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09-08-2025

John! You’re right. It’s not just the auto industry who needs to get decarbonized. But things are, in fact, happening outside the auto industry, you just have to look!

The power grids of the world are making progress, just look at the UK who, invented the steam engine, have practically freed their grid from coal, and are going after the fossil gas now.

And the shipping where IMO are persuing carbon neutrality with biofuels. See here

Or why not check out the EUs emissions trading system with automatically lowering of the targets, and with trading tarrifs based on the actual emissions in production and transport on for products imported to the Union, to level the playing field , for producers with dirty grids for example.

Kind regards from a keen viewer of autoline daily!
Ulf K

Ulf,

Good feedback, thanks for sending. It’s good to see progress being made on other fronts.

I was tracking emissions trading years ago when it got started, thinking it would be a good investment. There were some teething problems when it got started (lack of verification) and it stumbled badly. I’m not sure if they got that straightened out.

Best,
John McElroy

09-03-2025

Sean, my understanding is that every Tesla vehicle currently produced has virtually, if not potentially, the same hardware and software as the Robotaxis. Tell me exactly how and in what way do you believe they are functionally different.

Jim M

Jim,

First, I never said they were functionally different, just big differences between the two efforts. I agree that it seems like Supervised FSD is very similar to what is being used in Robotaxi, but we still don’t know that for sure. As of now you can’t buy a Robotaxi or the system that it uses. Also, Supervised FSD isn’t only limited to a small section of Austin, Texas like the Robotaxi is and you can have more than two riders and don’t need a safety rider on board. So, when people talk about FSD and the Robotaxi like one is related to the other, I think there’s still some confusion going on. And that’s why I wish Tesla did a better job of making that distinction.

Thanks,
Sean McElroy

09-02-2025

Sean, — Great show today. I went back and looked at the Ford GT Interior, at length. There is/are a lot of technical technologies in that passenger compartment. Which, from the rollbar, steering wheel, and door closure strap (and a lot of other items, including what’s on the floor on the passenger side) definitely move my thoughts to something other than a street vehicle. It would be great to have a breakout of identifiers for what’s inside the cockpit of this contemporary vehicle. Robert McElroy

09-02-2025

Hi guys, and thanks for the consistently great product. I have a question about batteries I don’t hear anybody asking or answering. “What are the multiple technical paths to reducing battery pack weight in BEVs?”. “Multiple” is the key word, because I suspect the future, as always, lies in improving multiple variables (the cell packaging, the chemistry, the pack engineering, the cooling system, and so on).

The vague and easy layman answers we can all come up with. Like “solid state”. Or “cell to pack”. But I bet there’s a lot more to it than we know. For instance, what would the weight impact be of the various cell formats (cylindrical, prismatic, pouch).

I’m hoping sometime in the next year or two you might have a battery pack specialist on the show to talk us through the topic “Battery pack 2035: How does industry remove 500 pounds?”.

Maybe too technical for your audience?

Thanks for considering,

Scott from Asheville

Scott,

Good question, thanks for sending.

John McElroy

09-02-2025

Porsche and Panzers

I am sure you will receive many comments on this topic raised in a recent Autoline show and this is one of them. It’s a minor point but the fact is the Porsche company’s design for the Tiger tank was rejected. The design went to another company. So the popular conception is mistaken. Porsche’s prototype chassis for the Tiger were re-purposed for the Ferdinand self-propelled gun/tank destroyer.

The show also mentioned that Porsche designed the “panzer tank.” Here the nomenclature is incorrect. Panzer referred to tanks in general, for example, the Panzer Corps. The reference was likely to the Panther tank, which, again, Porsche was not involved with.

I enjoy the show.
Keep up the good work.
John
Bloomfield, CT

PS: I own a 1967 Citroen D wagon.

John,

I love it when our viewers see us straight because they know the facts.

Thanks for your input.

John McElroy

09-02-2025

John and Sean,

John you have talked about the decline of auto shows and how so much has move to CES. Check this out. Electrify Expo Its more than just autos, its more about electro mobility.

As far as I know, Tesla never did any auto shows. But, look at the list of companies and you will see Tesla attending this one.

George

George,

Thanks for sending, this looks like a good event.

Tesla has participated in other shows. I believe it was at the 2010 and 2011 Detroit auto shows and I saw it at the Munich show in 2023.

John McElroy

09-02-2025

I was thinking about younger buyers. And thinking about how many options they have to buy with car’s and trucks. it seems like in the 90s being in my early 20s. I had so many more options to look at while having a family from a Ford escort to a Plymouth Voyager minivan. My question is do automakers think about younger buyers and the future business they might bring.

Lamont S

Lamont,

Yes, automakers are keenly interested in younger buyers. Especially Gen Z (born 1997 – 2012). They know if they can get the next wave of young people interested in their brand, they can ride that for decades. There is a tremendous amount of market research going into this.

Japanese automakers captured the Baby Boomers in the 1970s and made a fortune.

Best,
John McElroy

09-02-2025

AAH – ZF by-wire steering, braking, active damping west coast auto company

Tesla or Ford?
ZF rep implied it was imminent.
Tesla Y performance released next day in China.
US YL and Y performance delayed till October????

The Robbotaxi should have all three for manoeuvre in tight spaces and smooooth ride

ZF brand on CT by wire steering

Peter

Peter,

You’re probably right. Tesla also leaned on ZF for the bi-wire steering in the Cybertruck.

Best,
John

07-22-2024

John,

Just now watching this week’s After Hours show. Rotor coating sounds downright amazing. First thing I thought of is related to ICE engines; can that same/similar process be applied to say, the cylinder walls and piston rings that might add HUGE miles to a typical ICE engine. Did Gordon mention anything in that direction off camera that might lend the process to that type of application?? Curious.

Joe & Emma

I was going to ask that, but after we learned that it costs about $250/rotor to do this process, that eliminated it in my mind from being used in engines. If
they can get the cost way down….

John McElroy

07-22-2024

John, Mary B. was playing us a couple years ago; at a meeting with President Joe Biden whom said “Mary you did it, you electrified American” Mary promagated several times then; that GM would beat Tesla, in the EV Market by 2025… Mary obviously knew then: as very clearly now, that GM’S 2025 EV Revolution was never going to happen… Model lines pre-planning takes usally 7 years, maybe expedited in 4 years from start of planning to production… Watch “GM CEO Announces 6 NEW Models For 2025 & WOWS Everybody!” on YouTube