Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
Business
Tesla charges Ford, Silverado EV details, BMW i5, tackling charger reliability
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The biggest EV news of the week came on Thursday, when Ford and Tesla made an announcement that might change the EV charging landscape forever: Ford is adopting Tesla’s charge port for future EVs, as well as providing Supercharger access with an adapter for existing EVs starting next year. Now, will other smaller automakers jump to the Tesla standard, too?
Ford Mustang Mach-E at Tesla Supercharger
That followed two pieces of Ford EV news from earlier in the week. Don’t bother waiting for an electric Ford Expedition Lightning to complement the F-150 Lightning. Ford claimed Monday that its three-row electric SUV coming in 2025 will be a groundbreaking “personal bullet train”—with a comprehensive focus on efficiency resulting in 350 miles of range from a 100-kwh battery pack and 150 miles from a 10-minute charge. And as Ford CEO Jim Farley explained, as part of its effort to control costs and build better EVs, the automaker is simply trying to use the smallest battery for competitive range. That means Ford isn’t going to go to 600 miles of range in its EVs.
2025 Ford 3-row SUV –
On a completely different track, Cadillac announced plans to make a fully electric version of its big, thirsty Escalade SUV. The GM luxury brand claims the model, badged Escalade IQ and to be revealed later this year, will be “a different type of EV.”
The 2024 BMW i5 revealed Wednesday is essentially a fully electric BMW 5-Series. With a price starting at $67,795 and a driving range for that entry model of 295 miles on the EPA cycle, it claims to offer the same passenger space as other gasoline-fueled 5-Series models.
The upcoming EX30 will have Volvo’s lowest-ever carbon footprint in a production model from the brand, it says. The Volvo EX30 will represent a 25% drop in lifecycle carbon emissions versus the already-improved XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge, it says, with lots of recycled materials and “100% climate-neutral electricity.”
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
More information about the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck (WT) trickled out ahead of deliveries set to start soon. Among the new details: The WT and its base battery will be available to retail customers, but not other WT versions. Knowing this, we took a look at the Silverado EV WT vs. the F-150 Lightning Pro in price and range.
As it oversees the rollout of a $7.5 billion nationwide network of EV chargers, the federal government is tackling EV charger reliability in the U.S. That means collaborating with companies on hardware and software, and opening up a data portal for reporting uptime and error codes.
2023 Toyota Sienna
Toyota announced last week that it plans to boost its U.S. hybrid production to meet what it says is strong demand for hybrid models. The same manufacturing complex in Kentucky is scheduled to start making fuel-cell modules this year.
BMW and California’s Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) have built on a previous smart-charging partnership with a pilot program (and later, a field trial) looking at how EVs could supplement home energy and the grid. With a BMW i4 it can help return double the amount a typical house uses daily back to the grid—at the peak times when it might help boost the use of renewable energy.
2022 BMW i4 eDrive40
While enthusiasm for hydrogen fuel-cell passenger vehicles has waned, it appears poised for a new push in semis and other heavy-duty trucks. Will megawatt charging effectively nix hydrogen and its top advantage which up until now has been refueling time?
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 lease prices now undercut those from Tesla, according to a report digging into the numbers. Once again, the assist goes to the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit loophole applying to EV leases—even if they’re imported.
2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5
Looking directly to that, Hyundai and LG this morning confirmed final details for a joint-venture battery plant in Georgia that will supply Hyundai’s Georgia EV Metaplant with U.S.-built batteries. That plant will have the capability to build 300,000 EVs annually, though the company hasn’t yet confirmed which Hyundai, Kia, or Genesis models those will be.
Future Stellantis EVs later in the decade—from Jeep, Ram, or Chrysler, for instance—may take advantage of potentially range-boosting, weight-cutting lithium-sulfur battery tech. Through Stellantis Ventures, it’s invested in California’s Lyten, which claims “a pathway to achieve the lowest emissions EV battery on the global market,” in a cell type that can be made globally. But there’s still progress to be made on cycle life and degradation.
Electric vehicles cost 47% more than internal combustion vehicles, yet they’re driven 29% less. That’s one finding from a recent data crunch based on used vehicles listed for sale—and it confirms previous findings from academia suggesting that Tesla leads other EVs in miles driven. But perhaps policy needs to focus more on those “gasoline superusers.”
Tesla Model S
Despite all the talk about EV battery longevity, and how their drivers aren’t covering as many miles, EVs aren’t staying in the fleet as long as gasoline models, and as we seek more EV adoption it’s a potential problem. What’s to blame?
And what is all the fuss over AM radio in EVs? Some automakers say it’s electrical interference; some say nobody’s listening to AM anyway; others point to the lack of AM radio in Europe. Either way, Ford yesterday decided it wasn’t a fight worth fighting and agreed to bring back AM radio in its EVs.
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Business
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
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Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
Business
Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls
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Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
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Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
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