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Rivian fast charging, Volkswagen electrics, Trump vs GM: The Week in Reverse

2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
Which upcoming electric car has a battery pack engineered to be upgraded to 800 volts?

What company plans to do more serious marketing of electric cars' strengths?

This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending December 21, 2018.

This week contained a mix of news about upcoming faster electric-car charging and the effects of more automakers getting more serious about selling electric cars. The green car world was not without political and business setbacks, however.

EVgo 350-kw DC fast-charge station, Baker, Calif.

Two of the biggest charging networks in the U.S. announced plans and actions to open new ultra-fast 350-kilowatt DC fast chargers. Electrify America got plans approved in California to start the second phase of building out its nationwide fast charge network, as required under the Volkswagen legal settlement.

Competitor EVgo announced that it has opened its first ultra-fast 350-kilowatt charging station between LA and Las Vegas. Such 350-kw charging stations can refill up to about 200 miles of range in a long-range electric car in 20 minutes or less.

Rivian R1T electric pickup concept

The cars capable of charging that fast aren't yet on the market, but a wide-ranging interview with the founder and CEO of Michigan-based electric-car startup Rivian revealed that the company has engineered its upcoming trucks to be upgraded to the 800-volt battery pack that 350-kw charging will require.

2019 Nio ES6

Those new electric cars are coming, though. The first 800-volt electric cars, the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT, and Aston Martin Rapide-E, are expected to arrive late next year.

Chinese electric startup Nio introduced its second, more affordable, electric SUV, the ES6 this week. It's not clear, however, whether it will have an 800-volt battery capable of charging at 350-kw.

Another Chinese automaker, Qiantu, announced plans to bring its new sports car to the U.S. through Mullen, the California company that holds the rights to sell Coda electric cars here.

2020 Volkswagen ID Neo spy shots

In all, electric-car sales have taken off, and hit a milestone, reaching 1 million sales in the U.S. in November, with half of those in California.

Nissan, the original electric-car leader, aims to get even more electric cars on the road by amping up its marketing of electric advantages: smooth, silent power and low operating costs. The company also renewed plans to introduce a new electric crossover SUV that may be more attractive to American car buyers.

Kia released prices for its upcoming Kona electric crossover vehicle. And VW released video of its upcoming ID hatchback testing in South Africa and hinted it might build a new electric beach buggy.

Donald Trump

Not all was rosy on the plug-in car sales front, though. After GM announced that it would kill the Chevy Volt, and lay off 15,000 workers, it announced 50 additional layoffs at the factory that builds battery packs for the Volt, throwing hope for a successor to the car into doubt. Still, GM maintains that it is committed to building electric cars. For that, President Trump took to Twitter to excoriate the company. “All-electric is not going to work,” he tweeted.

MWI microwave ignition module

Perhaps President Trump would be happier with a plan by former Porsche CEO to promote a new technology to make gas cars cleaner and almost as efficient as diesel, microwave ignition to replace spark plugs.

Meanwhile, German automakers are dramatically ramping up their purchases of battery supplies for electric cars.

And a new analysis of Trump's proposal to freeze fuel-economy increases by the Consumer Federation of America shows that rolling back the standards will make driving less affordable for the citizens who can least afford it and who depend on it the most.

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Musk, GM weigh fate of Ohio plant Trump wants saved

DETROIT (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk raised hopes again on Thursday that he could ride to the rescue of a threatened General Motors Co (GM.N) car plant at the center of a political storm about auto jobs, and GM replied, saying the Ohio factory’s fate depends on union talks next year.… Continue reading Musk, GM weigh fate of Ohio plant Trump wants saved

Fate of Ohio car plant to be settled with union next year: GM

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co said on Thursday the fate of its Lordstown, Ohio, car assembly plant, which Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has suggested he might buy, is a matter to be settled with the plant’s union next year. FILE PHOTO: A view of the entrance to the West Plant at the… Continue reading Fate of Ohio car plant to be settled with union next year: GM

Uber reboots its self-driving car program

Uber Advanced Technologies Group has officially resumed on-road testing of its self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, nine months after the company halted its entire autonomous vehicle operation after one of its vehicles struck and killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. The relaunch follows the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation decision to authorize Uber ATG… Continue reading Uber reboots its self-driving car program

GM battery facility discharge suggests no immediate successor for Chevy Volt

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2019 Chevrolet Volt
Will the Chevrolet Volt get an immediate successor, or will any other model soon carry on with the potential of its brilliant Voltec plug-in hybrid system?

Considering what General Motors announced yesterday, both of those possibilities are now looking less likely.

GM said that it will cut 50 jobs at the Brownstown facility that assembled battery packs for the Volt, as well as a few other models, including the Buick LaCrosse and its eAssist system.

DON'T MISS: What will happen now that the Chevy Volt has been discontinued? Twitter poll results

This news comes in addition to GM’s previously announced plant closings and layoffs, which include the closure of five plants and the layoffs of 15,000 workers. One of those slated for closure is GM’s nearby Detroit-Hamtramck plant, where the Volt is assembled.

2019 Chevrolet Volt

GM had previously suggested that the Volt would be succeeded by a crossover utility vehicle, using the Volt’s Voltec plug-in hybrid system, after the current Volt finished its run around 2020. But with the Volt unceremoniously cut from the lineup as part of massive GM cuts and closings announced late last month, it’s looking a lot less likely.

It’s probably no coincidence that the Volt will go out of production on March 1, 2019, a month before GM’s per-vehicle amount for the federal EV tax credit (Volt included) drops from its present $7,500 to $3,750. With that rule sunsetting, GM no longer has the incentive to produce plug-in hybrids with rather large 16-kwh battery packs (the current version has an 18.4-kwh battery), and it’s likely that the expensive-to-assemble Volt will be eclipsed by new fully electric vehicles from GM.

CHECK OUT: Electric cars “not going to work,” Trump says of GM's plan

It’s an odd juxtaposition of funding and priorities. GM invested $449 million toward upgrading Hamtramck and Brownstown in 2014 for the current generation of the Volt, and Brownstown itself was made possible, in 2010, with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as a facility for the assembly of lithium-ion battery packs.

“We issued a WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act] letter for Brownstown that indicated that 37 hourly employees and 13 salaried employees would go on layoff with the end of Volt production,” confirmed Kim Carpenter, a GM spokeswoman for manufacturing and labor, to Green Car Reports. The plant will remain open and “will continue to support other business,” added Carpenter, who said that there are currently 110 GM employees at Brownstown.

READ MORE: GM to kill Chevy Volt production in 2019 (Updated)

Those businesses are likely to include GM’s joint ventures with Honda, including development of battery cells and modules, fuel-cell development, and plans to assemble next-generation fuel-cell stacks for both automakers at Brownstown.

Battery pack assembly for 2015 Chevrolet Spark EV electric car at GM's Brownstown, Michigan, plant

GM confirmed that no Honda employees work at the facility itself, so It’s likely that many of the 60 GM employees that remain stationed at Brownstown are part of those efforts.

One possible explanation for this closure is that GM simply decided to cut its losses and outsource the battery for any future iteration of the Volt and its drive system to LG Chem, which has been involved in the Volt’s battery all along and now assembles packs for the Chevy Bolt EV in a Michigan facility of its own. So it’s far too early to write an obituary for the Volt or to strike out the possibility of a Voltec crossover.

BMW Group and Daimler AG plan next steps for joint mobility company. Competition authorities approve merger of mobility services.

Munich/Stuttgart. The BMW Group and Daimler AG are planning the next steps for their joint mobility company, following approval by the responsible competition authorities. The basis for this is the approval of the US competition authorities, which was received on Tuesday, December 18, 2018. This means that all antitrust authorities involved have given the green… Continue reading BMW Group and Daimler AG plan next steps for joint mobility company. Competition authorities approve merger of mobility services.

Driverless car bill a disaster waiting to happen – Baltimore Sun

Despite almost daily reports of crashes or non-responsive technology on public roads involving driverless cars, Congress is trying to hitch a new law to Santa’s sleigh in the form of the year-end-keep-the-government-open spending bill, just ahead of a new majority come January. Today, all motor vehicle operators, particularly commercial drivers, are required to pass a… Continue reading Driverless car bill a disaster waiting to happen – Baltimore Sun

Electric cars “not going to work,” Trump says of GM’s plan

Donald Trump
In an interview with Fox News last week, President Trump revealed his inner thoughts about electric cars—not that many had any doubts.

“All-electric is not going to work,” he said, referring to General Motors' stated goal to transition to “a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.” The company announced last year that it will launch 20 new hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars by 2023 to meet more stringent emissions standards in China, Europe, California, and elsewhere.

READ THIS: GM to kill Chevy Volt production in 2019

Referring to GM CEO Mary Barra's announcement of the plan, Trump said, ““They’ve changed the whole model of General Motors. They’ve gone to all-electric. All-electric is not going to work … It’s wonderful to have it as a percentage of your cars, but going into this model that she’s doing I think is a mistake.”

DON'T MISS: Trump vows retaliation against GM for layoffs

GM announced last month that it would shut down five assembly plants, including the Detroit Hamtramck factory that builds the Chevy Volt and the Lordstown, Ohio, factory that builds the compact Chevrolet Cruze that underpins the Volt. At the same time, the company plans to lay off 15,000 workers. Those workers, in Michigan and Ohio were some of the supporters that handed Trump the election in 2016.

CHECK OUT: Is Trump presidency the real market test for electric cars?

When GM made the announcement in the end of November, Trump vowed retaliation against the company, and he reiterated that stance last week. “I don’t like what she did,” Trump told Fox News, referring to Barra. “It was nasty. To tell me a couple of weeks before Christmas that she’s going to close in Ohio and Michigan, not acceptable to me. General Motors is not going to be treated well.”

As GM as looked to ramp up production in China to meet the country's demand for electric cars, Trump has imposed new tariffs on Chinese-made products to make them harder to import. That has thrown a monkey wrench into GM's plans (and those of other automakers) to sell some of those cars in the U.S.

Tension rises between Nissan and Renault

How do you say “no” in Japanese? Friday night, Thierry Bolloré, the interim boss of Renault, sent a letter to Hiroto Saikawa, his counterpart at Nissan, to ask him to hold a meeting. general meeting extraordinary Japanese manufacturer. Thierry Bolloré explained in his missive to be “very concerned” by the indictment of the Japanese group… Continue reading Tension rises between Nissan and Renault