The Hennessey Venom F5 concept vehicle is displayed during the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach, California, U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThousands of classic car fans are rolling onto California's Monterey Peninsula for what has become one of the year's most eagerly awaited automotive events.
Centered around Sunday's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, it's a week-long series of car shows, auctions, parties and other events featuring some of the world's rarest and most expensive collector cars.
But what has become known as Pebble Beach car week has also become a major event for new car fans, as well. More than a dozen different luxury brands, including Acura, BMW, Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz and Pininfarina, will be on hand to show off their latest concept and production models, many of them making their world debuts.
Here's an A-to-Z look at some of the more significant introductions that already have been confirmed for Pebble Beach Car Week.
AcuraAcura Type S ConceptSource: AcuraAcura, the luxury arm of Honda, will offer the public debut of the Type S Concept at the Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, on Friday. The Type S badge has been used on a number of limited-run Acuras over the past two decades but will soon become a regular part of the line-up as a challenge to such performance sub-brands as BMW M and Mercedes-AMG. The Type S Concept is based on the next-generation Acura TLX sedan that will come to market next year.
BMWA Vision M Next concept vehicle is revealed during an event of German car producer BMW in Munich, southern Germany, on June 25, 2019.Chirstof Stache | AFP | Getty ImagesBMW is a frequent participant in the Pebble Beach Car Week events and will have a number of different models to show off this year. That includes the North American debut of the Garmisch Concept that won wild acclaim during a debut at the concourse in Villa d'Este, Italy earlier this year.
Also on hand: the Vision M Next Concept which blends a variety of different technologies that could reshape BMW's future product line-up, including battery power and autonomous driving capabilities. The automaker is keeping some secrets, however, hinting that a production version of an older concept – possibly a high-performance 8-Series Gran Coupe – will also debut in Pebble Beach.
BugattiSource: BugattiBugatti will bring the most expensive new car ever sold, the $18.7 million La Voiture Noire, to Pebble Beach. But the ultra-premium arm of the Volkswagen Group has been building suspense by teasing plans to “unveil the next great project for La Marque” at the Friday gathering at the Quail Lodge.
What's in store? Speculation has been rampant, covering everything from a new one-off of Bugatti's only current nameplate, the Chiron, to something entirely new. During an interview with Automobile magazine this month, the brand's CEO Stephan Winkelmann confirmed Bugatti has been working on an ultra-exotic utility vehicle that could top 200 mph and cost as much as $1 million.
De TomasoThe DeTomaso P72 seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019 on July 4th in Chichester, England. The annual automotive event is hosted by Lord March at his Goodwood Estate.Martyn Lucy | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesDe Tomaso is a name that delights serious classic car collectors but has been all but forgotten by most luxury buyers. The revived brand is bringing its new P72 supercar to the Monterey Peninsula — along with the only existing version of the old P70 race car developed by namesake Alejandro de Tomaso and the late Carroll Shelby in 1965.
InfinitiA Nissan Motor Co. Infiniti brand QX80 Monograph concept sports utility vehicle (SUV) sits on display during the 2017 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) in New York, U.S.Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesInfiniti comes to Pebble Beach celebrating its 30th anniversary with an array of Edition 30 models. These are specially trimmed-out versions of its most popular product lines, the Q50, Q60, QX50, QX60 and QX80. It also will bring several of its earliest models to the second-annual Japanese Automotive Invitational, one of the many ancillary events that take place during the extended classic car weekend.
KarmaKarma Revero on display at the In goop Health Summit at 3Labs on June 9, 2018 in Culver City, California.Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty ImagesKarma, currently sells the Revero, an updated version of the plug-in hybrid from the old Fisker Automotive it purchased out of bankruptcy.
The now Chinese-owned battery-car brand has promised to expand its single-car line-up over the next few years and will give a hint of what's coming at the Pebble Beach Concours in the form of both the GT and the SC1 concepts. Designed by Italy's Pininfarina, the latter, all-electric model “is a signpost to Karma's future,” according to Karma CEO Lance Zhou.
LotusThe Lotus Evija electric hypercar, manufactured by Group Lotus Plc, a unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd., sits on display following its unveiling at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London, U.K., on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLotus was all but written off for dead a few years ago when its grand expansion plans collapsed. Sold to Geely, the Chinese company that also owns Volvo, it is making a grand entrance at Pebble Beach with the first of what it promises will be an assortment of new sports cars.
The Lotus Evija is an electric hypercar making 1,972 horsepower. That should be good for around 200 mph or, if you prefer, 250 miles per charge. Evija is expected to cost about $2 million.
McLarenThe McLaren GT seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019 on July 4th in Chichester, England. The annual automotive event is hosted by Lord March at his Goodwood Estate. (Photo by Martyn Lucy/Getty Images)Martyn Lucy | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesMcLaren will bring to Pebble Beach both the new GT supercar set to go on sale for $210,000 late this year, as well as the McLaren GT by MSO, a heavily customized version of the 612-horsepower grand tourer.
Like several other exotics, the British marque is betting its affluent buyers are willing to reach even deeper into their pockets for bespoke one-offs that will pair unique design features — including custom colors — with performance.
PininfarinaFerrari's Pininfarina BattistaCompany handoutPininfarina is a name that will show up seemingly everywhere during Pebble Beach Car Week. The legendary Italian design house styled a number of classics at shows like the Concours d'Elegance, as well as new models like the Karma SC1 concept.
It's also bringing its own battery hypercar, the Battista, which made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show last March. This updated version now can deliver as much as 300 miles per charge, as well as a top speed of 217 mph and a 0-60 sprint of less than 2 seconds. The price tag? About $2.3 million.
PaganiPagani, the Italian-Argentine supercar company will use Pebble Beach as the stage to debut its own, all-new hypercar, the Huayra Roadster BC. Dubbed a “tribute to scientific research, beauty, and uniqueness,” by the automaker, it is powered by a 750-horsepower Mercedes-AMG V-12. For those who can't wait for the official intro, Pagani loaded a digital version of the Roadster into the CSR Racing 2 videogame. That will be a lot less expensive way to drive the hypercar, of which only 40 will be made – each carrying a $3.4 million price tag.
This is only a partial list of all the brands that will be on hand during the various events over the long week, in one form or another. Indeed, it will be the rare luxury marque that won't host a reception or place one of its concept vehicles on the lawn at the Lodge at Pebble Beach.
Collectors, meanwhile, will have an assortment of auctions to attend where some rare and unusual models will go across the block. Last year generated sales of nearly $120 million, according to McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Insurance, which specializes in classic cars.
VIDEO2:0002:00The five hottest rides at this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'EleganceThe Bottom LineDisclosure: Paul Eisenstein is a freelancer for CNBC. His travel and accommodations to Pebble Beach were paid for by Bentley.
Author: CNBC Online news
Chinese rideshare giant Didi Chuxing makes big move in driverless car race
A logo of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing displayed on a building in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province.STR | AFP | Getty ImagesChinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing ( “Didi”) has amassed more than 550 million users and 31 million drivers since taking to the streets of Beijing seven years ago. In the past three years, the global rideshare giant has devoted close attention to its autonomous driving unit. That unit became an independent company on Monday in a move designed to focus and designate more resources toward business development and product innovation.
The Uber-competitor established its autonomous driving team in 2016 and has since employed more than 200 people in China, as well as at its Mountain View, California research facility, where it has been working with various auto manufacturers like Volkswagen and Toyota Motors to test core innovative technologies.
Last month, Didi Chuxing received $600 million in corporate financing from Toyota, which includes directly establishing a joint venture with GAC Toyota, a joint venture between Toyota and a Chinese car maker. The new funds come as Didi continues heavy expansion in several new overseas markets, where it hopes to challenge Uber and other ride-hailing giants like India's Ola, Brazil's Easy Taxi and Singapore's Grab — a three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company.
Didi Chuxing is also a notable Disruptor 50 company, breaking the top 10 at No. 4 in 2018 and No. 2 in 2019.
“Autonomous driving will greatly enhance the safety and efficiency of travel,” said Didi Chairman and CEO Cheng Wei in a release. “In the future, people's transportation needs … will be met by the combination of seamless autonomous driving technology and human driving services that are indispensable for their quality and warmth.”
To fund the new driverless car company, Didi is in new talks with SoftBank, according to a report from The Information. The Japanese tech and telecom giant has previously made multiple, large investments in the ride-hailing company. Based on the most recent funding round, Didi Chuxing has raised $22.74 billion and is valued at $57.6 billion.
In 2016, the same year that Didi's autonomous driving unit was established, SoftBank played an influential role in Uber's decision to sell its China business to Didi, notably pushing the U.S. ride-hailing giant out of the region and exposing Didi to their customer base outside of China for the first time.
Investors want clearer profit pathAsad Hussain, a PitchBook analyst and an expert in mobility, ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles, sees the company's decision as part of a broader trend consistent with the challenges that self-driving technology presents.
“Spinning out autonomous divisions enables these companies to raise outside capital and offers investors a more targeted bet on self-driving relative to investing in the parent entity,” he said. “We think this is a logical move for Didi and other ride-sharing companies facing pressure from investors to streamline costs and show a clear path to profitability.”
Didi went through a major round of layoffs earlier this year, according to multiple reports, as it continues to lose money, like its competitors. Uber recently announced 400 job cuts in its marketing team.
Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit, also announced that it would raise outside capital for the first time this past March, positioning itself to cut costs and limit downside risks.
Didi's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will head the new autonomous driving company as CEO. In an email to CNBC, a communications representative for Didi said that the company does not currently have plans for an IPO.
Uber and Lyft, the U.S. rideshare leaders with heavy investments in driverless vehicles, have fared poorly after highly anticipated IPOs earlier this year as investors doubt how quickly they can become profitable.
VIDEO2:4902:49There will be consolidation in the driverless car industry: Pony.aiSquawk Box AsiaIn a recent survey, auto and tech industry experts predicted it will be at least 12 years before fully autonomous vehicles are being sold to private buyers. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk says 1 million Teslas capable of being robotaxis will be on the road by the end of next year, industry experts say robotaxis will not be ready for widespread public use until 2025.
Last week, General Motors subsidiary Cruise, postponed a planned launch of an autonomous ride-share service as it continues developing, validating and making sure its self-driving cars are ready.
“What's most important when we do launch this service is that we do it the right way,” Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said.
Automakers trim production as market weakens – but hope to avoid wholesale cuts of a decade ago
James O'Neal attaches a fender in the body shop at GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup truck plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 25, 2018.John Gress | ReutersGeneral Motors will trim production of the Chevrolet Equinox SUV at two North American car plants, a move that follows cuts announced by Ford, Honda and other manufacturers.
Automakers are facing what is only the second down market since the end of the Great Recession and the record sales that followed. How far down demand will go this time is a matter of debate, with analysts and planners warning that could depend on how the Trump administration handles disputes with China and other trade partners.
Industry officials, including General Motors CEO Mary Barra, say they learned critical lessons during the last recession and hope to be more proactive this time around, adjusting production early to stay in line with market demand while avoiding the sort of budget-busting incentives that devastated industry balance sheets a decade ago.
GM's latest cutback primarily targets the Equinox but also impacts two other SUVs, the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Trax, and heightens concerns that the increasingly crowded list of new utility vehicles coming to market will create additional headaches for the industry.
GM plans to drop one of the three crews working at its San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico, spokesman Dan Flores confirmed in a telephone interview with CNBC. The factory produces the Equinox, GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Trax SUVs, all of which will see production cut. In addition, a factory in Ingersoll, Ontario that solely produces the Equinox will be idled for one week during late September.
The automaker is “focused on profitable sales and (we) want to do things that make good business sense. We're committed to running the business in a responsible manner,” Flores said. That echoes comments CEO Barra has made on several occasions that GM won't repeat a key mistake made in the run-up to the Great Recession. Rather than trimming production to meet demand, it relied on increasingly hefty incentives that ultimately ran up its losses and contributed to its eventual bankruptcy.
Ford echoed that approach in a statement, citing “long-standing practice of matching production with consumer demand” for its decision to curb operations at its Oakville, Ontario plant next month. The factory produces four SUVs — the Ford Flex, Ford Edge, Lincoln MKT and Lincoln Nautilus models. About 200 workers will be idled, and Ford cautioned further cuts could follow.
Honda, meanwhile, confirmed this week it has reduced production of its Accord and Civic models at its Marysville, Ohio plant. Nissan trimmed output in Canton, Mississippi, as well as its operations in Mexico in recent months, while also offering voluntary buyouts to an unspecified number of U.S. employees.
The second-largest Japanese automaker last month announced plans to cut production worldwide by 10% over the next three years, while eliminating 12,500 jobs. CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters during a news conference that “our situation right now is extremely severe.” A U.S. spokesman said Nissan has already made the necessary adjustments in the U.S., but several analysts said further cutbacks could be needed, pointing to the 8.3% decline in its sales for the first seven months of 2019.
Across the industry, the biggest cuts have focused on the passenger car side of the market. GM, for one, announced last November plans to close three North American assembly plants, while dropping an array of sedans including the Chevrolet Cruze and Impala, as well as the Cadillac CT6. The automaker's plant in Lordstown, Ohio has already been shuttered but one in Detroit is now scheduled to operate through at least early 2019.
The United Auto Workers Union has said the fate of the two U.S. plants will be a critical topic during contract talks with GM that began last month. During meetings on Capitol Hill last December, CEO Barra said the automaker has no plans to reverse its decision, however, and has already lined up a tentative buyer for the Lordstown factory.
What concerns industry observers is that there are signs demand for SUVs may be leveling off in some market segments, something signaled by recent cuts such as those of the four Ford utility vehicles.
Complicating matters, “While people are talking about fabulous SUV sales, the market is getting saturated with them and inventories are building while incentives are growing,” said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst with Autotrader.com.
Industry planners have been aggressively trying to manage inventories of unsold cars as sales have slowed this year. The numbers are now climbing up the high side of normal, ending July at a U.S. market average of around 67 days of stock, Krebs noted, up three days from May. The norm is closer to 60 days supply.
Traditionally, they've relied on incentives to hold down inventories and the numbers are rising. The average giveback in July was $3,911 per vehicle, according to research by Cox Automotive, a 4% year-over-year climb. On some pickups, meanwhile, the numbers have reached $10,000 or more.
But “this is an industry that remembers quite vividly what happened a decade ago,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst with IHS Markit. Leading into the Great Recession, they kept ratcheting up the givebacks “to keep their plants running and production up. But they found there was a point where that eroded profitability to a point that couldn't be sustained.”
The challenge now, said Brinley, is to be “proactive,” and use production cuts to keep sales and inventories in balance, rather than waiting to be “reactive.”
Several industry executives, talking on background, said a key concern is what ongoing trade disputes could mean for the U.S. economy and, in particular, the auto market — a concern highlighted by the sharp downturn on Wall Street after the latest moves by the Trump administration and China.
There are other factors that could cause trouble. New car prices have reached record levels, at an average of around $33,000 for July, reported J.D. Power and Associates. Coming in $1,400 more than a year ago, that threatens to drive some potential buyers out of the market, Power said, at a time when there's a bubble of “nearly new” off-lease vehicles now flooding the market. Meanwhile, automotive interest rates have spiked to around 6%, according to data from tracking service Edmunds.
Barring an economic meltdown, analysts like David Andrea, a principal at Plante Moran, don't see more complete plant shutdowns in the works.
“Manufacturers are showing increased discipline going into the softening of the market,” he said, “but you'll see a lot more of these temporary reductions to keep inventories and incentives in check.”
Honda drivers can now get Amazon parcels delivered to the trunk of their car
HondaHonda drivers in the U.S. who use the auto firm's “cloud-based connected car system” can now get their Amazon parcels delivered to the trunk of their car.
In a statement earlier this week, Honda said that drivers with a subscription to the HondaLink Remote Services system and a compatible vehicle would be able to use the Key by Amazon app to select an “in-car” delivery option.
On the day of delivery, users of the service must park within two blocks of a selected delivery address. When it's confirmed that the car is in range of the address, a delivery driver will use its GPS location to determine the exact position.
The driver will then scan the package before sending a request for the vehicle to be unlocked so it can be dropped off. The vehicle is then re-locked and the customer is sent a notification to confirm the delivery was made and that their vehicle is secured. Customers need an Amazon Prime subscription to use the service, which is currently available in a select number of cities and surrounding areas.
Honda is the latest car company to utilize the system. Others include GMC and Volvo. The cars have to be 2015 models or newer and need connected service systems.
More broadly, innovation is transforming the way goods and services are delivered. Earlier this month, U.K. supermarket Waitrose announced it would be expanding the trial of its “While You're Away” delivery service.
Yale smart-lock technology gives Waitrose delivery drivers access to a customer's home. The customer sets a temporary access code for their lock, which is sent to Waitrose through a secure app.
This code is in turn sent to a driver's device for the time slot the customer has booked their delivery for and deleted when the delivery is made.
The driver packs refrigerated and frozen goods away and leaves other items on the kitchen counter, or wherever the customer has asked them to be left. A chest-cam worn by the driver records the delivery, with customers able to view the video upon request.
VW subsidiary to help with pilot of robotic charging stations for self-driving vehicles
Electrify AmericaElectrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group of America, will work with fleet charging firm Stable Auto to roll out robotic fast charging systems for self-driving electric vehicles (EVs).
In an announcement toward the end of last week, Electrify America said the pilot would be based in San Francisco, with the charging site slated to open at the beginning of 2020.
The goal of the trial is to charge autonomous electric vehicles without requiring “human intervention”. A “robotic solution” will be connected to a 150-kilowatt, direct current fast charger. Electrify America will supply chargers for the project.
The idea is that the site will enable electric vehicle fleets to charge up with “no operators present.” Vehicles will drive into a parking space and one of Stable Auto's robots will be used to “automate the connection between the vehicle and the charger.”
Electrify America's director for infrastructure planning and business development, Wayne Killen, said in a statement that autonomous vehicles would “play an important role in the future of driving, particularly with fleets, and tailored charging options for self-driving EVs will be critical to develop that effort.”
While there is excitement in some quarters regarding the potential of autonomous vehicles, work remains to be done.
In February 2019, the CEO of Arm Holdings told CNBC that it would be “a while” before self-driving cars became mainstream.
“It is a phenomenally hard problem to anticipate what a car could do under absolutely any set of circumstances,” Simon Segars, who was speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, added.
“I think you're going to start to see early services, in quite a constrained way, quite soon over the next couple of years,” he added, explaining that there was “some way to come” before the technology was “completely mainstream.”
GM Cruise delays the launch of autonomous ride-share, adds to test fleet
General Motors Cruise test vehiclesSource: General MotorsCruise, the subsidiary of General Motors developing self-driving vehicles and services, said Wednesday it is postponing a plan to launch an autonomous ride-share service by the end of 2019.
It is the latest indication automakers and tech firms are finding it tougher than expected to put self-driving cars on the roads for public use.
Cruise CEO Dan Ammann announced the delay in launching an autonomous ride-share program through a post on Medium. “Our first deployment needs to be done right and we will only deploy when we can demonstrate that we will have a net positive impact on safety on our roads,” he said. The company has tabbed San Francisco as the location for the service when it eventually starts.
Before that happens, Cruise will be put more test vehicles on the road in San Francisco to better understand and solve the challenges of navigating busy city streets. Right now, Cruise has a fleet of 180 specially designed all-electric GM cars, modified with lidar sensors, cameras and radar logging thousands of miles every day, all with a safety driver ready to take control of the car if a complex or dangerous situation arises.
Since late 2017, Ammann and General Motors have said they plan to have an autonomous ride-share service on the road by the end of 2019. That optimism is one reason why the Softbank Vision Fund, Honda and others have invested more than $7.25 billion into Cruise, pushing its valuation to $19 billion last May, according to company figures.
The appeal of robotaxis is the potential to generate large profits by eliminating the driver, the biggest cost facing Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing companies. In previous briefings with reporters, Cruise has estimated the cost to operate an autonomous ride-share program in San Francisco could be as low as $1.50 per mile, 40% below the cost of similar services operated by a human driver.
While investors may be optimistic about the potential profits of robotaxis driving passengers around a city, those who track the industry are not surprised Cruise is tapping the brakes on its plans. “The closer you get to ground zero and putting an autonomous vehicle or vehicles on the road, the difference between where the technology is now and where it needs to be cannot be ignored,” said Mike Ramsey, automotive analyst for Gartner Research. “The right thing to do is to not put a product out on the road too soon.”
Late last year, Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle division, launched its own commercial ride-share service in metropolitan Phoenix. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to have “a million robotaxis” on the road by the end of 2020, capitalizing on Tesla's autopilot technology.
“I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year,” Musk told analysts in May. He later admitted his timing for plans is sometimes wrong.
For Cruise, the focus now is expanding the number of miles its test fleet is driving.
“Having our cars running many more miles on the road will further accelerate our rate of learning and safety validation,” said Ammann. “It will also give us crucial operational learnings from running a larger scale fleet and a larger scale ride service, which we currently operate for our employees.”
JB Straubel wasn’t just Tesla’s CTO — he invented the carmaker’s core technologies
JB Straubel, Tesla Motors chief technical officer.Getty ImagesWhen Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that technology chief JB Straubel is leaving, any close follower of the electric carmaker knew it represented more than the departure of a typical CTO.
In the first decade of Tesla's existence, Straubel, who's among the group of co-founders, invented or co-created many of the company's signature technologies. His name is on a majority of patents that Tesla filed, especially relating to electric vehicle batteries — safety, architecture, monitoring and power management.
“JB is absolutely brilliant,” said Gene Berdichevsky, employee No. 7 at Tesla, in an email. “When I started, we did some of the technical development in his garage! I think there would be no Tesla as it is today without JB.”
Straubel, who's now 43, lobbied early on for Tesla to pursue a supercharger strategy, instead of going down the road of battery-swapping. Today, that network of charging stations, available for Tesla drivers only, is a boon for the company because it can offer greater service to customers, while drivers of most other electric cars are relegated tocompete for time at generic chargers.
Musk delivered the news of Straubel's exit this week while issuing some disappointing financial results to Wall Street. It was tough timing for a company that's struggling to find a profitable model for building and selling cars as it'sinvesting in self-driving technology. Tesla recorded a quarterly loss of $408 million, and its automotive margins eroded as customers showed a clear preference for the lower-priced Model 3 sedans.
Drew Baglino, who Straubel recruited to Tesla in 2006 and was most recently vice president of technology, is now stepping into the role of CTO. The Straubel announcement coupled with the weaker-than-expected results pushed the stock down 14% on Thursday, marking the steepest drop of the year.
A Tesla spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.
Jeffrey Straubel, chief technical officer and co-founder of Tesla Motors Inc., center, speaks as billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., left, and Yoshihiko Yamada, consultant at Panasonic Corp., look on during a press event at Tesla's new Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, July 26, 2016.Troy Harvey | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMusk and Straubel met in 2003, when Straubel intended to pitch him on the idea of building an electric airplane. But their shared passion for electric vehicles led Musk to introduce Straubel to Tesla's founders, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Musk backed Tesla and joined the board in 2004, a month after Straubel joined, and became CEO in 2008.
In discussing Straubel on the earnings call, Musk said, “if we hadn't had lunch in 2003, Tesla wouldn't exist basically.”
Even before his Tesla days, Straubel was working on electric cars. Berdichevsky, who is now CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, said he knew Straubel back when he was converting a classic Porsche into an electric vehicle. He also built and raced solar cars on a team at Stanford.
He “was always a true missionary and visionary for EVs well before the world truly cared,” Berdichevsky said.
More recent Tesla employees describe Straubel as well-respected and a gentler voice in the room next to the bombastic and outspoken Musk. He's an engineer at heart, a licensed pilot and father who wears khakis most of the time. His obsession was always to reduce costs per kilowatt hour — to make energy-dense vehicle batteries at a lower cost.
Straubel's focus at Tesla was on building technology, teams and partnerships, and he was more than willing to cede the limelight to Musk, one reason the two got along so well, former employees said.
He split his time between Tesla's car assembly plant and offices in California and the Gigafactory, which he helped plan and build in Sparks, Nevada. He practically lived in trailers amid the rocks, dirt and construction materials until the massive battery plant was up and running in 2016, according to people familiar with the matter.
At Straubel's urging, Tesla built charging capabilities into the Model S, before the Supercharger network was developed. He also led propulsion and software teams through the development of the Model S and Model X.
He also led the development of stationary energy products even before Tesla acquired SolarCity. Today, Tesla's Powerwall and Powerpack function as home batteries and utility-scale battery installations that make it possible to store and use solar and wind power.
Tesla cars at charging stations in Beijing, China.Meghan Reeder | CNBCOutside of Tesla, Straubel has a stealthy recycling start-up called Redwood Materials, which registered last year to do business in the state of Nevada.
“I can't wait to see what JB does next,” Berdichevsky said. “There are still so many adjacent problems to solve in energy and I'm sure that's what he's thinking about.”
In terms of his successor as CTO, Berdichevsky said, “if there's anybody from the early days who can step into the big shoes JB leaves behind, and carry on the technical vision, it's Drew.”
Gene Munster, a longtime Tesla bull, said the company is well-prepared to deal with Straubel's departure:
“The bad news is that JB Straubel was foundational to the company, and is leaving,” Munster said in an interview. “The good news is there's now a framework in place for other people to step in. He did the heavy lifting of getting them to where they are, and now it's done. They are in a position to capitalize on an undeniable truth around the growth of electrification and autonomy.”
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Bentley rolls out electric, eco-friendly EXP 100 concept car for 100th anniversary
Bentley EXP 100 GTSource: BentleyBentley is celebrating its 100th anniversary by unwrapping a new prototype, the EXP 100, an all-electric, eco-friendly concept car the British automaker calls “the physical embodiment of the future Bentley brand.”
“The Bentley EXP 100 GT represents the kind of cars we want to make in the future,” said design chief Stefan Sielaff, in a new release ahead of the EXP 100's formal debut Wednesday. “Like those iconic Bentleys of the past, this car connects with its passengers' emotions and helps them experience and safeguard the memories of the really extraordinary journeys they take.”
While it retains classic Bentley cues, starting with the “Flying B” hood ornament, the EXP 100 marks a significant shift from the sort of staid and heavy products long associated with the brand. For one thing, it adopts an all-electric powertrain with an estimated range of about about 440 miles per charge and can operate in either autonomous or manual mode. The concept car also introduces “leather-like” textiles, sustainable woods and paint made from recycled rice husks.
Bentley EXP 100 GTSource: BentleyBentley has undergone some massive changes since splitting off from long-time sibling, Rolls-Royce two decades ago. Now the pinnacle brand for parent Volkswagen, it's broadened its lineup with products such as the Flying Spur, Continental GT as well as the Bentayga, the SUV that is now its biggest seller.
Bentley sales are up nearly tenfold since 2003, selling 9,560 vehicles last year, although demand is down from the 2016 peak of 11,300. The EXP 100 is meant to set the stage for the sort of products that Bentley hopes will kick-start demand again.
Like other high-line luxury brands, it faces numerous challenges, including new global emissions and fuel economy mandates, such as China's New Energy Vehicle, or NEV, standard that encourages buyers in Bentley's largest market to shift to zero-emission vehicles. Bentley has only partly addressed that with the plug-in hybrid version of Bentayga.
Going forward, it's expected to invest heavily in battery propulsion, like the hybrid option package for Bentayga, as well as all-electric models. The EXP 100 gives a broad hint of the driveline system Bentley's next-generation sedans, coupes and SUVs will use. Motors on both the front and rear axles will provide an electric all-wheel-drive system with torque vectoring – a technology that helps a car steer through tight corners by shifting power to its outer wheels.
Bentley EXP 100 GTSource: BentleyThere's no pricing information for the EXP 100, but the cheapest Bentley on the market right now starts at just under $200,000 with higher-end models with all the upgrades pushing prices for some over $1 million.
By tapping into developments led by parent VW, Bentley anticipates its batteries will be lighter and more energy-dense, meaning greater range while also reducing the overall weight of the vehicle. It also plans to shift from heavy steel to aluminum and other lightweight materials that can further enhance both range and performance. The EXP 100 is estimated to have a top speed of 186 mph and to be able to launch from 0 to 100 kmh, or 62 mph, in just 2.5 seconds —which would make the concept its fastest street-ready model Bentley ever.
Though measures 228 inches, nose to tail, or nine inches longer than Bentley's current flagship vehicle, the Mulsanne, the EXP 100 is 1,800 pounds lighter at 4,180 pounds.
The EXP is intended to operate in both manual mode, “for when one wishes to enjoy the thrill of driving,” the carmaker said, or in fully autonomous mode. That technology is still in its infancy. Near-term, Bentley products — like those of other VW Group brands — are expected to begin phasing in more and more advanced, semi-autonomous driving systems.
Bentley EXP 100 GTSource: BentleyThe new Bentley concept, as much as anything, is intended to showcase new technologies, as well as the brand's shifting approach to interior design, company officials told CNBC. That includes using sustainable alternatives, like synthetics claimed to mimic the look and feel of traditional, luxury materials. That doesn't mean phasing out leather and wood entirely. The EXP 100 features Copper Infused Riverwood, “a sustainable wood from naturally fallen trees that has been preserved for 5,000 years in peat bogs, lakes and rivers,” Bentley noted.
The EXP 100 uses artificial intelligence in a number of ways, among other things, pairing it with biometric seat sensors that can control cabin temperature, seat position and even tell when a driver might be getting drowsy. Integrated into the car's Amazon Alexa-style voice assistant, the system can even track what a passenger is looking at and display information about what they're seeing outside the vehicle.
Though there are no plans to put the gull-winged EXP 100 into production, Bentley Chairman Adrian Hallmark noted that many features found on the concept vehicles will start appearing on next-generation models as they roll out over the coming decade.
UK authorities invest nearly $100 million into electric vehicle research
Charging an electric carMario Gutiérrez. | Moment | Getty ImagesThe U.K. government has announced £80 million ($99.7 million) of investment to develop the “next generation of electric vehicles” and, potentially, hybrid aircraft.
Authorities said Monday that the funding would, among other things, help to reduce carbon emissions from industries including transport, construction and energy.
Industry and academia are set to lead the development of the new technologies, which the government referred to as power electronics, electric machines and drives (PEMD). These are a range of products that can be used to convert fossil fuel-based systems into electric ones using batteries or other electrical sources.
The investment comes under the umbrella of something called the Industrial Strategy Future of Mobility Grand Challenge. Targets of this challenge include getting rid of diesel rolling stock from the U.K.'s railways by 2040 and delivering zero-carbon road transport by 2040.
“Driving the electric revolution will strengthen the U.K.'s capability to deliver next generation electric vehicles, hybrid aircraft and smart grids,” Mark Walport, the chief executive of U.K. Research and Innovation, said in a statement Monday.
“It will ensure these industries, both large and small, are rooted here in the U.K. attracting inward investment into our manufacturing base,” he added.
Elsewhere within the electric vehicle sector, Toyota has signed an agreement with China's BYD Company to jointly develop battery electric vehicles.
In an announcement Friday, Toyota said it would work with BYD to develop sedans and low-floor SUVs. The Japanese car giant said it wanted to launch the vehicles to the Chinese market, using the Toyota brand, “in the first half of the 2020s.”
America’s Sports Car, the Corvette, almost didn’t survive the Great Recession
Vice President Joe Biden’s 1967 Corvette SingrayCNBCChevrolet's official reveal of its eighth-generation Corvette in a splashy preview Thursday night near Los Angeles marks the culmination of a secret project that traces its roots back more than half a century.
But that's no surprise. Over the years, much of the work on the “'Vette” has been conducted out of sight — in some cases hidden even from the top brass at parent company General Motors which, at various points, have considered killing off what has come to be known as “America's sports car.”
From the very start, GM didn't quite know what to do with the Corvette. The original model was only intended to be a flashy concept vehicle, developed for the mobile Motorama car shows the automaker staged across the country, but the design proved so popular that GM rushed out plans to put it into production.
The first car, introduced in 1953 was a striking counterpart to the big sedans and station wagons that, at the time, dominated American highways. But the original Chevrolet Corvette featured a seriously underpowered six-cylinder engine, recalled Ken Gross, an author and automotive historian, and didn't really click with buyers, only 700 being built for 1955.
Things changed with the addition of a new, 283 cubic inch V-8 that, Chevy advertised, offered “one hp per cubic inch.” Sales took off and the Corvette quickly found a place in popular culture, among other things serving as a star in its own rite in the popular TV series, “Route 66.”
But it was the second-generation Corvette that really took off. Today, the 1963 version, with its distinctive “split” rear window, has become one of the most popular American-made cars of the era with collectors, according to experts. Originally listed at $4,257, buyers can expect to pay as much as $100,000 or more for one in good condition today, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette is distinguished as the first year of second-generation (or “mid-year”) Corvette; only year with “split window” rear glass. It was also the first Corvette with hidden headlamps and independent rear suspension. Modern Day Successor:General MotorsThrough the mid-1980s, Chevy launched only two more complete Corvette makeovers, though it rolled out a procession of variants, each more powerful than the one before. But they also became heavier and more bloated and, by the early 1980s began to face stiff competition from import brands, like Porsche and Ferrari, which were rapidly gaining a foothold in the U.S. market.
It wasn't until 2004 — a year after the car's 50th anniversary that Chevy began to fight back with the sixth-generation Corvette. It was smaller, nimbler and, according to reviews of the day, better suited to a global audience. But it was the next model, which one executive dubbed “a world-beater,” that was intended to pose a real counter-punch to the imports. Unfortunately for GM, the Great Recession got in the way and, as it teetered ever closer to bankruptcy, it ordered the C7 development program shut down.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette StingraySource: General Motors “That version almost didn't happen,” recalled Tom Peters, the chief designer on the seventh-generation sports car. But Peters and much of the rest of the Corvette team refused to give up. Quietly, they kept working on the program in their off hours until GM emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and could free up funding again.
Ironically, said Tadge Juechter, the chief engineer on both the sports car that came out in 2014 and the new C8, unveiled Thursday night in California, “It was a better car for the delay,” the team having more time – and, eventually, money – to do it right.
As for the 2020 Corvette, Chevy has been toying with the idea of shifting from a front to mid-engine layout since the 1960s and has done a number of prototypes over the years. Requiring major changes, not only to the design of the car, but to the Bowling Green plant, as well, GM has long been reluctant to approve the concept. But there was really no longer an alternative going forward, according to Mark Reuss, the automaker's president and a serious performance fan.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette StingraySource: General Motors “The traditional front-engine vehicle reached its limits of performance, necessitating the new layout,” Reuss said in a statement ahead of the new C8 launch.
While he says he will have to see, and then drive, the new model, “This is probably the best chance they've ever had to become a truly global competitor,” said author Gross.
Significantly, even after selling off its German-based Opel subsidiary two years ago, GM retained a small dealer network in Europe for the Corvette. It now hopes that with the 2020 model it will be able to take the battle for sports car dominance onto the home turf of some of its toughest competitors.