Tesla is abandoning its ambitious plan for massive one-piece gigacasting but continues to expand the use of smaller castings to reduce parts and costs, as seen in the Cybertruck. The company is also scaling back new Supercharger locations after significant layoffs in its EV charging division. Recalls are surging industry-wide, driven by supplier defects and new tech challenges, costing automakers billions. Cadillac is delaying its EV-only lineup plans, opting for a mix of electric and gasoline vehicles. Meanwhile, Stellantis is cutting US engineering jobs in favor of lower-cost countries to reduce expenses. Other highlights include BMW’s innovative use of modified alternators in electric scooters, Porsche’s aluminum study to lighten EVs, and Toyota’s new renewable energy system at the Port of Long Beach.
Topics:tesla gigacastingev charging layoffsvehicle recallscadillac ev strategystellantis cost cuttingbmw electric scooterporsche aluminum studytoyota renewable energychina ev salesautomotive manufacturing trends
- Tesla Gives Up on Massive Gigacasting - Tesla Scaling Back New Supercharger Locations - Tech and Bad Parts Blamed for High Recall Rate - GM and VW Starting to See NEV Success in China - Cadillac Backs Off EV-Only Lineup - Stellantis Wants More Low-Cost Engineers - EV Scooter Uses ICE Alternator - Porsche Eyes More Aluminum to Cut Weight - Toyota Opens New Energy Generation System
"...see that more tomorrow when we post John's latest cybertruck teardown video with Carsoft president Terry Wacho..."
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Tesla is giving up on massive one piece gigacastings, according to Reuters, last year, reports came out that it was trying to come up with a way to cast the entire underbody of a car in one piece. Its rumor
the development was for a new small vehicle platform, and like its other gigacastings, this would have combined many many parts into one casting, which reduces manufacturing complexity and costs. But apparently now it's given up on those plans. However,
if we've learned anything from following along with Caresofts teared onto the cyber Truck, it's that Tesla's ramping up its use of castings, not just with large front and rear main body structures, but also with smaller parts and pieces like seat brackets. Tesla revealed in its Q one results that it's going to make
more affordable cars by combined its current platform with its next gen platform. So
pairing that with what we've seen on the cyber truck, we believe Tesla will start using smaller castings much more as a way to incrementally cut the number of parts it uses, and you'll get to see that more tomorrow when we post John's latest cybertruck teardown video with Carsoft president Terry Wachowski. In sticking with Tesla,
we're also getting a better idea of the impact of laying off all those people working on EV charging. Elon Musk says it's going to build less brand
new supercharger locations and will instead focus on one hundred percent uptime and expansion of existing locations. On Tuesday, Musk fire the senior director of EV Charging as
well as most of her team, which was about five hundred people. Based
on the articles we've read and the comments we've seen, this hasn't been a popular move with both customers and charging experts. But let us know what you
think in the comments section, whether it's accelerator pedals coming apart, fuel pumps failing, or another defective airbag inflator. Doesn't it seem like there's been a
lot of recalls lately, while it's not just anecdotal. Last year there were
three hundred and eighty two recalls that affected more than thirty three million vehicles.
That's actually more recalls than twenty fourteen, which was a record setting year.
It's just that the recalls affected a greater number of vehicles in twenty fourteen.
The high rate of recalls is not all due to build quality problems. Increasingly
defective parts from suppliers and new tech that doesn't have all the bugs worked out are leading to problems. While some of those tech problems can be fixed with
over the air updates, these recalls are still very costly to automakers. GM,
Ford, and Tesla spent ten billion dollars last year on warranty claims and recalls, which was a billion dollars more then they spent two years ago.
We've talked about GM and Volkswagen sales struggles in China, but they're starting to see some success with their nyvs, or new energy vehicles. Last month,
Buick, Cadillac, and Chevy combined to sell a little under nine thousand nyvs, which is an increase of over ninety three percent compared to last year.
And VW says it sold more than ten thousand idvs in China last month, which would be an increase of at least fifty six percent. That also matches
the amount it's sold in March Both brands have seen their sales cut in half from their all time highs, and they'll probably never get back to those levels.
But this could be a sign that local automakers might not dominate foreign brands as badly as some expected. There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light
enough, but with world class composit material Tajing Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly. Like many automakers, Cadillac is walking back
its EV targets. The brand previously committed to having an EV only lineup by
twenty thirty, but John Roth, Cadillac's global vice president, told reporters that electric and gasoline power trains quote will coexist for a number of years. He
also said quote, we will be offering an all EV portfolio, but did not commit to an EV only lineup, and he said that it will be up to customers to decide, so that likely means Cadillac will sell gas powered cars, including hybrids, beyond twenty thirty. This isn't too surprising because last
year it was reported that GM is planning to introduce hybrid models back into its US lineup due to the slowdown in EV demand. Back in March, Stalantis
laid off four hundred engineers in the US to help cut costs, and now Bloomberg reports that the company is recruiting engineers in countries like Morocco, India, and Brazil to replace them. Engineers in the US and Europe can earn anywhere
between one hundred and fifty thousand and two hundred thousand dollars a year including benefits, but Stillantis is paying engineers from those other countries fifty three thousand dollars or less a year, and now it eventually wants two thirds of its engineers to come from low cost countries because to Lantis CEO Carlos Tavares says, in order to make vehicles more affordable, it needs to cut costs. The company is
also dealing with a tough market. Its sales were down ten percent in the
first quarter, which led to a twelve percent drop in revenue. While this
is pretty clever, the electric motor in BMW CEO two, which is like a mix between a scooter and motorcycle, is actually a slightly modified alternator from some of its gas powered cup cars. The alternator comes from forty eight volt
mild hybrid versions of the three five and seven series cars and X series SUVs, but supplier Valao made some modifications for use in the CEO two. There
it makes fifteen horse power and forty pound feet of torque, which provides a top speed of fifty two kilometers an hour or about thirty two miles an hour.
Porsche says it could significantly cut the weight of the tychon with aluminum.
The automaker and illum Mobility, a consortium of aluminum producers, authored a study that found replacing the steel roof and the tychon with aluminum could cut the roofs weight by forty percent, and most importantly, it can do so without sacrificing performance or safety. The study also found that switching to aluminum could simplify the
manufacturing process because it would reduce the number of production parts being used by twenty percent. This is especially useful in an EV because it automaker can reduce the
size of the battery or make the batteries more efficient, which would improve the range. Toyota is celebrating the opening of what it calls a Trigen system at
the Port of Long Beach in California, which was developed with a company called fuel Cell Energy It produces three different products, renewable electricity and hydrogen and usable water. The system was built to support Toyota's logistics operations at the port,
which receives two hundred thousand Toyota and Lexus vehicles a year. Using biogas,
Trigen produces two point three megawatts of renewable electricity, up to twelve hundred kilograms of hydrogen and fourteen hundred gallons of usable water a day. The hydrogen is
used to fuel up incoming marise and support Toyota's Class eight fuel cell trucks operating at the port, and the water is used to wash the vehicles before customer delivery. Toyota says the Trigen's system is expected to help reduce more than nine
thousand tons of CO two emissions from the power grid each year. That brings
us to the end of today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Autoline Daily
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