AD #3608 – New Santa Fe Looks Stunning; Mahle EV Thermal Management Slashes Charging Time; Wash Your Car w/o Water

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

JLR TO BUILD BATTERY FACTORY IN UK
We start out today in the UK, where the local auto industry just scored a big victory. Jaguar Land Rover is going to build a battery plant in Britain for its future BEV models. After Brexit was enacted, the British auto industry was put at a severe disadvantage and several automakers ceased production there. In fact, Britain was competing with Spain for the battery factory, but one thing that tipped the scales is that the UK government will provide hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies to see it constructed. Tata, JLR’s parent company, will invest $5 billion to build the plant, which will have an initial capacity of 40-GWh and production is expected to kick-off in 2026.

VINFAST ANNOUNCED U.S. PLANT GROUNDBREAKING
Earlier this week we reported that Vietnamese EV startup VinFast looked to be in trouble after 80% of the investors that put money into the SPAC that the company was going to use to get publicly listed, cashed out. And we wondered if the company would ever build its planned U.S. plant. Well, it is. VinFast announced that it will break ground on the factory in North Carolina on July 28th. It’s scheduled to start production in 2025 and will have an initial capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles annually.

VW U.S. R&D DEVELOPS LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS
Volkswagen is boosting research in the U.S. In 2020, it opened an Innovation Hub in Knoxville, Tennessee with the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Lab. And now we’re learning about some of the materials and technology that’s being developed there. For example, to reduce the weight of battery packs, researchers used AI to optimize the structure of the steel frame that houses the pack. It can be 3D-printed from liquid resins, holds 30,000 times its own weight and is up to 60% lighter. Durability tests show it exceeds conventional steel frames in energy absorption. Another innovation is a paper-based composite for interior parts. They can be made into various shapes and sizes, and different colors and textures can be added. VW says it could include these parts in future models. They also developed fiber composites to help reduce weight. For example, the liftgate from a 2020 Atlas made from fiberglass reinforced plastic, is 13 pounds lighter than the regular liftgate. Bentley and Lamborghini are already using these materials and molding processes for the Continental and Aventador. And lastly, the team is working to improve wireless EV charging using silicon-carbide materials. They’ve been able to increase charging power up to 120-kW from an earlier 6.6-kW prototype and the goal is to reach 300-kW.

ELECTRIFY AMERICA CHANGES PRICING METHODS
Speaking of charging EVS, we got an announcement yesterday from Electrify America that it’s going to have some “price adjustments” coming next month. Sure sounds to use like it’s going to cost more to charge your EV. The big change is that EA is going to shift away from a standard charging price and instead will come up with a price that is specific to the charger that you plug into. And they’re going to charge you more, or less, depending on how fast your car is charging. The faster it charges, the more you’ll pay. And they’re going to start charging customers for idle time, that is, they’ll charge you for the time your car is plugged in after it’s fully charged. That’s to encourage people to unplug and get the hell out of there, so others waiting in line can get their turn.

MAHLE EV THERMAL MANAGEMENT SLASHES CHARGING TIME
As we keep pointing out, some of the best innovation in the auto industry comes from suppliers, and here’s a couple of good examples. The German supplier Mahle is coming out with a new type of thermal management for batteries that it claims allows a battery that takes 40 minutes to charge to charge in 15 minutes instead. And it can increase driving range up to 20% because the battery operates more efficiently.

INMOTIVE EV 2-SPEED TRANS ADDS 15% DRIVING RANGE
A Canadian company called Inmotive says its two-gear EV transmission has been verified by a major automaker as the most efficient on the market. It did not identify who that automaker is, but it was jointly developed with Suzuki. To shift, an actuator directs outer gear segments in or out of the chain path, while the motor speed is adjusted so that shifts are barely perceptible and are done in as little as 19 milliseconds. Combined with a chain and chain-tensioner, it provides up to a 2:1 gear ratio. Since the transmission, called Ingear, makes an EV motor operate more efficiently it can increase driving range by 15%, or allow the battery to be downsized by 15% to cut cost. And as fast as electric cars are, it can increase acceleration by 20%.

HELLA LAMPS FOR PORSCHE USE 32,000 PIXELS
The German supplier Hella, which is now part of Forvia, is coming out with the world’s first headlamp that uses hi-res matrix LEDs. In fact it uses over 32,000 individually controllable pixels per headlamp. The pixels can be adjusted to prevent an oncoming driver from being blinded. And on the highway or at narrow construction sites, the optimal lane can be projected onto the road for the driver. Amazingly, it uses 75% less packaging space than conventional headlamps. The lamp, called SSL/HD is available on the new Porsche Cayenne.

WASH YOUR CAR WITHOUT WATER
And here’s a really cool product for people who live in areas where water usage is becoming a problem. Here’s a way to wash your car without using very much water. A company called Rubbit out of Dover, Delaware has an eco-friendly foam that you spray on your car. You mix 40 ounces of water with 5 caps of foam, shake it up, pump up the sprayer, spray it on your car, wait 10 seconds and wipe it off with a microfiber towel. The kit costs $79 and is good for 25 car washes. But once you have the kit the foam refills cost $19.

NEW HYUNDAI SANTA FE LOOKS STUNNING
Remember when the Hyundai Santa Fe first came out? Ugh. It was a pretty frumpy looking vehicle. But man oh man, not any more. Hyundai is showing off the all-new version and it looks stunningly good. It has a decidedly upscale look to it–more like a Land Rover than Hyundai. And you’ll see the letter H, for Hyundai, incorporated into several design elements, like the H-shaped lamps at both the front and rear, and the H-shaped lower front fascia. Inside, Hyundai claims it has class-leading space and says it focused on maximizing rear cargo capacity to appeal to outdoor customers. It also features a curved display that connects the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster to the infotainment screen. Hyundai didn’t share any other specs but we shouldn’t have to wait too long. The Santa Fe will make its world premiere in August on Hyundai’s YouTube channel.

And that brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for watching Autoline Daily.