Some Notable Numbers

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Let’s face it: vehicle sales in the first half of 2022 were not great in terms of volume.

What’s more, they weren’t great for customers who were looking for something affordable—according to Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price for a new vehicle was a record $48,043.

They were great for OEMs and dealers, because higher prices mean bigger profits.

Be that as it may, it is interesting to look at how the leading OEMs made out in terms of one another when it came to sales.

In first place there is General Motors, which sold 1,087,761 vehicles. Based on that, here is the sales delta between pairs of subsequent companies (i.e., how many more the first named company sold than the company that follows it in sales ranking):

  • GM to Toyota:                  42,064
  • Toyota to Ford:                135,965
  • Ford to Stellantis:            95,900
  • Stellantis to Hyundai:       110,867
  • Hyundai to Honda:           196,668
  • Honda to Nissan:             73,683
  • Nissan to Volkswagen:      173,162

The gap between Toyota and Ford is surprising. And the gap between Ford and GM is even more surprising: 178,029.

Hyundai (as in the Group, meaning Kia, too) is certainly coming on strong. And Honda seems to be fizzling.

Realize that all of these companies are dealing with supply chain snafus and chip shortages, so it is a matter of (1) those who did a better job of managing their way through adversity and (2) a range of products (generally large SUVs and light-duty pickups) that consumers were interesting in acquiring.

(Not) On the Road

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Events like airport runways in the UK melting and Hawaii getting some unseasonably sizable waves, to go to two poles on the planet—presumably both indicators that the climate is undergoing something of a change that isn’t exactly beneficial—it would seem that things like 700-hp engines would be a thing of the past. Yet Ford, a company that has actual street cred in the environmental community (e.g., it has committed to reducing emissions in like with the Paris Climate Agreement), a company that is investing billions of dollars in developing the ability to produce electric vehicles, realizes that there is a good market for those who not only want power and performance (e.g., a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood) but who want to drive in places like the desert.

Ford Raptor R. Who needs a road? (Image: Ford)

So on the one hand Ford puts out an environmentally appropriate F-150 Lightning, a full-EV pickup truck that has a special price point for contractors (a starting MSRP of $39,974) in order to make it clear that EVs can get the job done, and on the other hand it has developed the F-150 Raptor R, specifically engineered for going off road in desert conditions: Carl Widmann, Ford Performance chief engineer: “Raptor R is our ultimate Raptor. When customer experience Raptor R in the desert and beyond, it will make the hairs on the back of their necks stand up—and they’ll love every second of it.”

Guess it is spreading its bets on what it offers to the market.

While Ford isn’t responsible for the behaviors of people who buy things like the Raptor R, it does seem curious that they’ve built it for “the desert and beyond,” and that “beyond” may be places that people aren’t supposed to drive.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, in Death Valley, for example, there are thousands of miles of road, paved and otherwise, yet the park rangers are finding that year after year there are off-road “disturbances”: people driving off the designated routes.

Why does this matter? Well, those who get caught can get sentenced to six months in the slam or a $5,000 fine.

But then there’s this: “The fragile landscape and ecosystem is impacted by illegal off-road driving in many damaging ways”:

  1. Leaves Lasting Scars
  2. Damages Vegetation
  3. Endangers Wildlife
  4. Disrupts and Compacts Soil
  5. Pollutes Water Sources
  6. Destroys Designated Wilderness
  7. Threatens Sensitive Cultural and Historic Sites

Some of those things, when broken, simply can’t be fixed. While the vast majority of desert drivers undoubtedly are responsible, those who aren’t can cause tremendous damage. . .which they’ll likely drive away from. (The National Park Service says that if one gets stuck having gone on an unauthorized excursion that person is responsible for paying the towing fees, which can cost thousands. One suspects, however, that it would really be tough to get the Raptor R stuck.)

Here’s hoping that when the dealers hand over the fobs for Raptor Rs they remind the new owners to Tread Lightly!

Sono Wants You to Share

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Imagine that you’ve decided to start a company selling products. Presumably one of your goals is to make money. One of the typical ways of making money in a product-producing business is to sell products, the more the better.

Sono Motors is a German automotive startup.

What probably makes things somewhat more difficult for the company than would be the case were it to be producing vehicles of a somewhat conventional nature: the Sion, it’s forthcoming vehicle, is described as “the world’s first affordable solar electric vehicle.”

I’m not even aware of unaffordable solar electric vehicles.

The company says that it has more than 18,000 reservations for the Sion.

Of course reservations aren’t sales.

Sono Motors has developed an app. The Sono Carsharing app.

Sono. A solar car. And a car-sharing app. (Image: Sono)

The company says this is meant to address the 43 million or so vehicles in Germany that are driven for an average one hour per day.

Regardless of the brand, the app will allow vehicle owners to share their vehicles.

Johannes Bückle, Head of Product at Sono Digital, said, “Three things were important for us when designing the Sono Carsharing app: how can we reduce the number of cars on our roads while at the same time increasing the utilization of all the vehicles that are just standing around, and also, as a higher-level goal, make significantly more efficient use of vehicles as a resource? The concept originally developed exclusively for the Sion was not enough for us, so we expanded the scope to include all private cars.”

Think about that: the company is working, on the one hand, to get its Sion on the road, but on the other, reducing the number of Sion (and other vehicles) being on the road.

Possibly a noble undertaking but certainly a strange way to start a car business.

A Microsmile from Polestar

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By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the things that start-up companies have the opportunity to do–if they’re simply not hell-bent on doing whatever it is that they think they are supposed to be doing and so suck all of the enjoyment out of their endeavors–is to be a bit whimsical, to do things that are related to their business but not simply the same thing with a dab of red paint to somehow make it seem more “creative.”

EV startup Polestar held a design contest last year.*

Kristian Talvitie, a Finnish designer, received an honorable mention.

KOJA by Polestar. No wheels. No motor. A tree house. (Image: Polestar)

That said, Talvitie’s design for a microspace tree house was built full scale by Polestar designers, Talvitie and personnel from Finnish design agency Ultra.

The KOJA has been installed at the Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale in southwestern Finland.

Polestar builds vehicles, not tree houses that are positioned just below the tree canopy for high visibility of the wilderness.

Maximilian Missoni, head of Design at Polestar, said, “We were fascinated by the idea and how it translates our brand values [e.g., accessibility, sustainability] into a different environment.”

Yes, that. And probably because they wanted to have a little fun.

*It is also holding one this year. Designers love designs even of things that they’re not paid to design.

The Other EV Battery

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When you think about electric vehicles and batteries, you probably think of those massive lithium-ion units that are driving the electric motors. But there is more that needs electricity on board EVs beyond the motors, like, say, the audio system. And this leads to something that you’re undoubtedly familiar with–more or less—if you pop the hood on an old Chrysler or a new Chevy and damn near everything in between: a 12-Volt battery. Yes, batteries like that–more or less–are in EVs, too.

Clarios builds >150 million vehicle batteries per year. About a third of all the batteries produced in the world

It has batteries in cars old and new. Including EVs.

(Image: Clarios)

While your car likely has a typical lead-acid battery in it, if you have a start-stop system built into the powertrain system, it is has an absorbent glass mat (AGM) battery on board. It is engineered to withstand that regular starting and stopping.

Mark Wallace is the CEO of Clarios. And on this edition of “Autoline After Hours” Wallace explains the why and how of AGM batteries in EVs. Clairos has developed what it calls a “Smart AGM” battery for EV and plug-in hybrid applications that provides real-time communication with the vehicle system to assure overall performance.

And, of course, he talks about more conventional batteries, too.

While “lead-acid batteries” sound like they are an environmental nightmare, turns out that those batteries are made with 99% of materials that can be recycled or reused and 90% of the batteries produced are made from recycled materials.

Wallace talks with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, freelance writer Sebastian Blanco, and me on the show.

And you can see it here.

Does Clay Modeling Matter in the Age of the Metaverse?

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By Gary S. Vasilash

The metaverse notwithstanding, when it comes to developing the designs of most vehicles—particularly when those vehicles are intended to be things that are duplicated thousands of times over several years—there is something to be said for physical objects.

To be sure, there are software design packages that designers use to create designs to a degree that are not merely photorealistic, but which can be manipulated in VR space.

These designs seem real. But those designs aren’t real.

Crossovers, cars and trucks, unlike digital models, exist in real reality, not virtual reality.

The sun shines on them. Clouds occlude the sun. Shadows form. Surfaces pop or fade.

Vehicle designs will exist in the tangible world.

So while there are vehicles that are completely designed in math (after all, that’s what software is), there are more vehicles designed with the aid of clay.

Clay milling a Rivian. (Image: Rivian)

Yes, that substance that you may remember playing with as a child.

Well, not exactly that, as there is a variant of the material that is formulated to be used in automotive design studios.

But substantially the same.

The material is used to create full-size models of vehicles.

In order to make one of these models in a reasonable amount of time the clay is milled with cutting tools.

The producer of clay milling machines (as well as a number of other machine tools that are used on metals) is TARUS. In fact, the company invented the clay mill in response to a request from General Motors.

Does the clay mill still matter?

On this edition of “Autoline After Hours” we decided to find out. So we asked Doug Grieg, Jr., co-owner of TARUS. To get some good perspective, “Autoline’s” John McElroy and I are joined by John Manoogian II, who had spent 35 years at GM Design, with his last position being director of Exterior design for Cadillac.

Anyone who wants to know the ground truth about automotive design cannot miss this show, which you can see right here.

Gas(p)

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Twenty-two percent of model year 2022 vehicles require premium gasoline.

Require.

Not “Premium Recommended.”

That, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

That number is actually part of a decline in number of vehicles requiring 91 (or higher) octane that started in 2019.

As in:

  • 2019: 29%
  • 2020: 28%
  • 2021: 26%

The last time it was 22% was 2016.

According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of premium fuel is $5.65.

The average price for regular is $4.95.

That’s a 70-cent difference.

So for a 20-gallon fill, that’s a difference of $14.

Of course, those who buy vehicles that require premium can probably afford premium.

Until they can’t.

Why Connecting Brakes to the Internet Is a Good Idea

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By Gary S. Vasilash

Nowadays, more and more devices are being connected to the internet, from thermostats to doorbells to refrigerators to traffic signals to car brakes.

Brakes?

Yes, explains Rich Nesbitt, head of Product Management, Chassis Systems Control, Bosch, the brakes that the company is producing are ready to be connected to the ‘net. Whether they’ll be connected or not is a decision, of course, of the OEM deploying that brake capability.

(Image: Bosch)

Nesbitt says that the connectivity provides advantages during the development of the braking system, as information can be readily collected and then deployed by the engineers.

It can also provide benefits for the driver, whether it is monitoring the brakes so as to determine when service will be required or, taking advantage of vehicle-to-infrastructure connection, providing information about the road conditions ahead.

And it can provide benefit to the OEM, as this is still more data that can be harvested from vehicles for purposes of monetization.

Nesbitt talks about the hows and why of internet-enabled brakes on this edition of “Autoline After Hours” with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, Jack Keebler, journalist and consultant, and me.

In addition to which, McElroy, Keebler and I talk about a number of other subjects, including Ford’s recent recalls, vehicle affordability (or lack thereof), the consequences of high gas prices on sales of pickups and large SUVs, and other subjects.

And you can see it all here.

Building the ID. Buzz

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By Gary S. Vasilash

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz will not go on sale in the U.S. until 2024. The degree of interest in this vehicle is immense, perhaps, in part, because while there are other OEMs offering (or developing) EV pickups, Volkswagen has this “microbus” category to itself when it comes to fully battery electric vehicles (i.e., Chrysler has long had the Pacifica hybrid and Toyota offers the current-generation Sienna only as a hybrid).

And even were others to get into this space (e.g., GM brings back the Venture, Silhouette and Trans Sport—wait, while the first was a Chevy the other two were, respectively, an Olds and a Pontiac, and they don’t exist anymore—the brands; there are undoubtedly some Silhouettes and Trans Sports still out there, as S&P Mobility says that the average age of a truck on the road is 11.6 years) they would not have the same resonance as the ID. Buzz will.

VW ID. Buzz, Euro model. (Image: VW)

The ID. Buzz is being produced in Hanover, Germany, by the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) operation. One reason why that’s reasonable is there is a commercial variant of the vehicle, the ID. Buzz Cargo.

The vehicles have been in production since May, as they are available in the home market.

(Also in Hanover they’re producing the Multivan with various powertrain options, including a plug-in hybrid.)

Josef Baumert, member of the VWCV Brand Management Board for Production and Logistics, said, “After 203 we will produce 130,000 units of the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo at our Hanover plant” annually.

Given that Ford got 200,000 preorders for its F-150 Lightning before it put a pause on taking any more names lest those waiting and waiting become annoyed with Ford, odds are that the 130,000 is going to be an insufficient number for the microbuses to meet demand in Europe and the U.S.

Of course, that’s a good problem for a vehicle manufacturer to have.

Sono Has a Bright Idea

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One of the types of energy for transportation that doesn’t get very much attention is solar. Certainly unless you live in Arizona or some place like that solar tech is probably not as efficient as plugging in an electric vehicle and letting the grid do the work. Yet when it comes to renewable energy for transportation, the Sun is more beneficial than the Local Electric Utility.

Sono Motors, a German company, is working to develop solar-powered transportation, as in the Sion, a solar-powered passenger car for which it has more than 18,000 reservations.

But it also sees other applications.

Delivery vehicle uses solar energy. (Image: Sono Motors)

So the company, looking to amass data on how well solar works in places including Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern—which are certainly not Phoenix, Tucson or Sedona—is working with the Rhenus Group, a logistics service provider, integrating solar modules onto a 15-tonne test vehicle that will be used for last-mile logistics.

Jonas von Frieling, Head of Innovation Hub for the Rhenus Home Delivery and Rhenus High Tech, points out, “If there is a widespread switch in transport to electric drives, supply must grow accordingly. Solar cells on vehicles could relieve the grid in the process and offer respite for fleet managers by easing the burden on charging infrastructure.”

A point that would be beneficial for other logistics providers to take into account as they make their transitions to EVs. Wherever they’re located.