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Runtime: 10:27
0:07 EVs Are Cleaner Than ICEs
1:14 Fisker Pear to Be Built in Wisconsin
1:58 EV Startups Become Meme Stocks
4:04 UAW Selects New President
4:49 F-150 Is Fastest Cop Car
5:42 Black Cab Maker Unveils A Campervan
7:07 ADAS Tech Lowers Insurance Rates
7:45 BMW M440i Reawakens Love of Open-Air Driving
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EVs ARE CLEANER THAN ICEs
Are EVs cleaner than ICEs? You bet they are, according to a study from the Argonne National Laboratory. But you have to drive your EV for about a year for it to catch up to a piston powered car. Manufacturing EVs generates more greenhouse gasses than manufacturing ICEs. But EVs are far cleaner while they’re being driven. Argonne looked at lifecycle emissions, including mining the metals needed to make cars, all the way to recycling cars at the end of their lives. One comparison was between a Tesla Model 3 and a Toyota Corolla. Using the US electric grid, the Model 3 would have to drive 13,500 miles before it was cleaner than the Corolla. In Norway, which uses mostly hydropower to generate electricity, you only have to drive 8,400 miles. And in China, where most electricity comes from coal, you have to drive 78,700 miles.
FISKER PEAR TO BE BUILT IN WISCONSIN
Say, did we just learn where Fisker is going to have Foxconn build its next car called the Pear? Neither company announced anything yet, but Autoforecast Solutions reports that it will be built in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. That’s where Foxconn built a plant with massive state subsidies to make large flat screen TVs. But that plan hasn’t quite worked out, and state officials are hopping mad with Foxconn. So if that plant starts making electric cars everyone is going to heave a sigh of relief. Wisconsin gets a return for taxpayers, Foxconn gets a contract to make Fiskers, and Fisker gets its cars.
EV STARTUPS BECOME MEME STOCKS
We’ve seen young retail investors send stock prices soaring for companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment. It’s what they call meme stocks or the Reddit effect. Large groups of people converge on Reddit to debate which stocks to invest in, especially if they can hurt big investment companies that are shorting those stocks. And now EV startups are part of the frenzy. Earlier this year EV stocks shot up fast, until the whole tech sector was hit with a correction, EV companies included. But yesterday we saw some big moves for the EV startups that are facing the biggest challenges. Workhorse shot up nearly 9%. Lordstown and Lucid were up more than 7%. The biggest gains came from Chinese EV companies NIO and Xpeng. The big moves have nothing to do with fundamentals like sales or profits. It’s all about helping out the underdogs and sticking it to the man. So these stocks could go a lot higher. But if you’re a careful investor, you’ll keep your hands in your pockets and watch it all flash by.
EV STOCK PRICES | ||
---|---|---|
June 28, 2021 | ||
Company | Closing | % Change |
Workhorse | $16.96 | +8.6% |
Lordstown | $11.79 | +7.2% |
Lucid | $27.00 | +7.2% |
NIO | $49.40 | +9.6% |
Xpeng | $45.31 | +7.4% |
UAW SELECTS NEW PRESIDENT
The UAW has another president. Ray Curry, 55, who is currently Secretary-Treasurer of the union, will take over the top spot. He’s the fourth president in three years. Current president Rory Gamble is retiring, and his two predecessors are in jail. Curry joined the UAW in 1992 as an assembler at Freightliner Trucks in North Carolina. He also served three years on active duty in the U.S. Army and five years in the Army Reserves. He’s taking over a union that’s been rocked by corruption and he’ll have to deal with a court appointed monitor who will oversee the union for the next six years.
F-150 IS FASTEST COP CAR
What’s the fastest cop car on the road today? You probably wouldn’t guess that it’s the Ford F-150. But tests done by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police clocked the F-150 Police Responder at 5.4 seconds going from 0 to 60 mph. That’s 1.2 seconds faster than the outgoing F-150 and 0.4 seconds faster than any other vehicle they tested. Top speed is 120 mph, it does 0 to 100 in 13.1 seconds, and it ran the quarter-mile faster than any other cop car. It’s powered by a 3.5L EcoBoost engine with 500 lb-ft of torque. So you better be careful. The cops start getting those trucks this fall.
BLACK CAB MAKER UNVEILS A CAMPERVAN
The London Electric Vehicle Company, which makes those iconic black cabs, unveiled a plug-in hybrid campervan called the e-Camper. It’s based on a modified version of the company’s VN5 delivery van. It has an all-electric range of 60 miles and more than 300 miles range total. Some features include an integrated electric kitchenette, pop-up roof, central folding table and sleeping spots for up to four people. The starting price is more than 62,000 pounds or about $86,000 and deliveries begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
ADAS TECH LOWERS INSURANCE RATES
Well it’s about time we saw this. Automakers keep installing all kinds of safety equipment on cars, which raises the cost of making them. So the insurance company State Farm teamed up with Ford to study the impact of ADAS–advanced driver assistance systems–on accident claims. Turns out that stuff really works. State Farm is dropping insurance rates up to 20% on Ford, Lincoln and even Mercury models that go back to 2010. And that can help defer the cost of adding all that safety technology.
BMW M440i REAWAKENS LOVE OF OPEN-AIR DRIVING
Everybody loves convertibles, but not many people buy them. They’re expensive and inconvenient. When the top is up its noisy inside. When the top is down the traffic noise around you can be deafening, And if you live in the snow belt, you’ll never drop the top in winter. But on a nice summer day, out on a quiet country road, there’s nothing better than driving a convertible. We had a BMW M440i come through the Autoline Garage and it reawakened our love of open-air motoring. For one thing, this convertible is so easy to use. The top goes down in seconds at the touch of a button. No latches or levers to deal with. Better still, the structure of this car is impressive. There’s virtually no cowl shake, even going over rough railroad crossings. And best of all, this car gets it on. Powered by a turbocharged in-line 6 that cranks out 382 horsepower, it goes from quiet cruiser to rocket launcher at a touch of the throttle. It’s comfortable inside, with soft leather padding anywhere you want to rest an arm or lean a leg. And it comes with all the latest safety and connectivity technology. As well it should. The one we test drove cost almost $75,000. A few critiques. The 8-speed automatic can have some balky downshifts when braking hard from high speed, and the nav system is a bit fussy when trying to zoom in or out. But it’s easy to forget all that when you’re cruising down a two-lane road, with next to no traffic, and you can safely look around at your surroundings, or even look up at the sky. This is one of those cars that will get you to give up travelling on the highway, and seek out all the back roads instead.
Before we go, a quick reminder: If you’ve got any questions about the new Ford Maverick, send them our way. We have the top marketing and engineering execs for the Maverick coming on Autoline After Hours this Thursday.
And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.