Autoline reports breaking global car news, with great insight and analysis. Also, top auto executive interviews. We cover electric vehicles (EV), autonomous vehicles (AV) and internal combustion engine technology (ICE), as well as car sales & financial earnings and new car reviews.
0:00 Smaller Chinese Automakers Form Battery JV
1:10 VW Makes Big Investment in China
2:01 Blink Tripling EV Charger Production
2:38 Ford Gets Big Fine for Evading Import Tariff
3:30 IIHS Says Partial AV Systems Aren’t Good Enough
4:42 Volvo Partnership Could Reduce Charging Time by 30%
5:17 Nissan Turning to Incentives to Boost Sales
6:27 EVs Too Expensive So Mercedes Keeping A-Class Longer
7:01 Rivian Provides Base for New Canadian Mail Truck
Story Links:
Chinese Battery JV:
https://autonews.gasgoo.com/new_energy/70031834.html
VW China Investment: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-jianghuai-automobile-volkswagen-china-boost-investment-jv-2024-03-12/
Blink Boosts Charger Production: https://blinkcharging.com/news/blink-charging-establishes-global-corporate-headquarters-and-announces-expansion-of-manufacturing-facility-in-bowie-maryland/
Ford Fined Over Tariffs: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-pay-365-million-us-import-tariff-evasion-case-2024-03-11/
IIHS Rates Partial AV Systems: https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/first-partial-driving-automation-safeguard-ratings-show-industry-has-work-to-do
Volvo Battery Software Partnership: https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/325193/volvo-cars-partners-with-and-invests-in-breathe-for-next-generation-fast-charging
Nissan Boosts Incentive Spending: https://www.autonews.com/sales/2023-nissan-rogue-pile-dealers-will-get-bonus-sell-them
Mercedes Keeps ICE A-Class: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/mercedes-class-lives-2026-firm-scales-back-ev-only-plans
Rivian Based Mail Truck: https://www.fleetowner.com/emissions-efficiency/article/21284127/rivian-takes-a-bigger-step-into-commercial-vehicle-market-with-morgan-olson-electric-van-collaboration
Read the transcript here: https://www.autoline.tv/daily/ad-3766-rivian-provides-base-for-canadian-mail-truck-evs-too-expensive-so-mercedes-keeping-a-class-longer-volvo-partnership-could-reduce-charging-time-by-30/
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Very interesting to see how Charger production increases in the US.
Can you keep an eye on Blink, please?
Ford ….the Chicken tax strikes again .
The issue with the Nissan Rogue is it’s a majority of the vehicles you see on a Nissan lot. I am a Maxima and Murano owner. My Murano was defective off the factory line. The rear suspension. It’s obvious you can see the car lean and they have refused to do anything about it. I purchased both cars to have them for the next 10 to 15 years. We don’t plan on buying anything else. In the mean time I am stuck with this defect until I decide to pay out of pocket to fix my rear suspension.
It will be interesting to see how the EV mail trucks do in Canadian cold winners
I really wonder if the government will collect on the fine they hit Ford with. In California, PG&E cut corners which helped lead to major fires and they are on the hook for a billion dollars in damages and they recently asked to have 250 million of that removed from their fine. I could see Ford threatening government officials with massive job cuts if they are forced to pay the fine. Companies get big enough, they basically feel like they can do what they want. I do not think people realize how large companies like JP Morgan Chase is. We have what feels like a fake free market economy because so few companies are in control of various markets and that power lets them get away with so many bad things. Well Fargo should have broken up and sold off after many scandals in a short period of time. Executives know they can break the law and if they get caught, fines are small when compared to the gains from breaking the laws.
So, an EV mail truck in Canada can look normal, but in the US it had to look like ass.
But what about TASSLA
A lot of people that I see that by the Nissan rogue by a used version
No why did the US Postal Service do the same thing as the Canadian Postal Service? I mean that seems like it would’ve been better and we wouldn’t have that ugly post van made by Oshkosh.
China battery makers: FinDreams is the fully owned subsidiary of BYD automotive that makes BYD vehicle batteries as well as storage and other application batteries
The Rivian VAN could end up being the vehicle that saves Rivian and helps it become profitable.
There needs to be a bigger focus on ramping up van sales to UPS, FedEx, USPS, WalMart and other big box stores.
What volume do they need to get to in order to become profitable.
Legacy auto dealers are a nightmare for legacy auto makers. They gouged customers trying to buy electric vehicles.
Legacy auto dealers abused their customers by adding market price adjustments to gouge their customers for EVs
They added pricey add ons and other costs to pump up the prices and their profits.
Tesla has the right idea. Buy online. No hassle. No sitting in a show room for hours. No salesman BS. No crazy markups.
No I have to see my manager BS. With Tesla you can buy a vehicle in 5 minutes or less online. The dealers have no one to blame but themselves. The dealers are dragging the legacy auto makers down with them. The problem with legacy auto makers having slow sales leads back to the legacy auto dealers. They try to talk people out of buying and EV and want to put them in a gasoline car.
I always appreciate the "Thanks for making Autoline a part of your day" at the end!
Wake up there are thousands of abandoned EV’s in China!
It’s FebRuary!
Autoline dude that driver rating system is so WRONG how can you give GM 3 pool but get a rating of M top #2 and Ford has only 1 pool with 4 Green and get a rating of Poor #6 whatever Tesla in #12 and #13 lmao 🤣 whoever did this rating need to go back to school.
Ford's giant chicken tax …. Ok how is it that a huge fine is being slapped on them now?… any money says they had arrangements with someone high up in imports but then that person had to renege for some reason or another
GM should have been extremely aggressive with Canada post given that the bright drop EV vans are made in Ontario
Another great show the Highlander.😊
Ford, you've been a BAD BOY!
Wow! I used to drive Gruman made Postal LLV's to deliver mail and they sucked! A big reason was that they were so small for the increasing amount of packages. The Post Office seems to be finally understanding the situation that parcels are the future rather than first class mail by using much bigger vehicles! Good job, USPS!
That is a misreport. What was rated was driver monitoring systems, not ADAS systems.
I assume Rivian will sell the drivetrain for a profit
No, EV demand isn't slowing overall. Only the rate of growth of demand is slowing, a bit.
The comments of the Mercedes CEO likely have a straightforward explanation – Mercedes isn't yet ready to produce EVs in high volumes. What is the holdup? All the usual things, I suspect, e.g. soundly designed and cost optimised EV platforms, battery packs, motors and most importantly efficient EV production facilities.
Mercedes imagined they were ready for the EV transition but they have proven to be no more capable in that regard than other Legacy Auto companies.
why didnt Canada just bought rivian vans directly! thats a very poor business decisions to retrofit the already great vehicle.