Canada: Tesla Has A Secret Battery

TESLA HAS A SECRET BATTERY...

Which will make electric cars the same price as an Internal Combustion Engine

Tesla is planning to launch its new "million mile" battery in China next year which it has been working on for a while now in a partnership with China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. The rumors have it that this battery will be cheaper to make and the manufacturing process will be much easier, as such this will move electric car prices so far down that they can compete with the price of a normal combustion engine model. If Tesla pulls this off first, it would put them years ahead of competitors.

The new batteries will hold more energy, last longer and importantly, Tesla thinks that it will be possibly to make them Cobalt-free, this would not only greatly reduce the price but also help with environmental concerns as cobalt mining is bad for the planet and hard physical labour for workers in poor countries. At the very least, even if the batteries aren't cobalt-free, the two companies have already found a better way to package the batteries as well as make them only 20% cobalt instead of over 50%.

Tesla is also planning to open a Terrafactory, which will be 30 times the size of its current gigafactories, in China which will mean that they will be able to further automate and scale battery production which will once again bring down the price drastically.

Source: Drivetribe

SHORTAGE OF LARGE PICKUPS EXPECTED DUE TO COVID-19

As states relax business shutdowns, customers are returning to showrooms faster than manufacturers can ramp up new-vehicle production, and that's likely to produce shortages of popular models in some markets, notably large pickup trucks, according to J.D. Power. In particular, that could affect large pickups. According to J.D. Power data, large pickups have continued to sell relatively well vs. other vehicle segments, especially in less-restricted, truck-heavy markets like Dallas.

Source: WardsAuto

GM READY TO LAUNCH NEW LARGE SUVS AS PLANTS RESTART

General Motors Co is ready to start building its new generation of large sport utility vehicles at a plant in Arlington, Texas, when it reopens North American assembly plants on May 18, Philip Kienle, the automaker's North American manufacturing chief, told Reuters on Thursday. The big SUVs, including the Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Suburban, are critical to the automaker's profitability, and especially so now that GM has taken on billions in new debt and suspended its dividend to ride out the coronavirus crisis.

Source: Reuters

FORD BOLDLY CONFIRMS NEW F-150 LAUNCH 'ON TRACK' DESPITE  SHUTDOWNS

The all-new 2021 Ford F-150 remains scheduled to start production and go on sale in 2020 despite massive industry disruption caused by the coronavirus, a spokeswoman confirmed to the Free Press Thursday. "We are on track to deliver our all-new Ford F-150 to customers starting this fall," said Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and labor communications manager. "The team continues to do an amazing job moving the program forward, even with coronavirus challenges. We look forward to showing the world our all-new pickup soon and start delivering to customers this year."

Source: Detroit Free Press

TESLA NARROWS CYBERTRUCK SITES TO TEXAS, OKLA., REPORTS SAY

Tesla Inc. has chosen to locate its second U.S. auto factory in Texas, the blog Electrek reported, citing an unnamed source. The EV maker will construct the plant in or near Austin, the typically pro-Tesla blog said. The Associated Press and CNBC later reported that Austin, TX and Tulsa, Okla., are finalists for the facility but that no final decision has been made.

Elon Musk said in March that Tesla was scouting for sites where it will build both the in-development Cybertruck and the Model Y crossover for customers on the East Coast. The CEO last week threatened to move the company's headquarters and future programs to Texas or Nevada after a California county blocked the carmaker from reopening its factory in the San Francisco Bay area.

Within days, the company defied county health officials and restarted production.

Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in November, with Musk pitching it as a radically different option from the highly lucrative pickups produced by established automakers. A botched demonstration during which the company's design chief cracked what was supposed to be shatterproof glass generated enormous publicity.

Texas was among the finalist states for the battery factory that Tesla ultimately chose in 2014 to build near Reno, Nev.. The state of Nevada lured the company with a $1.3 billion incentive package.

Tesla employs roughly 11,000 workers in Fremont, Calif., where its current factory is located. Musk, 48, said last week that the company will decide whether to keep producing cars there based on how it's treated going forward. Following through on that threat would be challenging. The factory is the only place in the world where Tesla makes the Model S, X and Y. The company purchased it from Toyota Motor Corp. in the wake of the global financial crisis for just $42 million and has sunk billions of dollars into it since then.

During Tesla's April 29 quarterly earnings call, Musk said the company was one-to-three months away from announcing where its next plant will be built.

Source: Bloomberg

COVID-19 BOLSTERS CAR OWNERSHIP AS CONSUMERS RETHINK SHARED RIDES

For years, auto makers and investors pumped billions of dollars into new ride-hailing and car-sharing companies, predicting the rise of these ventures would eventually lead their core business of selling vehicles to decline. Now, with widespread concern about coronavirus contagion, some say they're seeing a revival of consumers' interest in owning their own car.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

and...

As Americans plan for life after pandemic lockdowns, many want to avoid public transport and use a car instead, straining already underfunded transit systems and risking an increase in road congestion and pollution. Several opinion polls show Americans plan to avoid trains and buses as stay-at-home orders ease, with some city dwellers buying a car for the first time. A potential boon to coronavirus-battered automakers, the shift poses a challenge to city planners end environmental goals.

Source: Reuters

GENERAL MOTORS BATTERY ALMOST THERE

General Motors Co is "almost there" on developing an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles, a top executive said on Tuesday. The automaker also is working on next-generation batteries even more advanced than the new Ultium battery that it unveiled in March, according to GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks, who was speaking at an online investor conference. He did not specify a timeline for introduction of the million-mile battery, but said "multiple teams" at GM are working on such advances as zero-cobalt electrodes, solid state electrolytes and ultra-fast charging.

Source: Reuters

RATIONALE FOR FCA-PSA MERGER DEAL 'STRONGER THAN EVER': ELKANN

The reasons for Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot-owner PSA's (PEUP.PA) merger are "stronger than ever," the FCA chairman said on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic adds to the car industry's existing challenges. Addressing shareholders in Exor, the Agnelli family's holding company, John Elkann, who is also Exor chairman and CEO, said preparatory work for the 50-50 merger was proceeding "on time and as envisaged."

Source: Reuters

HERTZ IS SELLING OFF SOME Z06 CORVETTES, BUT ARE BETTER DEALS NEAR?

Rental giants are in for some downsizing, and this means deals for you.

The major fallout of a possible Hertz bankruptcy, which may reportedly begin in a matter of days unless the rental giant comes up with about $400 million, could mean liquidating more than half a million rental cars—a move that could temporarily flood the already overflowing used car market.

What does this mean for those looking for some early deals on performance cars?

As Jalopnik has discovered, Hertz is selling some 650-hp 2019 Z06 Corvettes, all finished in a very yellow color with black stripes. A number of these have been listed with asking prices in the $60,000 neighborhood. That's more than $20,000 off a 2019 Z06's starting price of from $81,000 to about $95,000 for even better equipped, kitchen-sink models, as Jalopnik notes.

There are a few caveats here, of course: The Z06 Corvettes in question are all automatic transmission equipped, because they were all aimed at rental fleet usage (and we all know what that means for clutches), and there are also some miles on them. Additionally, this effort is taking place quite early in what could be a very long summer of rental car companies cutting loose parts of their fleets, so the deals offered at the moment are by no means the most desperate we're likely to see. Also, we have to wonder about the effect the debut of the midengine Corvette Stingray, a long-awaited automobile you might have heard about, has on all low-mileage 2019 Corvettes—we could be seeing just the tip of the iceberg in the decline of used Corvette values right now.

And we shouldn't overlook the fact that when it comes to fairly fresh used Corvettes, we could still be in the early stages of a gradual mass sell-off of "expensive toys" bought over the past five years going up for sale in a vastly different economic climate. This means those who bought sports cars during the longest economic recovery in modern times could be looking to cut them loose just to get some cash in their pockets, and would be willing to take quite a hit on the residual prices of all sports cars, not just Corvettes.  If you feel like you've been seeing a lot of Harleys for sale in people's yards, it's not just in your town.

Speaking of those used car values, they're likely to be in flux for quite some time as the used car market is expected to swell quite dramatically, in a manner perhaps not seen in ages. The fleet downsizing by rental giants is not likely to help matters, whether it happens now or months down the road. All rental giants are now seeking to "right-size" their fleets—a handy corporate euphemism—for the coming years in which the airline industry could operate with a very different number of monthly travelers.

Source: Autoweek

WHAT EXACTLY POWERS YOUR 'EMISSIONS-FREE' EV? THIS US MAP SHOWS YOU

What powers your EV?

Every electric vehicle owner knows that their EVs have zero tailpipe emissions. But emissions may be produced by the source of electrical power. So if you live in the US, do you know how your EV is being powered?

The Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy released a map that shows what powers each state. They explain:

Electrek's Take: Some readers will occasionally comment or email in, asking why we cover climate-change issues and green energy on an electric vehicle website. This map perfectly illustrates why. The need to switch to clean energy sources has never been greater. There's some nice wind action going on in the Midwest, but the country has a lot of work to do to get off the natural gas and coal. If you want your EV to be truly emissions-free, then we need to move to renewables.

Source: Electrek

Originally published 21 May, 2020

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