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World lags ‘decades’ to support fully electric vehicle market


Good morning! Today is Friday, May 19, 2023 and here it is Morning shift, your daily compilation of the top headlines from around the automotive world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.

Number 1: Toyota Take-It-Slow

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Toyota is a laggard for electric vehicles. The auto giant’s lead researcher, Gill Pratt, once launched and defended the company’s emphasis on hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles instead of battery electric vehicles, saying that if the goal is reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible worldwide the better the number of vehicles, then the data shows these Half measures have more impact than full electrification. Pratt doubled his lead ahead of this weekend’s G7 summit in Japan. From Bloomberg:

“Ultimately, resource constraints will come to an end, but for many years we won’t have enough battery materials and renewable charging sources for a BEV-only solution,” says Pratt, referring to the battery-powered vehicle.

“Battery materials and renewable charging infrastructure will eventually be abundant,” he said. “But it will take decades for battery material mines, renewable energy generation facilities, transmission lines and seasonal energy storage facilities to scale up.”

Pratt argues that pushing for full electrification before both the supply chain and the infrastructure are ready to handle it could push people back to gasoline-powered cars. That’s why Toyota remains committed to hybrids in the interim – that’s the company’s product line anyway.

Could it also be influenced by the fact that Toyota doesn’t have a compelling electric vehicle to offer? Sure, there’s nothing wrong with diversifying. But when you only option To be generally is considered low for others although it takes a long time to appear, you can’t honestly claim your heart in the fight. No one is forcing Toyota to go all-electric right away, but it could be in the company’s best interest to sell at least one good car.

Pratt was right, but Toyota really had no choice but to repeat that point over and over until it finally delivered the first electric car to convince everyone that it was indeed invested. Toyota didn’t start developing and honing its electric vehicles as soon as possible, even though it did the world’s leading car manufacturer in terms of volume over the past three years, and now it has a lot to catch up on. All he can do in the meantime is preach his gospel and lobbying.

2nd gear: Hyundai and Kia’s crazy action

There have been numerous lawsuits facing Hyundai and Kia over their former permanent decisions not to equip their cars with immobilizers, and now one of those class-action lawsuits has resulted in a $200 million settlement, NPR Friday morning report:

The settlement covers about 9 million owners of Hyundai or Kia vehicles built between 2011 and 2022 and featuring a traditional “insert and rotate” steel key ignition system, attorneys for the company said. owners said in a press release Thursday.

Owners compensation including up to $145 million in out-of-pocket money will be distributed to those whose vehicles are stolen. Affected owners can be reimbursed up to $6,125 for full vehicle damage and up to $3,375 for vehicle and personal property damage, as well as related costs. regarding insurance. […]

Auto companies said in February that they would begin rolling out software upgrades to the 8.3 million vehicles in the US that lack engine immobilizers – a feature that prevents cars from starting unless received receive an electronic signal from the key.

Since then, pressure on the company to do more to curb thefts has increased.

Citing increased theft, several cities including Seattle, St. Louis, Mo., Columbus, Ohio and Baltimore sued Kia and Hyundai. Last month, attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia called on NHTSA to issue a mandatory recall of the vehicles in question.

This is far from the end of this story. If you unfortunately have your Hyundai or Kia stolen, or have had to give up your first child for insurance, a lawyer wants to talk to you.

3rd gear: The rich Italians fight

John Elkann, chairman of Stellantis and CEO of Exor, which owns Ferrari among many things, is currently embroiled in a battle with his mother Margherita over ownership of the family business shares. It is long, long The story will be ruled in a court in Turin this summer. Here’s everything you need to know to get up to speed, courtesy Reuters:

The dispute stems from an inheritance agreement known as the “Geneva treaty” that Margherita, an artist and philanthropist, signed in 2004 after her father’s death. [Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli] years ago and agreed when Fiat was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Under the first treaty, Margherita received property, artwork, and other liquid assets from Gianni’s estate and waives any future influence over the Dicembre company (December), an important part of the estate. in Exor’s ownership structure, the shares of the Agnelli family.

The treaties solidified John Elkann’s position as Gianni Agnelli’s chosen successor and effectively removed his mother Margherita. […]

The second pact deals with what will happen to the estate of Margherita’s mother, Marella, who died only in 2019 at the age of 91.

Marella passed her shares of Dicembre to her three grandchildren, John, brother Lapo and sister Ginevra, from Margherita’s first marriage to journalist Alain Elkann.

Margherita wants the treaties canceled so that her children can be divided with her second husband Serge De Pahlen, a former French-Russian Fiat executive who is part of her grandmother’s fortune, sources close to her family said. she said.

Margherita also argued that undeclared assets belonging to her father were discovered after his death and that she was entitled to share this property with other family members.

There is also an element of this that revolves around whether Margherita’s mother’s legal residence is in Italy or Switzerland, which could negatively affect Elkann’s status. So, you see, it’s all very complicated and a great fodder for the Peacock original. Look for an update on the results in the coming weeks.

4th device: Hitachi is slow

Hitachi Astemo, a joint venture between Hitachi and Honda that makes automotive and railway components, reported Friday that it has been falsely testing its own products since the 1980s. Oh! From Reuters:

Hitachi Astemo … worked with customers to re-run tests on nearly two dozen affected products following the investigation, CEO Brice Koch told reporters.

“We have now taken all relevant measures to improve and strengthen the robustness of our system and our company,” Koch said, adding that he does not expect any any impact on growth or costs. […]

A joint venture between Hitachi Ltd and Honda Motor Co Ltd found that employees mishandled inspection and other procedures at 11 domestic and 4 overseas factories, in China. , Mexico, Thailand and the United States.

The company said the misconduct affected 22 products for 69 customers, including automotive rear shock absorbers and brake systems, automotive shock absorbers and connecting rods, as well as parts. other.

Koch said about three-quarters of the customers are Japanese and the rest are foreigners.

“The main root cause of misconduct is essentially a lack of knowledge (and) resources about compliance,” Koch said, adding that in some cases, employees have prioritized costs. and delivery time than quality and compliance.

I want to say so! Forty years of carelessness is almost impressive. I have heard about twenty years, but how do you both 1) stay in business for the time being and 2) face your customers again after completely stopping testing safety critical components throughout four decades? Yeah — the CEO said he doesn’t expect it to have any impact on growth, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

5th Device: JLR’s Battery Factory (Probably) Coming Home

Tata is looking to the UK, not Spain, as previously reported, for its next battery plant. That’s probably a good idea, since there’s a really good marketing story somewhere for Jaguar and Land Rover. From Bloomberg, by European Automotive News:

Tata, a consortium involved in industries from cars to salt, is now backing a UK factory after the UK government rolled out a support package, according to people familiar with the matter.

People say there is no final decision yet and Tata can still decide on another location.

A decision in the UK’s favor by Tata will secure the future of JLR’s factories in the country and mark a major coup for the government, as Spanish authorities are fighting to win the investment.

The plant – based in Somerset, UK – will produce batteries for Jaguar Land Rover’s planned all-electric vehicles from 2024.

The UK government has been desperate for some wins in the automotive sector, so this should be good news for locals. Jaguar’s Latest Invention There are a lot of rides on this one.

Opposite: Champion from the Gold Coast

On this day in 2014 – nine years ago – we lost Australian motor racing legend Jack Brabham.

Neutral: Two cents on Toyota

Do you think Toyota is being pragmatic or making excuses? Perhaps a bit of both? It’s always a bit of both, isn’t it?

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