AD #3629 – Tesla Taking Orders for Refreshed Model 3 in China; Most Americans Unaware of EV Tax Credits; Jaguar to Drop I-PACE

  

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

TESLA TAKING ORDERS FOR M3 HIGHLAND IN CHINA
Reports out of China say that Tesla is quietly taking orders for the Highland, the most anticipated refresh to the Model 3 since it came out four years ago. Highland is Tesla’s internal code-name for the refreshed car. Customers have to place a 1,000 yuan non-refundable deposit to order the car, which is about $137 at current exchange rates. Deliveries could start next month or in October. The base price is expected to be around 200,000 yuan, which is around $27,460. That’s $12,780 cheaper than the current base model in the U.S. according to Tesla’s website. Not only is Tesla said to have refreshed the styling, mainly on the front end, the Highland should get front and rear gigacastings to cut manufacturing costs. It’s expected to get a 5 megapixel camera, which provides better resolution for its automated driving system. It sounds like the turn signal and gear shift stalks will be eliminated altogether and those functions will be integrated into the steering wheel instead. And the standard battery size will likely grow to 66 kWh from the current 60 kWh. That will give it a range of 610 kilometers, or 379 miles on the Chinese CLTC driving cycle. The high performance version gets a 72 kWh lithium manganese iron phosphate battery from CATL… We think that base price is stunning. It suggests that Tesla’s so-called Model 2, the entry level car that it will build in Mexico, could be priced under the $25,000 that Elon Musk has been talking about.

48% AMERICANS CONSIDERING AN EV
Despite all kinds of negative news on the charging infrastructure and the price of EVs, more and more Americans are interested in getting an electric vehicle. JD Power and Ernst and Young found that nearly half of car buyers said they’re considering buying a BEV in the next two years. JD Power is forecasting that BEV sales will hit 27% of all sales in the U.S. by 2026, up from about 7% in the first half of the year according to Wards Intelligence data. Along those lines, Warren Browne, an independent analyst predicts that sales of electric vehicles in the U.S. will hit 1.18 million units, with 7.6% market share, for the full year.

71% AMERICANS UNAWARE OF EV TAX CREDITS
But while more people are interested in buying a BEV, most U.S. consumers are unaware of all the subsidies they can get for buying one. According to a recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, 71% of respondents said they knew little or nothing about the Inflation Reduction Act or the incentives it provides for buying an EV or other climate friendly products, even though it was signed into law a year ago. Many people know about the $7,500 tax credit, but there’s other things people don’t know about, like being able to get up to a $1,000 credit to install a Level II charger at their home.

ADAS COULD SAVE 250,000 LIVES OVER 30 YEARS
If Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS, were made standard equipment across the board it could save hundreds of thousands of lives. According to a new study funded by AAA with research performed by the University of North Carolina, ADAS technology, like automatic emergency braking and other warnings, could prevent up to 250,000 deaths over the next 30 years in the U.S. It could also prevent another 37 million crashes and 14 million injuries over the same period. But to get those benefits, more vehicles need to be equipped with that technology. Currently only about a quarter of registered vehicles have automatic emergency braking or blind spot warnings. By 2027, that’s expected to increase to about half of all vehicles. AAA also says there is confusion with drivers on how to properly use ADAS technology and more needs to be done to properly educate them on how to use it in order to see its full benefits.

JAGUAR TO DROP I-PACE
Jaguar says it’s converting to an all-electric brand in 2025, but the only electric car currently in its lineup won’t be a part of that future. JLR’s CEO says the I-PACE will be killed off about the same time that it launches its new generation of EVs in a few years. We’ve always liked the styling of the I-PACE, but it’s been out since 2018 with hardly any change and now range, charging speed and overall performance are well behind newer electric cars. And it seems like buyers are savvy to that information. Only a little more than 7,000 were sold globally last year and it’s on pace to sell less than 6,000 this year. So, Jaguar is really going to have to step up its game with its new EVs. The first model is going to be a 4-door GT with an estimated 700 kilometers or 430 miles of range, “power output more than any previous Jaguar,” a 100,000 pound price tag and it will be built on its own unique architecture, called JEA. That is probably another reason the I-PACE is going away. Its platform is made by Magna at a plant in Austria, which also supports the ICE-powered E-PACE.

STELLANTIS TO SOURCE U.S. LITHIUM
To reduce its dependence on China for EV batteries and materials, the U.S. is offering generous incentives to not only open new mining operations, but to also build batteries in the country. Stellantis announced it’s expanding its partnership with Controlled Thermal Resources or CTR to get lithium for batteries that will be used in its future EVs. CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen project in California is the largest lithium project of its type in the world and will extract up to 300,000 metric tons of the metal from geothermal brines every year. Stellantis is spending more than $100 million to get 65,000 metric tons of that lithium-grade battery material, which is up from a previous deal of 25,000 metric tons.

STELLANTIS OFFERS REMANUFACTURED PARTS IN U.S.
Speaking of Stellantis, it’s making it easier and cheaper to maintain your car. It’s bringing its circular economy strategy, called SUSTAINera to North America. You may have heard us talk about this program when it was launched in Europe in October of last year. At its core it’s all about stripping end-of-life vehicles of their parts that are still useful. They’re then cleaned or remanufactured and sold for less than what a brand new part costs. Stellantis says it’s on track to generate 2 billion euros of revenue a year this way by 2030. And by reusing old parts, it can also cut some emissions in half and save up to 80% of raw materials compared to what it would take to make a brand new version of that part. Stellantis says it has a two-year plan for North America right now, which includes expanding the current supplier footprint, adding to existing product lines and developing new products, like headlamps and taillamps.

MERCEDES IDs COUNTERFEIT PARTS
Speaking of car parts, every year Mercedes highlights its efforts to keep counterfeit parts off of its cars. This includes things like wheels and brake pads and last year Mercedes says it helped seize more than 1.6 million fake Mercedes parts. Not surprisingly, listings on social media and online platforms were up 23% compared to 2021. Mercedes says in many cases these parts are not made to its high-quality of standards and can pose safety risks for owners.

CONTINENTAL GETS US BRAKE-BY-WIRE CONTRACT
Continental, the giant German supplier, has a contract with an American automaker for a brake by wire system that will debut in 2027. The CEO of Continental said the system will be electronically controlled but will still use hydraulics to operate the brakes. That kind of system uses electric pumps to activate the hydraulics which allows braking at each wheel to be independently controlled. We think the most likely application is a high performance model. The CEO says the next generation of brake-by-wire after that will completely eliminate the hydraulics. But he would not identify who the customer is.

ONE ON AFTER HOURS
The company called ONE, for Our Next Energy, says it’s close to getting LFP batteries to match the range and mass of NMC batteries but at a cost that’s 25% cheaper. And we’ve got Mujeeb Ijaz, the CEO of the company coming on Autoline After Hours this afternoon to tell us more about it. You might remember that three years ago ONE put its Gemini battery in a Tesla Model S and drove it 752 miles on a single charge. If you want to learn more about what this company is doing be sure to join John and Gary as well as Nicole Wakelin at 3PM EST.\

But that’s the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.