AD #3169 – Mustang Mach-E Passes Police Tests; Tesla Updates Autopilot; Nissan Reveals New Van for Europe

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

POLESTAR PLANS TO GO PUBLIC THROUGH SPAC
Polestar is the electric car company that was carved out of Volvo and is owned by Geely. But to maintain its independence it’s going to go public. And like just about every other EV startup, it’s going to do a SPAC. Polestar expects to raise about $1 billion and have a market cap of about $20 billion. It’s going to invest the money it raises in three new models that will debut in 2024. It certainly has ambitious goals, but we’ll see if it can hit them. It sold about 10,000 cars last year, but expects to boost that to 290,000 by 2025. We think one of those new models will look a lot like the Precept concept car that won all those EyesOn Design awards from a jury of global automotive designers.

GEELY JUMPS INTO BATTERY SWAPPING
Speaking of Geely, it’s going to jump into battery swapping stations with both feet. Geely has a subsidiary called E-Energee that makes the stations, which it claims can swap out batteries in 60 seconds. It can handle vehicles with wheelbases from 106 inches to 122 inches. Geely says it will build 5,000 swapping stations and here’s where it gets interesting. Geely says it’s going to install them on a global basis. Battery swapping is being developed in China with generous government subsidies. But if Geely can make it financially viable in other countries, it could be a game changer for EV adoption. 

WULING HONG GUANG MINI EV SETS MONTHLY SALES RECORD
And sticking with China, the tiny Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV continues to remain red hot there. The automaker sold more than 41,000 in August, a new monthly record. That brings its year-to-date sales up to nearly a quarter million.

NISSAN REVEALS NEW VAN FOR EUROPE
Nissan is getting an all-new van, called the Townstar, for the European market that will replace the NV250 and e-NV200. Once again it will be offered as both gas and electric as well as commercial and passenger versions, but it’s now based on the Renault Group’s CMF-C platform. The EV features a 44-kWh battery pack that’s expected to return 285 kilometers or 177 miles of range, based on the WLTP test cycle. The other setup is a 1.3L gas engine that produces about 130 horsepower. It will be able to carry 800 kilograms, tow up to 1,500 kilograms and, in terms of space, the Townstar has up to 3.9 square meters of cargo volume. Let’s wrap up on the interior, which looks pretty basic and utilitarian and is highlighted by an 8-inch touchscreen mounted high on the dash. Nissan has not revealed exactly when the Townstar will go on sale.

CHIP SHORTAGE NOT DISRUPTING TESLA’S CHINA PRODUCTION
The chip shortage doesn’t seem to be having an impact on Tesla’s production in China. Reuters reports the automaker is expected to build 300,000 vehicles in the first nine months of the year. The plant makes the Model 3 and Model Y. And its momentum will likely continue for the rest of the year. Last month, an official in China said Tesla is expected to build 450,000 vehicles this year.

TESLA BREAKS GROUND ON NEW “MEGAFACTORY”
In other Tesla factory news, it just broke ground on its new “Megafactory” in California. It’s called the Megafactory because it will produce its Megapack battery system, which is meant for utility scale energy storage. It’s Tesla’s first facility dedicated to making the Megapack.

TESLA UPDATES AUTOPILOT
And in our last bit of Tesla news, the company upgraded Autopilot to slow down when it detects emergency lights. The feature is for Model 3’s and Y’s equipped with Autopilot and works at night. A message is displayed on the touchscreen informing the driver of the slowdown and a chime is emitted to remind drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel. Once the system no longer detects the lights it automatically resumes the previously set cruising speed. While Tesla didn’t say it, this update is likely a response to NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla’s crashing into parked emergency vehicles at night while operating on Autopilot.

CONTINENTAL SEES OPPORTUNITY WITH CENTRALIZED COMPUTING
Tesla pioneered centralized computing in its cars years ago and now the rest of the auto industry is trying to catch up. But it hasn’t been easy for them. Traditional automakers have legacy systems to work through. And that’s where the supplier Continental AG sees an opportunity. Centralized computing uses a powerful microprocessor, and a backup, to do most of the computing in a car, rather than have chips in every component. General Motors, Ford and Mercedes-Benz have new electronic architectures in their latest vehicles that use about five major computing modules, but they still didn’t go all the way with centralized computing. One reason is that they want to stick with proven safety modules that are validated and reliable. Continental sees an opportunity to provide both complete centralized computing or middleware for the modules. But the future is with centralized computing. Nicolai Setzer, the CEO of Continental tells Autoline that, “It’s probably only a matter of time,” before traditional automakers go fully centralized.   

POLICE GIVE MUSTANG MACH-E THE THUMBS UP
For a long time now Ford has been a leading producer of police vehicles, so in order to stay at the head of the class it’s exploring all-electric, purpose-built law enforcement vehicles. It recently submitted a test vehicle based on the Mach-E to be evaluated by the Michigan State Police in the areas of acceleration, top speed, braking and high-speed pursuit, as well as emergency response handling. And it just became the first EV to pass that test. But it’s not just doing this in the U.S. Ford has another RHD Mach-E and Transit version in the UK’s police fleet that has been tested or plans to test by a number of its forces. 

TOYOTA REVEALS NEW NASCAR TUNDRA PRO
The Toyota Tundra’s bold, new face is headed to the race track. Here’s the 2022 NASCAR Tundra Pro that’s going to compete in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series. Its first race will be at Daytona on February 18th.

Wait, what? Autonomous race cars racing at Indy? That’s right. The Indy Autonomous Challenge takes place at the Brickyard at the end of October. And that’s going to be one of the topics on Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Also, Michael Sprague, who runs Lincoln in North America will be on the show. So join John and Gary for an insider’s view of what’s going on in the automotive industry. 

But that’s it for today, thank you for tuning in.