This was Autoline Daily to show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Ford shared a ton of information yesterday about how it will transition the EVS, and here's some of the highlights. Ford will come out with a three row
SUV that CEO Jim Farley described as your own personal bullet train. It will
provide a three hundred mile range at seventy miles an hour, get one hundred and fifty miles of range from a ten minute charge, and use a battery pack a third the size of what's used today. The second gen Lightning will
have the highest manufacturing efficiency in the industry for a pickup truck, with thirty percent less labor and overhead cost than today's F one fifty. Ford is not
giving up on its ice products and is even going to add one hundred and sixty thousand units of capacity. If e don't catch on as quickly as expected,
it will easily flex to more icy vehicles. Even so, Ford expects
its icy sales to start dropping after twenty twenty five. To improve quality,
Ford is no longer testing vehicles to a set standard. It's now testing them
until they fail. That started with the new super duty pickup trucks. Ford
will not make a full lineup of evs, but will only go into segments where it knows evs will sell well and it will not go head to head with Tesla or BYD And starting this fall, all mock Ease will be sold with no haggle pricing and that will eventually be extended to all of its evs.
Ford got three billion dollars out of its investment in Rivian, which is twice what it invested in the company. Ford will get back to selling five
point six million vehicles globally as supply chains improve. Those are just some of
the highlights and we'll get into more of them tomorrow, and no doubt this is going to be a big topic on Autoline after Hours this Thursday. Not
all countries in Europe are on board with stricter vehicle emission rules that go into effect in twenty twenty five. Eight countries, including France, Italy, the
Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, say the tougher limits are too ambitious and that automakers won't be able to meet the targets.
The new rules require onboard pollution monitoring systems, and they also limit pollution from breaks and tires for the first time. The automakers say the rules will
force them to invest heavily into improving emissions, which is money that should go into zero emission vehicles instead. But regulators say the Euro seven standards are necessary
to improve health and they'll prevent automakers from cheating on emission rules like VW did with diesels. But some sort of compromise will be needed, and the eight
countries have enough votes to block the proposal, and that emissions fight isn't just limited to Europe. More than one hundred and fifty Republicans in the US House
of Representatives send a letter to the head of the EPA urging the agency to roll back proposed emission regulations for twenty twenty seven. The rules would cut light
duty vehicle emissions fifty six percent and medium duty emissions forty four percent by twenty thirty two. It would also push evs to sixty three percent of new car
sales. Republicans say the goals aren't achievable and that it's quote deliberate market manipulation
to prop up evs. They also say the rules would benefit China since it
controls most of the materials needed to make EV batteries. The EPA will start
taking public comments on its proposal starting in July and will release a final rule after that. BYDS batteries are better than catls. That's an oversimplification, but
it is true for the charging rate for the Tesla Model WHY. Versions of
the electric crossovers started rolling off the line in Berlin with what is reported to be BYDS LFP or lithium iron phosphate blade battery, and Tesla fans have been posting about their charging performance compared to versions of the Model Why that are sold with an LFP pack from CTL, and early indications show that Whys with the BYD pack are able to maintain charging and overall higher charging rates over the entire
charging cycle. One users showed their car going from eleven to seventy one percent
state charge in fifteen minutes. New and different battery chemistries have the potential to
bring down EV prices, but they can bring on other issues as well.
LFP doesn't perform in cold weather as well as other batteries, and as we learned on the most recent autoline after hours, there could be questions around recyclability.
Chinese automakers have shown that if you can make truly affordable vehicles, buyers are willing to spend a little extra uncustomized versions. But this is not just
limited to China. Citron first showed off a buggy concept in twenty twenty one
of its cute little electric car, the Ami, and it was so popular it made a limited run of fifty. It charged an extra twenty eight hundred
euros or three thousand dollars on top of the base price, which is about sixty five hundred euro or seven thousand dollars. Even so, those sold out
so fast that Satron decided to do another batch of one thousand Amie buggies and orders kickoff in June. The models feature a unique body color, two doors,
a canvas roof, and gold wheels. Mercedes AMG is getting into micromobility.
It's launching a new East scooter in Europe that it says combines quote performance, high quality components and sporty elegance. But really this is just a version
of the Explorer East scooter from Micromobility Systems, rebranded with AMG graphics. It
does come with a significantly bigger battery which like an electric car, boost the range up to forty kilometers but knocks down the top speed to twenty kilometers an hour. No word on pricing, but a quick Internet search says the version
with the smaller battery sells for about a thousand euro And for a full circle moment in the industry, some of you may recognize Micro. It's the same
company that makes the Microlino, a new aged all electric version of the Isetta, which went on sale in Germany late last year. As more technology is
added to vehicles, protecting them from hackers is becoming more important. But there's
a shortage of talent to help protect vehicles, and that's why gm Ford and Stellantis are part of a consortium that created a college program to develop cybers security engineers. The program, which is also funded by a grant from the US
Defense Department, is taught at the University of Detroit Mercy and is because it focuses specifically on vehicles and it's growing. Several community colleges in Michigan and the
University of Arizona provide research support, and next year the University of Michigan and Henry Ford College are joining the program as well. The Wooling Mini EV,
which took the Chinese market by storm, looks like it's losing steam. The
little electric car, with a base price of about forty five hundred bucks, was the best selling EV in China, but now sales are taking a nosedive.
April sales were down thirty two percent compared to last year and down twenty six percent compared to the month before. They're down twenty nine percent for the
first four months of the year and that dropped the Mini EV from the number one sales spot to number six. The Little Electric now faces a slew of
low cost competition, and it shows how dynamic and volatile the Chinese market can really be. And speaking of China, Chinese automakers are ramping up EV exports
to Europe, which is causing a backlash in some circles. Carlos Tavrez,
the CEO of Stilantis, wants higher terraffs on those imports, and Alliance, the giant German insurance company, says Chinese EV imports pose the greatest threat to European automakers. Maybe that's why byd is scouring the continent for a site to
build an EV assembly plant. It reportedly is looking for sites in France,
Spain and Germany. And by making cars in Europe by d would protect itself
from backlash and no doubt other Chinese automakers will look at doing the same thing.
And that brings us to the end of today's show. Thank you for
tuning in. Altoline Daily is brought to you. Buy Bridgestone solutions for your
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About this episode
Ford reveals plans for a new three-row EV SUV with impressive range and charging speed, while maintaining ICE production capacity if EV adoption lags. The company aims for selective EV segments and improved manufacturing efficiency. European countries push back on strict 2025 emission rules, citing cost and feasibility concerns, mirrored by US political resistance to EPA regulations favoring EVs. BYD's LFP batteries outperform CATL in charging rates, highlighting evolving EV tech. Chinese EV sales, particularly the Wuling Mini EV, are declining amid growing competition. Meanwhile, automakers collaborate on cybersecurity education, and Chinese brands consider European EV production to counter import backlash.
- If EVs Don't Sell, Ford Ready With ICEs - 8 EU Countries Oppose New Emission Regs - House GOP Opposes New Emission Regs - Tesla BYD Batteries Charge Faster Than CATL - Citroen Ramps Up More Ami Buggys - AMG Launches e-Scooter - Detroit 3 Back Cybersecurity College Program - Wuling Mini EV Sales Plummet - BYD Searching for EU Assembly Site
