Fossil Sales Dive As EV’s Thrive | 07 Oct 2021

Show #1237

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Thursday 7th October. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

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"General Motors Co (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra told investors on Wednesday that the automaker plans to double revenue by 2030, expanding profits from combustion vehicles even as it rolls out new electric vehicles and new digitally powered services to catch up with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O)." reported Reuters yesterday: "GM said if it succeeds, annual revenue by 2030 would be about $280 billion, and the automaker would be the leader in U.S. electric vehicle sales. Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said GM expects pre-tax profit margins of 12 to 14%, which could beat current levels. That would imply annual pre-tax profits of as much as $39 billion. Jacobson said GM can fund $9 billion to $10 billion in annual capital spending for electric vehicles and other initiatives while returning money to shareholders."

"General Motors has been spending billions of dollars in the last few years to electrify its cars and trucks, as it tries to catch up to Tesla. Now the company, which has said it aims to stop selling gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, is beginning to reveal how big it expects this bet will pay off." reports New York Times: "The automaker said on Wednesday that it aims to roughly double its annual revenue by 2030, to about $280 billion. It is counting on new electric trucks and cars for much of the growth while adding new revenue streams from software and services. While it expects modest growth in sales of gasoline-powered vehicles, electric cars are “a tremendous growth opportunity,” [Mary Barra, GM Chief Exec] said. G.M. also hopes to develop ride-hailing services that use autonomous cars, create insurance products and expand its defense contracting work.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/business/gm-revenue-goals.html#

"General Motors laid out its forthcoming EV portfolio at its investor event Wednesday, with the full-size electric pickup Chevrolet Silverado as the centerpiece, as the company seeks to gain market share in the increasingly crowded electric truck market." was the take from TechCrunch: "While GM had previously announced the electric Silverado, the company confirmed some additional details, like that it would feature a fixed-glass roof for certain models and that the vehicle would debut at the trade show CES in January 2022. It’s joining Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Rivian’s R1T in the burgeoning electric truck segment — a segment that until now has been conspicuously empty, despite the truck being one of the best-selling vehicle types in America. GM also announced crossovers from its brands Chevy and Buick, in addition to its upcoming GMC Hummer pickup and Cadillac Lyriq crossover. CEO Mary Barra emphasized that the company will offer affordable EVs — “really affordable EVs for people” — as well as other features to lure some would-be Tesla customers."

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/06/gm-takes-aim-at-teslas-market-share-with-growing-portfolio-of-evs/

"General Motors revealed the ace up its sleeve when it comes to driver-assist technologies on Wednesday: Ultra Cruise. The automaker announced the new system as a more capable sibling of today's Super Cruise system. While Super Cruise is rated for hands-free driving on mapped, divided highways in the US and Canada, Ultra Cruise takes it further. In addition to highways, GM said it will handle hands-free driving in 95% of all scenarios. We're talking city streets, subdivision streets and even paved rural roads." writes CNET.com: "Ultra Cruise will cover 2 million miles of roads in the US and Canada, but the automaker has quick plans to add another 1.4 million miles' worth of roads. And when this happens, GM plans for a big strategy shift in which vehicles offer either Super Cruise or Ultra Cruise. Cadillac will be the exclusive brand to provide the Ultra Cruise driving experience, while Super Cruise trickles down to more mainstream offerings from GMC, Buick and Chevrolet. With a combination of cameras, radars and lidar onboard to create the Ultra Cruise system, the technology will support everything from parking in your driveway to object avoidance (that's good), on-demand lane changes and left- and right-hand turns."

Today, General Motors announced the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, an all-new facility that will significantly expand the company’s battery technology operations and accelerate development and commercialization of longer range, more affordable electric vehicle batteries. The Wallace Center will be located on the campus of GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

The battery engineering team based at the Wallace Center will experiment with many types of future battery chemistry in addition to lithium-metal, including pure silicon and solid-state, along with different cell form factors. The Wallace Center is expected to build batteries ranging in energy density from 600 to 1200 watt-hours per liter, along with crucial battery cell ingredients like cell active materials.

The Wallace Center will be capable of building large-format, prototype lithium-metal battery cells for vehicle usage beyond the small-scale lithium-metal cells typically used in handheld devices or research applications. These cells could be as large as 1,000 mm, nearly twice the size of the initial Ultium pouch cells and will be based on GM’s proprietary formula.

"The giant, 200.0-kWh battery is a stressed member of the chassis, which is a sort of hybrid between body-on-frame and unibody; there is a frame and a body, but they aren't isolated in the usual body-on-frame manner. Half-shafts are massive ball-spline units, necessary when an independent suspension with more than nine inches of travel is paired with three motors with the combined twist of 1200 pound-feet of torque. With two motors acting on the rear axle, no differential is necessary, but programming can virtually lock the axle so the motors turn each side at the same speed. Up front there is a locking diff for the third motor." writes Car And Driver: "Our on-road drive was limited, but we found a truck that went down the road with the purpose and confidence born of its mass and power. Not many corrections are required to keep it in a highway lane, and not a lot of feedback comes through the steering wheel when you have to turn. But we weren't expecting much in terms of communication from the 305/70R-18 mud-terrain Goodyears. The ride, however, is downright sublime. Adaptive dampers and air springs bridle the mass with authoritative control."

Delivery this year. 350 miles for $112,000.

Read more: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37844849/2022-gmc-hummer-ev-prototype-drive/

"The plug-in Recharge subbrand share out of the total Volvo sales volume was 26.9% (a new high this year), which is over 12,750 (mostly in Europe). That includes about 1,700 sold in the U.S." reports InsideEVs: "About every fourth Volvo sold year-to-date was a plug-in (over 132,000 YTD). The lineup consists of several plug-in hybrids and one all-electric model - Volvo XC40 Recharge, which soon will be joined by the Volvo C40 Recharge. By 2025, Volvo intends to increase the share of BEVs in its global sales volume to 50%, and 100% by 2030."

Read more: https://insideevs.com/news/538414/volvo-recharge-sales-september2021/

"The UK auto market saw plugin electric vehicles take 21.65% share in September, up over 2x year-on-year. Full battery electrics outperformed, alone taking 15.2% share and a record 32,721 unit volume. Old-school diesel sales fell off a cliff, dropping to under 5% market share in an overall auto market down ~45% in volume from seasonal norms at just over 215,000 units. With an end of quarter push, the Tesla Model 3 was the UK’s overall best seller in September." reports Cleantechnica: "Old school combustion powertrains (those without any regen/electric-assist) fell below 50% of the market (48.75%) for the first time since the steam age. Unassisted diesels fell to their lowest point in the modern era, at just 4.95% share, from 14.33% year-on-year, with volume at a pitiful 10,658 units.  Tesla Model 3, boosted by Tesla’s usual end-of-quarter peak, was the UK’s overall best selling vehicle in September, with 6879 registrations."

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