AD #4351 – Stellantis Concept Eliminates Turbo Lag; Tesla Pushes to Keep EU FSD Safety Data Secret; VW ID.Era 5X Blends Wagon, SUV

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

TESLA PUSHES TO KEEP EU FSD SAFETY DATA SECRET
Tesla is pressuring regulators in Europe to keep safety data from Full-Self Driving tests a secret and so far, they’re going along with its request. Back in April, the Netherlands Vehicle Authority, or RDW, approved Tesla’s FSD system and now it’s pushing for widespread adoption across the EU. However, RDW is refusing to make public why it concluded FSD is safe and how it conducted the tests. Reuters reports that email correspondence between RDW and Tesla showed that Tesla pressed to keep that info secret saying it would violate its trade secrets. However, safety advocates say the RDW is withholding too much information, potentially at the expense of public safety. The EU could vote as soon as November to approve FSD, which would require a yes vote from 55% of members, who need to make up at least 65% of the EU’s population.

TESLA AND SPACEX BUILD $16.8B TEXAS TERAFAB
And speaking of Tesla, it and SpaceX announced plans to invest $16.8 billion to build what it calls Terafab, an AI semiconductor factory in Texas. It will produce advanced logic and memory chips for Tesla’s Optimus robots and Cybercab as well as high-powered chips for SpaceX’s data centers.

 

PORSCHE SE BACKS AGGRESSIVE VW RESTRUCTURING
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is getting pushback from the company’s board, which is mostly pro-labor, over his plan to close plants and cut jobs in Germany. However, he has the full backing of VW’s largest shareholder. Porsche SE, which is controlled by the Porsche-Piech family and owns about 32% of VW and 12.5% of Porsche, says the VW Group should consider “every option” to help turn the automaker around, including Blume’s plan to close 4 plants and cut 100,000 jobs in Germany. However, that proposal was shot down by labor representatives on the company’s supervisory board last month. Blume is now pursuing a new plan to cut production in Europe by 500,000 units a year, trim management and administrative positions as well as reduce the number of models and variants it offers. But it’s understandable why Porsche SE is pushing hard for VW to act quickly. It posted a $2.6 billion net loss in the first half, primarily because it relies on dividend payments from the VW Group.

DEBT BURDEN CRUSHES GERMAN AUTO SUPPLIERS
And just to underscore how much the German auto industry is struggling, a new study shows that the debt burden for German suppliers is outpacing its competitors in the rest of Europe and China. A financial analysis from Strategy&, which is part of PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that average interest expenses at Germany’s major suppliers increased to 102% of operating earnings in 2025, which is the fourth year in a row it’s gone up. The German companies also have lower average equity ratios than their competitors, which is putting even more financial stress on them. And over the past six years, Chinese competitors have reduced overhead and manufacturing costs as a share of revenue, while German supplier overhead costs have worsened.

  

TOYOTA BEAT TESLA TO ALUMINUM WIRING
At the end of June, we ran a report about how BMW, Ferrari and Stellantis have all started replacing copper wiring with aluminum. We said Tesla was the first automaker that we were aware of to use high-voltage aluminum wiring. But Craig Van Batenburg, a long-time viewer who built a career around hybrid and EV training, points out that the 2004-2009 Gen 2 Toyota Prius used aluminum wires from the high-voltage battery to the inverter. The process to make the wires was developed by the supplier Yazaki and Craig even provided us with an example. It features an aluminum core, but instead of a solid piece, it’s a cluster of individual wires, however those wires are much thicker than normal. That’s wrapped in a rubber coating, then there’s a thin wrapping of copper wire and finally the outer orange coating. Interestingly, the copper section doesn’t go all the way to the end of the connector, where the aluminum wire is electrically welded to a steel-like fastener. Tesla has expanded the use of high-voltage aluminum wiring much further, but Toyota and Yazaki paved the way. As we pointed out before, aluminum wiring is cheaper, lighter and is easier to put into vehicles than copper. 

STELLANTIS CONCEPT ELIMINATES TURBO LAG
Stellantis developed a concept to help eliminate turbo lag. Turbos are powered by exhaust gasses coming out of the engine, but it takes time before that force from the exhaust is enough for the turbo to create boost. That time is called turbo lag. So Stellantis created eBoost Air. The setup is mounted in-line with the air intake system and when the driver tries to accelerate, but the turbos haven’t spooled up enough yet, air is redirected around the throttle body to an e-compressor, which rapidly builds up boost pressure to spin the turbines. The company paired the technology with a prototype version of its high-output 3.0-liter 6-cylinder Hurricane engine, but it didn’t report on any performance improvements or any plans to put this into production. 

CHINA REVEALS SMART #2 IMAGES
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed several new models coming into the market through regulatory filings and two caught our eye. One is the new smart #2, which we just reported on this week for launching a unique marketing campaign. The iconic 2-seater is making a comeback for the Mercedes-Geely-owned brand and will ride on a new Electric Compact Architecture. 

VOLKSWAGEN ID.ERA 5X BLENDS WAGON, SUV
The other vehicle is the first pure electric model to come from Volkswagen’s new ID.Era series. The ID.Era 5X features Level 2+ hands-free driving capability and comes with an LFP battery pack that powers a 155 kW or 208 horsepower electric motor. But most interesting to us is the styling. We think the designers blended the look of a station wagon and SUV like we really haven’t seen before.

But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day and I hope that you have a great weekend.