Interesting Car/Truck Manufacturer News

Bensin said:

Why not take a shot at the Stellantis offerings? That would be cool. This is just play it safe and shit on your own legacy. Faster than a 28 year old Lightning.

Click to expand...

• TuSimple (NASDAQ:TSP) says it increased reservations in Q1 by 1,200 for a total of 5,775 by the end of the quarter. The reservation are noted to have come from blue-chip shippers, carriers and truck lessors including Penske, Schneider, and U.S. Xpress.
• In addition, TuSimple says it added 1K more truck reservations in April.
• The fleet of 70 retrofitted, autonomous-enabled trucks drove ~700K road miles in Q1, resulting in a cumulative total of ~3.7M miles driven. Those missions are said to have led to trucks' sensors collecting real-world data at a rate of hundreds of gigabytes per hour.
• CEO update: "TuSimple continued to gain momentum throughout Q1 2021 by refining our proprietary artificial intelligence technology and designing our purpose-built L4, Class 8 truck with Navistar. Alongside these technology developments, we led the industry in building autonomous vehicle ecosystem partnerships and expanded our Autonomous Freight Network."
• Read more details on the Q1 report
• TuSimple attracted a wave of positive analyst ratings today.

• Chinese trucking start-up Full Truck Alliance could file to go public in the U.S. as early as this week and value the company at as much as $30B.
• Full Truck Alliance, known as Manbang in Chinese, may raise around $1.5B in the IPO on the NYSE to value the company at $20B to $30B, according to CNBC, which cited a person familiar.
• The company connects drivers to individuals who want to ship goods and its been described as "Uber for trucks."
• In February, Bloomberg reported that Full Truck Alliance filed confidentially for an IPO in the U.S. and in November reported that the company raised $1.7B through investors including Softbank (OTCPK:SFTBY) and Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY).

Weather Man said:

and it will constantly improve through over-the-air updates.

Click to expand...

• Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson wouldn't commit to a 2022 target of 20,000 of the company's luxury cars.
• Rawlinson said the company is targeting more than 577 of the Lucid Air models this year and "significant growth" in 2022, he said in a CNBC interview.
• "We are very much on track for our plan," Rawlinson told CNBC. "We are aiming for over 577 vehicles this year and a significant increase throughout next year.''
• Lucid Motors is going public through a deal with SPAC Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV). CCIV fell 2% and has dropped more than 60% since announcing transaction with Lucid Motors.
• In March, Lucid Motors says luxury EV model almost fully reserved.
• CCIV shares popped on Friday after the company tweeted about an SNL appearance on Saturday, where Elon Musk, co-founder of rival Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) appeared on the sketch comedy show.

• As it looks to deepen its presence in the electric car market, Renault (OTC:RNSDF) is considering introducing battery-swapping capabilities, which would significantly cut waiting times at recharging stations. "It's not decided, but I see it as an interesting opportunity," CEO Luca de Meo told the FT. "We need to find a pragmatic solution, but from a business point of view, there's a point separating the battery from the car." The French automaker is part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world and a leader in EVs (think the pioneering Leaf and best-selling Zoe).
• Backdrop: Interestingly enough, Renault was once a trailblazer in battery swapping technology for electric vehicles. Starting in 2010, the carmaker became the primary partner for Better Place, an Israeli startup that hoped to revolutionize the e-mobility industry. The company initially set up shop in Israel, Denmark and Hawaii, but was plagued by financial difficulties and mismanagement, and eventually went bankrupt in 2013.
• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) also began conducting its own battery swapping trials in 2013, but it dropped the project a few years later as consumers increasingly expressed interest in its Supercharger network. While the process seems simple, making a business out of swapping is a bit complicated. Batteries are the single most expensive component in any EV, but they're still in a rapid stage of development and manufacturers have been reluctant to standardize anything. In fact, at Tesla's Battery Day event last September, the EV maker said it plans to integrate batteries into structural elements of future cars, comparing them to the fuel tanks located within the wings of an airplane.
• Enter NIO: The Chinese EV maker just recorded a milestone of 2M battery swaps to date and plans to double its Chinese network to more than 500 stations in 2021. Each NIO (NYSE:NIO) battery swap takes only a few minutes (and comes with a full charge), compared to the 35 minutes it takes a Supercharger to load a Tesla battery from 10% to 80% (it's even slower at home). Besides quicker turnaround times, battery swapping technology also allows EV makers to decouple the cost of batteries from their vehicles, meaning drivers aren't worried about depreciating battery capacity or the value of their cars.
• According to figures from the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla sold 25,845 made-in-China vehicles last month, down 27% from 35,478 in March. The EV sector was also sized up earlier this week after the Chinese government announced a subsidy for any manufacturer that offers battery swapping, or for EVs that are priced at $45,700 or less.

• Hyundai (OTCPK:HYMTF) unveils plans to spend $7.4B on its facilities in the U.S. through 2025 to include factory upgrades for building electric vehicles starting next year.
• Hyundai confirms the EVs will be made at its assembly plant in Montgomery, Alabama; it is not clear if the company's Kia factory in West Point, Georgia, also would make the vehicles.
• The company also expects to invest in hydrogen infrastructure in the U.S., including building a fuel cell truck demonstrator that will debut later in the year.
• Hyundai already sells the battery-powered Kona and Ioniq in the U.S., and it will introduce a new EV, the Ioniq 5, to the U.S. this fall; its Kia unit, which sells the Niro EV in the U.S., will bring in the EV6 next year.
• Hyundai, whose Alabama assembly plant is at full capacity in making 400K vehicles per year, has been achieving sales records in the U.S.

CobraBob said:

2021 Ford Bronco deliveries delayed 2-3 weeks, but still 'on track' for summer
Chip shortage affecting production of the all-new SUV
By Gary Gastelu | Fox News

The rebooted Ford Bronco has been a long time coming, and some customers are going to have to wait a little longer than expected to get theirs.

View attachment 1704142
2021 Ford Bronco (Ford)

The automaker has sent letters to order holders who were expecting to receive their trucks in early June notifying them that the delivery dates have been pushed back 2-3 weeks.

The delay is due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage hampering the auto industry and directly related to a current two-week shutdown at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant, where the Bronco is being built, that is scheduled to run through May 30.

View attachment 1704143

A Ford spokeswoman for manufacturing told the Detroit Free Press that the delays represent "adjustments" and that "we are still on track" for deliveries this summer.

Ford had previously shifted the start of deliveries from spring to summer due to production challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic before the chip shortage became the primary issue.

On the bright side, Ford last week confirmed that the Bronco will be more powerful than originally advertised after finalizing its ratings with higher outputs for its two engine options.

Click to expand...

thomas91169 said:

I'm starting to see a ton of these here.

Unfortunately, also seeing a ton of MachE's.

Click to expand...