Listen to “AD #3355 – Germany and Japan Resist ICE Bans; Cadillac Lyriq Road Test; Ford Taking Bronco Brand To Europe” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:18
0:20 Germany, Japan Resist ICE Bans
0:58 VW Sells Part of Electrify America
1:47 Chip Shortage Starts to Ease
3:03 Ford Taking Bronco Brand to Europe
3:48 China Still Stuck in Copy Cat Mode
4:37 Hyundai Group Investigated for Defeat Devices
5:35 Cadillac Lyriq Road Test
9:21 Fuel Cells for EV Charging
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GERMANY, JAPAN RESIST ICE BANS
We’re starting to see some countries push back against bans on the internal combustion engine. Yesterday we reported that Japan is trying to eliminate any ZEV mandates with the major G7 countries. And now Germany says it will only back Europe’s ICE ban if it includes a provision to allow for CO2 neutral fuels, i.e., synthetic fuels. The EU wants to end ICE sales by 2035, and while German automakers are spending big to transition to EVs, they are still heavily reliant on the sales and profits from piston powered cars.
VW SELLS PART OF ELECTRIFY AMERICA
Volkswagen is selling off part of Electrify America to Siemens. That’s the EV charging network that VW was forced to build as part of its settlement with the US government over its diesel emissions cheating. VW will take the money it gets from Siemens to invest another $450 million into the network. The plan is to more than double Electrify America’s network in the U.S. and Canada to 1,800 locations and 10,000 chargers by 2026. And it’s easy to see why VW is selling a stake in the charging company. According to a study by AlixPartners, it will take 20 to 25 years for the average fast charging station to pay off its initial investment if it charges market prices for electricity.
CHIP SHORTAGE STARTS TO EASE
Could we finally be at the beginning of the end of the chip shortage? Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess says the chip shortage will ease up for the automaker and he expects production will ramp up quickly in the second half of the year. He said it will help VW close the gap with Tesla and put it on track to become the number one EV maker in the world by 2025.
FORD TAKING BRONCO BRAND TO EUROPE
Ford is taking the Bronco brand to Europe and it’s going electric. Autoforecast Solutions reports that a BEV version of the Bronco Sport will start rolling down the production line in Spain in January of 2026. It looks like it’s going to be made on a modified version of its current platform, which is also used as the basis for the Mustang Mach-E. But Ford’s electric offensive in Europe doesn’t stop there. A medium-sized CUV based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform goes into production in Germany late next year. And it will start making all-electric versions of the Puma and Transit Courier, its small commercial van, in Romania about 2 years from now.
CHINA STILL STUCK IN COPY CAT MODE
China continues to make copycat versions of some of the most popular vehicles in the history of the industry. The first are a direct rip off of the VW Beetle. Called the Punk Cat and Ballet Cat, they’re EVs that are marketed under the ORA brand, which is part of Great Wall. They look a little goofy with 4-doors and the Ballet Cat, which is marketed toward women, has a slightly different headlight shape, there’s no mistaking these from their inspiration. The other vehicle copies the classic MINI. The Beijing Estech Technology company filed patents for a new EV that clearly has ties to the original MINI. As you would expect, both VW and BMW are considering legal action over these rip offs.
HYUNDAI GROUP INVESTIGATED FOR DEFEAT DEVICES
Like Volkswagen, the Hyundai Group could be in trouble for using defeat devices in diesel engines. Reuters reports that German authorities raided Hyundai and Kia over suspicions they installed illegal software in over 210,000 diesel vehicles. The software is said to come from Bosch and Delphi and companies say they’re working with authorities.
CADILLAC LYRIQ ROAD TEST
Cadillac says it will go all electric by 2030 and the Lyriq is the first EV in its lineup to kick off the transformation. Last week at the media launch we got to drive it extensively, and here’s our driving impressions. Right now you can only get the rear-drive version. It comes with a 102 kilowatt hour battery that delivers 312 miles of driving range. It also has 340 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque. That delivers a sub-six second 0 to 60 run, which is more than adequate. But it doesn’t deliver that oh-my-gosh! kind of EV acceleration we’ve come to expect. When the all-wheel-drive version comes out early next year, it will provide 500 horsepower and 442 pound-feet, and does 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.
The cabin of the Lyriq is impressively quiet. It may be the quietest EV we’ve driven so far. One reason is that Cadillac placed accelerometers at each corner of the vehicle. They measure road inputs and send a signal to the noise cancellation system to eliminate high frequency noise via the superb AKG sound system.
The interior is extremely well crafted and dominated by its giant 33-inch screen with 9K resolution. It’s one big giant screen, not two separate ones that are made to look like one, which is what most other automakers are doing. In fact, there is not one carry-over part on this SUV. All the switchgear, controls and components are brand new. And it shows. The attention to detail is impressive.
But there are a few things we didn’t like about the Lyriq. There’s a lot of brightwork under the display screen on the center of the dash, and while it’s beautiful to look at, in a lot of driving situations the sunshine reflecting off it can be blinding.
We also ran into a lot of connectivity problems trying to pair a couple of phones to the Lyriq, and the nav system proved remarkably unreliable, even when trying to use Android Auto. Cadillac says there’s a software fix coming, but it sure is late in the game to have connectivity problems.
One feature we did like and we’ll probably see this spread to other EVs is using the left hand steering wheel paddle to activate regen braking. Other automakers do this too, but they typically have two or three settings or detents, while on the Lyriq it’s continuous and pressure sensitive: the more you pull on the paddle, the more aggressive the regen becomes–all the way to a 3.5 g complete stop. It’s a simple nuance that gives drivers more control on the amount of regen they want.
Out on the road, the Lyriq rides and handles well, thanks to a near 50-50 weight distribution, a double wishbone front suspension and a 5-link rear, as well as smart frequency dampers. It rides firmly, though the instant you hit rough pavement or corner hard, it stiffens up noticeably.
The Lyriq is on sale now for just under $60,000. But good luck trying to get one. It’s completely sold out until the 2024 model year. But Cadillac is taking orders for the 2024 model, which is priced at $60,000 for the rear drive model and $64,000 for all wheel drive, and it is confident it can hold that price even while others are raising the prices of their EVs.
FUEL CELLS FOR EV CHARGING
One cool thing we want to point out is that Cadillac used hydrogen fuel cells from GM Hydrotec to recharge the Lyriqs for the media launch. The fuel cells powered Level III DC fast chargers with 60 kilowatts of continuous power. No noisy diesel generators. No fumes. And since the byproduct of fuel cells is water, the Hydrotec engineers ran a hose off back to water the garden.
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.