AD #2986 – Toyota Launches New Compact EV; Tesla Sets Records in 2020; Mustang Mach-E Winter Range Disappoints

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

TESLA SETS DELIVERY & PRODUCTION RECORDS
While 2020 was a tumultuous year for the auto industry, Tesla managed to set delivery and production records. The EV maker fell just short of its goal of delivering half a million vehicles, which it missed by only 450 units. But it did manufacture over half a million vehicles in 2020. In the fourth quarter, it delivered more than 180,000 vehicles, which beat its previous record by 40,000 vehicles. Compared to 2019, Tesla’s deliveries were up 36% in 2020, which is pretty impressive but even more so because of the pandemic.

CHINESE MADE MODEL Y NOW ON SALE IN CHINA
And this will help the company’s sales this year. The Chinese-made version of the Model Y is now on sale in China and deliveries start this month. The company began building the crossover at the end of last year and it just updated its online configurator with the production version, which means deliveries will start soon.

CHINA SLASHES SUBSIDIES FOR ELECTRIFIED VEHICLES
And speaking of China, the government announced plans to slash subsidies for electrified vehicles, or what it calls New Energy Vehicles. Subsidies for passenger cars will be cut by 20% this year, while subsidies for public transport vehicles will be cut by 10%. The incentives will remain in place until 2022. China expects NEV sales to hit 1.8 million this year, up from 1.3 million and is aiming for NEVs to account for 20% of new car sales by 2025.

FORD & MAHINDRA END JOINT VENTURE
Ford’s strategy for India just shifted into reverse. Under former CEO Jim Hackett, Ford signed a joint venture with Mahindra to develop low cost vehicles for the Indian market. But under new CEO Jim Farley, Ford just cancelled those plans. Here’s our Autoline Insight. Farley must recognize that Ford is lagging behind GM and VW in developing electric vehicles and needs to prioritize spending on EVs instead of low-margin vehicles in India. Maybe Ford and Mahindra will want to revisit this again in the future, but for now, Farley has other priorities.

 

FORD NAMES NEW HEAD OF SALES
Speaking of changes at Ford under Farley, the company’s VP of Sales in the U.S. and Canada, Mark LaNeve who is 61, elected to leave the company. His replacement is Andrew Frick, 47 years old, who has extensive sales experience with the Ford and Lincoln brands in North America, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean and Central America. LaNeve’s experience includes running Cadillac, Volvo in North America, and he was the chief marketing officer at Allstate Insurance where he launched the TV ad campaign called Mayhem.

TOYOTA LAUNCHES NEW COMPACT EV
GM found success with its little Chinese-made Mini EV and not to be left behind, Toyota is now introducing the C+ Pod in Japan. The two-seater is actually slightly smaller than the Mini EV and features a 9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that feeds a rear-mounted electric motor. While that’s a small battery, with a weight of about 1,500 pounds or 680 kilograms, the C+ Pod still has 150 kilometers or about 93 miles of range. It’s also limited to a top speed of 60 km/h or 37 MPH. Toyota will first offer the little electric vehicle to corporations, local governments and other organizations, but by 2022 it will be available to individual users. Pricing for the C+ Pod starts at about $16,000, which we find interesting. GM’s Mini EV is roughly the same size, has about the same range and even has a higher top speed, but only costs $4,100. 

SEAT CREATES SPECIAL GLASSES TO IMPROVE SAFETY
There’s more ways than ever to get distracted behind the wheel of a car, which is why SEAT, which is part of the VW Group, is working to reduce the amount of time a driver has to take their eyes off the road to perform a certain function. It’s using special glasses mounted with a camera and infrared sensors to track a driver’s eye movement. They’re able to tell if the driver has to look away to change radio stations or the HVAC controls or how long they searched around for things like battery state-of-charge. SEAT then uses all this information to improve its systems.

MAGNA TO DEVELOP ADAS FOR FISKER
Last year, Fisker announced a partnership with Magna to have the supplier build its Ocean electric SUV. And now the two companies are expanding the collaboration. Magna will develop an Advanced Driver Assistance System for Fisker, which will be equipped in the Ocean. In addition to cameras and sensors, the system will include digital imaging radar technology, which it claims is a first for the auto industry. The Fisker Ocean is expected to hit the market at the end of 2022.

 

MID-ENGINE CORVETTE DESIGN DOCUMENTARY
We know there are a lot of Corvette fans out there and if you’d like to take a more behind-the-scenes look at the design of the new mid-engine ‘Vette, then check out Chevrolet’s Facebook, Instagram or YouTube pages for a two-part documentary series it’s releasing. It’s shot from the perspective of the engineers that brought the car together. The first part is already out and the second part launches at 1PM today. 

MUSTANG MACH-E WINTER RANGE DISAPPOINTS
We’ve been reporting for years that electric cars lose considerable range in winter weather, and here’s our latest numbers that prove it. We had a Mustang Mach-E to test drive over the holidays–an all-wheel-drive Premium model with the 88-kilowatt hour battery. With an outdoor temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit we fully charged the battery, but only got an indicated range of 175 miles. Under ideal conditions that would have been 237 miles, so it lost 26% of its range due to the cold weather. Clearly, these were not ideal conditions. With near freezing temperatures, we used the heated seats, set the cabin temperature at 72 degrees F and occasionally had to use the windshield wipers. In other EVs we’ve tested, the range dropped even more at colder temperatures. In our experience, at 25 degrees F most EVs will lose about 40% of their range. Of course, MPG drops in gasoline powered vehicles in extreme temperatures too, but it’s not as significant and you spend less time filling back up. We’re not trying to knock EVs down, but saying that automakers may have to provide better education to get more people to drive electric vehicles. 

Be sure to join us on Thursday as we crank up Autoline After Hours for a brand-new year. Are automakers really cancelling programs for autonomous vehicles, or will 2021 go down in the history books as the beginning of an autonomous revolution? Our guest will be Jeff Stout from Yanfeng, a leader in automotive interiors, so join John and Gary for some of the best insights as to what’s happening in the automotive industry.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching.