter, a device that was very expensive and is now out of production due to lack of demand. It was never more than a novelty.
Now we have a hydrogen motorcycle with medium performance levels and powered by a hard to find fuel. I can’t see any reason to put this thing into production. How many could they possibly sell? For the same money, you can buy an electric motorcycle that you can recharge anywhere, even at home.
By the way, I did note that they did not provide a range estimate for this bike. That would also be a factor in purchase consideration. Seems like another novelty item that will go out of production faster than the Transporter did.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
No One is going to spend $2,400.00 plus insurance and gear for a electric moped so they don’t need to drive their 4000lb to the market for a gallon of milk! The economics are all upside down and ridiculous just to justify their company’s business model. LOL
April 7th, 2021 at 12:24 pm
Why isn’t GM/GMC offering the 2.0L Turbo engine in the 2021 and beyond GMC Terrain? They are offering it in the Chevy Equinox. The Terrain is a better built and stylish vehicle. Their are plenty of 2020 GMC Terrains with the 2.0L Turbo engine sitting on dealers lots because GM failed to offer a stop / start deactivation switch. They should offer a retro fit kit for dealers to install the stop / start deactivation switch on these leftover vehicles.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:25 pm
The EV moped or scooter, seems like a great alternative for campers or city dwellers. The price is very comparable to today’s gas powered scooters and appears to be roughly the same size. The AAH interview should be interesting.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:26 pm
The Updated Compass interior looks much better than the current interior IMHO. Jeep now needs to offer a 2.0L Turbo in the Compass with 250HP.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
@1 check out the show Long Way Up, no you can’t recharge it anywhere, in lots of places in NA yes, but still not everywhere and the range on electric bikes is still very poor.
As a motorcyclist I like the idea of the hydrogen and I think it’s probably the future. Electrics will be the stop gap.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
@3 in Canada you can’t get the 2L in the Equinox, I heard it’s supposed to return next year.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:30 pm
2 – I think the market for the Flux moped is the same folks that have been buying gas powered scooters or mopeds from Honda, Vespa and others for many years now. They are relatively inexpensive and fun to ride. For many local errands, its all you need. And kids love them.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
6 – OK, but since no range was provided for this bike how can you compare it? And you are going to refuel it where? Electric bikes may not be perfect, but they are much more viable than hydrogen. The EV bikes will improve as time goes on too. Just as with cars, their range will get better in the next several years. Hydrogen availability renders this bike next to useless for a long time to come.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:38 pm
I think there should be a rule or at least practice that requires companies to followup and release press info on a quarterly basis for these product announcements so that bad news follows good for companies that just release vapourware. They hype stuff for stock or marketing purposes and there are no press announcements saying ‘naw we changed our minds, it was a dumb idea. Thanks for the free ad’
April 7th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
1 The original Segway was the brain child of inventor Dean Kamen. He, and others greatly overestimated its significance regarding it being the “transportation of tomorrow.” Kamen sold Segway to a Chinese company in 2015.
I’ll believe it when I see it, regarding the hydrogen powered motorcycle for $10.7K. There is almost no place to fuel it, and it would probably cost $30K to manufacture.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
If the company can be trusted to stay around, the Flux electric scooter should be a great alternative to small gas scooters for about the same price, like the Honda Metropolitan and Yamaha Zuma. They even well a 38 mph version of Flux, for those with motorcycle endorsements, while the 50cc gas scooters from Honda and Yamaha are only ~30 mph, to be “moped legal” in most states.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:59 pm
The main down side of the Flux scooter compared to 50cc gas ones, is that it loses the under seat storage space to batteries, so a top box is needed for that gallon of milk, case of beer, etc. Of course, there are a few people who take cross country trips on 50cc scooters. For that, you’d need a gas machine, so you could keep going all day long with a short stop every 80-100 miles.
April 7th, 2021 at 1:11 pm
2, 13, The electric scooter may have some plusses going for it but to use the gallon milk example of why, is totally off base. Even with the top-box (shown on the scooter on the back of the camper); I don’t thing you’re going to get that gallon jug in there. Then there’s: got to get the scooter out, it’s raining, too hot, too cold, etc. I know some die-hards that ride in many conditions, but generally speaking, I don’t see many takers.
April 7th, 2021 at 1:25 pm
3. In ‘99 we were shopping for a new car for my wife. It was between the Terrain and Tourx. You could not get the Terrain with the 2.0T without leather. That was a deal breaker. She later drove a Terrain with the 1.5T as la loaner and hated it.
April 7th, 2021 at 1:37 pm
14 Over the years, I’ve gotten things like milk while on two wheeled vehicles of various types, and just bungeed them on the seat. With small gas scooters, like a Vino 125 I had, the floor is flat, and there is a hook under the front of the seat to hold plastic grocery bags. It looks like the floor of the Flux is flat, but maybe narrower than the Vino 125.
I agree, though, that people aren’t going to buy a small scooter, gas or electric, just to avoid driving their monster truck to a convenience store for milk. Like with motorcycles, people buy small scooters mostly because they are fun. Also, in some states, you can ride small scooters without a license.
April 7th, 2021 at 1:42 pm
While the price tag on the Segway bike made my eyes pop, I applaud them for looking at hydrogen as a power source. Electric may be the trendy choice, but I can’t see it being viable for the entire population. Hydrogen needs to be developed further to see where it can lead. Kudos for thinking out of the box!
April 7th, 2021 at 2:30 pm
Do you need more than 3 wheels and in most cases more than one or perhaps two seats? No, but that doesn’t mean it will sell in volume just because it’s electric. People want what they want. Currently it’s bigger rather than smaller. As soon as the sales types start talking about ‘all you need’, you know this is a sale going nowhere. Electric pickups will be the big turning point for us in North America, not 3 wheel toys.
April 7th, 2021 at 3:41 pm
According to this article, and a statista chart, only ~20K total scooters were sold in the US in 2019.
https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/united-states-motorcycle-sales-2019/
If that includes everything from 50cc to 650cc, the market seems pretty small for electric 30-40 mph scooters. Still, I think they are real competition for Honda Metro et. al. They would be to me. In Florida, I see a number of electric bicycles. Some of those, like Radrover, sell for ~$1700 and more, and go only 20 mph. A big difference between a Radrover and a Flux scooter, is that you can get by riding the Radrover in bicycle lanes, while you need to ride the Flux and other small 30-40 mph scooters with regular traffic, even though they don’t keep up with regular traffic most places.
April 7th, 2021 at 4:38 pm
I think GM is being optimistic when thinking that they are going to sell that many units of the Electric Silverado. Given that it is based on the Hummer platform, the Electric Silverado will be $80K+. As we spoke before, the total market of buyers of 1/2 ton trucks that spend above $60K is 40,000 people across all OEMs. So GM is to convince nearly the entire market of the buyers in that price range to buy an electric Silverado and give up their Raptors/TRX? I think they are being very optimistic. Maybe they are banking on the tax payers buying $80K electric trucks in those kinds of numbers.
April 7th, 2021 at 5:06 pm
The electric Silverado will need to compete with the electric F-150 in price, whatever that price turns out to be. The existance of electric pickups from Ford and Chevy is going to make things pretty tough for upstarts like Lordstown et. al.
April 7th, 2021 at 5:34 pm
21) Yeah. That is why I think GM is being very optimistic here. They have to compete with Rivian and Ford mainly. Probably TESLA if they ever get their ugly truck on the market. Those key competitors are all going for a slice of a low volume market. I don’t get why GM would be so optimistic to think they are going to sell 30,000 units here with the competition already announcing similar plans.
April 7th, 2021 at 6:01 pm
22 That 30K is about 5% of the number of regular Silverados they sold in 2019. That doesn’t seem too optimistic, if people want electric pickups at all.
April 7th, 2021 at 10:33 pm
So I gave my wife an electric skateboard, “EVERCROSS” Electric Scooter to carry in her BMW i3-REx. This gives her a ‘last mile’ solution to park her BMW within a range of 3-6 miles of work. She can also use it around the complex for small loads. Her grin is infectious.
Yes, it is a fair-weather solution BUT it is EV portable, 12.5 kg ~28 lbs. She has to bring it to a 120 VAC outlet to charge it. Regardless, it is a neat solution and less risky than roller-blades (I think.) So I’m not terribly impressed with a larger EV skateboard/moped.
April 8th, 2021 at 4:28 am
Just to briefly hop back into the comments: electric scooters seem pretty big to me here in the (metropoliten) heart of Europe. From delivery services who clearly love them, to kids and commuters, they’re becoming ubiquitous.
And that wonderful silence… I remember a bunch of kids riding my way on an empty city street close to the harbor and freight terminals, and from afar already, something just seemed off – until they swooshed and slalomed by, hooting to the absent sounds of electric propulsion.
Don’t know about Italy, but nightlife there will never be the same once those scooters take over!
April 8th, 2021 at 4:29 am
Argh. Metropolitan.
April 8th, 2021 at 8:49 am
I found that Vespa sells electric scooters, but they aren’t cheap, $7499 US for the one that goes 70 km/hour.
April 8th, 2021 at 9:48 am
23) I think that is how GM is looking at it also. However, According to the Autoline guest, the number of 1/2 ton trucks sold above $60K in total across all OEMs was 40,000 units per year. That is the 1/2 ton market GM is wanting the electric to compete in. I just don’t see it reaching 30,000 total for 1 OEM simply because it is electric. I would question what data GM has versus the Autoline guest which uses the same data. What convinces them they will sell 30,000 of any version of a 1/2 ton truck at $80,000 when they don’t do so today? Seems to me that if 30,000 people were going to buy an $80K Silverado, they would already have done so. No one is waiting for the Silverado to be electric to purchase their $80K Silverado. I just don’t see it. Time will tell if it is a success for them or if it is another “Quadrasteer” for them.
April 8th, 2021 at 10:06 am
27 We don’t know the prices yet for the electric Silverado, but some people are more than willing to pay extra for electric. People pay as much for a Tesla Model S, as for a much more luxurious Mercedes S-Class. People pay 50% more, to almost twice as much for a Tesla Model 3, as for a CamCord that rides better, is roomier, and has much more user friendly controls. Yes, the Model 3 is quicker.
The first real test of interest in electric pickup trucks will probably be the F-150, rumored to go on sale within a year or so.
April 8th, 2021 at 11:01 am
In contrast to an electric moped, I gave my wife an electric skateboard, ~28 lbs, that gives her a 3-6 mile radius around her BMW i3-REx. She can park the car at a charger and reach work on the skateboard. The only challenge is recharging the skateboard which can be done at work.
April 8th, 2021 at 11:03 am
Whether GM sells all that they plan to build of electric p/u’s is only half of the equation; if they are a ‘hit’, they better have product (to supply). After initial rollout, actions as warrented, will then ensue.
April 8th, 2021 at 11:36 am
29 Interesting. I’d be afraid I’d fall off and hurt myself with an electric skateboard, but they look fun, at least for people younger than my 74 years.