AD #3776 - Tesla Owners Get Free FSD For a Month; Fisker Headed Toward Bankruptcy; VW Developing Performance EVs

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To help customers get more familiar with its capabilities, Elon Musk announced that Tesla is offering a one month free trial of its full self driving technology in the US. In addition to that, Tesla's staff are now required to demonstrate the

driver assistance system to new customers before they hand over the vehicle. Elon said

this will slow deliveries, but it's a quote hard requirement that's very important.

EV's startup. Fisker is going to need a miracle if it's going to survive.

The company announced that talks with a large automaker, reportedly Nissan, about a possible tie up, have fallen through. Because of that, trading of

the company's shares was suspended, and the New York Stock Exchange is looking to delist Fisker because its stock dropped to nine cents a share before trading was stopped and because it won't be partnering up with another automaker. Fisker says it won't

be able to meet a condition of a one hundred and fifty million dollar financial commitment from an investor and says it needs to seek a waiver for that condition.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Fisker has hired advisors for a possible bankruptcy filing, and now that is looking more likely. That

price war in China shows no signs of letting up. In fact, it's

just the opposite. BYD has slashed the price of almost every car it sells,

which includes one hundred different models. China expert Bill Russo from the consultancy

Automobility calls it round two of the price war. Bloomberg reports that BYD's strategy

is to pull more customers out of ice cars and into new energy vehicles, especially in rural areas where up to now most customers couldn't afford electric cars.

The strategy also threatens Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan, which have been slow to bring EV's to the market. Even though the first quarter is not even

over yet, the number of price cuts in China have almost reached half of last year's total. Bloomberg New Energy Finance says most EV makers in China are

not profitable, and that could finally force those companies into mergers or bankruptcies.

And last year, car sales in China top thirty million vehicles for the first time, which was a twelve percent gain compared to twenty twenty two. But

this year that pace is expected to slow down. Gascu is forecasting that sales

in China will increase one point eight percent this year. We know that sales

of evs are growing at a faster rate, which means that ice vehicles will lose market share. When the piece and quiet of your morning commute is as

comforting as your morning machiato, that's what really matters. Bridgedown Taranza evy tires

less noise for more quiet comfort. While color me embarrassed, Here's something I

feel like I should have known. Volkswagen's performance division, called Volkswagen R has

been operating as its own separate brand since twenty twenty and I'm learning this now because Volkswagen AR is growing even more. It produced more than thirty five thousand

vehicles last year and in the future it will show new performance and design concepts and small series production vehicles, which will include all electric R models as well as performance parts and lifestyle accessories. It even built its first brand pavilion in

Germany to hold events to show off some of those new vehicles for its fans and customers, and speaking of concepts, Genesis revealed several new models that to me show that it wants to push its identity as sporty and luxury to their extremes. Extreme luxury is shown with the Neo Loon, a large four passenger

SUV. I think the styling is simple and elegant, like the range Rover.

Hyundai calls it reductive design. The interior features cashmere in some places,

plush leather seats, and a large front display screen, but when the vehicle is not moving or possibly in autonomous mode, the front seats swivel around completely.

As for extreme sporty, Genesis revealed a new trim called Magma. It

showed a version of the GV sixty with improved motor and battery technology that's wider and lower and has better arrow and cooling, but it also showed how the Magma treatment could be applied to its other cars. Isssuzu revealed an all new,

all electric one ton pickup truck concept called the Dmax that it says will launch next year in the e Australia and Thailand, and that last market must have scared Toyota a little bit, because it now also announced that it's coming out with an electric pickup for Thailand, where it expects to sell about a quarter of a million vehicles this year. Reuters reports it will be a battery

electric version of the Highlux, which could be ready for sale by the end of next year. Portia unveiled its active ride suspension earlier this year, but

now the media is getting the chance to drive it in the new Panamara and Wards reports that the results are quote mind blowing. Porscha says the Panama will

lean into quarters like a motorcycle. It will lean forward when accelerating and backward

when breaking like a helicopter, which it says makes driving more comfortable for the passengers. It automatically reduces pitch and roll so the car stays flat when cornering

hard, and it does away with sway bars so that when the tire hits a bump or dip on one side of the car, it's not transferred to the other side. This took some serious engineering to develop. Porscha spent six

years getting it ready for production. Each corner of the car can be controlled

individually. The act of dampers can push a wheel harder into the road or

retract them into the wheel well. Each damper has an electric high pressure hydraulic

pump to actively control compression and rebound. Instead of using cameras to scan the

road ahead, it uses sensors to analyze wheel and body acceleration, so it works in all visibility in road conditions, and it's fast, running at thirteen hertz, meaning it can make up to thirteen adjustments. A second Porsche says

it theoretically could get rid of the springs, but that would be energy intensive, so it uses a single chamber airspring. The energy for the active ride

suspension comes from a four hundred volt high voltage battery, and it's only available as an option on the plug in hybrid versions of the panamer but Portia says it's already developed a version for future electric cars. That brings us to the

end of today's show. Thank you for tuning in. Auto Line Daily is

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Hyundai Genesis

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