Lotus Hethel Factory Tours Restart for £95

Posted on 24 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Lotus Hethel Factory Tours Resume for £95 – Elmira line

Outside, guests will  pass the 2.2-mile test track that hosted famous motorsport names – Jim Clark, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna…

Factory tours of the Hethel, home of Lotus since 1966, are resuming for the public Lotus said today starting at £95 per visitor. Tours at the Norfolk site were paused in November 2017 for a £100 million makeover to prepare for Emira production, the last petrol-powered (global warming gasoline – Yanks) car from Lotus.

Elmira is now in production in an all-new assembly hall. The tour program has been developed by an “experiential team” within the recently launched Lotus Advanced Performance division and will begin on Monday 4 April. Continue reading →

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Italian Battery Plant Moves Ahead with Final Deal among Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, TotalEnergies/Saft

Posted on 23 March 2022 by Ken Zino

Stellantis’ existing Termoli plant in Italy will be transformed to a  battery making facility because of a final agreement to add Mercedes-Benz as a new, equal partner with TotalEnergies/Saft and Stellantis. The potential deal was previously announced and now remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Automotive Cells Company was founded by Stellantis and TotalEnergies/Saft in August 2020.This will be ACC’s third production site. The Partners are accelerating ACC development with an objective of at least 120 gigawatt hours of cell capacity by 2030 and to scale up development and production of next-generation high-performance battery cells and modules.
 Continue reading →

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Renault Group Industrial Activities in Russia Suspended

Posted on 23 March 2022 by Ken Zino

The Board of Directors of Renault Group met today and  suspended Group activities in its manufacturing plant in Moscow  The Group also said its stake in AVTOVAZ, is under review for the available options, “taking into account the current environment, while acting responsibly towards its 45,000 employees in Russia.”

Renault Group had previously taken  the necessary measures to comply with international sanctions. However, President Biden is known to be pushing for further sanctions, and is visiting the EU in Brussels today, and then going to Poland. Continue reading →

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Ford F-150 Lightning Tows 10,000 Pounds in Colorado, Nevada

Posted on 23 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Ford F-150 Lightning Tows 10,000 Pounds in Colorado, Nevada

Ford F-150 Lightning pickup deliveries could begin this spring.

Ford Motor said today that last month a 2022 F-150 Lightning ran the Ike Gauntlet towing 10,000 pounds*. Ike Gauntlet is an 8-mile stretch of I-70 in Colorado that ascends at a 7% incline to a maximum elevation of 11,158-ft. above sea level around the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel. Aside from the successful product publicity demonstration, it was a graphic illustration of the weather extremes caused by global warming and the failure of policy makers to address the planet-killing problem. Continue reading →

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Stellantis, LG Energy Solution JV for Battery Plant in Canada

Posted on 23 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on First Ever Jeep EV Teased by Stellantis

The EV parade grows. Click to Enlarge.

Stellantis N.V. and LG Energy Solution (LGES) today announced they have executed binding, definitive agreements to establish the first large scale, domestic, electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Canada. Outlines of the plan were first announced last October. The JV will produce lithium-ion battery cells and modules to meet a “significant portion” of Stellantis’ vehicle production requirements in North America. Stellantis is the result of a merger of FCA, aka Fiat Chrysler, and Peugeot. Continue reading →

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Mercedes EQS Sedan Valet Parks Itself in Los Angeles

Posted on 22 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Mercedes EQS Sedan Valet Parks Itself in Los Angeles

Look – No Driver. No Hands. No Jobs?

In our for what it’s worth publicity stunt department, Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have demonstrated automated valet parking at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel with an EQS sedan. It used Intelligent Park Pilot in the EQS, which is a combination with a smartphone app as a demonstration of the “future vehicle experience for consumers.” The demo works in conjunction with the 889-room property with a Bosch intelligent infrastructure installed in the parking garage. (AutoInformed: Automated Driving – Mercedes to Work with Luminar on Lidar; First Look: Mercedes EQS All-Electric Sedan)

“The demonstration… showcases how automated valet parking will operate in a working hotel environment where both automated and non-automated vehicles operate alongside pedestrian traffic,” said Dr. Kay Stepper, senior vice president of automated driving and driver assistance for Bosch in North America. “This allows us to dive into the dynamics of local deployments with the use of a highly-connected EQS from Mercedes-EQ to demonstrate how automated technology continues to move forward,” Stepper said. If all doesn’t go well? That’s the way the Mercedes Bends… Continue reading →

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Toyota and ChargePoint to offer Home, Public EV Charging

Posted on 22 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Toyota and ChargePoint to offer Home, Public EV Charging

More than 80% of all L2 charging in the US takes place at home.

Toyota Motor North America announced today that it and ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT) will offer customers home and public EV charging on the upcoming 2023 bZ4X full battery-electric SUV. For home charging, bZ4X customers will have the option to purchase a ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 charger from participating Toyota dealerships or directly from ChargePoint online. It is Wi-Fi enabled, can be installed indoors or out, comes with a 23-foot charging cable for different parking configurations and can charge electric vehicles up to nine times faster than a standard outlet. Working on the bZ4X, the home charger can charge up to 25 miles of range-per-hour, fully charging the battery when plugged in overnight. (AutoInformed:Toyota, Subaru at Shanghai Introduce Latest Joint-Venture EVs; Rerun – Toyota Shows Electric bZ4X SUV Concept in US; Japan Inc: Toyota and Hino to Pioneer Light-Duty Fuel Cell Electric Trucks with Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson)

The Toyota bZ4X is the first of a global series of battery-electric vehicles to be introduced under the “Toyota bZ” brand umbrella. Other partners in the green juggernaut now under full sail include BYD, Daihatsu and Suzuki. Toyota plans to introduce 15 BEV models by 2025, including seven new BEV models of the Toyota bZ series. The Toyota U.S. lineup in total, accounts for more than 40% of all alternative powertrain vehicles sold in the U.S. – including battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell electrics, hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Continue reading →

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SEC – New Rules on Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors

Posted on 21 March 2022 by Ken Zino

The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rule changes that would require registrants to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports. This includes information about climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited financial statements.

The required information about climate-related risks also would include disclosure of a registrant’s greenhouse gas emissions, which have become a commonly used metric to assess a registrant’s exposure to such risks. No doubt the anti-environment, anti-democracy ,pro-Putin Republican party will fiercely fight the SEC. The global auto industry is rushing to address climate change with its headlong rush into electric vehicles. This should clarify the ongoing avalanche of green statements from makers and suppliers and help customers understand how committed the companies are. (AutoInformed on: SEC Starts Task Force on Climate Change Investment Risks; Daimler Issues Its First Green Bond of €1 Billion) Continue reading →

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The Sweet Song of EVs – Cadillac Starts Lyric Production

Posted on 21 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on The Sweet Song of EVs – Cadillac Starts Lyric Production

GM’s Spring Hill manufacturing complex consists of a vehicle assembly plant, metal stamping plant and an engine plant. It is the largest GM facility in North America.

General Motors today passed another milestone in its move to an all-electric future as Cadillac celebrated the beginning of retail production of the 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly plant. GM President Mark Reuss, Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, UAW representatives, plant employees and other officials were on hand. The real dignitaries were the workers who made it happen.

Reservations for the 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ Debut Edition sold out in 10 minutes late, last summer, and demand continues to grow, GM said. Cadillac will begin taking additional orders for the 2023 LYRIQ on May 19. Continue reading →

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VW to Drop Fossil Fuels, Spend $7.1B on Products, R&D and Manufacturing in Canada, Mexico and US

Posted on 21 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on VW to Drop Fossil Fuels, Spend $7.1B on Products, R&D and Manufacturing in Canada, Mexico and US

VW aims to localize all major design and engineering responsibilities for the body and interior of new vehicles, a turn around from a German-centric firm.

Volkswagen today announced it will spend $7.1 billion during the next five years in the North America*1 to increase products, regional R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Volkswagen hopes that 55% of U.S. vehicle sales will be fully electric by 2030. Volkswagen plans to launch American-assembled ID.4 in 2022, ID. Buzz in 2024, as well as new electric SUVs starting in 2026.

Scott Keogh, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America said that Volkswagen will begin to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles from its American line-up, aiming to completely exit from internal combustion sales at the beginning of the next decade, while focusing on the most desirable models. In its place, Volkswagen will advance its electric line-up, including the American-assembled ID.4 in 2022, the ID. Buzz electric microbus in 2024, and new electric SUVs from 2026. In all, Volkswagen Group brands plan to introduce more than 25 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to American consumers through 2030. Continue reading →

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Ford Motor Recalls 160,000 F-150 Pickups for Bad Wipers

Posted on 21 March 2022 by Ken Zino

Ford Motor Company is recalling 157,306 2021 model year Ford F-150 vehicles. The front windshield wiper motor made by Trico in Mexico may become inoperative, causing the wipers to fail. An inoperative wiper motor has the potential for reduced visibility or loss of visibility, increasing the risk of a crash. In the require NHTSA filing Ford said, “The primary causal factors that led to inoperative or poorly performing wipers were poor quality motor brush plate spot welding, insufficient motor magnet adhesive being applied, and insufficient motor nut assembly torque. Continue reading →

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Sebring 12 Hours – Bumps, Twists, Turns in Oldest US Race

Posted on 20 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Sebring 12 Hours - New Twists, Turns in Oldest US Sports Car Race

Twice in the final 75 minutes, Cadillac driver Earl Bamber lost the lead in the oldest US sports car race. He got it back twice, too.

While General Motors has it doubters among stock analysts about its electrification strategy, Cadillac and Corvette posted convincing wins during electrifying racing at Sebring this weekend. It was an all-Cadillac podium in the premier DPI class, as it swept the top three spots in an incident and mistake-filled once around the clock race. The three Cadillacs finished within 14.616 seconds of each other. The 351 laps completed were a Sebring record for the DPi class, topping the previous one set last year by two laps. It was the 61st IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory for Chip Ganassi Racing and its second at Sebring. (Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Provisional Results)

Cadillac had plenty of electricity: Twice in the final 75 minutes of the race, driver Earl Bamber lost the lead before getting it back both times. Bamber survived two incidents and a penalty in the final minutes Saturday and twice worked his way back into the lead, eventually prevailing to win the 70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. Bamber’s win  in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven with Alex Lynn and Neel Jani was a brilliant demonstration of an old sport car racing adage – no matter what happens, just keep racing. “It was a team effort, not an individual one,” Bamber said afterwards. “I was just the one lucky enough to do the last hour. I could’ve probably made it a hell of a lot easier for everyone else, but hey, I made it. It was a good show, I think.” Continue reading →

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Autonomous – GM Ups Stake in Cruise and Buys out Softbank

Posted on 18 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Autonomous Vehicles - GM Ups Stake in Cruise and Buys out Softbank

Look – no visors or steering wheel.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) today announced it is acquiring SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s equity ownership stake in Cruise for $2.1 billion and separately will make an additional $1.35 billion investment in Cruise, replacing a previous commitment made by the fund in 2018.

Cruise has made self-driving cars a reality and is arguably the leader on the pathway to commercial autonomous ridesharing and delivery, creating significant value for both GM shareholders and Cruise’s minority shareholders. Since Cruise was founded in 2013, it has run more than 2 million autonomous miles in California. It has 300+ all-electric AVs on roads in San Francisco and Phoenix. Funding is more than $9 billion with ~1900 employees, with a market valuation of, gulp, +$30 billion (before today). (AutoInformed: Cruise CEO – It Will Be Hard to Sell a Car That Isn’t Self-Driving; Honda and Cruise to Start Testing Autonomous Vehicles on Public Roads) Continue reading →

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Toyota to Upgrade Long Beach Manufacturing

Posted on 18 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Toyota to Upgrade Long Beach Manufacturing

TABC today.

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) announced today a $27 million investment in its Long Beach (aka TABC) operation to support an increase in its stamping and welding of parts for the midsize Tacoma pickup truck made in San Antonio, Texas. (AutoInformed on: Milestones – 40 Years of Toyota Auto Body – Thanks to a so-called “Chicken Tax”)

Toyota Auto Body California – commonly TABC – is now 40 years old. It was Toyota’s first manufacturing facility in the U.S. and came about because of a chicken tax. The tax was the result of a trade war between the U.S. and France and Germany, and the U.S. imposed a 25% tax on imported light trucks initially targeted at Volkswagen in 1963 because our alleged allies were blocking imports of cheap factory-farm produced American chickens with high tariffs – thus the chicken tax name.

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com

Toyota Auto Body Corporation, Long Beach, California circa 2011.

Ford Motor Company successfully lobbied the Johnson Administration to expand the tax to Japanese automakers. The simple workaround at what was then Atlas Fabricators in 1972 was to produce Toyota truck beds for pickup trucks imported into the U.S. from Japan, a strategy also used by other importers.  Two years later, Toyota bought the operation and renamed it TABC, which become its first manufacturing investment in the U.S. It’s ironic that Ford, one of the Detroit Three companies that lobbied  for protection against imported light trucks, later did minor stateside work on the Turkish-built Transit Connect to escape paying the chicken tax and lower the rate to 2.5% from 25%. Continue reading →

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Maserati – First Italian Luxury Brand to Produce EVs?

Posted on 18 March 2022 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Maserati - First Italian Luxury Brand to Produce EVs

Do you think Alfa Romeo and Ferrari might have other plans?

During 2021 Maserati, the Stellantis Group’s only luxury brand, posted an increase in its global market share to 2.4%, at 2.9% and 2.7% in North America and China, respectively. Maserati recorded robust growth in sales, at +41% year-on-year with a total of 24,269 vehicles delivered to customers worldwide during 2021. Adjusted Operating Income (AOI) margin* stood at 5.1% and Net Revenues* were €2,021 million. (AutoInformed: Stellantis Claims Record First Year with €13.4B Net Profit)

Now, Maserati claims it is about to become the first luxury brand to launch a 100% electric sports car under the Maserati Folgore name (translation Lightning or Flash of Lighting). The new Gran Turismo will be the first car in Maserati history to adopt 100% electric “solutions.” Made at the Mirafiori production site, it will debut in the market in 2023. The new Gran Turismo, it’s claimed, will offer “cutting-edge technical solutions derived from Formula E – superb performance, comfort and elegance.” Continue reading →

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