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Runtime: 10:02
0:00 Honda Spending Billions on New U.S. Hybrid Plant
0:41 Mercedes Could Increase Hours But Not Pay
1:28 U.S. Lawmakers Ramp Up Efforts to Ban Chinese
2:13 Chinese Automakers Could Grab Quick U.S. Foothold
2:48 Chinese Suppliers a Growing Threat
3:32 GM Giving Away Free EV Chargers
4:30 Geely Joins Ultra-Fast Charging Race
5:15 NIO Opens Off-Grid Swapping Station
5:40 Bentley’s 1st Pure EV
6:39 Renault Brings Past Icon Into Electric Era
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HONDA SPENDING BILLIONS ON NEW U.S. HYBRID PLANT
Honda is planning a big expansion in the U.S. The Nikkei newspaper reports that the automaker will invest $2.5 billion to build a new plant in Ohio, which would make large hybrid crossovers for both Honda and Acura. The company already has a large manufacturing base in the state and could start operations as soon as 2030 if it’s able to wrap up negotiations with Ohio soon. The new plant would be Honda’s eight in North America and it needs the space because all of its factories in the region are running near full capacity.
MERCEDES COULD INCREASE HOURS BUT NOT PAY
Earlier this week, Mercedes warned German workers that it will have to close two plants in the country if it’s unable to reduce costs. And now we have more details about its cost cutting plan. According to a report from Germany, Mercedes is aiming to cut more than $900 million in labor costs in the country. It’s considering options including increasing work hours without additional pay, adjusting holiday and Christmas bonuses, or eliminating special payments. The German auto industry is really struggling right now, suppliers have slashed headcount by about 75,000 people, Volkswagen is planning to slash 100,000 jobs and BMW is eliminating 8,000 workers.
U.S. LAWMAKERS RAMP UP EFFORTS TO BAN CHINESE
Lawmakers in the U.S. are ramping up efforts to ban Chinese vehicles. U.S. senators are working on bipartisan legislation to permanently ban Chinese vehicles and are aiming to pass the bill this week. Chinese automakers are already prohibited from selling or building connected vehicles in the U.S. and Chinese-made vehicles are slapped with 100% tariffs. And this Senate bill would make those rules permanent and prevent the White House from issuing waivers to Chinese companies to sell in the U.S. There’s also a version of the bill in the House of Representatives, which could be passed by the end of the year. Congress is stepping up its effort to ban Chinese vehicles after President Trump said he is open to Chinese companies building vehicles in the U.S.
CHINESE AUTOMAKERS COULD GRAB QUICK FOOTHOLD IN U.S.
And if restrictions on Chinese vehicles are eased, it wouldn’t take long for them to gain a foothold in the market. According to a new study from Mobility Global, Chinese automakers could sell as many as 1.7 million vehicles a year in the U.S. by 2038, which would be about 11% of the overall market. Thanks to their affordability, the researchers estimate demand for Chinese cars could increase new car sales in the U.S. by 600,000 units a year and they would likely take market share from other Asian brands.
CHINESE SUPPLIERS A GROWING THREAT
But it’s not just Chinese automakers that have the industry worried, Chinese suppliers are also becoming a growing threat. The head of Bosch North America says that while the growth of Chinese automakers globally has been a boost to traditional suppliers, they’re starting to see more competition from Chinese tier 1 suppliers, especially in South America where several Chinese automakers are establishing a manufacturing base.
GM HANDING OUT FREE EV CHARGERS
GM is giving away home Level 2 chargers for free. The automaker is working with PG&E to offer customers that buy or lease a GM EV in northern and central California a free PowerUp or PowerShift home charger from GM Energy if they sign up for PG&E’s EV Charge Manager program. Typically those chargers cost up to $2,000, but owners will still have to pay for permits, installation and any upgrades, including stationary storage, which GM Energy also sells and can be paired with the PowerShift charger. As part of the charging program customers can also get a $15 credit every month on their bill and can save $50 a month by shifting their EV charging sessions to times when energy demand is lower. Those that are eligible will be able to buy, enroll and receive the home charger all through participating GM dealers.
GEELY JOINS ULTRA-FAST CHARGING RACE
In other EV charging news, following BYD and Li Auto, Geely is coming out with its own ultra-fast charging stations that it claims can reach a peak output of 2.2 megawatts. Along with AI tech that can help keep an EV battery at optimal temperature, the new station can charge an electric vehicle from 10-70% in as little as 4:30 and from 10-97% in under 9 minutes. In order to handle all that power Geely is introducing a new version of its blade batteries and while we don’t know which models will be the first to feature them, the automaker hopes to have more than 15,000 of these new megawatt charging stations by the end of next year.
NIO OPENS OFF-GRID SWAPPING STATION
And one last story on EV charging. NIO opened its first off-grid battery swap station. By pairing solar panels with an energy storage system NIO says the station can run unattended 24-hours a day. The automaker built the station in a part of China where the electrical grid is more limited and extending conventional power lines would require construction across a desert.
BENTLEY’S 1ST PURE EV
Are Bentley buyers ready to go all-electric? We’re about to find out when the all-new Torcal goes on sale early next year with an expected starting price around $200,000. The vehicle is built on an 800-volt architecture, which supports charging rates of up to 400 kW, allowing the Torcal to go from 10-80% charge in 16 minutes. A 113 kWh battery pack returns a WLTP estimated 600 kilometers or 375 miles of range. While a dual motor all-wheel drive system puts out up to 880 horsepower and can move the EV from 0-60 MPH in as little as 2.8 seconds. I think Bentley made a good choice coming out with an SUV for its first EV since the body style is more popular. Rather than a sedan like some other luxury brands, even though sedans look nicer.
RENAULT BRINGS PAST ICON INTO ELECTRIC ERA
Here’s a cool-looking concept from Renault. It’s a reimagination of the Renault 8 Gordini from 1964, a 95 horsepower, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive car, but this new version is all-electric and delivers 270 horsepower to the rear wheels. We bet designers had a blast working on this 2-seat coupe and it will be on display at the Paris auto show next month.
And don’t forget to tune into Autoline After Hours today. While John will be out, I got an email from co-host Gary Vasilash this morning that he wants to talk about China, Canada and Cars. Joining him are Edgar Faler from the Center for Automotive Research, Doron Levin of Seeking Alpha, and Paul Waati from AutoPacific. Come be a part of the action when the show goes live at 3PM EST today on our website or YouTube channel.
But that’s a wrap for this show. Thanks for tuning in.
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Currently Waymo adding its new self-driving van called the Ojai, built by Chinese automaker Zeekr (Geely), to its fleet of robotaxis in the United States. The base vehicles for the Waymo Ojai robotaxi are built in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China by Zeekr, and are then shipped to Mesa, Arizona in the United States to be outfitted with Waymo’s autonomous driving technology. Ojai vans have rolled out in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix, with broader expansion underway.
Over all, it looks good, IMHO, but, to my eye, it would have looked even better if the front and rear ends were closer to that of the Flying Spur or Mulsanne. While it will be interesting to see how well the exhaust sound track will be received, but I wonder how having an exhaust sound track reminiscent of the Mulsanne’s, was ever considered?
This introduction of the torko is really setting up an interesting group of electric vehicles that are in this orbit! From the Range Rover Electric, the Escalade-iQ, Celestiq, the upper echelons of the GV90, the future Rolls Royce electric vehicle, as well as the upcoming Type-01, things are becoming a bit crowded with the uber luxury vehicles. While the GVE90 and the Escalade-iQ might be punching a above there weight class (maybe even the Type-01 too), checking all the bells and whistles might put them pretty close to the neighborhood of the others vehicles starting price. While it will no doubt be the least efficient of all those included in this group I just mentioned, what is interesting is that the Escalade-iQ might be the vehicle with the longest range (while the Type-01 is said to come to market with 400 miles range, the Escalade-iQ has proven it in real world driving)! I can’t wait to see what the Rolls-Royce electric SUV and an updated EQS-Maybach might bring to the table!
Even though Congress is making laws to keep Chinese vehicles from being sold in the US, what keeps the President from signing an executive order that allows them to do so anyway? Then, should the order be challenged, he’ll fight it in the court for years, until it makes it all the way to the US Supreme Court and they make a ruling on his order?! In the meantime, those vehicles could/would be allowed to be sold until the Supreme Court makes a decision?! Or the current Congress could create the law, the President defies the law with an executive order, but the current Congress just lets the administration do what it wants, deciding to let the next Congress or administration deal with it?! Of course people do not have to purchase the vehicles either, should the President and the Congress not be on the same page, but only time will tell!