Mazda: Looks Aren’t Everything

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The MX-30 EV has a problem, and that is how it is engineered

By Gary S. Vasilash

When it comes to vehicle styling, Mazda is a stand-out company. It is remarkable how the company has consistently brought out vehicles with the sheet metal shaped and formed in ways that would only be in the “concept car” category for other OEMs, and even then they might hesitate.

And Mazda has kept the Miata (which is officially known as the “MX-5,” but even though that’s been the case for some years, it will always be the Miata) in production when those people wearing the proverbial green eyeshades would have struck it from the list of offerings a long, long time ago.

2022 Mazda MX-30 EV: Looks good. Doesn’t go far. (Image: Mazda)

That Mazda has continued is a testament to what could be called “pluckiness.”

And the auto industry is a better place for it.

Which brings me to the forthcoming 2022 Mazda MX-30 EV.

And why I think it is going to be, well, let’s just say not particularly successful.

Yes, it is a crossover, which is good in the market.

Yes, it continues with the Kodo design language, evolved, which is good for everyone who looks at vehicles.

Yes, it probably has a great interior, as this has been something that Mazda has been consistently brining to market. (Apparently the interior of the MX-30 features cork, a nod to the company’s founding more than a century ago as a cork manufacturer.)

Yes. Yes. Yes.

But.

It has an EPA estimated range of 100 miles.

That is absolutely insufficient.

Mazda evidently knows that because for owners of the MX-30 (and know that the vehicle will be available in California, not other markets) there is what it is calling the “Mazda MX-30 Elite Access Loaner Program,” which provides access to other Mazda vehicles—all of which have a >100-mile range—for up to 10 days per year for three years.

The base MSRP is $33,470. And just 100 miles?

Beyond the Bolt Battery Problem

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Yes, it is an issue right now, but it has serious ramifications going forward

By Gary S. Vasilash

The facts of the situation is that General Motors is recalling all of the Chevrolet Bolts that the company has ever built. About 142,000. “Out of an abundance of caution.” There is a manufacturing defect in the batteries that could lead to fires. The batteries are produced for GM by LG Energy Solution.

GM is going to replace the batteries in the vehicles.

All in, the price is going to be on the order of $1.8-billion.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV connected to a DC fast charger during the final stage of production at the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Chevrolet)

GM and LG are currently building two battery plants. But these plants are for a different type of battery—“Ultium” is the brand name—than the type of battery found in the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. It doesn’t have a brand name.

The new GM EVs—which aren’t out yet—will  have the Ultium batteries, not the type found in the Bolt.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t potential problems with the Ultium battery somewhere down the road. But it does mean that there aren’t issues for those new vehicles—e.g., Cadillac Lyriq, HUMMER EV—right out of the box.

What could be a real problem for GM—no matter how well the recall is handled—is that of the perception of potential consumers.

There needs to be a sell of the whole idea of an EV. This is not easy. Everyone driving today is at least passingly familiar with pulling into a gas station. But charging is something else entirely. First of all, everyone (I know I am using this broad brush broadly, but let’s face it: we live in a transportation environment that is predicated on petroleum) knows where gas stations are. How many people know where charging stations are? (Yes, most haven’t had a need to look for them, but I have, and they aren’t easy to find, even if you know where they are.) So some people are going to be off-put by that. And there are issues like the comfort of plugging in, and the time required to charge a vehicle. (“What if it is raining?”)

These are real challenges. Non-trivial challenges.

GM now has a group of people who are going to be all the more trepidatious to get an EV that it needs to convince to buy EVs. GM wants the EV to be a mass-market vehicle, not something driven just by the rich or enthusiastic.

All OEMs—with the probable exclusion of Tesla—are pretty much faced with the challenge of convincing people about buying EVs.

GM now has a particular problem as a result of this recall.

Mobility in Michigan

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The auto industry is changing. And Michigan is doing so right along with it

By Gary S. Vasilash

To be sure, the world is chasing advanced mobility solutions, things that will include cars and trucks as we know them—more or less—as well as other modes of transportation, be they electric scooters or air taxis.

Of the places in the world where this is probably focused on more than almost anywhere else is Michigan, given that the southeastern part of the state is where cars and trucks as we know them originally emerged in sufficient numbers that, well, we know them. (While Henry Ford didn’t “invent” the automobile nor the truck, what he did do was create a system whereby those things became accessible to regular people: manufacturing operations may not be the sexiest of things, that’s how Ford, as the phrase has it, “put the world on wheels.”)

Detroit Smart Parking Lab (Image: Ford)

Certainly there are other places where mobility is of intense interest, whether it is Silicon Valley or Stuttgart.

So the state of Michigan appointed its first chief mobility officer, Trevor Pawl. And we have him on this edition of “Autoline After Hours.”

Pawl’s undertakings in this position are wide ranging.

For example, the State announced it is working with Ford, Bedrock and Bosch to launch what is described as “the nation’s first-of-its-kind, real-world test site for emerging parking technology.” Yes, parking. It is the “Detroit Smart Parking Lab.”

About a year ago the state announced that it would be building what is described as “a first-in-the-nation connected and autonomous vehicle corridor” between Detroit and Ann Arbor, again working with a number of partners (including Ford—that company is serious about the future of transportation).

And Pawl and his team are working on the ways and means to get seniors and the disabled to where they need to go. They are working on the build-out of charging infrastructure.

And a whole lot more.

Pawl talks with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley of IHS Markit, and me on the show.

And you can see it all here.

Chevrolet Measures Back-to-School Driving Concerns

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And when you enter a school zone, slow the hell down

By Gary S. Vasilash

You may have noticed that Chevy ads of late are focusing on how their new vehicles can help keep kids safe.

So as to underscore that with some data, Chevrolet contracted the Harris Poll to survey 1,204 adults who have at least one child from 3 to 18 about their concerns vis-à-vis their offspring and driving, which is likely to be more prevalent this year as many kids will actually be going back to school in person rather than via Zoom.

The survey shows that 68% of the adults think that getting back on the road this year every day is a troubling concern.

One of the issues: 61% say that their teen driver had less time behind the wheel last year and therefore the driving skills may be less than what regular practice could provide.

And then there is the issue of other drivers.

Seventy-eight percent of parents say that other drivers seem more unsafe than they were before the pandemic. Perhaps they lost practice time, too.

And 73% say that there seem to be more aggravated drivers on the road now than there were pre-pandemic, which is certainly a non-trivial issue.

Let’s face it: there is nothing funny about an agitated person who is rusty in their skills piloting a two-ton object at speed.

Drive safely.

Regardless of what you’re driving, physics are physics and accidents do happen—with incredibly unfortunate consequences ensuing.

The EV Infrastructure Issue

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Yes, people like fast and free. How do you build a business case on that?

By Gary S. Vasilash

“Public charging infrastructure is a key component in the overall adoption of electric vehicles by the broad population.

“Unfortunately, the availability of public charging is the least satisfying aspect of owning an EV. Owners are reasonably happy in situations where public charging is free, doesn’t require a wait and the location offers other things to do—but that represents a best-case scenario.

“The industry needs to make significant investment in public charging to assure a level of convenience and satisfaction that will lure potentially skeptical consumers to EVs.”–Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power.

J.D. Power has launched its first U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Public Charging Study, so Gruber’s observations are predicated on the responses of actual battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

Think about this:

  • People like free
  • People like fast
  • People like distractions

If energy providers are going to increase the speeds of charging, then this means they’re going to need to spend more money on their equipment.

So free and fast seem to be at odds.

And let’s face it: there is only so long that any business that wants to stay in business is going to be able to offer something for nothing.

As for the distractions, that goes to the point of the amount of time that it takes to recharge an EV.

Again, if the speed goes up, then the need for much in the way of distractions goes down.

(At a local bp station there are video screens on the pumps that play canned content that are high on the annoyance scale and subtractive on the info scale. Thank goodness it takes a brief period of time to recharge.)

Gruber noted: “Building a better infrastructure starts with more collaboration among automakers, charge point operators, site locations, utilities and government at all levels.”

All of which is to say that in order to get more EVs in more garages it is going to take more than having features that allow a vehicle to go incredibly fast or to maneuver like a crustacean.

Auto: High/Low

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Better (1) have lots of cash—or credit—and (2) be flexible in your vehicle choice

By Gary S. Vasilash

According to Kelley Blue Book automobile prices hit an all-time high in July—and affordability hit a 10-year low.

Here’s a number that is undoubtedly making OEMs and dealers happy and consumers not:

42,736

Stick a $ in front of that and that’s the average transaction price—a.k.a., what people actually pay—for a new vehicle.

This, according to KBB, is $3,223 more than it was one year ago and $402 more than in June 2021.

What’s more, incentives are down, therefore accounting, in part, for the decline in profitability.

That is, in July 2021 the average incentive was 5.9% of the average transaction price. In July 2020 it was 10.1%.

And while probably not as crazy as things are in residential real estate, it is a bit of a surprise to learn that the average price paid was above the manufacturers’ suggested retail price.

You read that right: people paid more than MSRP.

Another factor that plays into this price rise is the lack of inventory. While the last time you went out for a new vehicle the dealer lot was probably jammed with new vehicles, nowadays it has the look of a church parking lot on a Monday.

Lamborghini Gives Goosebumps

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“The first Countach has been present in our Centro Stile as a model for some years now. Whenever I look at it, it gives me goose bumps and it serves as the perfect reminder for me and the entire design team to design every future Lamborghini in a visionary and futuristic way. This is an unnegotiable part of our DNA, the essence if you so will. The first Countach shaped the Lamborghini design DNA like no other car; the new Countach translates that unconventional and edgy character into the future.”— Mitja Borkert, Head of Centro Stile, Lamborghini

///

The first Countach—pronounced “Coon-tach,” according to Lambo; it is an expression of surprise and wonder in the Piedmontese dialect—had its run between 1974 and 1990.

Lambo has introduced a new version of the supersports car, the LPI 800-4.

Lamborghini Countach now (front) and then (rear). (Image: Lamborghini)

From the design point of view, there is the well known inverted wedge shape.

In addition to which:

  • The face of the new car is inspired by the Quattrovalvole edition, including a long, low rectangular grille and headlights and hexagonal wheel arches
  • The sharp fall of the greenhouse pickup the straight lines of the original Countach
  • There are the classic Periscopio lines that run from the roof to the rear of the car

Odds are you’re not going to see the LPI 800-4 in all of its carbon fiber glory.

There will be 112 built.

But you probably didn’t have $2.6-million on hand to buy a car, anyway.

Charging EVs With Green Energy

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An invention that could make more people use environmentally benign charging for their electric vehicles

By Gary S. Vasilash

While some people buy electric vehicles because they are fashionable or because they like the performance or because they detest the smell of gasoline and beef jerky, some other people buy EVs because they are environmentally sensitive and have read studies or heard that guy in a Starbucks holding forth about how EVs are better for the environment than combustion cars.

While that is true—or so the studies and the guy in Starbucks seem to indicate—there is also an issue that these people need to take into account, which is that a lot of electricity is generated by activities like burning coal. Again, while in the long run the EV—even with the sketchy source of power—is better for the environment, there is better. . .and there is better.

And Jim Bardia of Change Wind Corp. has the proverbial better idea.

It is generating electricity for electric vehicles with wind and/or solar power.

While that in itself is not unique, the approach he is taking certainly is.

(The name of his unit isn’t particularly exceptional, however: Wind & Solar Powered Tower.)

He has designed a wind mill that, unlike the pinwheel style we’re all familiar with from charming postcards from Holland or those unsightly windfarms outside of Palm Springs, are axially oriented: think of a can with sections cut out that is centered on a post stuck in the ground that spins when the wind blows. More: the top of the setup is covered with photovoltaic cells that catch the sun. The post is hollow so all of the collected energy is sent down to the equipment at the bottom (including battery storage) that allows electric vehicle charging.

(OK: if you’re thinking about a can on a stick that somehow was engineered to generate electricity, that would be a scale that might work with a Hot Wheels car. Barida is talking about something that is, well, massive, for grown-up vehicles, as in generating 52.2 kW per hour and being capable of an output of 480-volt DC fast charging.)

In this arrangement the devices can be located in parking lots of everything from car dealerships to shopping malls to football stadia.

While it doesn’t necessarily need to be connected to the “grid” (which, as many people have learned this summer, isn’t exactly the most robust of things), Bardia says that it is beneficial to connect to it because excess power can be sold back to the utilities.

Bardia talks about this clever idea on this edition of “Autoline After Hours” with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, Chris Paukert of Roadshow by CNET, and me.

And Paukert, McElroy and I talk about a number of other issues, including whether Geely is one of the most interesting vehicle companies in the world, the Biden plan for 50% EVs by 2030 and the EPA regs that may make >30% EVs by 2030 a necessity for OEMs, and a whole lot more.

All of which you can see here.

A Valkyrie Variant

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Aston Martin develops a clever top for its screamingly fast model

By Gary S. Vasilash

First there was the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Now there is the Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider.

What changed?

Well, the top.

The 1,139-hp (!) hybrid V12 powertrain is in both.

The carbon fiber structure is the same—nearly.

But the Spider has a different roof—entirely.

Valkyrie Spider: Gorgeous. (Image: Aston Martin)

The roof has a carbon fiber central panel that is flanked by polycarbonate windows, which are hinged. The panel hoods to the windshield surround in the front and to the vehicle tub—modified for the topless version—at the rear. Also, the dihedral doors, front hinged, are different on the Spider compared with the non-arachnid version, so as to facilitate roof removal.

This is unusual: Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Tobias Moers said: “The sound of that 6.5-litre V12 engine revving to over 11,000 rpm with the roof removed is something I cannot wait to hear.”

Wouldn’t you imagine that the guy who runs the company would have heard it long before it was made public?

Incidentally: the company plans to produce 85 Valkyrie Spiders, all of which are spoken for.

Missed your moment.

Rivian’s Second Factory

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And what about its first?

By Gary S. Vasilash

Word is that Rivian, the company that will be producing an electric pickup—the R1T—and an SUV—the R1S—at its factory in Normal, Illinois (quite a name for a burg, if there ever was one), where it is also producing commercial vehicles for Amazon, which is one of its investors (as are Ford, Cox Automotive and others), is looking for a plot of land upon which to build a second factory with a 200,000-vehicle per year capacity.

Seems like the company has big aspirations.

And on the subject of big, it also seems that Texas has the inside track on the factory.

But here’s the thing: the 2.6-million square foot factory in Normal has capacity of over 200,000 vehicles.

You’d think, perhaps, that they would want to make sure that (1) they have all of the bugs worked out of the processes and (2) that they would have sufficient demand for their vehicles before looking to spend a rumored $5-billion on a second factory.

Of course, factories don’t go up overnight.

That said: Might this not be a bit premature?