Intel Report: Mobility News

BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | NOV 27 2023 | VIEW ONLINE ➡️

Steve is moderating this panel at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in Las Vegas (Link)

What We're Reading:

A slowdown in EV sales growth in the U.S. is testing Elon Musk’s vision for an electric vehicle future. At the same time, hybrid vehicles have seen a surge in buyers this year, in part because of the success of new offerings by Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus. The pitch to customers for buying a hybrid is simple: Such cars are often cheaper than all-electric rivals and get some benefits of electrification with improved MPG compared with a traditional car without the headaches of having to charge like an EV. (💲Link)Likely the largest factor driving the uptick in EV chatter is the 2024 election, where Republican presidential candidates including Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy have lumped the pro-electric vehicle crowd with coastal elites, socialists and other rhetorical targets of the political right. At the other end of the table are EV proponents who see the technology as an existential issue and argue that the U.S. needs to dramatically slash carbon emissions to slow global warming. Trading fossil fuel vehicles for their electric counterparts is one of the fastest ways to slash greenhouse gas emissions and achieve that goal, they say. The discussion also encapsulates a host of issues dominating the nation's political conversation: the cost of living, reliance on Chinese manufacturing and cultural factors such as the feasibility of the cross-country road trips that remain an element of American identity. (💲Link)Mary Barra’s ambitious plan to double GM’s revenue to $280 billion by the end of the decade has a relatively simple premise at its heart: Turn the legacy automaker into more of a tech company. Barra, the chief executive officer of one of the biggest carmakers in the US, is learning just how hard that pivot really is. (💲Link)A surprising crash in prices for lithium, cobalt and other metals used in EV batteries is hitting mining companies, which are suspending or delaying new projects and expansions. The disruptions are threatening to deepen shortages of those materials in coming years and hit the brakes on the Biden administration’s timeline for weaning the country off gas-powered cars. (💲Link)Insurers are, in some cases, writing off entire cars (EVs) just because of minor physical damage to battery casings. There is a dearth of auto repair shops that know how to properly assess batteries, let alone repair them. Some automakers are making things extra difficult for mechanics. Parts can be tricky to get hold of, and there’s often little or no official information explaining how to repair certain EV battery units. That means such units might just get replaced at an eye-watering cost: easily north of $12,430 for some models. (Link)Tesla Insurance, launched in 2019 by the electric car company, promised policyholders “vastly better” service than rivals. Musk also said he aimed to offer “same-day” collision repairs. Tesla started the insurer to solve a problem: prospective customers walking away from car sales after getting sky-high insurance quotes, based on the electric vehicles’ high collision-repair costs. High insurance costs had for years made it harder to sell Teslas. It’s a common problem among makers of electric cars, which have higher collision-repair costs, especially for replacement of their pricey batteries, than gasoline-powered vehicles. (💲Link)Tesla says it will charge drivers an additional $1 per minute to juice their electric vehicle batteries beyond 90%, but only when stations are “busy.” Tesla is opening Superchargers to EVs from other automakers in order to tap into federal funds through the Inflation Reduction Act. The change could help the stations cope with an influx of vehicles. (Link)Tesla’s gargantuan car factory in Austin is critical to the company's plan to sell 20 million vehicles a year. But there’s a pattern of risky incidents at the plant, current and former workers say. (💲Link)To a large degree, Elon Musk is X, where, for either personal or financial reasons — maybe both — he appears to regard controversy as currency. And, to an extent not seen elsewhere in the auto business, Musk is also Tesla. In a more competitive EV market, at least some customers might prefer the car brand that is just a car brand. (💲Link)Magna Steyr is expected to develop new vehicles for Volkswagen Group's Scout Motors brand. VW has given Magna Steyr, an off-road specialist who builds the G-Class for Mercedes-Benz in Graz, Austria, an order worth 450 million euros ($492 million) to develop the models. (💲Link)

The ability of US households to cover an unexpected $2,000 expense is at the lowest level in a decade. Only 65.8% of surveyed households said they would be able to come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month. (💲Link)

Coatue released their investment thesis on AI, which sheds light on the dramatic impact it may have on organizational structures in the future. (Link)This image shows the results of Car and Driver Magazine's 0-to-150-to-0 MPH Speed Test. The Porsche 911 Turbo S won the contest. But, internal-combustion vehicle dominance is over: both the Tesla Model S Plaid and the Lucid Air Sapphire would have beaten the Porsche. (Link)UPS just opened its largest warehouse, a 20-acre facility on the outskirts of Louisville, Ky, where robots outnumber humans by a ratio of 15:1. (Link)The U.S., China and a handful of other nations are making rapid progress in developing and deploying new technology that has the potential to reshape the nature of warfare by turning life and death decisions over to autonomous drones equipped with artificial intelligence programs. (💲Link)280 million e-bikes are slashing oil demand far more than electric vehicles. E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world. (Link)

The sale of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes at RM Sotheby's Official Auction of the Las Vegas Grand Prix suggests that the market is growing for modern-era F1 race cars. Hamilton’s Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04, which he drove during the 2013 season, his first with the team, was sold on 17 November, for £15.13 million ($19 million USD). (Link)

Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

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Notable & New

📢 On this week's Automotive Ventures Future of Automotive segment on CBT News, we unpack the implications of the Hyundai and Amazon news on auto dealers. (💲Link)

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Companies to Watch

🌟 Citian's CRASH product is the first of its kind: a comprehensive hub for traffic crash data, analysis, and reporting in a digital twin environment. CRASH leverages artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics to meet a city’s or municipality’s traffic safety goals. (Link)

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