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Runtime: 11:29
0:00 Toyota May Build New RAV4 In U.S.
0:59 Mazda To Stop Shipping CX-50 To Canada From U.S.
1:24 Traffic Restrictions Help Improve Emissions in Big Cities
2:36 Tesla Faces Lawsuit Over Manipulating Odometers
4:33 Tesla Cuts Cybertruck Production
5:49 VW Develops 1st In-House Automated Driving System
6:32 Archer Aviation to Launch eVTOL Service In New York
7:10 Horse Reveals Hybrid Retrofit for EVs
7:49 ABB to Spin Off Robotics Division
8:21 GAMIC Winner Can Bond Any Material Together
9:14 Autoline Aptera Poll
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
TOYOTA MAY BUILD NEW RAV4 IN U.S.
Automakers continue to rethink their production plans in response to President Trump’s tariffs. Reuters reports that Toyota is considering building the next-gen RAV4 in the U.S. It originally planned to build the model in Canada and Japan and ship it to the U.S. but now the automaker could make the model at its Kentucky plant too. The current RAV4 is built in Kentucky, Canada and Japan. Toyota is expected to introduce the new RAV4 this year but it could take until 2027 before it can build it in Kentucky because of the time it would take to retool the plant and adjust supply chains. However, this is an extremely important model for Toyota, the RAV4 passed the F-150 in sales last year, making it the best-selling model in the U.S.
MAZDA TO STOP SHIPPING CX-50 TO CANADA FROM U.S.
And Mazda announced that it will stop shipping the CX-50 to Canada from the U.S. because of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs. The automaker will stop producing CX-50’s bound for Canada at its plant in Alabama starting May 12. Last year, Mazda sold 72,000 CX-50’s in Canada or about 15% of its total sales in the country.
TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS HELP IMPROVE EMISSIONS IN BIG CITIES
Many major cities around the world have enacted measures to reduce pollution by charging congestion fees or creating zero-emission zones, which ban ICE powered vehicles. And now Bloomberg is reporting how those policies are working so far in New York City, Paris and London. At the beginning of the year New York started charging $9 to enter certain parts of Manhattan and according to traffic data from Google Maps commuting times are down on some of the busiest routes. Last October, Paris reduced speed limits on the city’s outer ring, which has led to a 12% improvement in air quality, a 17% drop in traffic accidents and there are signs that congestion is lower. And five years ago, London created low-emission zones which have expanded to cover 600 square miles of the city. It also charges fees for a separate congestion zone. And the city released data last month that showed NOx emissions have dropped anywhere from 33-39% and almost 97% of vehicles driving in the low-emission zone are compliant with emission standards.
TESLA FACES LAWSUIT OVER MANIPULATING ODOMETERS
We’ve heard of car owners rolling back their odometers to make their cars eligible for warranty work, but we’ve never heard of automakers speeding up odometers to put their cars out of warranty. Yet, a Tesla owner filed a class action lawsuit against the company for exactly that. Reuters reports that a guy named Nyree Hinton says Tesla uses energy consumption, driver behavior and predictive algorithms to turn the odometer, and not actual mileage driven. He’s trying to get Tesla to pay for a $10,000 repair bill for the suspension on his Model Y that is out of warranty. Tesla denies it all, of course, but we’ll have to keep an eye on how many Tesla owners decide to join this class action lawsuit.
TESLA CUTS CYBERTRUCK PRODUCTION
At the beginning of the month Tesla reportedly had 2,400 Cybertrucks in inventory worth an estimated $200 million, but even with sales promotions and a new decontented version that’s $10,000 cheaper, Tesla has only been able to reduce Cybertruck inventory by about 100 units. So, now it’s outright cutting prices and throttling back production. Prices on most models are being reduced by about $8,000, while some higher-end versions are being cut by $10-grand. And Business Insider spoke to two Tesla workers who claim that the company has lowered production targets for multiple Cybertruck lines, with some lines already running at a fraction of their previous rate and that it slashed some Cybertruck production teams by more than half. However, some of those workers were moved over to Model Y production, which the company has been doing since January. At the end of last year, Electrek estimates that all of Tesla’s factories were operating at 60% capacity and while a lot of that likely has to do with ramping up for the new Model Y, slowing sales growth and now slowing Cybertruck production will make it hard to build that capacity back up.
VW DEVELOPS 1ST IN-HOUSE AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM
Volkswagen is set to introduce its first in-house developed automated driving system for the Chinese market. The technology was developed by CARIZON, a joint venture between China’s Horizon Robotics and VW’s software division CARIAD. VW will showcase the system at the Shanghai Auto Show next week. There aren’t many details yet but it will be a Level 2++ system, which means it can operate on both city streets and the highway. It will first debut in a Volkswagen branded vehicle in China by the end of the year and next year, the technology will roll out to more affordable models based on a China-specific compact car platform.
ARCHER AVIATION TO LAUNCH eVTOL SERVICE IN NEW YORK
Archer Aviation wants to help reduce travel time in New York with its eVTOLs. Together with United Airlines it unveiled a plan that would allow its eVTOLs to transport passengers between existing airports around New York. Archer says this air taxi network would allow people to travel between the airports in 5-15 minutes, greatly reducing the amount of time it would take compared to driving. The company expects to get Type Certification from the FAA sometime this year, which would allow it to put its eVTOL into service, but so far it has not received that yet.
HORSE REVEALS HYBRID RETROFIT FOR EVs
Horse Powertrain, the ICE joint venture between Renault, Geely and Aramco, revealed its new Future Hybrid Concept, that’s meant to replace the front drive unit of an EV. By attaching directly to the vehicle’s subframe, fewer modifications are needed to fit it into existing platforms and it could be assembled on the same production line as an EV. Plus, it’s been designed to be mounted in either direction, to run on multiple fuel types and it can even be used as a range extender. Horse says it expects the new hybrid setup to be used in series production in 2028.
ABB PLANS TO SPIN OFF ROBOTICS DIVISION
We’ve seen a flurry of activity with robotics in the auto industry lately. So we were surprised to see that Swiss manufacturer ABB is planning to spin off its robotics division because it is its least profitable unit. The unit employs around 7,000 people and last year it generated $2.3 billion in revenue or about 7% of ABB’s total sales. The robotics company is expected to start trading in the second quarter of next year.
GAMIC WINNER CAN BOND ANY MATERIAL TOGETHER
It’s very difficult to bond different types of metals together, like steel and aluminum. It’s even harder to bond plastics with metals. That’s why a German company called Nascit won a GAMIC award. It’s figured out how to bond almost any kind of material with another, using what it calls nanoscale sculpturing. It uses a chemical process to treat the surface of the materials that almost gives them a hook and loop appearance like Velcro, but on a microscopic scale. By bonding different types of materials together automakers can come up with cars that are lighter and stronger but at a lower cost. GAMIC is the Global Automotive and Mobility Innovation Challenge that invites startups to demo their technology and then helps the winners make contacts with automakers and suppliers.
AUTOLINE APTERA POLL
One of the topics on yesterday’s Autoline After Hours was about Aptera. It’s been promising its 3-wheeled solar car for years but still hasn’t delivered. Now the Securities & Exchange Commission, the SEC, is investigating the company over how it’s been selling stock to private investors. So we’ve got a poll to get your input. The question is: Aptera was founded in 2006 and has gone through three reorganizations. Yet, it still does not sell any vehicles. What do you think is going on?
1. Launching a new company is hard, give it time.
2. Aptera can’t raise enough money to go into production.
3. Management is content with comfortable salaries, what’s the rush?
4. None of the above, see my comments below.
The poll is open for voting right now for any of our Patreon and YouTube members, but we’ll report the results to everyone on Monday.
And that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in and I hope that you have a great weekend.
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Aptera was a silly joke from day one, but it gets good ratings to auto journalists to talk about it, as it is for them to take clowns like Trevor Milton, the ELIO guy, the ACHATES guys, (remember?) and give them a podium to speak in shows like AAH. And there will always be suckers who fall for these kinds of schemes.
Oh, and PS, FISKER… how could I have forgotten this lord of the clowns.
BTW since last Tue I have moved to my summer home overseas for six months, and it was a true delight to drive the E320 Bluetec again, as I did a couple hours ago to do my weekly shopping. Especially its excellent interior, but also the ride. Not to mention the 710-800 mile range.
@Regulus on E320 Diesel. My sister, who lives in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, was not allowed to drive her 2004 E270 Diesel any more in the cities. As much as she loved her vehicle she gave up and bought a new gasoline powered Benz. Do you have to deal with that issue, too, where you are?
Other than that, enjoy your vacay.
Sean, Do you have any insight on exactly how large an ICE range extender for EVs would need to be? Since the car gets drive from the electric motor all of the time, I have been assuming the the ICE extender would only need to produce as much power as the vehicle requires for a steady speed on the Interstate. For a small sedan, that would only be 10-20 hp. Even for an SUV, I would expect it to be no more than 50 hp. If that translated to about 600cc then the engines used in kei cars in Japan should be sufficient. Chinese EREVs seem to have 1.5 litre engines, which seem a little large to me. Note: I am assuming the the ICE would continue running after the car stopped, until the battery was full again and the brake regen would provide most of the power for acceleration at low speed in town.
Regulus, are you the same person who used to send in comments about how the rest of us were so stupid? I thought you got banned! That guy also kept telling us that his used Mercedes diesel was a smarter buy than any other kind of vehicle. He also spend a lot of time at his second home in Europe as well. That home sounded like it was in Greece.
@Kevin on hp needed to drive on freeway. I have an additional datapoint for you for a mid-sized sedan. During my long road trip from Detroit to New Mexico with my Mercedes E400 sedan I had time to play with the screens of the Mercedes Comand system. At 78 mph 44 HP is needed to propel the vehicle fully loaded with luggage, two humans and a dog on board.
Wim, if I try to correlate your E400 data point to a midsize crossover, I’d assume the tire rolling resistance to be comparable, but the larger frontal area and mass of the crossover will require at least 10% more HP… aligning with Kevin’s estimate of 50hp.
Aptera doesn’t have a wide market even if they were for sale today. It’s as wide as a large car but with practically no cargo room, while sitting low in traffic. I don’t see this ever selling outside southern resort areas or Southern California. Too expensive for too little.
@Drew on hp needed for propulsion: yes, fully agree with you, Drew
The only thing holding Aptera back is the missing fourth wheel. Americans are simply not going to buy serious three-wheeled vehicles in any significant volume when a four wheeled vehicle costs about the same. Also, when you think about how many infrastructure items are designed for four-wheeled vehicles, you start to see the downside of these vehicles. (transport trucks, service lifts, etc.)
Toyota moving production of the best selling US model to the US would be a big win for the tariff scheme and a big plate of crow for all the naysayers. And it’s not the only product ton moving home.
I saw Shaun Fein giving democrats hell the other day because they never did anything to help the UAW like Trump is doing right now and all they can do is rage against it because orange man bad. The republicans have become the blue collar party while democrats champion illegals over their own actual citizen constituents and want to put naked boys in your daughter’s locker room. Right after they batter your daughter on the playing field, that is.
Dream on, Daily Driver.
Very few additional jobs will be created, especially with automation. And the product costs will be greater for consumers, which basically lowers our overall standard of living.
Tariffs only end up creating inefficient walled off markets with high costs and low productivity and poor quality. Kind of like the Soviet Union in the Lada days. The idea that trump is creating a socialist workers utopia is pretty laughable.
Well QCX, I didn’t write the Toyota press release so it is something they may do. And if so, whatever jobs do come along with it are a net positive for the American worker. The plant would produce Toyotas well into the future, after tariffs are long resolved, and also save them a mint in cargo shipping since this is the target market for that model. Guess you’ll just have to be mad about it, bro.
If Toyota moves RAV4 production to the US, its price will go up, and sales in Canada will go down. It is currently the best selling vehicle in Canada.
The only actual EREV that has been sold in the US was the i3 REx. Its 650cc scooter engine is about 34 hp. In determining engine power needed for an EREV, you need to consider the significant power loss in the generator and motor. Those electro-mechanical devices are much less efficient than a gear transmission. It makes things more complex, but it would be best for efficiency to mechanically connect the ICE to the wheels under some conditions, as with the Chevy Volt.
Hi Willem, thanks for your wishes.
It is still ok for me to drive the diesel, many taxi drivers here have Mercedes diesels, even more skoda diesels, there is barely any taxi that is gas powered. In fact, I wondered why taxi drivers do not have hybrids, they would be perfect for city driving, esp a diesel hybrid. I mentioned it to the drivers of two taxis I had to take recently, also why they don’t buy wagons, most taxis are sedans, and a wagon could accommodate a family with its luggage from the airport.
Sorry about your sister not being allowed to drive hers. Europe used to be big in favor of Diesels, but now they changed and are totally against them and favor EVs.
BTW my youngest cousin, who has the same first and last name as me, lives permanently in Amsterdam for decades now. His son (now an eng student in Delft) and his daughter, now finishing high school, are fluent in Dutch but their parents aren’t. He used to work at the Koniklik Krebs center or sth., he showed me his lab on one visit. He is doing well academically.
So when I call my cousins and somebody asks them who is on the phone, and they mention my name, they always ask, which one, the Dutchman or the American?
PS Wim, my car has overseas has ‘green license plates’ which means I did not have to take it thru customs, I use it only when I am here, and when Ieave it is immobilized until I return, so I only pay licence fees for the time I use it, which is good, because the fees are 920 Euros/year (compared to only 240 or so for same car in the US). So I paid 460 Euros for the next six months. Another benefit of this is I do not need to take it to emissions etc inspection as all other ICE cars here.
Re your sister, she got a lot of mileage out of her 2004, did she get it new? I also did not want the larger engine, but when I shopped for it in 2016, the 320s which were older and had more miles were priced at around $10-11K, while the 2014’s 250 Bluetecs, which were much more fuel efficient and had only 600 or so euros fees/year vs 920 for the 320, cost over $25K. And because at that time I worked full time with no thought of retirement (we have no ret. age at UM and of course tenure), I only needed it 1-2 months a year, so I went with the cheaper option.
Before low sulphur diesel fuel was mandated in Europe, urrban acid rain was an issue, damaging buildings, monuments, etc.
Car registration cost in the US varies widely by state. A Porsche Cayman that costs ~$200/year to register in Florida costs more than $1000/year in Indiana.
In MI the registr is proportional to MSRP but quite reasonable. Where I live overseas they still do it by the CC of the engine (the real CC) and it is progressively very high. A 1.35 lt Civic I had paid 135 euros a year, a 2 liter CRV 600 a year, and the 3 liter Diesel in the Bluetec 920 a year. A 6 liter Camaro or Corvette would probably cost 2-3000 a year. Ridiculous relic in today’s age of turbos and twin turbo 4s and 6s making more HP than the big cc engines/
In Indiana, registration cost is determined by MSRP brackets, and it decreases by age of the vehicle.
When I was in the navy in the UK in 1970-1971, registration cost was based on cc. I don’t know if it still is, or how hybrids and EVs are done. When I was there, turbos and diesel cars were rare.
It should decrease with the age of the vehicle, to reflect the actual price paid when bought used, but in MI it isn’t. Still, the low level of fees makes this tolerable. Here, some ‘green’ cars, even non-plug-in hybrids, had zero licence fees but not sure if they still have that. The Charger network is still embryonic, which makes me wonder about all these Teslas and some other EVs on the streets here. Probably their owners have 2-5 more cars nd use them only for local short hauls.
I don’t think I’ve paid more than $35 a year for my cars, from a GTO to pickup trucks, in Ohio.