AD #3579 – Chevy Brings Back Colorado ZR2 Bison; BYD 2023 NEV Sales Top 1 Million; NHTSA Proposes AEB Mandate

  

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

LUCID RAISES $3 BILLION
Lucid Motors has struggled to ramp up production of its Air sedan, but it’s about to get another lifeline. It says it plans to raise another $3 billion through a stock offering. But most of that will come from its biggest investor, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which already holds a 60% stake in the EV startup. While the announcement sent shares tumbling, Lucid said the investment will ensure it survives a couple more years, but only if it starts spending less money.

NHTSA PROPOSES AEB MANDATE
In 2016, 20 automakers made a deal with NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to voluntarily install automatic emergency braking equipment in most of their vehicles by 2022. But now NHTSA wants to mandate the technology for all vehicles and expand its capability. Under the voluntary agreement, AEB tests by the IIHS are done between 12 and 25 MPH for front-to-rear collisions with other vehicles. But the new NHTSA proposal will mandate that the technology work at speeds up to 62 MPH. And it will require pedestrian protection, including avoiding them at night. If it gets adopted, automakers will have three years to meet the requirement after it goes into effect. NHTSA says the new AEB rule will save 360 lives a year and reduce injuries by at least 24,000 annually.

BYD NEV SALES TOP 1 MILLION IN 2023
BYD is racing up the sales charts and just broke its own sales record. The automaker sold more than 240,000 BEVs and plug-in hybrids in May, which is up a whopping 108% compared to last year. That’s about 5,000 more vehicles than its previous record. And for the first five months of the year, BYD has sold more than 1 million vehicles, which is nearly double what it sold last year. And about 490,000 of those sales were BEVs.

TOYOTA INVESTS $2.1 BILLION MORE IN U.S. EV PRODUCTION
I don’t think there’s any denying that there’s been a greater focus on electrification at Toyota since new CEO Koji Sato took over in April. Now the automaker is ramping up EV production in the U.S. Toyota is investing an additional $2.1 billion at its new battery manufacturing site in North Carolina for new infrastructure that will support future expansion. That brings its total investment into the facility to nearly $6 billion. It’s slated to be up and running by 2025 and will have 6 production lines, four for hybrids and two for BEVs. Toyota also announced it will build an all-new, 3-row fully electric SUV at its plant in Kentucky, which will get batteries from the new plant in North Carolina. That means the new electric SUV will be out in 2025 as well, so it can get those batteries.

HONDA BUILDS 30 MILLIONTH ENGINE IN OHIO
Honda’s biggest engine plant in the world is being retooled to help support its electric future. The Anna Engine Plant in Ohio just made its 30 millionth engine, a 2.0L hybrid unit that’s used in the Accord and CR-V. But it’s also going to get the ability to make casings for battery modules, which will be used in Honda and Acura EVs built in Ohio. The Anna plant is part of a $700 million investment that will turn Ohio into Honda’s EV Hub. If you didn’t know, Honda’s presence in Ohio is huge. It employs over 15,000 people across 5 plants and it has the capacity to produce nearly 700,000 vehicles, 1.2 million car engines and a million transmissions a year.

FARLEY SAYS EV COST PARITY WILL HAPPEN AFTER 2030
Many analysts have predicted that EVs will reach cost parity with internal combustion powered cars as early as 2025. But Ford CEO Jim Farley believes it’s going to take a little longer. He says it won’t be until after 2030 that they reach parity when 2nd and 3rd gen EVs hit the market. Farley says costs will come down from “lower labor content” because it will be easier to build EVs with fewer parts and they’ll have smaller batteries with less expensive materials. He also says distribution costs will be cheaper with EVs by selling them online.

FORD OFFERS LEASES TO UBER DRIVERS
And speaking of Ford, the automaker is forming a partnership with Uber to lease Mustang Mach-Es to its ridesharing drivers. Called Ford Drive, the pilot program will allow Uber drivers to lease the EV between 1 and 4 months. The drivers can manage payments and services through an app and Ford dealers will provide maintenance. The program is currently only available in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. And Hertz also has a similar deal with Uber to rent Teslas to the ride-hailing company’s drivers.

 

CHEVY BRINGS BACK COLORADO ZR2 BISON
Chevy is bringing back the Colorado ZR2 Bison for the 2024 model year and is making it a little more capable. The off-road truck still uses Multimatic spool valve dampers but they’ve been retuned. It also gets a slight suspension lift and has more ground clearance compared to the standard ZR2 thanks to a set of 35-inch tires that wrap around 17-inch beadlock wheels. Under the truck are a set of steel skid plates instead of aluminum and the front and rear bumpers are steel too just in case customers bash into a rock or something. Look for the Colorado ZR2 Bison to go on sale before the end of the year. And think about this for a moment. Ford revealed the U.S. version of the Ranger Raptor on May 10th. Toyota revealed the all-new Tacoma and TRD Pro version on May 18th. And now Chevy is showing off the Colorado ZR2 Bison. So, that’s three mid-size performance off-road trucks shown off in less than a month. There might not be a better time to be a truck fan than right now.

JEEP TESTING AUTONOMOUS OFF-ROAD SYSTEM
Speaking of going off-road, Jeep is giving us a little flavor of an autonomous off-road system that it’s developing for future models. It’s not providing many details yet, but it’s been testing the system in Moab, Utah with a couple of modified Grand Cherokee 4xe’s. If I had to guess, I would say there’s a guided function, where the vehicle follows a path itself; a lead-and-follow function where the vehicle follows the one ahead and maybe the ability to control the vehicle through an obstacle without anyone inside using a phone or tablet. But we’ll know for sure when Jeep reveals more this summer.

And be sure to join John and Gary for Autoline After Hours this afternoon. The show kicks off at 3PM eastern time on our website and YouTube channel.

But that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.