Hyundai – Page 1442 – I wish I had more to offer

Marchionne: one year from the death, as will be the future of Fca

AUTOMOTIVE by Simonluca Pini 25 July 2019 The ten lessons of Sergio Marchionne 2 ‘of reading A year has already passed since the death of Sergio Marchionne. On 25 July, the disappearance of the CEO of FCA, expired in a Swiss clinic, was announced. Following a surgical operation. Worker until the last, a month before… Continue reading Marchionne: one year from the death, as will be the future of Fca

Auto companies in India halt production to tackle slowdown

With India’s auto sales declining for the ninth straight month in July, more automotive manufacturers are laying off workers and temporarily halting production to keep costs in check.Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor are the latest in a string of companies to halt production at plants to combat slumping sales, according to company memos to employees, reviewed by Reuters.The sales declines have triggered major job cuts in India’s auto sector.

Tesla Will Obtain Battery Cells From LG Chem For Chinese Model 3 Production

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Published on August 23rd, 2019 |

by Steve Hanley

Tesla Will Obtain Battery Cells From LG Chem For Chinese Model 3 Production

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August 23rd, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Tesla has said all along it will work with multiple battery suppliers for the electric cars it manufactures in China, beginning with the Model 3 later this year and including the Model Y later. Both cars will use advanced 2170 cells like the ones manufactured for Tesla by Panasonic at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla has agreed to source at least some of those battery cells from LG Chem. The Korean company will manufacture the cells at its production facility in Nanjing, about 200 miles west of Shanghai where Tesla’s new Gigafactory 3 is under construction. Although work on the new factory was not begun until January 3, Tesla expects Model 3 production to begin there before the end of this year.

Bloomberg adds that Tesla is still in talks with CATL. Anonymous sources say the two companies are discussing technical specifications and that LG Chem was more flexible in meeting Tesla’s technology requirements. There are also rumors that Panasonic may be in the mix somewhere down the road. Representatives for Tesla, LG Chem, and CATL all declined to speak on the record with Bloomberg. LG Chem is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and intent on further increasing its market share.

Politics & Production
Tesla is wise not to put all its battery eggs in one basket in China, where politics have an outsized impact on commerce. Two years ago, China refused to allow Hyundai and Kia to import any cars with batteries made by LG Chem in South Korea, according to Business Korea. It was only after the companies agreed to power their electric cars with battery cells manufactured by CATL that the ban was lifted, according to the report.

Because of the need to switch suppliers, the Hyundai Kona Electric is only now becoming available in China. And the move by Chinese authorities was no doubt instrumental in LG Chem’s decision to build a battery factory in China.

Why would authorities slap Hyundai and Kia around while smiling benevolently on Tesla? President Xi Jinping does not return our phone calls, so we can’t be sure, but clearly Tesla enjoys some special status with the Chinese government. For whatever reasons, no other foreign manufacturer seems to enjoy such a close relationship.

The Trouble With Tariffs
As Donald Trump and Xi Jinping play “mine’s bigger than yours” in their ongoing tariff fight, China announced today it will reimpose a 25% tariff on cars imported from the US on December 15. According to CNBC, the new tariffs will impact Mercedes and BMW the most. Both German companies export US-made cars to China. Ford will also suffer, as will Tesla with regard to its Model S and Model X vehicles, which are manufactured exclusively at the factory in Fremont, California.

In response, the unstable lunatic in Washington, DC, sent the stock market into a selling panic by tweeting an “order” for all US companies to cease doing business in China forthwith. The Dow shed 600 points as soon as the tweet appeared.

The question now for Tesla is how will the new tariffs affect the cars built in the Chinese factory in Shanghai beginning later this year? According to CNET Road Show, the first cars will be knockdown kits made in Fremont and shipped to Shanghai for final assembly. Tesla does something similar with its factory in Tilburg in the Netherlands.

No one knows the answer to that question at the moment. Is a knockdown kit assembled in Shanghai subject to the new tariff? It’s simply too early to answer that question authoritatively. Given Tesla’s special relationship with the Chinese government, we can only hope the cars exiting Gigafactory 3 will be exempt from the new tariff. It is to be hoped the business community will give the puling potentate of Pennsylvania Avenue the fickle finger of fate and ignore his insane order completely.

What Do We Know?
We know that Model 3 cars will begin rolling out the door at Gigafactory 3 before the end of this year, God willing and the creek don’t rise, and that those cars will have battery cells manufactured in Nanjing by LG Chem. We know that battery cells from CATL or Panasonic might be used in locally produced Model 3s and upcoming Model Ys at some point in the future. And we know that the tariff situation is a muddled mess at the moment. When we know more, you’ll know more.

About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. His motto is, “Life is not measured by how many breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.

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Corrected: Auto companies in India cut more jobs, halt production to tackle slowdown

View photosA worker works next to the assembly line of the Hyundai Motor India Ltd. plant at Kancheepuram district in Tamil NaduMore (This Aug 22 story corrects paragraph 5 to remove the number of cuts at Denso and adds company response) By Sudarshan Varadhan and Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) – With India’s auto sales… Continue reading Corrected: Auto companies in India cut more jobs, halt production to tackle slowdown

India: Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal in talks to invest in Ola Electric

Pawan Munjal might be the next big investor after Ratan Tata to invest in Ola Electric. Billionaire Pawan Munjal, chairman of Hero MotoCorp Ltd—India’s largest two-wheeler maker by sales—is in advanced talks to invest in the electric mobility arm of ride-hailing company Ola, said four people directly aware of the development. An investment in Ola… Continue reading India: Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal in talks to invest in Ola Electric

The new Chevy Bolt gained 21 miles of range thanks to a battery chemistry tweak

The 2020 Chevrolet Bolt is going to offer 21 miles more range on a full charge than its predecessors, thanks to a tweak in battery chemistry, the automaker announced Thursday. The new version of the automaker’s flagship electric vehicle will therefore get an EPA-estimated 259 miles of range when it goes on sale later this… Continue reading The new Chevy Bolt gained 21 miles of range thanks to a battery chemistry tweak

Survey: Range, cost, infrastructure sum up why shoppers avoid EVs

We’ve heard it repeatedly as the result of various polls and surveys: Active and prospective car shoppers are interested in fully electric vehicles and eager to go electric.

The AAA, for instance, has in annual surveys for the past three years found that 15 to 20 percent of Americans “will likely go electric in their next vehicle purchase.”

With battery electric vehicle sales remaining around five percent of the U.S. vehicle market, why are some Americans not yet making the leap? The lack of variety in fully electric vehicle types is certainly part of it, but as a new survey points out, the reason shoppers are avoiding EVs still boils down to some familiar reasons.

Car shoppers' EV avoidance reasons – Autolist

In the poll of 1,567 “current car shoppers,” conducted earlier this month and released Tuesday, Autolist found the primary reasons for avoiding electric vehicles—in order—to be driving range, the price relative to similar gas vehicles, and the lack of charging infrastructure in their home area. Meanwhile, the most important attributes, in order, were seen as price, range and available charging.

Consumers continue to want high driving-range numbers—and perhaps to the detriment of luxury-priced models like the Jaguar I-Pace and Audi E-tron, they have much higher expectations for rated range from luxury vehicles.

When Autolist asked consumers for the minimum range they’d accept in a $35,000 electric vehicle, the leading answer was “between 250 and 300 miles”—stipulations perhaps most closely met by the Hyundai Kona Electric, with its $37,995 base price and 258-mile EPA-rated range. The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Kia Niro EV are also close to meeting those expectations.

2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

But when Autolist asked the same about a $70,000 EV, the responses, the most common response was “more than 500 miles.”

At an EPA-rated 370 miles, the Tesla Model S Long Range currently holds the top rated range of any regular-production electric vehicle. No EV currently achieves close to 500 miles, or even 400 miles.

2019 Tesla Model S

There’s a riptide beneath these impressions, and that’s age. The survey found a direct and pronounced correlation between age and the importance of EV range. For instance, 32 percent of those 18-23 years old listed range among the top three avoidance issues, while for those over 76 years old it was in the top three for 60 percent. Autolist reports that there was a similar trendline created between age and the importance of the charging network, although that one had an inflection point around age 45.

Also, with rising shopper age, sticker price was less important, but resale value was more important.

A Volvo/Harris poll from earlier this year surveyed both EV drivers and non-EV drivers and found strong belief among both groups that EVs are the future. However 61 percent of respondents indicated that a lack of charging structure held back a purchase. While 38 percent of EV drivers were concerned about running out of power, 58 percent of all drivers combined indicated this concern.

One other figure stood out as especially surprising (and promising for the future of the technology): 55 percent of respondents said that the EV would be their primary—not secondary—vehicle if they bought one today. The survey also found that 69 percent supported tax rebates and other incentives aimed toward the wider adoption of EVs. That echoes the bipartisan support of the tax credit earlier this year, after it had been potentially on the chopping block.

Carbon fiber is seen as a ‘dream material’ that can change the paradigm of various industries as it can replace steel due to its characteristics of being light but strong at the same time. It is one of few materials that South Korean companies are highly dependent on Japanese companies. Hyosung became the first South… Continue reading Hyosung Expects to Upgrade National Competitive Edge in Carbon Fiber Industry through Its Carbon Fiber

Tag: Hyundai

Marchionne: one year from the death, as will be the future of Fca

Auto companies in India halt production to tackle slowdown

Tesla Will Obtain Battery Cells From LG Chem For Chinese Model 3 Production

Corrected: Auto companies in India cut more jobs, halt production to tackle slowdown

India: Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal in talks to invest in Ola Electric

The new Chevy Bolt gained 21 miles of range thanks to a battery chemistry tweak

Survey: Range, cost, infrastructure sum up why shoppers avoid EVs

Kia bets on holistic strategy to overcome latecomer hurdle

Hyundai Motor to Showcase New EV Concept “45” at Frankfurt Motor Show

Hyosung Expects to Upgrade National Competitive Edge in Carbon Fiber Industry through Its Carbon Fiber