AD #3257 – Tesla Pioneers New Assembly Technique; GM Dramatically Ramps Up EV Production; Biden Finally Says “Tesla”
February 9th, 2022 at 11:53am
Listen to “AD #3257 – Tesla Pioneers New Assembly Technique, GM Dramatically Ramps Up EV Production, Biden Finally Says “Tesla”” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:33
0:08 President Biden Finally Says “Tesla”
0:53 Tesla Pioneers New Assembly Technique
2:09 Park Your Hyundai & Kia Outside
3:34 EU Needs Millions More EV Chargers
4:34 Ram Teases EV Pickup
5:29 GM Dramatically Ramps Up EV Production
6:03 Details of Kia Sportage PHEV
6:54 MIT Develops Breakthrough Material
7:32 Hummer EV Frunk Is Perfect for Stowing Roof Panels
8:22 Porsche Allows You to Race on Your Favorite Streets
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PRESIDENT BIDEN FINALLY SAYS “TESLA”
Well, he finally said it. President Biden actually mentioned Tesla during a speech on domestic car manufacturing yesterday. And the President was quite complimentary. He praised Tesla for its EV investments in America and singled it out for being “our nation’s largest electrical vehicle manufacturer.” It’s the first-time Biden has ever let the word Tesla come out of his mouth, at least in public. Many people think that’s because Tesla and Elon Musk are rather anti-union. That, and the fact that Elon has insulted the President on several occasions. But Mr. Musk was pleased with yesterday’s remarks and replied to the President’s speech on Twitter with a smiley face emoji.
TESLA PIONEERS NEW ASSEMBLY TECHNIQUE
Speaking of Tesla, we discovered this little nugget while going through its latest financial earnings. You might call it an Easter Egg in the annual report. This picture shows assembly line workers at the plant in Texas attaching seats to the top of the battery pack for Model Ys. Let that sink in a sec. The battery pack is a structural member and is installed from underneath the car. So, if the seats are on top of it, they go in the car up through a hole where the floor pan would be. That likely means the battery pack includes the floor pan, the carpeting, the seats and the center console. Nobody in the history of the industry has ever assembled a car this way. But there’s a lot of advantages. Traditional seat installation can involve complicated machinery that has to twist and turn to get the seats through the door openings. That takes finesse, or you end up with scrapes and scratches. And that adds assembly time. The way it looks like Tesla is doing it, you just slap the carpet down, plop the seats in place, drop in the console, bolt it all down and you’re done. Clever assembly techniques like this help explain why Tesla continues to boost its productivity.
PARK YOUR HYUNDAI & KIA OUTSIDE
If you’ve got a Hyundai or a Kia, you may not want to park it in your garage. And in this case it has nothing to do with electric cars. Hyundai, Kia and NHTSA are urging 484,000 owners in the U.S. to park their vehicles outside and away from any other vehicles because of engine fire risks. A hydraulic electronic control unit can malfunction, causing a short that could result in the engine catching fire, even if it’s turned off. This includes the Kia Sportage and K900, as well as the Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Sport and Santa Fe XL, which were built mostly from 2014 to 2019. Fortunately, it’s an easy fix. Dealers just have to install a new fuse for the circuit.
EU NEEDS MILLIONS MORE EV CHARGERS
The European Union wants to stop sales of new cars with IC engines by 2035. But if it wants people to buy EVs, it needs to significantly boost the number of charging locations. According to Ernst & Young and Eurelectric, a group that represents the electricity industry, Europe will need 65 million EV chargers to handle the 130 million EVs it expects to be on the road by 2035. That includes 9 million public chargers and 56 million residential ones. So far, there’s only 374,000 public chargers, and two-thirds of them are in just five countries. The researchers say half a million chargers need to be installed every year through 2030, and then that needs to ramp up to a million a year. On top of that, to handle the increase of electricity use, the report recommends that countries adopt smart charging solutions to handle the demand.
RAM TEASES EV PICKUP
It may be late to the party, but it may arrive as the best dressed. Ram announced it will come out with a battery electric version of the 1500 pickup in 2024. But that means it will not hit the market until years after Ford, Chevrolet, Rivian and others have their electric trucks on sale. There’s not a lot of details about the Ram EV, but you can see in this teaser picture that it features a body-on-frame setup with the battery pack mounted between the frame rails. Ram is also launching a website, RamRevolution.com, that provides consumers with updates, unique visuals and content, and even the chance to provide input as the truck is developed. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says they’ll be able to watch what their competitors come out with and design something better. But that’s just a way of spinning the fact that they’re way behind the competition.
GM DRAMATICALLY RAMPS UP EV PRODUCTION
Meanwhile, General Motors is stepping on the gas, so to speak. It’s going to significantly ramp up production of its electric trucks and the Cadillac Lyriq. CEO Mary Barra says they’re going to make a total of 400,000 EVs this year and next. This year production is going up more than six times what it originally announced. GM was going to build 7,000 of them this year. Now it will make 46,000. And that means that next year it ramps up to 354,000 electric pickups and SUVs.
DETAILS OF KIA SPORTAGE PHEV
The all-new Kia Sportage debuted last year and now details are pouring in about the plug-in hybrid version, which goes on sale in the third quarter in the U.S. It comes standard with a 1.6L turbo 4-cylinder engine, like the Sportage Hybrid, but the PHEV has a more powerful motor; 67-kW vs 44-kW. It also has a larger 13.8-kWh battery pack, which Kia hopes will deliver a range of 32 miles or 51 kilometers. No word yet on the pricing.
MIT DEVELOPS BREAKTHROUGH MATERIAL
Engineers from MIT have developed a new polymer material that was once thought impossible to make. And it could have future applications in the auto industry. Polymers have always formed spaghetti-like molecules, but the new material is a 2D polymer that self-assembles into disks that are then stacked on top of each other. This creates a material that is stronger than steel, lighter than plastic, impermeable to gas or water and can be mass produced. MIT says it could be used as a coating to protect metal in vehicles or really any place where a high strength to weight ratio is important.
HUMMER EV FRUNK IS PERFECT FOR STOWING ROOF PANELS
Removable roof panels provide an awesome open-air feeling, but they’re not all that great if you don’t have a place to store them. So, GMC engineers decided to use the Hummer EV’s frunk. Each panel easily unlocks and slides up and away from the vehicle. They’re individually numbered, which is the order you stack them in, and then there’s a cover and straps to help keep them safe. The front I-beam can also be removed with a supplied wrench and socket and can be stored under the rear seat. And when you’re ready to put it all back together there’s a little diagram showing where each panel goes on the truck. Ford did something similar when designing the Bronco to get a leg up on Wrangler, which doesn’t have an in-car spot specific for roof panel storage, and Chevy has also done it with the last few generations of Corvette.
PORSCHE ALLOWS YOU TO RACE ON YOUR FAVORITE STREETS
Have you ever wanted to drive like an absolute bat-out-of-hell on your favorite streets around your city? I know I have. But fear of law enforcement and injury always prevent that. Well, sometime in the future you’ll be able to thanks to Porsche. It partnered with a Swiss startup to develop the Virtual Roads project, which uses a smartphone to record a route, software converts it into a 3D environment and then you can go racing. They say it takes less than an hour to digitize an 8 km or roughly 5 mile route. It’s compatible with a number of racing games and they’re working on incorporating actual data from the vehicle as well. Unfortunately, no word yet on when you’ll be able to get it.
But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for joining us and we’ll be right back here again tomorrow.
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Comments (43)
February 9th, 2022 at 12:08 pm
Followup to yesterdays #12, reply to Wim’s posts and comparisons.
Corvettes just look like Ferraris (Ferrari purists may vigorously object to this) but their production has nothing to do with the assembly-line production of ORDINARY cars such as Caddilacs, Corvettes, even Mercedeses. I am well aware of the games Ferrari is playing, especially regarding the scarcity of their models, they do it intentionally to drive used prices up, way up.
Last summer I spent a day in the outstanding compound of a classmate from elementary and high school, a really poor student and athlete, who somehow is very affluent, and was the president of the Ferrari club in his old country for many years, owns several mint ferraris (the one he had in the garage was a silver Scaglietti 2+2 with the desirable gated manual shifter, but he has an F40 in a garage in Switzerland, an Enzo, and others too). He told me of stories of potential buyers who committed suicide just because Ferrari diluted a model’s production and made more, out of greed, than the promised limited run of 300 or less. I could go o n and on.
Several Ferrari models were pricier used than new, a concept incomprehensible to those here who are proud owners of Hyundai Elantras or Genesises (same thing) and look down on the far wiser buyers who drive “a used Mercedes or BMW” and save $100,000 of its $110,000 purchase price (and if they are like me, and each of their cars only does a couple thou miles a year, it would be actually idiotic to buy new cars and depreciate them without using them even to the 20% of average miles per year).
So my question to Wim and any others, is, Don’t compare apples and watermelons, or Corvettes and Ferraris. That was not my question. Compare Corvettes and Caddilac coupes or sedans, and tell me why can GM allegedly make $ off assembly-line made Corvettes, but is utterly incapable of making money off similar low-volume assembly line Caddilacs?
February 9th, 2022 at 12:17 pm
In today’s show:
Genius Joe biden finally learns that Tesla is (BY FAR, he omitted that!) biggest BEV maker in the USA. Kudos!
Next lesson, Joe, and Tesla haters here of similar mental capacity: There was a full page article in the NY Times (yes, I admit I sometimes read articles in that rag, but never their laughable political op-eds and coverage), about BEVs. It mentioned that the share of BEVs in the USA in 2021 was ‘about 4%’
This is important, because in a previous email of mine, I tried to estimate that number, knowing Tesla alone had over 3.0%, and asked you about your guess, what % did all the other, much LESSER, BEV makers have, PUT TOGETHER.
The NYT article puts it ‘around 1%’! Which means that Tesla did not lose ONE IOTA OF MARKET SHARE from 2020, when it also had 75% of the US BEV market! Despite the avalanche of all kinds of alleged “Tesla Killers” (LOL) such as the Mustang Mach E and the VW compliance, low-performance BEVs that failed in the market.
BTW besides the Bob Lutz model of making BEVs (lose a ton of $ per BEV and make it up by selling ICE SUVs or Pickups), we have the Ford Model, which is, make the Mach E in MEXICO and CHINA. I wonder how happy will the UAW be when FORD replaces its ICEs with BEVs BUT, to not go bankrupt, makes them all in Mexico and CHina. Huh, UAW afficionados?
February 9th, 2022 at 12:20 pm
S65AMG, go read “All Corvettes are Red”, and come back to us.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:20 pm
… so why do you post items from that blowhard. Is he Trump or something?
February 9th, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Insult Biden how he is a crooked swamp thing that has done more to ruin America than it took Carter and Obamy 12 years to do
February 9th, 2022 at 12:23 pm
In other news today:
“Park your Hyundai or Kia outside because of fire risk”!
Does this remind anybody of the failed Chevy Bolt? (yes, failed big time, admit it, Tesla haters and GM propagandists!)? As in “park your Bolt 50 feet away from everything else” (Oh yeah, this will be easily feasible in NYC!)
Seriously, who would park a worthless Hyundai or Kia in the Garage? This is where you park the valuable cars in your stable, the thoroughbred sports cars, not the… Donkeys! (note it did not even include the 15th attempt of H-K to sell luxury cars, the “Genesises”!)
and down the page:
“Hummer EV Frunk is perfect..”
I could never have imagined that anybody would succeed in using the laughable, obese toy the FAKE Hummer (no relation to the Military-issue H1) BEV and “perfect” in the same line.
GM sold JUST ONE (not one thousand, ONE) of these RIDUCULOUS toys in the entire FOURTH QUARTER in 2021.
When Tesla sold over THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND BEVS worldwide in the SAME Q4 2021
These are ASTRONOMICAL differences.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
What planet does 5 live on?
February 9th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
@7 – a place where the sky isn’t blue and ” normal political discourse” kills people.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Tesla’s construction technique is interesting, and sounds very efficient. I assume it is designed to be disassembled to replace the battery, or modules in it. Does anyone know how the battery/belly pan is sealed with the rest of the body to keep out rain, road salt, etc.?
February 9th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
3, Great book: “All Corvettes are Red”; we almost lost the Corvette to the ‘corporate’ money men; thankfully, the engineers prevailed.
Wonder why all these charging stations are pull in, charge, pull out (or back in, charge, then pull out) as opposed to a typical gas station style where you pull in, fuel, pull out. A stall, for charging, makes it easier especially if your pulling a trailer or have a larger vehicle, i.e., camper of the RV type, etc. It doesn’t make too much of a difference now a days, but with the coming of the ‘horde’ of EV’s, it might start getting crowded in the current configuration.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:48 pm
@Sean, John: what a great show today. I especially enjoyed the TESLA assembly and the break-through polymer material.
What amazes me is that with so many people involved in TESLA engineering and production we continue to learn more about cutting-edge TESLA ideas-turned into reality which we were not yet aware of.
February 9th, 2022 at 12:49 pm
The Hyundai/Kia recall for fires has nothing to do with the cars’ engines. Rather, it’s caused by an electrical short in the ABS module. That component is located under the hood, not far from the engine.
February 9th, 2022 at 1:08 pm
3,10 I should probably read that book, even though my Corvette is blue.
10 With charging being an “extended duration” thing, having charging stations like gas stations might not work is well. It least they would need to be set up so it would be easy to get to, and away from any of the chargers at any time. At some point, there will probably be different arrangements for cars/SUVs, and for big trucks and trailer rigs, as is now the case with diesel pumps at truck stops.
February 9th, 2022 at 1:20 pm
I found the Tesla ‘the floor is the battery’ idea very interesting. So when this system meets the battery swap system that is being touted so much, will that mean I get clean carpets and perhaps a change in seat colour too?
February 9th, 2022 at 1:51 pm
“All Corvettes are Red” and “The Machine that Changed the World” are the two seminal automotive books I’ve read.
It’s turned into throwaway phrase, but I actually am profoundly shocked after finding out that gm was planning to build 3’200 Lyriqs this year.
No, 25’000 isn’t enough either. What planet do these people live on?
February 9th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Has Musk actually insulted Biden or merely spoke the truth ?
February 9th, 2022 at 2:41 pm
10 – the answer to your question is real estate cost and concrete expense. Smaller footprint is fine for most EVs and costs less. Important when you have limited resources and need to install as many chargers as possible. As Kit said, different configurations will undoubtedly be built to accommodate additional vehicles, towing, etc.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:45 pm
15 – I think the GM production numbers are a PR ploy. Its been announced for some time that reservations for the Hummer and Lyriq filled up very quickly, indicating very strong demand. Do we really believe that GM would have a factory come online to produce vehicles by midyear and only then go on to build 3,200 units? Of course not. But, they got a lot of press out of their announcement about dramatically ramping up EV production. Helps the stock price and the public perception of EV acceptance.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:47 pm
Dear Commenters – We’ve been getting a number of complaints about a certain person posting on here. And while I agree with you (why someone would want to belittle another person with a differing opinion is beyond me and posting lengthy pieces about what happened the previous day screams “look at me”) kicking them off never works. They always come back under a different name (though they’ll claim that’s not true, yet intimate knowledge of the regular commenters and the vehicles they drive) doing the exact same stuff. I recommend doing what you should do with anything that pisses you off, ignore it. Just skip those posts.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:50 pm
I personally wouldn’t even consider owning an EV without 240V home charging capability. But maybe many people figure spending a couple hours to refill at a public charger every 100-300 miles isn’t a big deal. It would be a deal breaker for me.
So I really wonder if adding thousands of charging stations will really make that much difference in the appeal?
Honestly if the government or manufacturers really wanted to continue to subsidize EVs they should offer a coupon toward a home charger and installation.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:56 pm
13, “All Corvettes are Red” is the developmental history of the C5 so while not current it is inciteful as to the thinking between ‘corporate’ and engineers. Some of the parallels to be drawn when talking about the C8 is that Tadge’s devotion to creating the best Vette yet is echoed from the C5 book. Yes, definitely a recommendation to get a copy and read. “All Corvettes are Red” by James Schefter.
February 9th, 2022 at 2:57 pm
For Tesla anyway the battery swap thing is dead since 220volt outlet gets one filled up overnight even 110volt suits most people most of the time then supercharging on road trips then battery swaps put wear and tear on all the little bits. With the batteries being structural with seats on top, with extra efficiency in manufacturing making battery swaps even more dead if that’s possible
February 9th, 2022 at 3:00 pm
@19 or, as owners of this forum, you could define what is right and what is wrong and act accordingly.
You could simply kick off anybody who belittles, demeans, insults, regardless of whether they have returned and regardless of the code name they have chosen.
I agree with you that Hysterical Larry, NOT-S65AMG-BECAUSE-I-DRIVE-OLD-DIESEL-CLUNKERS, is an attention seeker. I have pointed out in the past that the root cause is psychopathological. While sad in itself, his mental health disorder should not be our problem. And it is easy for you to solve it. Just define what is acceptable and act.
February 9th, 2022 at 3:08 pm
21 Ironic that almost the same thing happened over at Ford as a group of engineers secretly worked on the Mustang Cobra that was about to be axed after a huge recall in 1999. Cutting costs put the Mustang on the chopping block a few times and it almost became the FWD Probe. Thank goodness a few car guys were still around to save us from the bean counters idea of a sports car.
February 9th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
14 That would be almost like getting a new car, if you got clean carpet, and especially, different color seats.
February 9th, 2022 at 3:24 pm
18 GM Vet – Come to think of it, the Lyriq’s development was accelerated by six months, if memory serves. So with the ramp up, that would explain the paltry number of vehicles originally planned for 2022. But PR preferred to “highlight a different angle”.
The European market is back in contention.
February 9th, 2022 at 3:27 pm
19. Good advise Sean. Thank you.
February 9th, 2022 at 3:30 pm
20 I’d consider an EV as a “local use” car with even 120v home charging, but with no home charging, I wouldn’t consider one. To me, public charging would be only for trips. If EVs could receive 400 miles of charge in 10 minutes, that would make things much different, but that seems unlikely with today’s battery technology. Batteries, as then now exist, don’t like extremely high charge rates. Also, they don’t like fast discharge rates, which is why the ones I use for model airplanes only last about 100 charge/discharge cycles, if I’m lucky.
23 Wasn’t the Probe intended to be the “new Mustang,” until the loud complaints surfaced?
February 9th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
@27 we may be getting there, Kit. I read in an article from 2020: “Owners charging their Lucid Air in real-world conditions on the road 300 miles of range in just 20 minutes of charging.” Not the 400 miles which you want, but we are getting there.
I don’t own a LUCID Motors vehicle, and do not know anyone who does, just to be clear. Is there anybody who has first hand experience?
February 9th, 2022 at 3:46 pm
28 That would be much better, especially if the chargers were places I go anyway, like certain restaurants.
February 9th, 2022 at 4:41 pm
I’ve been an avid follower for 10 years maybe more, and I for one am not impressed with the new designs associated with the new BEV’s I realize that something outlandish might not sell but something like what Tesla did with their new truck is groundbreaking. All SUV’s and trucks look similar to past models and each other. Why don’t manufacturers allow their designers to be unleased once in awhile?
February 9th, 2022 at 5:28 pm
30 The mid 1950s to mid 1960s were the golden age of US car design. Well, actually the ’30s were the golden age, but the good ones were not remotely afforable to most people.
February 9th, 2022 at 5:28 pm
that tesla info was amazing,as was the entire show
February 9th, 2022 at 5:52 pm
Interesting design/assembly of the Tesla battery pack/seats. I’m just wondering what Sandy Munro thinks of it? He’s the expert in my opinion.
February 9th, 2022 at 6:45 pm
33 I’m wondering how they attach and seal things. Maybe we’ll hear more.
February 10th, 2022 at 6:21 am
34 Probably a press-fit. (I jest!) Can’t wait to see what Sandy’s crew make of Tesla’s structural pack.
The idea is excellent, and I’m sure the pretty challenging engineering will follow suit, but those cylindrical 4860 NMC cells in particular need careful consideration of their mechanical loads. Never mind how prismatic LFP cells differ in so many aspects.
February 10th, 2022 at 8:23 am
34,35 Normally, I’d expect spot welds and glue, or something like that, but that might be difficult to disassemble to service the battery. We should find out from Sandy Munro in due time.
February 10th, 2022 at 8:30 am
Tesla stole the idea from the toy I had back in 1977. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wondered why no one build a vehicle that could swap bodies like this. Maybe now with EV skateboard platforms we may finally get there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rn4Jp2Y50
February 10th, 2022 at 8:47 am
37 That is cool. I’d never seen one. I’m too old.
February 10th, 2022 at 9:39 am
37, that was a neat video; a lot can be learned from the toymakers (it appears). It was kind of a Rube Goldberg (but this one actually did work) and the ‘skateboard’ idea was ‘way’ ahead of its time.
February 10th, 2022 at 11:31 am
If you have ever seen an RV or travel trailer built, you are used to the technique shown by tesla here. It is funny on those because the pre-installed flooring gets trapped in the seams during the assembly process making replacements a complete hassle.
February 10th, 2022 at 11:34 am
40) I guess when you think about it. The RV industry has been using skateboard platforms for decades. They never called them that though. There truly is nothing new under the sun.
February 10th, 2022 at 11:54 am
37 Lambo – Great find, and fun to watch! There have been a few concept cars in that vein too, I hazily recall.
Of course, Tesla’s breakthrough is that the new battery pack will be a load-bearing structural element.