AD #3213 – Solid-State Battery Developer Gets Major Partners; BMW Reveals Bold Concept; Genesis Shows New G90 Styling

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CELLS MAKE UP BIG CHUNK OF BATTERY PRICE
Battery prices dropped dramatically over the last decade, but now they’re starting to go up. And it’s all because of rising prices for raw materials. BNEF, or Bloomberg New Energy Finance, says that Nickel Manganese Cobalt battery prices rose $10 per kilowatt hour this year. But overall the trend is good. Battery pack prices are at $118/kWh on a volume-weighted average this year, while cell prices are $97/kWh. That means cells now account for 82% of the total pack price, compared to the traditional 70:30 split. That’s because of better pack design, including cell-to-pack setups. BNEF says China has the lowest pack prices at $111 per kilowatt hour, while the U.S. is at about $155 and Europe is at about $177. China’s battery market is more mature and has more volume. BNEF predicts that by 2024 average pack prices should be below $100/kWh, unless raw material prices keep going up.

STELLANTIS & MERCEDES PARTNER WITH FACTORIAL ENERGY
Of course, solid state batteries could be a lot cheaper and that’s why Stellantis and Mercedes are turning to a Massachusetts startup called Factorial Energy. The companies signed separate agreements today to jointly develop solid state batteries for BEVs. Factorial has a proprietary solid electrolyte that enables high-voltage and high-capacity electrodes. Stellantis says it can have them in production cars by 2026. Mercedes says it will have solid state batteries in a limited number of vehicles within the next five years. And if the name Factorial sounds familiar that’s because Hyundai and Kia signed a deal with the startup a month ago. Remember, Factorial has former Ford CEO, Mark Fields, and former Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche, on its advisory board.

NOVEMBER SALES FORECAST WEAK
New car sales in the U.S. in November could be pretty weak. Ward’s Intelligence is forecasting the SAAR will come in at only 13.6 million vehicles. A year ago the SAAR was at 15.9 million. Sales are down sharply because of the chip shortage. If automakers could make more cars they could easily sell more. We’ll have the full results for the month on Thursday, after automakers close their books and count up all the cars they sold.

ALL-NEW KIA NIRO DEBUTS
The all-new Niro debuted at the Seoul auto show and, wow, Kia wasn’t joking when it said it shared a resemblance to the HabaNiro concept. The strongest links to the concept are the front lighting design and wide rear pillar, which helps blend the body into the large boomerang taillights. But beyond just looks, that wide rear pillar also helps improve aerodynamics. As for the interior, our eyes are drawn along these long, sharp lines, which when using this two-tone effect, really creates a visually segmented space for the front seat passengers. Other highlights include a large digital display screen and rotary gear selector. The Niro will still come with a mix of gas and diesel and while Kia didn’t reveal what exactly will power the vehicle, it will come as a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure EV. Look for sales to kick off sometime next year.

BOLD BMW CONCEPT HINTS AT FUTURE DESIGN
Wow! BMW is really embracing bold styling, especially when it comes to its grille. It revealed a new plug-in hybrid SUV concept called the XM, which will be exclusively sold as an M model. We think that hasn’t been done since the M1, which went out of production in 1981. BMW says the new XM will be the most powerful M vehicle to go into series production and the front-end design of the concept is a preview of its upcoming models. The XM is powered by a V8 engine and an electric motor that combine for 750 horsepower and 737 lb-ft of torque. And it has an estimated all-electric EPA range of 30 miles. The XM goes into production next year at BMW’s plant in South Carolina.

GENESIS SHOWS OFF NEW G90 STYLING
While BMW is going for a bolder look, Genesis is embracing more elegant styling. It just showed off the new exterior design of its G90 flagship sedan. As you can see, the front end is dominated by a large grille which features two thin horizontal headlamps on either side. And the side features a line that runs from the hood and along the bottom of the window to the trunk. A long-wheel base version of the G90 is also available which is 190 mm or about 7.5 inches longer. That extra length is used to give rear seat passengers more legroom. Genesis will reveal more details closer to when it officially launches in Korea.

HONDA TO IMPROVE SAFETY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Honda is aiming for zero traffic fatalities involving its cars and motorcycles by the year 2050 and wants to improve safety through technology. Like most automakers it’s turning to ADAS and autonomy. It already offers a driver assistance system, called Honda SENSING 360, and will continue to expand that to give more control to the technology. But Honda is a little different from the others, in that, it will use artificial intelligence to provide “assistance that is suited to the ability and the situation of each individual.” Honda is also working on technologies that send some sort of alert to the driver about a potential situation, whether it be audio or visual. And, like Toyota, it’s even developing a system that would send an alert right to someone’s phone or screen inside the vehicle. Honda will introduce these technologies and their underlying systems between now and the end of the decade.

WAYRAY TURNS WINDSHIELD INTO HOLOGRAPHIC AR DISPLAY
Last week we reported that Volvo wants to turn the windshield into a head up display. But a Swiss company called WayRay says it’s got a leg up on that. It can turn a windshield into a holographic augmented reality display. It can be used for both drivers and passengers, providing info such as stoplight and pedestrian alerts, navigation routing, and animated points of interest. They even designed a 3-seat, ride-hailing car called the Holograktor that uses this technology. But it’s not an autonomous car. It can be driven conventionally or by remote control. One clever interior feature is called the Air Knife. It blows out a curtain of air that separates the occupants from each other. It prevents air particles that come from the passengers sneezing or talking from moving around the cabin. Just the tech to have in a pandemic conscious world!

And Autoline After Hours is back again this Thursday. So we invite you to join John and Gary for some of the best insights into what’s going on in the automotive industry.

And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching.