Stellantis to be 2nd Largest Shareholder in Vulcan Energy

Posted on 24 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Stellantis and Vulcan Energy Resources today announced a Stellantis €50 million (~$76 million) equity investment in Vulcan. There is also an extension of the original binding off-take agreement to 10 years. Stellantis will become second largest shareholder in Vulcan.

The equity investment will go towards Vulcan’s planned production expansion drilling in its producing Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field (URVBF). Continue reading →

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Infotainment: Mercedes-Benz Group and ZYNC

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Infotainment - Mercedes-Benz Group and ZYNC Mercedes-Benz Group has agreed to a partnership with ZYNC.  The California‑based company will provide the world-first implementation of its premium in-car digital entertainment platform for Mercedes-Benz. ZYNC will also provide the interface between content partners and existing compatible Mercedes-Benz hardware.

The aim of the partnership is to provide customers “with a digital entertainment experience tailored to the unique environment inside a Mercedes-Benz, while maximizing the benefits of the company’s UI/UX technologies such as the MBUX Hyperscreen.” Continue reading →

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Nissan and Wallbox to Offer Home EV Charging

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Nissan and Wallbox to Offer Home EV Charging

Let’s hope the budget for rebates is larger than the photo budget.

Nissan and Wallbox (NYSE:WBX) in early July will offer EV owners nationwide a way to purchase Wallbox’s Pulsar Plus level 2 home charger and schedule installation through the NissanUSA.com website. Nissan will provide an unspecified rebate on the charger and installation to customers who purchase through the program.

The Pulsar Plus charger, the company’s best-seller, is said to be one of the smallest smart universal EV chargers in North America. It can be installed in homes, apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings. Continue reading →

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Automaker Profits Post-Covid Hiding Supplier Weakness

Posted on 23 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Supply constraints and demand that have made vehicle prices higher at lower volumes are creating operational inefficiencies and distress in the supply chain, according to new industry-wide analysis from AlixPartners LLP*, the global consulting firm. This imbalance will continue through 2024 as chip availability continues to improve.

The continued trend delivers a “complex backdrop for an industry committing $526 billion through 2026,” AlixPartners’ analysis finds, to fund the shift to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The transition, now taking place amid a weakening economic outlook, could cost automakers and suppliers $70 billion if not effectively managed. There are also  several implications for dealers and consumers here – not all of them benign.
Continue reading →

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Ford Europe Says Valencia Will Make Next Gen EVs

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Europe Says Valencia Will Make Nex Gen EVs

Then Ford CEO Alan Mulally in Valencia in 2011.

Ford in Europe today announced that it has chosen its plant in Valencia, Spain as the preferred site to assemble vehicles based on a next-generation electric vehicle architecture. Pending product approval, the Valencia plant could produce electric and connected vehicles beginning later this decade.

In the problematic world of labor relations, Ford is also moving ahead on the $2 billion conversion of its Cologne, Germany, operations to begin producing electric passenger vehicles starting in 2023. Continent-wide electric vehicle sales continue to grow rapidly (up 65% to 2.3 million in 2021*). Continue reading →

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IMSA – 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on IMSA - 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend

If AutoInformed’s sums are correct, 194 cars will compete in a total of eight races.

One of the questions to be answered at races surrounding the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this weekend is what automaker among several racing titans owns the track? Forty-nine cars are entered for the six-hour feature race on June 26 that is the seventh event of the 2022 WeatherTech Championship season.

It is the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. All five classes will be in competition together for the first time since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The five classes are DPi, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD fighting against and among each other with the largest car count at Watkins Glen in eight years. (AutoInformed: Sebring 12 Hours – Bumps, Twists, Turns in Oldest US Race,Team Corvette C8.R Finishes First at Sebring) Continue reading →

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EV Consideration is Up but Skepticism is a Challenge

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on EV Consideration is Up but Skepticism is a Challenge

The first Lightning was a fast V8-powered gas guzzler. The EV is a hit, but limited in sales because of supply chain issues.

New EV entries are responsible for much of the added consideration by shoppers in the US  who are now more likely than ever before to consider buying a fully electric vehicle. These new entries, many from long-established automakers, are turning EV skeptics into likely EV considerers, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration (EVC) Study,SM released today.

The percentage of shoppers who say they are “very likely” to consider an EV for their next purchase or lease climbs to 24%, four percentage points higher than a year ago. Several elements are at work in the increase, but the introduction of new electric models, some of which are in an important and largely untapped segment such as pickup trucks, is a primary reason for the increased consumer interest. Continue reading →

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Covid Lock-downs Caused Ongoing Speeding, Risky Driving

Posted on 22 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Covid Lock-downs Caused Ongoing Speeding, Risky DrivingThe chances that a Virginia driver was going at least 10 mph over the speed limit rose ~ 50% percent during March-June 2020, compared with the same period a year earlier, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

Federal data collected since then show that the increase in speeding and other risky driving behaviors continued throughout 2020 and 2021, according to IIHS. In 2020, speeding killed 11,258 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Administration* (NHTSA). Continue reading →

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Toyota, Redwood Materials to Recycle Electric Vehicle Batteries

Posted on 21 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Toyota and Redwood Materials to Recycle Electric Vehicle Batteries Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Redwood Materials(Privately held) said today that they will explore a series of “end-of-life battery solutions” for Toyota’s proposed battery network. At first, this collaboration will focus on the collection, testing and recycling of Toyota hybrid electric vehicle batteries. The companies will then look to expand into other areas such as battery health screening and data management, re-manufacturing and battery material supply throughout North America. This follows Redwood agreements on recycling with other companies and US States. (AutoInformed on: Redwood, Ford, Volvo Recycling EV Batteries from California)

Redwood Materials claims it is reducing the environmental footprint and cost of lithium-ion batteries by offering large-scale sources of domestic anode and cathode materials produced from recycled batteries. Redwood receives more than ~6 GWh of end-of-life batteries annually for recycling, which are then refined and re-manufactured into critical battery materials. The company plans to increase production of anode and cathode components in the US to 100 GWh annually by 2025, enough to produce more than one million electric vehicles a year. Continue reading →

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Hyundai Motor, Michelin MoU to Develop Tires for Premium EVs

Posted on 20 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Hyundai Motor Group* announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Michelin to develop next-generation tires optimized for premium electric vehicles (EVs). This new tire technology is needed to meet the durability requirements of tires, as well as driving performance and electric efficiency under high load.

It appears a prime motivator of the new research is on tire performance to accommodate the increases in vehicle weight that will occur as automakers rush to convert or spawn EVs in the utility vehicle and luxury segments, which generally speaking are larger and less efficient than their counterparts in the more modestly priced car segments. As the size, weight and range of EVs continue to increase, so do the demands placed on the tires. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Recalls 2.9 Million Vehicles for Rollaways

Posted on 20 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 2.9 million 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The Hilex-supplied bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach causing unexpected rollaways. This is an expansion of previous recalls that were based on customer complaints – VOQs – to NHTSA.* (AutoInformed: Ford Recalls 2013-21 Transit Connect Vans for Rollaways)

In the required new NHTSA filing Ford said “the root cause is unknown. Based on Ford’s root cause investigation, heat and humidity have the potential to contribute to the hydrological breakdown of the bushing material.” Ford said there are 6 reports alleging property damage and 4 reports alleging an injury potentially related to this safety recall from the population of vehicles included. Continue reading →

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Too Darn Hot – Ford Mustang Mach-E Recall

Posted on 17 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Too Darn Hot - Ford Mustang Mach-E Recall. Photo Courtesy Ford Motor

Sudden power loss or no start. Where’s the “stop driving until fixed” recommendation?

Ford Motor Company is recalling all 48,924 2021-2022 Mustang Mach-E vehicles in the US. The high-voltage battery main contactors may overheat, melt and fail causing a sudden power loss in the worst case. The potentially unsafe vehicles were built in Mexico (Cuautitlan) May 27, 2020 through May 24, 2022. Ford has a software update in process so that dealers can update the on-board software, free of charge as required by law.

On recalled Mustangs, Direct Current (“DC”) fast charging and repeated-wide open accelerator pedal movements can cause the high-voltage battery main contactors to overheat. This overheating can lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in an electric relay switch remaining open or one that welds itself closed from heat. Ford has not thus far issued instructions to stop driving the vehicles under this safety recall?
 Continue reading →

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Ford Heritage Archives Now Available Online

Posted on 17 June 2022 by Ken Zino

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford Heritage Archives Now Available OnlineFord Motor Company said today, its 119th anniversary, that it is making a century of archival material publicly available through a new online database called the Ford Heritage Vault (https://fordheritagevault.com). Heritage Vault is for fans, journalists and car enthusiasts, said Ford.

The searchable artifacts are downloadable for personal use, free of charge, for the first time as part of what’s claimed to be the American auto industry’s most comprehensive online database* with more than 5,000  photographs and product brochures from Ford and Lincoln vehicles, spanning from the company’s founding in 1903 to its centennial in 2003. Continue reading →

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Safety Performance of Advanced Vehicle Technologies Murky

Posted on 16 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on NHTSA Releases Data on Safety Performance of Advanced Vehicle Technologies

What is advertised or claimed may not be what the software does and what non-computerized people do while driving.

The Department of Transportation’s efforts to increase roadway safety through innovation took a bumpy off-road turn yesterday when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published the initial round of data collected through its Standing General Order of last year.*

The crashes, which automakers and operators reported to NHTSA from the time the SGO was issued last June, are clearly important. They provide NHTSA with direct information about crashes that occur with vehicles that have various levels of automated driving systems deployed at least 30 seconds before a crash occurred.** Continue reading →

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Europe’s Diesel Addiction Continues Starting with Germany

Posted on 15 June 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Europe’s Deadly Diesel Addiction Continues

Click to Enlarge.

Western European diesel car sales in May were 165,000. This was “in a depressed market that is suffering not only from supply issues, but perhaps starting to feel the beginnings of a consumer slowdown, although that is thought to be a relatively minor part of the problem as the order backlog remains significant,” the respected LMC Automotive* consultancy said today.

Germany, Europe’s largest diesel car market, saw only barely detectable YoY fall in share at -2.1 percentage points with diesel hybrid accounting for 5.8% of all sales and 22% of diesel sales (all diesel share was 26.1%, pure diesel share was 20.3%, according to the KBA. Continue reading →

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