AD #4163 – Yasa’s Dinky 28-Lb., 1,000-HP E-Motor; GM Adds $8 Billion In Market Cap; Chip Shortage Could Cripple EU Autos

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

CHIP SHORTAGE COULD CRIPPLE EU AUTOS
And this industry just can’t seem to get a break. Germany’s VDA, the lobbying group for the auto industry, warns that suppliers and automakers are only days away from having to shut down production because of a chip shortage. And the shortage could spread beyond Europe to the U.S. within weeks. Here’s the issue: a Dutch chip maker called Nexperia got bought out by a Chinese company called Wingtech. The Trump Administration then warned the Dutch that the Chinese were planning to move technology and production out of the Netherlands to China, so the Dutch government took the company over. China retaliated by prohibiting exports of Nexperia components that are made in China, and that’s what triggered the chip shortage. Automakers are scrambling to find other sources, but once again the industry is on the brink of another chip shortage.

      

STELLANTIS TO SOURCE NIRON MAGNETS IN U.S.
And don’t forget, there’s a magnet shortage that hasn’t gone away. China has restricted exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, so automakers are frantically digging into their supply chains to find other sources. One solution is to develop electric motors that don’t use permanent magnets, but another is to develop powerful magnets that don’t use rare earth minerals. That’s exactly what Stellantis is doing. It invested in a company from Minnesota called Niron Magnetics, which uses iron nitride technology to make magnets from iron and nitrogen. And those materials are abundantly available all around the world. Niron just broke ground on a plant in Minnesota to make 1,500 tons of magnets a year. That’s not nearly enough to offset what China produces, but it’s an important start. 

GM ADDS $8 BILLION IN MARKET CAP
Yesterday we reported how GM’s earnings dropped sharply in the third quarter, yet the stock was up nicely in pre-market trading. Well, it looks like the more that investors digested the earnings, the more they liked what they saw. By the end of the day, GM’s stock shot up 15%, setting a record and adding $8 billion in market cap. There are several things that analysts liked in the earnings. GM can’t build full-size SUVs fast enough to meet demand, and it’s shutting down the plant that makes electric Brightdrop vans, which have been a sales flop. But what we think grabbed Wall Street’s attention is the spectacular growth at OnStar and SuperCruise. GM now has 11 million OnStar subscribers, up 34% year-over-year. It’s booked $2 billion in revenue from those subscribers, with a gross profit margin of 70%. On top of that GM reported that its income from SuperCruise subscribers and other software services jumped 14% just in the last quarter and generated deferred income of $5 billion. Wall Street likes to invest in companies that are growing and GM is showing that it has the potential to start adding some big numbers to its top line.

  

BAIDU BRINGING ROBOTAXIS TO SWISS
We keep saying that 2025 is the year of the autonomous car, and here’s more to add to that. Chinese tech giant, Baidu, is partnering with Switzerland’s PostBus, to launch its robotaxis there. Baidu’s AV company is called Apollo Go and it will start testing vehicles in December. Driverless testing will begin next year and they’re aiming to launch the service in early 2027. The service will use Apollo Go’s purpose-built RT6 cars for the fleet and once fully-operational, the steering wheels will be removed, which Baidu claims will be a world’s first for a public robotaxi service.

UBER INVESTS IN DUTCH AV COMPANY
And in related news, Uber is partnering with the Dutch technology company, the Nebius Group for robotaxis. They’re investing $375 million into Nebius’ AV business called Avride, which will go towards growing its fleet, AI product development and expanding into new regions. The companies will launch Avride’s service on the Uber platform in Dallas by the end of this year. And Avride’s delivery robots are already fulfilling orders for Uber Eats in Jersey City, Dallas, and Austin.

YASA’S DINKY 28 LB, 1,000 HP E-MOTOR 
There’s some pretty amazing electric motor technology coming down the line. A company called YASA, which Mercedes bought in 2021, revealed that the latest prototype for its next-gen axial flux motor was able to produce a peak power output of 750 kW or just over 1,000 horsepower. Even more impressive is that the motor only weighs about 13 kilograms or 28 pounds and is half the size of a regular motor. You can probably see why these are also called pancake motors, but it’s that unique shape that allows them to produce so much power in such a small package. The magnets and coils are much closer together inside an axial flux motor and there’s a much larger surface area from them to interact with each other. While that does lead to impressive power density, like 1,000-plus horsepower, YASA estimates the continuous power output would be more in the range of 350-400 kW, which is roughly 470-535 horsepower. YASA has already started production of its axial flux motors and Mercedes is expected to start using them sometime around the middle to the end of next year,

NISSAN KEI-CONCEPT SPORTS SOLAR ROOF
This Nissan kei car looks like it might have a pop-up tent on top of it, but it’s actually an extendable solar panel. While these solar concepts are not uncommon, they never really seem to catch on. However, Nissan says it is planning the commercial launch of a solar range extender system. It claims the prototype shown on its Sakura EV can provide up to 500 watts at peak output, enough to add another 3,000 kilometers or about 1,870 miles of range a year. 

BYD TEASES NEW KEI CAR FOR JAPAN
And while kei cars might seem impractical for most of us, 1.2 to 1.3 million are sold every year in Japan, accounting for over a quarter of all sales in the region. But now Japanese automakers are facing growing competition from the Chinese. BYD just released a teaser image of its first kei car for the Japanese market, which will make its debut at the Tokyo auto show later this month. The model is expected to have around 180 kilometers or about 110 miles of range and it could be out as early as the middle of next year.

FORD OFFERS 15 YEAR WARRANTY ON BACK UP CAMERAS
Ford has a big rear-view camera issue. Last year, NHTSA fined the automaker $165 million for not issuing a recall for defective rear cameras in a timely manner. Last month, the automaker recalled 1.9 million vehicles worldwide due to faulty rear-view cameras and now the automaker announced it’s recalling another 1.45 million vehicles in the U.S. for the same reason. Customers are complaining that the cameras have distorted, intermittent or blank images when in reverse, which can increase the risk of a crash. The recall in the U.S. involves 2015-2020 model year vehicles. And last month, Ford made an agreement with NHTSA, that all vehicles built between 2015 and 2025 with backup cameras that aren’t recalled will be given a 15-year extended warranty on rear cameras. Ford didn’t say how many vehicles are covered by the warranty but it includes dozens of vehicles.

That wraps up today’s report.