This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
FORD TO DOUBLE LIGHTNING PRODUCTION
It looks like Ford could have a hit on its hands with the all-electric F-150 Lightning. The automaker announced it plans to nearly double production of the pickup to 150,000 units annually due to high demand. Ford says it has nearly 200,000 reservations and the first group of holders can place their orders for the truck on Thursday. Ford will take orders on a wave-by-wave basis over the next few months because of the high-demand. Production of the F-150 Lightning starts in the spring at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford also recently announced that it’s tripling production of the Mustang Mach-E to 200,000 units by 2023. And within the next 24 months, Ford plans to boost EV production capacity to 600,000 vehicles with the goal of becoming the number 2 EV maker in North America behind Tesla.
GM COULD LOSE 90-YEAR SALES CROWN
The numbers for car sales in 2021 will start rolling in later today and for the first time in decades, it looks like the U.S. could have a new leader in sales. Reuters reports that Toyota will likely top General Motors, which would make it the first time since 1931 that GM wasn’t number 1 in the U.S. Through the first nine months of the year, Toyota sold 1.86 million vehicles in the U.S. compared to 1.78 million for GM. And unless something drastic happens, analysts expect Toyota will hold on to that lead for the full year. However, Toyota’s place at number 1 will likely be short lived. GM’s sales took a big hit over lost production due to the chip shortage and once supplies improve, it will likely take its crown back.
LOW INVENTORY CONTINUES TO PUSH PRICES UP
And those low inventories caused by the chip shortage are pushing car prices higher and higher. According to Edmunds, the average transaction price for a new vehicle in November was just under $46,000, which is a record. But prices for used cars are also skyrocketing. Edmunds says the average used car price in November was just over $29,000, that’s about 40% higher than a year ago. And it’s forecasting that used vehicle prices will top $30,000 for the first time in 2022. So, until inventory levels improve, car prices will likely continue to soar higher.
MERCEDES TARGETS NEW LEVELS OF EFFICIENCY
Mercedes revealed the VisionEQXX concept electric vehicle, which it says is the most efficient car it’s ever built. It was developed with help from Mercedes’ Formula 1 team and the chassis features a lightweight F1 subframe. Based on simulated tests, Mercedes says it has a range of 1,000 kilometers or 620 miles and its energy consumption is up to 10 kWh per 100 kilometers or 6 miles per kWh. Solar panels on the roof provide an extra 25 kilometers of range. The battery pack in the concept is roughly 100 kWh, but has 50% less volume and is 30% lighter than the one used in the EQS. Aerodynamics also plays a role in the VisonEQXX’s efficiency with a coefficient of drag of just 0.17. And the use of sustainable materials throughout further improves its carbon footprint. It’s also fairly lightweight for an EV, weighing about 3,860 pounds or 1750 kilograms. By comparison the EQS weighs up to nearly 5,900 pounds or 2675 kilograms. While it’s unlikely this concept will go on sale, Mercedes says it’s features and developments are already being implemented into its other production vehicles.
VOLVO COMPLETES TEST OF NEW EV TRUCK
But most electric commercial trucks are currently at the other end of the efficiency spectrum right now. Volvo trucks recently completed a 343 kilometer or 213 mile test on a road in Germany with changing terrain. That truck features a total of 540 kWh of battery capacity and 490 kW of power. Even with a total weight of 40 tonnes it still uses 50% less energy compared to the same diesel truck on the same route. But that also means its efficiency comes out to 1.1 kWh per km, which is close to 10-times less than the EQXX concept. Volvo already has electric commercial vehicles on sale and production of this particular truck, the FH Electric and a few others, starts in the middle of this year.
VOLTA & HERE PARTNER ON NAVIGATION
The electric commercial vehicle startup, Volta Trucks, announced that it has partnered with HERE Technologies to improve its navigation system. Benefits for drivers include HERE’s EV Range Assistant, which allows the planning of multiple delivery stops, range prediction and turn-by-turn guidance. The system can also be customized, updated over-the-air and it features what3words. That’s where the entire world has been divided into 3-meter squares and each square has a unique 3-word combination. So, if you need to drop off a package at say a large shipping center you can plug in the 3-word combination to get a much more accurate location. Mercedes once did package delivery tests comparing what3words to its standard navigation system and found using what3words cut 15% off its total delivery time. Volta will implement HERE’s Navigation system in its upcoming Zero truck, which is scheduled to come out by the end of the year.
TUSIMPLE TAPS NVIDIA FOR AV COMPUTER
In other commercial trucking news, TuSimple, which we reported on yesterday as completing the first road test in a Class 8 semi without any human intervention, announced that its partnered with NVIDIA to improve its autonomous system. Specifically, it will use NVIDIA’s computer or domain controller, called Drive Orin, which is specially made for AV systems. It allows multiple components, like cameras, radars and lidars, which use a lot of computing power, to be controlled by one computer. TuSimple will own usage rights to the controller’s design and plans to work with a third party manufacturer to produce it. The company says the move to NVIDIA will speed up its time to market, which it’s currently targeting production in 2024.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for joining us.
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Comments (16)
January 4th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
Market prices are determined by what the market can bear; I’m wondering what that number is. I’m surprised that demand is still greater than supply and wonderous that these high-priced vehicles, both new and used, stays sustainable. And, as usual, the ‘common folk’, those trying to get along, are bearing the brunt of these high prices (where they have to have a vehicle so they can work to support themselves).
January 4th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
I really like those three integrated tumblers in the Mercedes EQXXX’s dishboard. Nothing like an Old Fashioned to relax after 1000 km / 621 miles of travel.
Beyond the tongue-in-cheek, I’d dearly like to know how close that CATL-supplied battery’s chemistry is to production. It integrates some advanced features.
Significantly, the electric motors were developed in-house.
January 4th, 2022 at 1:19 pm
1 With new car production still lower than normal, there is high demand for late model used cars, thus high prices. I’ve benefited from that, in selling a car, when my price was “locked in” for the new one I ordered more than a year ago.
New cars are selling for MSRP and above because of shortages, but more than that, car companies are forcing “brand loyal” people to buy more expensive cars. A Ford loyalist who might have bought a Focus or Fusion is now forced to buy a truck, SUV, or Mustang, unless they want to abandon their company loyalty. My father was a staunch Chrysler fan for the last ~45 years of his life, and his last car was a Dodge Stratus. If he were still alive, he wouldn’t have much choice, given that he bought only Chrysler, and bought small to mid-size cars. I can’t imagine him buying a Toyota or Hyundai to get what he wanted, so he might have ended up with a Charger.
January 4th, 2022 at 1:34 pm
Sean, over the next few weeks, it would be great to see a recap of how the OEMs stack up worldwide in sales. Lots of markets abandoned, brands consolidated and brands sold or discontinued. Hard to even guess what that list looks like anymore. I’m guessing that Stellantis outsells GM. Ford might too, since they did not abandon Europe. Hope you can report on that when the stats become available.
And, thanks for all the hard work by the entire Autoline team in 2021! Looking forward to another year of interesting stories.
January 4th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
On the EQXXX, I stopped reading after ‘road legal prototype.’ It is a teaser and we won’t see it for sale. Like the VW electric MicroBus, all smoke no metal.
January 4th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Too bad about the EQXXX; it has the range and a more manageable weight. If the general BEV could do what some of the EQXXX does (at a reasonable price) it would be game over for ICE; not yet though.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:34 pm
4 Toyota, VW, Renault-Nissan, Stellantis, and Hyundai-KIA are the top 5 by units sold.
https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-group-ranking/
January 4th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
GM,Ford, Honda, Daimler, and BMW are 6 through 10.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:46 pm
If the numbers I found are correct, I’m surprised no Chinese companies are in the top 10. I guess the “home grown” Chinese cars are from a lot of non-huge companies.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:33 pm
A number of people at work, me included (though I can’t afford one!), are excited about the Lightning! The news that they are increasing production should really get some motivated, since they have already put down deposits.
While it appears that the EQXX I will be the building blocks for the BEV versions of Mercedes A thru C-Class, I would not be surprised if those models not come anywhere close to the MPGe of the concept (nor do they need to, in order to be a success)! As I understand, the exterior dimensions of the concept is roughly the exterior size of the current C-Class. While the foot print may remain the same, the shallow rear roof line would no doubt be raise for production. There would probably be changes to the front and rear ends to make them better resemble their MB heritage. With the EV A and B-Class and their derivatives being narrower, along with a shorter wheel base and overall length, this will impact battery storage. Smaller storage, fewer batteries and still being relatively heavy, means less range. All that said, if they can still squeeze 200 to 300 hp and 350-400 miles of range, at a reasonable price using this tech, they may have the next hit on the hands, in the compact and sub-compact luxury vehicle segment.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:40 pm
And while GM may temporarily lose the US sales crown, as in the case when the fell from #2 to #3 in sales of pick-ups, they are making more money per vehicle sell then they ever have! They may be selling fewer vehicles, but they are make A LOT MORE MONEY on each vehicle sold. So, i do not think that GM is loosing any sleep over being temporarily being knocked to #2 in sales. Especially, when they’re putting little to none of their own money on the hood to move the metal!
January 4th, 2022 at 10:50 pm
10 None of the several pickup drivers I know seem to be waiting in line to buy an electric one. I guess I’ll know in a couple years if they have thought differently, maybe after driving one.
January 4th, 2022 at 10:54 pm
11 Yeah, GM seems to be making money, and they are not overly concerned about market share, or they wouldn’t have dropped all of their mainstream cars except Malibu. The same applies to Ford, not caring about market share, given that they dropped all of their cars of any kind except Mustang.
January 5th, 2022 at 3:36 am
9 Kit – I think the allocation of production by Chinese joint-ventures may be the problem. I’ve heard their total output is added to the partners’ numbers.
The Ford Lightning should be great for commercial fleet buyers who know their required ranges and calculate the total cost of ownership as of course.
From memory, in other important news from the end of last year, Tesla is working with a partner to open a graphite production facility in the US. It’s used for the anode and usually comes from China.
January 5th, 2022 at 8:20 am
I could see many tradesmen buying the Lightning. Most own trucks already and are familiar with the cost of truck ownership. However the lighting has the convivence of what is basically an on-board power source they wont need to lug around a generator. Worry about it not starting or getting stolen. Having to carry gas cans and have the added lockable storage under the hood. So they may not need to add a bed cover or cap. It has a lot of features that would be attractive to them.
If the battery can get them to the jobsite run some lights or a saw during the day and still get them home I could see it being popular.
But I think you reported a couple weeks ago that Ford stopped taking reservations for the truck.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:12 am
The vehicles I see a lot of, which would be an ideal EV application are delivery vans for Amazon/UPS/FedEx, and USPS. They would need trucks with different amounts of range, depending on the route. The Amazon ones I see, mostly Sprinter and Transit, probably come from a facility near Orlando airport, so might need 150 mile range to do the deliveries, but vehicles delivering in and near Orlando would probably need less than 100 mile range. All of them could be charged overnight.
15 Yeah, the AC power capability of the Lightning could be very useful, if it’s reliable. Having that capability, and the frunk, could make up for the truck being available only as a 4 door with a short bed. We should soon find out who the customers will be, and how the vehicles are used.