AD #2839 – U.S. Auto Industry Gets Back to Work; Porsche Reveals 911 Targa; Dyson Blew £500 Million on Failed EV
May 18th, 2020 at 11:37am
Listen to “AD #2839 – U.S. Auto Industry Gets Back to Work; Porsche Reveals 911 Targa; Dyson Blew £500 Million on Failed EV” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:02
0:07 U.S. Auto Industry Gets Back to Work
1:24 Ford Hires more Temps for Expected Absenteeism
1:42 Parts Shortage Forces Mercedes U.S. Plant Shutdown
2:21 President Will Visit Ford Ventilator Plant, Not GM
3:16 Porsche Reveals 911 Targa
4:33 Drifting a 500HP Mustang in a Driveway
5:15 Tesla Picks Austin for Next Gigafactory
5:56 Panasonic and Tesla Talk Gigafactory Expansion
6:32 California Rejects SpaceX Subsidies
7:09 Dyson Blew 500 Million Pounds on Failed EV
8:06 Lucid Mixes EV Technology with ICE Luxury
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY GETS BACK TO WORK
The big news in the U.S. is that the auto industry is reopening today with tens of thousands of workers returning to dozens and dozens of manufacturing plants to make new cars and components. Everyone wants to know what’s going to happen. Over the weekend I was interviewed by several television and radio stations and a newspaper, all wanting to know how the auto industry was going to pull this off. What I told them is what all of you already heard us saying here at Autoline. We know exactly what’s going to happen, because the industry opened its plants in China nearly two months ago, and in parts of Europe several weeks ago. Everyone will be thermally scanned to see if they have a fever before going in those plants. Anyone with any signs of the illness immediately will be given a Covid-19 test. Everyone will be given a packet with masks, gloves, and eye protection that they have to wear at all times. Their work stations will be separated by welding curtains and will be wiped down before, during and after their shifts. These procedures have worked very well in China and Europe and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t work in the U.S.
FORD HIRES MORE TEMPS FOR EXPECTED ABSENTEEISM
But that’s not to say everything is returning to normal. Despite all the safety precautions, Ford expects a lot more absenteeism from line workers who still don’t feel that it’s safe to return to work. So it’s hiring well over 1,000 temporary workers to plug the gap.
MERCEDES SHUTS U.S. PLANT DUE TO PARTS SHORTAGE
But hiring temps and taking precautions may not be enough to get things going. Mercedes-Benz was the first to reopen its assembly plant in the U.S. in late April. But it’s shutting down this week because it ran out of parts from Mexico. We believe that opening so early was a mistake. Starting production only to quickly shut it down again is disruptive and costly. And that plant was only operating on one shift. The good news is that Mexico is giving the green light to its auto industry to reopen this week, so hopefully the pipeline will quickly fill up for everyone.
PRESIDENT GOING TO FORD’S MICHIGAN VENTILATOR PLANT
President Trump is going to visit a Ford plant in Michigan that is making ventilators together with GE. That will almost certainly cause controversy. For one, the President is ignoring General Motors which leapt into action to make ventilators. In fact, the President has criticized GM’s efforts. Secondly, Ford is following safety procedures set down by the Center For Disease Control, and it’s stipulating that no one can go in its plants without wearing a mask. So everyone is wondering if the President will wear a mask. But I think we already know the answer to that one. Of course he is not going to wear a mask.
PORSCHE REVEALS TARGA TOP 911
Porsche revealed the Targa version of the 911 over the weekend. The model has been part of the 911 lineup since 1965 and is characterized by a silver Targa bar, retractable roof section and wraparound rear window. The roof section is made of two flat magnesium elements that hold the fabric roof, which is also packed with sound deadening material, in its place. And while the Targa bar is traditionally silver it can be ordered in black as well. All-wheel drive, Active Suspension Management and a 8-speed automatic are standard, but a 7-speed manual is also available on the 4S model. Its 3.0L twin-turbo 6-cylinder engine comes in two outputs; 379 horsepower in the Targa 4 and 443 horsepower in the Targa 4S. The 4 will do 0-60 in 4-seconds while the 4S will do it in 3.4 seconds. The Porsche 911 Targa will go on sale in the U.S. before the year is out. The Targa 4 will carry a starting price of about $121,000, while the 4S starts over $137,000.
DRIFTING A 500HP MUSTANG IN A DRIVEWAY
A lot of us are getting tired of being cooped up inside our homes, but what if you’re Drift King, Vaughn Gittin Jr., known for setting up elaborate drift courses? Well, you mix a 500 horsepower Fox-body Mustang, some orange cones, pool noodles and your driveway to have some fun. Gittin Jr. has a flare for pulling off difficult maneuvers in tight spaces, but he says, “I almost ended up in my living room on one run when I went full hot rod, but I managed to save it! I hope this puts smiles on many faces!” Well, Vaughn, you put a smile on our faces. So, thank you.
TESLA PICKS AUSTIN FOR NEXT GIGAFACTORY
Tesla is moving aggressively to start building vehicles in Texas. Electrek reports that the company chose Austin for its next Gigafactory and that it’s going to happen rather quickly. Construction is expected to happen soon and it will even assemble Model Ys at the plant by the end of the year. And by the end of next year, it will start producing the Cybertruck. So why isn’t Tesla building those vehicles at its Gigafactory in Nevada? Well, GM has a plant in Arlington and Toyota has one in San Antonio, so Tesla would be able to take advantage of suppliers and logistics by plopping down in Texas.
PANASONIC & TESLA TALK EXPANDING NEVADA GIGAFACTORY
Panasonic lost the title as sole battery supplier to Tesla, but due to strong demand for Tesla’s EVs the Gigafactory they operate together in Nevada was profitable for the 2nd consecutive quarter. In fact, demand is so strong that it’s going beyond the plant’s current capacity of 35 gigawatt hours per year. So, the two sides are now in talks together to expand capacity, but did not say by how much. Panasonic also says it will be working to improve materials and technologies in its battery cells this year.
CALIFORNIA REJECTS SUBSIDIES FOR SPACEX
And let’s squeeze in one more Elon Musk story. As you know he threatened to pull Tesla’s headquarters and operations out of California. And because of that, officials in California have rejected subsidies for Musk’s SpaceX company. It wanted over $650,000 to help train 900 employees and hire 300 more. So will SpaceX move to Texas, too?
DYSON BLEW £500 MILLION ON FAILED EV
Last year, the vacuum company Dyson, scrapped plans for its long rumored electric vehicle. But in an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, Sir James Dyson not only shared some details about the EV, he also showed it off. Codenamed N526, it’s a seven-seater with over 600 miles of range, thanks to its solid-state batteries. It moves from 0 to 62 MPH in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed of 125 MPH. Dyson revealed that cost is the reason why he pulled the plug on the program. He spent 500 million pounds of his own money on the EV and he said each vehicle would have to cost 150,000 pounds just to break even. That’s over $180,000. But Dyson did say if it becomes economically viable, he would try again in the future.
LUCID MIXES EV TECHNOLOGY WITH ICE LUXURY
Before the coronavirus outbreak, something like 120 new battery electric models were scheduled to launch over the next three years. But right now there’s still not a whole lot of choice. That means an EV startup like Lucid Motors has a great chance to differentiate itself from the competition. Our Sean McElroy interviewed Eric Bach from Lucid to get an update on what they’re doing.
(Clip from Lucid Air interview can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)
To learn more about the all-electric Air sedan and when it will actually start hitting customers hands, you can watch the whole interview right now on our YouTube channel.
And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching.
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Comments (38)
May 18th, 2020 at 12:09 pm
Maybe the car factories don’t need to hurry too much to ramp up production, especially if it would affect worker safety and quality. Yesterday, I drove through the car dealers in my Indiana town, and except for Corvettes, there didn’t seem to be much shortage of vehicles at any of the dealers. Even Toyota and Honda seemed pretty well stocked, as long as you don’t like color.
Cadillac had a couple new 2019s, a CTS and CT6.
May 18th, 2020 at 12:22 pm
That Dyson EV really sucked.
May 18th, 2020 at 12:23 pm
No mask, no entry. It should apply to everyone, including the Pope and the Donald. I hope Bill makes a strong stand to reinforce the “Ford Family“ values.
May 18th, 2020 at 12:31 pm
While in the Ford plant Trump needs to wear a mask. A rule for safety to others needs to be enforced. No mask. No entry
May 18th, 2020 at 12:42 pm
4 Trump is so proud of his status as arrogant a-hole to the world, that he probably won’t wear a mask. I hope I’m wrong. Maybe he needs a Boris Johnson dose of reality.
May 18th, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Two things: Why would the orange menace go to a company headed by a woman who is approximately 170,000 times smarter than he is. He really doesn’t like women, especially smart ones.
Two: Cars are harder than vacuum cleaners. Just sayin’.
May 18th, 2020 at 12:55 pm
GM made the 1,600th ventilator last Friday at cost. Though there was friction between the GM CEO Mary Barra and U S. President Donald Trump.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/27/trump-criticizes-gm-ceo-mary-barra-for-wanting-top-dollar-for-ventilators.html
May 18th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
@4 – Kit, what’s the difference between a hemorrhoid and an a-hole? The former is an imperfect version of the later. Given the man’s many flaws, I prefer to use “hemorrhoid”. Smile.
May 18th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
I have noticed that Larry D. has not posted in a long time. I was annoyed when he would post his abrasive POSTS!!!, but now I am missing him and wondering whether he is doing well. Larry, where are you?
May 18th, 2020 at 1:23 pm
And just to be sure: no, Melandro, I am not missing your rants about hydroxychloroquine. Still, I hope you have not ingested it, or confused it with Chlorox.
May 18th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Did Dyson really have Solid State batteries working?
If Tesla does go to Texas, I wonder if they will be able to sell vehicles there. The Car Stealership model is very strong there.
Also when Tesla show the production version of the CyberTruck will it be as popular?
Interesting that Panasonic are exporting model-3 batteries to China from the US! I expected this as the car is designed around them. Also that Panasonic are improving the batteries this year, change of chemistry perhaps. Would the Chinese even let them build a battery plant in China?
May 18th, 2020 at 2:18 pm
Multiple medical people are coming out that masks don’t work for this virus. Even N95 must be properly fitted to the individual if they are going to be effective. These cheap little paper masks will have a more negative effect that a positive according to many of these people. Even Fauci said months back that masks would be useless for the lay people. So this excercize is in futility will do nothing ,but make people uncomfortable, touch their faces even more and force them to breathe in CO2 which has negative effects on your health also. Masks are becoming more and more a show of compliance than safety. If they were effective why wouldn’t we have been doing it the 1st 6 weeks of this lockdown. ?
May 18th, 2020 at 2:20 pm
Mask wearing – While I agree with all that state that someone will not wear a mask when reviewing Ford Rawsonville Facility, common courtesy along with attempting to be a good role model dictates he should. I will not hold my breath.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:01 pm
@11 “Would the Chinese even let them build a battery plant in China?”: why would the Chinese authorities not let them? Any latest technology produced at a plant in China is most welcome. If you understand what I am saying here.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:09 pm
I would view a mask like safety glasses. You can still get debris in your eyes with glasses on but it’s a reasonable amount of PPE to wear and if the rules are that everyone wears it just get on with it.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:11 pm
12. Hong Kong did a lot better than NYC with covid-19, and one of, if not the biggest difference was that Hong Kongers wore masks early on when the plague arrived.
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/18/21262273/coronavirus-hong-kong-masks-deaths-new-york
There’s not “proof” of anything, but the above makes a lot of sense.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:33 pm
When I first read that Dyson, a company known for making vacuums and hand dryers wanted to manufacturer electric vehicles I thought they were joking. That would make as much sense as Sonic the drive in fast food joint announcing they will begin manufacturing space satellites.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:48 pm
@12 The primary purpose of the mask is to keep people from spraying saliva and other bodily fluids at others when talking, coughing, sneezing, etc. It doesn’t stop all fluids, but catches the larger droplets. It’s the same reason surgeons wear the cloth surgical masks in the operating room (not N95 masks). Wearing masks provides reasonable protection when social distancing isn’t feasible. Fauci agrees. The flaw in this is that because wearing a mask protects other much more than it protects yourself, the strategy relies on people not being too selfish to wear one. Being tough or not caring about your own health doesn’t help others.
The early debate on masks has more to do with using them to protect yourself when interacting with COVID-19 patients. An N95 will work, but if the average person keeps touching the mask, it will be less effective. The guidance was changed as the strategy changed to one of prevent spreading rather than protecting the wearer.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:51 pm
C8 news:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/articles/gm-is-building-c8-chassis-in-anticipation-of-reopening-bowling-green/?utm_source=2020518&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content
The 2020 Corvettes will be among the rarest ever, according to the article, with only 2700 built.
May 18th, 2020 at 3:53 pm
@17 As much sense as some rich paypal guy starting an electric car company? And a rocket company? And a tunnel boring compay? All at the same time? If Elon has taught us anything, it is that with the right ideas, money, and skill sets, you can do great things.
May 18th, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Masks are most effective, in the general population, from the person wearing one not spreading their germs to someone not infected. A good rated mask, in a clinical situation, certainly does help protect the wearer because even though some healthcare workers have been infected, take away all the masks and it would have been catastrophic. People, if in doubt, wear the masks; some protection, beats no protection, and no your not breathing back your own CO2 to any extent of harm ( why do you think artificial, mouth to mouth respiration works, because even in expelled air there is adequate O2 to breathe.
May 18th, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Tesla to start assembly of Ys this year in a plant that doesn’t exist today, in mid May? Riiiiight. Texas ain’t California, but it ain’t China either.
May 18th, 2020 at 5:35 pm
@17 – I agree 100%
And for critics of Elon, it’s one thing to call out a particular action of the man as ‘stupid’. ‘clueless’, or any number of other adjectives. But let’s please stop calling an individual who has managed to do more in one third of a lifetime than most entire graduating classes of Harvard do in a full lifetime ‘stupid’. The man is straight-up ‘success going somewhere to happen’.
May 18th, 2020 at 5:36 pm
Oops. I meant @20. NOT @17
May 18th, 2020 at 6:31 pm
23 Elon is crazy, but he’s certainly not stupid.
May 19th, 2020 at 5:34 am
19, Interesting if comes to fruition. Wonder why Corvette doesn’t honor more of the orders that they’ve actually received before venturing unto the ’21 model. Supposedly the factory will continue to build ’20 C8′s with the 3000 build code but I don’t know how many of those are still unfulfilled. I suspect a clearer picture will emerge shortly after production resumes and a firm(er) strategy is revealed. By the likes of this announcement, that would assume that very few if any C8 convertibles will be built (now that could/would be a “rare bird” if a customer gets one of those).
May 19th, 2020 at 8:04 am
9 I am here every day. I am fine health wise. I usually post the next morning, not right away. And while I was sure my opinions annoy others, I had no idea my posts annoyed YOU, I thought we agreed on most important issues.
Not much else to comment about on today;s show. Dyson is old news, he quit a long time ago. The only news is that he wasted $500 mill on the stupid BEV. Why didn’t you just buy a few Tesla shares instead with that $ back then, Dyson? You would have made 1.5 billion by now, on that purchase ALONE. But they would probably not change your lifestyle much. You could already afford the megayacht and Mcmansion and the private jet.
May 19th, 2020 at 8:26 am
22 Ever heard of Musk’s EPIC successes at Space X? Let Dyson even attempt to try that and tell me how many billions he will blow with nothing to show for it.
May 19th, 2020 at 8:33 am
26. It sounds like they are going to start calling them 2021s at about the same time of year the model changeover normally comes. Between the strike and the plague, things have really gotten messed up.
May 19th, 2020 at 8:37 am
SpaceX will attempt to fly people to the international space station soon, the first US space fly with humans since the shuttle was retired.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/19/video-crew-dragon-transported-to-launch-pad/
May 19th, 2020 at 8:38 am
“CALIFORNIA REJECTS SUBSIDIES FOR SPACEX”
“SpaceX company. It wanted over $650,000 to help train 900 employees and hire 300 more”
is this for real or a belated april fools story?
IS the 7th or whatever biggest economy on the planet, CA, quibbling about giving Musk, whose net worth is over $50,000,000,000, a measly 0.001 billion? (more accurately, $0.00065 bilion?
Why do we bother about amounts that are less than NOISE?
May 19th, 2020 at 8:41 am
31 I had to check the link, sure that the amount was one or more zeroes higher than this extremely paltry $0.00065 billion, but it was correct. It was $0.000655 billion, in case you want more accuracy, and in today’s crazy environment of $3 trillion aid packages, this sounds like really NOTHING. Not even noise.
May 19th, 2020 at 10:05 am
It was pro-union, California politicians who posted “F*ck Musk” and blocked the SpaceX training grant. After union organization failed at Fremont, Musk became their personal target. Opening a Tesla plant in a ‘right-to-work’ state is just “union avoidance.”
Tesla builds assembly lines with two long walls of side-by-side, semi-trailer docks. The trailers arrive with the parts ready to feed the assembly line thus cutting out a central receiving and parts storage areas.
May 19th, 2020 at 10:10 am
18 If your mask protects me and mine protects you ,but medical professionals say they won’t work for covid 19 , who exactly are we protecting and from what? We are being told to wear them to stop the spread of the virus which paper masks and cotton cloth won’t do. So what are they actually protecting anyone from?
May 19th, 2020 at 11:46 am
@34
Instead of spewing your aerosols a good 12-15′ from your mouth, you maybe only spew them 3-4′ if you’re wearing a mask. It’s an incremental benefit that grows with utilization. I shall not abandon the practice simply because it does not achieve perfection.
May 19th, 2020 at 12:10 pm
@34 Wow. You have clearly crossed into willful ignorance at this point.Medical professionals are not saying that paper or cotton masks “won’t work for covid 19″ with respect to aerosols expelled from your mouth. They work quite well for that – again, the same reason why surgeons wear them in the OR.
What medical professionals are saying that paper or cotton masks won’t do is filer out the coronavirus from the air you breath with the level of efficiency required when exposed to covid patients. So leave the N95 for the medical professionals, and wear a cheap cotton mask in public to keep from spreading any potential virus that you have. This is pretty simple stuff. When in doubt, listen to Fauci. You know, the guy wearing the mask in the recent press conference.
May 19th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
#6 You mean the same guy 8 weeks ago said it didn’t make a big difference? There is a video floating around of him saying that. It’s not my imagination. They just keep adding and changing the story to fit their needs at this point. If you feel better wearing a mask then by all means do so , but it maybe like putting a band aid on a bullet wound.
May 19th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
@36 That should have been