AD #3612 - GM Still Struggling to Make Ultium EVs; Competition Impacting CATL; Folding Steering Wheel Coming Soon

This is aut Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. General Motors reported its earnings for the second quarter, and the financial

results are good. The automakers sold nearly six hundred and ninety two thousand vehicles,

which is up nineteen percent compared to a year ago. However, only

fifteen thousand of those were evs and the majority came from the Bolt, which it's discontinuing. GM still struggles to make altium evs, selling a little over

thirteen hundred Lyrics and forty seven Hummer evs, but its revenue increased by twenty five percent to forty four point seven billion dollars. It posted a net profit

of two point six billion, which was up a whopping fifty one percent, and its ebit was three point two billion dollars, up thirty eight percent compared to a year ago. And thanks to those results, GM increased its full

year profit guidance and it now expects to hit a net income of nine point three to ten point seven billion dollars, up from eight point four to nine point nine billion in a previous forecast. And Chinese battery makers CTL also had

a strong quarter. It posted a net profit of one and a half billion

dollars, which is up sixty three percent compared to a year ago, but its growth slowed from the first quarter, when its net profit surge five hundred and fifty eight percent. That's because CTL is facing more competition and has been

losing market share to BYD. Speaking of ev batteries, the Hyundai Group just

opened a new battery research center in Korea with Sole National University and is investing twenty three million dollars by twenty thirty into the collaboration. A total of twenty

two research projects will be carried out in four divisions, including lithium metal batteries, solid state batteries, battery management systems, and battery processing technology. Hyundai

believes it can cut battery costs by seventy five percent by twenty twenty six and another forty five percent by twenty thirty. Earlier this month, it was reported

Tesla's and talks with the Indian government to produce evis in the country, and now Reuters reports that Tesla representatives will meet with India's Commerce Minister soon to discuss the plant and about setting up a supply chain. The factory will reportedly build

a model that starts at just twenty four thousand dollars, which is twenty five percent cheaper than its current least expensive model. But we don't know for sure

yet if it's an all new model, but it won't be sold in just India, it will be exported to other markets as well. The Indian car

market is growing fast and it's now the third largest in the world. However,

EV's account for less than two percent of sales right now. The giant

German supplier zed F showed off this foldable steering wheel about seven years ago, but everyone kind of laughed at it. The thinking was that it only made

sense for autonomous driving, and everyone knew autonomy was years away. But Zedf

says a Chinese automaker is going to intro the folding steering wheel in just a couple of months. It's for drivers who are waiting in a parking lot while

a family member shops, or for a baseball practice to end, so now they can watch a movie on the center's screen with out the steering wheel blocking part of their view. Mercedes is putting connected car technology and the sensors in

its cars to good use. It's teaming up with the City of Boston and

the US on a pilot project that will use data generated by vehicle suspension systems to help identify infrastructure issues like potholes. City planners can then send someone out

to inspect the road, or they can monitor potential problem areas over time.

Here's a couple of other quick notes about the project. All the data is

collected anonymously for Mercedes owners that have opted into data sharing on the Mercedes Me app. There's no indication of how long the pilot will last, but Mercedes

has several other similar projects going on in Europe right now. It also indicates

other sensors like those used for driver assistance systems, could provide even more data to improve city infrastructures. We would think info is simple as tire pressure data

would be useful as well, so it seems like there's an opportunity for anyone with a connected vehicle to and get involved in a similar project. Hyundai is

trying to speed up the rate at which its vehicles get a software fix that's related to a surgeon thefts. It makes it sound like some dealers have been

overwhelmed by the number of customers that want the fix, so Hundy is hosting a mobile service center at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. It reached out

to roughly thirty seven thousand owners in the area and we'll have a number of trained technicians on hand to complete the software upgrade, which it says should take less than an hour. The wave of THEFTS came after viral video showed how

to easily start some Houndy and Kia models that came without an engine a mobilizer.

As I said yesterday, I can talk about the Mustang GT today, so let's get into it. I drove a convertible version with the manual transmission,

but without the Performance pack, which means no Magna ride suspension or Brembo breaks. Even so, the setup was well balanced, doing a good job

of providing feedback while approaching the limits. It made the car feel stable and

gave me confidence as a driver. But compared to the lighter Eco Boost with

Magna ride suspension and Brembo breaks, the GT that I drove felt more well suited for sport grand touring driving than for tight twisting bends. The manual is

a six speed unit from Trag, and it had a really long third gear that allowed for good power delivery. From thirty five to eighty five miles an

hour. There's also a ten speed automatic available. The fourth gen Coyote five

Leader V eight features dual air intakes that lead into dual throttle bodies for the first time, which help it make more power four hundred and eighty horsepower to be exact, or four hundred and eighty six with an optional active exhaust system.

Now, I know this video of a colleague doing a hard launch is underwhelming, but the seat of your pants field is really good thanks to four hundred and fifteen pound feet of torque. Lastly, the new Mustang is full

of easter eggs, and in spirit of talking about the V eight, I'll share a couple of underhood easter eggs that were shown to me. Under the

air filter cover on the passenger side is the old famous Ford V eight logo, and on the driver's side are the different generations of V eight engine displacements.

And with that we wrap up today's show. Thank you for tuning in

Altoline Daily is brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for your journey in trepid control systems over the year engineering boost your game, and by Scheffler, we pioneer Motion at Schiffler we Pioneer Motion electrifying mobility, manufacturing SMARTA, reducing cos WHO emissions, making energy production clean. Scheffler Pioneer's Motion to advance how the world

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AD #3612 - GM Still Struggling to Make Ultium EVs; Competition Impacting CATL; Folding Steering Wheel Coming Soon

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