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Runtime: 9:18
0:38 Chip Shortage Will Lead to Manufacturing Delays
1:15 Brexit Worries Hurt Nissan’s UK Plant
1:56 European Car Sales Continue to Slide
2:21 Hottest Automotive Stocks
3:58 Ford Tests Dynamic Geofencing
5:01 Lordstown Teams with Camping World to Electrify RVs
5:38 Canoo Reveals New Delivery Van
6:47 Oshkosh Buys Out Pratt & Miller
7:13 ZF Helping to Improve Vehicle Communications
8:09 Porsche 3D Prints Electric Drive Housing
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CHIP SHORTAGE WILL LEAD TO MANUFACTURING DELAYS
Consumer demand for electronic devices is picking back up again around the globe but Reuters reports its causing a shortage of chips which is leading to manufacturing delays. According to analysts there’s a number of causes, including coronavirus lockdowns in southeast Asia, a fire at a chip plant in Japan, a strike in France and underinvestment in 8-inch chips. While it looks like it will affect production of laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices the most, China’s auto industry is warning that production will be disrupted in the first quarter of next year due to the shortage.
BREXIT WORRIES HURT NISSAN’S UK PLANT
Brexit is putting Nissan’s plant in the UK in jeopardy. The company decided to ship its upcoming Ariya electric vehicle from Japan to Europe, instead of building it at its UK plant, even though it already makes the Leaf there. The company says it’s not viable to manufacture the Ariya in the UK if Britain does not reach a trade deal with the European Union, since it would be slapped with a 10% import tariff. That would make it uncompetitive. Nissan’s UK plant has the capacity to build half a million vehicles a year but last year it only made 350,000 and it could lose more production without a trade deal.
EUROPEAN CAR SALES CONTINUE TO SLIDE
And speaking of the European car market, it’s struggling right now. Sales in the region declined 12% in November which follows a nearly 8% drop in October, due to coronavirus lockdowns. Through November, sales have plummeted by 25% to 9 million vehicles, that’s 3 million fewer vehicles compared to last year.
HOTTEST AUTOMOTIVE STOCKS
The hottest automotive stocks yesterday were both in the tech sector. No surprise there. Texas-based Hyliion, which makes electric powertrains for Class 7 and 8 semis, was up $1.04 or 6.6% after Barclay’s gave it an outperform rating. And Blink Charging, the Miami-based startup which designs, manufacturers and owns EV charging stations was up $3.36 or 11.9%. Investors are expecting the Biden Administration to offer more incentives for electric cars and the bulls are running rampant with anything to do with EVs.
| Hottest Automotive Stocks December 16, 2020 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Hyliion | +$1.04 | +6.6% |
| Blink Charging | +$3.36 | +11.9% |
He teamed up with Darryl Hall and they went on to become rock stars, with smash hits like “She’s Gone” and “Private Eyes” and a whole bunch of others. John Oates is one of the best-known names in the music industry. He’s also a hard-core car nut, and he’s our guest on Autoline After Hours today. So join us for what promises to be a great show that mixes cars and music.
FORD TESTS DYMANIC GEOFENCING
We’ve reported how plug-in hybrid vehicles can automatically switch to EV mode after entering a low- or zero-emission zone. Well, Ford has shown a more efficient way of doing this. It just finished a trial using PHEV vans with dynamic geofencing. Rather than have a fixed border around an emission zone, Ford used third-party air quality data to determine when was the right time to switch to electric mode and do it automatically. In areas that also had fixed geofenced zones, the vans switched to electric about half the time. That jumped to over 70% with dynamic zones. It’s possible the areas where these tests were done played a role in the difference, but we think it shows dynamic geofencing deserves more research and testing. Ford also showed how blockchain technology can go hand in hand with geofencing by securely recording when a vehicle entered and left an emission zone, which could be shared with city authorities or fleet operators.
LORDSTOWN TEAMS WITH CAMPING WORLD TO ELECTRIFY RVs
Lordstown Motors is expanding beyond electric pickups. It’s partnering with the RV company Camping World, to build an electric motorhome. The two companies will first electrify trailers and fifth wheel campers, to power electric equipment on board. They’re aiming to have them out on the road sometime next year. Later on, they will develop the electric motorhome but there’s no timeframe for its release. And as part of the deal, Lordstown will use Camping World’s service centers for its Endurance pickup, instead of creating its own service network.
CANOO REVEALS NEW DELIVERY VAN
EV startup Canoo will have officially unveiled its multi-purpose delivery vehicle by the time you’re watching this and it looks way different than the prototypes. Those were almost pill-like in shape, but many people, including us, really liked the styling. But if Tesla’s Cybertruck and a Bollinger had a baby that turned out to be a commercial delivery van, you would get the new Canoo. It might be disappointing to some, but we know exactly why Canoo took this route. It’s the same reason the Cybertruck or Bollinger look the way they do, cost. With flat panels you don’t have to shell out for expensive tooling and stamping presses. You may remember Sandy Munro said Tesla could save hundreds of millions of dollars with this approach.
OSHKOSH BUYS OUT PRATT & MILLER
Pratt & Miller is famous for fielding race cars for Corvette Racing, but the company does a lot more than that. It has tremendous expertise in defense, mobility and software development. So Oshkosh, the company known for specialty vehicles and military ones, just bought Pratt & Miller for $115 million. Don’t worry, race fans. Oshkosh is committed to keeping that racing program going.
ZF HELPING AUTOMAKERS IMPROVE VEHICLE COMMUNICATIONS
As automakers migrate towards the “software defined car” they need new electronic architectures. They are also migrating towards centralized computing in a car, but they have to deal with legacy systems that use hundreds of discrete components with their own processors and software. So the supplier ZF developed what it calls a middleware solution. It’s a layer of software that acts as a mediator between all those components and the vehicle’s overall operating system. And it’s modular, meaning different functions can be added or updated at any time, with the middleware translating all the communication. ZF tells Autoline that some automakers want the whole thing immediately, some only want parts of it because they aren’t ready to take it all on. ZF says the middleware will be on production cars in 2024.
PORSCHE 3D PRINTS HOUSING FOR ELECTRIC DRIVE
Porsche continues to make impressive progress with 3D printing. Earlier this year it showed it could 3D print the pistons for the engine in the high-performance 911 GT2 RS and now it’s making the complete housing for its electric drive unit. Not only was Porsche able to make the housing more compact, but the overall package is 10% lighter and twice as stiff in high stress areas. Another advantage was integrating cooling passages into the unit and the two-speed gearbox as well. With a reduction in overall parts, Porsche was also able to cut the number of assembly steps, which reduced production time by 20 minutes. No word when Porsche might use this, but it says it’s designed for use on the front axle of a sports car.
But that wraps up today’s show, 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.
