AD #3452 – GM Secures Supplies to Build 1 Million EVs; RS Model Returns to Impreza Lineup; EVs Dominate NACTOY Finalists
November 18th, 2022 at 11:58am
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Runtime: 10:19
0:08 GM Secures Supplies to Build 1 Million EVs in 2025
1:29 GM Locks Up Nickel Supplies with Vale
2:10 U.S. Agrees to Only Sell Zero-Emission Big Trucks By 2040
3:36 RS Model Returns to Subaru Impreza Lineup
4:48 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Gets EPA Estimated 340 Miles of Range
5:47 VinFast Adds Two Electric SUVs To U.S. Lineup
7:19 Kia Refreshes the Seltos
8:13 EVs Dominate Finalists for Car, Truck & Utility of The Year
8:56 MINI Creates EV Charger to Look Like RC Controller
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GM SECURES SUPPLIES TO BUILD 1 MILLION EVs IN 2025
As we reported earlier in the week, GM says it expects its EV lineup will be profitable by 2025 and now it’s sharing how it will make it happen. The automaker is aiming to build 1 million EVs annually in North America by 2025 and perhaps most importantly, GM says it has secured all the battery raw materials it needs to reach that capacity. It will have five assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico producing all those EVs and it will have three battery plants in the U.S. in operation by the end of 2024, with a fourth cell plant planned. GM’s commercial EV subsidiary, BrightDrop, is on track to reach $1 billion in revenue next year and is projecting to build 50,000 vehicles annually by 2025. The company is also launching a new digital retail platform for EV customers that GM says will reduce costs for the company by $2,000 per vehicle. Sure sounds like online sales. And not surprisingly, that’s the exact same amount Ford CEO Jim Farley said its dealers need to remove from the cost of vehicle delivery to be competitive with Tesla. And by 2025, GM says revenue from EVs is expected to be more than $50 billion.
GM LOCKS UP NICKEL SUPPLIES WITH VALE
And speaking of GM, it signed a deal with mining company Vale, to supply the automaker with nickel. Vale is a Brazilian company with an operation in Canada, which is where this nickel will come from. Vale will provide GM with battery grade nickel sulfate that will be used in GM’s Ultium battery cathodes. The amount of nickel will be enough to supply around 350,000 EVs annually and Vale will begin to deliver the nickel starting in 2026. You may remember back in March it was revealed that Tesla had signed a multi-year deal with Vale, also to supply it with nickel from Canada.
U.S. AGREES TO ONLY SELL ZERO-EMISSION BIG TRUCKS BY 2040
There’s a lot of focus on reducing emissions in passenger cars but cutting emissions from commercial vehicles is also important. Commercial vehicles represent 10% of the total fleet but account for nearly 30% of on-road greenhouse gas emissions. To help tackle the issue, the U.S. agreed to only sell and produce zero-emission medium and heavy-duty trucks by 2040. By 2030, 30% of commercial vehicles must be zero-emission and then 100% by 2040. Sixteen other countries have signed the deal but it is non-binding, so that means U.S. agencies aren’t required to set new standards, targets or requirements yet. However, the EPA is expected to issue tougher emission regulations for medium and heavy duty trucks sometime next year.
RS MODEL RETURNS TO SUBARU IMPREZA LINEUP
The all-wheel drive king, Subaru revealed the all-new Impreza. The big news here is that it will only be available as a 5-door hatchback and is offered in three trim levels, including the comeback of the RS model. All Imprezas benefit from a 10% stiffer chassis and lower weight thanks to a full inner frame construction and the use of more structural adhesive. While the Sport and RS trims boast a sport-tuned suspension, bigger wheels and a sport driving mode. A 2.0L 4-cylinder engine that produces 152 horsepower makes it return, but the RS is available with a new-to-the-Impreza 2.5L unit that makes 182 horsepower. Both engines are mated to an 8-speed CVT. As for the interior, we’d say that it looks like most Subaru’s and is highlighted by an optional 11.6-inch display screen that’s mounted in portrait mode on the dash. The new Subaru Impreza will start arriving at U.S. dealers next spring. And remember, the Impreza is the base for the Crosstrek, so we’d expect to see similar upgrades.
HYUNDAI IONIQ 6 GETS EPA ESTIMATED 340 MILES OF RANGE
The Hyundai IONIQ 6 is rated at 381 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. But now we have EPA estimates, which we know are a lot harder. Hyundai estimates the electric sedan will be able to go 340 miles on a charge. That’s for the RWD version with the bigger 77.4 kWh battery pack. The AWD IONIQ 6, which will do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, is estimated to have 310 miles of range. There’s also another RWD drive version with less power and a smaller battery, but Hyundai hasn’t revealed figures for that setup yet. But with a coefficient of drag of just 0.22, the EV is surprisingly efficient. That rear-drive version with the big battery gets an impressive nearly 4.4 miles per kWh, which we think is the best of any EV right now.
VINFAST ADDS TWO ELECTRIC SUVs TO U.S. LINEUP
Should we be keeping a closer eye on VinFast? The Vietnamese EV maker has quietly built itself up in the American market. And it just announced that it’s adding two new electric SUVs to its lineup, the VF 6 and VF 7, which join the VF 8 and VF 9. The VF 6 will only come in FWD with two power outputs; 174 horsepower or 201 horsepower. The VF 7 is available in front- or all-wheel drive and features either 201 horsepower or 349 horsepower. The company did not reveal battery size or range at this time. But it did reveal that it got an increased order from Autonomy, a company that offers EV rentals. It was going to buy 400 VF 8 and 9s but it’s increasing that to more than 2,500. VinFast will start delivering the vehicles to Autonomy over the next year.
KIA REFRESHES THE SELTOS
Kia is refreshing its Seltos small crossover for the 2024 model year. The styling of the front and rear fascias has been updated. And for the first time the Seltos will be available with an X-Line trim, which features exclusive exterior features like a unique grille design, 18-inch wheels and X-Line badging. Its 1.6L turbo engine that’s mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission gets a power boost of 20 horsepower for a total of 195 horses. The model is also offered with a 2.0L four-cylinder engine that’s paired with a CVT. The Seltos is now available with a screen display that combines the 10.25-inch instrument cluster and the 10.25-inch center display. The new Seltos goes on sale in the first half of 2023 in the U.S. but now word on pricing yet.
EVs DOMINATE FINALISTS FOR CAR, TRUCK & UTILITY OF THE YEAR
The finalists for the North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year were announced and EVs dominate the list. In the car category, the finalists are the Acura Integra, Genesis G80 EV and the Nissan Z. The truck finalists are the Chevy Silverado ZR2, Ford F-150 Lightning and the Lordstown Endurance. And in the utility category, the Cadillac Lyriq, Genesis GV60 and Kia EV6 are the finalists. The winners for each category will be announced at an event in Detroit in January. But in the meantime, let us know what you think will or should win.
MINI CREATES EV CHARGER TO LOOK LIKE RC CONTROLLER
Are giant objects at auto shows going to become a thing? Jeep had a giant rubber ducky at the Detroit show and now MINI has brought a huge remote controlled car controller to LA. It’s actually a 240-volt Level 2 charger that will be used during the show to charge up EVs. MINI went with the design because it says many people’s love for automobiles started with an RC car and it wanted to bring back that childhood element to EVs. We also know that Jeep got a ton of engagement with its big duck, so that probably didn’t hurt MINI’s decision.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. I hope that you have a great weekend and please like or subscribe if you think we’ve earned it.
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Comments (30)
November 18th, 2022 at 12:31 pm
GM aiming to build 1 million EVs by 2025.. But how many do they plan to sell? Lol
Does Vinfast even have a dealer network in the US? I cannot imagine buying from a start-up from Vietnam. I mean yea about every manufacturer has had auto plants in Vietnam, but I think they only ever had one domestic plant. Vinaxuki which started around 2004 build medium commercial trucks and had plans for a car but when belly up in 2015 before any were built. Could be a risky purchase.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
For NACTOY, I’d guess Z for the car, if the interior is better than the low rent interior of the older one. For truck, almost definitely the Lightning. “Utility,” probably Lyriq, because it looks less generic than most crossovers, gas or electric, and it probably drives decently.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
1 GM should be able to sell a million EVs by 2025, if the price is right. The new ones will be crossovers and a truck, which are what Americans are buying.
They need to teach people at dealers to sell EVs, though. From my experience, sales people know so little about the Bolt, that they don’t even know how to charge it.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:16 pm
Certainly not great choices for NACTOY in my opinion. But I rarely agree with their choices anyways.
Also, no manual option for the new Impreza. That’s extremely disappointing because Subaru was holding strong on manuals.
All things enthusiasts love about cars are disappearing…
November 18th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Didn’t the Corvette Z06 launch in 2023. Hard to believe that didnt make the NACTOY list. IMO
November 18th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
What is an 8-speed CVT? A CVT has an infinite number of ratios.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
6 I believe it means they gave it a false shifting feeling allowing the RPM range to vary defeating the whole purpose of a CVT but I could be wrong.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:27 pm
5 It’s crazy, indeed, that the Z06 isn’t there. For some very strange reason, it wasn’t even considered “eligible.” The NACTOY site says that “new or substantially changed vehicles” are eligible. The C8 is not “new,” but the Z06 is at least as “substantially changed” as Cayman GT4 RS, 911 GTS, the Chevy pickup that is a “finalist,” and some others. Here are the eligible vehicles.
https://northamericancaroftheyear.org/nactoy-2023-eligible-vehicles/
November 18th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
7 Yeah, that’s probably it. Surely you can turn off the fake “shifts,” can’t you, if you want to maximize performance and gas mileage, rather than adding a little jerkiness?
November 18th, 2022 at 2:42 pm
9. As a Subaru owner, you can’t turn off the fake shifts. Ridiculous but there you have it.
I thought I heard the Lordstown Endurance mentioned as a potential NACTOY candidate. This is jumping the shark. NACTOY is now dead to me.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:47 pm
10 Thanks for the info. That is crazy. I guess my sister got her Subaru just in time, because it doesn’t have fake shifts. It’s a Forester, though. Maybe they have different “philosophies” for different models.
November 18th, 2022 at 3:11 pm
Not only is the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06′s LT6 engine the largest flat-plane crankshaft V-8 in the world, it’s also the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated production V-8, leapfrogging the 622-hp 6.2-liter M159 engine that powered the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series from 2013-2014 and producing 670 hp at 8,400 rpm.
I was watching a car show over the weekend and that engine has something like 110% volumetric efficiency. Purely amazing and not even a candidate is a slap to the face of NA manufacturing.
November 18th, 2022 at 3:11 pm
My 2017 Forester XT had the shifts too. Driven sensibly it’s only the tach that lets you know there has been a gear change. Perhaps they fake the tach? Why not, it’s useless in the car anyway.
November 18th, 2022 at 3:56 pm
13 My sister’s Forester is a 2016, and one of the middle trim levels. I’ve driven it a few times, and and am pretty sure it doesn’t have the fake shifts. I’ll try to find out for sure next summer when I’m up north where she lives.
November 18th, 2022 at 4:00 pm
5, 12 etc. John McElroy, if you see this discussion, could you explain why the Corvette Z06 was not eligible for NACOTY? Thanks.
November 18th, 2022 at 7:04 pm
My 2018 Forester XT has a turbo and CVT. Never noticed any fake shifts. Very smooth like my EV. My 2021 Crosstrek had the 2.5 with ’8-speed’ CVT. Could feel barely feel the ‘shifts’, but still very smooth.
November 18th, 2022 at 8:24 pm
The thing I haven’t liked about the CVT in my sister’s Forester is that at walking speed in parking lots, it doesn’t know whether to go or not go. In those situations, Toyota hybrids are great.
November 19th, 2022 at 10:49 am
Not nominating the ZO6 certainly is an omission unless there is some obscure reason for not doing so. Production units, though highly limited, have been released to customers, so ’23 models have been delivered. Engine certainly, and major dimensional bodywork are different enough to be a separate model.
November 19th, 2022 at 12:01 pm
18 Do any Lordstown trucks exist?
November 19th, 2022 at 5:38 pm
Good question.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:03 pm
18 Three Porsche sub-models, a Chevy Silverado sub-model, and the Lordstown truck that is mostly vaporware were eligible. I don’t understand at all why the Z06 was not eligible. I hope we get an explanation from John Mc.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:08 pm
I sort of understand why they “stretched” the rules with the trucks, or they would have had only one eligible vehicle, the Lightning.
November 20th, 2022 at 12:15 pm
21,22 Autoline generally has a AAH about the voting and discussing of the NACOTY. We’ll probably hear something then. I think you’re right that maybe because of the slim picking for truck. ZO6 really needed to be included and almost a “slam-dunk” for the win.
November 20th, 2022 at 3:28 pm
23 With so many pickup truck sales with so few entries, it makes you wonder why we really need about 100 different SUVs/CUVs. Meanwhile, there are essentially no car height station wagons.
November 20th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Station wagons sure are a headscratcher; the outspoken want them (this includes me) but they just don’t sell to the general public. One of my favorite vehicle purchases was my 1984 Celebrity Station Wagon. Maybe it was just the right vehicle at the right time, but I really enjoyed it and it performed throughout its life admirably. I had it for many years and miles, taught both my daughters how to drive (until one of my daughters finally put the ‘last’ crunch on it). It had the 2.8 V6 and automatic; fast enough, good to excellent fuel economy and comfortable ride. p.s. I was flying RC back then and it really held the gear (also raced RC boats).
November 20th, 2022 at 4:12 pm
25 I had an ’86 Celebrity wagon with the 2.5 “iron duke” and 4-speed manual. It was mostly reliable, until the head cracked at about 60K miles, and it got very good mpg for the time.
What I’d like now would be a Camry hybrid wagon, which doesn’t exist. The closest I could get was the Highlander hybrid which serves my purposes, but I frequently think “why is this thing so tall, so high off the ground, and so heavy”? It gets near 40 mpg in short trip/low speed highway mixed driving, but a car height wagon with the same floor length would get near 50 with the same powertrain, and would be quicker, because of the weight reduction. and would drive better.
November 20th, 2022 at 5:30 pm
I almost got the Buick wagon a couple years ago but got vetoed by my wife and ended up with the XT5; I liked that a lot but that of course is a Cuv. Plenty of room and great fuel mileage but your hybrid would put that to shame. I don’t expect a station wagon comeback and for that matter the Buick went away too.
November 20th, 2022 at 6:54 pm
27 I liked the Buick wagon, but for some reason, it was thirstier than it should have been, and it needed premium gas “required” according to the EPA site. It’s being sold only with 4WD didn’t help, but still, 21/29 EPA ratings aren’t very good for a car that size.
November 21st, 2022 at 7:20 am
I have fond memories of station wagons but I dont see them returning anytime soon. The traditional car as we know it is evolving into the CUV. So the larger or longer versions (SUV) is what you get. I do however see a lot more crossover designs where they are not a car or a CUV but in between. Provide the more upright seated position but not so high off the ground. As more EVs are released and the desire to keep that battery weight low maybe we will see a more station wagon styled design soon in an EV.
November 21st, 2022 at 9:53 am
29 It’s being tall and heavy, not long, that makes SUVs/CUVs gas hogs compared to cars. A Toyota Highlander is 11 inches taller than a Camry. Some of the 11 inches is floor to roof height, and some is body “lift.” The Highlander is more than 1000 pounds heavier. The end result is that the Camry hybrid gets 30-35% better gas mileage than the Highlander with a similar, but slightly “hopped up” powertrain. A Camry wagon, if it existed, would get about the same MPG as the sedan.