Listen to “AD #3593 – Toyota Using Generative AI For Design; Tesla Scores More NACS Wins; New Super Duty Features Impressive Tech” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 10:05
0:00 Rivian Adopts Tesla’s Charging System
0:44 Texas Mandates Tesla’s NACS Plugs
1:30 China Extends Tax Breaks for Electric Vehicles
2:28 Toyota Using Generative AI to Aid Design
3:23 Toyota Unveils New Luxury Vans for Japan
5:23 Land Rover Updates the Discovery Sport & Evoque
6:30 Cadillac Teases New Electric Escalade
6:57 Ford Super Duty Features Impressive Technology
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RIVIAN ADOPTS TESLA’S CHARGING SYSTEM
Momentum is clearly building towards Tesla’s charging system becoming the standard in North America. Yesterday, Rivian announced it’s joining Ford and GM in adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard or NACS. Next year, its customers will have access to 12,000 Superchargers in the U.S. and Canada and starting in 2025, Rivian will equip the charging port as standard in its vehicles.
TEXAS MANDATES TESLA’S NACS PLUGS
But that wasn’t the only victory for NACS. Texas announced it’s going to mandate that EV charging companies in the state must include both Tesla’s charger and the CCS or Combined Charging System at their locations, in order to receive EV charger funds. This isn’t too surprising since Texas is the home of Tesla’s headquarters and one of its gigafactories. There’s also been a flurry of other charging providers saying they’ll be adding NACS and Hyundai says it’s considering it too. So, it just seems like a matter of time before Tesla’s NACS becomes the standard in North America.
CHINA EXTENDS TAX BREAKS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
To help boost sales, China is extending a tax exemption for the purchase of a New Energy Vehicle or NEV, which include BEVs, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. The $72 billion package is over a four-year period and the largest ever for the auto industry. In 2024 and 2025, NEV purchases will be exempt from a tax that can be as much as about $4,100 per vehicle. And then it starts to phase out. In 2026 and 2027, that exemption is cut in half. The program is expected to benefit domestic brands that produce cheaper EVs rather than foreign automakers that sell more expensive models. And thanks to this extension, EV sales are expected to increase 30% next year, which is up from an estimated 15% gain this year.
TOYOTA USING GENERATIVE AI TO AID DESIGN
Toyota is using ChatGPT-like tech to help design cars. In the example that it provided, a designer(s) will first come up with an initial sketch(s), then ask the AI tech something like “show me futuristic sleek variations of my design while minimizing drag.” It then spits out several iterations with varying levels of aerodynamic drag. And to make sure they’re not overwhelmed by an infinite number of designs, team members will add in extra engineering constraints. Toyota recently amped up its pivot to EVs and one of the ways it sees itself being successful is by speeding up the development and manufacturing of its vehicles. And using AI in design is all about designing EVs faster and more efficiently.
TOYOTA UNVEILS NEW LUXURY VANS FOR JAPAN
Speaking of Toyota, it’s coming out with all-new versions of the luxury vans it sells in Japan, called the Vellfire and Alphard. They’re based on the same version of the TNGA platform as the Sienna minivan, but come with radically different styling and much more upscale interiors. I know we’ve shown some of the wild grilles featured on these models in the past. And they continue with deep plunging grilles, expressive side panels and stylistic rear taillights. The driver gets a wraparound layered dash with a wood inlet set high and a large upright digital display. But the real treat is to sit in the 2nd row captain chairs that are highly adjustable and come with a number of extra creature comforts. The luxury vans are launching with either a gas or hybrid powertrain, both of which come in 2-wheel and AWD setups. The gas engine is a 2.4L turbo, while the hybrid is a 2.5L four cylinder that combines to make nearly 250 horsepower. But Toyota says it will also add a plug-in hybrid version in the future. The Vellfire and Alphard go on sale today and starting prices range between roughly $38,000 and $63,000.
LAND ROVER UPDATES THE DISCOVERY SPORT & EVOQUE
JLR is refreshing a couple of models in its lineup that share the same platform, the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. They both get mild exterior styling updates, which is highlighted by a new treatment around the front air curtains. The interior sees the biggest changes with a larger infotainment screen, a new gear shifter design and the HVAC controls are no longer separated out by themselves, which clears up space below the center screen. Both the Discovery sport and Evoque are powered by a range of gas and diesel mild hybrids as well as a plug-in hybrid that combines a turbocharged 1.5L 3-cylinder engine, an electric motor and a nearly 15 kWh battery pack. Thanks to a revised battery chemistry it now offers 47 kilometers or 29 miles of real-world driving. Both are also on sale now in the UK. The Evoque starts at just over 40,000 pounds, while the Discovery Sports starts right around 45,000 pounds.
CADILLAC TEASES NEW ELECTRIC ESCALADE
Cadillac teased the new electric Escalade that debuts in August. Not surprisingly its hard to get a good look at it in the teaser video but Cadillac did share this image of the front end, which reveals an interesting lighting signature. Officially called the Escalade IQ, the model will be built at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant but that’s all the details Cadillac is sharing for now.
FORD SUPER DUTY FEATURES IMPRESSIVE TECHNOLOGY
Ford is launching its all-new Super Duty pickups today and we were really impressed by some of its features. There’s not enough time for us to cover them all, but here’s three pieces of tech we think people will like that actually use their trucks as trucks.
The first is what they call hitch assist. It can be a real hassle backing a truck up exactly to the ball of a trailer. So the Super Duty uses a rear camera, side radars, parking sensors and a neural network algorithm to place the hitch right above the ball on the tongue of the trailer. All the driver has to do is put the truck in Reverse, hold a button on the dashboard and let the truck do the rest. It saves a bunch of time getting in and out of the truck if you don’t have a spotter, and it’s more accurate.
Next up are on-board scales that help you position a load on a trailer for perfect balance. In this case, as a front-end loader is positioned, the center screen lets the driver know when it’s properly centered. And a vertical array of LEDs in the taillights lets the driver in the front-end loader know when they’ve hit the sweet spot.
The same idea applies to how much weight can be loaded in the bed of the truck. The driver can watch the center screen, or hit a button on the center screen to activate the taillights as a weight indicator. And if you try to overload the bed, the taillights and the center screen let you know that’s all it can take. And just so you know what the maximum payload is before you start tossing things in the bed, the maximum tonnage is shown in a graphic molded onto the top of the side of the bed, in this case 2.5 tons.
There’s so much about the new Super Duty and we’ll have more in tomorrow’s show.
And you’re not going to want to miss Autoline After Hours coming up on Thursday. We’ll have the CEO of Caresoft on the show. They tear down vehicles for benchmarking and we bet you’re shocked by some of their insights.
But that’s the end of this show. Thanks for joining us.
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Seamus and Sean McElroy cover the latest news in the automotive industry for Autoline Daily.