Car News-Global and Domestic

[myglaren]

^^Earworm

Max Bygraves has a lot to answer for.

[Gibbo2286]

Ah! Good old Max, I recall seeing him at the Bristol Hippodrome where he introduced this ' new boy ' to the stage.

[NewcastleFalcon]

VW getting their message across in Birmingham in very special paint.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Just porting this over from the Electric Cars Whats Available thread to add to the story first reported back in February on this thread.

More on the Hyundai / LG Chem battery fire issue:

https://insideevs.com/news/492167/repor ... ry-recall/

LG Chem to foot 70% of the cost of the recall. Quite a high proportion for a company who claimed that Hyundai was to blame for the problem.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Another aspect of the "Batteryfiregate" is the response of General Motors on the back of decision of Hyundai to recall and replace. As at the last count GM Engineers were proposing further software fixes by April to correct a problem in the Chevy Bolt which uses the same LG Chem ( now LG Energy Solutions) cells. Unlikely that mudslinging would be of any benefit to either company, due to their existing collaborations, and GM's recent public launch of their electrification strategy turnaround.


GM and LG are heavily tied together in battery development of their "Ultium" Cells which will underpin GM's Electrification plans. With the ban of Korean rivals SK Innovation in the USA, GM's eggs are in the LG Energy Solutions basket.

GM has confirmed that it is working with LG to build another battery factory in the US under their joint-venture.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Well if you like hearing things from the horse's mouth
I give you VW CEO Ralf Brandstätter

at least there's no music and very little superfluous Razamataz,



Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

It falls down on fact at the "Volkswagen as a responsible company." comment, I wonder how much 'defeat programming' is built into their new e stuff.

[NewcastleFalcon]

It falls down on fact at the "Volkswagen as a responsible company." comment, I wonder how much 'defeat programming' is built into their new e stuff.

I like the way they have gone back to basics....a sheet of A4 and a few coloured pencils

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Just 12 Months ago Aston Martin, made an announcement entirely in the opposite direction. They were to pull the plug on on EV development until at least 2025 as part of their "Turnaround" plan.

I wonder if they have changed?
Apparently so. Heads just about taken out of the sand, and a large chunk of their shares (20%) now in the possession of Mercedes Benz, as well as the Consortium led by Canadian Lawrence Stroll, who likes his Formula 1.

Story
Aston Martin: The billionaire building 'a British Ferrari'

So new story as reported by Bobins here on their electric turnaround. Has just about everyone fallen into line now Even Toyota despite their success with the self-charging hybrid con, are releasing 100% BEV models now.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

More Volkswagen News. Of all the traditional automakers, I get the impression that Volkswagen know what they have to do more than most, and yes perhaps accelerated by dieselgate.

Its fairly obvious that battery supply is the critical item for any global automaker, as is not putting all your eggs in the basket of a single supplier.

VW announces its own Tesla-like battery day, will produce cells in Spain

To date, the German automaker has focused on issuing long-term battery supply contracts worth $48 billion with existing battery manufacturers. The contracts are estimated to be for about 300 GWh of battery cells.

VW split those billions worth of contracts between several companies: Samsung SDI, LG Chem , SK Innovation, and CATL. The company has also started to become increasingly involved in battery cell development and production in partnerships with companies like NorthVolt and QuantumScape.

VW CEO Herbert Diess also confirmed plans to build battery cells in Spain as part of the conversion of their Martorell factory:

Our plans are bold: Conversion of Martorell into a fully electric car plant, local cell production in Spain, build up of infrastructure for fast charging and green energy…

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Vauxhall: Talks over fate of Ellesmere Port plant 'productive'

Stellantis have 3 options
three options on the table for the plant include:

1. Continued production of internal combustion engine-powered cars - with the possible addition of the new hatchback model - for the short-term until the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030.

2. Making plans to wind down production at Ellesmere Port completely.

3. Securing the plant's long-term future by committing to making a new generation of electric cars in the North West.

Only 3 works, and for some kind of commitment to doing it Stellantis will hold out for as much financial assistance as they can screw out of the threat of (2) to walk away completely.

Are there any competitors ready to step up with ambitious plans to expand UK EV Automotive manufacturing
what price would have to be paid in financial incentives to court those players ,
and how quickly could they step up production.

Let's remind ourselves of current UK EV Manufacturing....yes the only vehicle in any sort of volume is still the Nissan Leaf, a little bit of e-Mini, and London Electric Vehicle Company churning out a few Taxis.

Every other EV in the expanding range of EV's is manufactured outside the UK, and Stellantis have no plans to change that, unless they are given a financial package they cant refuse to make EV's at Ellesmere Port or anywhere else in the UK.

Will the Chinese and South Koreans and the Californians outbid and outcompete Stellantis and set up a manufacturing base in the UK Stellantis have a head start. They have factories, they have skilled workers, but the factories currently have no future making the products they currently do. Stellantis know this and do have some leverage to bid for the unlevel playing field they desire. Expect Nissan amongst others to call "foul" although pot calling the kettle black may come to mind.

The existing need challenging by the new, and let the fittest survive. Stellantis and Nissan need a kick up the UK EV Manufacturing backside from some new kids in town, and in my view the place they are most likely to come from is South East Asia. Hello MG, Hello Hyundai, Hello KIA, Hello BYD etc..

Japan in the form of HONDA from July 2021, will have exited Swindon, and deciding to make their electric offerings elsewhere only to have to sail them half way around the world rather than load them up on transporters and drive them out the gates at Swindon. Bigger scale than Stellantis operations at Ellesmere Port too, more jobs, more production capacity.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Had a little bit of a delve into Centrica and found that they run the 3rd largest fleet of vehicles in the UK.
and. they plan to electrify them all by 2025 and to never buy an ICE vehicle again.

So here's some great News for Stellantis 2,000 orders for one of their electric offerings from that British as frogs-legs brand Vauxhall. Surely they will be cheering in Luton. Well not really

Vauxhall’s all-electric Vivaro won’t be built in UK

and interesting update with some clubbing together of some fleet operators to try to bring e-vivaro production to UK dated Dec 2020 but no further news or announcement from Stellantis. For the moment all e-vivaro vans come from France.

Vauxhall in talks about producing electric vans in Britain following calls from some of the country's biggest fleet operators Talks ongoing about whether the vehicles could be made at a plant in Luton

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mar ... itain.html

British Gas makes largest UK commercial EV order with Vauxhall and commits to accelerating the electrification of its fleet

British Gas today announces that it is ordering 2,000 new all-electric Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall and has introduced plans to never purchase another combustion engine vehicle.

As part of its commitment to become a net zero organisation, Centrica, owner of British Gas, has committed electrify its 12,000 strong operational fleet by 2025, five years earlier than originally planned and will be making further orders with Vauxhall for electric vehicles as soon as they are available. Centrica has also committed to make its 1,500 company cars EV only in the same time frame.

Regards Neil

[bobins]

Had a little bit of a delve into Centrica and found that they run the 3rd largest fleet of vehicles in the UK.
and. they plan to electrify them all by 2025 and to never buy an ICE vehicle again.

British Gas today announces that it is ordering 2,000 new all-electric Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall and has introduced plans to never purchase another combustion engine vehicle.

Regards Neil

Would that be a bit of sophistry from Centrica / British Gas ? I'd be surprised if they actually buy any vehicles these days, I'd have thought they're all leased in some way ?

[Gibbo2286]

I don't know about 'these days' Bobbins, when I was trading I used to buy used fleet vans direct from British Gas, mostly Ford Transits and LDVs.

The Vauxhalls listed in Neil's post are actually Renaults rebadged (Trafics and Masters) I don't know if they were ever built at Luton.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I don't know about 'these days' Bobbins, when I was trading I used to buy used fleet vans direct from British Gas, mostly Ford Transits and LDVs.

The Vauxhalls listed in Neil's post are actually Renaults rebadged (Trafics and Masters) I don't know if they were ever built at Luton.

The 2014 Version of the Vivaro was indeed a partnership of Renault/Nissan/Fiat/Vauxhall/Opel. The New Version is Based on a PSA EMP2 platform shared with the Dispatch and Peugeot Expert Vans.


The anomaly is the the new Vivaro petrol and diesel version is being built at Luton, temporary reprieve unless they move production of the e-Vivaro there, which I very much doubt. The French government still keep a stake in Stellantis it would be unusual if they decided to move French e-vivaro jobs to Luton.

Remember this is the Vivaro petrol and diesel version only.
https://www.vansdirect.co.uk/new-vauxha ... 20plant%21

I don't think Stellantis are the future of the UK EV Manufacturing industry.

Regards Neil