Category Archives: electric vehicles

Porsche Recalls Taycan Hybrids for Battery Fires

Posted on 1 April 2024 by Ken Zino

Porsche Cars North America is recalling various Taycan models from the 2020 through the 2023 model years because the high-voltage battery may undergo a short circuit without warning within the battery modules of its first four-door electrified SUV. According to the required safety defect filing released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today, the hybrid battery modules were produced by LG energy Solution in Wrocław, Poland. Continue reading →

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Heavy-Duty Emissions Standards – Missed Opportunity?

Posted on 29 March 2024 by Ken Zino

“The final rule also leaves more work to be done, and state legislatures should spur use of electric and other zero-emission trucks by adopting the Advanced Clean Truck rule. By delaying the final standards for sleeper cabs until model year 2030 vehicles, EPA missed out on the additional climate and health benefits that would have started accruing much earlier from some of the highest-polluting vehicles on the roads. Continue reading →

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Auto Industry Continues to Rebound from Pandemic Lows

Posted on 28 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Cox Automotive* experts on a media call today said U.S. new-vehicle sales in Q1 will increase 5.6% year-over -year (YoY) and reach 3.8 million units. The YoY increase in Q1 sales implies that the new-vehicle market in the U.S. continues to recover slowly from the 10-year low – 13.8 million total sales – recorded in 2022. AutoInformed notes that the Biden Administration recovery continues despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to harm the economy by keeping interest rates unduly high. Continue reading →

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Suniva, Heliene to Make First U.S. Domestic Content Solar Cells

Posted on 28 March 2024 by Ken Zino

“With this strategic partnership Heliene and Suniva are well-positioned to rapidly scale domestic cell and module manufacturing to meet the surging demand for secure and reliable domestically made crystalline PV modules. Currently, all U.S.-made solar crystalline modules use only imported cells. This partnership will directly address that gap in the U.S. solar supply chain and help strengthen manufacturing capacity to meet increased demand for domestic products,” the companies said in a joint released timed to coincide with a visit by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen at Suniva yesterday. Continue reading →

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Honda Racing has a New UK Formula One Base

Posted on 27 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Honda is celebrating its 60th anniversary of its first F1 participation this year. The company is currently providing technical support and marketing cooperation as a team partner to Oracle Red Bull Racing, which is enmeshed in an ongoing alleged inappropriate sexual behavior scandal. Honda also supplies the VISA Cash App RB Formula One Team. As part of this technical support, HRC manufactures and supplies PUs along with support for PU operation throughout the season to Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT)*. This partnership will continue until the next year’s 2025 season.

*RBPT is a Red Bull group company responsible for F1 PU building. They are in charge of production and operation of ESS (Energy Storage System) for current F1 PU. Continue reading →

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PEVE to Become Toyota Battery Company

Posted on 27 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) in Japan confirmed today that Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. (PEVE) will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor. The subsidiary will use the technology advanced through Toyota’s hybrid vehicle battery business to date. and presumably improve on it. The transaction is scheduled to be approved at PEVE’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in late June 2024. It’s the latest in a series of moves by Toyota to become a dominant EV company.

“The new company name embodies our determination to leverage the technology and skills honed since PEVE’s establishment in 1996 to contribute to the competitiveness of Japanese batteries and become a company that provides high-quality and highly safe on-board batteries. In addition to batteries for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), we plan to produce batteries for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Through our efforts in the production of diverse and next-generation on-board batteries, we hope to create new value and be useful to society,” PEVE said. Continue reading →

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Home EV Charging More Satisfying Than Public Charging

Posted on 26 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Home charging offers a much more satisfying experience for electric vehicle owners when compared with public charging, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Home Charging StudySM, released today. Thus the EV experience is similar to bathroom satisfaction in AutoInformed’s view. Continue reading →

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Department of Commerce Proposes $8.5B Intel Funding

Posted on 20 March 2024 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation have reached a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen the U.S. supply chain and re-establish American leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, the Biden-Harris Administration said today. This is the Department of Commerce’s fourth PMT announcement under the CHIPS and Science Act. So-called leading-edge chips power the most sophisticated technology extant, including developing AI and building critical military systems and weapons.

“There is no one who cares more about revitalizing American manufacturing than President Biden, and today’s announcement is a massive step towards ensuring America’s leadership in manufacturing for the 21st century. With this agreement, we are helping to incentivize over $100 billion in investments from Intel – marking one of the largest investments ever in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, which will create over 30,000 good-paying jobs and ignite the next generation of innovation,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Continue reading →

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Petroleum Equivalency Factor Change Slows EV Adoption

Posted on 20 March 2024 by Ken Zino

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant rules for light-duty vehicles covering model years 2027-2032 is about to be to be announced. It’s part of a tangled maze of regulations from multiple federal and state agencies affecting automakers and ultimately consumers in the US, often referred in shorthand as CAFE – corporate average fuel economy.

In the latest development, The Department of Energy last year proposed decreasing the so-called “petroleum-equivalent fuel economy factor” (PEF) for EVs by 72% in 2027. The Petroleum Equivalency Factor expresses electric vehicle efficiency as equivalent-miles-per-gallon of gasoline for purposes of the EPA’s calculation of manufacturers’ compliance with NHTSA’s CAFE regulations. DOE is responsible for establishing the value of the PEF. With a final rule, issued yesterday,  the PEF will be established for model years beginning in 2027. It slows forcing EV adaption, and in AutoInformed’s view this is a good thing. Continue reading →

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Jaguar Land Rover North America Recalls I-Pace EVs

Posted on 18 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Jaguar Land Rover North America is recalling 2019 I-Pace SUV vehicles, according to documents released this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The high-voltage battery in the electric Jaguar may overheat, which is a potential fire hazard. These vehicles were built at the Graz Vehicle Assembly Plant in Poland from 6 June – 31 October 2018 and use a Polish-built battery from Chinese LG energy Systems. They were previously recalled under NHTSA 23V369 and will need to have the new safety defect remedy completed. Continue reading →

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Another Tesla Software Recall – Pedestrian Warnings

Posted on 18 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is recalling 2013, 2018-2021 Model S, 2020-2021 Model X, 2018-2022 Model 3, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles, according to documents released this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A factory reset over the air (OTA) muted the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) sounds. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 141, “Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles,” which could increase the risk of collision.* Continue reading →

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EV Bedfellows – Nissan and Mitsubishi Sign MoU

Posted on 18 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Nissan Motor (7201T. NSANY ADR) and Mitsubishi Corporation (8058.T) have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue a new joint initiative in next-generation-mobility and energy-related services using electric vehicles in Japan. The companies said today that Japan as a country has been addressing issues such as driver shortages due to a declining population, and difficulties maintaining public transportation services due to decreasing numbers of users. Nissan and MC have also been undertaking various initiatives to solve these problems.

Joint initiatives of course have potential economies of scale, reducing the intense capital costs required to develop EVs and autonomous vehicles. This is making for what would have previously been unlikely hookups or strange bedfellows. Nissan and Honda, Two of Japan’s Big Three automakers, previously announced that will study sharing automotive software platforms, core components related to EVs, and complementary products. Continue reading →

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Honda and Nissan Sign MoU for EV Technology Sharing

Posted on 15 March 2024 by Ken Zino

Nissan Motor and Honda Motor said today in Japan that they have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby they will begin a feasibility study of a strategic partnership in the fields of vehicle electrification and intelligence. In what  looks like a re-run of the Nissan Renault alliance that pursued economies of scale, the intense capital costs required to develop EVs and autonomous vehicles is making for what would have previously been unlikely hookups.

Honda and Nissan, Japan’s second and third largest automakers, will study sharing automotive software platforms, core components related to EVs, and complementary products. Continue reading →

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EV Grumblings – Auto Execs Waffling on Growth

Posted on 14 March 2024 by Ken Zino

With hybrid electric vehicle sales soaring, and the badly needed EV charging infrastructure lagging, there is considerable discussion among auto executives and industry pundits about the EV market.*

As always a walk – or in this case an electrified drive – into the unknown provokes considerable speculation and anxiety about where things are headed. Compounding the EV market grumblings are the intensive capital investments involved and the dire state of our climate with the deleterious effects of global warming increasingly laying waste to large areas of the planet. Continue reading →

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EV Grumblings – Tire Replacement Rates?

Posted on 13 March 2024 by Ken Zino

J.D. Power said today that early data from its unpublished 2024 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study shows that EV tires may fall short of meeting this expectation, with a higher replacement rate in years One and Two of ownership than with internal combustion vehicle tires. (see AutoInformed: J.D. Power – Vehicle Dependability Down Again)

In what could be a stretch of a still to be verified conclusion based on a much needed larger sample size that doesn’t yet exist, Power claimed that “more than a quarter of new vehicle shoppers who are considering an EV cite reliability as a factor in this decision.” Well, duh, they might also prioritize other things such as saving the planet, eschewing fossil fuels, and charging at home. How this sorts out in a changing marketplace remains to be seen. Power did say that the gap in replacement rates appears to be closing. Continue reading →

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