The episode covers major shifts in the global automotive landscape, including China's impending EV regulations aimed at curbing overcapacity, and a brewing conflict in the US between automakers and dealers over franchise laws. Highlights include Volvo's push for tariff reductions in Europe, BMW's innovative recycling of 3D printing materials, and the Trump administration's rollback of emission fines. The rise of extended range EVs is showcased with new models from Buick and Ford in China. Additionally, NEO clamps down on battery swap abuses, and Hyundai uses EVs to support reforestation via drone seed planting.
Topics:china ev regulationsus automaker dealer conflicteu us tariffsbmw 3d printing recyclingautonomous vehicle safetyemission fines rollbackextended range evsneo battery swap policyhyundai reforestation drones
- China Likely Headed for New EV Regs and Policies - Automakers Push Back Against Dealer Laws - Volvo Wants EU to Drop U.S. Import Tariffs - BMW Recycles Old Plastic for 3D Printers - NHTSA Nominee Would Prioritize Speed and Tech - U.S. Removes Emission Fines As Far Back As 2022 - Buick Adds EREV Tech to China Sedan - Ford Reveals EREV Bronco Sport for China - Ford Bronco Sport BEV - NIO Cracks Down on Battery Swap Abuse - Hyundai's Interesting Approach to Planting Trees
"Speaker 2: New plastic wire filament for three D printers, and this sure makes sense. Speaker 1: BMW says every single. Speaker 2: One of its plants is using three D printers, giving those sites the ability to make several hundred thousand components a year. They namely produce production aids that make things"
"...d. And by the way, there's a BEEV version of that Bronco Sport for China as well. It's an all wheel drive model ..."
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Speaker 1: This is Outderline daily.
Speaker 2: The show is dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
And let's kick things off in China because the government is starting to wave red flags about the overcapacity that's beginning to crush.
Speaker 1: Its auto industry.
Speaker 2: None other than Ji jing Ping, who's the president of the country and the head of the Chinese Communist Party, questions whether every single province should be building EV's, And we don't believe that's just some rhetorical question. When the
president and head of the Chinese Communist Party gets up in front of everybody and questions whether so many provinces should be building evs, we think it's a clear sign that he's about to lower the boom. Other party officials
are also talking about putting an end to the quote unquote a rational competition in the EV business, and so it could be any day now we can expect new policies and regulations. Now let's jump over to the US,
where there's a war brewing between automakers and their dealers.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automakers, is asking the Justice Department to look into whether franchise dealer laws limit competition. However, the National Auto Dealers Association says this
is quote.
Speaker 1: A direct attack on franchise laws.
Speaker 2: Scout Motors, which wants to use a direct sales model that bypasses car dealers, is also asking the DOJ to eliminate state franchise laws. Under the Trump administration, the DOJ
set up an Anti Competitive Regulations Task Force, which has the goal of eliminating regulatory burdens.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly whose Scout sent the letter to.
Speaker 2: Now let's bounce across the Atlantic to Europe, where Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelson is begging EU lawmakers to completely get rid of tariffs on US car imports. He wants the
EU to make a deal sort of a we'll get rid of our terraffs if you get rid of yours.
Europe has a ten percent tariff on imported vehicles, while the US now has a twenty seven point five percent tariff on European car imports. Volvo posted an operating loss
of more than a billion dollars in the second quarter, largely because of the US tariffs, but also because of model delays. As we reported yesterday, Volvo is moving production
of the XC sixty from Sweden to the US in order to avoid those tariffs. BMW is trying to create
a more circular economy around three D printing. It's now
taking waste three D printing powder and other used plastic parts that were previously thrown.
Speaker 1: Out and turning them back into.
Speaker 2: New plastic wire filament for three D printers, and this sure makes sense.
Speaker 1: BMW says every single.
Speaker 2: One of its plants is using three D printers, giving those sites the ability to make several hundred thousand components a year. They namely produce production aids that make things
easier and safer for line workers, including parts that protect from paint scratches. Fitment tools like gauges and templates, and
even entire grippers for robots can be three D printed.
President Trump's nominee to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says he will prioritize safety while speeding up deployment of autonomous vehicles. In a Senate committee hearing, Jonathan Morrison
told lawmakers that knits a quote can't sit back and wait for problems to arrive with such developing technologies. At
the same time, he doesn't want to quote impose undue costs or design restrictions that hamper innovation. Currently, automakers are
limited to twenty five hundred autonomous test vehicles without a steering wheel or brake pedal.
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Speaker 2: The Trump administration isn't just getting rid of fines for automakers who miss their emission targets.
Speaker 1: It's retroactively going.
Speaker 2: Back for the last three years to the twenty twenty two model year to get rid of them. So we
think this means companies like Stilantis, which paid one hundred and ninety million dollars last year for missing targets, will get reimbursed. Automakers have had to pay fines for not
meeting fuel economy rules since nineteen seventy five, but now they don't face any penalties going forward. Extended range evs
or e revs are spreading all over the world, and over in China, they're the hottest segment in the market.
Two new entries really caught our eye because they come from American automakers. Buick is unleashing it's Electra L seven
sedan with a one and a half liter gasoline engine serving as a range extender that's paired with front and rear electric motors, which collectively produce an impressive five hundred and two horse power. The four door sedan uses an
LFP battery pack, but for now we don't know its size or how much driving range it delivers. Bwick says
the base price will be thirty four eight hundred dollars, which we think is a screaming deal for a car with over five hundred horses. Ford is also jumping into
the e rev segment in China with a new trim level of the Broncos Sport. It uses a one and
a half liter gasoline engine that recharges a forty four.
Speaker 1: Kilowatt hour battery pack.
Speaker 2: On battery power alone, it's rated at two hundred and twenty kilometers of range on the Chinese test cycle. That
would be about ninety miles on the EPA test, but the range extender takes that up to twelve hundred and twenty kilometers of range or four hundred and ninety three miles on the EPA test. No word yet on what
the price will be, but you can see why so many car companies are excited about e revs.
Speaker 1: You get the full electric.
Speaker 2: Driving experience, smooth, quiet and powerful, but with no range anxiety, no charging time anxiety, and no worries about losing ranging cold weather. That's why we think that EREV technology is
going to quickly spread around the world. And by the way,
there's a BEEV version of that Bronco Sport for China as well. It's an all wheel drive model with electric
motors front and rear that produce a combined three hundred and eleven horsepower. It uses one of BYD's one hundred
and five kilowat hour LFP battery packs and delivers six hundred and fifty kilometers of range on the CLTC test cycle.
We estimate that would adjust to about two hundred and sixty two miles on the EPA test. NEO is cracking
down on owners that abuse its policy on free battery swaps.
In twenty nineteen, it started offering free unlimited battery swaps for life. As the charging infrastructure grew in China, NEO
began to roll back and now caps free swaps at four per month and repowered discharge to fifteen kilowat hours per month, but its early adopters got to keep their unlimited swapping perks. However, as we reported a month ago,
NEO was not happy to learn that some of those owners were abusing the system from minor infractions like using their vehicle as a taxi or charging up other evs, to more serious offenses like powering entire businesses has a way to skirt electricity bills. So NEO has revoked the
unlimited free swaps from owners that it deemed we're misusing the perks. Hyundai is helping to plant more trees in Korea,
and it's doing it in an interesting way. It customized
an Ionic five and nine so they can launch drones that are capable of dropping clay balls filled with tree seeds into remote areas. The Ionic five has a landing
pad and can charge the drones, while the Ionic nine will do the same and has a dual monitor setup for lining the drones, and even has custom seats that swivel all the way around. Hondi says its reforestation efforts
will start out in a region that was hit by widespread wildfires in twenty twenty two. While that's a wrap
for this show, don't forget to tune into Auto Line after hours at three pm Eastern Time today.
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