POLESTAR DEVELOPING ITS OWN EV BATTERIES, MOTORS, ARCHITECTURE

Polestar isn't messing around. The company didn't exist in its current form a few years ago, and plans to go from zero sales in 2018 to 290,000 annual sales by 2025, with a break-even point by 2023 and profitability by 2025. Here's how. Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar Americas, told Green Car Reports earlier this month at a Polestar 1 drive that the future of Polestar really has nothing to do with, nor does it look like, the Polestar of today. "There's no reason the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 will be talked about in the same sentence," Hembrough said.

Polestar's goal is exponential growth with the introduction of the Polestar 3, Polestar 4, and Polestar 5. The automaker's target is the Porsche Cayenne with the Polestar 3, which it has already said will be a performance-focused EV. The Polestar 4 is aiming for the Porsche Macan. And the Polestar 5 will be putting a bullseye on the Porsche Panamera and Taycan. Specifically, Hembrough said, "Polestar wants to be a Porsche competitor, in design, performance, and innovation." To that end, Polestar's developing its own electric motors in-house in Sweden. Codenamed P10, the new electric motor will be about 1.5 times more powerful than those in the Porsche Taycan, with the target being 475 kw (a little over 600 hp). The motors will be compact at 36 by 50 by 64 cm) and connect to a 2-speed gearbox and the ability to disconnect for efficiency gains. It was noted by Hembrough that Polestar's new motors would not be shared with Volvo or Lotus, both of which are partners and sit within the parent company, Geely, automotive group. Polestar's UK team is currently developing a new in-house designed battery pack with Volvo and Lotus (the latter two will have access to the pack) with a new 800-volt electrical architecture. The new design will incorporate simplified compatibility with 400V fast-charging as well.

Hembrough was tight lipped on battery cell type, supplier information, and peak charge rate, but he noted at 103 kwh the pack would charge to 80% in 20 minutes or less. Bi-directional capability and V2X charging scenarios are also baked into the component set, at a rate of up to 20 kw.

All these components will sit within a new aluminum space frame architecture Polestar's developing as a clean-sheet platform for the Polestar 5. Volvo and Lotus will not have access to the new platform, according to Hembrough, though the executive noted Lotus will likely help with certain synergies such as suspension tuning. The Polestar 3, which will go into production in a year with deliveries taking place in Q1 of 2023, will ride on Volvo's SPA2 platform, Hembrough said. This will be the same platform underpinning the Volvo XC90 successor, though it's yet to be seen if any of these new components make their way into the Polestar 3.

Hembrough said Polestar will begin taking orders by the middle of 2022 for the Polestar 3, with the Polestar 3 to follow in 2023 and Polestar 5 in 2024.

Source: Green Car Reports

US AUTOMOTIVE SALES TO RISE IN 2022

New car sales in the United States are expected to rise next year, driven by pent-up demand as automakers in 2021 cut production due to pandemic-driven supply chain issues and semiconductor shortages, industry consultant Edmunds said on Thursday. The online car shopping guide estimated that 15.2 million new cars will be sold in 2022, representing a 1.2% increase from its 2021 vehicle sales estimate.

Source: Reuters

GM'S EV PLANS

General Motors Co. has talked up its electric-vehicle plans for years, and even generated buzz by resurrecting Hummer's gas-guzzling name in the form of an electric pickup truck. Now comes the tough part: selling mass-market EVs. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra will take the stage at the annual CES event in Las Vegas next month aiming to reveal how the Detroit automaker can expand beyond the exclusive -- and expensive -- plug-in luxury offerings and sell more practical EVs to the broader public. She'll show off an electric version of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and also talk about two smaller, cheaper SUVs, according to people familiar with the matter.

Source: Bloomberg

General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV production will remain down through February at the automaker's Orion Assembly plant in Lake Orion, GM said Thursday. The automaker has been prioritizing the output of new battery modules for the recalled EVs instead of making new vehicles. GM has mostly kept Orion Assembly production down since it announced the recall of more than 141,000 Bolts for battery fire risk in August. The automaker did reopen the plant for a couple of weeks in November to make replacement Bolts for customers awaiting recall repairs. 

Source: The Detroit News

General Motors is beginning to ship its GMC Hummer EV pickup to customers, marking a major milestone for the automaker and its next-generation electric vehicles. The new truck is the first to incorporate the Detroit automaker's Ultium platform, motors and batteries, all of which GM developed in-house and plans to use as the foundation for dozens of new electric vehicles in the coming years.

Source: CNBC

LEXUS PLANS TO CATCH UP

Lexus may be behind other luxury brands when it comes to getting full-electric vehicles into its U.S. showrooms, but when the first of at least four new EVs arrives late next year, the brand will rely heavily on its dealer network to catch up with — and perhaps overtake — its competitors. Lexus has been cast in a starring role in the $70 billion investment Toyota Motor Corp. will make globally in electrification, including half for battery-electric vehicles. CEO Akio Toyoda laid out the automaker's ambitious plans in a presentation in Tokyo this week that featured him speaking in front of 16 future battery-electrics.

Source: Automotive News

KPMG RAISES SPECTER OF USED-CAR PRICE DROP

KPMG warned that used-vehicle prices could fall abruptly and raise negative-equity issues once new-vehicle supply rebounds. The used-car market has historically been closely correlated with the new-car market, KPMG global head of automotive Gary Silberg told Automotive News on Monday. But used-vehicle prices are up 42 percent over January 2020 levels, while new-vehicle prices have only risen about 12 percent, KPMG said in a white paper released Tuesday.

Source: Automotive News 

TOYOTA TO START CAR HARDWARE, SOFTWARE UPDATE SERVICE IN JAPAN

Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it will launch a service next year offering customisation and updates for cars as customers increasingly hold on to their vehicles for longer. The service, known as Kinto Factory, will start in late January and offer new safety features, refreshed interiors, and software upgrades to car computer systems. Toyota is trying to transform itself from a maker and seller of cars to a more service-based "mobility company".

Source: Reuters

THE AVERAGE USED CAR PRICE IS NOW MORE THAN $27,500

We have all heard about prices rising for groceries and new cars, but don't think used cars have been left out of the race. Whether it's a 27 percent rise in the Philadelphia area, almost 28 percent in Utah or a 25 percent increase in Chattanooga, the numbers are going up. Analysis of retail listings and sold data done by Black Book, a Hearst company, found that the average sold price for a used car crossed $27,000 in early November and currently sits at just over $27,500.

Source: Car and Driver 

U.S. REVERSES TRUMP EFFORT TO QUASH CALIFORNIA VEHICLE EMISSIONS RULES

The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized a reversal of a rule issued under then-U.S. President Donald Trump that sought to pre-empt California's vehicle emissions regulations. The Department of Transportation said it was issuing final rules rescinding the Trump action, which sought to bar the most populous state in the nation from setting vehicle rules that might conflict with the federal government's authority to set Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements.

Source: Reuters

U.S. FACES TOUGH CHOICES IN 2022 ON MINES FOR ELECTRIC-VEHICLE METALS

The United States has enough reserves of lithium, copper and other metals to build millions of its own electric vehicles (EVs), but rising opposition to new mines may force the country to rely on imports and delay efforts to electrify the nation's automobiles. The tension underscores the dilemma facing the United States going into 2022, a year in which U.S. policymakers hope to see groundbreakings on a raft of EV manufacturing facilities from Ford Motor Co(F.N), General Motors Co(GM.N) and others.

Source: Reuters

FERRARI REORGANIZES

Ferrari said three managers will leave the automaker as the company implements a new organizational structure. The three executives include Chief Technology Officer Michael Leiters, who oversaw the development of the first series Ferrari hybrid cars: the SF90 Stradale, the automaker's first plug-in hybrid launched in 2019, and its first plug-in hybrid V6, the 296 GTB, launched earlier this year.

Source: Automotive News

GM TO PROVIDE AFTERMARKET PACKAGE TO ELECTRIFY CLASSICS

General Motors Co.'s next year will offer an aftermarket package to electrify older vehicles like a 1972 El Camino SS, the company said Wednesday. GM, which has pushed its goal of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion for years, estimates that electrification components could bring in $20 billion by 2030. One of those component sets is the coming Electric Connect and Cruise eCrate Package. Customers work with installers through GM's electric specialty vehicle modifier (eSVM) program to have engines in older vehicles replaced with an electric propulsion system. Pricing details weren't released Wednesday.

Source: The Detroit News

SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS SHIFTS POWER BALANCE - AUTOMAKERS VS. SUPPLIERS

A brutal year for automotive suppliers has had an unexpected upside. The same problems that have pummeled their business, from soaring commodity costs to supply chain issues, have also given them a newfound power at the negotiating table with their automaker customers. While automakers have maximized on a surge in demand by converting low vehicle inventory into record sticker prices and strong profits, suppliers have suffered the brunt of financial losses. But, the supply chain crisis has laid bare the interdependency of each tier from top to bottom and underscored the importance of players big and small.

Source: Automotive News

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