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Runtime: 10:55
0:00 U.S. Revises Autonomous Tech Rules
1:29 Waymo May Sell Robotaxis For Personal Ownership
2:16 Akio Toyoda Wants to Buy Toyota Supplier
3:11 BYD’s Net Profit Soars 100% In Q1
4:17 Stellantis & Factorial Hit Solid-State Battery Milestone
5:12 Volvo Kicks Off EX30 Production in Belgium
5:53 Slate Auto Unveils Low-Cost Electric Pickup
8:21 Autoline Yoke-Steering Wheel Poll
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
U.S. REVISES AUTONOMOUS TECH RULES
The U.S. Department of Transportation officially unveiled its new framework for autonomous driving technology. According to the Secretary of Transportation, the U.S. is “in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher… our new framework will slash red tape and move us closer to a single national standard” and prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations. The plan is to modernize the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards over time and the first steps involve streamlining crash reporting and expanding exemptions for vehicles that don’t meet vehicle safety standards, which will be overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA. Companies will now have up to 5 days to file an incident report for accidents that range from the airbag going off or the vehicle being towed away all the way up to death. For pretty much anything less severe, they’ll have about a month and a half to submit a report. The DoT is also going to start providing exemptions to U.S.-made vehicles that don’t comply with all vehicle safety standards, which was only available to foreign-made vehicles before. These exemptions are specifically given out for non-commercial purposes that involve research or demonstration.
WAYMO MAY SELL ROBOTAXIS FOR PERSONAL OWNERSHIP
Waymo could expand beyond an autonomous ride-hailing company. Its CEO said that its robotaxis could be available for people to own in the future. He didn’t provide any details like when or how it plans to sell the vehicles, only saying that “there is future optionality for personal ownership.” That would also require Waymo to partner up with another manufacturer since it doesn’t build its own vehicles. Waymo has slowly expanded its service over the last few years and is now providing 250,000 autonomous paid rides a week. It currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin. And later this year it’s expanding to Atlanta, Miami and Washington DC.
AKIO TOYODA WANTS TO BUY TOYOTA SUPPLIER
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda has proposed to buy out Toyota Industries, one of the automakers suppliers, for $42 billion. But this isn’t Toyota buying the supplier, it’s an investment group that includes personal financing from Akio as well as funding from Mitsubishi Financial Group and other megabanks in Japan. Akio already controls a little less than 1% of Toyota the carmaker, while Toyota Industries, the supplier, has a 9.1% stake in the carmaker. So, if the deal goes through, Akio could have more influence over Toyota as a whole. That may be part of the reason his investment group offered a 40% premium over the supplier’s current stock price. Toyota Industries has now formed a special committee and hired advisors to review the proposal.
BYD’S NET PROFIT SOARS 100% IN Q1
BYD had an impressive first quarter of the year. The automaker sold just over 1 million vehicles, including commercial vehicles, which was up nearly 60% compared to a year ago. That brought in $23 billion in revenue, an increase of 36%. Although we will note that was actually below analyst expectations. And BYD’s net profit skyrocketed over 100% to $1.3 billion. Since, the first quarter is usually the weakest for Chinese automakers due to the New Year holiday, analysts are still expecting a strong 2025 for BYD. The company is on track to sell 5.5 million vehicles this year, with exports accounting for around 800,000 of those sales.
STELLANTIS & FACTORIAL HIT SOLID-STATE BATTERY MILESTONE
Stellantis and solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy say they’ve achieved a milestone in development of the batteries. The companies successfully validated Factorial’s automotive semi-solid-state battery cells and demonstrated an energy density of 375-Wh/kg, which they say puts them on track for commercial use. For comparison, typical lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of 200-300-Wh/kg and more advanced ones are at 450-Wh/kg. Stellantis and Factorial also demonstrated that their solid-state batteries can operate in extreme temperatures and they’re capable of charging from 15-80% in 18 minutes at room temperature. Starting next year, Stellantis will begin testing the batteries in a demonstration fleet.
VOLVO KICKS OFF EX30 PRODUCTION IN BELGIUM
Volvo has started production of the EX30 at its plant in Belgium. The model is also made in China and the move to Belgium was supposed to provide a double whammy for Volvo; allow it to avoid import tariffs on Chinese-made EVs in both Europe and the U.S. However, the new U.S. tariffs have currently erased that possibility. Now you can still buy an EX30 in the U.S. but at a higher starting price than originally planned. Even so, the model sold pretty well around the world last year with just over 98,000 reaching customer hands and accounting for over half of Volvo’s total EV sales.
SLATE AUTO UNVEILS LOW-COST ELECTRIC PICKUP
We’ve got another new EV startup. Called Slate Auto, it’s been quietly developing a $27,000 electric pickup truck in Troy, Michigan. There are actually two models. There’s a 2-door, 2-passenger pickup. And then, with a cap added to the pickup bed, it becomes a 2-door, 5-passenger SUV. The structure of the truck is a blend of body-on-frame, unibody and skateboard. And Slate is using a lot of off-the-shelf parts to hold down cost and develop its truck more quickly. To eliminate the cost of investing in a body shop in the assembly plant, Slate uses molded polypropylene body panels. And to eliminate the cost of a paint shop, the panels are not painted. Instead, customers will be offered different wraps that they can buy to apply to the body panels. There are two different battery packs available. A nearly 53 kWh pack that delivers 150 miles of driving range, and an 84.3 kWh pack that delivers 240 miles. The truck is powered by a 150-kilowatt or 201 horsepower motor with 260 Newton meters, or 215 pound-feet of torque. It will accelerate from 0-60 miles an hour in 8 seconds and top speed is 92 miles an hour. It will carry a 1,400-pound payload or 635 kilograms. And can tow a 1,000-pound trailer, or 453 kilos. The overall length is 175.5”, which is about two feet shorter than a Ford Maverick. But the pickup has a 5-foot bed, which is half a foot longer than the Maverick’s and it’s wider than the Maverick, too. Inside, it’s bare minimum. For example, while there is a small instrument cluster, there is no center screen. Instead, the dashboard has sliding mounting points for smartphones and tablets to serve as the center screen. There are lots of power connections around the interior for speakers and other plug-in devices. But there are no power windows. You crank them up and down by hand, just like in the old days. We’ll be posting a video later today with more details about Slate and its EVs, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.
AUTOLINE YOKE-STEERING WHEEL POLL
Ok, it’s time for another Autoline poll. And we want you to help decide what the auto industry should do with yoke-steering wheels. Production models that have offered them include the Tesla Model S and X and the Lexus RZ450e. But earlier this week, Mercedes hinted that it’s likely coming out with one when it launches its first steer-by-wire system next year. The design of the yoke wheel clears up space for the driver and gives a clear forward view. And when paired with steer-by-wire, the wheel allows a wider range of steering angles and variable steering ratios. But so far, they really haven’t been that popular with customers. So, we want to know your thoughts on yoke steering wheels.
1. I’ve used one and it’s fantastic.
2. I’ve never used one but can’t wait.
3. No, thanks. I’ll keep my round steering wheel.
4. None of the above. See my comment below.
The poll is open for voting now on for any of our Patreon and YouTube members and we’ll report the results for everyone on Monday.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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3 I believe the yoke steering wheel is gimmick. I haven’t driven a car with one but I have used one in a go-cart. But there was only about 180 of travel full left to right. That’s too tight for a street vehicle and for that reason I believe the yoke steering wheel will fade away like tail fins.
@Yolk steering wheel. 4 Never used it but expect it is fine. I see several advantages.
3
The CEO of Rivian keeps pushing that “BEVs can’t take off until there is more variety and choice”. If Slate makes it to market, we will have one more choice. I wish them success. I personally plan to dump my “two doors more than I want or need” Maverick for a Slate.
I think there are two automatic markets for Slate. The first is single, twenty-something men. They’ll eat this thing up. The other is obviously fleets. I don’t see how they can miss with these two obvious markets.
3
As Lambo says, a yoke works only if lock-to-lock is 180, or maybe up to ~230 degrees, like in an airplane, F1 car, or go cart. The only way it could possibly work decently on a road vehicle would be to have a huge difference in steering ratio between near center and near lock. The steering ratio needs to be in the “normal” range near center, so you can drive without constant major weaving and running off the road. I’d think it would take a lot of getting used to have a ~3 to 1 ratio change between center and lock. Even if it would work, I don’t always have my hands the same place on a round wheel, especially on long trips, but you’d be forced to with a yoke.
There are good reasons that yokes have not been offered by automakers before this. They are still valid and I think it will be a very short-lived fad. A yoke would take that vehicle off of my shopping list.
The Slate pickup is interesting. It might be a popular option for small companies that need small trucks. Pool maintenance, pest control, home inspection, and other similar companies.
If the Slate is decent quality and the price low enough, I can see a market for it, an actual two door, regular cab pickup truck. Maybe they should make a gas version too. Couldn’t they make different colors of molded plastic panels, and avoid the wrap?
Just thought manual roll down were more expensive than electric windows which is why Sergio Marchionne dumped them 15 years ago at FCA when he had no money for CapX ???
I suspect crank windows would be cheaper than electric if that’s all they use. It would be cheaper to use all electric than a 90%/10% mix of electric/crank. I think the last crank windows I had were in a 1995 S-10. That may be one of the last GM vehicles sold with crank windows, except some of the little Korean cars.
4. Pros of a yoke wheel are 1. more leg clearance during ingress/egress, 2. unobstructed view of instrumentation, 3. allows instrumentation to be higher so eyes have less off-the-road down angle. The challenge of lock-to-lock turning might be mitigated with dynamic variable ratio steering the provides a lot of fidelity at low speeds (perhaps 240-degrees lock-to-lock) and much less at high speeds (perhaps 100-degrees lock-to-lock). I think this doable. My main reservation is comfort during long trips as I often change my grip (9 and 3, 10 and 2, 12 or 6).
Drew, the current Prius, with a round wheel, has speedo, etc. viewed above the wheel. I didn’t know if I’d like it, but I do, but it might need the wheel a little lower than some people would like. I’d expect a lot of parking lot contact with highly variable ratios and 230 degree lock to lock, but maybe we’ll find out. With “steer by wire” they could just use normal ratios at highway speed, with 230 degree lock to lock. If you turn the wheel of a normal vehicle 360 degrees at 80 mph you will lose control, or in the case of trucky vehicles that make up much of the US fleet, maybe roll over. Still, as you, I put my hands different places on long trips, so I like steering wheels.
Kit, a friend had the new Lincoln Nautilus with the flat bottom and flat top steering wheel. The instrumentation is up high, near the base of the windshield. So, the driver looks over the steering wheel at the instrumentation without having the steering wheel too low. It’s close to a heads-up display in term of keeping your vision high toward the road. To me, it is fantastic. Once you have a vehicle this way, nothing else will be satisfying.
Drew, I haven’t seen a new Nautilus, at least the interior. I’ll do that.
I suppose the Nautilus is no longer imported to the US, given the tariffs.
Pope Francis’ hearse was interesting, a white Ram pickup truck. It was a few years old, because it was regular cab, which they no longer sell. It was probably bought during the Fiat-Chrysler era.
As some have mentioned, I also think Slate could work as a fleet/small business vehicle case. If it had AWD and their big battery, it might even have worked as a low cost trail hunter with limited out-roading. I wonder if that could eventually offer AWD, by adding a front motor as an option later for new orders. Even if that added $1K to the asking price, you’d still have one of the cheapest EVs, especially one with limited off-road potential, for about $30K! The concern, as with as startups, would build quality, financial security of the company and if it would be around long enough to even come to market, for the amount they forecast and promised. The SUV version puts me in the mind of the Ford Bronco 2, from the mid ‘90s, though.