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Runtime: 7:44
0:07 June EV Sales Up
0:51 U.S. Governors Want 50-State Fuel Regs.
1:18 Chevy to Livestream Corvette Reveal
2:15 New Charger & Challenger Delayed for Union Negotiations?
4:03 Charger & Challenger Going Electric
5:13 MINI Electric Details
6:01 Bosch Helps Prevent T-Bone Accidents
6:27 New Electric Off-Road Racing Series
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This is Autoline Daily reporting on the global automotive industry.
EV SALES UP
Sales of electric cars shot up 120% in the U.S. market last month. Automakers sold 28,600 BEVs but almost all the credit goes to Tesla, which accounted for almost 24,000 of those sales, giving it 83% of the EV market. Not including Tesla, sales of BEVs were up 30%, but the numbers are puny. Eleven other automakers only sold about 4,700 electrics. So how are the newest competitors to Tesla doing? Jaguar sold 236 I-PACEs, Audi sold 726 e trons and Hyundai sold 127 Konas.
U.S. EV Sales June, 2019 | ||
---|---|---|
Total | 28,632 | +120% |
Tesla | 23,914 | +156% |
All Others | 4,718 | +30% |
U.S. GOVERNORS WANT 50-STATE FUEL REGS
Automakers have already asked the Trump Administration to come up with a 50-state deal for fuel economy regulations, and now the governors from 20 states are asking for the same thing. Three of those states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina went for Trump in the last presidential election. Bloomberg reports that the EPA and NHTSA will submit their proposals to the White House in the coming weeks.
CHEVY TO LIVESTREAM CORVETTE REVEAL
Well the wait is almost over. Chevrolet unveils the highly anticipated mid-engine C8 Corvette next week and you can watch all the action. Chevy is livestreaming the reveal globally at media.chevrolet.com/nextgenCorvette at 10:30 PM eastern time on July 18th. Then Chevrolet will take the new C8 to more than 125 dealerships across the U.S. The tour kicks off after the reveal and will run through early 2020. Dates and cities will be made available the day after the reveal.
UNION TALKS PLAYING ROLE IN CHARGER & CHALLENGER DELAY?
Where in the world are the new Dodge Charger and Challenger? We thought they’d be out by the end of this year, but Autoforecast Solutions says there are no replacements on the horizon. Back when Sergio Marchonne was still CEO of FCA, the plan was to put those cars on the Giorgio platform from Alfa Romeo. But it didn’t work out. A source in the supplier industry that worked on the cars told Autoline that the Giorgio platform could not accommodate cars as wide as the Challenger and Charger. So FCA decided to keep the current platform, which started out life as a Mercedes E-class and goes back to the DaimlerChrysler days. But the plan was to make significant modifications to that platform. In early 2017 Marchionne told the Motor Authority that “by the time we finish with that architecture, you will not recognize its origins.” Autoline also talked to a source that saw the new cars and described them as sharper, more angular and more European-looking than the current rounded retro-versions. So if the platform was upgraded and the new bodies are already designed, why haven’t we seen them? Here’s our Autoline Insight. Those cars are made at FCA’s assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario in Canada. And next year FCA will sit down with Unifor, its Canadian union to hammer out a new contract. At this point that plant is “unallocated,” to use a suddenly popular word in the industry. So dangling out the prospect of building a new Charger and Challenger would be a powerful bargaining chip for FCA. And if we’re right, we’ll see a new Charger and Challenger around 2021.
CHARGER & CHALLENGER GOING ELECTRIC
Those next-gen Dodge’s will probably be electrified. Speaking with Automotive News, Tim Kuniskis, the head of passenger cars for FCA, said “I think the absolute future is electrification of these cars. That’s not necessarily bad. It could be battery electric, it could be plug-in hybrid, it could be regular hybrid, could be e-axles, any one of the number of electric technologies. But I am a firm believer that electrification will be the key to high performance in the future.” The only thing holding them back, according to Kuniskis, is the price of batteries.
Our special guest on Autoline After Hours this Thursday is Paul Eichenberg, a strategist on electrification, autonomy, connectivity and mobility. So join John and Gary and Joe White from Reuters for some of the best insights as to where this auto industry is headed.
MINI ELECTRIC DETAILS
MINI’s upcoming all electric model, the Cooper SE is based on the 2-door hardtop but has unique accents both inside and out. Depending on the model, its range is 235 to 270 kilometers or 146 to 167 miles and those figures are based on the WLTP test cycle and converted to NEDC. The batteries are incorporated into the floor, the electric motor produces 181 horsepower and 199 lb-ft of torque, and it will go 0 to 62 mph in 7.3 seconds. It will be built at the company’s plant in Oxford, England alongside the gasoline powered versions of the model.
BOSCH HELPS PREVENT T-BONE ACCIDENTS
To stop motorists from getting t-boned at intersections, Bosch created what it calls Front Cross Traffic Alert. Radars are placed at the front corners of the vehicle, to give it an extra set of sensing. The system monitors intersections and will alert you if there is a car you weren’t expecting that is coming through. It can give audible or visual warnings as well as automatically apply the brakes.
NEW ELECTRIC OFF-ROAD RACING SERIES
The people that helped bring about Formula E, the all-electric racing series, are starting a new all-electric racing series, but this time for off-roading. Extreme E plans to field 12 teams that will race head-to-head using a round-robin format on short 3-6 miles tracks in places with extreme environments, like the arctic, a rainforest, desert or ocean. The wild SUVs are made by the same company that makes the Formula E cars and feature special tires from Continental. One is made for summer conditions, the other for the winter. Teams will be allowed to have custom body panels inspired by production vehicles and develop their own powertrains. The vehicle seen here has 536-horsepower with a battery from Williams Advanced Engineering. Extreme E is scheduled to start in 2021.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and we’ll see you again tomorrow.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.