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Runtime: 10:18
0:08 Aston Laying Off One in Five Employees
0:48 Peugeot Debuts Next-Gen e-Traveller Van
1:15 GM Developing Electric Commercial Van
2:09 Ford Adds 10-Speed to Transit Diesel
2:28 GM Partners w/ CATL for Batteries in China
3:37 European CO2 Levels Up with Weak Diesel Sales
4:34 U.S. Sales by Propulsion System
5:24 Nissan Testing Electric All-Wheel Drive
6:14 Nikola Developing Hydrogen Refueling Network
7:31 FCA System Automatically Switches from PHEV to EV
8:34 Hyundai Santa Fe Gets Significant Refresh
9:31 BMW Kidney Grille Design Evolution
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
ASTON MARTIN SLASHES JOBS TO CUT COSTS
We start out today’s show in the United Kingdom where Aston Martin is using an axe to cut its headcount. It’s laying off one out of every five employees in a desperate move to cut costs. It’s also slashing capital investment in new equipment. Aston is losing money and recently pushed out its veteran CEO Andy Palmer. The company is pinning all its hopes on its first SUV, the DBX, which is priced at nearly $190,000. It goes on sale this summer and Aston says it already has a lot of orders.
PEUGEOT DEBUTS NEXT-GEN E-TRAVELLER VAN
Sticking with Europe for a moment, Peugeot revealed the next-generation of its e-Traveller van. It comes with two battery sizes; 50 kWh and 75 kWh, which provide up to 300-kilometers or 205-miles of WLTP range. The new e-Traveller also comes in three different lengths and seating for up to 9 people.
GM DEVELOPING ELECTRIC COMMERCIAL VAN
GM is also developing electric vans for commercial use. According to Reuters, the van is codenamed BV1 and will start going into production late next year. We believe you get a glimpse of what the van could look like at the end of this short 13-second video GM released in March with the news of its new Ultium battery. The question for GM is, should it be sold as a Chevrolet and/or a GMC, or sold under a different brand? Let us know what you think in the comments. GM is not the only major automakers with plans for electric vans. Ford has an electric Transit van coming and it has close ties with Rivian, which is making vans for Amazon and UPS and the Hyundai Group are invested in Arrival.
FORD ADDS 10-SPEED TO DIESEL TRANSIT
But not all the news about vans today is electric. Ford is now installing 10-speed automatics in rear-drive Transit vans with diesel engines in Europe. The setup allows the van to tow up to 2,800-kilograms or roughly 6,200-pounds and it’s in production right now.
GM TEAMS WITH CATL FOR BATTERIES IN CHINA
General Motors is going to work closely with CATL, the Chinese company that is the world’s largest EV battery manufacturer. GM wants to source 100% of EV components in China for the electric vehicles it makes there. CATL already has deals to supply batteries to Volkswagen and Tesla in China. With local Chinese content, automakers’ cars can qualify for sales subsidies.
If you want to learn more about CATL we recently had the former Chief Technology Officer, Bob Galyen, on Autoline After Hours. There’s a lot of good information in that show of how CATL plans to cut the cost of batteries and the thinking behind its manufacturing strategy. Just click on the link in today’s show notes to go right to that program.
EUROPEAN CO2 LEVELS UP WITH WEAK DIESEL SALES
One reason why Europe historically incentivized sales of diesel engines is that they have roughly 25% better fuel efficiency than gasoline engines and emit lower levels of CO2. But with the Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal, sales of diesels are down in Europe. And as a result, CO2 emissions are up. In 2018, which represents the latest available data, CO2 emissions went up 2 grams per kilometer, reaching 120.8 grams per kilometer. The EU is warning the auto industry it has to do better. Starting this year EU regulations mandate that automakers must have a fleet average of 95 grams. EVs, hybrids and plug-ins will reduce CO2 emissions, but so far their sales numbers are too small to lower the fleet-wide average.
U.S. SALES BY PROPULSION SYSTEM
In the U.S., EV sales are down, but not down nearly as much as the rest of the market. Last month, consumers bought over 14,000 EVs, down 21% from a year ago. But the overall market was down 30%, so EVs picked up some market share. Hybrids fell by 37% and plug-in hybrids dropped 45%. Meanwhile, diesels are holding their own better than any other propulsion system. They were only down 14%, while sales of gasoline engines were down the same as the overall market. But these numbers really show the sales disparity between all the different choices. Gasoline engines literally outsell EVs by a million to one.
U.S. Sales by Propulsion System | ||
---|---|---|
PHEV | 4,339 | -45% |
EV | 14,285 | -21% |
Hybrid | 27,721 | -37% |
Diesel | 41,185 | -14% |
Gasoline | 1,034,638 | -30% |
NISSAN TESTING ELECTRIC ALL-WHEEL DRIVE
Nissan’s EVs all use a single electric motor, typically for front-wheel-drive. But in the future, it will offer all-wheel-drive using its upcoming e-4ORCE technology. The system, which uses dual electric motors, provides better acceleration, cornering performance and traction on slippery surfaces. It can transfer 100% of the power to the front or rear wheels, and a mix in-between, depending on the conditions. Nissan says it also helps improve comfort by managing the regenerative braking of the front and rear electric motors to reduce pitch and dive to keep the car level. The e-4ORCE technology is in the final stages of development but Nissan did not reveal when we’ll see it on a production vehicle.
NIKOLA WORKING ON HYDROGEN REFUELING NETWORK
Nikola Motors, which is developing fuel-cell powered heavy-duty electric trucks, is working on creating a network of hydrogen refueling stations throughout the United States. It just purchased $30 million worth of electrolysis equipment to create the hydrogen fuel. The 85-megawatt electrolyzers will be used at 5 sites initially and have the capacity to produce 8 tons of hydrogen a day. As long as we’re talking about Nikola we want to let you know that we’re going to have the CEO of the company, Trevor Milton, on Autoline After Hours next week. We’ll be learning a lot from him about hydrogen power and when Nikola expects to roll out its fuel cell semis. And later this afternoon on After Hours we’re going to have Ian Smith from the Southwest Research Institute bringing us up to speed with all the R&D they’re doing on electric vehicles. SwRI is an independent, non-profit R&D center based in Texas that has been on the bleeding edge of technology since 1947.
FCA TESTS SYSTEM THAT AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES PHEV TO EV MODE
A number of European cities have announced they’ll eventually ban vehicles with internal combustion engines. Plug-in hybrid vehicles offer an opportunity to travel through these cities as long as they’re in electric mode only. So the city of Turin teamed up with FCA to test a system that automatically switches a PHEV to EV mode when it goes into the zones that ban ICEs. Here’s how it works. Anytime a vehicle is entering a restricted zone a message pops up in the display. The system checks that EV mode is ready and then switches over to electric power. If the driver switches back to any other mode while in the restricted zone, an alert is triggered and the system recommends switching back. If the driver doesn’t switch back, the city is notified. So, it sounds like the fines are automatic as well. Once the vehicle exits a restricted zone, the system turns back to the same setting before it entered the zone.
REFRESHED HYUNDAI SANTA FE GETS BOLD GRILLE
Once again we’re talking about big, bold grille designs, but this time from Hyundai. Take a look at the refreshed Santa Fe. The outer section of the grille is actually where the headlamps are housed. The thin lights above the grille are the Daytime Running Lights or DRLs, somewhat reminiscent of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The rear fascia also sees big changes with all-new taillamps and an overall more premium look. To make the new Santa Fe look a little more rugged and powerful, the width of the wheel arches was increased. For the first time the Santa Fe comes with a Terrain Mode selector, which has settings for sand, mud and snow. The interior was also redesigned with a new center console and new 10.25-inch touchscreen display, but Hyundai did not provide any pictures of the interior. I’m sure we’ll learn more soon.
BMW KIDNEY GRILLE DESIGN EVOLUTION
Speaking of big, bold grilles we just had to share this post from Kevin Hisel who is one of the funniest guys on Facebook. He saw our comments about the gargantuan grille on the front of the new BMW 4-Series, and reimagined how BMW is going to grow that grille over the next several decades… all the way to the point that the 4-Series is just one big giant grille on four wheels.
And on that note we wrap up today’s report, thanks for watching.
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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.