General EV Conversation
03-06-24, 10:01 AM
#2071
Lexus Champion
I suspect part of the high pricing is due to having two drivers under 25 on my policy
03-06-24, 10:38 AM
#2072
Lexus Champion
Take that, @Bob04
In my mind, what matters is what's happening behind the scenes and what Toyota will—hopefully—take to market eventually, starting with the 2026 model year for Lexus. Because I don't think Toyota is taking this lying down as much as people think, and the buyout of a Panasonic joint venture helps us understand why.
That kicks off this Hump Day edition of Critical Materials. Also on tap: BYD slashes prices on its cheapest car right after it comes out, and a tiny component from China is causing headaches for Volkswagen.
I never realized this until I went to Japan for a work trip and saw it for myself, but the scope of Toyota can be hard to fathom. It's not a car company, so much as it is cars; it has a vast, vast network of suppliers and subsidiaries it not only works with but in many cases owns or partially owns. (Not to mention its share of ownership in Mazda and Subaru.) It is a considerably more vertically integrated car company than many others, which is a huge advantage both Tesla and the Chinese automakers have—among other things, it helps you move fast and pivot quickly if needed.
This helps explain why Toyota is buying out partner Panasonic's share in their long-running joint venture, Primearth EV Energy Co, which is a Japanese battery manufacturer. This news comes to us today from Automotive News, which reminds us that the company abbreviated as PEVE has been at this since the early days of the Prius:
The move comes as PEVE, one of Toyota's earliest suppliers of batteries for hybrid vehicles including the Prius, gears up to start producing batteries for full-electric vehicles in Japan.
Toyota traditionally likes close oversight if not outright control over key components. Bringing PEVE fully in-house allows more flexibility in deciding output levels, cost and battery technology.
PEVE, which was established in 1996 as a 40-60 joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, has focused only on power packs for standard and plug-in hybrids.
From 2026, it will start making batteries for EVs at a new factory in its Kosai battery hub in Shizuoka prefecture, between Nagoya and Tokyo. The new Arai battery plant, PEVE's fourth, opens this year. It will first make hybrid batteries and then add plug-in hybrid and BEV batteries.
"We wanted PEVE to take on the manufacturing of a wider range of electric vehicle batteries," a Toyota spokesman said. "With this major change, we also considered the capital structure."
How Toyota spends its money is, to me, often more telling than just what it says in public. It may have the size, scale and scope to sort of take its time on EVs, but the world's largest automaker isn't stupid. Japan's automakers are still in "crisis mode" over the rise of China, and Hyundai-Kia's newfound EV juggernaut status has them all spooked as well. As that Automotive News story notes, it aims to sell 3.5 million EVs globally by 2030, about twice what Tesla did last year, for context.
Sure, it can be frustrating to be an EV fan and also a Toyota fan these days. But I don't think it's wise to count that company out entirely.
And this is exactly why Toyota literally cannot afford to get complacent here: in a stunning display of "this isn't even my final form" energy, BYD just cut the prices on its cheapest car, the Seagull, in China. That further fuels a brutal price war as China's EV and new car market starts to slow, and the myriad brands and players in that market start to throw in the towel. Here's Reuters:
Sticker tags for the Seagull, a compact car, will now start at 69,800 yuan ($9,700).
BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war Tesla tab began in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles even if most of BYD's cars are sold in China.
This year, it has embarked on a series of price cuts - including a drop of nearly 12% to the Yuan Plus crossover, its best-selling car known as the Atto 3 in overseas markets. The price reductions have been deeper in depth than rivals and across a wider number of models.
Amid uneven growth for the world's No. 2 economy, sales (including exports) of new energy vehicles such as pure battery EVs and plug-in hybrids are expected to rise 13% to 11.5 million units this year. That's sharply slower than the 38% jump in growth for 2023.
BYD is likely to offer more discounts through 2024, the automaker said, because it can afford to do that sort of thing. You see what I mean about why Toyota's spooked?
If you want an example of how complicated crackdowns on Chinese components for U.S. cars can be, here's a good one. Shipments of various Volkswagen Groups into our market have been held up by the discovery of a small component made by a blacklisted Chinese company, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The part, a LAN transformer used to connect cars and computers to networks, was inside a control system of vehicles being shipped by Volkswagen to the U.S. from Europe and Mexico.
The tiny part was made by a company called Sichuan Jingweida Technology, a person familiar with the matter said, which in December was added by the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. entity list over its alleged use of forced labor in China.
The Chinese company supplied the small part to another supplier and didn’t directly provide the LAN transformer to Volkswagen. Its blacklisting caused the carmaker to hold back imports of Porsche, Audi and Bentley cars into the U.S., with delays expected to last through March while Volkswagen replaces the part.
Volkswagen confirmed that the problematic part was a LAN transformer and that the sub-supplier was added to the entity list in December. Volkswagen also said it is working to ensure its supply chain complies with standards, and that it is using existing procedures and looking for new solutions to prevent forced labor in its supply chain.
The Financial Times reported earlier that Volkswagen group cars were held up at U.S. ports after the carmaker found that an unspecified subcomponent breached the forced-labor prevention law.
It's not immediately clear which models have been impacted here (and we will update as we get that information), but it does show how tricky things get when China's involved.
https://insideevs.com/news/711369/to...battery-tesla/
Why You Don't Underestimate Toyota In The Electric Race
Toyota buys out Panasonic's share in a battery joint-venture, BYD cuts prices and one Chinese component delays shipments of VW's cars.
When it comes to electric vehicles, it can be extremely hard to figure Toyota out. Six months ago, it was putting on a huge show of force in Japan to demonstrate how it was racing to "catch up" to rivals like Tesla and China's electric automakers; a few months after that, it was spiking the football over hybrid sales, still touting hydrogen and openly projecting EVs will only make up 30% of the market someday. (Not to mention all those years of lobbying against EVs.)In my mind, what matters is what's happening behind the scenes and what Toyota will—hopefully—take to market eventually, starting with the 2026 model year for Lexus. Because I don't think Toyota is taking this lying down as much as people think, and the buyout of a Panasonic joint venture helps us understand why.
That kicks off this Hump Day edition of Critical Materials. Also on tap: BYD slashes prices on its cheapest car right after it comes out, and a tiny component from China is causing headaches for Volkswagen.
I never realized this until I went to Japan for a work trip and saw it for myself, but the scope of Toyota can be hard to fathom. It's not a car company, so much as it is cars; it has a vast, vast network of suppliers and subsidiaries it not only works with but in many cases owns or partially owns. (Not to mention its share of ownership in Mazda and Subaru.) It is a considerably more vertically integrated car company than many others, which is a huge advantage both Tesla and the Chinese automakers have—among other things, it helps you move fast and pivot quickly if needed.
This helps explain why Toyota is buying out partner Panasonic's share in their long-running joint venture, Primearth EV Energy Co, which is a Japanese battery manufacturer. This news comes to us today from Automotive News, which reminds us that the company abbreviated as PEVE has been at this since the early days of the Prius:
The move comes as PEVE, one of Toyota's earliest suppliers of batteries for hybrid vehicles including the Prius, gears up to start producing batteries for full-electric vehicles in Japan.
Toyota traditionally likes close oversight if not outright control over key components. Bringing PEVE fully in-house allows more flexibility in deciding output levels, cost and battery technology.
PEVE, which was established in 1996 as a 40-60 joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, has focused only on power packs for standard and plug-in hybrids.
From 2026, it will start making batteries for EVs at a new factory in its Kosai battery hub in Shizuoka prefecture, between Nagoya and Tokyo. The new Arai battery plant, PEVE's fourth, opens this year. It will first make hybrid batteries and then add plug-in hybrid and BEV batteries.
"We wanted PEVE to take on the manufacturing of a wider range of electric vehicle batteries," a Toyota spokesman said. "With this major change, we also considered the capital structure."
How Toyota spends its money is, to me, often more telling than just what it says in public. It may have the size, scale and scope to sort of take its time on EVs, but the world's largest automaker isn't stupid. Japan's automakers are still in "crisis mode" over the rise of China, and Hyundai-Kia's newfound EV juggernaut status has them all spooked as well. As that Automotive News story notes, it aims to sell 3.5 million EVs globally by 2030, about twice what Tesla did last year, for context.
Sure, it can be frustrating to be an EV fan and also a Toyota fan these days. But I don't think it's wise to count that company out entirely.
And this is exactly why Toyota literally cannot afford to get complacent here: in a stunning display of "this isn't even my final form" energy, BYD just cut the prices on its cheapest car, the Seagull, in China. That further fuels a brutal price war as China's EV and new car market starts to slow, and the myriad brands and players in that market start to throw in the towel. Here's Reuters:
Sticker tags for the Seagull, a compact car, will now start at 69,800 yuan ($9,700).
BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war Tesla tab began in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles even if most of BYD's cars are sold in China.
This year, it has embarked on a series of price cuts - including a drop of nearly 12% to the Yuan Plus crossover, its best-selling car known as the Atto 3 in overseas markets. The price reductions have been deeper in depth than rivals and across a wider number of models.
Amid uneven growth for the world's No. 2 economy, sales (including exports) of new energy vehicles such as pure battery EVs and plug-in hybrids are expected to rise 13% to 11.5 million units this year. That's sharply slower than the 38% jump in growth for 2023.
BYD is likely to offer more discounts through 2024, the automaker said, because it can afford to do that sort of thing. You see what I mean about why Toyota's spooked?
If you want an example of how complicated crackdowns on Chinese components for U.S. cars can be, here's a good one. Shipments of various Volkswagen Groups into our market have been held up by the discovery of a small component made by a blacklisted Chinese company, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The part, a LAN transformer used to connect cars and computers to networks, was inside a control system of vehicles being shipped by Volkswagen to the U.S. from Europe and Mexico.
The tiny part was made by a company called Sichuan Jingweida Technology, a person familiar with the matter said, which in December was added by the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. entity list over its alleged use of forced labor in China.
The Chinese company supplied the small part to another supplier and didn’t directly provide the LAN transformer to Volkswagen. Its blacklisting caused the carmaker to hold back imports of Porsche, Audi and Bentley cars into the U.S., with delays expected to last through March while Volkswagen replaces the part.
Volkswagen confirmed that the problematic part was a LAN transformer and that the sub-supplier was added to the entity list in December. Volkswagen also said it is working to ensure its supply chain complies with standards, and that it is using existing procedures and looking for new solutions to prevent forced labor in its supply chain.
The Financial Times reported earlier that Volkswagen group cars were held up at U.S. ports after the carmaker found that an unspecified subcomponent breached the forced-labor prevention law.
It's not immediately clear which models have been impacted here (and we will update as we get that information), but it does show how tricky things get when China's involved.
https://insideevs.com/news/711369/to...battery-tesla/
03-06-24, 10:55 AM
#2073
Lexus Champion
I never realized this until I went to Japan for a work trip and saw it for myself, but the scope of Toyota can be hard to fathom. It's not a car company, so much as it is cars; it has a vast, vast network of suppliers and subsidiaries it not only works with but in many cases owns or partially owns. (Not to mention its share of ownership in Mazda and Subaru.) It is a considerably more vertically integrated car company than many others, which is a huge advantage both Tesla and the Chinese automakers have—among other things, it helps you move fast and pivot quickly if needed.
I'm wondering if that article was written by a bot.
03-06-24, 11:07 AM
#2074
Lexus Champion
Says Toyota is highly vertically integrated that has a vast network of suppliers. Don't think this author understands vertical integration, and to that point Toyota gets a pile of components from OEMs and even Chinese EV makers. That is not vertical integration.
I'm wondering if that article was written by a bot.
I'm wondering if that article was written by a bot.
03-06-24, 12:12 PM
#2076
Lexus Champion
03-06-24, 06:15 PM
#2077
Instructor
Speaking of tough luck, my renewal increased from $600 to $900ish for my '23 EQS, but I have over a month to get some other quotes. My city is notorious for higher insurance rates and higher-than-average renewals. The way insurance providers rate policyholders can be perplexing and frustrating. Numerous factors are considered when determining your insurance rate, such as your region and the number of claims filed by your provider's customers. If your provider has had a high number of claims during a specific period, your insurance quotes or renewal rates may increase. For instance, if Geico charges you $600 more than State Farm for the same coverage in the same area, it's probably because Geico's customers have filed more claims. This can be particularly noticeable during renewal periods when you may expect an affordable rate but are hit with a surprisingly high premium.
Six-month policies can be especially irritating because the great rate you receive during this period may turn into sticker shock later at renewal. I prefer one-year policies whenever possible, although not all providers offer them. Last year, despite having no changes in my policy coverage or status, my premium for a six-month renewal increased by $1400! I said NOPE! The reason for the increase was that the insurance company had to compensate for excessive claims filed in my region.
Such is Life!
The following users liked this post:
AMIRZA786 (03-06-24)
03-06-24, 06:34 PM
#2078
Lexus Champion
My state is still chugging along, but two others have hit a dead end. Talk about tough luck!
Speaking of tough luck, my renewal increased from $600 to $900ish for my '23 EQS, but I have over a month to get some other quotes. My city is notorious for higher insurance rates and higher-than-average renewals. The way insurance providers rate policyholders can be perplexing and frustrating. Numerous factors are considered when determining your insurance rate, such as your region and the number of claims filed by your provider's customers. If your provider has had a high number of claims during a specific period, your insurance quotes or renewal rates may increase. For instance, if Geico charges you $600 more than State Farm for the same coverage in the same area, it's probably because Geico's customers have filed more claims. This can be particularly noticeable during renewal periods when you may expect an affordable rate but are hit with a surprisingly high premium.
Six-month policies can be especially irritating because the great rate you receive during this period may turn into sticker shock later at renewal. I prefer one-year policies whenever possible, although not all providers offer them. Last year, despite having no changes in my policy coverage or status, my premium for a six-month renewal increased by $1400! I said NOPE! The reason for the increase was that the insurance company had to compensate for excessive claims filed in my region.
Such is Life!
Speaking of tough luck, my renewal increased from $600 to $900ish for my '23 EQS, but I have over a month to get some other quotes. My city is notorious for higher insurance rates and higher-than-average renewals. The way insurance providers rate policyholders can be perplexing and frustrating. Numerous factors are considered when determining your insurance rate, such as your region and the number of claims filed by your provider's customers. If your provider has had a high number of claims during a specific period, your insurance quotes or renewal rates may increase. For instance, if Geico charges you $600 more than State Farm for the same coverage in the same area, it's probably because Geico's customers have filed more claims. This can be particularly noticeable during renewal periods when you may expect an affordable rate but are hit with a surprisingly high premium.
Six-month policies can be especially irritating because the great rate you receive during this period may turn into sticker shock later at renewal. I prefer one-year policies whenever possible, although not all providers offer them. Last year, despite having no changes in my policy coverage or status, my premium for a six-month renewal increased by $1400! I said NOPE! The reason for the increase was that the insurance company had to compensate for excessive claims filed in my region.
Such is Life!
03-06-24, 06:36 PM
#2079
Take that, @Bob04
In my mind, what matters is what's happening behind the scenes and what Toyota will—hopefully—take to market eventually, starting with the 2026 model year for Lexus. Because I don't think Toyota is taking this lying down as much as people think, and the buyout of a Panasonic joint venture helps us understand why.
That kicks off this Hump Day edition of Critical Materials. Also on tap: BYD slashes prices on its cheapest car right after it comes out, and a tiny component from China is causing headaches for Volkswagen.
I never realized this until I went to Japan for a work trip and saw it for myself, but the scope of Toyota can be hard to fathom. It's not a car company, so much as it is cars; it has a vast, vast network of suppliers and subsidiaries it not only works with but in many cases owns or partially owns. (Not to mention its share of ownership in Mazda and Subaru.) It is a considerably more vertically integrated car company than many others, which is a huge advantage both Tesla and the Chinese automakers have—among other things, it helps you move fast and pivot quickly if needed.
This helps explain why Toyota is buying out partner Panasonic's share in their long-running joint venture, Primearth EV Energy Co, which is a Japanese battery manufacturer. This news comes to us today from Automotive News, which reminds us that the company abbreviated as PEVE has been at this since the early days of the Prius:
The move comes as PEVE, one of Toyota's earliest suppliers of batteries for hybrid vehicles including the Prius, gears up to start producing batteries for full-electric vehicles in Japan.
Toyota traditionally likes close oversight if not outright control over key components. Bringing PEVE fully in-house allows more flexibility in deciding output levels, cost and battery technology.
PEVE, which was established in 1996 as a 40-60 joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, has focused only on power packs for standard and plug-in hybrids.
From 2026, it will start making batteries for EVs at a new factory in its Kosai battery hub in Shizuoka prefecture, between Nagoya and Tokyo. The new Arai battery plant, PEVE's fourth, opens this year. It will first make hybrid batteries and then add plug-in hybrid and BEV batteries.
"We wanted PEVE to take on the manufacturing of a wider range of electric vehicle batteries," a Toyota spokesman said. "With this major change, we also considered the capital structure."
How Toyota spends its money is, to me, often more telling than just what it says in public. It may have the size, scale and scope to sort of take its time on EVs, but the world's largest automaker isn't stupid. Japan's automakers are still in "crisis mode" over the rise of China, and Hyundai-Kia's newfound EV juggernaut status has them all spooked as well. As that Automotive News story notes, it aims to sell 3.5 million EVs globally by 2030, about twice what Tesla did last year, for context.
Sure, it can be frustrating to be an EV fan and also a Toyota fan these days. But I don't think it's wise to count that company out entirely.
And this is exactly why Toyota literally cannot afford to get complacent here: in a stunning display of "this isn't even my final form" energy, BYD just cut the prices on its cheapest car, the Seagull, in China. That further fuels a brutal price war as China's EV and new car market starts to slow, and the myriad brands and players in that market start to throw in the towel. Here's Reuters:
Sticker tags for the Seagull, a compact car, will now start at 69,800 yuan ($9,700).
BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war Tesla tab began in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles even if most of BYD's cars are sold in China.
This year, it has embarked on a series of price cuts - including a drop of nearly 12% to the Yuan Plus crossover, its best-selling car known as the Atto 3 in overseas markets. The price reductions have been deeper in depth than rivals and across a wider number of models.
Amid uneven growth for the world's No. 2 economy, sales (including exports) of new energy vehicles such as pure battery EVs and plug-in hybrids are expected to rise 13% to 11.5 million units this year. That's sharply slower than the 38% jump in growth for 2023.
BYD is likely to offer more discounts through 2024, the automaker said, because it can afford to do that sort of thing. You see what I mean about why Toyota's spooked?
If you want an example of how complicated crackdowns on Chinese components for U.S. cars can be, here's a good one. Shipments of various Volkswagen Groups into our market have been held up by the discovery of a small component made by a blacklisted Chinese company, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The part, a LAN transformer used to connect cars and computers to networks, was inside a control system of vehicles being shipped by Volkswagen to the U.S. from Europe and Mexico.
The tiny part was made by a company called Sichuan Jingweida Technology, a person familiar with the matter said, which in December was added by the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. entity list over its alleged use of forced labor in China.
The Chinese company supplied the small part to another supplier and didn’t directly provide the LAN transformer to Volkswagen. Its blacklisting caused the carmaker to hold back imports of Porsche, Audi and Bentley cars into the U.S., with delays expected to last through March while Volkswagen replaces the part.
Volkswagen confirmed that the problematic part was a LAN transformer and that the sub-supplier was added to the entity list in December. Volkswagen also said it is working to ensure its supply chain complies with standards, and that it is using existing procedures and looking for new solutions to prevent forced labor in its supply chain.
The Financial Times reported earlier that Volkswagen group cars were held up at U.S. ports after the carmaker found that an unspecified subcomponent breached the forced-labor prevention law.
It's not immediately clear which models have been impacted here (and we will update as we get that information), but it does show how tricky things get when China's involved.
https://insideevs.com/news/711369/to...battery-tesla/
Why You Don't Underestimate Toyota In The Electric Race
Toyota buys out Panasonic's share in a battery joint-venture, BYD cuts prices and one Chinese component delays shipments of VW's cars.
When it comes to electric vehicles, it can be extremely hard to figure Toyota out. Six months ago, it was putting on a huge show of force in Japan to demonstrate how it was racing to "catch up" to rivals like Tesla and China's electric automakers; a few months after that, it was spiking the football over hybrid sales, still touting hydrogen and openly projecting EVs will only make up 30% of the market someday. (Not to mention all those years of lobbying against EVs.)In my mind, what matters is what's happening behind the scenes and what Toyota will—hopefully—take to market eventually, starting with the 2026 model year for Lexus. Because I don't think Toyota is taking this lying down as much as people think, and the buyout of a Panasonic joint venture helps us understand why.
That kicks off this Hump Day edition of Critical Materials. Also on tap: BYD slashes prices on its cheapest car right after it comes out, and a tiny component from China is causing headaches for Volkswagen.
I never realized this until I went to Japan for a work trip and saw it for myself, but the scope of Toyota can be hard to fathom. It's not a car company, so much as it is cars; it has a vast, vast network of suppliers and subsidiaries it not only works with but in many cases owns or partially owns. (Not to mention its share of ownership in Mazda and Subaru.) It is a considerably more vertically integrated car company than many others, which is a huge advantage both Tesla and the Chinese automakers have—among other things, it helps you move fast and pivot quickly if needed.
This helps explain why Toyota is buying out partner Panasonic's share in their long-running joint venture, Primearth EV Energy Co, which is a Japanese battery manufacturer. This news comes to us today from Automotive News, which reminds us that the company abbreviated as PEVE has been at this since the early days of the Prius:
The move comes as PEVE, one of Toyota's earliest suppliers of batteries for hybrid vehicles including the Prius, gears up to start producing batteries for full-electric vehicles in Japan.
Toyota traditionally likes close oversight if not outright control over key components. Bringing PEVE fully in-house allows more flexibility in deciding output levels, cost and battery technology.
PEVE, which was established in 1996 as a 40-60 joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, has focused only on power packs for standard and plug-in hybrids.
From 2026, it will start making batteries for EVs at a new factory in its Kosai battery hub in Shizuoka prefecture, between Nagoya and Tokyo. The new Arai battery plant, PEVE's fourth, opens this year. It will first make hybrid batteries and then add plug-in hybrid and BEV batteries.
"We wanted PEVE to take on the manufacturing of a wider range of electric vehicle batteries," a Toyota spokesman said. "With this major change, we also considered the capital structure."
How Toyota spends its money is, to me, often more telling than just what it says in public. It may have the size, scale and scope to sort of take its time on EVs, but the world's largest automaker isn't stupid. Japan's automakers are still in "crisis mode" over the rise of China, and Hyundai-Kia's newfound EV juggernaut status has them all spooked as well. As that Automotive News story notes, it aims to sell 3.5 million EVs globally by 2030, about twice what Tesla did last year, for context.
Sure, it can be frustrating to be an EV fan and also a Toyota fan these days. But I don't think it's wise to count that company out entirely.
And this is exactly why Toyota literally cannot afford to get complacent here: in a stunning display of "this isn't even my final form" energy, BYD just cut the prices on its cheapest car, the Seagull, in China. That further fuels a brutal price war as China's EV and new car market starts to slow, and the myriad brands and players in that market start to throw in the towel. Here's Reuters:
Sticker tags for the Seagull, a compact car, will now start at 69,800 yuan ($9,700).
BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war Tesla tab began in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles even if most of BYD's cars are sold in China.
This year, it has embarked on a series of price cuts - including a drop of nearly 12% to the Yuan Plus crossover, its best-selling car known as the Atto 3 in overseas markets. The price reductions have been deeper in depth than rivals and across a wider number of models.
Amid uneven growth for the world's No. 2 economy, sales (including exports) of new energy vehicles such as pure battery EVs and plug-in hybrids are expected to rise 13% to 11.5 million units this year. That's sharply slower than the 38% jump in growth for 2023.
BYD is likely to offer more discounts through 2024, the automaker said, because it can afford to do that sort of thing. You see what I mean about why Toyota's spooked?
If you want an example of how complicated crackdowns on Chinese components for U.S. cars can be, here's a good one. Shipments of various Volkswagen Groups into our market have been held up by the discovery of a small component made by a blacklisted Chinese company, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The part, a LAN transformer used to connect cars and computers to networks, was inside a control system of vehicles being shipped by Volkswagen to the U.S. from Europe and Mexico.
The tiny part was made by a company called Sichuan Jingweida Technology, a person familiar with the matter said, which in December was added by the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. entity list over its alleged use of forced labor in China.
The Chinese company supplied the small part to another supplier and didn’t directly provide the LAN transformer to Volkswagen. Its blacklisting caused the carmaker to hold back imports of Porsche, Audi and Bentley cars into the U.S., with delays expected to last through March while Volkswagen replaces the part.
Volkswagen confirmed that the problematic part was a LAN transformer and that the sub-supplier was added to the entity list in December. Volkswagen also said it is working to ensure its supply chain complies with standards, and that it is using existing procedures and looking for new solutions to prevent forced labor in its supply chain.
The Financial Times reported earlier that Volkswagen group cars were held up at U.S. ports after the carmaker found that an unspecified subcomponent breached the forced-labor prevention law.
It's not immediately clear which models have been impacted here (and we will update as we get that information), but it does show how tricky things get when China's involved.
https://insideevs.com/news/711369/to...battery-tesla/
The following users liked this post:
AMIRZA786 (03-06-24)
03-06-24, 06:39 PM
#2080
Lexus Champion
03-06-24, 06:49 PM
#2081
Lexus Champion
EV group Lucid admits it cannot rely on ‘bottomless wealth’ of Saudi owner
NOW you decide to do that? What have you been doing the last 5 years?
Is there a more wasteful auto maker out there right now? What are they spending all that money on?
What a mess.
The boss of Lucid Motors said the US electric car start-up must not rely on the “bottomless wealth” of its Saudi Arabian backer as it looks to raise funds over the coming year.
Peter Rawlinson said the company, which is 60 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, was “looking at every aspect of cost” as it battles to reduce spending and raise output of its luxury electric cars at its factory in Arizona.
Peter Rawlinson said the company, which is 60 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, was “looking at every aspect of cost” as it battles to reduce spending and raise output of its luxury electric cars at its factory in Arizona.
While the business had enough money to last into 2025, he said, it would need to raise funds again. Lucid had $4.78bn of cash at the end of 2023, and is burning “around $1bn a quarter”.
“It’s inevitable we need to raise in the future, it’s just a question of when,” he told the Financial Times at the Geneva Motor Show. “We need to pick our moment.”
Saudi Arabia’s PIF has invested about $5.4bn in the business, including $1.8bn last year as part of a $3bn fundraising. Rawlinson said the fund was a “loyal” and “long-term” owner, having invested in every fundraising to date.
But he added: “If I adopt a mindset that there is bottomless wealth from PIF, that is very dangerous, that is something I will never do, I respect them far too much for that.”
Lucid is among more than a dozen EV start-ups that have come to market in the past four years, all of which have struggled with production and financing.
Its shares fell by 17 per cent last month after it reported weaker sales and downgraded expectations for the coming year. It made a net loss of $2.8bn in 2023, something Rawlinson attributed partly to the accounting treatment of its plant.
“We have a factory that is depreciating against a smaller volume because of the market,” he said.
In total, the stock has lost about three quarters of its value since listing in 2021, though this is a smaller fall than for many other EV start-ups, some of which have gone bust.
Lucid says its battery technology sets it apart. Rawlinson added the technology was “very scalable, [it’s] just that we haven’t got scale yet”.
The company is exploring cost-cutting measures that include “bringing logistics under the same roof to reduce [operating spending], looking at the bill of materials, looking at overheads, looking at reducing anything that is variable”.
It is banking on a new battery SUV, called the Gravity, for increased production at its Arizona factory. Although it expects to make only 9,000 cars this year, the factory has capacity to make 90,000 annually.
Lucid is also planning a smaller, more affordable vehicle from 2026 that will be produced first at a factory in Saudi Arabia that the company is building.
Rawlinson said the kingdom’s commitment to Lucid was part of its strategy to diversify away from oil and invest more in clean energy and technology.
“I won’t say they want it more than me, but they want it every bit as much as me,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF has invested about $5.4bn in the business, including $1.8bn last year as part of a $3bn fundraising. Rawlinson said the fund was a “loyal” and “long-term” owner, having invested in every fundraising to date.
But he added: “If I adopt a mindset that there is bottomless wealth from PIF, that is very dangerous, that is something I will never do, I respect them far too much for that.”
Lucid is among more than a dozen EV start-ups that have come to market in the past four years, all of which have struggled with production and financing.
Its shares fell by 17 per cent last month after it reported weaker sales and downgraded expectations for the coming year. It made a net loss of $2.8bn in 2023, something Rawlinson attributed partly to the accounting treatment of its plant.
“We have a factory that is depreciating against a smaller volume because of the market,” he said.
In total, the stock has lost about three quarters of its value since listing in 2021, though this is a smaller fall than for many other EV start-ups, some of which have gone bust.
Lucid says its battery technology sets it apart. Rawlinson added the technology was “very scalable, [it’s] just that we haven’t got scale yet”.
The company is exploring cost-cutting measures that include “bringing logistics under the same roof to reduce [operating spending], looking at the bill of materials, looking at overheads, looking at reducing anything that is variable”.
It is banking on a new battery SUV, called the Gravity, for increased production at its Arizona factory. Although it expects to make only 9,000 cars this year, the factory has capacity to make 90,000 annually.
Lucid is also planning a smaller, more affordable vehicle from 2026 that will be produced first at a factory in Saudi Arabia that the company is building.
Rawlinson said the kingdom’s commitment to Lucid was part of its strategy to diversify away from oil and invest more in clean energy and technology.
“I won’t say they want it more than me, but they want it every bit as much as me,” he said.
03-06-24, 06:53 PM
#2082
Lexus Champion
EV group Lucid admits it cannot rely on ‘bottomless wealth’ of Saudi owner
NOW you decide to do that? What have you been doing the last 5 years?
Is there a more wasteful auto maker out there right now? What are they spending all that money on?
What a mess.
NOW you decide to do that? What have you been doing the last 5 years?
Is there a more wasteful auto maker out there right now? What are they spending all that money on?
What a mess.
03-06-24, 08:27 PM
#2083
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
building high end luxury evs ain't cheap. they're basically sort of where tesla was right after model s launch which is a dozen years ago!
elon musk recognized the need to get to scale asap and even sacrificed build quality to do it... a big gamble that paid off hugely.
lucid to me is more of an engineering company and pif's money doesn't necessary help, it can lessen the sense of urgency.
ha probably not. rivan and fisker are losing planeloads of cash too though. 
elon musk recognized the need to get to scale asap and even sacrificed build quality to do it... a big gamble that paid off hugely.
lucid to me is more of an engineering company and pif's money doesn't necessary help, it can lessen the sense of urgency.
Is there a more wasteful auto maker out there right now?
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AMIRZA786 (03-06-24)
03-06-24, 09:39 PM
#2084
Lexus Champion
But what does Rawlinson care he gets $379 million/year no matter how badly Lucid tanks.
03-06-24, 09:48 PM
#2085
Lexus Champion
Tesla at the approximate stage Lucid is in currently were on their way to having sales go parabolic. Lucid's sales are 10% of what the company said they would be doing. When Elon said 500,000 that happened go back and look at Lucid's investor slide deck from 2020, 4 years later they have not even sniffed projections.
But what does Rawlinson care he gets $379 million/year no matter how badly Lucid tanks.
But what does Rawlinson care he gets $379 million/year no matter how badly Lucid tanks.