AD #3893 – UAW Threatens Stellantis With National Strike; U.S. EV Sales Shoot Up 18%; Xpeng Intros 800-kW EV Chargers

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

U.S. EV SALES SHOOT UP 18%
Sales of EVs shot up 18% in the U.S. market in July, according to new-car registration data compiled by S&P Global Mobility. Sales grew as more models entered the segment, like the Honda Prologue. Automakers sold 118,273 EVs, accounting for 8.5% of market share, compared to 7.6% a year ago. From January through July, EV sales rose 8.7%, easily outpacing the overall market. But that was also due to massive incentives from automakers, meaning the OEMs are racking up large losses to sell their electrics. Tesla finally showed a small increase in sales in July, up 1.2%, largely thanks to 5,175 sales of the Cybertruck. It sold about 57,000 vehicles for the month, followed by the Hyundai Group at nearly 11,000; General Motors at roughly 9,700; Ford at about 9,500; BMW was close to 5,500 and Rivian at over 4,500.

UAW THREATENS STELLANTIS WITH NATIONAL STRIKE
Last year Stellantis was hailed as one of the most profitable full-line global manufacturers, with some of the highest profit margins in the business. This year, the company is running into a slew of problems, with profits, sales and market share dropping dramatically. And now the UAW is threatening to call a national strike next unless it follows through on a commitment to start building mid-size pickup trucks at its assembly plant in Belvedere, Illinois in a couple of years. Stellantis is delaying that commitment, saying the market is uncertain at the moment. But its U.S. dealers are also up in arms, criticizing the company for raising prices too much and letting inventory rise to unhealthy levels. The last thing Stellantis needs now is another strike, and while it’s unclear if the company is really in violation of its latest labor contract, that may not stop the UAW from trying to shut it down.

UAW-VW CONTRACT BARGAINING WILL BE INTENSE
The union is also going after significant wage and benefit increases at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Earlier this year workers at the plant elected to join the union, looking for better pay and benefits. The top workers currently make $32.40 an hour, compared to $37.31 at Ford and the UAW wants to close that 15% gap. The union wants profit-sharing, cost-of-living adjustments, retirement security, affordable health care and the elimination of tiered wages. But at the same time that the UAW wants to win a record contract, VW is looking at slashing its manufacturing costs. Reuters reports it could book up to $4.4 billion in charges to close plants, including some in Germany. So the contract bargaining will be intense and we can’t rule out the possibility of a strike.

 

50,000 GALLONS OF WATER NEEDED IN TESLA SEMI FIRE
EV battery fires can be hard to put out. And that’s especially true of the massive battery pack in the Tesla Semi. The National Transportation Safety Board says that firefighters had to douse 50,000 gallons of water on a Tesla Semi that caught fire in California. And in addition to that, the firefighters used an aircraft fire retardant in the area just in case. The freeway where the crash occurred had to be shut down for 15 hours and then the truck was transported to a facility where it was monitored for 24-hours to make sure the battery didn’t reignite. The NTSB says it is still investigating the incident and that it plans to issue safety recommendations to help prevent similar issues. 

MEET RENAULT’S 1ST SDV, THE ESTAFETTE
Renault revealed its first software defined vehicle, a small commercial van concept called the Estafette. The electronic architecture was developed by Renault’s software and EV division Ampere and the actual structure or platform of the vehicle is called FlexEVan. Renault says it’s scalable and modular, so expect to see bigger variants, and things like updates and predictive maintenance will allow customers to cut in-use costs by about 30%. No details were provided about a possible powertrain, but Renault says a production version will be out in 2 years. 

FORD RANGER PHEV SPECS
I think it’s been more than a year since it was first shown, but we’re finally getting details about the new plug-in hybrid version of the Ford Ranger. Under the hood is a turbocharged 2.3L 4-cylinder gas engine, which is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission with a 75 kW electric motor incorporated into the bell housing. That setup makes about 275 horsepower and over 500 lb-ft of torque. Ford says it offers the same towing and payload as well as off-road performance thanks to an e-4WD system, which it describes as a dual-range transfer box and rear differential lock. A nearly 12 kWh battery that is packaged between specially-engineered frame rails provides over 45 kilometers or 28 miles of range. The system brings Pro Power OnBoard to the Ranger for the first time, which allows you to plug tools and other equipment into the bed of the truck. The Ranger PHEV will first be offered in Europe next spring by Ford’s commercial division Ford Pro. And speaking of Ford Pro, Ted Cannis, the head of the division is retiring after 35 years with Ford. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by Andrew Frick, who currently runs the ICE side of the business, called Ford Blue. But at one point we thought Ted Cannis could become the next CEO of Ford. So, we wonder if that decision hasn’t already been made and Cannis wasn’t it. 

XPENG INTROS 800-KW EV CHARGERS
Xpeng is adding ultra-fast chargers to its network in China. And I mean ultra-fast. The automaker announced it installed liquid-cooled chargers, which have peak power of 800-kW and are capable of providing over 1 kilometer of range every second. Xpeng put the chargers in four cities in China and has plans to add 13 more cities soon. Xpeng currently has 1,440 stations in its charging network with 560 ultra-fast chargers. And by 2026, it’s aiming to have 10,000 chargers with 4,500 of these new liquid-cooled ultra-fast chargers.

WULING MINI EV GETS DESIGN REFRESH
While sales of the Wuling Mini EV have been nearly cut in half since their peak, it still sold almost 240,000 examples last year. And now the model is getting a refresh. We would call the updated exterior styling more rounded and bubbly, but CarNewsChina reports little change is expected inside. It comes standard with a 30-kW electric motor, which was an option before, while it still uses the same LFP battery. It’s also expected to keep its starting price of about $4,500. 

 

TOYOTA READIES BZ3C EV FOR CHINA 
Speaking of EVs for China, the production version of a concept that Toyota showed off in April is supposed to hit the market before the end of the year. The styling of the bZ3C crossover stays pretty true to the concept, which we would describe as having a Prius-like front nose and Crown-like rear end. The model was jointly developed by Toyota, BYD and FAW. Both its 200-kW electric motor and LFP battery come from BYD. And I suspect so will its driver assistance system and smart cockpit features. Another SUV called the bZ3X that was jointly developed by Toyota and GAC was also shown alongside the bZ3C, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the production version of that shown soon.

RENAULT’S HORSE LANDS EREV CONTRACT  
Horse, the ICE joint venture between Renault, Geely and Saudi Aramco, just landed a couple of contracts to supply extended range EV powertrains in Brazil. The first is for Marcopolo, which will equip Horse’s 1.0L turbo-charged three-cylinder engine, in its Volare Attack 9 minibus. The engine runs on bioethanol and produces 85-kW or 113 horsepower. The bus has a maximum range of 450 kilometers or about 280 miles. Horse will also supply the same engine to Brazilian EV startup Lecar for its 459 Hybrid model that launches in 2026. Horse will supply Lecar with 12,000 engines a year. And we think we’re going to see more and more automakers launching extended range EVs.

UBER USING AVs FROM WAYMO, GM CRUISE
Autonomous ride hailing keeps making progress. Uber is going to expand its use of Waymo’s Jaguar I-Pace AVs for service in Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. Last year it started the service in Phoenix, Arizona. And next year Uber will put GM Cruise AVs into service. 

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.