The episode covers major automotive industry updates including the US Department of Transportation's new streamlined framework for autonomous vehicle regulations aimed at competing with China. Weimo's potential expansion into personal ownership of robotaxis is discussed. Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda's investment move to increase influence over Toyota is highlighted. BYD's strong Q1 performance with soaring profits is reviewed. Advances in solid-state battery tech by Stellantis and Factorial Energy are noted. Volvo's EX30 production shift and new US tariffs are explained. Slate Auto's affordable electric pickup with unique cost-saving features is introduced. The episode ends with a poll on yoke steering wheels and their future in vehicles.
Topics:us autonomous vehicle regulationsweimo robotaxistoyota investment strategybyd q1 financial resultssolid state battery developmentvolvo ex30 production and tariffsslate auto electric pickupyoke steering wheels
- U.S. Revises Autonomous Tech Rules - Waymo May Sell Robotaxis For Personal Ownership - Akio Toyoda Wants to Buy Toyota Supplier - BYD’s Net Profit Soars 100% In Q1 - Stellantis and Factorial Hit Solid-State Battery Milestone - Volvo Kicks Off EX30 Production in Belgium - Slate Auto Unveils Low-Cost Electric Pickup - Autoline Yoke-Steering Wheel Poll
"...ered them include the Tesla Model S and X and the Lexus RZ four fifty E. But earlier this week, Mercedes hin..."
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Speaker 1: This is out aligned daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. The US Department of Transportation
officially unveiled its new framework for autonomous driving technology. According
to the Secretary of Transportation, the US is quote in a race with China to out innovate, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Our new framework will slash red tape
and move US closer to a single national standard and prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations. The
plan is to modernize the federal motor vehicle safety standards over time, and the first steps involve streamlining crash reporting and expanding exemptions for vehicles that don't meet vehicle safety standards, which will all be overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NITZA. Companies will now have up to
five days to file an incident report for accidents that range from the airbag going off or the vehicle being towed all the way up to a death. For pretty
much anything less severe, they'll have about a month and a half to submit a report. The DOT is also
going to start providing exemptions to US made vehicles that don't comply with all vehicle safety standards, which was only available to foreign made vehicles before. These exemptions are specifically
given out for non commercial purposes that involve research and demonstration.
Weimo could expand beyond an autonomous ride hailing company. Its
CEO said that its robotaxis could be available for people to own in the future. He didn't provide any details
like when or how it plans to sell the vehicles, only saying that quote there is future optionality for personal ownership.
That would also require Weimo to partner up with another manufacturer since it doesn't build its own vehicles. Weimo has
slowly expanded its services over the last few years, and it's now providing two hundred and fifty thousand autonomous paid rides a week. Currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix,
and Austin, and later this year it's expanding to Atlanta, Miami in Washington, d C. Toyota chairman Akyo Toyota has
proposed to buy out Toyota Industries, one of the automaker's suppliers, for forty two billion dollars. But this isn't Toyota buying
the supplier. It's an investment group that includes personal financing
from Akyo, as well as funding from Mitsubishi Financial Group and other megabanks in Japan. Akyo already controls a little
less than one percent of Toyota, the car maker, while Toyota Industries, the supplier, has a nine point one percent stake in the carmaker, so if the deal goes through, Akyo could have more influence over Toyota as a whole.
That may be part of the reason his investment group offered a forty per cent premium over the supplier's current stock price. Toyota Industries has now formed a special committee
and hired advisors to review the proposal. BYD had an
impressive first quarter of the year. The automakers sold just
over a million vehicles, including commercial vehicles, which was up nearly sixty percent compared to a year ago. That brought
in twenty three billion dollars in revenue, an increase of thirty six percent, although we will note that was actually below analyst expectations and BYD's net profits skyrocketed over one hundred percent to one point three billion dollars. Since the
first quarter is usually the weakest for Chinese automakers due to the New Year holiday, analysts are still expecting a strong twenty twenty five for BYD. The company is on
track to sell five and a half million vehicles this year, with exports accounting for around eight hundred thousand of those sales.
Speaker 2: Performance that shines even in the rain, that's what really matters.
Rich don't pretends to tires. Improved grip in wet conditions.
Speaker 1: Stillantis and solid state battery maker Factorial Energy say they've achieved a milestone in development of the batteries. The company's
successfully validated Factorials automotive semi solid state battery cells and demonstrated an energy density of three hundred and seventy five watt hours per kilogram, which they say puts them on track for commercial use. For comparison, typical lithium ion batteries
have an energy density of two hundred to three hundred watt hours per kilogram, and more advanced ones are at four hundred and fifty Stilantis and Factorial also demonstrated that their solid state batteries can operate in extreme temperatures and they're capable of charging from fifteen to eighty percent in eighteen minutes at room temperature. Starting next year, Stillantis will
begin testing the batteries in a demonstration fleet. Valvo has
started production of the EX thirty at its plant in Belgium.
The model is also made in China, and the move to Belgium was supposed to provide a double whammy for Volvo, allowing it to avoid import terraces on Chinese made evs in both Europe and the US. However, the new US
tariffs have currently erased that possibility. Now you can still
buy an EX thirty in the US, but at a higher starting price than originally planned. Even so, the model
sold pretty well around the world last year, with just over ninety eight thousand reaching customer hands and accounting for over half of Volvo's total EV sales. While we've got
another new EV startup called Slate Auto, it's been quietly developing a twenty seven thousand dollars electric pickup truck in Troy, Michigan.
There are actually two models though. There's a two door
two passenger pickup and then with a cap added to the pickup bed, it becomes a two door five passenger suv.
The structure of the truck is a blend of body on frame unibody and skateboard and SLATE is using a lot of off the shelf parts to hold down cost and develop its truck more quickly. To eliminate the cost
of investing in a body shop in the assembly plant, SLATE uses molded polypropylene body panels and to eliminate the cost of a paint shop, the panels are not painted. Instead,
customers will be offered different reps that they can buy to apply to the body panels. There are two different
battery packs available, a nearly fifty three kilowat hour pack that delivers one hundred and fifty miles of driving range, and an eighty four point three kilowat hour pack that delivers two hundred and forty miles. The truck is powered
by a one hundred and fifty kilowatt or two hundred and one horse power motor with two hundred and sixty newton meters or two hundred and fifteen pound feet of torque.
It will accelerate from zero to sixty miles an hour in eight seconds and top speed is ninety two.
Speaker 3: Miles an hour.
Speaker 1: It will carry a fourteen hundred pound payload or six hundred and thirty five kilograms, and it can toe one thousand pound trailer or four hundred and fifty three kilos.
The overall length is one hundred and seventy five point five inches, which is about two feet shorter than a Ford Maverick, but the pickup has a five foot bed, which is half a foot longer than the Mavericks, and it's wider than the Maverick two. Inside its bare minimum,
for example, while there is a small instrument cluster, there is no center screen. Instead, the dashboard has sliding mounting
points for smartphones and tablets to serve as the center screen.
There are lots of power connections around the interior for speakers and other plug in devices, but there are no power windows. You crank them up and down by hand,
just like in the old days. We'll be posting a
video later today with more details about Slate and its evs, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. Okay,
it's time for another autoline poll, and we want you to help decide what the auto industry should do with yoke steering wheels. Production models that have offered them include
the Tesla Model S and X and the Lexus RZ four fifty E. But earlier this week, Mercedes hinted that
It's likely coming out with one when it launches its first steer by wire system next year. The design of
the yoke wheel clears up space for the driver and gives a clear forward view, and one paired with steer by wire, the wheel allows a wider range of steering angles and variable steering ratio. But so far they really
haven't been that popular with customers, so we want to know your thoughts on yoke steering wheels. One I've used
one and it's fantastic. Two, I've never used one, but
can't wait. Three No thanks, I'll keep my round steering
wheel or none of the above. See my comment below.
The poll is open for voting now for any of our Patreon and YouTube members, and we'll report the results for everyone on Monday. That wraps up today's show. Thanks
for watching, have a great weekend.
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