The Ford E-Transit is a big van that runs on electricity instead of gas, which is better for the planet. It's made for businesses and can go further on a single charge than before, helping companies save money on fuel.
Electric car uptake means how quickly people are starting to buy and use electric cars instead of regular gas cars. It's important for helping the environment.
Hybrids are cars that use both a regular gas engine and an electric motor. This helps them use less fuel and produce fewer emissions than just gas cars.
A catalytic converter is a part of a car's exhaust system that helps clean up the gases that come out of the engine, making them less harmful to the environment.
Rear-wheel drive means that the power from the engine goes to the back wheels of the car. This can help with how the car handles and drives, especially for sporty cars.
The Ford Transit Custom is a handy van that can be used for work or personal trips. The new versions can hold more power and charge faster, which is great for people who need to use it a lot.
Car
Ford e-Torneo
The Ford e-Torneo is an electric vehicle made by Ford that can carry people instead of cargo. It's designed for families or groups who need a spacious ride.
Kilowatt-hours are a way to measure how much energy a battery holds. The more kilowatt-hours, the longer an electric vehicle can drive before needing to recharge.
A DC fast charger is a special charger for electric cars that can fill up the battery much faster than regular chargers. It's great for when you need to charge quickly while on the road.
Electric vehicles are cars that run on electricity instead of fuel. They are better for the environment because they don’t produce exhaust fumes like regular cars.
The Hyundai Genesis is a fancy car brand that makes luxurious cars with lots of features. It's important because it shows that Hyundai can make high-quality vehicles that compete with other luxury brands.
The Kia EV9 is a big electric car that doesn't use gas, which means it's better for the environment. It's designed to be roomy and packed with cool features, making it a good choice for families who want to drive electric.
The Opel Mokka X is a small SUV that looks good and is easy to drive. It's important because Opel is making electric versions of this car for racing and everyday use.
Car
Corsa Electric
This is an electric car made by Opel, which is a smaller, eco-friendly version of their regular Corsa model.
Formula E is a racing series where all the cars are electric. The next generation of these cars will be bigger and faster, which should make the races even more exciting.
The Opel Astra is a regular family car that's good for getting around. People talk about it because it's not too expensive but still has a lot of useful features.
LIVE
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Visit state street.com slash im for prospectus containing this and other information.
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All ETFs are subject to risk including possible loss of principal, Alps distributors ink distributor.
The holidays are expensive. You're paying for gifts, travel, decorations, food,
and before you know it, you've blown way past what you were planning to spend.
Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.
Download Rocket Money to stay on top of your finances.
The app pulls your income, expenses, and upcoming charges into one place
so you can get the clearest picture of your money.
It shows how much to set aside for bills and how much is safe to spend for the month
so you can spend with confidence. No guesswork needed.
Get alerts before bills hit. Track budgets and see every subscription you're paying for.
Rocket Money also finds extra ways to save you money by cancelling subscriptions you're not using
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On average, Rocket Money users can save up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features.
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How did I get here? I invested to make my dream home.
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Getting there starts here.
Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses.
Visit statestreet.com slash IM for a prospectus containing this and other information.
Read it carefully.
MDY is subject to risk similar to those of stocks.
All ETFs are subject to risk, including possible loss of principal, Alps Distributors, Inc. distributor.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Today, Volvo warns the EU.
Tesla rebounds in China and the e-transit gets a range boost.
Stay tuned.
Later in the show, I'll tell you why Zika is eyeing up two big new markets.
On EV News China today, our spin-off podcast, we're talking about November's EV sales,
showing fresh monthly records for many big names.
Let's kick off.
Volvo and Polestar are urging Brussels not to dilute Europe's 2035 deadline for
ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars, arguing that a retreat would slow
electric car uptake and give Chinese rivals more room to grow.
Germany's Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has asked the European Commission President,
Ursula von der Leyen, to soften the rules.
He wants hybrids and what he calls highly efficient engines to remain on sale
after 2035, saying many buyers are still wary of fully electric cars.
Berlin presents this as a tech-neutral way to protect the climate.
From Gottenberg, Polestar's chief executive Michael Loschler calls the idea a bad, bad one.
If Europe doesn't take the lead in the transformation, be rest assured,
other countries will do it for us.
He says he adds that Polestar has twice asked to join EU's strategic dialogue
on the car industry, but had no reply.
Volvo's boss, Hacken Samuelson, takes a similar line, saying,
I don't see the logic in slowing down, likening today's pushback to earlier resistance
to catalytic converters and seatbelts, which only became standard once rules were forced.
Samuelson also argues that loosening the 2035 target would help Chinese brands
expand in Europe.
He says the Chinese will set up factories in Hungary and Slovakia and Romania
in low labour cost markets, warning that tariffs are likely to unlikely to keep them out.
Instead, he says European carmakers need to meet them, face on and compete.
Green MEP, Michael Bloss says Mr Mertz's plan would gut the hard-won EU law
and effectively give combustion engines a free pass after 2035.
And Loschler is starker still.
The Chinese will not pause, they will take over.
The choice for Brussels is whether to reopen the 2035 law or stand firm.
Let's move on.
Tesla's sales in China jumped in November, even as some Model Y buyers are being told
to wait until next year.
The China passenger car association reports the Tesla Shanghai plant
shipped 86,700 vehicles last month for domestic deliveries and exports.
That was almost 10% higher than the 79,000 units recorded for the same month
a year earlier and 41% above October's tally.
On a year-to-date basis, though, this recovery looks less robust.
From January to November, Tesla's wholesale volume out of China reached 754,000 vehicles.
That's down over 8%.
The decline underlines how much fiercer competition and price pressure have become in China's market.
At the same time, waiting times for Tesla's best-selling SUV are getting longer.
In the latest update to Tesla's Chinese online configurator,
the estimated delivery date for rear-wheel drive Model Y is now January next year.
Two other versions of the five-seat Model Y now carry February estimates.
Only the six-seat Model Y L, that's the long wheelbase,
says you could get it sometime before the end of the year.
Prolonged delivery windows can reflect strong demand,
tight production capacity, or possibly both.
They also hand rivals a chance to win over shoppers who are not willing to wait,
especially in the crowded mid-market crossover segment.
Now, Ford is giving its mid-sized electric van a big upgrade,
with more battery capacity, more range quicker charging.
The all-new e-Transit custom vans and the e-Torneo custom people carriers
will move to a usable capacity of 70 kilowatt-hours up from 64,
lifting the WLTP range from 337 to 370 kilometres.
The six kilowatt-hour gain doesn't sound a lot, does it?
But actually, overall terms, that's 13% more range,
50 kilometres of extra in real-world language.
The hardware itself is unchanged.
Ford says there are no new cells, and there's not a new pack design,
but the company is unlocking more of their existing gross energy content.
As a spokesperson put it, the physical battery stays the same,
you just get access to more of it.
Charging performance is being revised at the same time.
On a 125 kilowatt DC fast charger, 10 to 80 is now down to 29 minutes.
Existing vehicles won't gain the higher capacity, though.
It's not like you can over-the-air update, and you can use more of the battery.
But they will get an over-the-air update to unlock faster charging speeds.
That'll bring it down by about 10 minutes to get to 80%.
That's a real quality of life improvement.
So, single-motor line-up in the transit family is still 100 or 160 or 210 kilowatt outputs.
Ford Pro is also adding an all-wheel drive e-transit custom
with a second electric motor on the front axle.
A dedicated control system will balance the torque between all four wheels.
Now, Hyundai is next in the news.
Hyundai Motor Group is making one of its biggest technology bets on electric vehicles.
Announced today, they're committing 1.2 trillion won.
That is 817 million US dollars equivalent to a new future mobility battery campus.
It's going to be in South Korea, finished by the end of next year.
Covering 200,000 square meters, it'll be the group's main hub for battery innovation.
Energy engineers will validate their own in-house cells with new chemistries
before they go into production using what Hyundai calls continuous process validation.
In effect, intensive real-world durability tests.
New battery designs that pass the trials will be cleared to power future Hyundai's
Kia's and Genesis vehicles.
Those that do not can be then reworked on-site.
The campus will focus on next-gen high-performance lithium-ion batteries for full-bears
and, they say, extended-range electric vehicles,
handling several cell formats and replicating each key step in the production process.
Hyundai's already been testing battery materials at its Namyang and Alwang R&D centres.
This new campus, though, greatly expands that work and pushes the group further
into more vertical integration of its battery supply chain.
It gives it more control over a technology that is central to performance and cost and safety.
And car makers around the world are doing the same.
Tesla, GM and China's BYD all invest heavily in in-house battery development
while still working with big suppliers.
Toyota, they say they're setting up their efforts, stepping up their efforts, too,
including plans for a new battery campus in North Carolina for their hybrids
and eventually EVs as well.
Hyundai and Kia are also winning more of the American car market,
just as EV demand cools following the end of the federal tax credit.
In October, the combined US market share of the group,
so including Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, reached a record 10.9%.
That's up from 7.5% just a few years ago.
And it's a big jump amongst the major car makers.
The push has come less from pure battery electric cars at Hyundai, Kia, Genesis,
and more from hybrid SUVs.
Models like the Tucson, Sorento, Telluride, Santa Fe and Palisade all doing really well
and none of those are pure electric, of course.
Battery electric sales have stumbled a bit since many Korean-built models
lost access to the $7,500 federal tax credit.
Hyundai sold 1,600 Arnic Fives in October.
That was down 63% from the same month last year.
And far below the $8,500 they delivered in September.
Kia selling 600 or so EV-9s and 500 or so EV-6s in October.
Again, decreases on the same month last year.
The companies are preparing for a bit of a reset.
Tariffs on US career vehicle trade have dropped from 25% to 15%.
Hyundai's ramping up local EV production in Georgia
and both brands are leaning into heavy discounting,
$10,000 off the Arnic Five and some of the lease deals
I've seen about $190 per month.
That's very attractive, regardless of powertrain.
Now, Opel or Vauxhall are lining up to go racing
with the Opel Mokka GSE Rally Cup.
It's all electric and electric rallying takes a big step forward.
From next year, the One Make series will move from the Corsa
to the more powerful Mokka GSE Rally Electric
and adopt a charging plan built for real-world rallying.
The rally championship will also race under a new name,
replacing the old Opel Electric Rally Cup powered by GSE name.
This will be the sixth season of the all-electric brand cup
with seven rounds planned in six European countries.
The centerpiece of the revamp is the Mokka GSE Rally,
according to the new FIA eRally 5 regulations.
Undergoing extensive testing right now,
the electric motor is 207 kilowatts
or just under 300 horsepower.
Opel says it is clearly stronger than the outgoing Corsa Electric,
so more performance, the series also overhauling how and where
the cars charge for the first time.
Upgraded infrastructure will let teams charge the batteries
away from central service parks,
and that extra freedom should allow organisers
to add more kilometres on special stages
and gather data on fast turnaround times
when schedules are tight.
I do love me a bit of motorsport, as you may know.
And in electric world, hasn't quite pushed all of my buttons.
Yeah, actually looking forward to the 4th Gen formulary,
not for the new season that starts this weekend,
but that'll be in a year's time.
The cars are going to be bigger and wider and more powerful.
In fact, they can't even go back to many of the existing venues,
not without the venues changing a little bit.
Maybe we'll see formulary turning up at more permanent racetracks
because the cars are, well, for Gen 4,
they're going to be a bit of a beast, to be honest with you.
Looking forward to that. Let's take a break.
We'll come back, we'll talk about BYDs,
vans being really safe,
and Zika taking a name at some big market.
Stick around, back in a moment.
The holidays are expensive.
You're paying for gifts, travel, decorations, food,
and before you know it,
you've blown way past what you were planning to spend.
Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.
Download rocket money to stay on top of your finances.
The app pulls your income, expenses,
and upcoming charges into one place
so you can get the clearest picture of your money.
It shows how much to set aside for bills
and how much is safe to spend for the month,
so you can spend with confidence.
No guesswork needed.
Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets,
and see every subscription you're paying for.
Rocket Money also finds extra ways to save you money
by canceling subscriptions you're not using
and negotiating lower bills for you.
On average, Rocket Money users can save up to $740 a year
when using all the app's premium features.
Start the year off right by taking control of your finances.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Hear that?
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How did I get here?
I invested wisely.
Now the only thing I worry about is using too much wasabi.
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the world's most traded ETF.
Getting there starts here with State Street Investment Management.
Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives,
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Read it carefully.
SPY is subject to risks similar to those of stocks.
All ETFs are subject to risk including possible loss of principle.
Alps Distributors Inc. Distributor.
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Hear that?
That's me with a lemonade in a rocker on my front porch.
How did I get here?
I invested to make my dream home.
Get where you're going with MDY, the original mid-cap ETF
from State Street Investment Management.
Getting there starts here.
Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.
Visit StateStreet.com.
For a prospectus containing this and other information, read it carefully.
MDY is subject to risk similar to those of stocks.
All ETFs are subject to risk, including possible loss of principle.
Alps, distributors, ink distributor.
All right, welcome back to the podcast.
Ford has warned that Britain's new tax on electric vehicles, the paper mile tax,
risks slowing down the shift to zero emission cars
just as tougher sales rules arrive.
Under proposals in the Chancellor Rachel Reeve's budget,
from April 28, fully electric cars are paying three pence per mile,
plug-in hybrids, 1.5 pence per mile.
The move is meant to make up for falling fuel duty
as fewer people fill up at the pumps.
Ministers are trying to soften the blow, though, with incentives.
From next April, the price threshold for the expensive car supplement,
which was £40,000,
and frankly, although that is a lot of money, don't get me wrong,
that threshold had been maintained for such a long time
you could top spec a very average family car
like a Vauxhall Astra and be more than $40,000.
That's not a luxury car tax.
That's a hard-working family car.
It goes from $40,000 to $50,000.
I was hoping somewhere around $75,000 or $80,000.
That is a luxury car, if you ask me.
But still, it's an improvement.
And that is a big improvement.
There's a whole tranche of cars now, up to £50,000 sterling.
That means that you won't pay the extra 400 quid or so
expensive car supplement tax.
And that's a real world saving.
The government also plans to fund more public charging.
And I told you yesterday on the podcast
about the EV Grant being extended.
Ford's UK chair, Lisa Brankin,
called the package a confusing message
at a critical moment in the EV transition.
Extra investment in charging and grants was welcomed,
but could not outweigh a very poorly timed paper mile charge.
The wrong tax at the wrong time is what she said.
The main industry trade body takes a similar view.
The chief executive of the lobby organization
of the car industry over here, Mike Hawes,
said that he welcomed the higher threshold
for luxury car tax and the additional £1.3 billion
for funding the grant and the infrastructure,
but said that these steps don't offset
the impact of introducing the new paper mile tax.
Again, the wrong measure at the wrong time.
They were clearly aligned in their messaging.
With more than 150 models now on sale,
it's the world's most ambitious zero-emission
vehicle sales target.
According to the lobby group,
both Ford and the SMMT argue
that higher running cost taxes could hit demand.
The Office for Budget Responsibility,
the government itself effectively,
has also warned that this new paper mile charge
could reduce the total sales of electric vehicles
by 400,000+.
Let's talk about BYD,
an electric van which you probably may not have heard of
until now.
The BYDE Valley is an electric van,
but it gets a 5-star Euro NCAP rating.
That's a big deal,
not just because it's a Chinese car
and many people have probably outdated perceptions
of Chinese vehicles,
but also because the Euro NCAP rating
gets harder every year.
So to get a 5-star rating is very good.
The top benchmark for safety,
the result puts the Chinese maker on equal footing
with long-established European rivals.
The assessment just published now
covered three areas, safe driving,
crash avoidance, and post-crash safety.
Designed for Europe and Central Asia,
the E-Valley first stood out
at the IAA show last year.
Big windscreen, short front overhang.
However, these new test results
are drawing fresh attention from fleet buyers.
Euro NCAP describes the E-Valley
as well-equipped with safety features,
standard equipment,
speed assistance, driver monitoring,
airbags, seat belts, reminders,
these systems help vans achieve higher scores.
In crash avoidance, they got high scores
because of the autonomous emergency braking,
forward collision warnings,
and testers noting strong performance
in detecting pedestrians, cyclists,
and other vehicles.
The range includes a 3.5-ton standard wheelbase model
and a 4.25-ton long-wheelbase version
using BYD's very safe blade battery
of 81 kilowatt hours.
WLTP'd up to 250 kilometres of range.
With its top rating confirmed,
the E-Valley now enters Europe and Asia
as a fully-electric alternative to petrol vans
with safety levels that fleets and regulators
can now measure directly against existing models.
And finally, Zika is taking aim at two big markets.
That'll be Germany and South Korea.
Geely's premium electric brand, Zika,
is finally entering Germany after a two-year delay.
Orders are now open.
Delivery's in January.
The move drops a new challenger
into Europe's tough electric car market
where German makers and big American brands
are crowding the field already.
Zika is going after private buyers,
company fleets and rental firms.
The compact Zika X in Germany
starts €38,000.
The mid-size SUV, the 7X,
is €55,000.
The flagship, the 001,
that's the 5-metre shooting break,
beautiful, is €60,000.
Test drives in Germany are bookable through the website
by the end of the year.
And it sets up a trial, really,
of how far Chinese premium EVs have come
arriving on the doorstep
of Europe's premium car industry.
Zika is also pushing into South Korea's EV market,
turning the country into a fresh battleground
for Chinese exporters and piling pressure
on the likes of Hyundai and Kia.
On Tuesday, it signed a first dealer agreement
last week at their Hangzhou headquarters.
The four partners already sell Audi's and Mercedes
and Peugeot's and Volvo's in Korea.
And now they'll sell Zika's.
Their involvement underlines Zika's plan
to fight for customers at the top end of the market,
rather than competing purely on price.
The deal follows the creation of Zika's
Korean subsidiary in February
and the appointment of a former head of Audi
in Korea as their country chief.
And that's your podcast for today.
Thanks for listening.
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And remember, there's no such thing
as a self-charging hybrid.
The holidays are expensive.
You're paying for gifts, travel,
decorations, food.
And before you know it,
you've blown way past
what you were planning to spend.
Don't start the new year off
with bad money vibes.
Download Rocket Money
to stay on top of your finances.
The app pulls your income, expenses
and upcoming charges into one place
so you can get the clearest picture of your money.
It shows how much to set aside for bills
and how much is safe to spend for the month
so you can spend with confidence.
No guesswork needed.
Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets
and see every subscription you're paying for.
Rocket Money also finds extra ways
to save you money
by canceling subscriptions you're not using
and negotiating lower bills for you.
On average, Rocket Money users
can save up to $740 a year
when using all the app's premium features.
Start the year off right
by taking control of your finances.
Go to RocketMoney.com
slash cancel to get started.
That's RocketMoney.com
slash cancel.
RocketMoney.com
slash cancel.
Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.
This game is once in a century.
Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com
for your tickets to the 100-year tour.
This isn't just a game.
It's a once in a generation event.
The Harlem Globetrotters 100-year tour.
Celebrate 100 years of high-flying dunks,
100 years of showstopping moves
and 100 years of changing the game.
Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.
This game is once in a century.
Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com
for your tickets to the 100-year tour.
This isn't just a game.
It's a once in a generation event.
The Harlem Globetrotters 100-year tour.
Celebrate 100 years of high-flying dunks,
100 years of showstopping moves
and 100 years of changing the game.
Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com
for your tickets to the 100-year tour.
Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com
for your tickets to the 100-year tour.
Celebrate 100 years of showstopping moves
and 100 years of changing the game.
Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.
This game is once in a century.
Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.
Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com
for your tickets to the 100-year tour.
About this episode
Volvo and Polestar are urging the EU to maintain its 2035 deadline for phasing out petrol and diesel cars, warning that any delays could benefit Chinese competitors. Meanwhile, Tesla sees a sales rebound in China, despite longer wait times for some models. Ford announces enhancements to its e-Transit van, improving battery capacity and charging speeds. Hyundai invests significantly in a new battery campus in South Korea, while Zika targets the German and South Korean markets with its premium electric vehicles. The episode also discusses the implications of a new UK tax on electric vehicles.
