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AD #3779 - Tesla U.S. Sales Slow, Others Up Strong; GM, CATL To Build North American Battery Plant; UAW Still Losing Members

AD #3779 - Tesla U.S. Sales Slow, Others Up Strong; GM, CATL To Build North American Battery Plant; UAW Still Losing Members

Autoline Daily Mar 29, 2024 9 min
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US EV sales are expected to surge 54.5% this year, driven by strong growth outside Tesla, whose sales slowed to just 3.3% in Q1. Used EV sales jumped 70%, aided by tax credits and battery health monitoring. GM and Ford plan North American battery plants with Chinese firm CATL, sparking political debate. The UAW faces declining membership despite high-profile efforts. Chinese automakers claim impressive plug-in hybrid ranges, while Panasonic sells its automotive systems unit but maintains partnerships. Automotive chip demand rises sharply, and Bridgestone unveils a new durable lunar rover tire made of metal for space exploration.

Topics: us ev sales growth tesla sales slowdown used ev market gm catl battery plant uaw membership decline chinese plug-in hybrids panasonic automotive business sale automotive semiconductor demand bridgestone lunar rover tire
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This is aut Aligne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. It looks like EV sales in the US could really pick up steam
in the second half of the year. Cox Automotive forecast that Americans will buy
one point seven million evs this year, up from one point one million last year, and that would be a fifty four and a half percent increase and would give evs a ten point eight percent market share. But first quarter EV
sales were not at that rate. They were up fifteen percent, and interestingly,
Cox Automotive says the slowdown and electric sales growth is mostly a Tesla slowdown.
Its sales were only up three point three percent in the first quarter, and not counting Tesla, EV sales were up thirty three percent. Cox also
says used EV sales shot up a strong seventy percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago, though the numbers are small. Used evs only accounted
for one point eight percent of all used car sales. Cox says one reason
they're growing is that they qualify for a four thousand dollars tax credit for many car buyers. Plus, it says the Mannheim Auction houses now offer a battery
health monitoring service called Battery Health that can tell buyers how good the battery is, and that's giving more people the confidence to buy a used ev Despite all the media attention that EUAW President Sean Fain has been able to generate for his union, the UAW continues to lose membership. It now has three hundred and
seventy thousand, two hundred and thirty nine members, down three point three percent, despite having signed up ten thousand new members last year, meaning it's losing members faster than it can sign up new ones. Maybe it can start turning
that around by organizing the non union automakers operating in the US. In three
weeks, the UAW will hold to vote at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to see if the worker's there will join the union. Ford created
an uproar when it signed a deal with CTL to build EVY batteries at a new plant in Michigan. Some American politicians are criticizing the deal, saying that
Chinese involvement could threaten US security, but reports out of China say that General Motors wants to do the same kind of deal. GM would build the plant
and own all the equipment, but it would license the technology from CTL to make LFP batteries, and CTL employees would help GM get the plan up to line speed. It could be built in the US or Mexico and is targeted
to start production in twenty twenty seven. And the reason they want LFP batteries
is because they're up to one third cheaper to manufacture than NMC batteries. And
the reason GM and Ford would turn to a Chinese battery company is because Japanese and Korean battery makers aren't mass producing LFP batteries yet. Intrepid's NEOVIPI allowing automotive
engineers to interface, capture, and monitor vehicle data using Raspberry Pie. As
a matter of fact, it's the automotive industry's first robust platform for Raspberry Pie, featuring Intrepid canefting technology and Raspberry Pie compute module. The NEOVIPI is designed
for automotive environments, allowing use with relative power ranges and applications. In addition,
the NEOVIPI enables you to use the Raspberry Pie for compute while avoiding additional development to adapt to network environments. That makes the NEOVIPI, powerful enough to
solve your vehicle network problems, yet small enough to fit in your backpack, one of many intrepid tools used for developing zonal architecture and software divined vehicles.
The newest plug and high it's about to hit the Chinese market, are claiming some really impressive ranges. Both GILI and BYD say they have new PHI systems
that can travel two thousand kilometers or twelve hundred and forty two miles on a full charge in a full tank of gas, and one way they're hitting those figures is with really efficient engines. Jili is using an engine with a thermal
efficiency of forty six percent, which we think might be the best in the world. Both systems should be out this year, but their ability to achieve
those ranges will depend on the size of vehicles they're put into, and the Chinese test cycle more heavily favors slower urban driving, so there's about a thirty five percent difference between China CLTC test and EPA figures. That would drop those
range figures to about thirteen hundred kilometers or eight hundred and seven miles, which is still pretty impressive. But another Chinese automaker is out to prove that it
is possible to go that far to a day in a pe Cherry is live streaming two of its plug in models as they try to drive the two thousand kilometers car. News China reports they've already gone over twelve hundred kilometers or seven
hundred and forty five miles and should wrap up later today. The vehicles are
full win A eight Pro models, which won't officially launch in China until April.
But if you're wondering if it has a big battery and gas tank, it doesn't. The battery pack is eighteen point three kilowat hours and the gas
tank is sixty liters or about fifteen point eight gallons. Cherry is not the
first automaker to live stream of vehicles so called feats of strength. Neo did
the same when it wanted to show that it's ev the ET seven could go one thousand kilometers or six hundred and twenty miles on a single charge, and Ford partnered with an adventure traveler and YouTuber to drive the Explorer EV around the world. So we wouldn't be surprised to see more of these kinds of promotions.
Panasonic made a couple of major announcements. It's selling its entire automotive business,
called Panasonic Automotive Systems, to US private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
The unit accounts for around fifteen percent of Panasonic sales, and it mainly focuses on infotainment systems and other interior components. The value of the transaction is just
over two billion dollars. The deal is expected to close by the end of
Q one next year, but Panasonic isn't completely severing its ties with its auto business. It will take a twenty percent stake in the new parent company that
will operate the unit, and they'll maintain a strategic partnership. Panasonic also announced
that its energy division, called Panasonic Energy, has signed a deal with Mazda to supply it with cylindrical lithium ion battery sells. But that's all we know
for now. The companies say more details will be shared at a later date.
With vehicles becoming more advanced and more ev models hitting the market, automakers are buying more semiconductor chips. According to a survey by World Semiconductor Trade Statistics,
the automotive industry passed the consumer electronics and industrial sectors to become the third largest buyer chips, behind computer and communications companies. Automakers and suppliers accounted for
seventeen percent of chip purchases in twenty twenty three, three percent higher than the year before. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, today's vehicles have between one
thousand and thirty five hundred chips, and SMP Mobility says the value of chips equipped in each new vehicle was five hundred dollars in twenty twenty and will rise to fourteen hundred dollars by twenty twenty eight, and the auto industry share of the semiconductor business is expected to continue to grow as it adopts more advanced chips like silicon carbide. Bridstone revealed a new lunar rover tire that it will display
at the Space Symposium in Colorado next month. The company previously developed a lunar
tire prototype, but as you can see, the new one is much different.
It looks similar to non pneumatic tire concepts that Bridgestone is developed for cars and bicycles, what it calls air free, but this one is made from metal instead of rubber or plastic. Bridgestone says the new tire's design offers higher
durability and a better ability to go over surfaces compared to the previous lunar tire.
As some of you know, Toyota is developing a lunar rover and we think there's a good chance it will use these tires. That brings us to
the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part of your day,
and I hope that you have a great weekend. 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. When the piece and quiet of your morning
commute is as comforting as your morning machiato, that's what really matters. Bridge
Down tarnzo Evy tires less noise for more quiet comfort. Wards is the industry
leader for news data and analysis. That's why companies across the globe subscribe to
our premium service. Maybe even your own log in for subscriber access. Now
check your company's intranet for details and rely on Wardsauto dot com to keep you informed.

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