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Runtime: 9:38
0:07 A-Pillars Are Killing Pedestrians
1:17 JLR Makes Energy Storage Systems with Used I-Pace Batteries
2:16 Top OEMs Ranked by Revenue
3:59 Ford Uses Robot to Run 3D Printing Machines
4:58 Honda Bets on Hybrids
5:23 Geely Develops Battery Swapping for Big Trucks
6:25 Lamborghini Sets All-Time Sales and Profit Record
7:34 Li Auto L9 Has 745 Miles of Range
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
A-PILLARS ARE KILLING PEDESTRIANS
Cars and trucks are killing more people in the United States. Pedestrians, to be exact. Pedestrian fatalities have increased every year since 2009. Last year, 6,500 pedestrians were killed and another 54,700 were injured. Big trucks and SUVs seem to be at the root cause of the problem. The IIHS found that SUVs, pickups and vans are way more likely to hit a pedestrian while making a turn, especially left turns. The IIHS attributes it to the size of the A-pillar, which can be huge in full size trucks. And that creates blind spots. Here’s our Autoline Insight. The A-pillars are so big because safety regulations stipulate they have to support two-and-a-half times the weight of a vehicle. That’s to protect occupants in a roll-over. Even so, 30% of all fatalities involve rollovers. And that rule has triggered the law of unintended consequences. While trying to save people in one area, it’s killing them in another.
JLR MAKES ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS WITH USED I-PACE BATTERIES
Critics of electric cars, and there’s a lot of them on social media, say, “what about those batteries? Nobody knows how to recycle them.” Well, we do know how to recycle them, and automakers are working with a number of startups to mine used batteries for raw materials. But before they get to that stage, EV batteries can be used to create energy storage systems. That’s why Jaguar Land Rover teamed with a company called Pramac to make the storage systems out of used I-Pace batteries. You can get a system with a 125-kWh battery, which is enough to fully charge an I-Pace or power a home for a week. JLR used it at a Formula E race where it powered its team diagnostic equipment and supplied auxiliary power to its pit garage. The market for used EV batteries in storage systems could be huge. JLR says it could be worth $30 billion by 2030.
TOP OEMS RANKED BY REVENUE
Last week we ranked the top car companies in the world by car sales. Someone in the comments section suggested we ought to show how they rank by revenue–that is how much money they bring in on the top line. So here goes. VW and Toyota are in a class of their own. They’re in the more-than-two-hundred-billion-dollars-a-year club. Then, about $100 billion behind them, comes a middle group, led by Stellantis, which surprisingly is the third largest car company in the world ranked by revenue. After that you come to the group that hasn’t cracked the $100 billion ceiling. And we were surprised to see that Hyundai hasn’t done that considering its Number Four in the world based on how many cars it sells. And lookee here. Tesla will probably surpass Nissan this year and already sailed past Renault, even though Tesla sells less than half as many cars as they do. By the way, we love presenting this kind of information to you because you’re not going to find it anywhere else.
| TOP OEMS RANKED BY REVENUE | |
|---|---|
| VW Group | $276 Billion |
| Toyota Group | $253 Billion |
| Stellantis | $167 Billion |
| Mercedes-Benz | $147 Billion |
| Ford | $136 Billion |
| General Motors | $127 Billion |
| BMW | $122 Billion |
| Hyundai Group | $96 Billion |
| Nissan | $66 Billion |
| Tesla | $54 Billion |
| Renault | $54 Billion |
| Source: Annual Reports | |
FORD USES ROBOT TO RUN 3D PRINTING MACHINES
3D printing could turn out to be one of the greatest advances in manufacturing. And now Ford is taking it to a new level. It’s operating 3D printers using a mobile robot from Kuka without any help from humans. Nicknamed Javier by Ford’s 3D printing team, it doesn’t need a camera to “see.” Ford also developed an interface program to allow the robot to communicate with the 3D printer because equipment from different suppliers typically don’t come ready to interact with one another. Since no human supervision is needed, the robot can operate the 3D printer all-night long in a lights-out setting. It’s currently being used for low-volume, custom parts like brake line brackets for the Mustang GT500. Not only can the robots help with 3D printing, Ford says they can be used in other areas of manufacturing to simplify equipment and add flexibility to the assembly line.
HONDA BETS ON HYBRIDS
While the rest of the industry is spending big on BEVs, Honda still believes in hybrids. It’s investing just over a billion dollars to upgrade its plant in Ontario, Canada to build the 2023 CR-V Hybrid. Honda also builds the Civic in Canada and has the capacity to produce about 400,000 vehicles annually in the Great White North.
GEELY DEVELOPS BATTERY SWAPPING FOR BIG TRUCKS
As you know, several car companies in China offer EV battery swapping. But now Geely is testing it for heavy-duty vehicles, like cement mixers and semis. It had to modify the process because of the weight of the trucks. Instead of trying to lift the vehicle to swap out the battery from underneath it, Geely’s station uses a crane above the vehicle to hoist the battery out, which is located behind the cab. It takes about five minutes to swap a battery and a single station can swap batteries for up to 50 trucks. The station is modular in design, with a footprint of only 200 square feet, so it can be constructed quickly in just about any location.
LAMBORGHINI SETS ALL TIME SALES AND PROFIT RECORD
Lamborghini shrugged off the Covid pandemic and the chip shortage, and set all-time records for sales, revenue and profits. It sold 8,405 cars, which brought in nearly €2 billion in revenue, and posted an operating profit of €393 million. The Urus SUV topped the sales chart, with over 5,000 of them going into customers hands. It sold nearly 2,600 Huracans and nearly 800 Aventadors. Lambo’s biggest market is the US, which accounted for nearly 30% of sales. China accounted for 11%; followed by Germany at 8% and the UK at nearly 7%. Lambo says these are the last of its pure piston powered cars. It’s investing nearly €2 billion over the next 5 years to develop hybrid and electric models. The first of those is a hybrid version of the Aventador which comes out next year, and sometime in the second half of this decade it will come out with its first battery electric model.
LI AUTO L9 HAS 745 MILES OF RANGE
Li Auto, the Chinese startup, unveiled this smart looking crossover this morning. Meet the L9, the second model in its lineup. It’s priced between $71,000 and $79,000. It’s a BEV with a 44.5-kilowatt hour battery pack and a 1.5-liter turbo range extender. The L9 delivers 200 kilometers in pure EV mode, that’s about 124 miles. The range extender adds another 1,000 kilometers, or another 624 miles, for a total range of 745 miles. Inside, the instrument panel has two giant screens offset towards the front passenger, while the driver gets a head-up display for instrumentation. Note the bump above the middle of the windshield. That houses a lidar unit because the L9 comes ready for L4 driving even though that’s not legal yet in China, but could be approved soon.
AUTOLINE AFTER HOURS & THE RIGHT TO REPAIR
Be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours later this afternoon, as we dive into one of the most controversial topics involving car repair. Independent repair shops are running into problems trying to access the data they need to repair cars. Automakers are making it increasingly difficult to get that data. So why and how are they doing that? We’ll get answers from Gabrielle Hopkinds, from the Auto Care Association will be on the show. Richard Truett from Automotive News is coming on too.
And that wraps up today’s report, thanks for making Autoline Daily a part of your day.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
