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Runtime: 11:15
0:00 Hyundai Battery Plant Raided by ICE
0:51 Tesla’s U.S. EV Market Share at Lowest Level Since 2017
1:32 Uber & Momenta to Test Robotaxis In Germany
2:06 Dongfeng Adopts Gigacastings
3:05 CATL Launches New Sodium-Ion EV Battery
4:04 VW, Skoda & Cupra Reveal New Small EVs
5:55 Mercedes Unveils New GLC
7:20 Avatr Shows Off Wild Sedan Concept
7:54 Porsche Develops New Hybrid for the 911
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This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
HYUNDAI BATTERY PLANT RAIDED BY ICE
As you’ve likely heard by now, an EV battery plant in Georgia, which is operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, was raided last Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. That resulted in 475 workers being arrested, including more than 300 from South Korea. South Korea has since negotiated the release of its nationals, who will be flown back home. The arrested workers were accused by ICE of working illegally, including using short-term or recreational visas, which don’t allow them to hold jobs. South Korea says it will update its visa system to prevent future incidents.
TESLA’S U.S. EV MARKET SHARE AT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 2017
Tesla’s EV market share in the U.S. last month dropped to its lowest level in eight years. At its peak, it once held more than 80% of the U.S. EV market. But According to Cox Automotive, Tesla’s share of the EV market in August was 38%, the first time it’s been below 40% since October 2017, which is when it was ramping up Model 3 production. The overall EV market was up 14% last month, while Tesla’s sales were up just 3%. EV sales are expected to be strong once again in September but they’re predicted to drop once federal tax credits expire at the end of the month.
UBER & MOMENTA TO TEST ROBOTAXIS IN GERMANY
As we keep saying, it’s the year of the robotaxi. Uber and Chinese autonomous driving company, Momenta, announced a partnership to test robotaxis in Germany next year. They’ll first test the vehicles in Munich, with the goal of expanding to other European cities. Momenta currently operates a robotaxi service in Shanghai and it has supplied its autonomous technology to most legacy, foreign automakers. And we’ll also note that vehicle teardown specialists Caresoft believe Momenta is the best autonomous vehicle company in China.
DONGFENG ADOPTS GIGACASTINGS
Tesla really kicked off a move to replace stamped steel panels in cars with gigacastings. General Motors is using something similar in the Cadillac Celestiq, but it calls them mega-castings. Ford is going to use them in its upcoming modular, electric pickup, but it’s calling them uni-castings. Several Chinese automakers use large castings and now Dongfeng is getting into the game, with a new plant that will house 10,000 and 16,000 metric tonne casting machines. Dongfeng says it’s the first automaker to use a 16,000 tonne machine. While Tesla uses a 16,000-ton machine, that’s U.S. tons. In U.S. tons, the Dongfeng machines are 17,636 tons. When completed the plant will be able to make components for 600,000 vehicles a year. Oh, and by the way, Dongfeng also calls them gigacasting.
CATL LAUNCHES NEW SODIUM-ION EV BATTERY
CATL is the biggest EV battery maker in the world, but it’s not sitting on its hands. It just introduced a new battery using sodium-ion chemistry. One of the selling points of this battery is that it’s largely unaffected by cold weather, and CATL hopes this will encourage more EV adoption in cold climates. It retains 90% of its energy at -40° Centigrade or Fahrenheit. It has 175 Watt-hours per kilogram which is similar to LFP batteries. And it is rated at more than 10,000 charging cycles. The sodium-ion batteries start mass production in December.
VW, SKODA & CUPRA REVEAL NEW SMALL EVs
There’s current forecasts that predict the small electric car segment in Europe will be around 4 times bigger than it is today by 2033. No doubt Chinese automakers will play a role in that growth, but the VW Group hopes to capture roughly 20% of that market with its new Electric Urban Car Family that it will start launching next year. The company says it’s aiming to hit that 20% in the “medium term, which corresponds to several hundred thousand vehicles per year.” The Volkswagen brand will launch two models in this category, while Cupra and Skoda will each get one. They’re all based on the Group’s MEB+ platform, but with front-wheel drive, and will be made in Spain. The first from VW is the ID. POLO, which will be followed by a newly revealed compact crossover, called the ID. CROSS. The Cupra version is called the Raval and comes with a limited slip diff and a 166 kW or 222 horsepower electric motor, which is 11 kW more than the others will have. And the one from Skoda is called the Epiq. While battery size wasn’t provided, range is estimated to be around 420 kilometers or 260 miles on the WLTP test cycle. Based on the interior pictures of the ID. CROSS, which is all we have to go on right now, it looks like the Group is going for a simple layout and will use more sustainable and affordable materials. That combined with scale is why these models will launch with a starting price of around 25,000 euros. But VW is also trying to keep them more competitive by bringing tech from higher segments, like its hands-free driving system with lane change function and phone-as-a-key.
MERCEDES UNVEILS NEW GLC
We showed you its giant pillar-to-pillar screen on Friday, but here’s the rest of the all-new Mercedes GLC. And much like the iX3 for BMW, the GLC is meant to usher in a new era for Mercedes. Part of that is a new design language, highlighted by a bigger and more upright grille that’s inspired by classic S-Classes. We already mentioned the screen, but it runs off the newest version of the company’s operating system, which integrates more advanced AI. That system also controls the vehicle’s driver assistance tech, which uses up to ten external cameras, five radar sensors and twelve ultrasonic sensors. And it’s based on a new 800-volt architecture that allows fast charging of up to 330 kW, which can add 300 kilometers or 185 miles in 10 minutes. The first version of the GLC to launch will have all-wheel drive and a 94-kWh battery pack, but Mercedes says there will be four other versions to follow. That AWD system produces 360 kW or 482 horsepower and the battery provides up to 713 kilometers or 443 miles on the WLTP test cycle. The new GLC launches in the first half of next year.
AVATR SHOWS OFF WILD SEDAN CONCEPT
You don’t see as many true concept cars as in the past, but Avatr, which is a joint venture between Changan, Huawei and CATL, pulled the wraps off a pretty wild model, called the Vision Xpectra. You’ll notice design cues pulled from its current models, but this thing is 5.8 meters or 19-feet long, has a massive glass canopy and huge coach doors. I know we’ll never see this car on the road, but it is fun when automakers bring out concepts like they used to.
PORSCHE DEVELOPS NEW HYBRID FOR THE 911
Apparently, Porsche was not satisfied with its turbo 911 or its hybrid 911, so it developed the 400-volt hybrid 911 Turbo S. And it went to great engineering lengths to pull it off. First of all, it redesigned the boxer engine to accommodate two electric turbochargers that can instantly spin up to 120,000 rpm. The powertrain cranks out 523 kilowatts, or 701 horsepower, as well as 800 newton-meters or 590 pound feet of torque. The hybrid motor accounts for 60 horsepower of that total and runs off a 1.9 kWh battery. The performance specs are spectacular: 0-100 kilometers an hour in 2.5 seconds, and it slashed 14 seconds off the Nurburgring time of Porsche’s previous best at the track with a production car, despite the fact that the hybrid tech added 86 kilos or 187 pounds to the weight of the car.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day.
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Is the gas GLC going away? The linked article seems to mention only an EV.
The terms gigacasting and megacasting make about as much sense as the 90s term turbo dial-up internet. What, exactly, do prefixes for a million or a billion have to do with aluminum castings?
… has anyone copyrighted the word MAGA-casting yet? That might be more politically correct in the US unless Fox news is already using that word for their broadcasts! (Ha! Canadian humour)
Before the Elon/Donald falling out, Tesla might have been tempted to use the term MAGA-casting.
Are there going to be Dodge Charger police packages? If not, all police “cars” in the US will soon be trucks/SUVs.
I think pretty much every police car now is going to be a Tahoe. Now that they allow up to near the same speed as the Chargers but have more room, there is little reason to have a Charger. The Tahoes are also a fair bit more reliable than the Chargers. Police departments prefer them and they have all been switching over to them around me. It is rare to see a Charger these days near me. Even the Ford Explorer is a pretty good choice compared to the Charger. Has a slightly lower top speed, but would be a good overall option due to the space to carry items. Police carry a ton of equipment these days.
Now that departments are switching to the grappler instead of using the PIT maneuver, the Mass/brakes of the Tahoe and the connection to the frame would definitely be preferred over a charger. I personally do not see any reason for anyone to have a Charger in a police department these days. I do see the Dodge faithful switching to Durangos in some jurisdictions. Due to the amount of equipment that police carry, the increased room of an SUV will always be preferred, particularly now that high speed is seemingly not much of a concern with the modern SUVs.
I did a quick search, and found that in an interview with Dodge almost a year ago, the CEO said, “Dodge is working on police packages for the future” but has “no timeline yet”, with other sites saying it is in development and could be out by the end of 2025. I do know that our local Marietta, GA police have at least one upfitted electric Dodge Charger with all the police lights and badging, but evidently it must not be an official package from the manufacturer, because it’s been here for a while.
Where I am now, I still see a number of Charger police cars. I don’t know how long they plan to keep them. Being in a town where Chrysler is the largest employer, some of the new police vehicles are Durangos, and some are Tahoes.
Where I’ll be in Florida in about 6 weeks, nearly all of the new police vehicles seem to be Explorers.
As far as trucky SUVs being better than cars, I guess they are, if you need to carry a lot of stuff, and if handling and efficiency are non-issues. I recently talked to a local cop who likes the Chargers, and just likes driving cars better than trucks. I can identify with that.
This is from Dodge’s “Dodge Law” instagram page, teasing the new vehicle: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-kUF8wRQAs/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=1a2a7411-ea34-4070-b5d9-13dae138e322
The IACP (The International Association of Chiefs of Police) conference and expo will be in Denver in October, so that may be when they unveil the official new pursuit vehicle that they are teasing.
Around here virtually all police cars Ford Interceptors [Explorers] Don’t know why?
Here’s the latest Michigan State Police vehicle evaluation. It’s long, but kind of interesting.
https://www.michigan.gov/msp/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/training/MY2025_Police_Vehicle_Evaluation_Test_Book.pdf?rev=bcbf518e70f741e5863c7d1e9de9d0ca&hash=61AA2D3A2C6E5EAA89F012B22F3BB403
The police Tahoe uses the 5.3 engine. I wonder if that is because the 6.2s blow up, or maybe because the 5.3 gets a little better gas mileage. Maybe more likely, is that the 6.2 “requires” premium gas, which police departments wouldn’t want to pay for.
The main drawback of SUV police vehicles is the need to tie down the equipment in the cargo area… clearly, we don’t want that flying around during a wild pursuit. Also, the upfitter needs to do a high quality job in sealing the holes they drill so exhaust fumes don’t fill the cabin.
Kit —
I believe the reason that the 5.3 engine in the GM SUV police vehicle, may have to do with, as was said the cost of fuel in the 6.2 and that the 5.3 may cost less to repair, along with the availability of repair parts.
Also Kit, I believe the ICE GLC will have a carry over platform with a major restyling to make it look more like the EV GLC. They sell in tandem, but the EV version is a clean sheet design, with the same being done with the C, E, S, GLE and GLS. Only the newly introduced subcompact will share an architecture between the EV and ICE versions, all the others will sit on support EV and ICE platforms, but be styled to look similar.
That said, the new GLC EV looks pretty good to my eye, inside and out. Outside of the grill, the proportions and styling look close to that of an ICE vehicle, especially the front axle to dash side view! A number of current EVs, with their longish windshield, look like they are FWD based AWD, with a lot of over hang beyond the front wheels. With their longish windshield GLC EVs glitter grill being the uptick “grill”, I wonder what the standard “grill” looks like?
Somehow, I guess I don’t care much about the styling of CUVs, except a few that stand out as exceptionally ugly, like Subaru Crosstrek with stupid body cladding that puts early Chevy Avalanche to shame.
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=453f87096d44fbd1&sxsrf=AE3TifOs7bt5xPKihXjl8KcUsW3yE0zlxA:1757379583941&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeioyp3OhN11EY0n5qfq-zENwnGygERInUV_0g0XKeHGJRAdFPaX_SSIJt7xYUfpm-_vQHq3hzHA2DKyn4_QBnQl9QSPW8ISHQ0OitRg6rbhOiAHpaPYKwp8XXwkiDWCehsUuFXgyLBupLnleqhU8CTuwFaD9RIZ6lrPalVfJZgukZQ7Ljg&q=subaru+crosstrek+photos&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwj8ldiOvcqPAxVhjYkEHT7iKQ4QtKgLegQIFRAB&biw=1377&bih=703&dpr=1.85#vhid=f7mlVzIgbRSE2M&vssid=mosaic
https://www.google.com/gasearch?hl=en-US&ram_mb=11118&aos=18&cct=7258&qsubts=1757388840122&cs=0&q=ugly%20subaru%20crosstrek&agsai=5KalGIm2OjM&padt=118&gs_lp=Eg1nc2EtZ29vZ2xlYXBwGgIYACIVIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjMgoIABAAGAgYHigBMgkIARAhGKsCKAEyCQgCECEYqwIoATIMCAMQABiiBBiJBSgBMgwIBBAAGIAEGKIEKAFABkj-kAFQsQhYgo0BYBeIARaYAWSgAdYNqgEEMjFqMbABALgBA5gCF6ACsxGoAgiwAgHCAgwQIxgnGMkCGOoCKAHCAg0QABiDARixAxiABCgBwgIKEAAYsQMYgAQoAcICDBAAGEMYgAQYigUoAcICBxAAGIAEKAHCAgkQABgKGIAEKAHCAgYQABgeKAHSAgsyVVNLZWw2d1ZYUZgDWKADPeIDBAg1GAGwBAC4BADCBADQBACCBQYIABAAKADxBTZGkHImo8clgAYEiAYBkgcEMTdqNpgHAaAHgDI&rdid=fedfab8f-ffc3-4596-a71d-bf552c3dce18&client=ms-android-samsung-rvo1&udm=2&source=sh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm8%2F4#vhid=7tnH5v-MknJFwM&vssid=mosaic
Subaru is still up to the old tricks. Lift a car, put on some plastic, and call it an SUV. Just like they did with the old Legacy wagon back in the day. After a bit of plastic and a tiny suspension lift it became the outback and sales exploded. There are numerous reasons to not buy a Subaru crosstrek. Being a fake SUV is the least of its problems.
Turning the Legacy wagon into the Outback was a brilliant marketing move for Subaru. It removed the car from my consideration, but it gained about 5 times as many other people.
It looks like the extra ugly cladding is only on some trim levels of Crosstrek. Others just look like generic mildly lifted hatchbacks. Consumer Reports ranked Crosstrek highly within its market segment.
My sister has a Forester which looks ok and has been reliable, but it doesn’t have a lot of miles.