AD #3519 – Tesla To Kill 12V Systems; GM Axes ICE Engine Program; China To Become #1 In Car Exports

March 6th, 2023 at 11:57am

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Listen to “AD #3519 – Tesla To Kill 12V Systems; GM Axes ICE Engine Program; China To Become #1 In Car Exports” on Spreaker.

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Runtime: 11:20

0:08 Higher Interest Rates Will Hurt Car Sales
0:56 VW Group Sells Fewer Cars, Posts Higher Profits
2:02 China to Become #1 In Car Exports
3:51 GM Axes ICE Engine Program
4:47 Honda Building Stationary Fuel Cells
5:52 Tesla to Kill 12V Systems
8:25 Tesla Cuts Model S & X Price
9:15 Scout Chooses South Carolina For Plant
9:55 Give Your Mercedes The Finger(Print)

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36 Comments to “AD #3519 – Tesla To Kill 12V Systems; GM Axes ICE Engine Program; China To Become #1 In Car Exports”

  1. rick Says:

    zero sense for GM to drop the inline 6 program. should be an inline 5 and 6 cylinder based on the 2.7L inline 4.

  2. Kevin A Says:

    … if volume of components produced is the controlling factor in cost, why not jump right to 120 volt from 12 volt and use ‘house voltage’ component producers?

  3. Kevin A Says:

    .. I have to believe that Tesla’s solar cell and Power Wall businesses already have contacts with the right companies.

  4. JR Says:

    @2 48 volts DC is still considered “low voltage” from a safety aspect. Moving to 120v would trigger added safety requirements for the wiring. Among other things, it would probably require dedicated ground wires instead of chassis ground in order to keep people isolated from the conductors.

  5. Lambo2015 Says:

    I must be illiterate when it comes to the economy. I have no idea how they think raising interest rates will help with inflation. Everything cost more so raise the percentage rate to borrow making that cost more too???? I fail to see how that helps.

    Suprised to hear GM axing any engine programs when three years ago they rolled out their all EV plan and said they had no new ICE engines in development. I guess they did. Too bad its axed cause thats the kind of engine they will need when they realize EVs dont work real well for those trucks that tow.

  6. Drew Says:

    @5 – No, you are not illiterate on this topic. Our government is punishing the consumer/private sector for the excess spending from the government/public sector.

  7. Kit Gerhart Says:

    1 I like inline six engines, but GM probably noticed that Chrysler’s new turbo six doesn’t have enough advantage over a much simpler pushrod V8 to spend the billions to develop it. The Chrysler engine does have some advantage, ~12% better EPA combined mileage in a Jeep Wagoneer than the the 5.7 mild hybrid.

    https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=45847&id=46241

  8. Dave Says:

    Been expecting 48V for over 20 years been just around the corner. What happened?? Chicken & egg thing. Now that Tesla is going 48V with their own in house battery [low voltage] and needing 48V electrical bits and bobs now for car in the millions run rate other OEMs will be able to buy those 48V bits off the shelf so we should start seeing them in ICE vehicles 2025?

  9. Kit Gerhart Says:

    5,6 Higher interest rates have been used to reduce inflation for decades, going back at least as far as fed chair Alan Greenspan in the ’90s.

  10. Albemarle Says:

    There’s really only two tools the government have to help reduce inflation; stop printing excessive money and raising interest rates. When an economy is working well, the government isn’t too tempted to print more money. That’s how it’s been for the last generation.
    But with the pandemic and all the supports that government provided came along, the need and temptation was too great.
    Then you have the IRA which needs to be funded.
    There’s no free lunch. All we can hope for is that the programs are worth the hangover afterward.

  11. Lambo2015 Says:

    9 That may be, and have a long history of being the reason. Question is why and how does it work. Cause its seems counterintuitive to me.

  12. Kit Gerhart Says:

    8 Most electronics is now very low voltage, so what is the point of 48v in a BEV? An EV doesn’t have a cranking motor, where higher voltage would allow smaller wiring than with 12v. They probably use the full voltage of the traction battery for A/C, etc. Is 48v a good thing for LED headlights, or something like that. My newest laptop uses a single cell battery, so a lot of the “infotainment” stuff in cars is probably also single digit voltage.

  13. Albemarle Says:

    I am pleased to see Tesla taking a leadership role in 48 volts. It’s time the auto industry updated the low voltage systems.

    Reminds me a bit of Apple – cd replace floppy disk, software over internet not disks, no earphone jack on phones, etc.. Not all winners but changes that sooner than later competitors copy.

  14. Kit Gerhart Says:

    11 Higher interest rates make people buy less stuff, reducing high demand which runs up prices.

  15. Kit Gerhart Says:

    13 I’ll search around and see what I can find about advantages of 48v for “accessories” in an EV. Higher voltage has obvious benefits for car with ICEs to crank, and it makes sense for mild hybrids, but I’m missing something to see the point for a BEV.

  16. Kit Gerhart Says:

    13 Apple was also a leader in making phone batteries very hard to replace. It’s good for packaging, though, to get a bigger battery in the same size device.

  17. Albemarle Says:

    Raising interest rates slow the purchasing of goods and services. Things are more expensive. People feel poorer. The economy slows, there’s not the same pressure for wage hikes, manufacturers want to sell products and their costs have stopped rising so quickly so they lower prices and things become more affordable or rather the prices don’t continue to increase at a rapid rate.

  18. Lambo2015 Says:

    14, 17 Okay that makes sense. Raise interest so people spend less lowering demand and hence lowering prices. I just figured the higher prices had to be lowering demand already. But this will certainly slow the sales on big ticket items that are financed like cars and homes. I just dont see it doing much for helping the cost of our everyday items like groceries, gas and utilities.

  19. rick Says:

    7 to me theres not a V8 on the planet makes sense in 2023 or beyond. when you can do the same with turbo charged 4,5,6 cylinder engines. for pretty much any car a turbo charged 3 cylinder will do. just look at the 1.5L 3 cylinder in the 2023 nissan rogue for example.

  20. Kit Gerhart Says:

    Maybe the point of 48v for a BEV, is so they can use 20 gauge wire for window motors, HVAC fans, etc. rather than 14 gauge, or whatever has been used.

  21. rick Says:

    im sure the H.O. inline 6 from stellantis would be plenty enough power for the ram trx.

  22. Wim van Acker Says:

    @18 Interesting question you wrote: ” I just dont see it doing much for helping the cost of our everyday items like groceries, gas and utilities.” I would love to see the replies, too.

  23. XA351GT Says:

    @ #12 Most LEDs run at 2-3 Volts so they’d have to step them down even further if they were 48V . What are the advantages of the higher volt system? Most auto instruments need to be stepped down from 12 V . So what is the upside of this change.? Seems like change for change’s sake. If isn’t broke don’t fix it.

  24. Kit Gerhart Says:

    23 Years, or decades ago there was talk of going to 48v so they could save copper, using maybe 14 gauge battery cable instead of the usual 6 gauge. Maybe they decided then that 24 cell batteries were not such a great idea, for manufacturing cost and reliability, and it wouldn’t make sense to need to regulate down to lower voltage for radios, etc. I remember when cars went from 6 to 12 volts and there was concern that the 12 volt headlights and other bulbs wouldn’t take the vibration as well as 6 volt bulbs with thicker filaments, but that didn’t turn out to be a big problem.

    Maybe John and Gary can have someone from Tesla on AAH to explain reasons to use 48v for BEVs. It must be more than to save a little copper on the wiring for fan, window, and seat motors.

  25. Lambo2015 Says:

    24 Not sure if you just read the transcript or watched the video but the clip from AAH Pete Banon and David Lau discussed the advantages to going to 48V for even an EV.
    Basically, the vehicles have so many electronics now with all the sensors, cameras and options that the increase to 48V reduces current by a factor of 4 and factor of 16 for a reduction in loss current from wire resistance. So, it’s all an effort to get as much power as possible out of the batteries I’d say.

  26. ChuckGrenci Says:

    15,20, You got it right. Ohm’s law, with higher voltage you can run lower current, which you can run smaller gauge wire for the same power (wattage). Still, I question the need for 48 volt architecture in an EV because the high voltage that run the motors and controllers are still going to need a heavy gauge wire to supply the power. Peripherals will be less, noting your starting battery reference, where supporting electronics shouldn’t need a 48 volt power base.

  27. Kit Gerhart Says:

    25 Apparently regulating 48 volts down to what is actually needed for individual sensors, etc. is almost free. I just read the transcript. It looks like I need to watch the video.

  28. Albemarle Says:

    The biggest advantage with higher voltage I believe is the saving in the weight of the vehicle harness. As vehicles get more complex, there’s more wire being run. One solution has been to increase the number of semiconductor chips and distributing them around the vehicle, but Tesla has shown there is a better way. When you have high power draw for things like quick opening tailgates on SUVs, electric steering and start/stop systems, that’s a lot of thick wires. I’ve read where 25% of the weight of the wiring harness could be saved. The harness now weighs 100 to 120 lbs so it’s a big deal.

  29. Kit Gerhart Says:

    28 Yeah, higher voltage would be great for electric power steering, which is normally 12v, and would pull lots of current at times. I think electric A/C in EVs and hybrids normally uses the 200+ volts of the traction battery.

    Will Tesla have a separate 48 volt battery for the “accessories,” or will they tap into, or regulate down from the big battery?

  30. GM Veteran Says:

    Don’t forget about all of those newly heated surfaces in EVs to keep us warm in the snow belt!

  31. wmb Says:

    #28.) After reading what everyone is saying about the benefits of the customer 48V system Tesla engineers speak about, sounds good, but there has to be more to using it. If the wiring harness wiring harness weighs about 100-to-120 lbs, even at half that weight, your not saving that much in the weight of the vehicle. I know every little bit helps, but if the weather 48V system costs more and the overall weight is mostly the same, how is that better? I’m a little lost at how this makes things a better choice, but would appreciate someone explaining it to me.

    Wow, I did not realize how much cheaper the Model S was in a relationship to the Lucid Air and its variations! One could buy a Model S Plaid, for almost half the price of an Air Dream addition. While the Lucid sapphire may be the new BEV King of the Hill, one could almost buy two Plaids, for the amount you would pay for one of them AND use use a Tesla Supercharger!

  32. Kit Gerhart Says:

    31 The cheapest Lucid costs $87,400, but it is single motor RWD, and wouldn’t be as quick as a “base” Model S. Lucid seems to have some good stuff, but I don’t see how they keep going long term, unless the crown prince wants to keep contributing lots of money for a while.

  33. wmb Says:

    #32.) I understand stand that, but I’m a little surprised that the stretch between the Model S’s base version and Plaid, is now about $20-to-30K with options, after the new price reductions, while the Air is close to $130K! The Air is billed as a true luxury vehicle, while Teslas are expensive, premium vehicles and there is a great difference in the price of the Plaid and Sapphire, but not as big a jump in overall performance, power and range! While each vehicle is well beyond my pay grade, the Plaid is clearly looking even more like a value purchase, compared to the Sapphire, IMHO.

  34. Lambo2015 Says:

    31 I would guess that the 48V savings today is not exactly what Tesla is after. I actually believe they are being unlike the traditional automakers in that they are actually thinking ahead. As GM vet stated it seems that heated surfaces seem’s to be a more efficient way to keep occupants warm so the gauge wire needed for a heated arm, rest seat, steering wheel, headrest, front and rear passengers could be a much bigger savings than what is being done today. Then add in all the high draw servo motors now that assist in autonomy.
    to drive steering, braking. I believe the Cybertruck has a power bed cover and power liftgate. So maybe it’s a bit more planning for the future than the actual weight or cost savings that we would see today.
    One things Tesla does do well is look for ways to do things more efficiently than anyone else. Which will put them in a position to be able to do things cheaper than the competition. This will force others to follow or get left behind. This was the same for the “mega-casting and I suspect the 48V system will be the same.
    It’s not super innovative or like others have not already mentioned the benefits. But Tesla is willing to make the leap and I think with EVs and what’s coming it will likely make even more sense in future models.

  35. MERKUR DRIVER Says:

    31) I didn’t realize that the Model S ballooned to a base price of $90K. It certainly is not worth $90K. With the level of luxury it does not have, the Model S is a $55K car at best, and that is being generous.

  36. Lambo2015 Says:

    Sure would like to see AD cover some more ICE vehicles like this. https://www.hotcars.com/2023-dodge-hornet-tips-before-buying/?utm_source=syndication#multiple-trims-to-fit-your-needs
    Maybe they have and I missed it but this seems like a pretty nice entry into the CUV market.