Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Coastalwatch

The progress of China's move and development of EV transportation in many areas is awesome and the announcement below is just one of the many emanating from that continent on a seemingly daily basis. While in the west legacy automakers are still toiling with the transition away from ice, China appears to be progressing at speed toward the EV revolution and apparently not too far behind Tesla. Although when it comes to full self driving capability I have to confess that I've no idea at what stage they might be placed.

It will certainly be interesting to see how successful the batteries perform once vehicles hit the road.

CATL kicks off Qilin battery production

The key data of the Qilin battery was published last summer: The Qilin Battery allows volume utilization to exceed 72 per cent and energy density to reach 255 Wh/kg, easily allowing vehicles to achieve a range of 1000 km. The Chinese portal The Paper now reports that the Qilin battery has an energy content 13 per cent higher than a battery pack with 4680 round cells for the same installation space.

https://www.electrive.com/2023/03/22/catl-kicks-off-qilin-battery-production/

Martyn1981

Speaking of China, been watching and reading lots of news and rumours. No single item worth posting, but just a general note that the next few months could be tumultuous.

There's the general economic dip in China, reducing vehicle sales, that could hit PEV's. Partly seen by Tesla's move to drop prices, and similar actions now by many other automakers (Chinese, Ford, Toyota, VW and many more). There's a large inventory build up, now around 4m+, and also somewhere north of 0.5m vehicles in inventory that can't be sold after 1st July when new emissions rules kick in. So dealers will need to shift some vehicles even if they have to reduce prices massively.

Put together (and again, rumours and extrapolation), we could see some big price cuts for Q2, and possible production reductions - many reports/rumours that BYD is now shifting to a 4day week, from 7days.

I don't think this is a longer term issue, more a settling of many issues and a highly competitive market, but don't be surprised to see lots of issues being reported if all of this turns out to be correct, or partially correct.

Martyn1981

I should have waited!

Article reporting a statement from CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) raising some interesting points. They are calling for rationality from all parties to bring order to the market, following price cuts.

CAAM is made up of about 2,600 members, being companies that manufacture cars, buses, trucks and parts suppliers. The Chinese car manufacturers are there, plus most of the international brands, Ford, GM, VW, Toyota and so on. One exception though is Tesla.

There's a really interesting sentence - "With the accelerated pace of transformation of the auto industry, traditional car companies are under the dual pressure of maintaining stable operations and making the transformation, with weaker profitability, the CAAM said."

That's kinda what folk who spotted the transition to BEV's, and all of its ramifications, have been saying for 5-10yrs. The counter argument tended to be that legacy auto could quickly and easily pivot to EV's, they're just cars after all!  Looks like reality is sinking in.

CAAM calls for return to normal order in China's auto industry as price war disrupts sector

The hype about this round of price cuts in China's auto industry should be cooled down as soon as possible so that the industry can return to normal operation and ensure healthy and stable development throughout the year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in an article posted on its WeChat account today.

In the fourth quarter of last year, especially since the Covid outbreak in China in December, the pace of auto production and sales has been seriously affected, the article noted.

The overall sales of China's auto industry dropped significantly in January-February, inventories rose sharply, and automakers saw their operating pressure increase and took various measures to reduce inventories, the article said.

Martyn1981

Some Ford news, but first this isn't a knock at Ford, in fact quite the opposite. A year ago Ford took the very brave (and clever) decision to break its company into three divisions:-
Ford Blue - ICE and hybrids
Ford Model e - BEV's
Ford Pro - Commercial vehicles and services

So now it has released its financials, with the splits, (which I've been waiting for because I'm sad like that) so we can see how the operations compare when it comes to profitability.

So, quick numbers, Ford Model e vehicles had a gross margin in 2021 of minus 29%, and minus 41% in 2022.

But there's good news, they believe they can reach a production rate of 2m for BEV's by the end of 2026, and a gross margin of positive 8%.

The numbers may not look great, but they are in the process of a massive transition and expansion, with the accompanying capital expenditure that is needed. And they are the only legacy auto (I believe) that is giving us a true look at the numbers.

Ford says EV unit losing billions, should be seen as startup

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co.’s electric vehicle business has lost $3 billion before taxes during the past two years and will lose a similar amount this year as the company invests heavily in the new technology.

The figures were released Thursday as Ford rolled out a new way of reporting financial results. The new business structure separates electric vehicles, the profitable internal combustion and commercial vehicle operations into three operating units.

Company officials said the electric vehicle unit, called “Ford Model e,” will be profitable before taxes by late 2026 with an 8% pretax profit margin. But they wouldn’t say exactly when it’s expected to start making money.

1961Nick

I think Ford are brave to publish their financials for EVs as a margin of -41% is pretty horrific. Since then the price of the Mach-E has been reduced by 6% which clearly isn't going to help the situation. The recent price reductions by Tesla & the forthcoming Model 2 must be causing some sombre boardrooms everywhere (except BYD). The Lightening is possibly Ford's 'get out of jail free' card if they can ramp the production fast enough & raise the price to absorb some of the grey market margin for themselves.

Martyn1981

Yep, total respect for Ford, they've bitten the bullet by breaking down their company into its key parts. The CEO Jim Farley is so honest about the mistakes (learning opportunities) that they've made. I honestly think they can outrun others, thus escape the chasing bear!

A thought I had about the falling margins for 2022, was that that was the year Tesla put their prices up 15-25%, which they claimed was to address rising prices and waiting list times. They've now dropped them again, claiming costs have fallen. So (and yes I'm totally speculating), that might be why Ford's margins got worse, and may aid them somewhat this year, but obviously still going to be a loss. They've suggested another $3bn loss this year, as they ramp up production, and also accelerate the planned ramp up, having been surprised over and over by the demand for the Lightning. [Not helped by the month long shutdown (Feb-Mch) due to battery problems.]

Martyn1981

Article on an idea for autonomous electric train units for transporting shipping containers.

To save reading the article, and just get a quick brief on the idea, then the company's website has a nice 2min video.

It’s An Electric Train, But Don’t Call It An Electric Train

Hauling freight by rail is an energy-saver compared to trucking it on highways, but there is always room for improvement. A startup called Parallel Systems has come up with a new approach to electric trains that could help push thousands of diesel trucks straight out of the freight business and possibly help resolve part of the truck driver shortage, too.

Parallel certainly fits the bill. Instead of depending on battery powered locomotives to electrify whole freight trains, the company has come up with a system of individual, autonomous electric “rail vehicles” that vaguely resemble long, flat versions of the new zero emission USPS delivery trucks from the front, if you squint.

“The zero emission, electric, autonomous rail vehicle model gives Parallel Systems the ability to break trains down into their component parts, enabling each railcar to split off individually or form new platoons with others,” we noted.

Martyn1981

Surrey County Council planning to roll out 10k public chargers by 2030 with a large contract going to Connected Kerb.

Surrey County Council and Connected Kerb announce largest on-street EV chargepoint contract in the UK

Surrey County Council and Connected Kerb have agreed a contract to support the rollout of thousands of electric vehicle chargepoints across the county in the coming years. The contract, the largest in the UK to date, will release up to £60million of investment for Connected Kerb to install public EV chargepoints across the county. The aim will be to install thousands over the next five years and Connected Kerb have been licensed to operate the chargepoints for 15 years from installation.

Connected Kerb & Surrey County Council take the lead on delivering ambition of 10,000 public EV charging points by 2030

Coastalwatch

Thanks Mart, the above post gave me a smile as I couldn't understand why an affluent County like Surrey would require such a project being under the impression it only had Mansions and Stately homes within it's boundary's.

Apologies for the reply, in my defence I have led a very sheltered life.

JKenH

Car firms forced to sell electric cars next year under net zero plans

Car manufacturers will be required to produce a set proportion of electric vehicles from January 2024 under a new “mandate” to be announced this week.

On Thursday ministers will confirm the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate as part of a package of green policies designed to help the UK reach its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The mandate will require car and van manufacturers to produce a specific proportion of electric vehicles in a push to help the industry reach a government goal of no new petrol and diesel cars in the next seven years.

Under the policy, electric vehicle sales will be converted into “certificates”.

Manufacturers will be required to hold a certain number of certificates at the end of each year, either by selling electric vehicles or buying certificates from other manufacturers.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2023/03/25/car-firms-forced-sell-electric-cars-next-year-net-zero-plans/

This will benefit Tesla.