Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

Germany continues to demonstrate how to pivot to EV's. Fun to be watching the revolution in real time.

EV Production In Germany Shows What An EV Revolution Looks Like

German automakers produced 53,221 EVs in July of this year. That works out to 21.7% of the total number of cars produced in Germany that month. In March of 2020, just 6.8% of new cars produced were EVs and in January of 2019, only 3.2% of new cars were electrics, according to Energy Monitor. That, folks, is what an EV revolution looks like. Keep in mind that the Tesla factory outside of Berlin is almost ready to start churning out finished cars, which will skew the production numbers even further in favor of electrics.

Overall, German car production was down 26% last month compared to the same month a year ago, yet EV production was up 9%, according to data supplied by German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). Globally, total car sales shrank by 14% in 2020 compared with the previous year, but EV sales increased from about two million units to more than three million units, according to the International Energy Agency.

And semi-good news from the US, where production of the Bolt is to restart now that GM (and LG) seem to have found the fault that was causing the fires. 

Production was never exactly 'mass' at around 2.5k pm since its launch 5yrs ago, but the negative impact on customers in the US considering BEV's, is not great, so hopefully confidence can be restored. Just need to replace or fix the batts in about 140k cars ..... gulp!

GM Says It Has Fixed The Chevy Bolt Battery Problem — New Cells Already In Production

Good news, EV fans. GM and LG say they have solved the battery cell manufacturing defect that led to several battery fires. LG stopped producing the cells in August, but resumed production recently.

A spokesperson for LG told Consumer Reports on Monday, “GM and LG have identified the presence of two rare simultaneous defects, found in the same battery cell, made during module manufacturing process.” GM explained that the cause is a torn anode tab and folded separator within the battery modules, which is what we reported earlier. The spokesperson said those manufacturing defects have now been corrected and are not related to battery fires that have occurred in some Hyundai Kona electric cars.

GM says it will begin replacing the entire battery pack in 2017, 2018, and 2019 Bolts beginning in October. For 2020 and newer models, one or more of the battery modules will be replaced, but not the entire pack. LG has ramped up production capacity to meet the demand for new battery cells so they can be assembled into modules and packs in order to get them out to dealers in time for the October deadline.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

Germany continues to demonstrate how to pivot to EV's. Fun to be watching the revolution in real time.

EV Production In Germany Shows What An EV Revolution Looks Like

German automakers produced 53,221 EVs in July of this year. That works out to 21.7% of the total number of cars produced in Germany that month. In March of 2020, just 6.8% of new cars produced were EVs and in January of 2019, only 3.2% of new cars were electrics, according to Energy Monitor. That, folks, is what an EV revolution looks like. Keep in mind that the Tesla factory outside of Berlin is almost ready to start churning out finished cars, which will skew the production numbers even further in favor of electrics.

Overall, German car production was down 26% last month compared to the same month a year ago, yet EV production was up 9%, according to data supplied by German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). Globally, total car sales shrank by 14% in 2020 compared with the previous year, but EV sales increased from about two million units to more than three million units, according to the International Energy Agency.

And semi-good news from the US, where production of the Bolt is to restart now that GM (and LG) seem to have found the fault that was causing the fires. 

Production was never exactly 'mass' at around 2.5k pm since its launch 5yrs ago, but the negative impact on customers in the US considering BEV's, is not great, so hopefully confidence can be restored. Just need to replace or fix the batts in about 140k cars ..... gulp!

GM Says It Has Fixed The Chevy Bolt Battery Problem — New Cells Already In Production

Good news, EV fans. GM and LG say they have solved the battery cell manufacturing defect that led to several battery fires. LG stopped producing the cells in August, but resumed production recently.

A spokesperson for LG told Consumer Reports on Monday, “GM and LG have identified the presence of two rare simultaneous defects, found in the same battery cell, made during module manufacturing process.” GM explained that the cause is a torn anode tab and folded separator within the battery modules, which is what we reported earlier. The spokesperson said those manufacturing defects have now been corrected and are not related to battery fires that have occurred in some Hyundai Kona electric cars.

GM says it will begin replacing the entire battery pack in 2017, 2018, and 2019 Bolts beginning in October. For 2020 and newer models, one or more of the battery modules will be replaced, but not the entire pack. LG has ramped up production capacity to meet the demand for new battery cells so they can be assembled into modules and packs in order to get them out to dealers in time for the October deadline.

Agreed, impressive progress.  However, the overall number of EVs on the road comparfed to ICE is still tiny. The same source reckons there are a few issues to overcome before significant replacement of the ICE fleet can happen. It would be good to see some equally impressive progress in these.

https://energymonitor.ai/sector/transport/eu-road-to-ditch-fossil-fuel-cars-by-2035-is-full-of-potholes

Just providing some balance.

JKenH

This article from 2020 helps explain why VW is pushing BEVs while Toyota is not.

The total bill for the 10 carmakers featured above, based on 2017 emissions levels but factoring in the 95% compliance rule, would amount to almost €17.1 billion in 2021, In this scenario, Volkswagen Group (VW) faces the largest fine (over €5 billion) and Toyota the lowest (€121 million). This tallies with a recent survey conducted by Autovista Group, in which respondents voted overwhelmingly for Toyota as the favourite to avoid a fine or pay the least amount should it breach its CO2 target.

Indicative fines for exceeding emissions targets, major carmakers, €billions, 2021 and 2022

Source: Autovista Group based on ICCT and ACEA data

https://autovista24.autovistagroup.com/news/carmakers-face-eu20-billion-fines-exceeding-co2-targets-part-2/

Note: € inserted by me to correct formatting issue. 

orrery

JKenH said:

orrery said:

JKenH said:

What is the rush (from a financial point of view)? It is still more than 8 years to 2030 and Toyota still look like they will be making money from ICEVs for some time to come. From an environmental point of view it isn’t a huge disaster either.

Toyota are losing market share - I know one guy who has been Toyota's greatest fan, has just bought a Kona. He may be hard to get back as a customer.

Not sure that is true, at least in Europe and the US.

I must be true - they are losing customers who would have bought Toyota, but can't because they don't have an EV. i.e. their market share would have been bigger than it is if they had an EV (or two) in the line-up. Toyota have a massive following due to their reliability who would continue to buy Toyota, so to be losing loyal owners to other brands is a big risk. You are pointing out, correctly I'm sure, that they are building ICE sales which we know must hit a brick wall sooner or later - particularly if we get to price parity by 2025.

JKenH

orrery said:

JKenH said:

orrery said:

JKenH said:

What is the rush (from a financial point of view)? It is still more than 8 years to 2030 and Toyota still look like they will be making money from ICEVs for some time to come. From an environmental point of view it isn’t a huge disaster either.

Toyota are losing market share - I know one guy who has been Toyota's greatest fan, has just bought a Kona. He may be hard to get back as a customer.

Not sure that is true, at least in Europe and the US.

I must be true - they are losing customers who would have bought Toyota, but can't because they don't have an EV. i.e. their market share would have been bigger than it is if they had an EV (or two) in the line-up. Toyota have a massive following due to their reliability who would continue to buy Toyota, so to be losing loyal owners to other brands is a big risk. You are pointing out, correctly I'm sure, that they are building ICE sales which we know must hit a brick wall sooner or later - particularly if we get to price parity by 2025.

On that logic you could say that Tesla are losing market share. They have a huge following and might sell even more if they had one or two ICEVs in the line up. (Or they might just find customers want the image, style and performance of a Tesla and buy the ICE version instead of the electric.)

Could it be that VW’s BEV sales are cannibalising their ICEV sales and with it eating the profits? Tesla now are facing that problem with Model Y sales cannibalising  Model 3 sales. 

Toyota make the best selling plug in hybrid yet it comes nowhere near the sales of cars like the Corolla. Maybe Toyota have worked out that they wouldn’t sell enough BEVs to make it a profitable venture and profit maybe is more important than market share. It just so happens that they currently have the formula for both making profit and still increasing market share at the same time. 

The bottom line is that Toyota are in the real world actually increasing market share because they are concentrating on making the cars that they know customers want. Other European manufacturers faced with the expense of producing EVs are scaling back their product lines leaving the door open for Toyota. Citroen and Peugeot are discontinuing the C1 and 108 virtually handing sales on a plate to Toyota’s Aygo for which a replacement has been developed. 

ICEV sales are expected to continue to grow for some time yet, maybe not in all markets so no need for you to worry about Toyota just yet. 

There is another explanation offered by Toyota in 2019 when asked why they were building pure electric cars.

At the 2019 Geneva auto show, Gerald Killmann, Toyota's vice president of research and development for Europe, enlightened us as to why the automaker hasn't embraced EVs: battery production capacity. Now, Toyota isn't exactly limited in its battery production, although its capacity is significantly lower than that of, say, Tesla. It is how Toyota is allocating that production that matters. According to Killmann, Toyota is able to produce enough batteries for 28,000 electric vehicles each year—or for 1.5 million hybrid cars.

Per Toyota, selling 1.5 million hybrid cars reduces carbon emissions by a third more than selling 28,000 EVs. Put another way, the company is generating a more positive environmental impact by selling many times more gas-electric hybrid cars than it would by selling far fewer EVs (and therefore, far more fully gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles), while also providing its customers more practical vehicles (because of no range or charging anxieties) at more affordable prices. There are only so many batteries to go around, after all.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26703778/toyota-why-not-selling-electric-cars/

No doubt Toyota had worked out this strategy would have the most beneficial impact on its average fleet emissions as well - it seems to be working.

Solarchaser

That is an impressive amount of spin, that guy should get a job in the UK government. 

Toyota are selling ice cars, because they can, they will hit a wall soon enough, and will be massively left behind.
Showing increased sales in America shows one out of date car maker pairs nicely with one out of date superpower.
Both will realise their error pretty soon.

Martyn1981

Solarchaser said:

That is an impressive amount of spin, that guy should get a job in the UK government. 

Toyota are selling ice cars, because they can, they will hit a wall soon enough, and will be massively left behind.
Showing increased sales in America shows one out of date car maker pairs nicely with one out of date superpower.
Both will realise their error pretty soon.

Yep, Toyota will change their tune soon, though they might have to retire Mr Toyoda first. My concern is how much damage they will do to the environment first, with their 'money before green and ethical' policies. Toyota and Mr Toyoda have a huge amount of lobbying power around the World, and if they are successful, say in India, where they want to water down legislation and aspirations to move to BEV's, then the impacts could be large, and long lasting.

I don't believe that they will be successful, in themselves at pushing ICE derived vehicles, especially given the surge in popularity of electric 2 wheelers in the developing nations, they will simply lose market share, but they may well slow down legislative progress, and thereby buy more time for ICEV's, more short term money for them, and more CO2(e) and pollution emissions for everyone else.

Money before ethics, yet again, but at least this time the news is being spread wide.


Edit - BTW, I sorta assumed everyone would know this, or remember it from a couple of years ago when Toyota was fighting (alongside Trump) to lower the US CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) standards from the higher targets that Obama had scheduled.

But just in case, have a look to see which company's fuel efficiency has gone down:

Toyota Loses Ground on Fuel Economy as Federal Agencies Seek Rollback of Vehicle Standards

JKenH

Martyn1981 said:

Solarchaser said:

That is an impressive amount of spin, that guy should get a job in the UK government. 

Toyota are selling ice cars, because they can, they will hit a wall soon enough, and will be massively left behind.
Showing increased sales in America shows one out of date car maker pairs nicely with one out of date superpower.
Both will realise their error pretty soon.

Yep, Toyota will change their tune soon, though they might have to retire Mr Toyoda first. My concern is how much damage they will do to the environment first, with their 'money before green and ethical' policies. Toyota and Mr Toyoda have a huge amount of lobbying power around the World, and if they are successful, say in India, where they want to water down legislation and aspirations to move to BEV's, then the impacts could be large, and long lasting.

I don't believe that they will be successful, in themselves at pushing ICE derived vehicles, especially given the surge in popularity of electric 2 wheelers in the developing nations, they will simply lose market share, but they may well slow down legislative progress, and thereby buy more time for ICEV's, more short term money for them, and more CO2(e) and pollution emissions for everyone else.

Money before ethics, yet again, but at least this time the news is being spread wide.


Edit - BTW, I sorta assumed everyone would know this, or remember it from a couple of years ago when Toyota was fighting (alongside Trump) to lower the US CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) standards from the higher targets that Obama had scheduled. 

But just in case, have a look to see which company's fuel efficiency has gone down:

Toyota Loses Ground on Fuel Economy as Federal Agencies Seek Rollback of Vehicle Standards

Interesting choice of time period to make the point that Toyota doesn’t care about emissions.

I think one has to bear in mind that over the last decade there has been a rise in popularity of SUVs which unfortunately do have higher emissions than sedans. Toyota happen to have the most popular SUV in the states - the RAV4. With the migration to SUVs and happening to sell the most popular one, Toyota’s emissions might be expected to have increased. It should also be borne in mind that Toyota sell pick up trucks in the US as do the Big 3 (Ford, GM and FSA). The Toyota Tacoma is the most popular mid size truck in the US. I’m don’t think those companies above Toyota on the list are in the pick up market so might be expected to have better emissions. (If you want to see the mix of vehicles sold by Toyota and their competitors have a look at this link https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g36005989/best-selling-cars-2021/  )

In that context Toyota’s emissions aren’t perhaps quite as bad as they are made out to be. 

Now if we look at a more recent time period, which is perhaps a little more relevant, the figures show a slightly different picture. Despite selling pick ups Toyota’s emissions are below the US average, something that can’t be said for the other pick up manufacturers and better than Mercedes and very close to VW and BMW.

I think we just need to rein back on this perspective that Toyota are the bad boys in the vehicle emissions world. I know it’s a story that CleanTechnica keep pushing but really are they any worse than the other manufacturers? Some of us may not like their lobbying but the reality is as an OEM they make some of the cleanest (non BEV cars) on the planet. Even taking into account all the BEVs the likes of VW et al make, are their average emissions any cleaner?

QrizB

Just as an aside, I'm struck by how US vehicle manufacturers are all in the 300+ g CO2/mile band while the EU target stated upthread is 95 g/km, roughly 150 g/mile.

shinytop

QrizB said:

Just as an aside, I'm struck by how US vehicle manufacturers are all in the 300+ g CO2/mile band while the EU target stated upthread is 95 g/km, roughly 150 g/mile.

I couldn't agree more.  It's the US love affair with huge trucks and SUVs that's keeping its emissions up.  Unfortunately the EV industry is in danger of continuing this and just mimicking these sorts of vehicles.