AD #3323 – VW EVs Almost As Profitable as ICEs; Lordstown Finalizes Deal with Foxconn; Hyundai Launching Robotaxis
May 12th, 2022 at 11:43am
Listen to “AD #3323 – VW EVs Almost As Profitable as ICEs; Lordstown Finalizes Deal with Foxconn; Hyundai Launching Robotaxis” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:33
0:07 VW EVs Almost As Profitable as ICEs
0:55 Lordstown Finalizes Deal with Foxconn
1:42 Fisker Confirms Foxconn Will Make the Pear
3:10 BMW Slashes Paint Emissions
4:01 Cadillac Sweet Talks Chinese Lyriq Customers
5:05 AMG Brand Turns 55
5:33 Hyundai Launching Robotaxis Next Year
6:36 Subaru to Build EV Plant
7:20 Global Auto Sales Plummet
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VW: EVs SOON AS PROFITABLE AS ICEs
Volkswagen is bragging it’s going to knock off Tesla as the number one EV maker in the world by 2025. We’ll see about that. But CEO Herbert Diess says VW’s BEV business will be as profitable as its ICE vehicles sooner than expected. But he didn’t say when. VW previously said it expected BEVs to match ICEs in profit in two to three years. But here’s what we’d like to know. No doubt Porsche Taycans and Audi e-trons that sell for high transaction prices are profitable. But what about the BEVs from the Volkswagen brand, Skoda and SEAT? We’d love to see that broken out and compared to ICEs.
LORDSTOWN FINALIZES FOXCONN DEAL
Lordstown Motors just got a major lifeline. It finally sold its assembly plant in Ohio to Foxconn. That means it does not have to repay Foxconn the $230 million that Foxconn already gave it. Investors loved the news. Lordstown shot up in after hours trading. Even so, Lordstown still needs to raise another $150 million before it can get its electric pickup truck into production. Originally, that truck, called the Endurance, was supposed to be in production last fall. If Lordstown had been able to keep to that schedule it would have beaten the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T to the market.
FISKER CONFIRMS FOXCONN WILL MAKE PEAR
Right on the heels of that Lordstown and Foxconn announcement, Fisker confirmed that Foxconn will make its entry-level model, the Pear, at that assembly plant. Fisker expects to make 250,000 of them a year once production ramps up. The Pear will start at just under $30,000, not including any incentives. Henrik Fisker says one way the Pear will appeal to customers is that it’s going to have, and I quote, “a wraparound front windscreen inspired by a glider plane glass canopy, enhancing frontal vision.”
BMW SLASHES PAINT EMISSIONS
The emissions given off while painting a vehicle is pretty nasty stuff, which is why the BMW Group is working to make the entire process more sustainable. It’s incorporating a couple of new solutions from paint supplier BASF. The first is a matte paint that uses waste from sewage treatment plants as its starting material. This allows it to replace things like naphtha in the paint, which is a highly flammable oil that contains hydrocarbons. In addition to that, two of BMW’s plants are also using sustainably-produced corrosion protection. That’s what’s in those big baths cars are dipped into to help protect their bare metal. BMW says these two things reduce the CO2 emissions from paint production by more than 40 percent.
CADILLAC SWEET TALKS CHINESE LYRIQ CUSTOMERS
Cadillac is offering some pretty sweet benefits for anyone who orders a Lyriq in China. They’ll get a lifetime warranty on the vehicle and its EV propulsion system. Not impressed? There’s more. They’ll also get free charging for three years and up to 1,200 kilometers per month. Impressed yet? No! Ok, Cadillac will also throw in a free home charger and if they don’t want that it will give them another 8,000 kilometers of free charging over the three years. What do you think now? Want more? Geeze you people are hard to please. But Ok. Cadillac will also give them $2,200 for a trade-in, their choice of three exterior colors at no additional charge, 50Gs of free 5G connectivity, OTAs for life and a bunch of other little things too. I think you should be impressed by now. And these are not separate from each other, they’re included together.
MERCEDES AMG TURNS 55
We didn’t realize it is that old. Mercedes is celebrating the 55th anniversary of the AMG brand. And to mark the occasion, its releasing a special edition version of the AMG CLA 45 coupe and will only make 55 available in the U.S. While it is exclusive, the main differences is its black metallic paint, special AMG badging and 19-inch wheels.
HYUNDAI TARGETS 2023 FOR U.S. ROBOTAXIS
Hyundai and its AV partner Motional say they’re going to launch an autonomous robotaxi service in the U.S. in 2023. And they’re going to do it using these decked out IONIQ 5s with SAE Level 4 capabilities. They plan to work with ride-hailing providers to deploy the vehicles in major U.S. cities. The first rides to the public will be in Las Vegas with more to follow after that and then it plans to expand globally.
SUBARU TO BUILD EV PLANT
Subaru announced plans to build its first dedicated EV plant. It will be located in Japan and initially build gasoline and electric vehicles starting in 2025 and then in 2027 it will be EV only. It will export the EVs to the U.S. On top of that, Subaru will invest $1.9 billion over the next five years to bolster its EV lineup. We find it curious that the EV plant will be located in Japan and not the U.S. Subaru sells more vehicles in the U.S. than in any other market, including Japan, and we know that Subaru USA has begging for another plant in the U.S. for years.
GLOBAL AUTO SALES PLUMMET
Boy does the auto industry today look a lot different that it did in 2019. Just three years ago the global industry was knocking on the door of making 100 million vehicles a year. Then the pandemic hit, followed by the chip shortage, followed by soaring inflation and a war in Ukraine. LMC Automotive reports that the global annualized sales rate in April was only 67 million vehicles. Let’s put some perspective on those numbers. That’s a drop of 33 million vehicles, about the equivalent of the US and EU market put together. It’s the equivalent of shutting down 132 assembly plants, around 132 engine and transmission plants, at least 50 stamping plants, and countless supplier companies. We think it’s safe to say that it’s affected at least 1 million jobs around the world.
LINCOLN RIPS UP ITS DESIGN BOOK
We already showed you Lincoln’s concept car called the Star. It’s got all kinds of really cool features. But do you realize how significant it could be? Lincoln is literally ripping up its design book and going off in a new direction as it transitions to electrics. And the Star is signaling what that new look will be. So how far will Lincoln take its new look? That’s what we’ll be talking about on Autoline After Hours today. Kemal Curic, the new head of design at Lincoln is our guest, so join John and Gary, as well as Keith Naughton from Bloomberg for a deep dive into how Lincoln plans to transform the way its vehicles look.
But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in.
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Comments (22)
May 12th, 2022 at 12:21 pm
Wow, Cadillac is really throwing in a ton of stuff. All they need is Vince Offer in an informercial saying ” but wait, there’s more”
May 12th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
I suppose Cadillac really wants the Chinese market, but please, throw us (U.S.) a bone too. Cadillac wants us to order the Lyriq (starting May 19th) but you can’t even configure it yet (on their website). Mark Reuss are you listening to your American customers; I believed you when you were interviewed but I’m a bit suspicious (of all you said).
May 12th, 2022 at 12:41 pm
2, An addendum; I’m a Cadillac fan, owned four Cadillacs’ in my last 20 years of life and am rooting for the ‘home’ team but please, a little more communication would be welcomed.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Global auto sales plummet….in Russia the 250,000 a month sales has plummeted to only 33000. Will no doubt go down from there. Looks good on Putin. If the rest of the economy goes south like this it’s just a matter of months before people will turn on the regime. Soldiers will be needed to shoot their own people instead of Ukrainians.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:22 pm
Re: Subaru keeping new EV production in Japan.
Japan has a culture of perfection and attention to detail. This craftsmanship does not exist to the same extent in most of the West. Any new process will be kept in Japan until strict closed loop quality control has established high standards. Then the process will be exported. Japanese oversight at all levels will continue at the overseas facility until there is satisfaction that arduous standards are maintained. Even thereafter there will continue to be a small cadre of Japanese to ensure quality does not devolve.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Can’t wait to tell a proud new BMW owner that he has a shitty paint job!
I know the markets are different, but if you want to compete against Tesla and perhaps get a potential BMW or M-B intender to consider the Lyriq, benefits similar to those for the Chinese market would go a long way.
Does anyone remember what Lexus did to spoil new owners when they launched in the US? Surprise and delight gifts included theater and opera tickets, bottles of wine or champagne, birthday presents, etc. They got a lot of free press out of that and very positive word of mouth that helped bring prospects into the showrooms. From there, the well trained sales staff and the products sealed the deal.
If Cadillac views this opportunity through the same lens, (as if they were a new brand just going on sale), they may have a chance to finally change their image.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
It will be interesting to see if Foxconn jettisons the in-wheel motors for cost and complexity savings, not to mention warranty costs and long-term reliability. I would.
How many people are going to want to drive a car called the Pear? Other Fisker cars have had unique and aspirational names. Maybe this is just a name for the concept car.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:14 pm
3 The texts I’ve received from Cadillac say “see dealer for details.” I would hope that they would soon have the configurator on the web site. That’s the way I like to figure out what I want.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
7 I could be wrong, but I suspect the in-wheel motors would be very inefficient. I suspect the weird motors in the Jaguar I-Pace are most of why the vehicle is so inefficient compared to the competition.
I will never trust Fisker much, because of how dismal their first product, the Karma was. It was a plug-in hybrid with 33 miles of electric range, but then got 20 mpg on gas, in a car with less room than a Corolla or Civic.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:31 pm
6 A lot of what Lexus did early on, was to offer a better S-Class for a lot less money. Yeah, maybe bottles of wine, etc. would help bring people into the Cadillac dealers, but mainly, the Lyriq needs to be a good vehicle.
At one time, I wouldn’t have trusted GM at all when they introduced a completely new vehicle, but they did a very good job with the C8 Corvette, which carries over almost nothing, except the similar engine.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:33 pm
Subaru’s EV fits the Japanese market much better than the North American one. It will sell better there.
May 12th, 2022 at 3:53 pm
I may be in a minority, but today’s AAH was not very interesting to me, the topic being “design concepts” that will never exist. Someone had fun playing with animation software to come up with it, though.
Something we only rarely hear about regarding Tesla vs the rest of EVs, is that Tesla continues to be far ahead of nearly everyone else in efficiency. Can’t the others design, or buy more efficient motors? I assume that the main difference is the motors, not the power electronics or battery charge-discharge efficiency.
May 12th, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Kit, I think its all of the above. Also, Lucid is the current king of efficiency, followed closely by Tesla. You’re right though, the rest of the pack seems pretty far back from these two, at least for EVs sold in the US market.
May 12th, 2022 at 4:27 pm
I wonder if Lucid makes their own motors, and if they buy them, from whom? I saw somewhere that Lucid uses 2170 cells, so maybe cylindrical cells have better charge-discharge efficiency than other configurations.
May 12th, 2022 at 6:33 pm
Comparing Tesla to Lucid at http://www.fueleconomy.com: (1) MPGe 149 / 130, and (2) 23 kWh / 26 kWh per 100 miles. The higher Tesla efficiency means a smaller, affordable battery while the Lucid has worse city (heavier battery?) vs highway.
May 12th, 2022 at 7:01 pm
15 Huh? The Lucid has higher efficiency. I’d just like to know the real reasons that Lucid is more efficient than all, and Tesla is more efficient than most.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=44495&id=45014
May 12th, 2022 at 7:25 pm
I appreciate comparing a Model S to a Lucid … similar ‘class’ cars. I was comparing the most efficient Tesla to the most efficient Lucid … apparently not the OP question.
Two, five seat sedans going from point A to B, is one option. Choosing upscale models is a personal choice.
I have a 2019 Tesla Standard Range Plus because I am permanently unemployable at age 72. No kids and a new wife, lowest cost per mile is my metric. But requirements are individual and family specific.
I am not here to defend the current Model S versus the 2019 Model 3 Standard Range Plus on my driveway. You are welcome to challenge my March 2019 decision. Perhaps we both realize a three years old discussion is beating the spot where the dead horse was drug away .
May 12th, 2022 at 8:04 pm
17 Sorry about that. Yeah, I was just comparing the more comparable Lucid and Tesla. In any case, Tesla and Lucid lead everyone else in efficiency, and in most cases, by a wide margin. Is it the motors, the batteries, a combination, or is it also the motor controllers? Whatever, it appears that the legacy companies have some catching up to do.
May 13th, 2022 at 8:19 am
7 Yeah I thought the Pear was a strange name too. So if you see an attractive women driving one you may not want to tell her she has a nice looking Pear.
Or guys can tease their buddies that they finally got a Pear.
Maybe they thought the Apple name did so well they would try and simulate a tech company.
May 13th, 2022 at 9:13 am
The best comparison for motor efficiency I have found is motor speed. The Lucid Air has a motor speed of 20,000 RPM. The TESLA model S plaid has 18,000RPM with limited bursts to 20,000. The TESLA model 3 has a motor speed of 15,500RPM. Jaguar I-Pace is 13,000RPM. The Audi E-Tron is 15,000RPM. The Chevrolet bolt is 8,800RPM. The BMW i3 is 11,400RPM. The higher the speed, the more efficient the use of power becomes.
May 13th, 2022 at 10:07 am
20 There is little correlation between motor rpm and efficiency of EVs. John McElroy compiled some data a while back, and it turned out that the low rpm Bolt was one of the most efficient, and the medium rpm I-Pace was one of the worst. Here’s the video John put together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdlmjcpUfOw
May 13th, 2022 at 10:14 am
21) That is true when power levels are varied. I forgot to mention for similar power level.