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Runtime: 10:11
0:00 New World’s Fastest Charging EV
1:45 EV Sales Nosedive in EU
2:50 China NEV Sales Recover in March
3:27 U.S. Q1 Sales Looking Good
4:20 Toyota Builds Radically Different R&D Center
4:58 K-Pop Fans Torpedo Hyundai Aluminum Deal
5:33 Hyundai AV Passes Human Driver Test
6:14 U.S. Traffic Deaths Down, But Above Pre-Covid Levels
7:16 Liberty Media Buying MotoGP
7:48 VW Tech Scares Kangaroos Away from Cars
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
THE WORLD’S FASTEST CHARGING EV
China has the world’s fastest charging EV. The refreshed version of the Zeekr 001 was able to add 264 kilometers or 164 miles of range in just 5 minutes, topping out at a peak charging rate of 546 kW. That’s a little bit faster than the Li Auto Mega van, which is able to charge at up to 521 kW. But it must have been able to maintain that rate for longer because the Mega van charged faster from 10-80%. It did it in just over 10 minutes and 30 seconds, which is about a minute faster than the 001. Zeekr, which is part of Geely, went with a CATL Shenxing 95 kWh battery pack that features temperature control technology to allow it to charge that fast. But both the Zeekr and the Li Auto require new, ultra-faster charging stations to achieve those times. In the case of Li Auto, it’s building out its own network with chargers up to 480 kW, not like the 520+ kW it achieved in its recent test. And Zeekr is also building out its own network, which will eventually include chargers capable of 600 kW, but current units peak out at 360 kW. So, it’s going to take a while to spread, but it’s interesting to see charging times getting closer and closer to how long it takes to fill up a tank of gas. And I suspect for most people, 164 miles in 5 minutes would be more than enough.
EV SALES NOSEDIVE IN EU
Sales of electric cars took a nosedive in Europe in the first quarter of the year. Automakers sold a bit over 246,000 BEVs, which was nearly 73,000 fewer than last year, of a drop of almost 23%. The Volkswagen Group saw the largest decline, down 43%, while Stellantis was down 40%. Tesla saw its sales drop 29%. This data comes from EU-EV.com, a website that tracks vehicle registrations in Europe, and serves as an indicator of how sales are going. Unlike the U.S. market, which is seeing a slowdown in the growth of electric cars, Europe is experiencing an outright drop in sales. European car buyers are turning away because of high EV prices, and seem to be waiting for lower priced models. This will be particularly alarming for European automakers because the rest of the car market is showing signs of recovery, so EV sales are going against market trends.
NEV SALES RECOVER IN CHINA IN MARCH
Meanwhile, in China, it’s a different story. After a slow start to the year, sales of electrics took off in March. Though all the data has yet to come in, Bloomberg reports that sales of New Energy Vehicles, which includes BEVs and PHEVs were up 33% to 820,000 units. But here’s a word of warning on the EV market in China. Of the 129 different brands selling electric cars, 109 of them have less than 1% market share–which almost certainly suggests they’re losing money.
U.S. Q1 SALES LOOKING GOOD
We’re also waiting for all the automakers in the U.S. market to report their first quarter sales. But it looks like the market is growing. Analysts expect the SAAR, or seasonally adjusted annual rate to come in around 15.8 million vehicles, up from 14.9 a year ago. They’re forecasting Q1 sales at 3.8 million vehicles, up 6% from last year, but down 3% from the 4th quarter. Growing levels of inventory along with more incentives is what they think is helping to move the metal.
TOYOTA BUILDS RADICALLY DIFFERENT R&D CENTER
Toyota is cutting down some of the silos that typically help prop up the legacy automakers. It finally completed its new R&D and technical center in Japan that it started working on in 2018. The vehicle development building has been built to feel and look like the pits at the Nurburgring, so members from all functions, including planning and design, development and engineering, and prototyping and evaluation, can gather in one place and develop cars together. Along with other new technologies and two specialized test tracks, Toyota thinks this will help it make better cars.
K-POP FANS TORPEDO HYUNDAI ALUMINUM DEAL
No this isn’t a late April Fool’s joke. Hyundai is calling off an aluminum deal due to a campaign from K-pop fans that were concerned about the environmental impact from producing the metal. In 2022, Hyundai signed a deal with Indonesia’s Adaro Minerals to supply it with aluminum. But a climate activist group backed by K-pop fans launched a campaign to end the deal because they’re concerned about the amount of carbon emissions created from smelting aluminum with coal power. Obviously, Hyundai caved to the pressure, and called it off.
HYUNDAI AV PASSES DRIVER’S TEST
Speaking of Hyundai, its robotaxi is good enough that it could get a U.S. driver’s license. The automaker showed its autonomous IONIQ 5 undergoing a road test in Las Vegas from a certified DMV driving examiner and, of course, it passed with flying colors. Hyundai says the AV was subjected to the same maneuvers required for a human being to get a U.S. driver’s license. Motional, which is the name of the AV joint venture of the Hyundai Group and the technology company Aptiv, currently operates a fleet of autonomous IONIQ 5s in Las Vegas and this video is all about generating more trust with its vehicles.
U.S. TRAFFIC DEATHS DOWN, BUT ABOVE PRE-COVID LEVELS
Traffic deaths in the U.S. declined last year but they’re still above pre-pandemic levels. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 40,990 people were killed in car crashes last year, down from over 42,500 in 2022, or a 3.6% drop. It’s the second straight year traffic deaths have dropped in the U.S. They surged during COVID lockdowns because with less cars on the road, more drivers were speeding and driving under the influence. And while traffic deaths are falling, NHTSA said in a separate report that pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are on the rise. In 2022, pedestrian deaths increased 0.7% to 7,522, the most since 1981. And 1,105 cyclists were killed in 2022, a 13% increase and the most since at least 1980.
LIBERTY BUYS MOTOGP
Liberty Media is adding another trophy to its portfolio. Liberty, which owns the commercial rights to Formula One, announced that it is acquiring Dorna, or the company that owns the MotoGP motorcycle racing series. The deal, valued at $4.5 billion, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Liberty bought F1 2017 and since then, the sport has exploded in popularity. And no doubt Liberty is hoping to duplicate that success with MotoGP.
VW TECH SCARES KANGAROOS AWAY FROM CARS
Though it doesn’t get a lot of attention, car accidents with deer are a big problem. And the numbers are staggering. In Europe, about 300 people are killed in accidents with deer every year, and 10,000 are injured. In the U.S. deer hits cause 200 human fatalities and 10,000 injuries. In Australia, they have a similar problem, but with kangaroos, which have about the same height, head size and ears as a deer and they kind of look the same too. So Volkswagen of Australia is trying to develop an electronic sound generator integrated into the VW logo on the front of the car to scare kangaroos away from the road. They call it the RooBadge. Working with the University of Melbourne, it uses an app and GPS data to turn on when a car drives into an area with lots of kangaroos. The RooBadge emits sounds similar to animals that prey on kangaroos, like dingos, as well as warning cries from birds and the thumps that kangaroos make with their hind legs to warn other kangaroos. The sound projects as a high-focused beam out in front of the car, and when the sound hits a kangaroo, it warns them of approaching danger. The RooBadge is still being tested, but VW hopes it will apply to deer and other animals. By the way we want to thank our viewer Robert Sciberras for bringing this to our attention. We have a very engaged group of viewers in Australia, so good on you, mates. And if you happen to see something that you think would be good to be on Autoline Daily, please send it our way.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.
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I’d think that extremely fast charging would not be good for batteries, when even charging them in a half hour is considered “too fast” for my model airplane batteries. Maybe with good cooling, that fast charging is ok.
VW’s RooBadge is the deer whistle of the 2020s. I hope if actually works.
US sales for the first quarter have been projected to be up moderately, which is good since our market has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, unlike Europe which is still struggling. The major exception to this is Tesla. They announced first quarter sales this morning and they were a disaster. Sales came in significantly below the lowest analyst estimate and much lower than sales last quarter and sales during the first quarter of 2023. While they had a couple of production challenges, their sales are suffering here in the US because of their lack of styling changes since the models were launched, and to some degree, Elon’s erratic pricing moves and political statements on X.
The bad news is that their sales in China have dropped off even more dramatically than their US sales. Their technological progress used to be their edge and allowed them to command higher prices than the Chinese brands. But now they have fallen behind the Chinese EV leaders and even price cutting isn’t sustaining their sales. They have reduced the output of their Shanghai plant and may need to do so again.
In true Tesla fan style, the company’s stock is only down around 5% today. If any other company reported results this bad their stock would likely tank 15-20%.
I am calling BS on the Hyundai driver’s test. I watched the video and did not see any scene where the instructor gave a verbal direction to the car, such as “turn left at the next light”. Or, “find a spot on this street and parallel park the car”. My entire driver’s test consisted of this type of spoken direction. So, did the Hyundai just follow a pre-planned route? Did they enter a destination and simply observe how it drove while on the way to said destination? They did not say how the test was actually conducted, or if it included parallel parking, something that is included in every driver’s test I have been aware of and likely the thing that reduces a test score more than any other single aspect.
Its a cute and heartwarming video, and gets points for illustrating how well the car drives itself. But, its a stretch to say it would really pass a driver’s test.
Kit, I think the difference between the deer whistle and the Roobadge is that the latter emits sounds of predators and warnings from other animals. But like you, I hope it works.
Most drivers I see, especially in Florida, would fail the driver’s test I had in the ’60s. Most of them stop at red lights, if they don’t run the light, with the rear wheels on the ~foot wide white line that the front of the car is supposed to be behind. They do the same at 4 way stops. Then, too many people don’t understand turn signals, or the concept of keeping right except to pass. If they actually took a driver’s test, they’d probably do better on some of these things, but would probably still stop 10 feet too far forward, often on cross walks.
I don’t think it’s fair to lump all bad drivers together. Some are driving BMWs and they are notorious for being unable to engage turn signals.
Tesla has a lot of new, and by most accounts, very good competition from the local car companies in China. VW had, by far, the biggest market share in China in the late ’90s, with over 50% in 1998. They had 10.65% in 2022. VW’s market share decline was rapid in the early 2000s, even as VW’s production increased, because the total market was increasing a huge amount every year, with both other JVs and Chinese companies adding the volume. Based on what we see from VW, I suspect they will continue to lose Chinese market share with the transition to EVs. So far, their offerings aren’t that persuasive.
It would be good to find a way to scare deer away from roads. I think the problem is very difficult because once they get scared, they are inclined to run any which way, which normally is a good defense mechanism.
Can you imagine driving in wooded countryside on a busy expressway with every car howling like a wolf, yipping like a coyote and simulating gunfire? Wouldn’t be a peaceful picnic at the rest stop.
I suspect the luxury car market is really going to struggle in the coming years. Lincoln, Caddy, even BMW, Jag and MB used to have options that really set their vehicles apart. But today you almost always get the basic power options like windows locks keyless entry touch screens with car-play or Android Auto. Even my pick-up has power seats heated seats, heated steering wheel, dual climate control front and rear parking sensors and back up camera. The electronics on vehicles today is offered on almost anything. So, other than insulation to make it quiet or the leather used on the seats is there as much difference between a nicely loaded main-stream automaker and a luxury brand?
As GM Vet eluded, I think Tesla used to stand out more with EVs that were quick and offered FSD. But that’s pretty much the standard now and just being the leader isn’t enough. Tesla is going to have to step up their game to compete with China. Over-all I’d say the gap from the worse cars to the best cars has been narrowed that even a basic entry level car is pretty decent. The entire industry has stepped up in quality and although you still have the occasional turds its not as often. If China launches good quality products its going to become really difficult for all manufacturers to compete.
Years ago in Montana mountain biking,had a dear jump out in front of me,not a fun memory
It’s a pity that Tesla hasn’t lavished a little more attention on the Model X. A proper exterior update could help sales Maybe refresh with Cybertruck tech? Size-wise, it’s still a globally compatible luxury EV.
I recall devices being sold many years ago that were supposed to emit a sound to scare off deer. You were to glue it to your front bumper… They likely did not work but the idea has been around for a while… Nor do I know what they sounded like. I thought they were supposed to make some non-irritating tone to frighten deer that was hard for humans to hear…
Regarding luxury vehicles struggling in the coming years, I often thought that the roots of this in the U.S. started with the mid 50s when suddenly all the mid priced cars (Olds, Buick, Pontiac, Mercury) came rapidly under assault from what were then the lower priced cars (Chevy, Ford, Plymouth) because by 1955 they suddenly all had powerful competitive V8s available, & a growing number of options that made a heavily optioned Chevrolet easily outdo even a standard Cadillac by 1959 as far as the amount of formerly luxury items that could adorn the vehicle interior. In fact by the mid 60s with the Galaxy 500 LTDs & Chevy Caprices & Plymouth VIPs it was getting harder and harder to make a Cadillac or Lincoln or Imperial really stand out. Yes the interior of the full size 66 Devilles and 66 Imperials and 66 Lincolns still had better leather, & finer interior parts (the Imperials were swathed in 100 year old wood),etc., & still did have some uplifting pa-nosh, but for the $$ it was getting hard to beat these low priced value threats.
As Lambo said, every vehicle now sold has power windows, keyless entry, and cruise control. They have touch screen, whether you like it or not. You get more stuff by moving up in trim level. My lowest trim Highlander hybrid has a power driver’s seat, but manual day-night mirror, no heated seats, and no “home link.” It’s all ok with me. For an extra $3K I could have gotten vinyl seats instead of cloth, auto day-night mirror, home link and a few other things, but I’d rather have cloth, and don’t care that much about the other stuff.
I remember hearing from my childhood, years before I was driving, what the advantages of “luxury” cars were. My family had a 1951 Dodge, and an aunt had a 1949 Cadillac. The Cadillac had a 160 hp V8, while the Dodge had a 103 hp flat head six, but the biggest advantage of the Caddy was that it had Hydramatic, while the Dodge had a Gyromatic transmission, a 2-speed transmission with overdrive, a clutch, and a torque converter. The Dodge semi-automatic was inefficient, and slow, but I guess was generally reliable for the time. The base, 3-speed manual would have been better in the Dodge.
I remember my dad saying that, overall, he liked driving the Dodge better, because of the steering. The bigger, heavier Cadillac, without power steering, had heavy, slow steering compared to the Dodge. Chrysler was the first to have power steering, at least in the US, in 1951, and Cadillac had it in ’52. Probably all American cars had it as an option by 1955 or before. I think the “fringe” small Henry J and Crosley were gone before ’55, but wouldn’t have had power steering.
Now, premium brand cars have little advantage over mainstream ones, except generally prettier interiors and maybe quietness. Other than the nicer interior, my neighbors’ Lexus RX seems no better than my Highlander, except for a somewhat nicer interior. It isn’t even noticeably quieter. The upper trim level Highlander has all of the gadgets of the Lexus, but is still substantially less expensive than the RX.
Still, people buy premium brands for the “image.”
The actual DROP in EV sales in the EU is interesting. I’m interested in hearing more analysis about this, from folks that might understand the bigger picture of new technology trends, and what drops like this really mean.
For me, sitting here in the cheap seats, it says a few things.
To start, Tesla needs to make their cars look better. They’re …. ‘fine’…. but they all look alike. They’ve done the same thing that BMW did, and just introduced cars that are basically ‘photoshopped’ versions of one theme.
It also wouldn’t kill them to make an interior that wasn’t boring to look at. To me, a complete design is just like a complete relationship. We might be attracted to the exterior look, but it’s the personality that we actually live with. In this case, it’s the design of the car body that we are often first attracted to. But it’s the interior that we live with. Nothing about the interior of any Tesla makes me think “Wow, they really want me to love this!” They are all far too spartan, with simple boring shapes. A boring flat dash, and a giant ipad glued on the front of it, definitely does not define ‘character’ to me.
The next thing is, it is eminently clear that LOEM’s had better get on their horse, and start making more functional EV’s. There is variety in the looks of their EV’s, but few hold a candle to what Tesla can turn out from a functional standpoint, in volume. (Chinese charging arms race aside – though folks SHOULD pay attention to that)
Sure, there will be Tesla fans that will say they LOVE the spartan interior. But to me, it is entirely lacking in soul. It doesn’t SAY anything. Anything except “You get nothing to look at” Nothing except our screen, which seems mostly like a ‘look what I can do’ toy. Simple adjustments shouldn’t have to require screens to touch. Those need good old school buttons. Yada, yada, yada, but buttons fail. So do screens. And at least if a button fails once this EV gets OLD, I can take the thing apart, polish up the contacts with some emery paper, and get it working again. Once the screen fails, it’s done. Replacement will likely come with a pretty large cost – because they know you won’t be even able to operate your car without it. Ya, not a good thing, if you think about longevity.
But that’s just me, here in the cheap seats.
As an aside, this is still a ‘thing’. The trend is pretty obvious.
Though Petro-bro’s will see a drop in EV sales in one quarter as ‘proof’ of their supposedly ‘obvious’ decline, the trend is there.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNEoEwez7cmdXcPBcaP3oW4DaKCMjARBSN8_KJHnv3ABcLm1fjy1HDA5HBLSyDfxQ?key=S1hwVm81cnF6VkphSHhtR1NwRjVBVGRhNXZpOEFn
Dave: show that same chart specific to the US. The worldwide increase is skewed by a lot of Chinese vehicles being sold that are enclosed golf carts. Not real cars. Because by looking at that chart the percentage of EVs is way more than the >8% of US sales. Plus, many of those surveys include hybrids no matter how mild the EV portion may be. So, the actual full BEV percentage isn’t that strong. I suspect we will see a huge surge in hybrids in the next couple years making the EV percentage grow but I really think the general public is going to struggle with the high price and limitations of a BEV. Sales will increase but I don’t think they will reach anywhere near what politicians and environmentalists would like to see. It would be interesting to see if ICE sales have peaked in the US.
Dave, to me, the thing wrong with Tesla interiors, at least the 3 and Y, is that the functionality is awful. Knobs, buttons, and stalks serve a purpose in cars. Touch screens aren’t that good, even for passengers in a car who don’t need to look at the road, if the road is bumpy.
Maybe EV sales are down in Europe because everyone who wants one, already has one, and won’t be replacing it for a few years.
Lambo, I think a lot of these charts include plug-in hybrids with BEVs, but not regular hybrids. Some manufacturers call hybrids, and even mild hybrids “electrified,” but most published data does not count them as EVs.
Here’s a chart of the top selling BEVs/PHEVS in China for December, 2023. The top selling ones are not “enclosed golf carts.” Many are what would be called mid-size CUVs in the US. Even the little BYD Seagull, about the size of my Mini, goes 80 mph.
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/31/25-of-new-car-sales-in-china-were-100-electric-in-2023/
It seems Lyriq production and sales are finally picking up. 5,800 in Q1 isn’t stellar, but 17% of all US (or NA?) Cadillac sales sounds like a good thing.
Cleantechnica has a good graphic of China’s top EVs in Dec. ’23, broken into PHEVs and BEVs:
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/31/25-of-new-car-sales-in-china-were-100-electric-in-2023/
I think the one thing people forget is we have a lot of vehicles already on the road in the US. About 285 million. So even if we sold 100% EVs next year (about 17 million) it would equal about 16.5% of vehicles on the road would be EVs. We need about 6-7 years of selling nothing but EVs and everyone replacing their ICE in those 6-7 years to get all the gas cars off the roads. Reduce that down to a take rate we are not even at yet of 20% of sales each year and it would take 83 years to replace all 285 million vehicles. Assuming you could still buy an ICE during those years. Thats why the 2035 ban of ICE will get moved.
The changeover to shall we say majority-electric vehicles was always going to take a generation.
What amazes me is that I actually am getting to witness it, in conjunction with dirt-cheap renewable energy being made available in mind-boggling quantities.
All while fracking has allowed the US to produce more crude and natural gas than ever (!) before.
Things that are superior do not need bans to make them sell. Nobody had to ban horses to sell cars. The market decided cars were better/more reliable/cheaper to operate than the horse. In fact, if I want to take a horse and buggy on the road today, I can. The amish do so every day of the week. Any government banning ICE tells me that BEVs are not superior to ICE in any way. If they were, people would buy them in droves and you couldn’t give away an ICE vehicle.
If I could get a model S sized sedan(similar to the size of an accord) for $28K that can go 429 miles(like the honda accord) let me set the temperature in the car at any level I want without reducing range(like the honda accord) and fill up in 3 minutes (like the honda accord)….I would buy a BEV. The fact that such a BEV does not, and will never, exist is why there has to be Bans. Owning a BEV requires the owner to dramatically change their way of using a vehicle and the car becomes something less than what they have today. It costs more money to get less. The technology is inferior because of the user experience downsides. That is why so many EV proponents result to name calling because they have no logical way to explain why a BEV is better because it just is not.
Merkur: Totally agree. I think of the incandescent lightbulb change. The florescent bulbs were more expensive but last longer and were a bit more resilient to vibration and shock and saved energy but didn’t work that great in the cold plus they were bulky and heavy. Then came LEDs and they are even more expensive but use far less electricity, temperature doesn’t seem to be as much an issue and they last even longer.
I feel like we are in the Florescent stage of EVs. They save some energy and are significantly more expensive have some advantages but an equal number of disadvantages. Plus, similarly have issues with fires. We are not yet to the LED of EVs.