25 Feb 2022 | Ford CEO admires Tesla and NIO

Episode 1386,   Feb 25, 2022, 05:00 PM

On the podcast today:
• Ford CEO admires two electric vehicle makers
• Mercedes-Benz to Offer Hands-Free Traffic Jam Assist in US This Year
• Men take electric vehicle for record-breaking 35,770-mile trip
• Stellantis announces Fiat combustion phase-out
• Polestar Finds Partners in Next Steps To Build the Polestar 0 Project
• China’s First Highway Battery Swap Service for Heavy-Duty Trucks Get Going
• Meta Shares New Insights into the Key Challenges for Marketers of Electric Vehicles
• Tesla’s Must-Have Subscription Gets Cheaper With a New Yearly Option
• SEC probes Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal over stock sales
• Ascend Elements says it can extract 99.9% pure graphite from used Li-ion batteries
• City Deploys Pioneering Curbside Station for Charging Electric Vehicles
• China’s Giant Grid Operator Plans World’s Biggest Battery Storage Fleet
• Ora CEO says lower-priced model brings losses of over $1,580 per unit sold

Show #1386

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FORD CEO ADMIRES TWO ELECTRIC VEHICLE MAKERS

- Ask Ford CEO and resident car super fan Jim Farley who he sees as his biggest competitors in the electric vehicle race, the answer isn't fierce hometown rival General Motors.

- Rather, Farley acknowledges "admiring" two EV players in particular.

- "Well, the companies that I think about that I admire because of their commitment — and frankly, the hard work they did to earn their reputation — are companies like Nio and Tesla," Farley said on Yahoo Finance Live. "They've been at this a long time. They engineer their vehicles differently. I'm most respectful of Tesla's profitability. They're now making more than $10,000 a vehicle in their second quarter earnings."

- The Detroit-based auto giant said in September 2021 it will partner with SK Innovation to invest $11.4 billion to construct two "mega-sites" — one in Tennessee and the other in Kentucky — that will build electric trucks and batteries.

- Ford's portion of the investment — $7 billion — is the largest manufacturing investment in the company's 118-year-old history.

- Added Farley, "I think Ford has a real chance here [with EVs]. We're not going to be in the same segments as them [Tesla, Nio]. We're really doubling down on the customers and the segments we know really well. F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in America for 40 years. And now we're electrifying it. We're just getting started. So I love those companies [Tesla, Nio]. But I think we have a wonderful opportunity at Ford, maybe one we haven't had since the Model T."


MERCEDES-BENZ TO OFFER HANDS-FREE TRAFFIC JAM ASSIST IN US THIS YEAR

- As reported by Automotive News, the company released this important information on Thursday as part of its 2021 financial-results presentation. During the call, CEO Ola Kallenius said the plan is not only to roll out the Drive Pilot system in the US this year

- On suitable stretches of highway, Drive Pilot allows a vehicle to accelerate, steer and stop by itself at speeds up to 37 mph. What makes this technology an SAE Level 3 conditional autonomous system is that the motorist does not have to constantly supervise the vehicle -- they can fiddle with the infotainment system or, if allowed by law, play with their smartphone

- Last December, Mercedes-Benz became the first automaker to earn permission from the German government to test Level 3 autonomous. The system is approved to work on nearly 8,200 miles of highway in the country.


MEN TAKE ELECTRIC VEHICLE FOR RECORD-BREAKING 35,770-MILE TRIP

- A pair of adventurers set a new Guinness World Record by taking a 97-day, 35,770-mile journey across the United States in an electric vehicle.

- Rainer Zietlow, a professional long-distance driver from Germany, and Derek Collins began their journey on July 13, 2021, at Volkswagen's U.S. headquarters in Virginia.

- The men drove their Volkswagen ID.4 through 49 states before ending their journey on Oct. 18 back at the Volkswagen building.

- Guinness announced Wednesday that the trip officially set the world record for longest journey by electric vehicle in a single country. Zietlow and Collins said they visited more than 600 Volkswagen dealerships during the trip and made more than 200 stops to charge the vehicle's battery.

- Zietlow and Collins were supported during their trip by the HARTING Technology Group.
"We're here to prove that an electric vehicle is a decidedly viable solution, whether you're only driving short distances or off on a road trip across the country. The technology is there. The infrastructure is in place," said Jon DeSouza, managing director of HARTING Americas.


STELLANTIS ANNOUNCES FIAT COMBUSTION PHASE-OUT 

- Stellantis gave new details on its electrification strategy when presenting its 2021 financials: Fiat and Abarth are to become pure BEV brands in Europe from 2027 onwards.

- Until now, Fiat gave a rough time window for decarbonising all car models of between 2025 and 2030 for this. At the time, the reasoning was that Fiat would then become an all-electric brand as soon as electric cars were cheaper than comparable combustion engines.

- With Fiat and Abarth, the concrete dates for the Stellantis brands five and six are now fixed, which will do without the combustion engine in the future, at least in Europe. Stellantis had already announced that DS would become pure electric car brands from 2024, Lancia from 2026, Alfa Romeo from 2027 and Opel from 2028.


POLESTAR FINDS PARTNERS IN NEXT STEPS TO BUILD THE POLESTAR 0 PROJECT

- Polestar wants to build more than build just zero-emission cars and SUV. It wants to build vehicles that are completely carbon neutral.

- The Volvo sister brand announced on Wednesday that it’s partnering with major automotive suppliers for the Polestar 0 Project. The moon-shot idea, which was first hatched by the company last year, aims to deliver a truly carbon-neutral car by 2030. The company doesn’t just want to plant trees to offset carbon emissions, either. The idea is to eliminate carbon emissions from the supply chain, changing the way cars are made in the process.

- EV maker has linked up with several companies that will provide zero-carbon materials that can be used throughout the vehicle, according to a press release. Metal producer SSAB is collaborating with Polestar on fossil-free steel, ZF is working on the powertrain and Autoliv will produce airbags and seatbelts. Meanwhile, ZKW is working on a carbon-neutral electric control systems and wiring, while Hydro, a renewable energy company, plans to work on zero-carbon aluminum.


CHINA’S FIRST HIGHWAY BATTERY SWAP SERVICE FOR HEAVY-DUTY TRUCKS GET GOING

- China’s first highway battery swap service for heavy-duty trucks plying trunk lines has officially started.

- Developed by Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, the service covers a 175-kilometer section of highway between the cities of Ningde and Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, and went into operation on Feb. 22, Ningde-based CATL said in a statement yesterday.

- The first battery swappable dump trucks co-developed by CATL and Chinese heavy machinery giant Sany Heavy Industry were also delivered yesterday, the firm said. The trucks use CATL’s large-capacity lithium iron phosphate battery and can change power packs in three to five minutes.

- CATL chose heavy-duty trucks for battery swapping because of their high feasibility, an industry insider told Yicai Global. Commercial truck routes are fixed, making the cost of building swap stations along the routes relatively low and requiring less complicated technologies, especially for short-distance truck runs.

- China had only 1,298 battery swap facilities at the end of last year, according to data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging and Swapping Infrastructure Promotion Alliance. The market was basically divided between Chinese electric carmaker Nio and battery swap service provider Aulton New Energy Automotive Technology.


META SHARES NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE KEY CHALLENGES FOR MARKETERS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

TESLA’S MUST-HAVE SUBSCRIPTION GETS CHEAPER WITH A NEW YEARLY OPTION

SEC PROBES ELON MUSK AND HIS BROTHER KIMBAL OVER STOCK SALES

ASCEND ELEMENTS SAYS IT CAN EXTRACT 99.9% PURE GRAPHITE FROM USED LI-ION BATTERIES


CITY DEPLOYS PIONEERING CURBSIDE STATION FOR CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLES
 

CHINA’S GIANT GRID OPERATOR PLANS WORLD’S BIGGEST BATTERY STORAGE FLEET
 

ORA CEO SAYS LOWER-PRICED MODEL BRINGS LOSSES OF OVER $1,580 PER UNIT SOLD

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