This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Happy New Year and welcome to the first Autoline Daily of 2022.
TESLA SETS SALES RECORD
Tesla ended 2021 with a bang. The EV maker revealed it set a record in the fourth quarter of last year, delivering 308,600 vehicles globally. That smashed analyst estimates, who forecasted deliveries of 263,000 vehicles. Overall, Tesla sold 936,000 EVs in 2021, up 87% compared to 2020. And that’s pretty impressive, considering the chip shortage which had a big impact on most other automakers. And 2022 should be another record year for Tesla with its plants in Austin and Berlin scheduled to start production.
TESLA RECALLS VEHICLES IN U.S. & CHINA
But it’s not all good news for the company. NHTSA announced that Tesla is recalling more than 356,000 Model 3s over rearview camera issues and nearly 120,000 Model Ss because of front hood problems. And it is recalling 200,000 Model 3s and Ss in China because the trunk lid can open suddenly while the car is in motion. Tesla also agreed to prevent drivers from playing video games on the infotainment while the car is being driven after NHTSA opened an investigation into the feature.
NYPD ADDS MUSTANG MACH-E & MODEL 3 TO FLEET
New York City is adding the Ford Mustang Mach-E to its fleet of government vehicles, including law enforcement. The city announced it’s purchasing 184 Mach-Es for $11.5 million, which works out to $62,500 per vehicle. The Mach-Es will start arriving by the end of June. The City is also planning on adding the Tesla Model 3 to its fleet as well. The Big Apple is aiming to convert its fleet to an all-electric lineup by 2035.
CANADIAN PARTS INDUSTRY CREATES ELECTRIC CONCEPT VEHICLE
Electric vehicles look like they’re the future and it seems like everyone wants to develop one, including Canada’s entire parts supplier industry. The Canadian APMA or Automotive Parts Manufacturer’s Association announced Project Arrow at CES in 2020, an all-Canadian effort to design, engineer and build a zero-emission concept vehicle. Here’s a digital rendering of what that vehicle could look like. It’s a small electric crossover that looks like it could come from just about any manufacturer, but it also has some cool tech. It’s trying to make the body from eight large laser-welded stampings and, like Tesla, use large castings to form the front and rear frames. Level 3 autonomous capability is also being developed as is a battery pack from a joint venture between Giant Canadian supplier Martinrea and another company, called NanoXplore. NanoXplore is a graphene supplier working on a way to use that material in batteries. The next phase of Project Arrow is to make a real prototype and take it on tour, possibly starting with CES in 2023.
RIVIAN DELAYS MODELS WITH LARGER BATTERY PACK
Rivian has been flying high. It was initially valued over $100 billion after it debuted on the stock exchange in November. It grabbed tons of headlines for deliveries of its all-electric pickup and SUV. But just like everyone else, it’s running into problems securing battery modules and semiconductors chips as well as issues related to the pandemic and a tight labor market. So, Rivian announced it’s delaying versions of its vehicles with a larger battery pack until 2023. The current battery provides over 300 miles of range. The larger one pumps out 400 miles. But since only 20% of its pre-orders were for the larger battery, it’s prioritizing the smaller one.
AUTOMAKERS INTERESTED IN FORD PLANT IN INDIA
Ford might not be interested in India, but others are. In September, Ford announced it would start to pull some of its manufacturing out of the country. And according to a state minister, it’s already seeing interest in one of Ford’s plants there. Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover has shown interest and early stage talks are going on with other firms. Ford ultimately gets to make the final decision but the Indian government is just trying to facilitate talks between the companies.
TUSIMPLE COMPLETES 1ST AUTONOMOUS TEST WITH NO HUMAN DRIVER
Autonomous vehicles continue to make progress. Self-driving startup TuSimple, says it recently successfully completed a fully-autonomous run in a semi-truck. The Class 8 truck didn’t have a human on board and didn’t require any human intervention on its 80-mile route. The trip, which happened at night, started at a railyard in Tucson, Arizona and ended at a distribution center in Phoenix.
WAYMO PARTNERS WITH GEELY
Waymo is currently developing its autonomous technology in Chrysler Pacifica minivans and Jaguar I-Pace’s. And now it’s collaborating with another OEM. Waymo announced it’s partnering with Chinese automaker Geely and will integrate its technology in a purpose built, ride-hailing vehicle from Geely’s electric mobility brand, Zeekr. It looks like a minivan and it features a flat floor with plenty of space for riders. And there’s no steering wheel or pedals. Waymo plans to launch these vehicles in the U.S. “in the years to come” but it didn’t announce a specific date.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for joining us and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.
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Comments (10)
January 3rd, 2022 at 12:26 pm
That Rivian SUV (one of which I just happened to have passed on the road last week) bares some noticeable resemblance to the Jeep Wagoneer in the rear.
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:02 pm
@1 exactly what I thought while watching the segment
January 3rd, 2022 at 1:07 pm
I’m glad Tesla is hitting it’s stride with production And getting the metal out! Their success motivates other OEMs to do the same, just as their successes are a motivation for Tesla.
The concept car shown in the story by a Canadian supplier, looks, to my eye, a lot like the Fisker Ocean (i think thatx the name). While the way the doors open is novel, like with the side doors on the Model X, are the way that vehicle doors open today the real problem? Do we need an SUV/CUV/crossover with mini-van like siding doors for the rear passenger AND the driver? I know this is a concept, but just a though.
January 3rd, 2022 at 2:35 pm
3 Sliding doors are great, but it might be hard to do one for the driver, unless you had a passenger door only on the right side, like my 1989 van.
January 3rd, 2022 at 3:49 pm
4) Sliding doors for front seat access has been done before. The 1954 Kaiser Darren had such a feature. In more modern times though it was used on the 2004-2009 Peugot 1007 for front seat access. Both of these cars were not very successful not that we can blame this solely on the doors. I was not around in 1954 but I was around for the Peugot launch. A lot of talk about those sliding doors then and not a lot of it was positive. It is unique though.
The new thing with this concept is a slider for both front and rear seat access. I haven’t seen that before. It looks to me like it may struggle to pass side impact requirements, at least in the USA. Perhaps they are getting a waiver by constricting it to low speed areas where a side impact would not be severe. Or they could be putting a huge load beam underneath the floor in that area for any side impact issues. Not really sure how they will pass that requirement. I guess time will tell.
January 3rd, 2022 at 3:56 pm
5 Did the vehicles you mention have two sliding doors on the same side, or only a driver’s door on one side, and passenger door on the other?
January 3rd, 2022 at 4:19 pm
The Grumman mail trucks have a sliding driver’s door, but no back door on the driver side.
January 3rd, 2022 at 5:52 pm
@5 – Super/Extended cab pickup trucks with rear hinged rear doors have been “pillar-less” and meet side impact (FMVSS/CMVSS 214) requirements. One of the keys to their compliance is embedding the B-pillar structure in the door with effective latching along the roof rail and rocker panel.
January 4th, 2022 at 12:21 am
Tesla doubling the number of factories from two to four will have a doubling of their 936,000 vehicles to 1,872,000 in 2022. However, new factory productivity improvements with larger floor space and advanced automation suggests close to 3,000,000 units in 2022.
January 4th, 2022 at 8:11 am
It’s good to see Tesla surging ahead. The new factories will take some time to ramp up.
Here in Switzerland, the Model 3 became 2021′s best-selling vehicle overall, while Volkswagen Corp. with its brands took the lead in EVs.
And while Tesla shines in China, a lot of ambitious domestic pure-plays without legacy constraints (but obviously other challenges) have entered the market, with sales ratcheting up.
Quote: Four of China’s EV startups including XPeng, Li Auto, NIO and Hozon Auto all reported delivery volumes of over 10,000 units in December 2021. Source cgtn – bit.ly/3HzhCfn