Category: Automotive

Sytner Group opens new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Carlisle

Sytner Group is to open a £6.5m flagship Mercedes-Benz showroom and workshop at Kingmoor Park in Carlisle. Replacing a previous facility in Rosehill Industrial Estate, the dealership includes an 18-bay workshop and an approved used display area for 90 cars. John Buchan, group project manager at Sytner Group, said: “We are delighted with our new… Continue reading Sytner Group opens new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Carlisle

Read Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s latest email urging employees to improve vehicle deliveries

Elon MuskJim Watson | AFP | Getty ImagesOn Wednesday, a new email from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to all employees at the electric car company called for employees to focus on making end-of-quarter deliveries better than they have been, historically.
As he did in recent weeks, Musk hammered home the notion that every employee should be individually focused on controlling costs.
In this installment, Musk reminds Tesla employees that the company's first quarter results fell short of investors' expectations, in part because Tesla was unable to make deliveries efficiently and on time.
Sales of Tesla's electric vehicles hit $3.72 billion in the first quarter which represented a 41% drop from the fourth quarter of 2018, when the company generated $6.32 billion in automotive revenue. In its first quarter vehicle deliveries and production report, Tesla said it delivered 63,000 vehicles during that quarter, down from a record 90,700 in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The company has given guidance that it will deliver around 90,000 vehicles in the second quarter, and between 360,000 and 400,000 for the year.
Tesla's relatively new CFO Zack Kirkhorn told investors on its first-quarter earnings call this year that “unwinding the wave” of uneven deliveries would be critical in helping Tesla achieve profitability later this year.
Here's the Musk's e-mail about deliveries from Wednesday.
To: Everybody
From: Elon Musk
Date: May 29, 2019
While our demand is strong, we have a lot of vehicle deliveries to catch up to in order to have a successful quarter.
Starting tomorrow, I will be holding skip-level calls with the America, Asia and Europe delivery teams every 2 days to understand what's needed to accelerate our rate of deliveries.
We also need to address the total cost of getting a car from our factory to the customer. Last quarter, there were many expedite fees and routing inefficiencies that led to higher than expected delivery costs. This makes it much harder for Tesla to break even.
Per my earlier email, if we execute well, Q2 will be an all-time record for Tesla vehicle deliveries and an awesome victory!
Super excited to make this happen with you!
WATCH: Tesla owner frustrated, so repairs his own Model S and says it's as easy as Legos
VIDEO5:1605:16Tesla owner frustrated so fixes his own Model S: easy as 'Legos'Tech

Tesla CEO urges employees to ‘catch up’ to hit delivery record

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc has “a lot of catching up” to do but still can achieve a record quarter, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wrote in a new email that was reviewed by Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Tesla logo is seen at a groundbreaking ceremony of Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory, China, Jan. 7, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song… Continue reading Tesla CEO urges employees to ‘catch up’ to hit delivery record

FCA, Renault face tall odds delivering on cost-cutting promises in merger

FRANKFURT/DETROIT (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Renault SA promise huge savings from a mega-merger, but such combinations face tall odds because of the industry’s long product cycles and problems translating deal blueprints into real world success, industry veterans told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is seen at the U.S.… Continue reading FCA, Renault face tall odds delivering on cost-cutting promises in merger

$50 billion VW battery plan could need revamp after Samsung cuts back

VW ID family
Volkswagen, with its plan to build 22 million new electric cars across 70 models by 2030, is ground-zero for concerns over battery supplies.

As more automakers get serious about building lots of electric cars, there are indications that supplies of batteries to power all those cars aren't ramping up as quickly, leading to shortages of batteries, increased competition, restricted sales of some EV models, and potentially rising prices (or at least flattening their trend toward affordability).

READ THIS: VW boosts electric car plans with more models, 22 million EVs in 10 years

Now Bloomberg reports that VW's deals for $56 billion worth of batteries for all those upcoming electric models are in jeopardy as Samsung cut its supply agreement with the automaker after disputes over timing.

Samsung was slated to supply batteries for up to 200,000 or more electric VWs based on assumptions by Bloomberg of 100-kilowatt-hour battery packs, a little bigger than those in the Audi e-tron that just went on sale, and the size of the largest batteries in Teslas. Since many of VW's will use smaller battery packs of 48 kwh, the change could affect many more cars.

2019 Audi e-tron battery pack

VW had named Samsung a supplier for electric models it plans to build in Europe, along with LG Chem (which supplies batteries for the Audi E-tron quattro), and SK Innovation—and for other markets, CATL. Reports have persisted since last fall of battery shortages and price disputes between VW and LG Chem that have affected production of the E-tron at Audi's factory in Belgium.

DON'T MISS: Could battery lawsuits, material shortages delay some EVs?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also named limitations of battery supplies from its partner Panasonic as a constraint on production of the Tesla Model 3.

A report from Benchmark Minerals in April showed that lithium-battery supplies could increase by 50 percent a year between now and 2023—that is, if the supply of battery materials can keep up.

CHECK OUT: Report: Battery shortages lead to Audi E-tron production delays

Last year the Trump administration named lithium, cobalt, and other materials for electric-car batteries among “critical minerals” that the U.S. needs to develop domestically and for which it hopes to speed up mining permits.

Following the E-tron from VW's upscale Audi brand, the first electric car in VWs' new lineup of EVs is expected to be the ID 3, which is expected to go on sale late this year.

Fremont Factory Being Prepped For Tesla Model Y Production, Model S Refresh

Tesla is reportedly gearing up for Model Y production in Fremont. There will be changes on the Model S/X production lines as well. Tesla is expected to produce the new Model Y at the Fremont factory according to a CNBC report, which also hints an upcoming Model S refresh. Tesla officially hasn’t announced where it… Continue reading Fremont Factory Being Prepped For Tesla Model Y Production, Model S Refresh

Audi Opens 1.9 MWh Second-Life Battery Energy Storage In Berlin

The new 1.9 MWh ESS will be used to compensate fluctuations in the grid, counteract local peak demand and help prevent blackouts. Audi is preparing for the utilization of old electric car batteries in energy storage (second-life use) through a series of pilot installations. The latest one launched in EUREF Campus in Berlin, Germany is… Continue reading Audi Opens 1.9 MWh Second-Life Battery Energy Storage In Berlin

A Year of Carbon Neutral Lyft Rides

A year ago, we became one of the world’s largest purchasers of carbon offsets, and made all Lyft rides carbon neutral. And last September, we took it a step further and committed to full carbon neutrality. Since April 2018, we’ve effectively eliminated the amount of carbon that it would take 2.4 million acres of trees… Continue reading A Year of Carbon Neutral Lyft Rides