Tesla's U.S. EV market share dropped to its lowest since 2017, now at 38%, as competition heats up and federal tax credits near expiration. Volkswagen Group revealed plans for a new family of affordable small electric cars targeting 20% of Europe's growing segment. Porsche unveiled a powerful new hybrid 911 with innovative electric turbochargers, boosting performance and cutting Nürburgring lap times. Other highlights include Hyundai-LG battery plant worker arrests, advancements in gigacasting by Dongfeng, and CATL's new cold-resistant sodium-ion battery. Autonomous robotaxi testing in Germany and Mercedes' new GLC with advanced AI and fast charging also featured.
Topics:tesla ev market sharevw small electric carsporsche hybrid 911ev battery plant arrestsgigacasting technologysodium ion batteriesrobotaxi testingmercedes glc updateev market trendsautonomous driving
- Hyundai Battery Plant Raided by ICE - Tesla’s U.S. EV Market Share at Lowest Level Since 2017 - Uber and Momenta to Test Robotaxis In Germany - Dongfeng Adopts Gigacastings - CATL Launches New Sodium-Ion EV Battery - VW, Skoda and Cupra Reveal New Small EVs - Mercedes Unveils New GLC - Avatr Shows Off Wild Sedan Concept - Porsche Develops New Hybrid for the 911
"...iday, but here's the rest of the all new Mercedes GLC and much like the IX three, for BMW. The GLC is m..."
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Speaker 1: This is Ontoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
Speaker 2: As you've likely heard by now.
Speaker 1: An EVY battery plant in Georgia, which is operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, was rated last Thursday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or IC that resulted in four hundred and seventy five workers being arrested, including more than three hundred from South Korea. South Korea has since
negotiated the release of its nationals, who will be flown back home. The arrested workers were accused by IC of
working illegally, including using short term or recreational visas, which don't allow them.
Speaker 2: To hold jobs.
Speaker 1: South Korea says it will update its visa system to prevent future incidents.
Speaker 2: Tesla's EV market share in the.
Speaker 1: US last month dropped to its lowest level in eight years.
At its peak, it once held more than eighty percent of the US EV market, But according to Cox Automotive Testles's share of the EV market in August was thirty eight percent, the first time it's been below forty percent since October twenty seventeen, which is when it was ramping up Model three production. The overall EV market was up
fourteen percent last month, while testleass sales were up just three percent. EV sales are expected to be strong once
again in September, but they're predicted to drop once federal EV tax credits expire at the end of the month.
As we keep saying, it's the year of the Robotaxi.
Uber and Chinese autonomous driving company Momenta announced a partnership to test robotaxis in Germany next year. They'll first test
the vehicles in Munich, with the goal of expanding to other European cities. Momenta currently operates a robotaxi service in Shanghai,
and it has supplied autonomous tech to most legacy foreign automakers.
And we'll also note that vehicle tear down specialists caarsoft believe that Momenta is the best autonomous vehicle company in China.
Tesla really kicked off a move to replace stamp steel panels in cars with gigacastings. General Motors is using something
similar in the Cadillac Celestic, but it calls them Mega castings.
Ford is gonna use them, and it's upcoming modular electric pickup truck, but.
Speaker 2: It's calling them unicastings.
Speaker 1: Several Chinese automakers use large castings as well, and now dong Fung is getting into the game with a new plant that will house ten thousand and sixteen thousand metric tongue casting machines. Dong Fung says it's the first automaker
to use a sixteen thousand ton machine, while Tesla does use a sixteen thousand ton machine that's US tons. In
US tons, the dong Fung machines are seventeen thousand, six hundred and thirty six tons. When completed, the plant will
be able to make components for six hundred thousand vehicles a year. By the way, dong Funk also calls them gigacastings.
CTL is the biggest EV battery maker in the world, but it's not sitting on its hands. It just introduced
a new battery using sodium ion chemistry. One of the
selling points of its battery is that it's largely unaffected by cold weather, and CTL hopes this will encourage more EV adoption in cold climates. It retains ninety percent of
its energy at minus forty degree centigrade or fahrenheit. It
has one hundred and seventy five hours per kilogram, which is similar to LFP batteries, and it's rated at more than ten thousand charging cycles. The sodium ion batteries start
mass production in December.
Speaker 3: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at these CSP.
Speaker 1: There's current forecasts that predict the small electric car segment in Europe will be around four times bigger than it is today by twenty thirty three. No doubt Chinese automakers
will play a big role in that growth, but the VW group hopes to capture roughly twenty percent of that market with its new electric urban car family that it will start launching next year. The company says it's aiming
to hit that twenty percent in the quote medium term, which corresponds to several hundred thousand vehicles per year. The
Volkswagen brand will launch two models in this category, while Cooper and Scota will each get one. They're all based
on the group's MEB plus platform but with front wheel drive and will be made in Spain. The first from
VW is the ID Polo, which will be followed by a newly revealed compact crossover called the ID Cross. The
Cooper version is called the Revolt and comes with a limited slip diff and a one hundred and sixty six kilowatt or two hundred and twenty two horsepower electric motor, which is eleven kilowatts more than the others will have, and the one from Scota is called the Epic. While
battery size wasn't provided, range is estimated to be around four hundred and twenty kilometers or two hundred and sixty miles based.
Speaker 2: On the WLTP test cycle.
Speaker 1: Based on the interior pictures of the ID Cross, which is all we have to go on right now, it looks like the group is going for a simple layout and will use more sustainable and affordable materials. That, combined
with scale, is why these models will launch with a starting price of around twenty five thousand euros. But VW
is also trying to keep them more competitive by bringing tech from higher segments, like its hands free driving system with lane change function and phone as a key.
Speaker 2: We showed you as giant pillar to pillar.
Speaker 1: Screen on Friday, but here's the rest of the all new Mercedes GLC and much like the IX three, for BMW.
The GLC is meant to usher in a new era for Mercedes. Part of that is a new design language,
highlighted by a bigger and more upright grill that's inspired by classic S classes. We already mentioned the screen, but
it runs off the newest version of the company's operating system, which integrates more advanced AI. That system also controls the
vehicle's driver assistance tech, which uses up to ten external cameras, five radar sensors, and twelve ultrasonic sensors, and it's based on a new eight hundred volt architecture that allows fast charging of up to three hundred and thirty kilowatts, which can add three hundred kilometers or one hundred and eighty five miles of range in ten minutes.
Speaker 2: The first version of the GLC.
Speaker 1: To launch will have all wheel drive and a ninety four kilowatt hour battery pack, but Mercedes says there will be four other verse to follow. That all wheel drive
system produces three hundred and sixty kilowatts or four hundred and eighty two horse power, and the battery provides up to seven hundred and thirteen kilometers or four hundred and forty three miles on the WLTP test cycle. The new
GLC launches in the first half of next year. You know,
you don't see as many true concept cars as in the past, but Avatar, which is a joint venture between Changan Huawei and COTL, pulled the wraps off a pretty wild model called the Vision ex Spectra. You'll notice design
cues pulled from its current models, but this thing is five point eight meters or nineteen feet long, has a massive glass canopy and.
Speaker 2: Huge coach doors.
Speaker 1: I know we'll never see a car like this on the road, but it's fun when automakers bring out concepts like they used to. Apparently, Porsche was not satisfied with
its turbo nine to eleven or its hybrid nine to eleven, so it developed the four hundred volt hybrid nine to eleven turbos, and it went to great engineering lengths to pull it off. First of all, it redesigned the boxer
engine to accommodate two electric turbochargers that can instantly spin up to one hundred and twenty thousand r pm. The
powertrain cranks out five hundred and twenty three kilowatts or seven hundred and one horse power as well as eight hundred newton meters or five hundred and ninety pound feet of torque. The hybrid motor accounts for sixty horse power
of that total and runs off a one point nine kilobot hour battery pack. The performance specs are spectacular zero
to one hundred kilometers an hour and two and a half seconds, and it slashed fourteen seconds off the nurburgering time of Porsche's previous best at the track with a production car, despite the fact that the hybrid tech added eighty six kilos or one hundred and eighty seven pounds to the weight of the car. But that brings us
to the end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline
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