+++ The upcoming ban on new petrol and diesel cars will transform motoring on a scale never seen before. This story is part of a wider analysis of the challenges faced by consumers, government and the automotive industry, what needs to happen, and how such drastic changes can be achieved over the next decade. Will the cars of 2030 be very different in terms of styling? They will be a step more modern but are unlikely to be deliberately challenging. Knowing that many buyers of 2030 will already be swallowing big changes in fuelling, powertrain specification and driving technique, car companies and their designers will be wary of frightening them further with off-the-wall designs or revolutionary models that don’t conform to conventional size classes. Take front grilles: today’s electric cars don’t need a huge frontal radiator any more, but when asked if he was planning to drop conventional grilles and long noses for future Jaguars, the marque’s forward-looking design boss, Julian Thomson, was reluctant to make that commitment. Besides, with so much new technology to incorporate (and pay for), companies will be keen to use as much existing crash and structural knowhow as possible. Expect much better packaging, though. Cars like Jaguar’s I-Pace and Volkswagen’s ID.3 already show the direction of travel: they look very modern and take advantage of unusual extra cabin space opportunities that simply weren’t available in the past, but they’re also designed to appeal to today’s car buyers. The mechanical layout will be different, however. The compactness of electric motors allows more flexibility about where they’re mounted. Already we’re seeing moves away from the near-universal transverse front-wheel-drive layout of lower-priced cars (the rear-drive BMW i3 is a good example). We’re also seeing 2WD and 4WD versions of very similar models (the Tesla Model 3, for instance) that are relatively close in price. As long as an electric model uses EV-specific architecture and isn’t straitjacketed to a previous combustion engine model, its creators will have much greater flexibility with mechanical layout, especially as better battery packaging develops. Trends will emerge, but at present there’s plenty of variety. How will car makers provide decent performance for big, heavy cars like Range Rovers? They will struggle in the next few years, although efficiency improvements promise progress soon. The first Bentley and Rolls-Royce EVs are due by 2025 and Jaguar has the electric XJ saloon ready to go now, provided it decides demand is sufficient to make a launch worthwhile. Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark acknowledges some difficulties in the early years (he will meet most demands for electrified Bentleys with plug-in hybrid models permitted for another 14 years) but believes the promised progress with battery packaging and chemistry will reduce the difficulties to practical levels, and improvements in infrastructure will also greatly help. Big-car makers have been claiming progress with aerodynamics and weight-saving for years, but they’re likely to make even greater compromises in these areas over the next decade to deliver more dramatic results. Will today’s big cars get smaller, with smaller frontal areas? Luxury car bosses don’t believe future buyers will want to compromise on size and space. They also may be limited in their ability to cut frontal areas much, because batteries for big cars will remain very large for several decades to come, and these normally fit below a car’s cabin floor, raising the whole thing and threatening to increase frontal area. Expect elaborate amounts of aerodynamics research, however; many engineers believe there are still important gains to be made in cars’ fundamental shapes. Active aero will become much more important, too: movable wings, splitters, diffusers, spoilers, air dams and gurney flaps will add cornering downforce (hence stability) but will retract when not needed. How much better can, say, a Nissan Leaf be in 9 years’ time in terms of weight, range and efficiency? The Leaf is exactly a decade old, so looking back helps us look forward. Original cars had 109 hp, a drag coefficient of 0.29, weighed 1.520 kg with a 24 kWh battery, could accelerate from 0-100 kph in 9.9 seconds and had a battery range of around 200 km. Today’s model is the same size, has the same drag factor and rides on the same wheelbase. With today’s biggest-available (62 kWh) battery and 220 hp, the latest Leaf e+ weighs 120 kg more (a modest amount, given its extra power and modern gadgetry), accelerates to 100 kph in 6.8 seconds and has around double the original car’s battery range. EV researchers say cars like the Leaf won’t make a similar stride in range over the next decade, because buyers are now relatively satisfied with a comfortable 320 km and are more concerned with the paucity of EV infrastructure. Providing yet more range would add unwelcome battery weight and cost that the buyer is unlikely to want to bear. Already, the 40 kWh version of today’s Leaf sells considerably better than the 62 kWh headline-grabber. Will today’s EVs, be much use in 2030 or hopelessly primitive? They will have exactly the same primary advantages as 2010 or 2030 electric cars (quietness, smoothness, ease of driving, cheap servicing and cheap fuelling) but battery degradation may become an issue. So far, batteries appear to decay in capacity somewhat less than expected. This has helped boost the residual values of second-hand EVs. The much-discussed idea of punctuating the countryside with battery banks made from time-expired EV batteries has so far failed to materialise for lack of supply. Still, the innate shorter ranges of older cars may make them better for short-haul duties. Will electrification mean shrinkage of the model ranges of ‘full-line’ brands like Ford? This seems likely. Even before the ranges of full-line makers such as Audi and BMW began to be interspersed with electrified models, the companies were looking to reduce costs by dropping marginal models. It’s probable that post-2030-era, manufacturers will need to concentrate on mainstream cars for at least the first generation, before they can find the time and investment for, say, a Focus RS EV. What will make cars feel special when all models are similarly fast, smooth and quiet? The key will be the designers’ and engineers’ success at creating distinctiveness and desirability and conveying quality. There are already examples of success on the market. The magnificent Porsche Taycan, considered by many to be the world’s finest electric car, shows how superb performance, fine driving factors, refinement, great styling, watch-like quality and a huge helping of road presence can make an electric car as desirable as any ICE equivalent. The surest route to success will be understanding how to build desirability. Meeting size, performance, mechanical layout and cost targets will be easy by comparison. How long will petrol and diesel cars still be on our roads? One rule of thumb is that by the time ICE cars are banned, two-thirds to three-quarters of the cars on roads will still be combution engine-powered. It takes at least 20 years to renew the country’s car parc. But there are many new unknowns: will buyers refuse to buy electric until they have to or embrace the new rules by moving now, before their ICE trade-in collapses and (possibly) fossil fuel costs rise? Research among potential EV buyers says much depends on the progress of reliable infrastructure; a matter that’s surely more and more in the hands of the government. +++
+++ We had heard rumours that BMW had initiated a project to come up with a direct rival for the Volkswagen ID.3 and other electric hatchbacks in the same class. That model was going to end up being called the i1, but according to a recent German media report, the Bavarian automaker has pulled the plug on the project, in order to focus more on developing larger electric saloons and SUVs. The i1 would have eventually been a replacement for the highly popular i3; the latter won’t get a direct replacement, but the i1 would have been roughly the same size, even if a completely different (more conventional) vehicle. Granted, it would have been a more expensive proposition than the Volkswagen, but even with the price premium, Europeans would still probably have bought it. Now, BMW has ceased development of the i1 because such a model precisely because it would have only really been suitable for Europe, but not other important markets such as North America or China (where SUVs and large saloons respectively are far more popular and would provide far better return on investment for the automaker). BMW hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of launching a new small EV. It is now reportedly working on a slightly larger i2 EV sedan, although development work on said model is not very advanced: this model just exists ‘ on paper ‘ right now. It may very well be a fully-electric version of the 2 Series long wheelbase (only sold in China right now), or it could be a completely different model based on different underpinnings. We’ll just have to wait and see which solution BMW goes for, if this project does move past the ‘on paper’ stage. BMW will still reportedly launch an iX1 compact electric SUV. It will basically be a BEV version of the reguler X1, similar to what the iX3 is to the X3. To me, this idea of abandoning the compact hatch but going forward with a high-riding model with a similar footprint is very similar to what another rival German automaker did. You may remember that before we even knew the EQA was going to be a crossover, Mercedes-Benz first previewed that model with a hatchback, an electric version of the A-Class. However, the EQA hatchback was dropped very very similar reasons (mainly that crossovers are just more popular these days) and the EQA became the electric version of the GLA. +++
+++ DS chief executive officer Béatrice Foucher says she is “not happy” with the sales performance of the brand so far, but is confident the new C-segment DS 4 can provide a springboard into this country’s “very large and competitive” premium market. “We have been underperforming”, she says, “but I don’t believe our cars are the problem. We have great products and we are happy with the way they are positioned. The cars we have coming also fit the market. It is more a matter of customer mindset, of communication. We have not yet found the right way to persuade premium customers to move on from their traditional brands. We must work harder on that”. DS will continue to sell its French-oriented ‘haute couture’ design message, says Foucher, although she believes the firm must also stress its cutting-edge technology (such as its plug-in hybrid models that also offer 4×4) because “we are not selling handbags”. With the right marketing, she believes the DS 4 can achieve “a big sales increase”, although she admits to not yet having all the answers in what has proved a difficult market. Even so, DS’s 2021 offensive will include “careful” sale of the already launched DS 9 luxury saloon, with supplies limited so as to avoid over-stocking and price discounting. DS dealers and bosses are already well aware of the poor residuals performance of large French saloons. “DS 9 is a very nice car, an exceptional car”, said Foucher. “We will take care not to kill it”. Referring to DS’s status within the newly formed Stellantis group, Foucher welcomed the opportunity to be part of a “premium pool” with Alfa Romeo and Lancia. “Having sisters and brothers makes us stronger”, she said. “We can develop new premium technology to share across our brands that might have been too expensive on our own”. DS retains its previously revealed ambition eventually to offer 6 models rather than the current four, but will not rush the process, Foucher said. +++
+++ FORD is working on a facelifted Focus. The brand’s refreshed family hatchback is expected to break cover at the end of this year, sporting a range of updates designed to keep it competitive with the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf and revised Hyundai i30. Ford will broaden the Focus’s lower intake slightly, while the openings to the side will been resized and moved: the parking sensor in the mould’s cutout occupies the space reserved for a fog lamp on the outgoing model. Changes at the rear will to be minimal, stretching to little more than a pair of revised tail lamps. I’m expecting a few tweaks to the interior, such as some new upholstery finishes and a fresh steering wheel design. However, it also looks like Ford has a substantial infotainment upgrade planned for the Focus. It will feature an enormous screen mounted on top of the dashboard, which could replace Ford’s 8 inch Sync3 unit on higher-spec models. It is not yet known whether the Focus will benefit from Ford’s new strategic partnership with Google, which will see all models use Android-based infotainment systems from 2023 onwards. The old car’s 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster has survived the update intact, although it’ll probably feature some fresh new graphics. Ford is unlikely to modify the Focus’s engine range for this facelift, as all of the hatchback’s powertrain have been designed with the latest Euro 6d emissions regulations in mind. So, petrol options will include a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder unit, with either 125 hp or 155 hp, and a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder for the hot ST variant, with 280 hp. Despite its declining popularity, the diesel line-up should remain untouched, with buyers offered the choice of 2 units. The 1.5-litre engine in the current car has an output of 120 hp, while the 2.0-litre option can be specced with either 150 hp or 190 hp. Buyers will also be able to spec 48 volt mild-hybrid versions of the 2 entry-level petrol engines, which features a belt-driven starter-generator and a dinky battery pack mounted under the passenger seat. The system can provide an extra 24 Nm of additional torque and helps to lower the engine’s fuel consumption. Ford said it has no plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid version. This is despite the fact that the Focus shares its platform with the Kuga PHEV and could easily borrow parts to make a fresh rival for the popular Volkswagen GTE. +++
+++ It’s strange, isn’t it, that HYDROGEN is the most abundant fuel on Earth, yet its use in vehicles (rockets and a few fringe machines aside) remains the subject of so much debate? If a journalist’s job is to seek out the truth and report it, I’m afraid that I’m going to disappoint you. Such is the depth of expertise and opinion on each side that it’s beyond my capabilities to draw a conclusion. It’s clear, though, that there’s worthy debate to be had. On the one side you have Tesla boss Elon Musk, who described hydrogen’s use on the road as “mind-bogglingly stupid” in reference to the amounts of energy required to produce it. On the other you have Sae Hoon Kim, Hyundai’s head of fuel cell research since 2003, who said last year: “People will come to realise that hydrogen is the answer to emissions regulations”. Let’s hear more from Musk: “Hydrogen is an energy storage mechanism. It’s not a source of energy. So you have to get that hydrogen from somewhere. Electrolysis is extremely inefficient as an energy process. If you take a solar panel and use the energy from that to charge a battery pack directly, compared to trying to split water, take the hydrogen, dump the oxygen, compress the hydrogen to an extremely high pressure and then put it in a car and run a fuel cell, it’s about half the efficiency. It’s terrible. It makes no sense”. Back to Kim: “Right now, hydrogen is made as a by-product of fertiliser and oil refining. What makes this sector difficult is that the initial investment expense is very high. In the case of battery technology, all you need is an inverter. With fuel cells, there are a lot of other components that are needed. But both Hyundai and Toyota have strong confidence in hydrogen compared with other companies. Zero emissions is going to be very hard to achieve with just batteries”. Listen to Musk and you will conclude the path that most governments have backed is the right one. Given the investment and time required to install infrastructure for charging EVs, the logic of betting on the technology that’s readier and more financially viable today is perfectly logical. But what if Kim, whose view has been echoed by people at Honda and Toyota, is right? What if all that stands between hydrogen being the right answer is scale? What if hydrogen’s opportunity to achieve that scale has been cut off in the rush to take the easier path? In all likelihood, the tide has turned. If hydrogen can’t prevail without scale, it seems that its proponents have lost the debate. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the right decisions have been made. +++
+++ LAMBORGHINI is preparing to update the Urus for the first time since it was launched in 2018, and the first sighting of a prototype has given clues as to what to expect. The front air intake area will be reshaped around the lower half and, more prominently, the leading lip of the bonnet and bumper will be reshaped. The prototype’s side panels will be less aggressively sculpted than those of the current car and while the rear-end design looks to have been left untouched, we can expect a reshaped lower diffuser and new brake-light designs to feature. More important will be the long-awaited launch of a new plug-in hybrid powertrain for the Urus. Electrification will be key to maintaining the Urus’s strong sales figures worldwide. It has been Lamborghini’s bestselling model for the past 2 years, outselling the Huracán by almost 2-to-1 in 2020. However, increasingly stringent emissions regulations risk the SUV falling out of favour, particularly with urban buyers, in various markets. The PHEV variant of the Urus will likely feature a variation of the powertrain used by its Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid sibling. Mating the Volkswagen Group’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 to an electric motor, the system produces combined outputs of 680 hp and 900 Nm and offers an electric-only driving range of 30 kms while cutting CO2 emissions down to 90 gram/km. As well as the electrified Cayenne, the Urus also shares its MLB Evo underpinnings with the Audi Q8, Bentley Bentayga and Volkswagen Touareg, each of which now offers a PHEV option. Expect additional changes for the updated Urus to bring subtle improvements to the cabin environment, infotainment system and chassis, and for them to be accompanied by a slight price increase. New personalisation options will almost certainly be offered by Lamborghini’s in-house Ad Personam division. +++
+++ LOTUS bosses have promised that the company intends to “stay true” to its enthusiast base and existing price positioning, after the British firm announced that it is axing production of its three current sports cars, the Elise, Exige and Evora, ahead of introducing an all-new model in 2022. The new car, which is codenamed Type 131, is likely to feature V6 hybrid power and will be pitched above the current positioning of the Evora. That could give it a starting price of around €120.000; almost double the figure of the outgoing Elise. Uday Senapati, Lotus’s executive director of Corporate Strategy and Product Management, said that although there is no immediate plan to replace the existing cars, the company does not envisage any major deviation from its current pricing structure. “I can’t share with you all what the future holds but for now, we’ve taken the difficult decision to axe it the Elise”, Senapati said. “We’re not about to say we’re going to bring it back, either. You never know, but currently the decision is to stop it. However, we’ve had a great fan base and customer base over the 73 years of Lotus history; we have 100.000 cars out there. We’re not going to ditch those customers and those values. We’ll stick to who we are. The DNA doesn’t go away. And the price points will be similar, even when we’re talking about pure-electric cars. That, you can imagine, is a massive challenge, but we will be in the price points where people would like to see us. And higher as well”. Type 131 is likely to be the last Lotus powered by a combustion engine. The car will be revealed this summer, ahead of prototype production beginning at a new facility in Norfolk, and the first buyers should take delivery in early 2022. Senapati declined to divulge the Type 131’s production name but he gave a strong hint that internet speculation saying it will carry the Esprit badge is incorrect. “I’m not saying this car will not be a legendary car going forward, but we want to create more legends, not just recreate the good old times”, he said. “There’s more scope for us to do new and even better things, I hope”. He confirmed that the plan is still for the company’s cars to switch to electric power thereafter, describing the forthcoming new sports car as “the last hurrah for combustion engines, from our side”. That means that the other 2 vehicles in the official teaser image will use the as-yet-unnamed all-electric platform that will also underpin the next generation of Alpine’s A110 coupé hinted at in Alpine’s own teaser image. Senapati said that the architecture is being developed by Lotus itself, and that it will form the basis for the pure-electric vehicles launched beyond the Type 131. “The EV sports car is our platform, developed by Lotus Engineering”, Senapati said. “We were always doing it for our sports car line-up. Alpine will benefit from this; we’ll benefit from economies of scale. This is not an exclusive partnership with Renault; we are open to sharing that platform with other players as well. But Alpine will be one of our biggest partners on it. The partnership is not just a car. It’s bigger than that. Our relationship is extremely good; it’s developed well over the past 12 months, and we’ve worked on all sorts of ideas”. He added: “The platform will absolutely form the new hub of Lotus. Sweating your assets is a very important thing in this business. With sports cars, there are really 2 ways to do this: you can get more off the platform, or embrace partnerships to build on the economies. We will continue to do both of those things”. Lotus is also heading into this key development era with a new boss. The firm’s managing director Phil Popham is leaving to “pursue personal interests”, and he is being replaced by current engineering chief, Matt Windle. A transition process between the pair is scheduled to be complete by March. +++
+++ MAZDA announced its global financial and sales results for the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year, reporting global sales of 930.000 vehicles during the period 1 April to 31 December 2020. A steadily improving global sales trend brought in positive results in 2 of Mazda’s key markets, the U.S.A. and China, where sales were up 2 % on a year-on-year basis in both regions to 211.000 and 178.000 units respectively. Elsewhere, Covid-19 continued to have an impact on Mazda sales. In Japan sales were down 18 % year on year to 114.000, but flat in the third quarter compared to the previous year. In Europe, Mazda successfully launched its first all-electric vehicle, the MX-30, from September. Almost 1 in 10 customers opted for the Mazda MX-30, contributing to an overall sales result of 117.000 units. Mazda will take on the challenge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in all areas, including product, technology, manufacturing and sales. To achieve this, electrification is a key pillar within Mazda’s multi-solution strategy and by 2030 all Mazda vehicles (from electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid and mild-hybrid solutions to RE multi-electrification technology) will be equipped with some form of electrification. For the first 3 quarters of the fiscal year, Mazda reported net sales of €16.0 billion and an operating loss of €626.3 million. Net loss was 641.0 million. At all profit levels, Mazda’s third-quarter profits were positive. As a result, Mazda decided to revise its financial full year forecast upwards, forecasting net sales of €23.6 billion. Reflecting improvements of variable marketing expenses and fixed costs, Mazda forecasts its operating profit to break even over the fiscal-year period. Net loss is expected to be €406.5 million. Mazda’s sales forecast for the full year remains unchanged at 1.3 million vehicles. Mazda will continue to monitor the economic situation as well as the trends of automobile demand in each market where our vehicles are shipped. +++
+++ Tesla boss Elon MUSK has warned customers against buying one of his firm’s cars when it is in the early stages of production, as it may be more prone to quality control issues. Speaking candidly to vehicle engineering consultant Sandy Munro, who made headlines in 2018 when he criticised Tesla’s build quality, Musk said: “When people ask me: ‘when should I buy a Tesla?’ I say you should either buy it right at the beginning or when production reaches a steady state. During that production ramp-up, it’s super-hard to be in vertical climb mode and get everything right on all the little details. So if you really want things to be dialled, it’s either very early cars or once production has levelled off; that’s when things are going to be best”. Tesla’s public image has been plagued by build quality issues in recent years, with customers using social media and other public forums to flag issues including varying widths of panel gaps and water ingress. Musk has addressed some of the concerns, explaining that speeding up production to meet demand highlights emerging issues: “We did improve our gap and paint quality towards the end of last year, even during the course of December. We were able to focus on it and improve it to a great deal”. He said that one particular issue was paint not being given enough time to dry when the line was operating quickly, meaning cars built in these periods were more prone to have issues. Munro noted that his own 2021 Model 3 had an inferior paint finish to a similar-age example. “Production is hell. Of any American start-up car company, I think Tesla is the first to achieve volume production in 100 years, basically”, Musk said. “So prototypes are, relatively speaking, easy and fun, but reaching volume production with reliable parts and at an affordable price is excruciatingly difficult”. Tesla set itself a target of producing 500.000 cars last year, of which it fell short by just 450 units. The firm made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic earlier this week when it issued a recall notice for more than 130.000 Model X and Model S cars, after it was found an electrical component failure could lead to the loss of several key functions. Now that production of the new Model Y crossover is ramping up in the US, focus will shift to launching the delayed Semi and Roadster models, as well as a production version of the radical Cybertruck pick up. +++
+++ The all-new NISSAN Qashqai will be officially revealed on Thursday 18 February, with the brand promising it will “set a new standard for the segment with appealing design, advanced technology and dynamic driving”. The family SUV, which joins a growing number of rivals that have ditched diesel entirely, will be offered with either a mild-hybrid 4-cylinder turbocharged engine or the new ePower hybrid system, which makes its European debut. The first, more conventional offering is an updated version of the 1.3-litre turbo engine found in many current Nissan, Renault and Mercedes models. All versions feature a 12 Volt mild-hybrid system, selected for being more affordable than a 48 Volt set-up, mated to a small lithium ion battery to offer torque assist and improved stop-start functionality. Adding 22 kg to the powertrain kerb weight, the mild-hybrid system also offers fuel economy improvements and a claimed 4 gram/km reduction in CO2, although homologation figures have yet to be provided. The engine is offered in 140 hp or 160 hp forms, the latter of which can be specified with all-wheel drive. The all-wheel drive system itself is said to be “more intuitive and intelligent”, features five driving modes, and can shift power to the rear wheels five times quicker than the old system. Either a 6-speed manual transmission or (on the more powerful unit) a CVT automatic is offered. Nissan has gone from CVT to dual-clutch and back to CVT in the past few years, but claims the new transmission is more efficient and responsive yet avoids the traditional ‘elastic band effect’ (where the engine revs out of kilter with road speed) thanks to simulated stepped gear ratios. The more advanced offering is a new ePower hybrid system, which isn’t a plug-in but differs from parallel hybrids because the engine isn’t directly connected to the wheels. Instead, it charges a battery, which in turn powers an electric motor to drive the wheels. The system has proved hugely popular in Japan, thrusting the relatively old Note supermini into the biggest seller in its segment. Nissan claims it has been “significantly upgraded” for European customers, however, with a 47 % larger electric motor and a more powerful combustion engine. That engine is a new 1.5-litre unit that features a variable compression ratio (a first for the brand in Europe) to boost efficiency. The electric motor puts out 192 hp (the engine providing 160 hp to charge the battery) and 320 Nm. That’s enough, product planning boss Marco Fioravanti claims, for “really quite impressive” performance and typical EV driving characteristics at lower speeds. Like parallel hybrid set-ups, the system offers a relatively negligible EV-only driving range (3 km) before the engine-generator kicks in. However, it’s claimed to drive like a classic electric car, with Nissan even fitting the ‘e-Pedal’ system from the Leaf for one-pedal driving using regenerative braking. +++
+++ TESLA Tesla phina President Tom Zhu recently spoke with China-based state media channel Xinhua Net about a variety of topics related to Tesla. While the focus was on general plans related to Tesla China’s future operations, the €27.000 compact car came up. Zhu confirmed that the smaller, cheaper Tesla will be designed in China, at a research centre at Tesla’s Gigafcatory in Shanghai. Zhu said the Tesla electric compact car will be built in China and sold across the globe. In terms of timeline, Zhu also confirmed that Tesla is already working on the construction of the dedicated Research and Development (R&D) centre that will design the upcoming compact car. It will be the first Tesla R&D centre in the country, as well as the first outside the United States. Tesla built the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time. Not long after it was producing Model 3 saloons at the Phase 1 portion of the plant, it quickly constructed Phase 2, which is already building the Model Y electric crossover. There’s no reason to believe the R&D centre won’t follow suit and be up and running in the near future. Zhu said in the interview: “The center is in Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai, where we are now. We are now building our China R&D center right here. This R&D center is also the first Tesla R&D center outside the United States. The research and development center has all necessary disciplines, covering vehicle design, vehicle engineering, vehicle development, and vehicle testing”. Zhu explained that Tesla China has a goal to “design, develop and produce” its own original Tesla car to sell in markets across the globe. The target price is €27.000 for The Netherlands, however, it’s important to note that Tesla’s vehicle prices aren’t consistent across the globe, and currency conversions can cloud the reality. Nonetheless, it will be the cheapest Tesla available in all markets where it’s sold. Zhu shared: “In the future, we want to design, develop and produce an original model in China, manufactured here and sold to the whole world. This R&D center is the starting point of the goal”. Other reports suggest that the Tesla compact car will be a hatchback built on the Model 3 platform. Road tests are expected to begin later this year. +++
+++ TESLA looks set to receive at least €1 billion of public funding from Germany as part of the firm opening an EV battery manufacturing hub in Berlin. The deal is said to form part of a recently approved European Union plan dubbed the European Battery Innovation project. The project, which includes more than 40 countries, allows for €2.9 billion to be doled out to support cell production and help reduce reliance on Chinese imports. German government sources have reportedly confirmed the €1 billion subsidy for Tesla, which is given mainly by the federal government but also by the state of Brandenburg, where the battery factory is being built. Officially, however, the German economy ministry said that isn’t yet clear how much money will be given to the American company. The reported move has proven controversial in many industry circles, particularly given Tesla’s sky-high stock market valuation and CEO Elon Musk’s new status as the world’s richest man. However, the EU plan will also result in funding being given to domestic firms, such as BMW, it’s claimed. It’s not yet clear how much the Munich firm will receive. Final decisions on subsidies for all firms are expected in the coming weeks. +++
+++ New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show a 39.5% year-on-year drop in new car registrations in the UNITED KINGDOM last month, making it the sector’s “worst start to a year” since 1970. A total of 90.249 new cars were registered in the UK last month, down from 149.279 in January 2020; 2 months before the country went into its first lockdown, when the pandemic took hold. Now, in the third nationwide lockdown, the enforced closure of showrooms continues to have an impact, with the SMMT recording sharp declines across several segments despite the lockdown rules allowing dealerships to operate a click-and-collect service. “Opening dealerships as soon as it is safe to do so would help re-energise consumer confidence, supporting jobs and a green recovery”, said the SMMT, noting that any drop in registrations has a knock-on effect on the manufacturing sector. The organisation has now revised its forecast for 2021, predicting 1.9 million registrations for the year, down more than 100.000 units, highlighting that while this would still be an increase of 15.7 % over 2020, it “would be a very subdued market in historical terms”. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes called on the government to allow showrooms to reopen as soon as possible: “Following a £20.4 billion loss of revenue last year, the auto industry faces a difficult start to 2021. The necessary lockdown will challenge society, the economy and our industry’s ability to move quickly towards our ambitious environmental goals. Lifting the shutters will secure jobs, stimulate the essential demand that supports our manufacturing, and will enable us to forge ahead on the Road to Zero. Every day that showrooms can safely open will matter, especially with the critical month of March looming”. Private sales dropped 38.5 % year on year, with fleet sales falling further still, at 39.7 %, and business sales plummeting by 56.0 %. Conventionally fuelled cars experienced the most significant declines, with demand for petrol models falling by 50.6 % and diesel 62.1 %, but the SMMT noted that, “on a positive”, electrified vehicle uptake grew substantially during the period. Some 6.124 plug-in hybrids were sold in January; up 28 % on the same month in 2020, and the uptick was even more dramatic for pure-electric cars, which accounted for 6.260 registrations; up from 4.054 last year. That trend can be partially attributed to the fact that there were 40 mainstream pure-electric cars on sale last month, compared with just 22 in January 2019. Combined, plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars accounted for 13.7 % of all new car registrations and they are expected to make up more than one in seven registrations this year. Mild hybrids (MHEVs) also had a relatively strong month, with diesel MHEV sales rising 26.5 % and sales of petrol versions climbing by 40.2 %. Strong electrified car sales in January follow a year in which such models surged in popularity, accounting for one in six new car registrations. “In fact”, said the SMMT, “more than half of all BEVs registered in the past 2 decades were registered in 2020 alone”, meaning the year “delivered the cleanest vehicles in history”. The growing popularity of electrified cars, combined with the increasing efficiency of modern combustion engines, meant average vehicle CO2 emissions dropped by 11.8% year on year in 2020 to 112.8 gram/km, new figures show. The best-selling cars in January were: 1. Vauxhall Corsa – 3.078, 2. Kia Sportage – 2.986, 3. Nissan Qashqai – 2.835, 4. Ford Fiesta – 2.594, 5. Volvo XC40 – 2.201, 6. Mercedes-Benz A-Class – 1.859, 7. Volkswagen Golf – 1.779, 8. Ford Puma – 1.760, 9. Kia Niro – 1.741, 10. Ford Focus – 1.686. +++
+++ VOLVO achieved record sales in the second half of 2020, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, driven by continued growth in China and the US and increased demand for its plug-in hybrid models. The Swedish firm, owned by Chinese giant Geely, sold 391.751 cars globally in the final 6 months of last year; an increase of 7.4 % on the 364.626 sold in the same period of 2019. Although that was a new second-half record for Volvo, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the first half of the year meant that the firm’s sales declined 6.2 % year on year, with 661.713 cars sold worldwide. Volvo also posted a record 6-month profit of €925 million in the second half of 2020. The firm recorded a full-year profit of €825 million; a 40.5 % year-on-year fall. Volvo’s second-half resurgence was driven by sales in China, where the whole car market recovered faster from the impact of Covid-19, and the US. The firm sold 166.617 cars in China across 2020; a 7.5 % rise on the 154.961 units sold in 2019. Of that total, 100.876 were sold in the last 6 months of the year; a 15.7 % rise on the second half of 2019. The firm also increased year-on-year sales in the US, with 110.129 sales in 2020 representing a 1.8 % rise on 2019. In Europe, Volvo sold 288.325 cars in 2020; down 15.5 % on 2019. But it did show a strong recovery in the second half of the year, with the 165.127 units sold in the region down just 0.9 % on the same period in 2019. Plug-in hybrid and full-electric models, sold under Volvo’s Recharge line, accounted for 19.8 % of its sales in 2020, compared with 6.8 % in 2019. The firm said Recharge models accounted for nearly a third of all cars sold in Europe. The success of those electrified models meant Volvo and sibling firm Polestar met their European Union CO2 fleet average target. As a result, Volvo was able to reach a deal with Ford to enter a pooling agreement to help the American giant escape an EU fine due to missing its target because of problems with the Kuga PHEV. Demand increased substantially for the XC40, with the 185.406 examples sold representing a 32.6 % year-on-year increase. The larger XC60 remained Volvo’s best-selling model, with 191.696 sold. Volvo also said online sales systems and the success of its new Care by Volvo subscription scheme helped to maintain sales during regional lockdowns in the second half of 2020. In Germany, for example, 6.1 % of all sales were made through the service. Volvo bosses said they were confindent they could maintain that growth in 2021, with the firm reporting that sales in January were up 30.2% on the same period last year. That growth was largely driven by China, which was under a lockdown in January 2020, although sales in Europe increased by 9 % and in the US by 32.4 % year on year. +++