AD #2848 – BYD Supplying Ford Batteries; Buick Reveals 2021 Envision; Nuro Making AV Prescription Deliveries

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

HOW HONDA IS MAKING MASKS AND FACE SHIELDS
So why are we staring out the show with me wearing a face mask? Because Honda sent these out to members of the automotive media to show how it is pitching in to help medical personnel in the U.S. and Canada. Honda started manufacturing these face shields using a network of 3D printers in 5 different manufacturing facilities. But 3D printing is slow, so they switched to injection molding, which ramped up production to over 3,000 face shields an hour. So far Honda has donated 70,000 shields to over 300 medical facilities and says it’s about to ship another 60,000. And this is yet another example of how the automotive industry is playing a critical role in fighting the pandemic.

HONDA SETS APRIL PRODUCTION RECORD IN CHINA
Speaking of Honda it just set a production record for the month of April in China. It made over 152,000 vehicles, up 121% from a year ago. And hopefully this is a sign that the auto industry will recover quickly the world over.

BYD TO SUPPLY FORD WITH BATTERIES
And let’s stay with China for the moment, where BYD is going to supply batteries to Ford according to a document from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Ford’s joint venture partner, Changan Automobile, is seeking Chinese government approval to build a plug-in hybrid model with BYD’s batteries. This is BYD’s first known deal to supply batteries to a major automaker. Ford is struggling in China, and hopes to build back its business with 30 new or refreshed models by the end of 2021. Over a third of them will be electric.

UPDATE ON WULING’S LINEUP
And we’ve got more info on how Wuling is upgrading its product line. Wuling is part of GM’s Chinese operations. The Hong Guang PLUS is Wuling’s largest model and now comes in 2, 5, 7 and 8 seat layouts for both commercial and private use. Under the hood is a 1.5L naturally aspirated engine mated to a 6-speed manual. One interesting note is that Multimatic helped tune the suspension. That’s the same company that builds the Ford GT and spool-valve shocks for the Chevy Colorado ZR2. Wuling is also adding new electric vehicles. Here’s the interior of the Hong Guang MINI EV, which is a compact car that’s about 9.5-feet long. It sure is interesting to see a new vehicle without a giant screen in the center of the dash. Lastly is the Rong Guang EV, an electric minivan. Sold as both a commercial and passenger version, it comes with a 42 kWh battery that provides up to 300 kilometers of range. Pricing starts around $12,000.

NEW FORD BRONCO GOES MUDDIN’
Here’s some great video of the new Ford Bronco doing some off-road testing in Georgia. It’s provided by Bronco Nation, an enthusiast site run by one of Ford’s marketing agencies. Engineers were there to test where mud sticks, how easy it is to remove, and how to prevent damage to key components from mud and water. They were also monitoring tire performance as well as looking at the SUVs fording capabilities by driving through deep mud puddles. Some off-roaders even noticed that the Bronco has a feature that locks the inside rear wheel while allowing the front tires to turn, which reduces the turning radius. The new Bronco will be revealed sometime this spring.

BUICK REVEALS THE 2021 ENVISION
Buick released some details on the 2021 Envision which goes on sale next year. The crossover, which is made in China, is the third best selling vehicle in Buick’s lineup, behind the Encore and the Enclave. Even though it still sells the Regal, Buick has transformed into a CUV brand, with crossovers accounting for 96% of its sales in the U.S. market. The restyled model is handsome, with good proportions and a well sculpted body. It’s powered by a 2-liter turbo with a 9-speed automatic. And it finally comes standard with a full suite of safety technologies such as automated emergency braking, including for pedestrians. Automakers, including General Motors, promised that they would make this technology standard on all models starting with the 2021 model year. Other automakers, such as Toyota and Honda, began making this equipment standard over a year ago. The new Envisions also gets a 10-inch diagonal touchscreen, as well as Amazon Alexa, Spotify, Pandora and Fox Sports.

OPEL WILL MAKE PSA CARS IN GERMANY
We’re impressed with how Carlos Tavares, the CEO of the PSA Group is able to turn around money losing operations and here’s another example of how he’s doing it. Opel, which PSA bought from GM in 2017, will manufacture a new small car for PSA at its plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany. It will be made on PSA’s EMP2 platform that supports vehicles like the Peugeot 308 and Citroen C4 Picasso. That plant currently makes the Opel Insignia and will make the next-gen Astra as well, but it’s closed right now due to the coronavirus.

NURO WILL DELIVER CVS PRESCRIPTIONS AUTONOMOUSLY
We keep seeing more and more examples of autonomous vehicles being used for delivering food, medicine and other products. Now, the autonomous vehicle startup, Nuro, is partnering with CVS Pharmacy to deliver prescription drugs. A pilot program kicks off this month in Houston, Texas and the service is free to all CVS customers in the area. Once an order is placed, Nuro’s self-driving vehicles will deliver the medication to the curb site of customers, within 3 hours or less. The prescriptions will be locked inside the vehicle until the customer proves proper identity. Nuro will use its fleet of Toyota Prius’s at first and then transition to its autonomous delivery pods. Nuro has done similar projects with Kroger and Domino’s to deliver food. And thanks to the pandemic, this seems to be an area where autonomous technology is flourishing.

THE HISTORY OF MCLAREN ENGINES
McLaren is best known for its racing activities, but not a lot of people know about McLaren Engineering, a subsidiary based in the US that was spun off and is now part of Linamar, the Canadian supplier. That operation helped engineer some iconic production cars. Roger Meiners, who worked as an engineer for McLaren in the 80’s and 90’s, has an upcoming book called McLaren: The Engine Company, that takes a deep dive into the company’s engine history. We got a chance to speak with Roger and he talked about some of the cars they had a hand in.

Roger Meiners, Author
“We were working on a turbocharger for the DeLorean. (Laughs) It was not a very successful program for two reasons. One, the Peugeot engine that they were using, the Volvo/Peugeot V6, was not up to being turbocharged and the second thing was DeLorean went bankrupt right in the middle of the program. But that was a typical thing, we would get work in from primarily General Motors. But we did work for BMW, not only in racing – we ran two race teams for them in the 70’s and 80’s – we did a lot of engine rebuilding work. But as time went by, we developed the Buick Indy engine and that led to a job to build a supercar for Buick, called the GNX, which is a pretty famous car these days.”

Sean McElroy, Autoline
“Oh yeah, very sought after, very cool car. Definitely something that I know when I was first starting to get interested in cars that was one of those ones that piques the interest a bit.”

Roger Meiners
“That was done according to General Motors protocols; all the testing that had to be done, all the engine validation and so forth. After that we got a big program with Pontiac to build a turbocharged Pontiac Grand Prix. That car came out with only 125-horsepower and we upped it to 205 (horsepower) and made it more respectable. So, one thing led to another and we were doing more work in the engineering area than in the racing area.”

You can watch that full interview on our YouTube channel.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.