AD #4239 – Donut Lab Solid State Battery Charges in Minutes; SCOTUS Tariff Ruling Leaves Autos in Limbo; Lucid Motors Cuts 12% Of Workforce

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

SCOTUS TARIFF RULING LEAVES AUTOS IN LIMBO
Friday, we got a number of comments that we didn’t have anything about the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a key piece of President Trump’s tariff policy. Well, that news didn’t drop until after we had already recorded the show. So, we’ll get to it now. The court said the President overstepped his constitutional authority when he used the IEEPA, or International Emergency Economic Powers Act, to justify tariffs on a number of countries. Trade experts say that act was meant to be used in times of imminent danger, like the outbreak of war. But the setback for the President is unlikely to have much impact on the auto industry. The tariffs he set on imported cars from Canada, Mexico and China, as well as on imported steel and aluminum, were imposed using Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, and that was not part of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Even so, President Trump promises he’s going to impose other tariffs, using other legal justification, and that will only create more confusion and uncertainty for automakers and suppliers.

ASTON MARTIN SELLS F1 BRANDING RIGHTS
If Aston Martin’s performance this year is anything like 2025 it could find itself looking for a partner. The company has suffered from delayed product launches, slower sales in China, supplier bankruptcies and tariffs in the U.S., which is Aston’s biggest market. While it still hasn’t reported its full results from last year, the company issued its third profit warning in a year last week, forecasting a larger-than-expected operating loss. According to Bloomberg, its stock price has lost nearly all its value since its IPO in 2018, going from $16.50 at the end of that year to about $0.80-cents a share now. But as part of that profit warning, Aston also said 2026 should be a better year, partly because it expects to sell 500 Valhalla supercars this year, which cost about a million bucks. On top of that, shareholders, chairman Lawrence Stroll and his investor group have pumped over $810 million into the company since he took over in 2020. Most recently getting $67 million from the Formula 1 team for using the Aston Martin name. However, Stroll is already on his fourth CEO and the F1 team already owned the naming rights until 2055, so this seems more like some creative fundraising. 

DONUT LAB SOLID STATE BATTERY CHARGES IN MINUTES
We’ve got the testing results for Donut Lab’s solid state battery. Well, part of them. Donut says it’s going to release the results in a series of videos and the first one is all about charging. The VTT Technology Research Centre of Finland tested a 26 Ah prototype cell from Donut, charging it at several different current rates and either with one or two heat sinks. We’re no battery experts, but it looks to have performed well, even charging from 0-100% in 8 minutes. Although, that was at a very high charging rate. Donut also claims that its cells don’t require high clamping forces and don’t swell and shrink like other solid-state batteries, which can expand and contract 15-20% during charging cycles. If you’re interested in following the Donut Lab tests, it looks like a new video will come out once a week. 

      

LAMBORGHINI SCRAPS ELECTRIC SUPERCAR PLANS
And now another automaker is rolling back its EV plans. In 2023, Lamborghini revealed an all-electric model called the Lanzador, which was supposed to launch in 2028 or 2029. But Lamborghini’s CEO Stephen Winkelmann tells the Sunday Times that it’s scrapping that model and will replace it with a plug-in hybrid instead. Winkelmann says that EV development risked becoming “an expensive hobby” for the company and that customer interest in a pure EV was “close to zero.” Specifically, he says EVs don’t create an emotional connection with customers in the same way a gas-powered car does through the sound and power of its engine. By 2030, Lambos lineup will be all plug-in hybrids and Winkelmann says that’s the only powertrain it will offer for the foreseeable future.

ZF DEBT RELIEVED BY HYBRID DEMAND
The German supplier ZF says the slower transition to EVs is helping it relieve some of its debt burden. The company has been under pressure from rising interest rates and had refinancing obligations totaling more than $15 billion through the end of the decade, according to its latest financial report. Because of its struggles, ZF lost its investment grade status and has announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs. But the supplier’s chief financial officer says it’s starting to see some relief thanks to higher demand for parts for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and gas-powered vehicles. Thanks to that boost and reducing its borrowings over the past year, ZF says it’s on track to regain its investment grade status.

LUCID MOTORS CUTS 12% OF WORKFORCE 
ZF isn’t the only company struggling with the slower than expected EV transition. Lucid Motors announced it’s cutting 12% of its workers globally. The EV startup didn’t specify the exact total but at the end of 2024 it had 6,800, so the number of cuts is likely in the hundreds. But hourly production workers at its plant in Arizona won’t be impacted by the cuts. Lucid said it made the decision to “streamline our organization so we can operate with greater efficiency and deliver on our commitments to gross margin improvement and long-term growth.” The automaker struggled with production challenges, supply-chain impacts and rising costs last year. And we’ll find out just how much that had an impact on Lucid’s earnings when it reports them tomorrow.

  

VW LEADS EUROPEAN EV SALES RANKINGS
Despite a 16% decline in sales, the Volkswagen brand was number one in EVs in Europe last month. According to Dataforce, VW registered more than 17,000 EVs in January, which was well ahead of Renault in second place, which sold more than 14,400 EVs. Skoda was number three, only 425 units behind Renault. BMW ranked fourth and it was followed by Audi, giving the VW Group three of the top five brands in EV sales in Europe in January. BYD climbed into the top 10, ranking number 8 with 8,700 registrations, nearly double compared to a year ago. And Tesla’s registrations tumbled 17% to about 7,800 units, dropping the EV maker to 10th place overall.

EV OWNERS FRUSTRATED BY BROKEN CHARGERS
The public EV charging experience plays a big role in whether or not an EV owner will buy another EV or would recommend an EV to someone else. And according to market research firm Escalent, 74% of the EV owners it surveyed rate their charging experience either a 4 or 5 out of 5. However, one third still reported having a problem with public chargers, with the most common issue being an offline or broken charger. So, there’s still improvements that can be made. One other stat we found interesting is that a majority of EV owners still charge at home. 43% only use a public charger once or twice in 6 months and 23% only go about once a month. At the other end of the spectrum, 10% of EV owners use a public charger more than one time a week. 

LIVE Q&A WITH SEAN & JOHN
And a quick reminder for our YouTube and Patreon members, John and I will be doing a live Q&A this afternoon at 2PM EST. YouTube members can find the link by clicking the Posts tab on our channel homepage. And Patreon members can find it on our Patreon page.

But that’s all for this show. Thanks for tuning in.