AD #4074 – Ford Calls on Canada To Repeal EV Mandate; BMW Shares Next-Gen EV Details; Musk Regrets Attacking Trump

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

MUSK REGRETS ATTACKING TRUMP
Elon Musk now regrets how he tore into President Trump after the two of them engaged in what is probably the most famous social-media fight in history. Yesterday, on X, Musk posted that he regretted some of his posts attacking the President, saying they went too far. For his part, the President backed off a bit too. “I wish him well, very well, actually.” Trump also left the door open for Elon to call. “If I were him I’d want to speak to me,” Trump told reporters. So maybe this is the end of the feud, but they probably won’t rekindle their bromance.

GM INVESTS $4 BILLION TO BOOST U.S. PRODUCTION
Speaking of Trump, General Motors made an announcement yesterday designed to match up perfectly with the President’s policies. GM announced that it’s investing $4 billion at three plants in the U.S. to boost production. The Orion Assembly plant in Michigan, which it was re-tooling to build electric pickups, will now build gas-powered full-size trucks and SUVs starting in 2027. Instead GM’s Factory Zero plant in Detroit will become its dedicated facility to produce full-size electric trucks and SUVs, but it’s not part of the new investment. The Fairfax plant in Kansas will start building gas-powered Equinox’s and the new Bolt EV in 2027. GM says it will also make investments at the plant to build its next-generation of affordable EVs. And lastly, the company will start producing the gas-powered Blazer at its Springhill, Tennessee plant in 2027. And yet, GM said it is not going to close any of its plants in Mexico or lay off any of its Mexican workers, so there’s clearly more to this story that we haven’t heard yet.

FORD CALLS ON CANADA TO REPEAL EV MANDATE
At the same time that GM is backpedaling on some of its EV products, Ford of Canada is calling on Canada to repeal its EV mandate. Canada requires that 20% of 2026 model-year sales be zero-emission vehicles or ZEVs. That number increases to 60% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. But EV sales in Canada collapsed after a $5,000 federal incentive program ended at the beginning of the year. According to data from Statistics Canada, ZEV sales plunged 44% in February and March, accounting for only 6.6% of overall sales. And since that is well below the requirements, Ford of Canada’s CEO is calling on the government to repeal the mandate.

 

BMW SHARES MORE NEXT-GEN EV DETAILS
More details are coming in about BMW’s first Neue Klasse EV, which is currently being tested in France. It says the iX3 will make its debut at the IAA auto show in September and start of production kicks off at the end of the year. The model is based on BMW’s new 800-volt EV platform, which offers more range, faster charging, better interior tech and expanded driver assistance capability. Its battery pack is now stuffed with cylindrical cells that have 20% more energy density and provide up to 800 kilometers or about 500 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. The iX3 will also introduce bidirectional charging and Level 2+ driver assistance technology. Those charging functions allow owners to use their vehicle as a powerbank to charge other devices, as a home-energy storage unit or to receive and distribute power to the grid. In terms of hands-free driving, the system in the iX3 has 20 times faster processing speed and can navigate on highways and even city streets with traffic lights. As a little side note, BMW shows how silly the differences are between the major test cycles. The company estimates that the iX3 will get 900 kilometers of range on China’s CLTC test or 100 kilometers more than the WLTP, while it predicts the EPA test in the U.S. would come out around 400 miles. That’s 645 kilometers of range or about 100 miles of range difference between the EPA and WLTP.

XPENG DEVELOPS IN-HOUSE CHIPS FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING
While BMW is definitely upping its game in hands-free driving, Chinese automaker XPeng is about to introduce a new version of its G7 SUV with its own in-house developed chips that will provide Level 3 and possibly even Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities. CarNewsChina reports that the model will come with three of XPeng’s new Turing AI chips, which will also enhance its smart interior tech. Each chip has a computing power of 750 TOPS or trillion operations per second. I know that number won’t mean much to some of you. So, for comparison, NVIDIA’s current chips have about 500 TOPS. Volvo says later this decade it will have vehicles with 2 NVIDIA chips for 1,000 TOPS of computing power. But the new G7 will have more than double that and it’s supposed to be out before the end of the year. Plus, it’s expected to be priced around $36,000.

CHINESE OEMs AGREE TO SPEED UP SUPPLIER PAYMENTS
If there’s one thing that automotive suppliers hate, it’s when automakers don’t pay their bills on time. Historically, car companies typically pay in 60 days, but they’ve been known to stretch that out to 90 days when money is tight. Well, payment times got so out of hand in China it looks like the government had to step in. CarNewsChina reports that BYD and Geely were not paying suppliers for 127 days. SAIC, Great Wall and Li Auto were closer to 160 days. Nio was at 195 and Changan was over 200 days. As a result, suppliers were suffering from severe cash flow problems. But earlier today, all of the automakers agreed to make payments within 60 days. And the fact that they all made the same announcement within hours of each other strongly suggests the government was behind the move. As impressive as the Chinese auto industry is, it has structural problems. It has massive amounts of overcapacity, almost none of its automakers are profitable, and a raging price war threatens to harm the industry. And that suggests to us that the government is going to have to step in and do a lot more than just make sure the car companies pay their bills on time.

CHINESE CAR EXPORTS SLOW
Oh, there’s actually one more thing to add to the list of problems Chinese automakers are facing. And that’s a backlash to all the cars it’s exporting. The U.S. has practically banned any Chinese imports. The EU slapped higher tariffs on Chinese-made EVs. Next year, Chinese cars face a 35% tariff in Brazil. And Russia, which considers itself a close ally of China, put a $7,500 fee on imported cars, which are virtually all Chinese. And while China is still exporting cars, the rate of growth is now running at less than one-third of where it was a year ago.

TOYOTA DEVELOPS LIQUID-HYDROGEN LE MANS RACE CAR
Toyota Gazoo Racing unveiled its liquid-hydrogen powered Le Mans prototype called the GR LH2 Concept. The company didn’t share many specs but it’s based on Toyota’s current Hybrid Hypercar that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The automaker created the concept to help develop its hydrogen technology and infrastructure and to achieve its overall goal of a carbon-neutral society. The liquid-hydrogen prototype is currently being shown at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

VW CONSIDERS SMALL ELECTRIC VAN
Do you think Volkswagen needs a smaller all-electric van? According to sources that spoke to Autocar, that’s one of the things that’s being internally discussed at the automaker. It says VW is considering a minivan-like EV that would slot below the ID.BUZZ and could replace the Touran for markets like Europe and China. The automaker has even reportedly dusted off old concepts for inspiration like the Bulli from 2011 and the Budd-e from 2016. The ID.BUZZ currently has a starting price around 55,000 euros or about $63,000 in Europe, so a smaller, less expensive electric van could draw in more customers.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in.