Listen to “AD #3398 – CA Warns EV Owners: Don’t Plug In; Chinese OEMs Dominate EV Sales; Old UK Train Tunnel Now Aero Testing Site” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 11:04
0:08 California Warns EV Owners: Don’t Plug In!
0:46 Chinese OEMs Dominate Domestic EV Market
1:34 Tesla Back to Normal in China
1:57 U.S. August Sales a Nightmare for Some
2:37 No EV Credits for Mercedes EQS SUV
4:26 New Vehicle Prices Soar 22%
5:08 Tesla Hiring Semi Techs
5:36 EV Chargers Could Get Infrastructure Law Waiver
6:06 South Korea Wants IRA Waiver
7:27 Alfa Romeo Does Its Own “Drive to Survive”
8:08 1898 UK Train Tunnel Now Aero Testing Marvel
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CALIFORNIA WARNS EV OWNERS: DON’T PLUG IN!
Uh-oh, this is not going to help electric cars, especially not in California. Last week the state announced its banning sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. This week it’s warning residents not to charge their EVs. The state is facing an extreme heat wave and is trying to avoid overwhelming the power grid. It doesn’t want EV owners to plug in from 4PM to 9PM over the three-day Labor Day weekend. As you can well imagine, the anti-EV crowd is having a field day with this.
CHINESE OEMs DOMINATE DOMESTIC EV MARKET
As China pivots to electric cars, foreign automakers are getting left behind. Get this, Xpeng and Hozon outsell VW’s two Chinese joint ventures. Bloomberg reports that 80% of NEV, or New Energy Vehicle sales, in China are with Chinese automakers. The China Passenger Car Association predicts that NEV sales, which includes BEVs, fuel cells and PHEVs, will hit 6 million units this year, which is twice as much as last year. One critic says that the EVs from foreign automakers don’t have enough range, have outdated styling, are behind in technology and are overpriced.
TESLA BACK TO NORMAL IN CHINA
Of course, none of this applies to Tesla in China. It’s now back to pre-lockdown production levels. Last month it made 77,000 EVs in China, according to the China Passenger Car Association. And with recent upgrades, Tesla’s plant in Shanghai will be able to make a million vehicles a year.
U.S. AUGUST SALES A NIGHTMARE FOR SOME
August was a pretty good month for some car companies in the US market. And for others it was a nightmare. Automakers sold nearly 1.3 million vehicles, which was down from last year. The SAAR was only 13.2 million, which is quite weak, and was slightly down from July. The companies that had a great month include General Motors, Ford, the VW Group including Audi and Porsche, Tesla and Mercedes. At the other end of the spectrum were Honda, Mitsubishi, Jaguar-Land Rover, Nissan and Volvo.
| U.S. AUGUST 2022 SALES | |
|---|---|
| Biggest Gainers | |
| General Motors | +33% |
| Ford | +24% |
| VW Group | +23% |
| Tesla | +13% |
| Mercedes-Benz | +9% |
| Biggest Losers | |
| Honda | -40% |
| Mitsubishi | -36% |
| JLR | -30% |
| Nissan | -28% |
| Volvo | -15% |
| Source: Wards Intelligence | |
NO EV CREDITS FOR MERCEDES EQS
Speaking of EV sales, on Monday when we reported that Mercedes had started production of its EQS SUV in the U.S. And we wondered if it would qualify for the federal tax credit. Turns out that thing is just too stinkin’ expensive. It starts at just over $105,500 and tops out at over $133,000, including destination charges. To qualify for EV subsidies, an SUV can’t cost more than $80,000. And we’re pretty sure that EQS SUV buyers won’t qualify either because they make too much money. Those filing a joint return have to earn less than $300,000 a year. And if this all sounds a little confusing to you, we suggest that you watch our YouTube video that breaks down how the federal credits for buying an EV are doled out.
NEW VEHICLE PRICES SOAR 22%
Interesting report from a company called BestBrokers. It points out that the prices of the best-selling cars and trucks in the U.S. are up a jaw dropping 22% over the last three years. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, Honda Civic and F-150 are up the most. Then come the Honda CR-V and Ram 1500. But Toyota’s best-selling models, the Camry, Highlander, RAV-4 and Tacoma have not gone up as much. BestBrokers says that by keeping prices lower, it looks like Toyota is going for market share.
TESLA HIRING SEMI TECHS
Last month, Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla will start shipping 500-mile range versions of its Semi this year. And now it’s hiring technicians to service those trucks at five locations, four in California and one in Reno, Nevada. Obviously, that’s where the first Semis will be delivered to customers and it looks like it could start to happen soon.
EV CHARGERS COULD GET INFRASTRUCTURE LAW WAIVER
The Biden Administration is all about “Buy American” but it’s already looking at waivers for EV chargers. That’s because only a small number of companies can meet the requirements. And the Administration is concerned it can’t build out a national EV charging network fast enough to meet its EV sales goals. So, the Federal Highway Administration is proposing to phase-in domestic content rules over a period of time.
SOUTH KOREA WANTS IRA WAIVER
And more waivers could be on the way. South Korea is not happy with the new Inflation Reduction Act, which excludes EVs not made in North America. And maybe its lobbying efforts are starting to pay off. South Korea’s national security adviser says the U.S. will look at the impact the law will have. South Korea, along with the EU, claim the law violates WTO and free trade agreements.
ALFA ROMEO DOES ITS OWN “DRIVE TO SURVIVE”
That Netflix series “Drive To Survive” instantly made Formula One more popular than it’s ever been. And it sure looks like Alfa Romeo is trying to do its own version It just launched its own series, called Beyond the Visible, that gives you a behind the scenes look at the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team. The first episode, which is out now, goes into what happens leading up to a new season and the races themselves. It’s a good watch, but at just under 9 minutes long, there’s not as much detail to hook you into watching, like “Drive to Survive.” Maybe the next episodes will bring more intrigue?
1898 UK TRAIN TUNNEL NOW AERO TESTING MARVEL
Here’s an intriguing story. Buried out in the English countryside is a tunnel. They call it the Catesby Tunnel, and it’s owned by ARP, or Aero Research Partners. It’s a wind tunnel, but this tunnel is 1.7 miles long. And it turns aerodynamic testing on its head.
“This, compared to a conventional wind tunnel, is better because it’s real. In a moving ground plane wind tunnel you have a stationary car and then you have a ground plane moving under it and wind moving over it. What we’re always trying to do is replicate a moving car through a road with the wind around it, and all wind tunnels turn that around.”
At the end of the run is a turntable, so they can turn the car around and run it back in the other direction. Multimatic took advantage of the tunnel to test its Mazda DPI car at speeds up to 120 miles an hour. And it says it’s better than testing aerodynamics at a track.
“The problem with moving through the real world is wind, potentially rain at times, gusting wind–all of the things that change while you’re in the real world. So this is the real world without any of the weather, without any of the wind, where everything’s at a constant temperature. It’s a perfect two miles of totally controlled atmosphere.”
There’s a fascinating backstory on the tunnel. It was actually built in 1898 as a Victorian railway tunnel. There’s still soot on the ceiling from the coal burning trains. The tunnel was closed to trains in 1966 and has now been transformed into a state-of-the-art aerodynamic testing facility.
A programming note here. Autoline Daily will be off the air on Monday since we’ll be closed for the Labor Day holiday here in the US. So have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here next Tuesday.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.
