Electric Cars II - Not Silly!

[PHXPhlyer]

Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge
The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the Chinese automaker.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/ ... rcna144613

LIVONIA, Mich. — A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.

It’s not the EV itself that’s making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world.

The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.

That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.

The Seagull could be a “clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,” said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. “It’s a significant event.”

Though the Seagull isn’t yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it’s only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.

There’s fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.

“The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,” the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.

BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020. That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.

The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will “demolish” global rivals without trade barriers.

Bernstein reports BYD’s growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD’s more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year.

BYD did not respond for a request for comment.

How the Seagull stacks up
Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3. It accelerates quickly. It’s quiet. It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.

The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM’s now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles. The vehicle’s top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.

But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft.

The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.

Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings. It then determines how its clients — mainly automakers and suppliers — can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.

Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.

“What they did do is done very well,” Woychowski said. “It’s efficiently done.”

For the price it’s a well-equipped vehicle. (BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)

Despite the cheap price, the company still makes “some money” on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.

For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car. But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.

BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).

BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft. Most notable is BYD’s development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its “Blade” battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China’s most well-known automakers.

Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.

Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla’s processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components. Tesla is also quick to adapt.

The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor. Instead, the car’s highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base. That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn’t typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle.

BYD is similarly quick to adapt. The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products. It’s also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico.

Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.

Growing concerns
BYD’s rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.

While China’s automakers expand, America’s traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China.

Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.

The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.

Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.

“We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country “from flooding U.S. auto markets.”

Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.

Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

However, former President Donald Trump — the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race — on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies, should he be elected to a second term.

“What we’ve seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,” said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford’s EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.

Gjaja said while Ford can’t control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can “get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want” and get more efficient to win customers.

To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.

He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.

“You have to learn. You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,” he said. “Because you’ve been doing something for 100 years, doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. It’s no longer appropriate.”

PP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

No, they don't have to learn. This has never been their approach. They just lobby Congress to find some way to ban the competition.
The Toyota Hi-Lux pickup is a fine example.

[Rwy in Sight]

What's the story behind Toyota Hi-Lux?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Well, it's the most popular pickup worldwide, ridiculously durable and reliable.


It's the easy favourite of terrorists and revolutionaries as a 'technical' everywhere

technical.jpg (56.44 KiB) Viewed 836 times

It was made by Toyota in the USA until 1995, but with the price of gas still pretty cheap, most people in the USA bought the bigger Ford F-150 pickup (aka truck* in North America), or similar from GMC or Dodge (as was).
Then when lower cost of ownership became important in the mid '90s, the US Government wrote the new safety and emissions standards in a way which was quite clearly aimed at excluding the Hi-Lux.
Toyota USA stopped building it. In Canada, as usual, the Canadians were leaned on to copy US standards, which they did.
Then the US Government slapped a 25% import tax on non-North American pickups.
Job jobbed.

* If you stick a big lift kit on, huge tires, massive exhausts, etc, like they do in Louisiana, then it's a truuuuurck

[Rwy in Sight]

Slasher and myself would really appreciate this pic but not for the truck. Should I have seen in the 90's I would have chosen Louisiana over Sunderland for attending university.

There is an island in the Med where NATO aircrews in Europe should be fairly familiar - Souda Airbase it shares facilities with the civilian airport of Chania -CHQ Crete. There was a saying to show the popularity of HiLux there - Crete is voting the Socialist Party of Greece and was buying Toyota - the pick up versions. After 2000 the front seat comfort was comparable to that of a family saloon.

[Rossian]

......And then there was the series of videos made in either OZ or NZ entitled "Buggah!" made oi laff they did.

The Ancient Mariner

[PHXPhlyer]

Kia recalls 48,232 EV6 hybrid vehicles: See if yours is on the list

Hope C16's is not affected.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/ca ... 051198007/

Kia has recalled almost 50,000 cars for increased crash risk due to potential loss of driving power, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The recall, submitted to NHTSA by Kia on March 14, affects certain EV6 hybrid models.

According to Kia, impacted vehicles may experience issues with the Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU), which enables the cars' charging. The ICCU may become damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery, which can then discharge while driving and progressively reduce motive power, resulting in a total loss of drive power.

Certain Kia EV6 vehicles have been recalled.
Hyundai recall:Hyundai recalls more than 98,000 cars due to loss of drive power

Which Kia vehicle models are recalled?
Approximately 48,232 EV6 vehicles with model years 2022-2024 are affected. According to the company, the following are subject to recall:

All 2022-2023 model year EV6 vehicles manufactured from November 17, 2021, through February 7, 2024.
Certain 2024 model year EV6 vehicles manufactured from November 17, 2021, through February 7, 2024.

Kia recalls 48,232 EV6 hybrid vehicles: See if yours is on the list
Customers seeking more information about their specific vehicle should contact the Kia Customer Care Center or their Kia dealer.

Kia advises that EV6 cars may give warning signals when something with the ICCU goes wrong, such as the damage that can cause power loss. These signs include audible warning chimes and one or more of the following:

Illumination of "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning light.
Master warning light.
Charging system warning light.
"Stop vehicle and check power supply" warning light.
Power down (turtle) warning light and /or reductions in motive power.
Mercedes-Benz recall:Mercedes-Benz recalls 116,000 vehicles for fire risk: Here's which models are affected

How to get your Kia fixed
Owners of affected vehicles can go to a Kia dealership to have the ICCU and its fuse inspected and replaced if necessary. The dealers will also update the ICCU software, all for free.

Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC302.


Check if your car is recalled
Consumers can check USA TODAY’s automotive recall database or search the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's database for new recalls using their car's vehicle identification number (VIN).

PP

[ExSp33db1rd]

..And then there was the series of videos made in either OZ or NZ entitled "Buggah!" made oi laff they did

.

Made in NZ. Just celebrated 25 years anniversary of the first TV showing, a farm dog just missing jumping on the open back platform as it drives off quickly, and landing in a muddy puddle and saying “ Bugger”. Toyota Hi-lux advert. Dog was trained to move its lips in sync. with the soundtrack, and it really does look as if it is saying the word.

[emjay]

To save you searching:

[OFSO]

I'm surprised that it's necessary to train farm dogs to say "buggah".

[PHXPhlyer]

Fisker shares halted as EV company navigates uncertain future

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/25/cars/fis ... index.html

Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday. This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.

Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million

Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, according to a Reuters report, those talks have fallen apart without a deal. The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.

Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.

Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016. Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr. Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.

Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.

Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear. Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio. Those talks never came to fruition.

And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently. The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee. The video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”

“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.

Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.

Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems. He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together. He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.

But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established. Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.

pp

[PHXPhlyer]

China-made vehicles will comprise a quarter of Europe's EV sales this year, study shows
The share of made-in-China vehicles in Europe is expected to rise to 25.3% in 2024 as emerging Chinese brands such as BYD expand their footprint in the region.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chin ... rcna145408

China-made electric vehicles will make up more than a quarter of the EV sales in Europe this year, with the country’s share increasing by over 5% from a year earlier, according to a new policy analysis.

About 19.5% of battery-powered EVs sold in the E.U. last year were from China, with close to a third of the sales in France and Spain constituting EVs shipped from the Asian country, the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) reported in a paper shared Wednesday.

The share of made-in-China vehicles in the region is expected to rise to just over 25% in 2024, according to the T&E research, as Chinese brands such as BYD ramp up their global expansion.

While most EVs sold in the EU are from Western brands such as Tesla, which manufactures and ships EVs from China, Chinese brands alone are set to account for 11% of the region’s market in 2024. That share could reach 20% by 2027, T&E predicted.

The findings come as the European Commission probes subsidies given to electric vehicle makers in China to determine if they unfairly undercut local companies. Non-Chinese brands that ship from China, such as Tesla and BMW, could be included in the ongoing subsidy investigation.

According to Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, incentives put in place in China in the early 2010s led to a surge in startups and increased battery cell capacity in the country, paving the way for affordable EVs.

“The E.U. and the U.S. are so far behind because they don’t have quality EVs at affordable prices because the legacy automakers have only really recently focused on designing and engineering them,” he added.

T&E suggested it would take raising EV tariffs to at least 25%, from the current 10%, for “medium” electric cars such as sedans and SUVs from China to become more expensive than their E.U. equivalents, though compact SUVs and “larger cars” would remain slightly cheaper.

However, the policy group said this would also require Europe to become more self-sufficient in battery cell production for the domestic EV industry.

“The conundrum they see themselves in is that they can’t build affordable (and profitable) EVs without Chinese batteries because the Chinese are so far ahead of both the E.U. and U.S. on the mineral mining, refining and manufacturing sides,” said Sino Auto Insights’ Le.

In response to policy risks associated with shipping made-in-China EVs to Europe, China-based manufacturers such as Tesla and BYD have ramped up manufacturing efforts in the continent. Tesla is seeking to expand its assembly plant in Germany, while BYD plans to build a factory in Hungary.

“The aim [of tariffs] should be to localize EV supply chains in Europe while accelerating the EV push, in order to bring the full economic and climate benefits of the transition,” T&E said in their report.

PP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

This is an unsquarable circle.
The article points out that the Chinese are much more efficient.
And since this 'efficiency' includes slave labour, stealing Western Intellectual Property, and turning even more of Chinese mineral sites in environmental hellholes, the West can never compete.
So the only mechanisms left, for the most part, are tariffs and local subsidies.
But the tariffs will keep the EVs out of the financial reach of the majority, and the subsidies will mean bigger deficits, more money-printing, and thus more inflation.
And inflation has already caused EV adoption to hit a brick wall.

EVs will only ever be for the rich in the West.

And governments have always known this. That's why there's never been any effort put into developing on-street charging for those without off-street parking.

[OFSO]

I just walked up Harley St. The only electric vehicles are Tesla - quite a few. But a lot more Lotus, Maclaren, Porsche, Lambos, Daimler Benz, Rangies etc.

[G-CPTN]

What? no Jagwahs?

[OFSO]

Nope.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

As I said last month, I knew they'd be looking to ban Chinese EVs in Congress

Today U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is calling for the U.S. to ban Chinese-made electric vehicles to protect Ohio autoworkers, and to combat the economic and national security threats posed by Chinese automakers. In a letter to President Biden, the senator warned that Chinese cars, made by companies controlled and subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party, present an existential threat to the American auto industry, and that tariffs alone are insufficient to stop a government-orchestrated attack on an entire sector of our economy.

https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/p ... c-vehicles

[OFSO]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tesl ... -86c2d5vz8

[Wodrick]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tesl ... -86c2d5vz8

Paywalled

[OFSO]

Sorry about that. I read the article on an old fashioned piece of paper, £4 from my friendly Gujarati newsagent.