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Runtime: 9:14
0:00 Huh? U.S. Car Sales Surpass China
1:14 UK Considers Chinese Tariffs
1:52 Tesla Robotaxi Can’t See Well at Night
2:50 Europe EV Sales Hit Record
3:22 Renault Plans €10B EV Investment in France
4:01 U.S. EV Sales Show Glimmer of Hope
4:44 Figure Decommissions Its Humanoids ‘Terminator’ Style
6:13 Fuel Tax Poll Results
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HUH? U.S. CAR SALES SURPASS CHINA
OK, here’s something that no one saw coming. U.S. new car sales in September topped China. Specifically, new car sales in China last month were 1.25 million vehicles, versus 1.32 million sold in the United States. That’s according to Chinese sales numbers published by Star News in South Korea, and U.S. numbers published by Stephens Incorporated. We’ve been watching new car sales in China tanking all year long. They were down a shocking 21% in the first half of the year, a loss of about 2.6 million units, or the equivalent of about 12 assembly plants. Government agencies in China have warned automakers that they are headed for disaster. They call it involution. The market is caught up in a vicious price war where most automakers are not making money. This is why Chinese automakers are trying to export as many cars as they can. But if that export flow ever gets cut off, the Chinese industry will have a major crisis on its hands.
UK CONSIDERS CHINESE TARIFFS
Meanwhile, the UK is considering slapping 45% tariffs on Chinese EVs, with the Business Minister of Britain concerned that Chinese automakers are dumping subsidized vehicles there. Chinese automakers now have 23% of the market in the UK. The best-selling car in Britain right now is the Jaecoo 7 which is nicknamed the Temu Land Rover because it looks a lot like a Range Rover Sport but sells for half the price. Temu is a popular Chinese e-commerce site known for its very low prices, which is how the Jaecoo 7 got that nickname.
TESLA ROBOTAXI CAN’T SEE WELL AT NIGHT
Elon Musk recently posted that Robotaxi operating hours would expand from 10PM to 11PM. He claims the main thing Tesla is trying to solve is “making sure that we don’t run over pets when they’re hard to see at night.” Musk uses the example of grey kittens on a grey road. Tesla pretty famously has a camera-based autonomous system that doesn’t use radar or lidar, which provide good data in low-light conditions, but Elon has called them a “crutch” and a “fool’s errand.” Waymo, on the other hand, has those sensors and its robotaxis operate 24/7.
EUROPE EV SALES HIT RECORD
Automakers have sold a record number of electric vehicles so far this year in Europe. According to a study from Transport & Environment, through the first eight months of the year, more than 1.6 million EVs have been sold, up 45% from a year ago. EVs now account for 22% of the overall market, up six percent compared to last year. In addition to rising fuel costs, EV sales are up because there’s more available. There’s now 50% more EVs on sale in Europe than there were a year ago.
RENAULT PLANS €10B EV INVESTMENT IN FRANCE
And thanks to that growth, Renault says it’s willing to make a huge commitment to EVs in France. The automaker has invested €13 billion in EVs over the last five years in the country and CEO Francois Provost says Renault is willing to invest another €10 billion in EVs in France over the next five years. But Provost says Renault will only make that commitment “if the social and political context allows it.” Renault built 500,000 vehicles in France last year and Provost says it will make 25% more this year thanks to the rise of EVs.
U.S. EV SALES SHOW GLIMMER OF HOPE
Meanwhile, in the U.S., EV sales have started to recover after the elimination of the federal EV tax credit last year. According to Cox Automotive, EV sales have stabilized at 6% of the market this year. Dealers are getting rid of excess inventory caused by the cancellation of the tax credit. At the beginning of the year, EVs had a 180-day supply, that dropped to 78 days in August, about the same as gas powered cars. Tesla and Rivian posted better than expected EV sales in the third quarter and Ford and Hyundai says dealers are asking for more EVs. And we think EV sales will start to slowly climb from here on out.
FIGURE DECOMMISSIONS ITS HUMANOIDS ‘TERMINATOR’ STYLE
AI robotics company Figure asked for the public’s help on how to give its 02 humanoids a proper sendoff after maintaining the fleet no longer made sense with its next-generation of robots coming. The ‘Terminator’ himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, saw the post and responded “you should melt them.” The company says disassembling each one would have taken so much time that it would have delayed future robot programs and melting them would get rid of any proprietary hardware. The idea was so popular that Figure hired Schwarzenegger to help decommission the robots, Terminator-style, in a vat of molten steel. But even with the help of former Mythbusters, no foundries in the U.S. or Mexico would sign off on the stunt, due to the robot’s lithium ion batteries. Eventually, Figure found a place in Finland and then trained the robots to jump into the molten metal. One was even lowered in, just like the movie. The company then took some of that steel and machined it into limited-edition ‘artifacts’ that look like its robot’s head. The larger $1,900 version is already sold out, but as of this morning you could still buy the $500 version. The next-gen Figure 03 robot has already been put to work, sorting parts for BMW at one of its plants, and the company says it’s going after jobs that are boring and repetitive.
FUEL TAX POLL RESULTS
We posted a poll last week for our Patreon and YouTube members asking if you thought it was a good idea or not for U.S. states and the federal government to drop the fuel tax. Some states have already done so. But 75% of you said it was a bad idea.
Glenboise pointed out that “Indiana has stopped collecting highway taxes for several months. They are replacing the uncollected funds with rainy day funds.” But, he added, “60 cents a gallon does make a difference.”
Thomas Bowen said, “Wear and tear doesn’t take an election-season holiday, so our road maintenance funds shouldn’t, either.”
Matthew Clarke captured the sentiment of many of you. “If a state cuts the per-gallon fuel taxes, they should also be required to cut the HEV and BEV tax replacement fees.”
Thanks to all our members for your input on these issue, and thanks for all your support.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for watching Autoline Daily.
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I’m not surprised that car sales are dropping in China. The average age of the fleet is about half that of the U.S. fleet, so there would be fewer replacement sales. Also, people in China probably “bought ahead” to take advantage of the price wars going on. Then, unlike in the U.S., much, or most of China has decent options to driving, so maybe “everyone who wants a car has one.”
It would seem that Tesla could be missing out on a lot of opportunities, by only having their vehicles only available up until 10, and now 11 PM! While a good number of people use hailing services during the day, I would imagine most people would want and look for a dependable service at night! Especially those who frequent drinking establishments, late night parties, or teens getting home from doing homework at their friend’s house, etc.! Having a trusted and dependable individual to provide this level of service, to get themselves or their loved ones home safely and without incident, would be indispensable?. Yet, it sounds like Elon Musk is blow off a real concern was if it were no big deal. As if to say it’s not a major problem because their current system has difficulty. telling the difference between a gray cat and with gray.asphalt. Yet, to me, that would suggest that it may have the same challenge seeing anything that has a darker hue, be it a cat, dog, groundhog, racoon, or even someone with a darker hue or complexion, or if they are wearing all dark colors, after dark! There are a lot of places with winding roads, with little to no light, not even street lights, that are very difficult even for humans to see after dark, especially when there’s snow on the ground, and near impossible to see the roads all together, let alone after dark and/or raining! Having said that, I do know they are, for now, working in a closed-loop, and in an urban setting.