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Runtime: 11:09
0:00 Tesla Model 2 Coming in 20 Months
1:04 Nissan, Li Auto Postpone EV Intros
1:59 China Increases Dominance of EV Raw Materials
2:43 EV Owners Want Safe Charging Stations
4:29 Ford Pro’s Latest EV Van
5:38 London Electric Launches EV Van in China
6:56 BMW, Volvo, VW Group Face Sales Ban in U.S.
8:04 Toyota Planning PHEV Tundra & Sequoia?
8:43 Tesla FSD Now Semi Hands-Free
9:11 Tesla Keeps Hiding Easter Eggs
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
TESLA MODEL 2 COMING IN 20 MONTHS
Is Tesla really working on a Model 2? You bet it is. In fact, it’s working on two versions, one for the U.S. market and a slightly different version for Europe. Autoforecast Solutions reports that Tesla will launch the Model 2 at its gigafactories in Austin and Berlin. But the one for the U.S. is designated the 2x, which Autoforecast describes as a slightly more rugged off-road version, kind of like the Crosstrek version of the Subaru Imprezza. The Model 2 that will be built at Berlin is a compact, inexpensive car. It goes into production in July of 2027. The rugged 2x goes into production in Austin in January of 2026. But it will only be built until December of 2030, at which time it gets replaced in January of 2031 with the next generation 2x.
NISSAN, LI AUTO POSTPONE EV INTROS
In a sign that automakers are not sure how the EV segment is progressing, two automakers, one in the U.S. and one in China, are delaying the introduction of new BEVs. Automotive News reports that Nissan told suppliers to stop all development on an electric sedan it was going to start building at its plant in Canton, Mississippi in June of 2026. And in China, Li Auto, is postponing plans to launch more pure electric models after its first BEV, called the Mega, didn’t sell very well. Li Auto is blaming a shortage of fast chargers in China and not enough showroom space at its dealerships for the delay. The company has been successful selling extended range EVs in China, but its profits fell 37% in the first quarter and it expects them to go down even more next year.
CHINA INCREASES DOMINANCE OF EV RAW MATERIALS
Despite moves in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea to reduce their dependence on China for the raw materials to make EV batteries, China has actually increased its dominance in nickel, cobalt and lithium production. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese mining and processing companies are expanding their operations, flooding global markets and dropping prices. The result is that Western competitors are suspending operations or cutting back on investments. Canada’s deputy prime minister says the Canadian government believes this a deliberate policy to drive competitors out of business.
EV OWNERS WANT SAFE CHARGING STATIONS
We always hear complaints about the lack of public chargers holding back EV sales. But there’s another issue with the stations. Many EV owners don’t feel safe at them. According to a survey from the Transportation Energy Institute, EV drivers say they want public charging stations in visible areas that are open 24/7 and have multiple charging ports, bright lighting and security cameras. Only half of the current charging stations have some of those features and around two-thirds are visible with security cameras. The report also says that EV drivers spend an average of 30 minutes at a public charger, so it’s important for the locations to have things for owners to do while they wait.
FORD PRO’S LATEST EV VAN
Fleet customers in Europe are getting another option to go all electric. Ford Pro is launching the E-Transit Custom commercial van this summer. It features a 64 kWh battery pack that provides up to 337 kilometers or 209 miles of range as well as two motor outputs; 100 and 160 kW or 134 and 214 horsepower. There’s also a sportier MS-RT model that comes with a 210 kW or 281 horsepower electric motor. The van is available in two lengths and four body styles, which offer a max payload of just over 1,000 kilograms or 2200 pounds and a towing capacity of up to 2,300 kilograms or a bit over 5,000 pounds. The E-Transit Custom is made in Turkey and orders are open right now, but it will only arrive in select markets and Ford didn’t reveal those markets in the press release. However, it will spread across all of Europe next year.
LONDON ELECTRIC LAUNCHES EV VAN IN CHINA
Speaking of electric vans that will be sold in the region, the company that makes London’s famous Black Cabs, is launching a fairly luxurious van, called the L380. The London Electric Vehicle Company or LEVC was bought out by Geely in 2012 and makes a few different versions of its electric taxi, the TX. But now it’s expanding that lineup to include the new van. Sales kick off in China this year, followed by the UK market in the next two years. It rides on a new platform called Space Oriented Architecture and CarNewsChina reports it will have 200- and 400-kW or 268- and 536-horsepower and up to 785 kilometers or 487 miles of range. The interior looks pretty nice and will offer seating for 3 to 8 passengers with captain chairs in the second and third rows. LEVC has a strong footing in the UK. Over 50% of all licensed taxis in London come from the company, so it might be easier to get customers in showrooms. Kind of like MG, even though it’s owned by SAIC.
BMW, VOLVO, VW GROUP FACE SALES BAN ON UYGHER PARTS
BMW imported at least 8,000 Mini Coopers into the U.S. with electronic parts from a banned Chinese supplier, according to a U.S. Senate report. It says the company continued importing the vehicles until at least April. BMW says it has taken steps to halt the imports and that it will replace the affected parts. The components are banned by a 2021 law that prevents the import of goods from a region in China that is believed to be using forced labor. They are also used by Jaguar Land Rover, the Volkswagen Group and Volvo. All of them were sent a letter in January, warning them about the banned parts. JLR immediately stopped shipments. Volvo says they were for a vehicle not in production yet. And back in February, the Volkswagen Group revealed that several thousand Porsches, Bentleys and Audis, were held up at U.S. ports because they were equipped with the banned components. If these companies don’t replace those parts, the American government could stop the cars from being sold in the U.S.
IS TOYOTA PLANNING PHEV TUNDRAS AND SEQUOIAS?
Toyota is planning to invest more than $530 million to upgrade its plant in Texas that builds the Tundra and Sequoia. Automotive News reports it wants a tax abatement for the expansion. But Toyota isn’t saying anything about it. We think maybe two things are going on here. Toyota may want to boost the plant’s capacity, but it could also be re-tooling the plant to build plug-in hybrid versions of the Tundra and Sequoia. General Motors says it will have PHEV versions of its full size trucks in 2027, and that could be about the time that Toyota completes its expansion.
TESLA FSD NOW SEMI HANDS-FREE
Tesla is releasing an update for FSD that it says will improve its miles per intervention by 5- to 10-times. In other words, you won’t have to put your hands on the steering wheel as much. The system now more heavily relies on the in-cabin camera to monitor the driver to make sure that they’re paying attention. In some cases a message will come up to put your hands on the steering wheel, but not as often.
CYBERTRUCK EASTER EGG ON INNER FENDER
Speaking of Tesla, if you saw our latest video with Terry Woychowski, the President of vehicle benchmarking experts Caresoft, the EV maker continues to hide little Easter Eggs around its vehicles. This includes a stamping of the Cybertruck’s silhouette on the inner fender of the truck as well as a hammer that was from the original reveal demonstration of how tough the doors are. We were back at Caresoft again yesterday and they found another hidden jem. This time it’s a modified Superman logo, located on a circuit board for one of the computers. And don’t worry, that whole video will be coming soon.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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Dave says
It has been my impression that the next gen tesla [model 2] was going to be in 7 variants including a van, based on a front module, back module, and middle module to be matched in various combinations with an American, European, and Chinese variant ????
Dave says
All I can say is Stellantis is doomed, the Hellcat Charger does not hold a candle to my personal Tesla X and now with an AI supercomputer going in at their Austin plant how much faster will Tesla change? Then there is all the left over clean space not dedicated to a computer center for???
Lambo2015 says
The BMW, Volvo, VW possible ban, highlights the unfair labor practices used in China. For anyone that didn’t happen to catch SNL 3 days ago they had a skit specifically calling this out in reference to the app Temu. It was quite funny but sad thats its only funny cause its true.
https://youtu.be/MKTN2OiR2R8?feature=shared
Albemarle says
China’s moves to control the battery supply chain is just further confirmation that nothing good comes from governments fiddling in a supposed free market. That means all governments, and all programs to boost one country over another. I realize it’s an unrealistic view of free markets, but I can dream.
GM Veteran says
It appears that there is a serious competition among Chinese automakers to design the ugliest van. Thank goodness we have better choices here in the States, like the Chrysler Pacifica. Let’s hope that US automakers are not inspired to adopt this design direction.
Lambo2015 says
China has been playing chess while the rest of the world is playing checkers. They continue to be one-step ahead of everyone when it comes to manipulating the cost for raw materials of vital automotive and specifically EV components. They continue to have one of the lowest labor costs and will leverage that to price their competitors out of business. They are playing the real live game of monopoly and without some smarter politicians representing us soon, we will be the player circling the board knowing our next move is likely a square with a hotel and the rent is bankrupting us.
Kit Gerhart says
An interesting youtube video came up after the Temu spoof, a towing test of a Cybertruck, compared with a Ram diesel. The Cybertruck went 85 miles with 6% remaining. The diesel went the same distance with ~75% remaining. They unhooked the trailer from the Cybertruck and started it charging with a “supercharger.” and filled the Dodge in about 3 minutes for about $26. Then, they checked progress of the charging of the CT, and found that it would cost $37 for the 85 miles, $11 more than the diesel. It took about and hour and a half to charge the CT. The trailers were big, 8000 pounds, and tall and wide, but they documented what we already knew. EV pickup trucks are not remotely suitable for towing long distance. Actually, they aren’t practical for driving long distance, even empty, because it would take over an hour of charging for 250-300 miles, even empty.
Also interesting, the Cybertruck didn’t even come close to calculating remaining range. It was saying over a hundred miles of remaining range, when it was less than 50.
Kit Gerhart says
Regarding Temu, I ordered from them once, just to see how it would work. I ordered three cheap “fashion” tank tops, ~$18 with free shipping. It took about two weeks. It was hard to tell exactly where the package came from, but it ended up in the US mail. The quality and fit are actually ok. I probably won’t buy anything else from them, because there are probably more human rights abuses in their system,
than with most products from China sold by other vendors, but they actually did a good job of serving the customer, from my experience.
ChuckGrenci says
So, the Model 2 is coming in 20 months; is that real months or ‘Elon’ months. At this point in time, plans will probably change (and maybe no model 2) at all. I’ll be staying tuned.
George Ricci says
The next material to be in short supply will be copper with is used in EV motors and electrical wiring. For EV motors there really no good substitutes.
Kit Gerhart says
Aluminum can be used for motor windings, but with some compromises. I suspect motor designers are working on reducing the compromises.
wmb says
But isn’t China’s price war with rare earth minerals a double edge sword for them too? I mean, aren’t they saying that these newer, solid state batteries going to fewer, if any, rare earth within the next several years? Wouldn’t that mean that soon they may have a product that no one wants/needs that has very little value? I think that they are playing poker and not chess. Perhaps they are lowering the price of these minerals, hoping that OEMs will bit and slow advancement on product that will not need what they’re selling?!
IMHO, a very good opportunity for the EV vans like the Ford Pro vans, are shuttle buses at the airports! My wife and I flew out of town a couple weeks ago and there were several shuttles, taking passengers to large number of different locations, like hotels around the airport, park-n-rides, and other places associated with airport. From the smell.of the exhaust fumes from the vehicles where the rides of the shuttles are heard it to, those with breathing conditions could have challenges. An EV would eliminate that situation, the vehicles themselves would, for the most part only have short, routine trips! My only question would be the strong of HVAC in the summer and winter time? Would the heat pump be enough to support the passengers in that type of environment and conditions.
Sean Wagner says
Years ago, when the Model S was new, Schiphol airport started a shuttle service with Teslas. You could also see them all around Amsterdam main station.
Kit Gerhart says
EV vans, like long, tall Ford Transits might make good airport shuttles, if they could do a 15 hour day on a charge. What comes to mind is Orlando airport, where buses make rounds all day long between the parking lots and the terminals. I suspect they’d need much bigger batteries than current E-Transits to keep the AC going all day, though the driving is low speed, and not a lot of distance.