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Runtime: 9:25
0:00 Nikola Files for Chapter 11
0:44 Ford Delays Next F-150
1:19 Rivian To Post Gross Profit
1:53 Toyota Takes LG Battery Plant in Michigan
2:18 VW EV Sales Tank in China
3:27 Honda’s New Fuel Cell Specs
4:28 Toyota Tests Fuel Cell Truck with Two Filling Nozzles
5:03 Honda Told Nissan To Dump Its Hybrid Tech
5:48 China Tightens Grip on Rare Earths
6:16 GAMIC Announces Start-Up Finalists
7:03 Lynk & Co 1st To Adopt NVIDIA Thor Chip
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NIKOLA FILES FOR CHAPTER 11
Last week we told you that Nikola was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. And yesterday it filed for Chapter 11. To raise the money to pay off its debts, Nikola is going to try and sell off all its assets. But it’s probably going to come up short. The company has less than $1 billion in assets, but has liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. Many companies use Chapter 11 to reorganize operations and restructure their debt, but if Nikola is going to sell off all its assets it sounds like this is the end of the road for the truck maker.
FORD DELAYS NEXT F-150
A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the next-gen Ford F-150 wasn’t coming out until 2028 and now the automaker is telling its suppliers that the program has officially been delayed to at least the middle of that year. Ford’s financial earnings have been pretty mediocre lately and pushing back a big program like that will save the company money in the short term. But it’s also a risk. Last year the Toyota RAV4 outsold the F-150 in the U.S. market, the first time in 47 years that the F-150 wasn’t Number One.
RIVIAN TO POST GROSS PROFIT
Meanwhile, Rivian, a company that Ford had invested in at one point, says it will report a gross profit for the 4th quarter of last year. And that’s despite a parts shortage that crippled its production in the quarter. The turnaround is thanks to selling EV credits, getting lower prices for components and materials, and getting higher prices for its vehicles. No doubt that Volkswagen money is helping, too. Wall Street has been waiting for Rivian to post a gross profit, and it could be a key turning point for the company.
TOYOTA TAKES LG BATTERY PLANT IN MICHIGAN
When GM backed out of that battery plant that LG Energy Solution is building in Lansing, Michigan, everyone wondered what would happen with the plant. Well, Toyota just rode to the rescue. It has agreed to shift a $1.5 billion order from another LG plant in Michigan to the Lansing factory. LG is expected to fully acquire the plant this spring and production will start soon afterwards.
VW EV SALES TANK IN CHINA
Volkswagen’s EV sales have absolutely tanked in China. According to CarNewsChina, it sold just over 4,500 electric vehicles in the country last month, which is down 71% from a year ago. And if you look at individual models, it can get even worse. VW only sold 9 ID.7s, which is down 99.6%. But to only sell 9 models in an entire month, after selling over 2,200 the previous year, we think there has to be something else going on, other than Chinese consumers turning away from VW’s EVs. It could be clearing out inventory as it gets ready to introduce its next-generation of electric vehicles that were developed in China, for China.
HONDA’S NEW FUEL CELL SPECS
Honda and GM are going their separate ways with fuel cells and Honda just revealed specs for its first independently developed fuel cell module. It produces nearly double the peak output of the jointly developed module, 77-kW vs 150-kW for the new unit. And while peak voltage and weight only see slight improvements, Honda says it’s smaller, so volumetric efficiency is up, it costs half as much to produce and has twice the durability. Mass production is scheduled to start sometime in 2027. So, to cover that gap between now and 2027, Honda is going to introduce stationary power generators that use the jointly developed fuel cell. Those fuel cells will be combined into units that put out 250-kW and up to four of those units can be connected for a maximum output of 1,000-kW. Honda expects these to be used by factories and office buildings and production starts next year.
TOYOTA TESTS FUEL CELL TRUCK WITH TWO FILLING NOZZLES
Speaking of fuel cells, while hydrogen-powered vehicles can refuel in about the same amount of time as a gas-powered vehicle, I’ve heard those times can vary wildly between stations. That’s why this caught our eye. Toyota is testing fuel cell heavy-duty trucks with two filling nozzles. It wants to see if it can double the fueling speed to help reduce downtime. But like the super duper-fast EV chargers in China, Toyota says there’s only a few stations that currently offer twin hydrogen fueling nozzles.
HONDA TOLD NISSAN TO DUMP ITS HYBRID TECH
We’re getting more details about why talks over a Honda and Nissan merger ended earlier this month. As we’ve reported, the main reason is because Nissan rejected Honda’s demand that it become a subsidiary of Honda. But now a new report from Japan says it also had to do with Honda demanding that Nissan ditch its e-Power hybrid technology and adopt its system instead. Nissan rejected that too, mainly because it has invested $2 billion to develop the e-Power tech. But as we reported yesterday, the merger between the two automakers isn’t completely dead with Honda saying it would be open reviving talks if Nissan gets rid of CEO Makoto Uchida.
CHINA TIGHTENS GRIP ON RARE EARTHS
China is tightening its grip on its rare earth mineral industry. The country is proposing new regulations that include quotas for mining, smelting and separating as well as monitoring and enforcement of rare earths. China already dominates in rare earth production and the new rules are an effort to tighten its control of the global market. Rare earth materials are essential to make magnets for electric motors that are used in EVs.
GAMIC ANNOUNCES START-UP FINALISTS
We’ve been following what’s going on at GAMIC, which is the Global Automotive & Mobility Innovation Challenge. It’s like that Shark Tank TV program, but GAMIC is where automotive startups pitch their products to judges who have extensive experience in the auto industry. Yesterday, GAMIC announced the semi-finalists, who come from Spain, Israel, Canada, the UK, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and 5 from the United States. Their inventions include everything from EV charging to robotics to manufacturing, more efficient engine combustion and a whole lot more. If you’d like to take a peek at what these companies have come up with, we have a link in today’s description box and transcript.
LYNK & CO 1ST TO ADOPT NVIDIA THOR CHIP
The Lynk & Co 900 SUV will be the first vehicle to feature NVIDIA’s new centralized computer, called Drive Thor. It’s capable of 1,000 TOPS or trillion operations per second or, in other words, it’s four-times faster than its current system. Drive Thor is meant to control ADAS and hands-free driving features as well as all the infotainment and displays. Lynk & Co is part of the Geely Group and other group brands, including Volvo, will also get Drive Thor in the future.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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The Toyota RAV4 outsold the Ford F-150 in the U.S. last year makes me wonder what percentage of those Toyotas were Hybrids? Having bought a RAV4 Hybrid last year I understand why Toyota outsold Ford.
Hard to beat the RAV4. It is efficient, cheap, reliable, and large enough to do most things but small enough to park in a standard parking spot. The F150 is not efficient, not cheap, not reliable(compared to a RAV4), and too large for most spots. If you don’t need the capability of a truck to haul/tow, I would see the RAV4 as the next vehicle I would buy for a family. The trick is for Ford to conquest RAV4 sales with the escape. I think I remembered them saying that they were cancelling the escape in favor of the bronco sport. Maybe Ford changed their mind on that lately though. I don’t see a bronco sport outselling a RAV4 at any point in history.
According to a couple search hits, more than half of RAV4s sold are hybrids. One dealer site said regular hybrid plus plug-ins make up more than 3/4 or RAV4 US sales. I realized they were selling well, but I didn’t know the hybrids were selling that well.
Ford’s delaying the next F-150 makes sense to me. Of the several pickup owners I know, not many buy new ones just to have the latest generation. I doubt if sales will jump much, after a few billion dollars are spent on the new generation that probably won’t be much different from the previous one. They could do something different and make it more rounded, like the the late ’90s-early 2000s F-150. I’d like it, but I don’t buy pickup trucks.
It seems Ford has been back and forth about cancelling Escape. A few years ago, they announced that 2024 would be its last year, but there is a 2025, and I don’t know beyond that.
Speaking of Escape, I know one person who has a 2024 Escape hybrid, and it has been awful. The 12 volt battery won’t stay charged. The owner has about a 5 mile commute each way, and that isn’t enough. They tell her to drive it on longer trips, connect a trickle charger, and maybe other things. I’ve had 5 Toyota hybrids, and that has not a problem with any of them. Sometimes I’ll do 4 or 6 ~one miles trips to restaurants, before doing a longer trip, and I’ve never had a problem with the battery going dead.
That Escape is a sample of one, but if that issue is common, they need to fix it, and fast. It sounds like the charge system, which uses a down-converter from the big battery to charge the 12 volt battery isn’t working right. Either that, or there is a high residual drain on the battery. Whatever it is, multiple trips to the dealer haven’t resolved it.
Can’t say I’m surprised to hear about Nikola. Won’t be surprised if Rivian isn’t too far behind along with lucid.
I believe the Nissan board will kneel to Hondas demands. 2 billion is a lot to invest but if the results don’t garner a better product then you’re just throwing more money at a bad idea. I have a feeling this merger will happen at some point this year.
That Lincoln looks like the old Ford flex rebooted with some Range Rover styling cues.
It’s interesting that Honda would want Nissan to dump e-power, their series hybrid system sold in some markets, but not in North America. I’ve always been a skeptic, expecting poor highway fuel economy, but it is difficult to find actual numbers. I suspect highway mpg is dismal, which is why the powertrain was never sold in North America, and why Honda would want it gone, if there were a merger.
Kit,
The battery drain issue for short trip users has been a problem since 2021. There is not an identified fix for owners that drive short trips from Ford that I am aware of. The best guess from owners is that there is a current draw related to the OTA updating and some have had success turning that off. Turning off OTA updating prevents the car from randomly “waking up” and drawing the battery down. Not a silver bullet, but it has helped some people. I would just lemon law the car if I was them and get a different PHEV. If that is not a possibility I would drive it a long distance and then trade it in at the end of the drive for a different PHEV that works properly, likely a Honda or Toyota that functions properly. Whatever is done, me keeping that car for any length of additional time would not be in the cards.
It is a non plug-in hybrid. I’ll see if things have gotten any better. She is an elected official in a town with a lot of car industry/UAW and wanted to buy an American car, or probably would have gotten a RAV4 or CR-V hybrid. She had good luck with a ~2014 Fusion. You’d think Ford would be able to fix it. The powertrain is not that different from Toyota hybrids, which don’t have that issue.
That is definitely unheard of for the non-plug in hybrid. The non-plug in hybrid will start and run the engine constantly if the 12V battery is the slightest bit below 11V. If it is not doing that, then there is something amiss with the software running that vehicle or maybe the battery voltage sensor is sending an incorrect signal to the ECU or the ECU itself is defective. I am assuming of course that the dealer already exchanged the battery as that should have been the first course of action. They likely need a different dealer to correct it or lemon law the car.
Doesn’t the Escape hybrid charge the 12v battery from the big battery using electronics, like the Toyota hybrids, rather than having an alternator? The Toyota hybrids are keeping the 12v battery charged any time the car is “on,” whether the engine is running or not, but will drain it when in accessory. I’m pretty sure the battery has been replaced at least once. Yeah, maybe they should try a different dealer, but better yet, probably lemon law it and get a RAV4 or CR-V.
They may have changed to charge the 12V from the hybrid battery although it would not make much sense to me.
The hybrid battery gets depleted very quickly and stepping down the voltage would use very expensive electric hardware. The prior versions used the engine alternator and would kick it on as needed. On my personal Ford Hybrid it is on its original 12V battery after 7 years. It is located in the trunk so it doesn’t see the temp and weather extremes an engine mounted battery would experience which is a likely reason for its longevity. That car has not had any issue in 110K miles and that was after spending the first 20K miles of its life as a rental car. A family member also has one and has had the exact same experience. Nothing has gone wrong, not even a 12V battery, in 7 years of service and 100K+ miles of use. I am so sorry your friends are having a bad experience with their escape.
The Toyota RAV4 did not beat F-150 in US sales in 2024….not even close. They are 2 different segments and comparing the 2 anyway is irrelevant. That is just emissions regulation segmentation and NOT appropriate for comparing market sales. Both are great vehicles. RAV4 is labeled a light truck but it is not a truck. The Honda CRV is the RAV4 key competitor…small CUV segment. The Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are key competitors to F-150 in the full size pick-up segment. Good comparison is Ford full size pick-ups vs. all of GM’s full size pick-ups. That is a tight race. RAM was late with its new pick-up and sad to see it struggle with quality issues. Would be nice to see RAM, Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler break out as a new company….American owned…and quality restored!