AD #4403 – Subaru Dropping Gas Cars from Europe; GM Says More Hybrids Are Coming; Rivian Passes Chevy in EV Sales

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

GM SAYS MORE HYBRIDS ARE COMING
GM is finally going to step up its hybrid game in the U.S. During a conference call yesterday, CEO Mary Barra said the company will have hybrid models in multiple segments and we’ll learn more closer to launch, but she did not provide a timeline. Several years ago reports surfaced that GM intended to offer more hybrids, but due to market conditions it never really followed through on that. Corvette is the only model in GM’s entire U.S. lineup that is available with the powertrain. But since fuel prices shot up, automakers like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia that have strong hybrid lineups are stealing market share away from companies that don’t, which is essentially all the Detroit automakers. Imagine where GM could be if it had brought out more hybrids years ago and now we wonder if this new effort will be too little, too late?

GM INVESTS IN SODIUM-ION STARTUP
Speaking of GM, it was the top investor in U.S. sodium-ion battery startup Peak Energy, which raised $108 million in its latest funding round. Peak will use that money to help ramp up manufacturing at its plant in California. GM first announced a partnership with Peak back in June, sharing its intention to use the sodium-ion cells for energy storage systems.

SUBARU DROPPING GAS CARS FROM EUROPE
Subaru has to get rid of all its gas-powered cars in Europe. The company can’t meet the region’s regulations for fleet CO2 emissions or its requirements for driver assistance systems. As a result, it will drop the Outback at the end of this year, followed by the Impreza, Crosstrek and Forester next year. As we reported just the day, Subaru is working on its next-gen engines and driver assistance tech and the company says it’s not ruling out offering a full hybrid in Europe, but there’s no plans for that right now. So, in 2028 it may only have EVs for sale in the region.

EU AGREES TO LOWER EMISSION RULES
Sticking with the EU, lawmakers agreed to lower emission rules for 2035. Instead of a 100% reduction of CO2 emissions, which would have essentially banned gas-powered vehicles, automakers need to cut emissions by 87.5% compared to 2021 levels and can get another 7.5% credit by using low-carbon steel that’s made in Europe. However, the agreement still needs approval before it becomes a law.

RIVIAN NOW #2 EV SELLER IN THE U.S.
Rivian is now the #2 EV brand in the U.S., up from 10th place last year. Chevy was #2 behind Tesla but according to Cox Automotive, Rivian moved into second place in the third quarter, selling more than 19,000 EVs, up 45% from last year. Chevy on the other hand sold just over 10,000 EVs and slipped to 6th place overall. But when you combine Chevy, Cadillac and GMC, General Motors is still the number two EV manufacturer with over 25,000 EV sales in Q3. Rivian’s success is mostly due to its commercial van, which accounted for 44% of its sales in Q3, and the newly launched R2. The R1S and R1T were both down around 30%. Through the first nine months of the year, Rivian is number two overall with just over 41,000 sales. But it has a ways to go to catch Tesla, which has sold more than 386,000 EVs in the U.S so far this year.

TESLA & SPACEX MERGER MORE LIKELY
There’s a lot of speculation that Tesla and SpaceX will merge and now it looks even more likely. Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX have formed special committees to explore a merger and also added that “there’s a lot of merit to combining the companies.” Musk’s companies have already started overlapping with SpaceX purchasing more than $100 million worth of Cybertrucks and xAI, which is owned by SpaceX, buying Tesla batteries. SpaceX and Tesla are already two of the largest companies in the world, with a market value of $2 trillion and $1.5 trillion respectively, and combining them would be the largest corporate tie-up of all time. But a merger isn’t inevitable. Elon says Tesla would need approval from 50% of all shareholders and not a simple majority of those voting. But perhaps Elon will provide more details about a potential SpaceX tie-up when Tesla reports its third-quarter earnings tonight.

             

NEW BMW iX5 CHARGES FAST
BMW is showing off the charging capability of its new iX5. The model features 800-V technology and new high-voltage batteries that provide 20% greater energy density than BMW’s previous batteries. The automaker, along with DC fast charging company Alpitronic, demonstrated an iX5 hitting 460-kW of peak DC charging power at an Ionna charging station. It was able to add 170 miles of range in just 10 minutes. And its 144-kWh battery can charge from 10 to 80% in 22 minutes. But don’t get too excited if you’re interested. BMW says this is just a demonstration and the charging hardware is not available in the model currently sold in the U.S.

CHERY OPEN TO U.S. PARTNERS
That vicious price war and plunging sales in the Chinese auto market means Chinese automakers need to push into overseas markets because most of them can’t make money at home. Yet, the U.S. has effectively banned Chinese imports and the EU is scrambling to slow them down. So that’s forcing Chinese OEMs to come up with creative work-arounds. Charlie Zhang, a vice president of Chery, tells Reuters that they’re open to partnering with a U.S. automaker to build cars in the U.S. He’s confident they can avoid using Chinese software and hardware, which is likely to be banned by pending U.S. legislation.

AITO TAPS BOSCH FOR EU TECH
And we’re already starting to see Chinese automakers avoid Chinese tech in overseas markets. Aito, which is partly backed by Huawei, is going to dump all its Huawei software and hardware and go with Bosch in Europe. That includes ADAS, smart cockpit and chassis systems. The EU and the U.S. are very wary about Chinese cars collecting data as they drive around and then sending it back to China. But if those cars are equipped with European or American connectivity technology, that could take care of the problem, and open the door for more Chinese sales.

NASA STARTS TESTING NEW LUNAR ROVERS
NASA is pushing hard to establish a Moon base by 2032 and lunar rovers will play a significant role in that development. So NASA is evaluating a variety of different rover designs, including autonomous and ones with crews. Two private companies are taking the lead in developing the next generation of rovers: Astrolab, which is based in California, and Lunar Outpost, which is based in Colorado. The LTVs as they’re officially called, or lunar terrain vehicles, have to deal with temperatures as low as -334° Fahrenheit, or -203° Celsius. The first of them gets launched later this year and will be used to evaluate potential locations on the Moon’s South Pole for a Moon base. That’s where NASA expects to find ice, which will be critical for supporting human life.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next Chapter in Chris Theodore’s book, Learning From The Masters. We’ll be posting the next installment for everyone this Friday afternoon.

But that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching Autoline Daily.