This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasms of the global automotive industry.
Sean is off on the media launch for the Ram fifteen hundred pickup truck, so I'm filling in for now. Yesterday we reported that the Biden administration
is going to back off somewhat on the tough emission regulations for ice cars, but we didn't have any details. Well, today we know a little bit
more about it. The EPA originally wanted emission regulation so strict that automakers could
only meet them if evs accounted for sixty percent of their new car sales by twenty thirty and sixty seven percent by twenty thirty two. Now, Reuter's reports
that with the new REGs, evs will account for less than sixty percent of sales by the end of the decade, but we don't know how much less.
It seems to us that the EPA and the Biden administration are being deliberately vague about this. They don't want to enrage environmentalists or automakers, or car
dealers or even the UAW, so they're keeping it vague. The auto industry
argues that evs are still too expensive for most consumers, and that more time is needed to develop the charging infrastructure. And yet, while these rules are
being delayed reportedly because of a dramatic slowdown in the sales of electric cars, the numbers are not as bad as everyone's making them out to be. Yeah,
it is true that the growth of evs slowed dramatically in the US last year, but they're still growing. WP Brown Consulting, which does sales forecasting,
predicts that EV market share will come in at nine point seven percent this year, up two percentage points from last year. It's also forecasting that EV
sales will hit one point five seven million units, up from one point one million last year. That's an impressive forty two two percent EV growth rate.
Brown forecast that Tesla will sell seven hundred and ten thousand new vehicles in the US, while other automakers will sell eight hundred and fifty thousand, the first time they sell more evs than Tesla does. But the real story is the
EV segment is growing strong and far faster than any other part of the market.
This chart that we put together shows EV sales numbers since twenty twenty, and the percentage changed from year to year. As you can see the growth
rate dropped off significantly last year, but if WP Brown forecasting is right, then the growth rate is going to take a nice bounce upward this year.
And speaking of electric cars, Volkswagen is teasing the latest addition to its EV lineup, meet the ID seven Urer, a station wagon version of the fastback ID seven. To an VW describes this as one of the first estate cars
in the upper mid size class. The state cars are what they call station
wagons in Europe, and while wagons had pretty much disappeared in the US market, they're quite popular in Europe. VW released very few technical details about the
car, but it's undoubtedly identical to the ID seven Sedan. What VW did
say is that under ideal conditions, the ID seven Tour will have a six hundred and eighty five kilometer range that's four hundred and twenty five miles. We
estimate that under the EPA testing in the US that would translate to about three hundred and thirty one miles, but will probably never know for sure because we think it's unlikely that Volkswagon will sell this car in the American market, even though other media outlets speculate it could be sold in the US, the car will come standard with an augmented reality head up display and seat massagers are available, and in Europe the base price is around sixty one thousand dollars. We
want to know what drives your testing. OTA Connected Car Diagnostics, Remote Testing.
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Systems driven by your data. That price war in China shows no signs of
slowing down. In fact, now it's spreading to cars with IC engines.
BYD recently launched updated versions of two plug in hybrid models with a starting price of only eleven thousand dollars, which is lower than some of its ICE competitors.
BYD is also gearing up to launch a new version of its Dolphin all electric crossover that's expected to have an even lower starting price. The current model
costs fourteen five hundred dollars in China, and we'll find out how much the new one costs when it gave yous this Friday. The Dolphin is is currently
available with a forty five kilowat hour battery that provides four hundred and twenty kilometers or two hundred and sixty one miles of range, but that's based on the Chinese test procedure. The new Dolphin will also offer a sixty kilowatt hour battery
with five hundred and twenty kilometers or three hundred and twenty three miles of range.
Two years ago, Toyota paused sales of the land Cruiser in the US, but as you probably know, that vehicle has a near cult like following.
So now the big rugged suv is back with an aldues design and power train. It has a boxier, more off road look like its Jeep and
Bronco competitors, and it's built on the same platform as the Tundra, Sequoia and Tacoma. It's only offered with a two point three liter turbocharged hybrid engine
that's made into an eight speed automatic, and while the purists will wish there was a V eight under the hood that produces three hundred and twenty six horse power and four hundred and sixty five pound feet a torque, and it gets an EPA rated twenty three miles per gallon combined. It also features full time
four wheel drive with center and rear locking differentials. The new land Cruiser will
arrive in dealer showrooms this spring with the starting price of fifty seven thousand, four hundred and forty five dollars including destination charges. Over the last forty years,
the size, weight, and horse power of vehicles in the US have increased dramatically. According to EPA data, vehicles are twenty five percent heavier,
their footprint is six percent bigger, and the horsepower under the hood is up by one hundred percent. It's not so much that the vehicles themselves have grown
that much, as it shows that the market is shifted so heavily from sedan's to suv and pickup trucks. But here's a fascinating tidbit. Even though vehicles
have never been bigger and heavier and faster, last year they achieved the highest ever fuel efficiency and the lowest emissions over the last five years. The EPA
says Toyota, Kia, and Mercedes Benz reduce CO two emissions the most, while Mazda, General Motors and Honda increased theirs the most, all because of a shift to bigger vehicles, and obviously, all electric auto makers like Tesla have zero tailpipe emissions. Don't you love that new car smell? Well,
how about getting a car that tantalizes you with a variety of different aromas to enhance the in vehicle experience. Lincoln is offering a curated collection of Sense for
the new Nautilus, which were created by perfumetors working in collaboration with Lincoln designers.
A total of se cents are available and they're designed to help improve the owner's mood while driving. The scents come in a cartridge that features a microchip
and it's plugged into the center console and then with a touch of the center stacked touch screen, you can infuse your cabin with anything from an earthy sense of cedar to hints of juicy melon. Breathe deep, my friends, does
life get any better than this? Okay, one more thing before we go.
What are the best cars on the road today, and which are the worst? Which automakers are coming out with the coolest features, and who's cluttering
up the dashboard with gimmicks that don't really work. That's going to give you
a flavor of what Autoline after Ours is going to be about. This Thursday,
We've got two of the best known car critics coming on the show, Henry Payne from the Detroit News and Mark Feelin from the Detroit Free Press.
They probably test drive more new cars than just about anybody on the planet, and they have a thing or to say about what they like and what they don't. So join us for what promises to be a very engaging and highly
opinionated free for all. But that wraps up today's report. Thanks for watching.
Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey and by Intrepid Control Systems over the air engineering boost your game.
About this episode
The discussion covers the evolving landscape of electric vehicle (EV) sales in the U.S., highlighting a predicted 43% growth despite recent slowdowns and regulatory adjustments by the EPA. Volkswagen teases its new ID.7 station wagon with impressive range, while China's aggressive price war extends to internal combustion engine vehicles. Toyota revives the Land Cruiser with a hybrid powertrain, reflecting market shifts toward larger SUVs and pickups. Despite bigger vehicles, fuel efficiency and emissions have improved. Lincoln introduces mood-enhancing in-car scents, and upcoming guests will debate the best and worst new cars and features.
- Biden Admin Vague on ICE Emission Regs - 2024 U.S. EV Sales Could Grow 43% - VW Teases ID.7 Station Wagon - China Price War Spreads to ICE Cars - Toyota Brings Back Land Cruiser to U.S. - U.S Vehicles Biggest Ever, Also Lowest CO2 - Lincoln Offers In-Cabin Aromas
