AD #3806 - Could Lucid Run Out of Money?; NIO Launching Affordable Brands in Europe; CATL Wants to License Tech to Others

This isoud Aligne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

Lucid Motors reported its first quarter results and the EV startup sold more vehicles and cut its losses, but it still has some hurdles to clear. Lucid

delivered just under two thousand air sedans in Q one, which is an increase of forty percent compared to last year, and it says it's on track to make about nine thousand evs for the whole year. The vehicles that did sell

brought in one hundred and seventy three million dollars in revenue, an increase of sixteen percent, and Lucid cut its losses, but it's still reported a net loss of six hundred and eighty five million dollars as it gears up to launch new models. The Gravity Suv is supposed to launch before the end of the

year, and then it says it will come out with a new mid size EV in late twenty twenty six that costs around forty eight thousand dollars. Right

now, Lucid has just over five billion dollars of total liquidity, which it says will last it through next year. Obviously, that's not a lot of

time, and its production numbers are still low as well. But unlike other

EV startups, Lucid is majority owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and so far it's had absolutely no problem raising more money when it needs to. As

recently as March, it invested another billion dollars in Lucid, bringing its total investment to five point four billion dollars since twenty eighteen. Chinese automaker Neo sold

about one hundred and sixty thousand premium evs last year. While it's been able

to increase deliveries with new models like most EV makers, its sales have sort of started to plateau. So Neo announced a new, more affordable sub brand

called Envo that it hopes to boost its volumes with. Reports say the new

evs will use batteries from BYD subsidiary finn Dreams, a first for Neo.

Its other suppliers are CATL and CLB. According to Carnws China, Neo will

launch Envo in Europe later this year, followed by another entry level brand called Firestar that will have a starting price below thirty thousand euros. If that's accurate,

it's not going to be easy to launch two new brands when you're currently selling under two hundred thousand vehicles a year. But speaking of Chinese automakers,

Zeker, which is a sub brand of Jili, expects to raise a bunch of money through a USIPO. It's going to make seventeen point five million shares

available on the New York Stock Exchange for eighteen to twenty one dollars each.

That would raise nearly three hundred and seventy million dollars and give it a market cap of over five point one billion dollars. However, most of that stock

is going to investors. Companies like Gili, Mobili and Catl are subscribed to

buying almost three hundred fifty of that nearly three hundred and seventy million dollars in shares, and Jili chairman Lishu Fu will control about seventy five percent of the shareholder voting power after the IPO. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or

NITSA, is ramping up its investigation into Tesla's handling of an autopilot recall.

Last month, it opened an investigation into Tesla's over the air update because twenty more crashes occurred after the update was issued, and now the safety agency has issued a deadline to Tesla to hand over information about the system. It wants

to know how much mileage owners are accumulating using autopilot and how many times drivers have been warned to put their hands on the wheel before and after the update.

NITZA says Tesla has until July first to answer its questions, and if the company fails to respond, it could be fined more than twenty seven thousand dollars per day for each file, or up to one and thirty five million dollars in total. Toyota is now filling up its vehicles coming off ships at

the Port of Portland with renewable gasoline before they're sent off to dealers. The

fuel was made by Chevron and it contains more than fifty percent renewable content.

The oil company says it can reduce life cycle CO two emissions by more than forty percent compared to traditional gasoline, and most importantly, it fills up as fast as normal gas. Toyota worked with Chevron to develop the fuel, and

last year the two companies filled up a camera Ra four Prime and a Tundra with the fuel and drove the cars from Mississippi to Texas. They're expanding the

operations to the port of Portland. Well, this isn't too surprising. Magna,

which contract manufactures the Ocean for Fisker, says it doesn't expect to continue building the model. During the supplier's first quarter earnings call, Magna CEO Swami

Kotagierri said production of the Ocean is currently idled at its plant in Austria, so it laid off five hundred workers there and it assumes no further production will take place. As you know, Fisker is struggling. Back in March,

the New York Stock Exchange delisted the company because its shares dropped to abnormally low prices. Then shortly after that, it slashed the price of the Ocean by

thirty nine percent to help raise money to avoid bankruptcy. CEO Henry Fisker is

also selling his mansion, but that hasn't helped, and the company still has around forty seven hundred Ocean models in its inventory and that's why Magna isn't expecting to build anymore going forward. China CTL is the largest battery maker in the

world, but it says global battery production needs to be increased to meet future evy demand. The company is building new plants to meet that demand, but

it also says it's open to more agreements like the one it has with Ford, who is licensing its technology to build batteries in Michigan. CTL claims that

it's in talks with a dozen automakers and even rival battery makers to boost production.

In addition to licensing its battery technology, it will provide support for plant construction and operation services to companies to ensure that everything runs smoothly. And while

this will bring in more revenue for CTL, it also shows how concerned that it is that there isn't enough capacity to meet future battery demand. BMW is

using Boston Dynamics robot DOC to support the operations at its engine plant in the UK. BMW changed the name from Spot to Spotto like Auto and Engine,

and it's equipped with visual, acoustic, and thermal sensors to help it navigate around the plant by itself. BMW is using Spato to collect data for the

plant's digital twin to help with quality assurance and production planning. In addition to

that, the dog is being used to monitor the temperature of manufacturing equipment and identify leaks in compressed airlines. BMW says more applications for spotow are being tested

and it could be applied to other plants as well. Lots of people seem

to think that Americans would drive low cost evs like the bid sgull. We

may see that theory put to test. You may remember Microlino wants to offer

its Istali like ev in the US, which costs around thirteen thousand dollars.

And now another company called Lee Electric wants to bring another microcar to the States.

The L zero is like an enclosed golf cart. The costs just under

twelve thousand dollars and would be limited to thirty five mile an hour zones.

The company says it will come out with the US version with ninety miles of range and it's offering a two hundred dollars refundable deposit. Right now, that's

a wrap for this show. Thanks for making autoline a part of your day.

Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey, Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air, Engineering boost your Game, Tagent Automotive Technologies, the Formula for Better Mobility, and by z F When the peace and quiet of your morning commute is as comforting as your morning machiato. That's

what really matters. Bridgetone toronzo Evy tires less noise for more quiet comfort.

Immerse yourself in engineering innovation while enjoying a fun and engaging networking environment. Get

ready for exciting new demonstrations and collaboration with Metro Detroit automotive engineers, R and D operations professionals and technical experts. Connect with professionals covering topics on software defined

vehicles, wireless battery management, virtual ECUs, the ongoing innovation in automotive Ethernet, ten based T one s, and much more. Calibrate your knowledge in

the shift towards centralized computing and software defined vehicles for free at Intrepid's sdvsocial on Wednesday, May eighth, from four to seven pm. To register for this

event, visit intrepidcs dot com slash sdvsocial. There's nothing wrong but heavy metal

hi lighten up. But with world class composite material taging Automotive Technologies makes vehicles

lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

AD #3806 - Could Lucid Run Out of Money?; NIO Launching Affordable Brands in Europe; CATL Wants to License Tech to Others

Lucid Gravity

Toyota Tundra

About this episode

Original notes