The episode covers major shifts in the global auto industry, focusing on Europe's slow EV adoption, job losses in automotive supply chains, and Chinese automakers' expanding influence. It highlights Mercedes-Benz's failed China JV and new EV showrooms in the Middle East and the Philippines. Key tech updates include Toyota's rear seat reminder system, improvements in EV battery longevity, and concerns over child labor in battery supply chains. Tesla Semi's efficiency and production goals are discussed, along with China's growing use of medium nickel NMC batteries. The episode also introduces ChargeScape, a bi-directional EV charging system enhancing grid stability.
Topics:european auto market disruptionchinese automakers expansionautomotive supply chain job lossestoyota rear seat reminder systemev battery degradation and longevitychild labor in battery supply chainstesla semi efficiency and productionnickel manganese cobalt batteriesbidirectional ev chargingautomotive industry partnerships
- EU Auto Industry in Trouble - France Could Lose 50% Of Supplier Jobs - Continental Readies to Spin Off Auto Parts - Italy Says 2035 ICE Ban Could Destroy EU Industrial Base - Mercedes Gives Up on Denza Brand in China - Chinese OEMs Move into Vietnam, Dubai and Philippines - Toyota Refreshes Sienna Minivan - EV Batteries Degrade 1.8% a Year - 75% Of EV Batteries Could Use Child Labor Mining - Tesla Semi Uses 1.6 kWh per Mile - Plunging Nickel Prices Threaten LFP - BMW, Ford, Honda Team Up for Bi-Directional Charging
"... the Tesla's too far Off. NMC or nickel manganese cobalt batteries for evs are gaining more popularity in ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry, and we start out today in Europe, where the auto industry is going through the beginning stages of a massive disruption. New car sales in Europe never
really recovered from the COVID pandemic and are running at two million units below where they were before. The transition
to electric vehicles is going much slower than anticipated, and Chinese automakers are making strong inroads in an already crowded market.
Volkswagen CFO has warned that the company only has one to two years to get things turned around. In France,
the Federation of Vehicle Equipment Industries, which represents automotive suppliers, warns that they'll lose half of their jobs before the decade is over. And if that starts to happen, we
think you're going to see a big backlash against Chinese imported cars. In Germany, Continental AG, one of the world's
largest suppliers, is getting closer to spinning off its traditional autoparts business. The new standalone company has one hundred thousand
employees in sales over twenty billion euros a year and could have a market cap of four point three billion, but it's likely that CONTI had to do a spinoff because it couldn't find anyone to buy the business. In Italy,
Prime Minister Georgia Maloney says that the ban on ice cars starting in twenty thirty five could destroy the EUS industrial base. She says the ban is quote self destructive.
We say, if auto plants start closing and people start losing their jobs, there will be enormous political pressure to back off the IC ban. And in a related move,
Mercedes Benz gave up on its joint venture with BYD to sell luxury cars in China under the dens Of brand.
It started selling vehicles in twenty fourteen, but by twenty twenty one, Mercedes cut it shared to ten percent and now it's selling that off because the dens Of brand has not seen much success. Even though the latest versions
use BYD's BV and P have tech and feature Mercedes styling, and they were sold in Mercedes showrooms. That should be
a warning to all foreign automakers in China. Even using
the latest Chinese tech, Mercedes wasn't able to move the metal.
While all foreign automakers are scrambling to improve their lineups in China, it looks like they'll never get back to the sales and market share that they enjoyed just four years ago, and Chinese automakers continue to expand around the globe as well. Great While Motors signed a memorandum of
understanding with a group in Vietnam to form a partnership to assemble CKD or completely knocked down vehicles in the country.
Speaker 2: Production is expected to start next year.
Speaker 1: Next up, we move over to Dubai, where BYD opened a new showroom. It's second in the city, and it
plans to open new outlets in three more cities in the United Arab Emirates by the end of the year.
And lastly, GAC Group's Aion brand opened its first showroom in Manila. Aion says it also has partnerships with dealers
in three other cities in the Philippines.
Speaker 3: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal, hey light enough, but with world class composite material Taging Automotive Technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.
Speaker 1: All twenty twenty five model year vehicles sold in the US are required to have a rear seat reminder system and the refresh Cena minivan will be the first Toyota vehicle in the world to get it. The system uses
radar to scan the second and third row for movement after the van is shut off. If it does detect movement,
warnings will progress over time for triggering the hazard lights and sounding the door lock chime, all the way up to attempting an automated phone call from Toyota Safety. Additional
changes to the Sienna include new wheel designs, fresh colors and patterns in areas like the seats, and new materials for other parts of the van like the center console.
That center console also features a new built in vacuum and a storage bin that has a cooling function. Lastly,
new dual twelve point three inch displays our standard on some trims while available on others. Pricing starts at just
under forty grand, not including destination charges, and sales kickoff this fall. Modern evy batteries will outlast the car they're in.
On top of that, a study by Geotab says the batteries will also retain much of their original life. It
looked at the battery health of five thousand private and fleet evs and found that the average modern battery degrades at one point eight percent a year, while the top evs only go down by one percent a year, and that average is twenty two percent better than five years ago.
At the current rate, the average battery will still have sixty four percent of its original life after twenty years.
But the supply chain for lithium ion batteries is a rife with human rights abuses, according to a new report from infios. It says its research found that seventy five
percent of lithium ion battery suppliers have supply chains that use one or more companies accused of forced or child labor abuses. The abuses occur most frequently at the raw material,
mining and refining stages, which makes it harder for companies purchasing batteries to identify the risks. INFIOS used AI to
help sift through twenty thousand data points from government and NGO reports, news articles, and social media sources between December twenty twenty two and June of this year. It says
most of the worst cases of alleged abuse are in China, and with the US and Europe passing legislation recently that prevents the import of goods with forced labor. It could
mean that battery supplies are at risk of being banned, since China controls most of the raw materials needed to make EV batteries.
Speaker 2: Some estimates put Tesla's.
Speaker 1: Current fleet to semis around one hundred units, but it hopes to hit a production run rate of fifty thousand trucks a year by twenty twenty six. A big part
of that will hinge on a new semi plant that Tesla is building next to its current facility in Nevada, which could be opened by the end of next year.
And while its current fleet is small, the head of the semi program says they've racked up seven and a half million miles and at least one truck has nearly a quarter of a million miles on its odometer. He
added that they're averaging one point six kilowad hours per mile and have seen a ninety five percent up time.
Based on that and the ability to travel one thousand miles a day. Testla says the semi can be a
one to one replacement for a diesel truck if the charging infrastructure is adequate enough in the area where the truck will be operating. We don't think the Tesla's too
far Off. NMC or nickel manganese cobalt batteries for evs
are gaining more popularity in China thanks to tumbling raw material prices. Several years ago, automakers turned to LFP or
lithium iron phosphate batteries because they were cheaper, but now automakers like Joemi, Liatto and Zeker are using what's called medium nickel high voltage batteries, which use less nickel than high nickel batteries but still offer high.
Speaker 2: Energy density and range.
Speaker 1: LG Energy says these batteries can cut costs by up to ten percent thanks to technical improvements and lower raw material prices. The share of medium nickel production of NMC
batteries in China has jumped to sixty percent from forty percent last year, and for now that slowed the growth of the LFP market. Ever heard of a company called
charge Scape, Well, now you're going to. That's the name
of an EV charging company put together by Ford, BMW and Honda. But it's not for public chargers. It's for
using bi directional charging to make the grid more efficient.
Cars will automatically charge when demand for electricity is low, and will feed electricity back to the grid when demand is high, and car owners can earn money by selling that electricity back to the grid. They can also specify
at what time of day they want their car to be fully charged, so it's always ready when they need it.
Many ev critics say the grid isn't ready for electric vehicles, but charge Scape will actually make the grid more robust.
Be sure to tune into Autuline after hours tomorrow when Bob Lutz will be on the show. Now years old,
he's still sharp as attack and has some great insights into what's going on in today's auto industry, so don't miss it. Tomorrow's show could be a classic. That's a
wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 4: Autoline Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey, Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air, Engineering, Boost your Game, MEDC where Michigan businesses are powering the future of mobility, and by Tagent Automotive Technologies the formula for better mobility.
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Speaker 4: Electric vehicle Coonty.
Speaker 7: 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.
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 8: Performance that shines even in the rain, That's what really matters.
Rich don't pretends to tires, improved grip and wet conditions.
Speaker 3: So when we did our research for the talent that we need for this program, Michigan was really the top of the list.
Speaker 8: In order to be successful in this space, you really have to have the right people, the right mindsets, the right environment.
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