Used Cars Are Never Going To Get Any Cheaper

USED CARS ARE NEVER GOING TO GET ANY CHEAPER

Since the start of COVID, the used car market has been volatile, with pre-owned vehicles priced far higher than they might have been worth. Unfortunately, even as used-car supply improves, it's likely they'll never return to pre-pandemic pricing, experts at Cox Automotive say. The average list price for a used car these days is hovering at $27,266, according to Cox. That's down quite a bit from the $28,050 price tag they saw around this time last year — but it's up 38% from a pre-COVID average of just under $20,000.

Source: Business Insider 

PORSCHE SAID TO RETHINK PLAN TO DITCH MACAN ICE SALES BY MID-DECADE

Porsche is rethinking a plan to ditch combustion engine Macan sales in its second-largest market. The sports carmaker will bring an all-electric version of the compact crossover in the first half of next year. Porsche intended to sunset the combustion engine Macan in the U.S. in 2025 or 2026. But now the company will take a wait-and-see approach to go EV-only with its best-selling model, Porsche told its U.S. retailers at a two-day meeting in the Canary Islands this week.

Source: Automotive News 

NEW AUDI CEO’S BIG TASK IS CLEANING UP YEARS OF MISTAKES

Audi’s new boss faces a number of pressing issues to fix the premium brand, after years of missteps left Volkswagen AG’s cash cow with a stale model lineup and behind in the shift to electric cars. Gernot Döllner, a 54-year-old VW veteran who wrote his dissertation on speeding up product development, has little time to waste to ensure the timely arrival of key new battery-powered vehicles when he takes over in September. The stakes are high: Tesla Inc. outsold Audi in the first quarter and market share in China is shrinking.

Source: Bloomberg 

THIS EV CHARGING NETWORK WILL ADOPT TESLA’S NACS

Station builders are starting to get on the NACS train, after automakers' sudden moves to embrace Supercharger standard.
Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) is on a roll, after several automakers have revealed plans for owners of their EVs to use Tesla's Supercharging network starting in 2024, ahead of plans to offer built-in NACS ports in their cars the following year. But Tesla's NACS won't be confined just to Supercharger stations.

Electrify America, Volkswagen Group's charging network, will also add the NACS connector to its chargers in the US and Canada by 2025. The network will continue to support the Combined Charging System (CCS-1) connector, which is currently the most prevalent non-Tesla connector type. "Since our founding, we have focused on building an inclusive and open hyper-fast charging network to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles," said Robert Barrosa, president and CEO of Electrify America. "We look forward to continuing to support industry-wide standards that increase vehicle interoperability and streamline public charging."

Electrify America currently has over 850 stations with about 4000 individual chargers in the US and Canada, offering 150 kW and 350 kW charging speeds. 

Electrify America isn't the first outside EV charging network to announce plans to offer NACS connectors at its stations, as Blink Charging revealed earlier this month that it will begin producing NACS connectors starting in October of this year, with plans to add them to Level 2 as well as DC fast-chargers. The new connectors are expected to begin to be added to stations in early 2024. "Given that L2 chargers currently account for approximately 90% of EV charging use in the United States, it is crucial to provide accessible technology to minimize driver confusion and create a convenient and seamless EV charging experience," Blink Charging said this week.

With a sudden, massive wave of NACS adoption, it is likely other automakers and third-party charging networks will be tempted to follow suit.
Get ready for more NACS announcements from automakers and station builders alike in the coming weeks.

Source:Autoweek

STELLANTIS UNWRAPS TWO MASS-MARKET EVS IN AFFORDABILITY PUSH

Stellantis NV showed off two new electric vehicles in Italy as part of a push by the carmaker to win over mass-market buyers and fend of low-cost competition from China. The company presented the battery-powered Fiat 600 compact sport utility vehicle and an electric revamp of the 1930s Topolino quadricycle at its Turin factory late Tuesday. The SUV starts at €35,950 ($39,135), while the Topolino — Italian for “little mouse” — will cost from €9,890.

Source: Bloomberg 

GERMAN CARMAKERS ARE BLEAKEST ABOUT THEIR FUTURE SINCE 2008

German automakers’ expectations are at their worst since the 2008 financial crisis due to inflationary pressures, sclerotic economic growth in Europe and punishing competition from Tesla Inc. as well as Chinese carmakers. The future view by the likes of Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW deteriorated for a fifth month in June to minus 56.9 points, a slump from minus 10.3 points the month before, according to a survey by the Munich-based Ifo Institute published on Wednesday. That’s not far off 2008’s low of minus 67.8.

Source: Bloomberg 

GM SAYS IT COULD FACE COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES WITH NEW EMISSIONS RULES

General Motors said on Wednesday it could face compliance challenges under the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed vehicle emissions rules and other state and federal regulations, as it cited requirements on electric vehicles. The largest U.S. automaker said in comments submitted to the EPA that there are six state and federal regulations that "could require each automaker to exceed 50% EVs in at least a dozen vehicle averaging sets in the approximate 2030 timeframe."

Source: Reuters

GM, TOYOTA US SALES JUMP IN SIGN OF AUTO INDUSTRY STRENGTH

General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. both posted strong sales gains in the second quarter, signs of consumer health in the auto market as semiconductor supply improves. GM sales rose almost 19% in the quarter and were up 15% at retail, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The gains were due in part to strong sales of its Chevrolet Suburban, which along with the Chevy Trax and Trailblazer entry level models posted two-fold increases. Toyota and Stellantis NV also saw increases in the quarter.

Source: Bloomberg  

TESLA AND CHINESE RIVALS SIGNAL TRUCE IN BRUTAL EV PRICE WAR

Tesla Inc. and China’s top automakers pledged to maintain fair competition and avoid “abnormal pricing” in the world’s biggest EV market, signaling a possible end to a price war that’s rattled the industry this year. Executives from 16 companies took part in a signing ceremony at the China Auto Forum in Shanghai on Thursday, acknowledging and committing to four points laid out in the pledge.

Source: Bloomberg 

FRENCH POSTAL VANS WILL TEST MICHELIN AIRLESS TIRES

Michelin will test airless tires on French postal vans, providing more real-world experience with tire designs that could be beneficial to EVs.

La Poste, the French postal service, plans to fit Michelin Uptis airless tires to 40 delivery vans by 2024, according to a Michelin press release. Three vehicles should already be in service by the time you read this, operating on mail routes in the northern region of France. 

The Uptis is one of a handful of airless-tire designs, in this case using an internal structure to hold the tire's shape instead of internal air pressure. The release said Michelin's main target for the Uptis is commercial light-truck fleets, particularly delivery fleets. But the company also recently confirmed that it's tested the tire at up to 130 mph with law enforcement in mind.
Airless tires also aren't susceptible to punctures, in turn eliminating the need to change flats. That could also make them ideal for autonomous vehicles operating in ride-sharing services without human drivers onboard, Michelin has suggested. In the past, Michelin has suggested EVs might be the main focus.

GM started testing this lineup on the Chevy Bolt EV back in 2019, and it hinted that it might offer the Uptis tech on a 2024 EV—although since then there's been no further announcement. Toyota in 2017 also suggested its EVs could use airless tires, but never followed up.

Airless tires could help EV drivers maximize range.In addition to the obvious benefit of preventing punctures, blowouts, and flats, airless tires maintain ideal rolling resistance, or close to it, for their lifetime, without the need to keep checking pressures.

Modern tire-pressure monitoring systems in vehicles have helped with the issue of maintaining optimal pressure, but it remains a hassle that some drivers ignore—and it's especially important for EVs and driving range.

Source: Green Car Reports