This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
FORD ANNOUNCES MASSIVE EV INVESTMENT
Ford is making a massive investment in electric vehicles. It’s building a gigantic, vertically integrated manufacturing complex that will cover 6 square miles in western Tennessee. It’s the largest manufacturing investment the company has ever made. They call it Blue Oval City and we call it the 21st Century version of the historic Rouge plant. Ford will make the next generation of the electric F-150 there, a clean sheet design that will have little in common with the Lightning pickup that goes on sale next year. The complex will also have a battery plant, a supplier park and a battery recycling center. And not far away in Kentucky, Ford is working with SK to build two other battery plants. Add it all up and Ford and SK will spend $11.4 billion, will create 11,000 new jobs and will build 129 gigawatts of battery power a year. Ford says the complex will be up and running in 2025. It’s going to be carbon neutral, will reuse all the water it needs for manufacturing and will generate zero landfill waste.
EV PICKUP PRODUCTION PLANS
Meanwhile, Autoforecast Solutions reports that Ford is going to build electric versions of its Super Duty pickups at its Detroit Electric Vehicle Center, which is located at the historic Rouge plant. Those trucks will go into production in August, 2025. And it reports that Rivian will start making its R1T electric pickup at a new $5 billion assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas in September, 2023.
VW STILL PAYING OUT DIESEL FINES
Six years after its diesel cheating scandal came to light, Volkswagen is still being punished for it. The automaker announced it agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle lawsuits in New Hampshire and Montana. And it will build another high-speed charging station in New Hampshire by 2024. The automaker also faces a similar lawsuit in Ohio that has the potential to cost even more. VW has paid more than $20 billion in the U.S. in fines and settlements related to the cheating scandal.
CITROEN ADDS LONG LENGTH TO ELECTRIC SPACETOURER LINEUP
Citroen is expanding its electric van lineup. The electric version of its SpaceTourer van, called the e-SpaceTourer, will now be offered in the longer XL length, rather than just one standard length. It’s available in two grades with one geared more toward family and commercial use, while the other is meant to be more upscale. Both have seating for up to nine people in three rows of seats, but since the additional length was added to the body and not the wheelbase, there’s no change in battery capacity or anything like that. The setup features a 100 kW electric motor and 55 kWh battery pack, which returns 143 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. Pricing for the long length e-SpaceTourer starts at just under 35,000 pounds before any incentives, which is roughly $47,500.
FIRST OFFICIAL CORVETTE Z06 PHOTO
The first official photo of the new Corvette Z06 is out. There are three main design differences we see in this image; the lower front fascia is much more open, the side intakes have a tuning fork shape and the rear wing is fully attached to the body. It’s rather subdued, especially in this silver paint color, but we’re guessing it’s going to let the engine do all the talking. Which is strongly rumored to be a 5.5L flat-plane crank V8 that produces around 600 horsepower. The Z06’s official debut is October 23rd so I’m sure we’ll have to live through a few more teasers before then.
CHEVY TAHOE & SUBURBAN UPDATED
And sticking with Chevy for a moment, it’s updating the Tahoe and Suburban. No cosmetic changes here, but its 420 horsepower 6.2L V8 engine will now be available on RST, Z71 and Premier trims. Also available is a new electronic limited slip differential, which helps improve driving performance. The Tahoe and Suburban now have the ability to tap into 13 different camera views to aid towing, which will make the new, larger 12.3 inch center display on LT trims and above even more useful. Those same trims get Google built-in as well. That allows users to make calls, send texts, change radio stations and volume, use navigation and adjust the HVAC with voice commands. Production of the new Tahoe and Suburban kicks off this month.
BMW TESTING AV TRANSPORTERS OUTSIDE OF PLANT
Automated transporters in manufacturing plants are nothing new. The devices carry parts or components around a plant autonomously. But now BMW is testing several different automated transporters outside its plant in Dingolfing, Germany. Two of them are tugger trains, one is transporting door handles and the other is transporting sheet metal parts. A self-driving car box is moving containers back and forth between locations where empty containers are stored. The other is an automated car trailer that moves containers arriving by rail to docking gates for outgoing goods. BMW hopes these automated transporters will help the plant run more efficiently. And while it sees potential for them in the future, it says there’s more challenges operating the devices outside and more sensors and systems are needed to make them work better.
CAN YOU NAME THIS MYSTERY CAR?
Autoline viewer Henry is looking for your help identifying this car spotted on the back of a car carrier. It’s a beauty of a classic with what appears to be a number of resto mods. Our first guess was a Datsun, but the taillamps and bumper are all wrong. But what say you? Let us know in the comments.
Race cars without drivers doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. But the Indy Autonomous Challenge that takes place at the Brickyard at the end of October is not about replacing drivers, it’s about finding extreme edge cases in autonomy. That’s going to be one of the topics on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Also, Michael Sprague, who runs Lincoln in North America will be on the show. So join John and Gary for an insider’s view of what’s going on in the automotive industry.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching.
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Comments (29)
September 28th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
The mystery car looks kind of like a 1970s Ford Maverick or Chevy Vega but the rear window is too short to be a Vega and the Maverick has the humped up rear quarters like the picture. Similar to Mustang so that would be my guess. Modified 70s Ford Maverick.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Late 70s Toyota Celica.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
Sean you know what would make the Indy Autonomous challenge fun to watch is if they started the race under ideal conditions and then introduced actual challenges along the way.. Turn some sprinklers on in turn one. Have a cardboard pedestrian walk onto the track. Maybe some mud, snow or smoke to simulate fog along the way. Just introduce some real life challenges and how fast can they run while adapting to the changing track conditions. I for one would love to see how an autonomous vehicle handles a slide at 120mph. Can they correct quick enough? I would watch that.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
2) You are correct. Late 70s (possibly 77) Celica GT.
Here is a reference photo of a 77 Celica GT if the link works:
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0004/11/11/4041111.jpg?v=00113889?v=3
September 28th, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Sean you may want to watch this. Supposedly GM official announcement of the 2023 ZO6 and yes its a flat plane crank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2bQYNT7-pM
September 28th, 2021 at 12:30 pm
1) The late Celica was effectively a Ford design knock off so there is a heavy dose of Maverick/Mustang in the design cues.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
Think the Celica GT line is correct. I believe it’s a 1973 Toyota Celica Liftback 2000 GT.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
#7: That’s about right.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
It looks like the C8 ZO6 got some new shoes (they look nice, and better than the current offerings). Also the pictured ZO6 has the integrated rear wing; rumors have it that a ZO7 variant will have more track goodies and a high wing.
September 28th, 2021 at 12:56 pm
As someone who actually had a similar Celica many years ago it brings back good memories.
September 28th, 2021 at 1:34 pm
Ron Paris and MERKUR DRIVER nailed it w/ Celica GT. Great reference pic (see comment #4)
September 28th, 2021 at 2:09 pm
The Mystery car is a Toyota Celica liftback in JDM spec with the smiley bumpers in place of the park benches installed on US spec cars . It was called the Japanese Mustang because it’s side profile pretty much is a 7.8 scale 69/70 Mustang Sportsroof.
September 28th, 2021 at 2:21 pm
1974 Toyota Celica 2000 GT Liftback
September 28th, 2021 at 3:03 pm
You missed the fourth, and largest, design difference between the Stingray and Z06: the Z06 has the wide body to cover the wide tires and track.
September 28th, 2021 at 3:05 pm
I wish the autonomous “racing” at Indy was a little earlier, before I head for Florida. It would be worth a 50 mile drive to see it, with probably not much crowd to contend with.
September 28th, 2021 at 3:23 pm
9 The C8 has fewer wheel choices than C7s, and one size, 19 front and 20 rear, including with the Z51. It will be interesting to see if wheel and tire sizes are different on the Z06. Also, all season tires are now standard on Corvettes, with the Z51 package required to get summer tires.
September 28th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
Hey John, (off-topic)
Please let us know when you guys will be getting your hands on that 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Edition. With all that horsepower plus a manual transmission, I’m expecting some BMW killing track capabilities.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:15 pm
John, do you know if GM makes money on cars like the CT5-V Blackwing, or are they mostly “halo” vehicles? The Blackwing is pricey, ~$85K base, but a lot of development went into it.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:22 pm
Yes it is definitely the 70s vintage first generation Toyota Celica liftback. Often referred to as the “mini-Mustang” due to the coke bottle hip behind the rear door and the take-off of the Mustang’s signature rear light assemblies.
I owned a coupe version of this model. It had a 1.6 litre overhead valve engine without any strangling emission control systems. When the model was updated when emission controls were introduced the engine that was standard became a 2 litre ONC that delivered similar performance and used more fuel.
September 28th, 2021 at 5:23 pm
Corvette Z06 announcement date is October 26, not October 23.
September 28th, 2021 at 7:20 pm
I5s too bad that VW is still paying for the cheat scandal, with all that they have already paid and their investment into BEVs (as a rsult and requirement of the cheating), to them it may seem like the bleeding will never end! I may be wrong and it wouldn’t be the first time and surely not the last (and Autoline viewers will point out my error), But it seems that VW has paid money for the emissions cheating, then I can recall any automaker has paid out for the wrongful death as a result of a defect, poor/bad design/engineering or indifference on the part of the automaker. It would appear that there is a greater concern emissions then the lose of life!
I do understand that with the emissions cheating, it’s easier to prove intent and that the crime was do on purpose, where as it is much more difficult to automaker intent and those other factors when it comes to when someone dies when they are in a motor vehicle. There can be a number of other factors involved then just the vehicle itself (weather, road, drive and passengers, other vehicles, etc.), that can have an impact and result in the death of someone in a motor vehicle. I’m not defending VW, for they got what thry got for what they’ve done! Yet isn’t the life of an individual worth more them the fine for cheating on emissions?! Just a thought.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the real reason that Mercedes Benz stopped selling their highly profitable V8 in the US!
September 28th, 2021 at 9:58 pm
It’s still hard to believe that a company like VW would so deliberately cheat on emissions, but they did. Still, at some point, haven’t they paid enough?
As far as “wrongful death,” when an unbelted driver runs off the road and hits a tree, and their knee hits the key turning off the ignition when they “hit the rough” causing the air bag not to deploy, it seems that there is a lot more responsibility than the ignition switch.
September 29th, 2021 at 4:40 am
Ford is seriously upping the ant-E as per their joint announcement with Korea’s SK Innovations. And none of that pushing out most of the investment to 2030 either.
I’ve mentioned before that auto motor & sport tested the charging speed of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 (with cells made by SKI), and it nearly doubles that of Tesla’s Model Y (on compatible chargers).
September 29th, 2021 at 8:43 am
22 Can they cool the SK cells better, so they can maintain a high charge rate as the cells are nearly full? Is that how they get higher charge speed?
September 29th, 2021 at 8:50 am
21 What is enough to pay? These large corporations need to be hit hard to avoid any further cheating. If the impact in not severe enough what’s to keep them from doing it again? Plus very similar to the wrongful death suits people die every year from raspatory illness which is part of the reason we have emission regulations. Whos to say the cheating hasn’t contributed to the deaths of people? Not exactly today but even years down the road. All automakers need to be made very aware that the emission regulations are serious and any attempt to purposely side step them will cost them dearly. I don’t think the fines would have been so severe had it been a simple mistake or a test conducted wrong or human error. This was an obvious thought out approved and implemented plan to cheat the testing. They knew what they were doing and did it anyway. So I have no sympathy for VW.
September 29th, 2021 at 9:49 am
Did anyone at the top of VW, like Winterkorn, go to jail for the cheating? They should have. One US-based guy did.
September 29th, 2021 at 11:32 am
24 Kit – I have no idea and would like to put the question out there. Here are the graphs for:
Ioniq 5 / Model Y LR / Audi Q4 50
https://youtu.be/-orKmOSYErA?t=2652
September 29th, 2021 at 12:25 pm
The mystery car on the car hauler is a Toyota celica
October 4th, 2021 at 12:24 pm
So exactly how “green” are these new EV assembly plants that rip up greenfield sites such as forests and farmland for their locations? When you consider the plant, new freeways and ramps, new drainage, subsidiary plants, parking, etc. that is needed, the footprint can be huge. Why not make the effort to use a brownfield site near existing infrastructure? Sure it’s tough to do, but anything less is extremely hypocritical.