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Runtime: 9:50
0:00 Toyota Could Cut Fuel Cell Costs in Half
2:29 Renault Reveals Connected Car Concept
4:24 IIHS Wants to Mandate Side Guards on Big Trucks
5:39 GM Chooses Indiana for 4th U.S. Battery Plant Site
6:28 Buick Envision Adopts New Design
7:08 VW Aiming to Boost Earnings By €10 Billion Through Cuts
8:04 Toyota Revives the Land Cruiser
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TOYOTA COULD CUT FUEL CELL COSTS IN HALF
Yesterday we took a dive into Toyota’s future efforts with its new dedicated EV division, called BEV Factory. Today, we’re getting into its other technology development. And like all automakers, Toyota is working on so-called “smart vehicles” that run on connected vehicle platforms. Toyota calls its operating system Arene, which is spelled A-R-E-N-E. Vehicles will have OTA capabilities, including updates to safety systems and multimedia. It also says you’ll be able to customize “ride feel” and gives categories including ‘run,’ ‘turn,’ ‘stop,’ which we take to mean performance, handling and braking. Toyota will continue to refine its ADAS technology and development of its electric mobility shuttle, called e-Palette, is ongoing. It’s working on both driver and driver-less versions of the e-Palette. And while the majority of its focus is on electrification, Toyota is also looking into the future with Hydrogen Factory, its new dedicated hydrogen division. It’s establishing 3 main production hubs, one each in the U.S., China and the EU. Toyota’s joint venture operations in China will start making fuel cells in April of next year and it says it’s going to open a production base in Europe very soon. By 2030 it hopes to be making 100,000 fuel cell units a year. That includes both the ones it uses and the ones it sells to other partners. And those fuel cells will mostly be used in commercial vehicles. If Toyota can reach the 100,000 unit a year threshold and make the necessary improvements to the system, it believes it can cut the cost of its fuel cell by 37%. If it sold 200,000 units a year, it says it could cut the costs in half. But as we all know, for hydrogen-powered vehicles to take off, the refueling infrastructure has to expand. And right now it’s lacking. Toyota is currently producing hydrogen through electrolysis at a plant in Japan and also has a joint project in Thailand to make hydrogen from biogas.
RENAULT REVEALS CONNECTED CAR CONCEPT
And like we said, all automakers are working on “smart vehicles.” Renault showed off its first connected car concept, called H1st. This car is also a good example of something we’ve been talking about recently; that even though there’s a lot of talk about automakers bringing more work in-house, suppliers are still providing a lot of vehicle content. And Renault partnered with 5 suppliers to showcase 20 different innovations, which were developed using digital twins. Those innovations include vehicle-to-everything or V2X communication, which uses cloud connectivity to send and receive information inside the car. It also allowed the six companies to work together in real-time from different locations around the world. V2X could be used to send alerts to the driver about a potential crash hazard. Or the car also has the ability to monitor the health of different vehicle systems and say there’s a need to replace the tires, you could get an automatic notification to set up an appointment. Without highlighting all 20 innovations, one last cool bit of tech is a biometric authentication system. Basically users create a Digital ID, including their name, height, a photo of their face and a video of them walking, which is stored in the car and then it uses that information to make sure you’re you when you’re walking up to the car, greets you and asks if you want to come in.
IIHS WANTS TO MANDATE SIDE GUARDS ON BIG TRUCKS
Tractor trailers are required to have underride guards on their rears in the U.S. but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS wants them mandated for their sides as well. NHTSA recently released a cost-benefit analysis of requiring side underride guards on all new trailers and semi-trailers, to prevent passenger vehicles from going underneath it in a crash. It says it would cost between $973 million and $1.2 billion and save 17 lives and prevent 69 injuries a year. But the IIHS says NHTSA’s analysis is significantly underestimating how many lives could be saved because it excludes many types of crashes. By factoring those in, the IIHS says side underride guards could prevent between 159-217 passenger vehicle fatalities a year. In 2021, 488 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in crashes involving the side of a tractor trailer.
GM CHOOSES INDIANA FOR 4TH U.S. BATTERY PLANT SITE
We’re getting more details about General Motors’ fourth U.S. battery plant that will be located in Indiana. GM originally planned to open it with LG Energy but that partnership fell apart in January and now the automaker will jointly operate it with Samsung SDI. The companies will invest $3 billion to open the facility in New Carlisle, Indiana which is near South Bend. They’ll begin construction within the next year and it’s expected to start producing batteries in 2026 and will have the capacity to produce 30 GWh annually. GM is currently producing batteries in Ohio with LG and it’s building two more battery plants in Tennessee and Michigan, also with LG.
BUICK ENVISION ADOPTS NEW DESIGN
The Buick Envision is getting a new look for the 2024 model year and is adopting the brand’s new global design language inspired by its Wildcat EV concept. It will also be the first Buick to be equipped with GM’s SuperCruise hands-free driver assistance system. That’s all the company is sharing for now but more details will be revealed later this year. Buick is having a great year so far in the U.S., its sales are up 76% through May and the Envision is on track to have its best sales year ever in the U.S.
VW AIMING TO BOOST EARNINGS BY €10 BILLION THROUGH CUTS
Earlier this week, we reported that the Volkswagen Group wants to cut 3 billion euros in cost across its brands. That’s because profit margins are stagnating and it wants to cut costs to get it higher. And in a LinkedIn post earlier today, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Arlo Antlitz, said it’s aiming to increase earnings at the VW brand by 10 billion euros by 2026 through those cuts. VW is targeting a return on sales of 6.5% by then, currently it’s at just 3%. Antlitz also added that optimizing production efficiency is key for it to produce its planned 25,000-euro electric vehicle. But we’ll learn more about VW’s financial goals and strategy at a capital markets day event it’s holding next week.
TOYOTA REVIVES THE LAND CRUISER
The Toyota Land Cruiser is coming back to the U.S. Really, it hasn’t been gone that long. It was last available in the States in 2021. But Toyota posted a video on social media that says “Did you really think we’d be gone for long? The legend returns.” And shows a number of “Land Cruiser” badges from over the years. Toyota didn’t provide any other details, but early speculators are guessing it will be based on the new Lexus GX that was just revealed.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and making Autoline a part of your day.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.