AD #3552 – Lithium Prices Crashing; CATL Profit Up 557%; UAW Lays Out Contract Goals

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

UAW LAYS OUT CONTRACT GOALS
Shawn Fain, the new president of the UAW, signaled his top priorities in reaching a new labor contract with GM, Ford and Stellantis this fall. In an interview with the Automotive Press Association last Friday, Fain said the union wants to get back COLA, or automatic cost of living adjustments for his members. He also wants to eliminate the so-called “tiers,” where new workers start at a lower wage rate and take several years to earn equal pay with legacy workers. Fain said it was unacceptable for the base pay at GM’s Ultium battery plant in Ohio to start out at only $16.50 an hour and top out at $20. And he also said the UAW is going to take a more aggressive approach to organizing EV startups as well as the plants operated by foreign automakers in the United States. We’ve got a link in today’s transcript if you’d like to watch that entire interview.  

TESLA TO SHIP CHINESE Ys TO CANADA
Even though Tesla already has two assembly plants in the United States, it’s going to export Model Ys built in China to Canada. Reuters reports that the entry-level rear drive models will be priced at $44,275, which is over $7,000 cheaper than the long-range Model Y that’s sold in Canada now. The Chinese version will also qualify for a $5,000 Canadian EV subsidy. Deliveries should start in another month or two.

TESLA MAKES PROGRESS ON 4680 BATTERIES
Speaking of Tesla, its VP of engineering recently answered questions about the company’s efforts to produce 4680 battery cells. It currently makes them on a pilot line in Fremont and is seeing some impressive improvements with its structural battery packs. It’s spending 50% less to manufacture the packs and they require 66% less space to output the same amount of gigawatt hours. But it will eventually switch to making 4680s in volume at its new Cell Factory in Texas. It says it’s “part way” in fully building out that plant, which it hopes to get steady production from next year. This year, part of its goal is to have material production for its cathodes complete, which will include lithium supplied from its Corpus Cristi mine that breaks ground next month. Tesla hopes by 2026 that it will be spending 70% less per gigawatt hour than a typical battery cell factory. 

GMC HUMMER ADDS TRIM LINES
GMC is expanding the Hummer EV lineup for both the pickup and SUV. Until now only the Edition 1, which has all the bells and whistles, was available. It says it’s going to continue offering that package, but is also adding the 3X trimline. The main differences are the 3X comes standard with 22-inch wheels and 35-inch all-terrain tires, instead of 18-inch wheels and 35-inch mud tires, and without the Extreme Off-Road package, which includes that 18-inch wheel and tire setup, skid plates and underbody cameras. However, 3X owners can still order that package if they want. Hardware-wise, the Edition 1 and 3X are the same. Same 210+ kWh battery pack. Same tri-motor setup that makes about 1,000 horsepower in the pickup and 830 horsepower in the SUV. But the standard 3X with 22-inch wheels must be lighter because it offers 1,000-pounds more towing, 8,500- instead of 7,500-pounds, and more range; the pickup goes from 329- to 355-miles, while the SUV goes from 298-miles to 314. However, it’s going to be a while before people get their hands on a new Hummer EV. Orders are full right now and GM only made 2 Hummer EVs in the first three months of the year.

AUDI GOES FOR LONG RANGE A8 EV
Autocar has some bold claims about the all-electric version of the Audi A8 that is supposed to go on sale next year in Europe. It says the styling will be ultraslick and much more closely related to the grandshpere concept that debuted a few years ago. It predicts it will ride on the biggest version of the PPE platform that was developed by both Porsche and Audi. It’s an 800-volt architecture that allows charging of up to 270 kW and can accommodate 120 kWh battery packs. It could offer “one of the longest ranges of any EV on sale.” Audi’s head of user experience says the electric A8 interior won’t “overload” passengers, instead it will “give you more of a digital experience with less physical architecture.” Now I’m even more excited to see what Audi actually shows off.

WAYMO AV RESPONDS TO COP’S HAND SIGNALS
A video of a police officer directing an autonomous Waymo vehicle to pull over went viral on TikTok. The incident occurred a little over a week ago in Phoenix, Arizona. The vehicle encountered a parade and an officer in the road directing traffic tells the Waymo car to pull to the side so oncoming traffic could pass through. In the video, you can see the officer try to direct the car and also hear the passenger try to explain they can’t move it because they’re not driving. The Waymo did respond to the officer’s direction, pulled to the side of the road, then performed a multi-point turn and moved out of the blocked lane within 90 seconds. The passenger also received a call from Waymo support, who stayed on the line until the passenger reached their destination.

LITHIUM PRICES CRASHING
Last November lithium prices hit a record $86,000 per ton, but last month they took a nosedive and fell to $52,000. And this month they collapsed further to only $25,000. And it looks like prices could fall even more. Reuters reports that Argentina is about to bring mining online that could triple the country’s lithium production over the next two years. That would push Argentina ahead of China in lithium production, and put it closer to Chile. Australia is the largest producer.  The bottom line is that all this is going to bring down the cost of making batteries for electric vehicles. 

CATL PROFIT UP 557%
Those collapsing lithium prices probably played a big role in boosting the financial performance of CATL. The world’s largest EV battery producer saw its profits shoot up 557% in the first quarter this year to about $1.4 billion. Its revenue jumped 83% to $12.9 billion, and it generated $3 billion in free cash flow which is going to let it invest even more in R&D and battery plants. 

CALIFORNIA HITS BEV GOAL 2 YEARS EARLY
In 2012, California set a goal of getting 1.5 million BEVs, fuel cells and plug-in hybrids on its roads by 2025. That sounded pretty ambitious. But Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state passed that goal in the first quarter of this year, two years ahead of schedule. California leads the nation in EV adoption, but what happens in California usually spreads to the rest of the country.

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