Runtime: 6:23
0:27 Cadillac Adds a Bigger CUV To Its Lineup
0:52 Car Sales Up in Germany
1:25 EV Charger Breakthrough
2:43 Kia Introduces Sportage with Diesel 48V Hybrid
3:49 Nissan Drops Out of Australian V8 Supercars
4:16 Hot Wheels Celebrates 50th Anniversary
5:08 Ford Upgrades Its Backup Camera
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On today’s show…one company says its developed a breakthrough with EV chargers…Cadillac will add a bigger CUV to its lineup…and Kia comes out with a diesel hybrid. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
CADILLAC ADDS A BIGGER CUV TO ITS LINEUP
Cadillac will add a bigger crossover to its lineup next year, the XT6. Autoforecast Solutions reports it will go into production in May, 2019 at GM’s assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. That’s the same plant that builds the Cadillac XT5, so that suggests the XT6 will be built on the same architecture, but will be larger.
CAR SALES UP IN GERMANY
Car sales in Germany look very healthy. WardsAuto reports that sales were up 8% last month. Sales of medium and heavy duty trucks shot up 22%. Here’s something that jumped out of the numbers at us. Thanks to its acquisition of Opel, PSA is now the third largest automaker in Germany, behind Volkswagen and Daimler. PSA’s sales figures include Peugeot, Citroen and Opel. In fact sales at Opel were up 3%. So maybe it’s starting to turn the corner.
| GERMAN CAR SALES APRIL 2018 | |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen | 93,000 |
| Daimler | 33,000 |
| PSA | 31,300 |
| BMW | 25,370 |
| Ford | 24,600 |
| Source: WardsAuto | |
EV CHARGER BREAKTHROUGH
One of the drawbacks of electric vehicles is the time it can take to charge them. But a company called Nidec ASI, says it has developed a breakthrough. Called the Ultra Fast Charger, it can charge an EV to 80% of its capacity in just 15 minutes. It uses 160 kWh of installed batteries and hooks up to the national electricity grid through recharging towers. It only needs 50 kW, to supply 320 kW of power to a vehicle, which is 6 times the power drawn from the grid. It also allows 2 vehicles to be charged in parallel or 3 in series and has been designed to work with power from the grid or renewable sources.
Still to come…Kia introduces a diesel version of the Sportage with a 48V hybrid.
KIA INTRODUCES SPORTAGE WITH DIESEL 48V HYBRID
One of the benefits of a 48-volt system is that it’s easier to integrate into an existing platform than a strong hybrid system. So Kia is going to launch a diesel version of the Sportage with a 48-volt system for select global markets in the second half of this year. It uses a belt-driven starter-generator and a 0.46 kWh lithium-ion battery. The starter-generator provides up to 10 kW of eAssist under acceleration, and captures regen during braking or coasting. It also handles start/stop. The system will even allow the engine to shut off before the car comes to a complete stop, if there’s enough charge in the battery. Kia claims the system reduces CO2 emissions by 4% on the new Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test procedure (WLTP). The 3rd-gen Ceed will be the next Kia vehicle to get the system, but we expect Hyundai to use it as well and look for the technology to come to the U.S. market as it gets adapted for gasoline engines.
NISSAN DROPS OUT OF AUSTRALIAN V8 SUPERCARS
Like many other racing series’, the Australian V8 Supercars series is starting to fade. Nissan just announced it will drop out as a sponsor at the end of the 2018 season. A Nissan Altima will continue to race in 2019, but after that it looks like the Supercars Championship will go back to just Ford’s and Holden’s. Nissan stopped selling the Altima in Australia last year.
HOT WHEELS CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
If you’re looking to take a trip down memory lane, Hot Wheels is celebrating its 50th anniversary by reproducing five of the very original die-cast cars. They include the ‘67 Camaro, Mustang and Hemi Barracuda, ‘68 Cougar and the Volkswagen Beetle. Each comes in packaging similar to the originals and feature candy paint jobs and red line tires. They’re $5.50 a piece and go on sale in a few days.
Coming up next, Ford of Europe comes out with a better backup camera.
FORD UPGRADES ITS BACKUP CAMERA
Back up cameras can be very helpful, I know they’ve saved my butt a time or two and now Ford of Europe has improved their field of view. The all-new Ford Focus will be available with a rear camera system that, at the push of a button, switches from the normal view to a more fish-eye angle that can see nearly 180-degrees. It almost looks as though they’re stitching three camera angles together to get the really wide view. I think this would be a welcome addition to most vehicles, especially those that are hard to see out the back of.
Don’t forget to tune in to Autoline After Hours tomorrow when we’ll have Jon Walker, a 3D printing expert at the company EOS. We’ll get to the bottom of what’s really going on with 3D printing in the automotive industry. That’s Autoline After Hours going live tomorrow at 3 pm eastern time on our website or our YouTube channel.
And that wraps 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.
