BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | 24 JULY 2023 | VIEW ONLINE ➡️

Automotive Ventures portfolio company Recurrent has published their latest "Used Electric Car Prices & Market Report" - and it's bigger and better than ever! (Link)

A must-read from John McElroy on the seven secrets to Tesla's success. (Link)Fewer cars are being sold at sticker price, putting pressure on dealership profitability. Also weighing on profitability: High-interest rates and better new-vehicle availability have dramatically increased the cost of floor-plan financing—what dealers pay to keep unsold cars on the lot. (💲Link)Ford expects its EV division to lose $4.5 billion this year, up from an earlier forecast of $3 billion. (💲Link)The WSJ summarizes five ways that car buying has changed. (💲Link)Slowing the momentum towards the Tesla NACS charging standard? Seven major global automakers create a new charging network joint venture forecasting 30,000 high-powered charge points across North America. (Link)Jaguar is reducing its model range and pushing the brand higher upmarket to compete with Bentley and Porsche instead of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. (💲Link)Tesla now offers 84-month (7-year) car loans in the U.S. In Canada, Tesla offers 96-month (8-year) loans. (💲Link)"When you make pricing changes that hurt residual values, over time you're going to end up with angry customers. And if you're adjusting your pricing too much, then consumers get confused or don't really trust that the price they're getting today is the best price they could get. Maybe it will be better in a week." (💲Link)Tesla’s $15,000 'Full Self-Driving Beta' Can Be Worthless At Trade-In. (Link)Tesla delivered almost 890,000 cars in the first half of this year, more electric vehicles than Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche combined. (💲Link)How far an electric vehicle can drive on a single charge is one of the most closely watched numbers in the automotive world. The official government process used to test and certify those ranges has potential flaws. (Link)Automotive Ventures portfolio company Recurrent notes that EVs experienced significant declines in range as temperatures rose, and some suffered a 31% plunge when temperatures reached 100-plus degrees Fahrenheit. (💲Link)Why wouldn't you put down $100 to reserve a Tesla Cybertruck, on the off chance that once you get your allocation you can flip it and make $50k? (Link)Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares: "We need to find the conditions to make a $25,000 BEV in the U.S. that we can sell at significant volumes with reasonable margins." (💲Link)Used EV prices are softening: an increasing percentage of pre-owned EVs are now priced under $25,000, the threshold to qualify for federal tax credits, which in turn would make those cars even more affordable. (Link)According to McKinsey, only ten out of 210 DMAs accounted for 54% of all EV sales in 2021. All these markets are major metropolitan areas, and most of them are in the western United States. McKinsey projects that 20 out of 210 DMAs will account for 55% of EV sales by 2030. (Link)

Tesla Model 3 owners still overwhelmingly love their cars. Most owners planned to stick with the brand. But they also reported feeling a sense of betrayal as CEO Elon Musk picked political fights online, downplayed the potential consequences of climate change, and backed controversial figures and ideas. (💲Link)Elon Musk is worried about having enough electricity, predicting U.S. consumption of electricity, driven in part by battery-powered vehicles, will triple by around 2045. He anticipates an electricity shortage in two years could stunt the energy-hungry development of AI. (💲Link)Elon Musk has become the dominant power in satellite internet technology. The ways he is wielding that influence are raising global alarms. (💲Link)Practical advice for auto dealers on how to prepare for the future. (Link)In the early 1900s, 1/3 of all vehicles on the road were electric. They started to quickly disappear around 1920 with the introduction of petrol and Henry Ford. (Link)The war in Ukraine has turned the country into a kind of super lab of invention. More than 200 Ukrainian companies involved in drone production are now working with military units on the front lines to tweak and augment drones to improve their ability to kill and spy on the enemy. (💲Link)Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

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🗞️ On this week's Future of Automotive segment on CBT News we juxtapose the momentum of Tesla's NACS charging standard against this week's news that 7 OEMs are creating a JV to create a competing nationwide EV charging network. (Link)🗞️ The origin story of Automotive Ventures portfolio company BusRight. (Link)🗞️ Thanks to Auto Remarketing for covering Automotive Ventures' new partnership with Dealer Trade Network. (Link)

🌟 Yendo has created the first-ever vehicle-secured credit card, allowing consumers who own their car to tap into the value of their vehicle to gain access to up to $10,000 in revolving credit at a fixed, affordable rate, agnostic of their credit score. (Link)

🌟 FINN offers subscriptions for electric, hybrid, and gas cars — allowing consumers to log in to the website or app, select their vehicle and choose a subscription term. FINN’s subscriptions are for six- or 12-month terms and the monthly payment covers maintenance, registration, and roadside assistance. (Link)

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