President Trump plans to roll back Biden-era fuel economy standards, freezing them at current levels, while controversially pushing to allow small Japanese-style kei cars to be sold in the U.S., but only if made domestically. Volkswagen may receive tariff relief in Europe for its China-made EVs, and Chinese company Ubtech is ramping up production of humanoid robots used by several automakers. Innovations include a large cast aluminum frame for a BYD SUV and AI smart glasses from Le Auto to control vehicle functions. The episode also teases a discussion on the booming off-road vehicle market and implications of regulatory changes on manufacturing.
Topics:fuel economy standardskei cars in the usvw tariff reliefchinese humanoid robotscast aluminum vehicle framesai smart glassesthermal management in evsoff-road vehicle marketautomotive manufacturing impacts
- Trump Officially Proposes Fuel Economy Rollback - OEMs Need to Plan for Fuel Economy Fluctuations - Trump Wants Kei Cars in the U.S. - VW Could Get EU Tariff Relief - UBTECH Ramping Up Humanoid Robot Production - World's 1st Large 1-Piece Low-Pressure Casting - New Smart Glasses Integrate with Car - Webasto Simplifies EV Thermal Management
"... special edition version of BYD's luxury suv, the yangwang U eight L. Based on the picture provided, this does..."
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Speaker 1: This is Outline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. President Trump made it official following
through on one of his campaign promises. He's proposing to
get rid of President Biden's fuel economy mandate. This still
has to go through the regulatory process, including public hearings, but it's likely to become official next year. Under Biden,
automakers had to average fifty point four miles per gallon for their entire fleet by twenty thirty one. Cars had
to hit sixty five MPGs and trucks forty two. Under Trump,
they'll have to hit thirty four point five MPGs, which pretty much freezes things where they're at now. By the way,
those numbers are based on raw EPA test results and are about ten miles per gallon higher than what drivers will see in the real world. Environmentalists were quick to
attack Trump, saying this was a gift to the oil companies and that it would force consumers to pay more at the pump while it would add more pollution. Well,
here's our Auto Line insight. Automakers were unlikely to hit
the Biden administration's goals for fuel economy and evy sales, so adjustments were probably going to have to be made at some point anyway. And keep in mind that even
with the standards freezing, fuel economy will continue to get better and emissions will go down as old cars get scrapped and new ones replace them. The US scraps around
twelve million old vehicles a year, but make no mistake about it, when Democrats get back into power, they're going to ramp those REGs back up again, so automakers and suppliers better take that into account when dealing with their future planning. And one of the stranger things that came
out of President Trump's press conference yesterday is that he wants k cars to be legally sold in the US.
Those are those small little vehicles that are so popular in Japan. They're typically priced around twelve thousand bucks, get
around seventy miles to the gallon, and can drive down narrow streets and fit into tight parking spots. But they
don't meet current US craft standards, so if those don't change, they'd be limited to where they could operate and could be a niche at best. Even so, Trump announced that
he told the Secretary of Transportation to approve their sale of course, the President is not interested in seeing them imported from Japan. He wants them made in the US
of A. And it will be interesting to see if
anyone decides to take the plunge.
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Speaker 1: Volkswagen could get some terror releaf in Europe for its Chinese made evs. The European Commission has started a review
of the tariffs imposed on the automaker last year. VW
Spanish brand Sayat builds its Taviascan EV in China and it gets slept with a twenty point seven percent tariff.
Instead of the tariff, the EU is considering imposing a minimum price on the vehicle instead. Chinese humanoid robot maker
Ubtech recently started mass producing and delivering its new Walker S two robot. The company is aiming to deliver five
hundred units within the year, and is targeting to produce five thousand robots next year and doubling that to ten thousand by twenty twenty seven. Since the beginning of the year,
the company has received one hundred and twelve million dollars in orders for its robots. Several Chinese automakers already use
Ubtex robots, including Eyd Dong, fun g Le Faw, Volkswagen and Audi. Faw automakers could use a lot less welding
robots in the future, reports say a Chinese supplier has just revealed the war world's first one piece cast aluminum frame in a special edition version of BYD's luxury suv, the yangwang U eight L. Based on the picture provided,
this does not look like a true one piece component to us, but rather several large cast pieces that are bolted to the frame, very similar to what Tesla does with the Model three and Y. However, one big difference
is that the Chinese components are cast using low pressure, not massive multi ton presses, so the machines needed to make the parts are probably a lot less expensive. Also,
I don't think we've seen castings this large in a vehicle this big, and the supplier says that no one before this has been able to make parts with such extreme thickness variation, which ranges from four to fifty millimeters or just over an eighth of an inch to about two inches thick and here's something I think we'll see a lot more of. Le Auto is launching AI smart
glasses that will integrate with its cars. They're easy to
pair with the vehicle and allow users to control all sorts of functions like unlocking and opening the doors, adjusting the climate before even entering, checking the range or charging status.
In the future, Liato says it will be able to route vehicle audio to the glasses as well, so other passengers won't hear the navigation or other prompts in the vehicle.
The glasses are called Livis like Jarvis the AI Assistant from Ironman, and are on sale now for about two hundred and eighty bucks. German supplier Wabasto developed a new
component to help with the thermal management of electric vehicles.
It created a three to one solution that combines the classic chiller function, active battery temperature control, and interior heating into a single device. In many vehicle architectures, separate thermal
components must be installed connected and can controlled, each with their own lines and ceiling points. This increases the space requirements,
weight and can lead to errors well. Bastow's new part,
called Heated Chiller replaces these devices with a single system, reducing costs, complexity, and materials. Have you noticed how many
automakers are coming out with hardcore off road vehicles. Is
the market going to grow to accommodate them or is this another bubble that's going to burst. We're going to
talk about that on Auto Line after Hours this afternoon, as well as how President Trump's new MPG rights and tariffs will impact American manufacturing and jobs. Adam Bernard, who
led global intelligence for General Motors, and Warren Brown, who did production forecasting for GM, will be on the show.
So join John and Gary when we go live at three pm Eastern time today. But that brings us to
the end of Autoline Daily. Thanks for tuning in and
I hope to see you later for AAH.
Speaker 2: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgetone Solutions for Your Journey CSP, the Composites Solution partner Intrepid Control Systems, over the Air Engineering boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon.
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