Chery is the Chinese company supplying the vehicle platform. Tata is using Chery’s platform so the new Avinya models can be built faster and for less money.
The Land Rover Freelander is a small SUV made to handle normal roads and some rougher conditions. When people mention it in connection with a new SUV, they usually mean the new model uses a similar basic design underneath. That helps explain how the new SUV may feel and function.
Term
PEE
“PEE” here is almost certainly meant to be “PHEV,” which is a plug-in hybrid. The episode is saying China’s tax changes made that kind of plug-in hybrid harder to sell.
Plug-in hybrids are cars that use both gas and electricity, and you can charge them from a wall outlet. The episode says China changed taxes in a way that makes some plug-in hybrids less attractive, especially ones with small batteries.
Lithium-air is a new kind of battery idea. Instead of storing energy using only chemicals inside the battery, it uses oxygen from the air, which could make the battery lighter and store more energy—if the engineering challenges get solved.
Company
COATL
COATL is the company mentioned as working on a new battery idea called lithium-air. They’re trying to make batteries that could store more energy than today’s EV batteries.
Energy density is basically “how much energy you get per unit weight.” Higher energy density means a battery can go farther without adding much weight.
The episode says more Americans are buying used EVs. The reasons mentioned are higher gas prices and the fact that used EVs are getting cheaper and starting to cost about the same as used gas cars.
Level 2 chargers are the common “regular” public/at-home EV chargers. They charge more slowly than fast chargers, so they’re great when you have a few hours.
Pre-chamber ignition is a way to make the spark start the burn more effectively inside the engine. BMW’s “m Ignite” is its branded version of that idea.
Car
Fiat Grizzly
The Fiat Grizzly is a new Fiat SUV that was just shown in the first image. It’s designed to come with different powertrain options, including some electrified versions.
A mild hybrid adds a small electric assist to the gas engine. It helps the car use less fuel, but it usually can’t run purely on electricity by itself.
Term
BEEV powertrains
BEEV means the car is fully electric, powered by a battery. You charge it instead of pumping gas.
LIVE
Speaker 1: This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Indian automaker Tata intended to launch
a new premium EV brand named Avinya last year and was going to use a platform from Jaguar land Rover, who Tata owns, but according to sources, it was becoming too expensive to make that platform work with the new brand's expected volume in market position, so now it's turning to Chinese automaker Cherry. Starting in twenty twenty seven, Avinya
is going to launch a new SUV in India using the same architecture as Freelander, which is a somewhat new brand that was introduced in China between Cherry and JLR, but the latter's biggest contribution is to the styling. However,
Tata is said to be modifying parts of the electronics software and some of the other vehicle systems to better suit the new SUV for the Indian market.
Speaker 2: Avinya is expected to have at.
Speaker 1: Least one more model based on the same platform coming out in twenty twenty nine, and is considering more. On
top of improving costs, the brand will shorten development times and come to the market faster with the Cherry platform than had it used the one from JLR. New changes
to taxes on plugin hybrids in China have really impacted any automaker that has a PEE with a short battery range and a bigger combustion engine, and those automakers are mostly German luxury brands. Audi and JLR no longer sell
plug in hybrids in China. Portia only has them on
performance models. Mercedes sold just under seven hundred phebs in
the first four months of the year, down from nearly forty two hundred last year, and in that same period BMW only sold one hundred and sixteen plugins, so it looks like another segment in China that foreign automakers have lost to local brands. While eating batteries continue to make
impressive gains, they still have nowhere near the energy density of gasoline. However, COATL is now working on lithium air technology,
which shows the potential to nearly match gas The battery still uses lithium metal as the anode, but takes oxygen from the air to use as the cathode reactant, which also reduces weight and complexity. In theory, it has an
energy density of up to twelve thousand watt hours per kilogram, only one thousand less than gasoline and two to five times more than lithium ion or solid state batteries. However,
more development needs to be done and projections currently say the technology might be ready by the end of the decade AD.
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Speaker 1: Rising gasoline prices and a flood of more affordable models are pushing US car buyers into the used EV segment.
According to Cox Automotive, nearly forty percent of US evs currently on dealer lots are priced below twenty five thousand dollars, which is more than.
Speaker 2: Half the cost of the average new car.
Speaker 1: On top of that, used evs are closing in on the price of used gas cars. According to Cox, the
average list price of a used EV is thirty five thousand dollars, only about one thousand dollars more than the equivalent gas car, and when you factor in more choices and higher gas prices, buyers are.
Speaker 2: Making the switch to a used EV.
Speaker 1: In the first four months of the year, sales of used evs increase seventeen percent in the US compared with a twenty seven percent decline of new evs, and there's going to be a study supply of used evs in the short term. According to Recurrent, around one point two
million evs are coming off lease over the next eighteen months, so car buyers should be able to find a good deal.
And speaking of sales, more automakers reported their May USA and overall the results are pretty good. As we reported yesterday,
Hyundai and Kia had a good month, combining for a nearly three percent increase. Mazda's sales were up thirty five
percent in May, subarup was up more than ten percent, and Honda was up nearly ten percent. The only automaker
of the companies that reported to post a loss was Toyota.
Its sales were down zero point six percent because volumes of its best selling vehicle, the Rev four, are lower as it prepares to build the new redesigned version. Overall
sales from those five automakers were up five percent in May, and that's better than the up to two percent increased analysts were forecasting, which suggests that the automakers that only report on a quarterly basis struggled more than the companies that report monthly sales. Rivian is slowly growing its own
charging network.
Speaker 2: And it just hit a milestone.
Speaker 1: The evy startup now has more than one thousand DC fast chargers at one high hundred and forty eight locations across the US, which is up forty percent from last year.
It launched the network in twenty twenty one, but it didn't open it up to non Rivian owners until twenty twenty four. Rivian says that by owning the hardware, software,
and maintenance service for its network that it achieved a ninety eight percent uptime at all its locations last year, which compares well with Tesla's superchargers. In addition to the
fast charging network, Rivian also operates a separate Level two charging network, which has five hundred and forty ports at two hundred and eight locations in the US. The BMWM
two is getting all wheel drive for the first time.
It uses a mostly mechanical system to send power to all four wheels, but it only does that when it's too much for just the rear wheels. It's meant to
blend the rear drive dynamics with all wheel drive confidence.
The M two X drive uses the same three leader inline six cylinder engine, but despite being heavier, it can plant that four hundred and eighty horse power down better, so it goes from zero to one hundred kilometers an hour in three point seven seconds, zero point three seconds faster than without all wheel drive. Availability kicks off the summer,
and as a little extra note, this is the engine that uses BMW's new pre chamber ignition technology called m Ignite.
Fiat revealed the first image of its new Grizzly and Grizzly fastback SUVs. The models are based on Stilantis's smart
car platform, and Chrysler is expected to get rebadged versions that will be sold in the US as the Arrow and Arrow Cross. The Fiat models will be available with gasoline,
Mild hybrid, and BEEV powertrains, but no specs for those setups were revealed. The only other detail for the Grizzly
models that we know is that the launch in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the second half.
Speaker 2: Of this year.
Speaker 1: But that's a wrap for today's show. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 4: Auto Line Daily is brought to you by Bridgestone Solutions for your Journey CSP, the composites solution partner Intrepid Control Systems.
Over the year engineering boost your game and thanks to the following YouTube and Patreon members.
Speaker 5: At CSP, we work with OEM engineers across the country on their journeys to lighter, safer, and more eco friendly vehicles.
Learn more at VCSP dot com.
Speaker 4: Making the life full of memories, one road trip at a time, That's what really matters.
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Speaker 4: The seventy thousand mile women at Warranty
About this episode
Used EV demand is climbing as new EV sales soften, with many cars expected to come off lease soon. Charging access is also expanding: Rivian says its DC fast-charger network has grown past 1,000 chargers across 148 locations and reports 98% uptime. On the product side, BMW is adding all-wheel drive to the M2, while Fiat teases its Grizzly lineup with multiple powertrains. Elsewhere, China’s PHEV tax changes are reshaping sales, and lithium-air batteries are being pitched as potentially near-gas in energy density.
- Tata Pivots from JLR to China - New Taxes Kill Foreign PHEVs in China - Lithium-Air Batteries Could Match Gas Energy Density - Used EV Sales Surge in the U.S. - Reported U.S. May Sales Up 5% - Rivian Hits 1,000+ Fast Chargers - BMW M2 Gets AWD for the 1st Time - New Fiat Grizzly Coming in H2 of 2026
