AD #3379 – Baidu Says Its Ahead of Tesla’s AV Tech; GM Expands Super Cruise in China; Senate Axes Incentives For E-Bikes

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

BAIDU SAYS ITS AHEAD OF TESLA’S AV TECH
We kick off the week with a ton of news about autonomous and electric cars. And you just know that includes Tesla, too. Last week, Elon Musk said the company will roll out its autonomous technology later this year. But over in China, the CEO of Baidu says they’re going to be a generation ahead of Tesla with their technology. Baidu will mass produce its first robotaxis next year and says it will ramp that up to 800,000 robotaxis a year by 2028. Baidu’s AV uses 2 lidars and 12 cameras. As everyone in the world knows, Elon Musk is dead set against using lidar.

BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT IN U.S. FOR AVs
Meanwhile in the U.S. House of Representatives, a Republican and a Democrat are collaborating to write legislation for autonomous vehicles. Republican Robert Latta from Ohio and Democrat Debbie Dingell from Michigan are working on a bill they hope will find widespread bi-partisan support. In the Senate, Republican John Thune from South Dakota and Democrat Gary Peters from Michigan are working on similar legislation. They’re all trying to come up with federal legislation instead of having each of the 50 states come up with their own rules and regulations. And they also want to make sure this technology is developed in the US and not imported from China. 

CHINA DRAFTS AV REGS
But China isn’t sitting still. It’s already drafting rules that will regulate AVs. The U.S. and China are in a race to see who can be the first to commercialize autonomous technology, which many experts believe will be a game changing technology for the auto industry and even for society itself.

CALIFORNIA SUES TESLA OVER AUTOPILOT & FSD
None of this will be easy. The state of California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is suing Tesla, accusing it of falsely advertising the capabilities of Autopilot and Full Self Driving. Tesla says that Autopilot will automatically steer, accelerate and brake in its lane, and that Full-Self Driving even obeys traffic lights and can make automatic lane changes. But it also has a disclaimer that says the driver has to pay attention at all times and that its cars are not autonomous. Reuters reports that the California DMV says Tesla’s original statements contradict its disclaimer and are misleading. This is a serious accusation. The DMV could force Tesla to stop selling cars in California and even pay restitution to Tesla owners.

GM EXPANDS SUPER CRUISE IN CHINA
GM’s expansion of Super Cruise, which we reported last week, is not limited to the U.S. and Canada. It’s also getting an update in China. The system was introduced there in 2018 and is now available for use on 320,000 kilometers or nearly 200,000 miles of highway and nearly all urban elevated roads. Super Cruise in the Cadillac CT5 is getting an update as well, including a new user interface and automatic and on-demand lane changes. Teslas have famously been banned from use in certain areas of China over privacy concerns, like military bases. But we’ve not heard the same about GM’s Super Cruise. So, what’s going on? GM says it went through extensive local validation and uses an authorized local mapping partner. Maybe that’s something Tesla didn’t do? It also could be that Super Cruise isn’t capable of operating on a military base. But we’ll be interested to see how the Chinese react to Ultra Cruise when it comes out.

APTERA TEASES ITS INTERIOR
Aptera, the company that wants to sell these wild teardrop-shaped EVs with solar panels, just revealed the production intent version of its interior. The highlights include modern-looking bucket-style seats, a yoke-like steering wheel and two floating display screens. Full interior reveal will be coming sometime this week and production of the SEV or solar electric vehicle is scheduled to start before the end of the year. Aptera reportedly has something like 22,000 reservations. 

U.S. SENATE AXES INCENTIVES FOR E-BIKES
The U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides nearly $400 billion over the next 10 years for climate and energy reduction programs. That includes lifting of the sales cap for the federal EV tax credit. But it now leaves out one area of electric transportation. Bikes. An original version of the bill would have included hundreds of dollars in incentives for purchasing an electric bike, but it was removed. Advocates argue that more Americans would have benefited from an electric bike incentive than an incentive for passenger vehicles. The Inflation Reduction Act now goes on to the House, where it’s expected to pass within the week, and then would need to be signed by President Biden.

UAW OFFICERS GET A PAY RAISE
The UAW is giving its officers a pay raise. President Ray Curry is now making $207,000 a year, an increase of about 3%, which is the same bump in pay the other union leaders are getting. They’ll also get another 3% increase in March but that’s contingent on UAW members getting their profit-sharing checks.

NIO TO BUILD BATTERY SWAPPERS IN HUNGARY
Chinese automaker NIO just opened its first overseas plant in Hungary but instead of building EVs, the factory will make battery swap stations for the European market. The plant begins operations next month and the site also includes an R&D center for power products. NIO currently only sells vehicles in Norway but in the second half of the year it has plans to expand into Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

LUCID’S CEO WORKING ON FACTORY FLOOR
Lucid is running into production problems. Last year it said it would make 20,000 Air sedans in 2022. Last week it said it’s only going to make 6,000 to 7,000. So, during an earnings call CEO Peter Rawlinson said, and I quote: “I’ve been spending the vast majority of my time here, right here on the shop floor. And I believe it’s my responsibility as a CEO to be here resolving issues and helping to onboard new executives.” Close quote. That sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it? After going through “production hell” Tesla CEO Elon Musk did something very similar. We just wonder when we see the pictures of Rawlinson’s cot on the shop floor?

TOUR LAKE MICHIGAN IN YOUR EV
The U.S. needs more EV charging locations especially in rural areas, which would make it easier to take an EV road trip. So the states of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana are partnering up to create an EV charging network along the shores of Lake Michigan. Called the Lake Michigan EV Circuit Tour, the scenic tourism route will use existing charging stations and install new charging locations at coastal communities, lighthouses, state parks and other areas along the route. Dubbed the “electric Route 66” by the states, it’s expected to be completed over the next few years.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.