Tesla's Berlin plant may resume production sooner than expected after a power outage caused by arson, though full restart will take time. GM restarts Chevy Blazer EV sales with a software fix and price cut, while VW cancels plans to expand ID.3 production amid slowing EV demand. Porsche unveils an updated Taycan Turbo GT with enhanced power and a new track-focused package. Australian automakers clash over new fuel standards, with Tesla and VW pushing for stricter rules. Additionally, US customs delays on VW Group luxury models due to forced labor concerns are easing. Mac Trucks showcases an off-grid EV charging demo vehicle for dealer events.
Topics:tesla berlin plant outagechevy blazer ev software fixvw id.3 production cutporsche taycan updateaustralian fuel standards debateus customs ev import delaysmac trucks ev charging demoev investment trendsautomaker lobbyingev demand slowdown
- Tesla May Restart Berlin Production Sooner Than Expected - EV Investment Remains Strong Despite Sales Slowdown - Automakers Clash Over Australian Fuel Standards - GM Restarts Chevy Blazer EV Sales - VW Starts Delivering Luxury Models Held by U.S. Customs - VW Drops Plans to Expand ID.3 Production - Porsche Reveals Updated Taycan - Mack Trucks Shows Off Mobile EV Charging System
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This is Underline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Good news for Tesla it could restart production at its Berlin plants sooner than expected. Last week, environmental extremists carried out an arson attack on a power
station that shut down the plant. Tesla was expecting to resume production at the
end of this week, but now the power company fixing the outage says electricity could be turned back on as soon as today. However, Tesla won't be
able to resume production right away because the plant systems need to be restarted step by step. The shutdown has cost Tesla one thousand cars a day in production,
and the head of the plant says it will cost the company in the high triple digit millions of euros and damages. We've seen automakers from all over
the world adjust their plans for electric vehicles. Would demand for EV's weakening,
but it hasn't been going on long enough for us to see a big change in EV investments. In fact, according to data from the Environmental Defense Fund,
total global EV investments from twenty twenty one until now came to roughly five hundred and twenty nine billion dollars. That's up from one hundred and ninety one
billion dollars spent between twenty sixteen and twenty twenty. As you can see,
most of the growth came from outside of China, with EV investments in some regions going up by nearly ninety percent. It is amazing how much more is
being invested into evs. But with those adjusted EV plans I was just talking
about, I'll be dying to know how much this changes a year from now.
Automakers in Australia are clashing over new fuel standards. Last month, the
country proposed to penalize automakers that import models with higher emissions and reward companies that bring in cleaner models as a way to help get more evs on its roads.
A lobbying group called the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which represents automakers in Australia, criticized the plan and said it would raise prices and limit options, and it wants the government to water down the proposal. Toyota, which
sells a lot of pickups and SUVs, in the country, back the group.
However, not all automakers agree with its position. Last week, Tasla
and Pollstar quit the group's policy making committee in protest, and now Volkswagen is doing the same, saying it wants the stricter rules to remain in place.
So we'll have to see how this battle plays out. We want to know
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your data. The Blazer ev is finally going back on sale. For months,
models have been sitting around as engineers race to fix software issues that in some cases brick the car. GM's new high tech software team that was brought
on after the Blazer EV's initial software system was developed but before the model was launched in September of last year, has come up with a fix that allows it to lift the stop sale. They revamped the software development and validation process,
and the VP of Product Software and Services told Inside Evs that forty Blazer evs were driven up to four hundred miles a day in even more virtually to develop a software package that works and as a way to possibly entice buyers back into showrooms. The starting price was slashed to just over fifty grand, which
is over sixty five hundred dollars less than before, and Chevy also announced that the model qualifies for the full seventy five hundred dollars tax credit again. In
the US, thousands of Audi's, Porsches and Bentley's have been held up by US customs officials since mid January because they're allegedly equipped with an electronic component made with forced labor in China, which violates US law. It's not known which
models and how many exactly have been held up, but now Automotive News reports that some of the models have been released and are being shipped to dealers.
The VW Group, which those brands are a part of, says it expects to complete all vehicle deliveries by the end of the month, and that's good news because some dealers say the delay has started to impact their profits. Volkswagen
is canceling plans to build its ID three electric at its plant in Wolfsburg, Germany due to the slowdown in ev demand. The model will continue to be
built at its Wickau plant, but VW has had to cut shifts there as well because of the slowdown in sales. The company had a originally planned to
add overflow production of the ID three to Wolfsburg at the end of last year, but now it's dropping that as part of a ten billion euro cost cutting plan over the next two years. VW says the Wolfsburg plant will instead focus
on producing IC and plug in hybrid models. Porsche revealed the updated ty Coon
today. Specifically, it showed off the new Turbogt model and a new performance
package called the Wissack Package. Not much has changed styling wise, but it
features a new rear axle motor and paulsenverter, which boosts power to five hundred and eighty kilowatts or seven hundred and seventy seven horse power. With launch control,
that number jumps to seven hundred and sixty kilowatts or one thoy nineteen horse power for two seconds, which is just slightly less than the two point three seconds it takes for the Turbogt to reach one hundred kilometers an hour the two point two seconds it takes with the Wysock package. That package includes even more
aggressive aerodynamic parts like the front diffuser with side winglets and a much larger rear wing, but it also removes other equipment that's not needed for its intended track day use, like the rear seats, which results in a seventy kilogram or one hundred and fifty four pound weight reduction compared to the TURBOGT, which itself is up to seventy five kilograms or one hundred and sixty five pounds lighter than before. The Turbogt also sees improvements to the chassis, handling, and arrow,
and both versions have updates to the interior. Customers can expect to start
taking deliveries this spring. Mac Trucks created an interesting demo vehicle so customers and
dealers can test what it's like going electric. It made a mobile off grid
EVY charging station by fitting a propane our generator and one hundred and forty kilowatt charging unit onto the back of its end electric truck. It says it specifically
created this truck to charge other demo trucks at a cider dealer event that doesn't have the needed infrastructure, and they could also experience what it's like driving the MD Electric, which has a two hundred and forty kilowatt hour battery pack and up to two hundred and thirty miles of range. Max says it has no
plans of making the truck charger combo available to customers, but it could help set it up through its suppliers, and that brings us to the end of today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Auto Line Daily is brought to you
by Bridgetone Solutions for your journey and by Intrepid Control Systems over the air engineering boost your game.
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