U.S. EV sales surged 18% in July, driven by new models and incentives, though automakers face profitability challenges. Stellantis struggles with declining profits and a looming UAW strike over delayed pickup truck production and wage disputes at VW's Chattanooga plant. Tesla Semi battery fires highlight EV safety concerns. Renault unveiled a modular electric van concept, while Ford introduced a plug-in hybrid Ranger with pro power onboard. Chinese automaker Xpeng launched ultra-fast 800 kW chargers, expanding its network rapidly. Toyota plans new EV crossovers in China, and extended-range EV powertrains gain traction in Brazil. Uber expands autonomous ride-hailing with Waymo and Cruise vehicles.
Topics:ev sales growthuaw strike threatsstellantis challengestesla semi firerenault electric vanford ranger phevxpeng ultra fast chargerstoyota china evsextended range evsautonomous ride hailing
- U.S. EV Sales Shoot Up 18% - UAW Threatens Stellantis With National Strike - UAW-VW Contract Bargaining Will Be Intense - 50,000 Gallons of Water Needed in Tesla Semi Fire - Meet Renault’s 1st SDV, The Estafette - Ford Ranger PHEV Specs - Xpeng Intros 800-kW EV Chargers - Wuling Mini EV Gets Design Refresh - Toyota Readies bZ3C EV For China - Renault’s Horse Lands EREV Contract - Uber Using AVs From Waymo, GM Cruise
"...Uber is going to expand its use of Waymo's Jaguar Ipace av's for service in Austin, Texas, in Atlanta, Ge..."
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Speaker 1: This is aut Aligned Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Sales of evs shot up
eighteen percent in the US market in July, according to new car registration data compiled by S and P. Global
mobility sales grew as more models entered the segment, like the Honda Prologue. Automakers sold one hundred and eighteen thousand,
two hundred and seventy three evs, accounting for eight and a half percent of the market share compared to seven point six percent a year ago. From January through July,
EV sales rose eight point seven percent, easily outpacing the overall market, but that was also due to massive incentives from automakers, meaning the OEMs are racking up large losses to sell their electrics. Tesla finally showed a small increase
in sales in July, up one point two percent, largely thanks to five one hundred and seventy five sales of the cyber truck. It's sold about fifty seven thousand vehicles
for the month, followed by the Hyundai Group at nearly eleven thousand, General Motors at roughly ninety seven hundred, Ford at about ninety five hundred, BMW was close to five thousand, five hundred, and Rivian was at over forty five hundred.
Last year, Stillantis was hailed as one of the most profitable full line global manufacturers, with some of the highest profit margins in the business. This year, the company is
running into a slew of problems, with profits, sales, and market share dropping dramatically, and now the UAW is threatening to call a national strike unless it follows through on a commitment to start building mid sized pickup trucks at its assembly plant in Belvedere, Illinois a couple of years.
Stilantis is delaying that commitment, saying the market is uncertain at the moment, but its US dealers are also up in arms, criticizing the company for raising prices too much and letting inventory rise to unhealthy levels. The last things
to Lantis needs right now is another strike, and while it's unclear if the company is really in violation of its latest labor contract, that may not stop the UAW from trying to shut it down. The union is also
going after significant wage and benefit increases at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Earlier this year, workers at the
plant elected to join the union looking for better pay and benefits. The top workers currently make thirty two forty
an hour compared to thirty seven thirty one at Ford, and the UAW wants to close that fifteen percent gap.
The union wants profit sharing, cost of living adjustments, retirement security, affordable healthcare, and the elimination of tiered wages. But at
the same time time that the UAW wants to win a record contract, VW is looking at slashing its manufacturing costs.
Writers reports it could book up to four point four billion dollars in charges to close plans, including some in Germany.
So the contract bargaining will be intense and we can't rule out the possibility of a strike. EV battery fires
can be hard to put out, and that's especially true of the massive battery pack in the Tesla Semi. The
National Transportation Safety Board says that firefighters had to douse fifty thousand gallons of water on a Tesla Semi that caught fire in California, and in addition to that, the firefighters used an aircraft fire retired in the area just in case. The freeway where the crash occurred had to
be shut down for fifteen hours, and then the truck was transported to a facility where it was monitored for twenty four hours to make sure that the battery did reignite.
The NTSB says it's still investigating the incident and that it plans to issue safety recommendations to help prevent similar issues.
Speaker 2: Electric vehicle comedy.
Speaker 3: Forget the political noise. Evs mean good American jobs. Tens
of thousands of manufacturing jobs right here right now in Michigan and more on the way with billions in new investments.
We want those jobs in China instead, we don't. We're
the American EV Jobs Alliance. We say electric vehicles are
a big part of the future, and we want those jobs in America. So remember when politicians bash EV, America loses,
paid for by the American EV Jobs Alliance.
Speaker 1: Renault revealed its first software to find vehicle, a small commercial van concept called the Estafet. The electronic architecture was
developed by Renault's Software and EV division and Pere, and the actual structure platform of the vehicle is called flex Evan.
Renault says it's scalable and modular, so expect to see bigger variants and things like updates and predictive maintenance will allow customers to cut in use costs by about thirty percent.
No details were provided about a possible powertrain, but Renault says a production version will be out in two years.
I think it's been more than a year since it was first shown, but we're finally getting details about the new plug and hybrid version of the Ford Ranger. Under
the hood is a turbocharged two point three liter four cylinder gas engine, which is made it to a ten speed automatic transmission with a seventy five kilowatt electric motor incorporated into the bellhousing. That setup makes about two hundred
and seventy five horse power and over five hundred pound feet of torque. Ford says it offers the same towing
and payload as well as off road performance thanks to an E four wheel drive system, which it describes as a dual range transfer box and rear differential lock. A
nearly twelve kilowat hour battery that is packaged between specially engineered frame rails provides over forty five kilometers or twenty eight miles of range. The system brings pro power on
board to the Ranger for the first time, which allows you to plug tools and other equipment into the bed of the truck. The Ranger p have will first be
offered in Europe next spring by Ford's commercial division, Ford Pro.
And speaking of Ford Pro, Ted Cannis, the head of the division, is retiring after thirty five years with Ford.
He'll be replaced on an interim basis by Andrew Frick, who currently runs the IC side of the business called Ford Blue. But at one point we thought Ted Cannis
could become the next CEO of Ford. So we wonder
if that decision hasn't already been made and Cannis wasn't it.
Jipung is adding ultrafast chargers to its network in China, and when I say ultrafast, I mean ultra fast. The
automaker announced it installed liquid cooled chargers, which have peak power of eight hundred kilowatts and are capable of providing over a kilometer of range every second. Jipung put the
chargers in four cities in China and plans to add thirteen more cities soon. Jipun currently has one thousan four
hundred and forty stations in its charging network with five hundred and sixty ultrafast chargers, and by twenty twenty six.
It's aiming to have ten thousand chargers, with forty five hundred of these new liquid cooled ultra fast chargers. While
sales of the Wooling Mini EV have been nearly cut in half since their peak, it's still sold almost two hundred and forty thousand examples last year and now the model is getting a refresh. We would call the updated
exterior styling more rounded and bubbly, but Carnews China reports little change is expected.
Speaker 4: Inside.
Speaker 1: It comes standard with a thirty kilowata electric motor, which was an option before, while it still uses the same LFP battery. It's also expected to keep its starting price
of about forty five hundred dollars. And speaking of evs
for China, the production version of a concept that Toyota showed off in April is supposed to hit the market before the end of the year. The styling of the
BZ three C crossover stays pretty true to the concept, which we would describe as having a prius like front nose and a crown like rear end. The model was
jointly developed by Toyota byd and FAW, both its two hundred kilowat electric motor and LFB battery come from BYD and I suspect, so will its driver assistance system and smart cockpit features. Another SUV called the BZ three X
that was jointly developed by Toyota and GAC, was also shown alongside the BZ three C, so we wouldn't be surprised to see the production version of that shown soon as well. Horse, the IC joint venture between Renault GIL
and Saudi Aramco, just landed a couple of contracts to supply extended range ev power trains in Brazil. The first
is for Marco Polo, which will equip Horse's one leader turbocharged three cylinder engine and its Vulaire Attack nine mini bus.
The engine runs on bioethanol and produces eighty five kilowatts or one hundred and thirteen horse power. The bus has
a maximum range of four hundred and fifty kilometers or about two hundred and eighty miles. Horse will also supply
the same engine to Brazilian evy startup La Car for its four to five to nine hybrid model that launches in twenty twenty six. Horse will supply Lacar with twelve
thousand engines a year. And we think we're going to
see more and more automakers launching extended range evs. Autonomous
ride hailing keeps making progress. Uber is going to expand
its use of Waymo's Jaguar Ipace av's for service in Austin, Texas, in Atlanta, Georgia. Last year it started the service in Phoenix, Arizona,
and next year Uber will put GM Cruise avs into service as well. But that brings us to the end
of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part of
your day.
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