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Rolls-Royce’s Coachbuild Boat Tail makes its global public debut tomorrow at the snobby (boogie?) Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este* on 2 October 2021. The car will be unveiled at 11.30 local time on the Mosaic Lawn by Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is owned by BMW**. It will then be available for guests and journalists to view for two days before returning to the seclusion that have surrounded it since it was formally revealed in May 2021.
Boat Tail marks a retrograde moment in the archives of Rolls-Royce, “demonstrating the brand’s commitment to coachbuilding as a central part of its future direction and portfolio. It continues and accelerates a contemporary coachbuilding movement that began with Sweptail, the first Coachbuild Rolls-Royce of the modern era, which also made its first public appearance at Villa d’Este back in 2017.” Continue reading
EV Battery Gold-Rush – GM and Wolfspeed Cut Deal
GM will participate in the so-called (and unproven) Wolfspeed Assurance of Supply Program, which “is intended to secure domestic, sustainable and scalable materials for EV production.”
General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Wolfspeed (NYSE: WOLF) today announced a supplier agreement to develop and provide silicon carbide power devices for GM’s future electric vehicle programs. Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide devices will allow GM to “install more efficient EV propulsion systems that will extend the range” of its growing EV portfolio. The silicon carbide involved will be used in the integrated power electronics contained within GM’s Ultium Drive units in its next-generation EVs. (Environmental About Face – General Motors Ditching Internal Combustion Engines by 2035. Carbon Neutral by 2040?; GM Needs Range, Battery Cost Cuts to Speed EV Plans; GM Ups Bet by $35B in Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Games)
In a move that is designed to ensure supply and assuage the doubts of the capital markets about the semi-conductor shortage disaster, as part of the agreement, GM will participate in the so-called (and unproven) Wolfspeed Assurance of Supply Program (WS AoSP), which “is intended to secure domestic, sustainable and scalable materials for EV production.” During September, Toyota outsold General Motors by 123,000 units. In fact September was such a weak month for GM that four other OEMs had stronger volume performance, with Hyundai topping GM for the first time ever. Continue reading →