Listen to “AD #3179 – Mustang Mach-E GT and GT Performance Review; Mercedes Reveals EQS EPA Range; Kia Refreshes the Forte” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:07
0:08 House Prices in Austin Soar
0:47 Nikola Partners with TC Energy on Hydrogen
1:36 GM Says It Can Make Billions Selling Subscription Services
3:03 Mercedes Launches Armored Car Based on the S-Class
3:53 Mercedes Reveals EQS EPA Range
4:24 Musk Says It Will Be Decades Before All Cars Are BEVs
4:50 BMW BEV Sales More Than Double
5:13 Kia Refreshes the Forte
6:24 Mustang Mach-E GT & GT Performance Impressions
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
HOUSE PRICES IN AUSTIN SOAR
As you know, Tesla is moving its headquarters out of California and into Austin, Texas, and the people in Austin are starting to see the kind of housing prices you see in California. Housing prices shot up 40% in the last two years. Apple, Oracle and Alphabet are building campuses in Austin and prices keep going higher. Reuters reports the median house price is now about $550,000. Tesla will hire 10,000 people to work in its gigafactory in Austin, but the average worker there will make about $47,000 a year.
NIKOLA PARTNERS WITH TC ENERGY ON HYDROGEN
Nikola is modifying its business plan because the cost of hydrogen is coming down faster than it expected. Originally, Nikola was going to make hydrogen on-site at refueling stations, but now it’s going to buy hydrogen from TC Energy, the Canadian company that was going to build the XL Pipeline. TC Energy will build hubs near truck routes that will make 150 tons of hydrogen a day. TC says it’s getting harder and harder to build new petroleum pipelines, so it wants to repurpose part of its existing pipeline infrastructure to move hydrogen. Autoline has learned that TC Energy will make hydrogen for about $2 a kilo, and it expects to be in operation within 5 years.
GM SAYS IT CAN MAKE BILLIONS SELLING SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
General Motors believes it can make a ton of money selling subscription services to its customers. GM says that on average its customers will pay $135 a month for subscriptions. At an analyst presentation last week, GM said it has 4.2 million customers paying $2 billion a year for subscription services, mostly from OnStar. And it makes a 70% EBIT profit margin on those services. Now it’s going to start selling car insurance through OnStar based on driver behavior. GM says it will make $6 billion a year in revenue just on that. It also has a ton of data generated by its cars that it can monetize. Put it all together and GM says it will boost its revenues by $20-25 billion a year. But here’s our question: is GM right? Would you pay $135 a month to get more services in your vehicle?
MERCEDES LAUNCHES ARMORED CAR BASED ON THE S-CLASS
Mercedes-Benz started building armored vehicles in 1928 and it just launched its latest model, a version of the S-Class called the Guard. It’s powered by a 612 horsepower V12 twin turbo engine and all-wheel-drive which gets 14.5 MPG based on the WLTP cycle. Since the doors are so heavy due to the armor, they need special actuators to open and close. Same for the windows. They use hydraulic lifters, instead of electric ones. But all that protection doesn’t come cheap. It more than triples the cost of an S-Class. The Guard costs 457,000 euros or nearly $530,000.
MERCEDES REVEALS EQS EPA RANGE
Mercedes also revealed the EPA range of its EQS electric sedan. The rear drive model is rated at 350 miles while the all-wheel-drive version delivers 340 miles. That’s quite a bit behind its competitors. The Lucid Air has up to 520 miles of range and the Tesla Model S is rated at over 400 miles. The EQS goes on sale later this year with a starting price just over $100,000.
MUSK SAYS IT WILL BE DECADES BEFORE ALL CARS ARE BEVs
While the electric revolution is underway, the man who helped lead the way says it’s going to be decades before we convert all vehicles to electric. During a recent shareholder meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it will take 30 to 40 years until the global vehicle fleet is all electric. There are over a billion vehicles in the world today, but only 1% is fully electric.
BMW BEV SALES MORE THAN DOUBLE
But BMW is making progress with its BEV sales, through the first nine months of the year, it sold nearly 60,000 all electric vehicles, up 121%. When you include hybrids, the BMW Group sold more than 231,000 electrified vehicles so far this year, up nearly 100%.
KIA REFRESHES THE FORTE
Kia refreshed the Forte sedan. Styling front and rear has been massaged. The front is a little less bubbly. We’d say it’s more aggressive. The rear was only slightly tweaked and the taillights now pick up on the same three segmented light pattern of the front headlamps. The other big change is a bigger 10 and a quarter inch center display screen, but there’s also more standard driver assistance technologies as well. The Kia Forte will continue to be built in Mexico and the updated 2022 model will go on sale soon.
MUSTANG MACH-E GT & GT PERFORMANCE IMPRESSIONS
When Ford introduced the Mustang Mach-E, I understood the use of the Mustang name as a way of giving it some instant recognition, but after my first drive in the electric crossover I didn’t really feel like it had earned the use of the name. The sporty character I have come to expect from a Mustang didn’t come through in that drive. However, I immediately changed that stance after getting behind the wheel of the new Mustang Mach-E GT and GT Performance. These versions feature the larger 88 kWh battery pack as the standard Mach-E, but the front electric motor has been upgraded and now combines with the rear motor for 480 horsepower. The GT also makes 600 lb-ft of torque and does 0-60 in an estimated 3.8 seconds, while the GT Performance is able to tap into more battery juices and puts out 634 lb-ft of torque and does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. Nope that’s not as fast as a Tesla, but it’s more than enough to firmly squish you back into your seat and leave you thoroughly impressed with its acceleration ability. But there’s more than more power that makes these unique compared to the standard version. They come with larger brakes, Ford Performance seats, exclusive body styling and unique wheels as well as available MagneRide suspension, although it’s standard on the GT Performance. That model also features even larger front brake rotors, Brembo calipers and unique Pirelli tires. Put it all together and the Mustang Mach-E GT and GT Performance are ready to tear up any tight twisting roads right out of the box. There’s more than enough power to break the back end loose, but the calibration for power and torque distribution, along with the tires, are good enough to provide input back to the driver and still feel like you’re in control. They also feel like they would handle themselves quite well on the track too. We got to put them through an autocross course where they didn’t seem to mind the constant hard accelerating and braking. A new drive mode, called Unbridled Extend, which helps optimize traction, stability control and battery life, is meant to help return consistent lap times. But consistent is the important word there. Unbridled Extend helps keep the temperature of the powertrain in its happy zone by limiting peak power, so it’s actually slower in a straight line, but you should be able to spend more time on the track. The real test will be when actual customers start getting their hands on these new EVs and really start putting them through their paces. And that’s going to start happening soon. Deliveries have already kicked off and prices start at $59,900 for the Mach-E GT and just under $65-grand for the GT Performance, which is before any incentives.
But that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for joining us.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.