AD #3278 – GM Won’t Split ICE & EV Operations; Tesla Finally Gets Official OK for Giga Berlin; BMW to Make Fuel Cell Cars

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GM WILL NOT SPLIT ICE & EV OPERATIONS
When Ford decided to split off its EV operations as a stand alone business unit, General Motors took one look at it and essentially said, ‘Thank you very much, but we have no interest in doing that.’ Tim Grewe, the director of GM’s electrification strategy, said GM is keeping its engineering teams together because the lessons learned in making BEVs can then be instantly transferred to making ICE cars and trucks. He told an industry conference that GM can easily flex its workforce from one side to the other because they use common systems and a common language. So, he said, an improvement they make to the electric Silverado pickup can be applied to the traditional IC Silverado.

TESLA FINALLY GETS OFFICIAL OK FOR GIGA BERLIN
Tesla scored a major victory and it’s working fast to capitalize on it. It seemed to take forever to get permission from German authorities to officially open its Gigafactory in Berlin, but it finally got it. And now Tesla confirmed it will start delivering Model Ys built at Gigafactory Berlin on March 22nd. It’s holding a delivery event that day and sent out invitations to customers to come join the fun. With that plant finally coming on stream, Tesla will likely see a big boost in sales in Europe, and in China, because it will no longer need to export cars from China to Europe and can sell more of them in China instead.

CALIFORNIA CAN SET EMISSION STANDARDS, AGAIN
The EPA just granted California permission to set its own emission standards again. In 2019, the Trump Administration revoked California’s ability to set its own rules, but yesterday the EPA flipped that back around. The EPA said the Trump Administration “decided in error.” And the agency said other states can once again adopt California’s standards, which is another thing that was taken away by the Trump Administration.

VW OFFICIALLY REVEALS ID. BUZZ
VW fully revealed the ID. BUZZ, its all-new, all-electric van. We already had a good idea of what the van would look like, but as you can see now it wears a similar face to VW’s other ID models as well as a two-tone paint job and a big VW badge up front, like the original. The interior is pretty simple with two floating display screens, one smaller one you look through the steering wheel hoop for the instrument cluster and then a larger one in the center for infotainment. Like other ID models, the BUZZ features a battery pack with 77 kWh of usable space, which feeds a 150 kW electric motor that drives the rear wheels. There’s no mention of an all-wheel drive version yet, but there will be a long-wheelbase, 3-row version for North America. The European version is 2-rows. There’s also a Cargo version for Europe, which has more load space than a Ford Transit Connect, and the ID. BUZZ will be used as the basis for VW’s autonomous shuttle service, run by its mobility brand MOIA. The ID. BUZZ will be built in Germany and it goes on sale in Europe this summer. But unfortunately, North American customers are going to have to wait until 2024 before they can get their hands on the van.

CHEVROLET TEASES ELECTRIC BLAZER SS
Speaking of new EVs, Chevy teased the all-electric version of the Blazer. It will be the first Chevy EV to feature a performance SS model and while it will debut later this year, it won’t be available until 2023. That’s all we know for now. And no word on what it will cost, but you’ll remember that GM CEO Mary Barra promised that this electric Chevrolet Equinox will have a base price of around $30,000. If we use the ICE versions as a guide, a Blazer costs about $7,000 more than an Equinox, so that suggests the Blazer EV might cost around $37,000.

BMW TO MAKE FUEL CELL CARS
BMW is not giving up on fuel cells. It’s actually going to put a fuel cell car into small-scale production. Featured here in an X5, it uses two 700 bar carbon fiber fuel tanks. That’s over 10,000 p.s.i. The fuel cell system alone generates 125 kW or 170 horsepower, but there’s also a power battery, which is charged by the fuel cell, that pumps more juice into the motor and bumps combined output to 275 kW or 374 horsepower. While the iX5 Hydrogen is undergoing its final testing in winter weather, BMW has not released the vehicle’s range. But with low volume production starting later this year, we should learn more soon. BMW says this fuel cell powertrain could be added to its global portfolio of drive systems.

BMW FACES BIG RECALL OVER FIRES…
And in other BMW news, it’s recalling over a million vehicles worldwide due to fire risks. And these are ICE fires, not BEV ones. The heater for the positive crankcase ventilation or PCV valve may fail and could cause a fire. The recall involves models made between 2006 and 2013 and most of them are in the U.S. It’s the third recall over this issue since 2017. Many vehicles fixed in previous recalls have to be fixed again and the new repair won’t be available until the middle of the year. BMW says it’s ok for owners to continue driving but if they notice any smoke coming from the engine compartment or smell something burning they should turn off the engine and stop driving.

… AND POSTS GIANT JUMP IN PROFITS
But even though it’s putting out that major fire, quite literally, it posted its earnings for last year and the numbers are truly impressive. Even though the rest of the world struggled with the chip shortage, BMW sold over 2.5 million cars, which was up by more than 8%. That boosted revenues 12% to €111 billion. And it’s net profit jumped a staggering 223% to €12.4 billion.

JD POWER SAYS DEALERSHIP SERVICE SLIPS
Waiting for your car to get fixed at a dealership is taking longer than it used to. That’s according to J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Customer Service Index Study. Car owners are waiting a full day longer compared to last year, an average of 4.4 days. That’s because of supply chain delays and staffing shortages. J.D. Power says dealers can’t control the parts shortage, but they can do a better job of letting customers know what’s going on. Lexus topped the list of luxury brands for customer satisfaction and Mini was number one among mass market brands. Interestingly, the study found that customer satisfaction for remote repair services was higher than bringing a car to a dealer. And BEV owners were less satisfied with service than ICE owners. But that’s because BEV owners don’t know much about battery systems and electric powertrains. J.D. Power says automakers need to do a better job of educating customers about BEVs, to help alleviate repair anxiety.

DODGE LAUNCHES PERFORMANCE DEALER NETWORK
Back in the muscle car era, dealerships were a key source for anyone that wanted to hot-rod their car. Some even became well-known nationwide for their top-notch modification skills. Well, now Dodge is harkening back to that with its Power Brokers. This is a network of dealers, nearly 100 strong located in 34 U.S. states, that are the exclusive source for Dodge’s performance parts. The dealership and their staff have been certified to have the knowledge and expertise to talk about the parts, their features, what kind of performance they’ll add and to install the parts themselves. The parts also come with a factory-back warranty and customers can make order through the DCPerformance.com website as well.

OLIVER SCHMIDT ON AFTER HOURS
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to serve time in a federal prison? That’s going to be one of the topics on Autoline After Hours today. So is Volkswagen’s dieselgate. How did that ever get started? We’re going to be talking about that because our special guest is Oliver Schmidt, who played a central role in the scandal and served time in a federal prison for it. But Oliver is also an automotive expert, a real car guy and a motor racing enthusiast. So we’re also interested in his views on what he sees going on in the industry right now. Brett Smith from the Center for Auto Research will also be on the show, so join John and Gary when things get going later this afternoon at 3 pm eastern time.

But that’s a wrap. Thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day.