This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
GERMAN TEEN HACKS TESLAS
Tesla may have the most advanced connectivity technology in its cars. But a teenager in Germany figured out how to hack into Model 3s and Ys. He found an open-source software program on Tesla’s network that revealed all the data about the car owned by Tesla’s chief technology officer. That included a full history of where the car had been and where it was at that moment. The teen then discovered he could activate commands, like opening and closing doors, turning up the music and disabling security features. The teen found 25 vehicles in Europe and North America that were vulnerable to the attack but he estimates there could have been hundreds more. He says he’s been in contact with a member of Tesla’s security team to share the details and NHTSA has been in contact with Tesla and offered to assist and evaluate the information.
TESLA’S HEAT PUMP FAILING IN EXTREME COLD
And speaking of Tesla and safety issues, Canada opened an investigation into the heating system in Model 3 and Y vehicles after receiving complaints that the heat pumps are failing in extreme cold weather. The safety regulator said it’s concerned that a defective HVAC system could “affect windshield defogging/defrosting and therefore driver visibility.” Canada has informed Tesla about the investigation but the company hasn’t commented on it.
TESLA DELAYS CYBERTRUCK TO MAKE CHANGES
And customers who have put down reservations for the Cybertruck are going to have wait a bit longer until they receive one. Reuters reports that Tesla is delaying initial production until the end of the first quarter in 2023. Production was supposed to start at the end of this year. The delay is due to the company making changes to some of its features and functions. And we should learn more about those changes when Tesla provides a product update during its earnings call at the end of the month.
NIKOLA APPROVED FOR HUGE PURCHASE INCENTIVE
Well this should help Nikola sell its Tre battery-electric Class 8 semi-truck. The company announced that the California Air Resources Board just approved the truck for its Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Program. That means it now qualifies for a $120,000 incentive per truck in the Golden State. Nikola began delivering the truck last month.
HONDA & LG FORMING U.S BATTERY JOINT VENTURE
There’s a lot of news today about advances in EV battery development. First off, Honda is forming a joint venture with LG to build a battery plant in the US. Reuters reports it represents a $3.4 billion investment and will have a production capacity of 40 gigawatt hours. That’s enough to power 600,000 vehicles. Remember, Honda is also going to be using GM’s Ultium batteries in the vehicles that GM will make for Honda. So Honda’s total capacity for EVs will likely be over 700,000 vehicles.
BMW WOULD RATHER BUY BATTERIES THAN MAKE THEM
Meanwhile BMW says it has no interest in bringing battery cell production in-house. Instead, it’s buying them from CATL, Samsung and Northvolt. BMW says no one knows exactly which battery technology will be used in the next 10 to 15 years, so it would prefer to buy instead of make.
6K SAYS IT CAN CUT BATTERY PRODUCTION EMISSIONS
BMW may have a point about not committing too soon to any battery technology. A startup out of Massachusetts called 6K says it has a plasma technology that can make battery production far more environmentally friendly. It says that if a conventional 16-GWh battery cathode production plant was converted to its plasma technology, it would reduce CO2 emissions by 70%; lower water consumption by 90%, and reduce wastewater production by 100%, while requiring a 50% smaller factory footprint.
HYBRID SOLID STATE BATTERIES COMING SOONER
Massachusetts is emerging as a hot bed of battery technology. Factorial is the name of another startup that’s developing solid state batteries. It’s got financial backing from Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and the Hyundai Group. Actually we should describe this as a hybrid solid state battery. It does use some electrolyte, so it’s not entirely solid state. But it can be made on existing manufacturing equipment for lithium ion batteries. This seems to be the path that others are following because these hybrid solid state batteries can be brought to market sooner, probably in the 2025 to 2026 time frame. Voltaiq, a company that does battery design and testing, tells Autoline that true solid state batteries with no liquid electrolyte are unlikely to go into production before 2030.
BUGATTI RECEIVES RECORD AMOUNT OF ORDERS
When every single one of your cars has a six-digit price tag before you select a single option, you know you’re not going to sell many examples. Bugatti announced that it received 150 orders in 2021, which was a record for the company. It also means that you can no longer get a new Bugatti this year because all order slots are spoken for, unless it decides to come out with another one-off car. Bugatti plans to build and deliver 80 cars in 2022 and after that should come an all-new car, built with joint venture partner Rimac.
HONDA TEASES ALL-NEW U.S. HR-V
You may remember that Honda debuted the all-new HR-V/Vezel hybrid last year, but based on new design sketches, it looks like the U.S. is getting a completely different version of the crossover. Here’s the version that launches in North America later this year, which to our eye has a less sleek and premium look and more of a rugged/sporty vibe. It also looks to sit a little more upright.
DOES LEXUS WANT TO SEEM MORE RUGGED?
Sticking with rugged crossovers from Japanese automakers for a moment, check out this vehicle from Lexus that debuted at the Tokyo show. It’s a plug-in hybrid version of the NX that’s been jacked up and fitted with off-road tires and a roof rack. But Lexus seems to have off-roading on its mind. It also revealed the ROV Concept, which is a side-by-side vehicle. What’s unique is that it’s powered by a 1.0L 3-cylinder engine that runs off compressed hydrogen gas.
TOYOTA SHOWCASES PERFORMANCE IN TOKYO
And while Lexus focused on off-road, Toyota went after performance. The GR GT3 Concept is meant to show that Toyota’s racing division can make cars for that class that customers would actually want to choose. What’s more, Toyota GAZOO Racing says it plans to develop mass-production cars using feedback and technologies from its motorsports activities. That could come in the form of vehicles like the new GRMN Yaris. It’s based on the GR Yaris, which is already a really good performing vehicle, and then reduced its weight even further, made it wider, lowered its height and gave it bigger brakes. It will only be sold in Japan and will be limited to 500 examples. The price is also shockingly high. It ranges from about $64,400 to $74,500.
But that’s a wrap for today and this week of Autoline Daily. Thanks for joining us and we hope to see you back here on Monday.
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Comments (20)
January 14th, 2022 at 12:27 pm
The story on hacking the Teslas really makes me wonder if the benefits of OTA out weigh the risks. Could they not have a hybrid system of some sort where you would have to physically plug in a internet receiver of some sort eliminating a large chunk of risk.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:50 pm
#1 Nice to know you are being tracked every where you go. Big Brother is watching. Like everything else individual freedom and privacy seem to be on the endangered list.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Yes for every benefit there’s a negative. You want to stand in the middle of a store and search there inventory or check reviews? Well there is a price to pay, if someone wants to check you out they can. Good thing is most of the time no one cares what I’m doing.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Tesla seemed to have started the EV truck craze and now is going to be late to the game with the cybertruck. Debuted in 2019 with production slated for 2021 then moved to 2022 and now 2023. Those Tesla cheerleaders that kept saying GM and Ford was late to the game are pretty quiet now. Guess those traditional automakers just know how to launch a product on time.
Looks like there will be at least 5 other EV trucks by 2023.
Ford lighting, Silverado EV And GMC version, Hummer, Rivian RT1, Lordstown Endurance, Maybe a Tacoma and Canoo. Wonder how that will affect those Cybertruck reservations. For those that reserved 3 years ago might reconsider.
January 14th, 2022 at 1:01 pm
Why is it that the BEV cab over version of the Nikola semi, is so tall? With the battery and the motors are low in the body around the wheels and vehicle floor, shouldn’t the driver area be much lower to the ground?
January 14th, 2022 at 1:12 pm
5 Maybe they need to stack the batteries pretty high to package the MWh of them, or however much is needed to get decent range for a loaded truck. Just a guess.
January 14th, 2022 at 1:25 pm
5,6 It’s .753 MWh of batteries.
January 14th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
@4 first mover advantage was one of the reasons why TESLA has become very successful with its passenger cars. It seems they won’t have that advantage in the pick up truck segment. I am curious how it will play out.
January 14th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
4,8 I’m thinking the Cybertruck interest is largely the “cult of Tesla” crowd, and is different from the interest in electric F-150 and Silverado. I’d think, though, this much delay would be annoying to those made early Cybertruck deposits.
January 15th, 2022 at 7:31 am
As long as Tesla can crank out and sell inane amounts of battery packs on wheels with only two high volume models, the tardiness of Cybertruck doesn’t much matter.
I agree it targets a different set of people than conventional trucks, and am not unhappy at all that Ford’s product seemingly promises to become a resounding success. The fact remains they’re presently still only building some 6K Mach-Es per month.
I saw a Ford Flex here in Switzerland yesterday, and it’s a rare bird even among American cars. It takes more than one try to stumble onto a sales leader.
Tesla alone just can’t do it all, but I’m confident they’re aiming for a very high-volume product.
January 15th, 2022 at 11:10 am
The Week in Review:
I have been using this site and looking at the comments for a while, and on Wed I started posting, but my two posts appeared late and most did not have a chance to see them, so I paste here.
1. Re prices ‘continuing to climb”, a topic rehashed many times, incl. on Thu’s AAH. prices are at really high levels even excluding luxury cars. Part of this is due to a trend that many, many, strictly speaking non-luxury vehicles command stratospheric prices. For example, loaded pickup trucks, large SUVs, even some supercars costing 200 and 400k are not at all ‘luxury’ in their interiors. So it’s better to use ‘price segments’ than terms like ‘luxury’ where every other guy has a different definition. But the other part, that many here still do not get, is the rampant inflation in recent months, and the slow creep of inflation the last 40 or so years, which makes cars in 2022 priced 5 times as much as they were in 1982. Admittedly the 2022 are far superior in tech and power, but still, most people are not enthusiasts and don’t care.
2. Re your COTY award. You cite a lot of positives about these awards, but you fail to mention they include o n l y the vehicles whose makers gave you a free copy to test around. Because of this constraint, you missed monumental home runs such as both the Model S and especially the mass market, very affordable, a bargain for what it offers, game changing Model 3. Other auto magazines and TV shows were able to find the above vehicles to test, usually offered by their owners, and after testing them, they did give them the COTY crowns. Motor Trend comes to mind, correctly naming the Model S COTY in 2013.
3. Above reservations aside, I am quite pleased with two of the three awards. The Ford Maverick pickup, regardless what the usual never satisfied nitpickers here will say, has most deservedly won the award. It has an amazingly affordable price, even in hybrid form, $10,000s below the average vehicle price, and is still a whole lot of truck (which, I say to its critics, is an asset, not a liability), plus it gets stellar MPG in the $27k hybrid form. The Bronco is a silly exercise, an ugly competitor to Jeep, regardless how many buyers with bad taste initially buy them. The Civic is the best compact car, used to be a subcompact but now it is far bigger than the original Accord, let alone the tiny Civics of the past. I don’t like the exterior styling of recent Civics, and the interiors have not become more luxurious with each larger model, but still it offers great fun and mpg at still affordable prices, with very good reliability. Why buy a boring Corolla instead?
January 15th, 2022 at 11:16 am
And here was my other post from Wed:
Re the 2021 calendar year US vehicle sales and its comparison to prior years. I strongly recommend you show the market share of each maker, and, more importantly, how it has gone up or down the last 10 years or so.
I have detailed stats at my home computer, and plot a square with 1000 little squares inside, each 0.1% of market share.
Only comparing 2021 to 2020, 2019, 2017 etc will you truly appreciate the strong and continuous growth of Tesla, which is still the only serious EV game in town, and, more importantly, at whose expense these gains have come.
Hint: At the expense of the onetime big 3, and especially GM, which keeps losing market share for decades, like a leaky jar.
Ford’s decision to go all trucks, despite the higher gas prices (but still far lower than the 2008 $4.50 peak, which, in 2022 dollars is more like $7.50!), has worked fine so far, and Ford was rewarded by getting 2 out of 3 COTY awards, plus a ton of other awards for the new Maverick. GM, on the other hand, is flailing, Mary Barra has been a huge disappointment so far, as one would expect with CEOS that are not appointed based on their Merit but on other, irrelevant considerations.
PS You may have noticed the steep rise in Ford stock, which the ‘pundits’ attributed to its ”
EV Strategy”. I am really not convinced this is the reason, and yesterday when I read that Bill Ford has been buying shares like a maniac, trying to make sure that control of Ford continues to lie with him and his extended family, I think this is a far more plausible reason. I do believe that the EV F150 will do very well, and better than the poorly named and awkwardly styled so-called “Mustang Mach-E” wagon-crossovery-hatchy thingie.
January 15th, 2022 at 11:21 am
10 The Cybertruck is not a ‘make or break’ vehicle for Tesla in the sense the Model 3 was. Musk himself said that its original development was not an entirely serious thing. It is utterly unimportant to the company if its sale is further delayed. As for my ‘take’ on it, at first I hated its styling, it looked like a silly Delorean or one of these fake vehicles in stupid so-called “Sci”-fi movies. But then I saw a more detailed video showing its design and I liked it much more, appreciated its practicality and the reason for some of its weird styling. I am still not used to its front end, and I believe they can fix it at a minimal cost and have a far better looking vehicle, but I am not in the demographic that would care to buy any pickup truck, much less this one, so maybe those who want it don’t mind.
January 15th, 2022 at 11:26 am
The year to sell any old jalopies you don’t need.
Car prices are up, both in new cars, and even more in used ones, this year. However nowhere are prices higher than in used ‘enthusiast’ cars and other collectibles or collectible wannabes, junky old cars from the 8o0s and 90s and 2000s that, two years ago, their owners donated to charity so they could write off a few thou from their taxes. These same junky vehicles fetch prices of $20k and $30k this year, two years later!
2021 and 2022 are NOT the time to buy a new or used car! Even if you desperately need one, it is far wiser and always possible to fix what you get and live with it until the craze subsides. On the contrary, if you are lucky enough to have old cars you don’t need, this is the time to get rid of them. Take this seriously, such opportunities will NOT be available for ever!
January 15th, 2022 at 4:11 pm
to S65AMG
I don’t know where you are getting all your info but, you sure present a lot of it and I doubt some of it’s accuracy. I know some of it are half truths and others are opinions.
January 15th, 2022 at 10:10 pm
11 The Maverick is a very deserving winner for two reasons, the base price, and it will be available as a hybrid that will use about half as much gas as the competition in city driving. Otherwise, it is mostly another “mid-size” pickup, but with a shorter bed than most. It’s about a foot shorter overall, but 4-5 inches wider than Ranger, Colorado, and Tacoma. Yeah, it’s unibody, but as with the Ridgeline, that probably makes it better, rather than worse than the body-on-frame competition.
The Civic is more fun to drive than a Corolla, but unlike the Corolla, is not available as a hybrid. Fortunately, for a limited few people, both Civic and Corolla are among the few cars available in the US with manual transmissions.
January 17th, 2022 at 10:06 am
With Tesla’s heat pump failing in extreme cold weather makes me wonder if they did extreme cold and hot weather testing. Or did they just design this car for the fair California weather?
January 17th, 2022 at 8:13 pm
17 Do the heat pumps “fail,” as in break, or do they just not have adequate heating capacity in very cold conditions? If the latter, they need backup resistance heating, at least for cars sold where it gets exceptionally cold.
January 18th, 2022 at 10:38 am
I was under the impression that the NACOTY/NATOTY was not just what the 50 automotive journalists could “get their hands on”, but was based on all the newly designed vehicles available for that year. Other than the “Plaid” refresh a year ago, I don’t think Tesla introduced any new models that would be up for “_OTY”
Did we find the latest Larry/Rey incarnation?
January 18th, 2022 at 10:52 am
19 Yep, the NACTOY site says to be eligible, the vehicles need to be “all-new or substantially new.” It’s probably marginal, if the Model S refresh/Plaid would have been eligible, even if the jury had gotten a factory loaner.