+++ There’s a new Porsche 718 on the horizon but nobody knows how it will be powered. In a recent interview, CEO Oliver Blume shared that a new 718 is coming, but it will take a couple of years to hit dealer lots because they haven’t even decided how it will be powered. Based on his statements, powertrains can range from an all-electric setup or a more efficient internal combustion engine. The Porsche 718 occupies an interesting part of the Porsche line-up where it’s meant to be more affordable than a 911 and although its mid-engine layout is superior, it cannot outperform the 911. Working within the 911’s shadow isn’t exactly fair and Porsche knows this, which is why every year the performance of the 718 edges closer to its rear-engine big brother. So, what will determine the propulsion future for the 718 successors? Blume explained: “EV or ICE depends on whether the battery will be good enough to make a proper sports car. So far, it’s not”. With the rapidly evolving world of battery tech that’s not to say that things will change in a few years, but based on the current situation we can expect the next generation 718 to retain its internal combustion engine. When the current generation Porsche 718 debuted, it shook up the Porsche world thanks to the introduction of its downsized 4 cylinder turbocharged boxer engine which replaced the familiar flat-6. Although the new engine had better performance and emissions on paper, it lacked the emotion and engagement of the old flat-6 which caused Porsche to offer a special edition 718 that has a 4.0-litre flat-6. After learning this tough lesson, I am sure Porsche would not change to an EV drivetrain simply because it’s better on paper. Now that customers have made it clear that driving pleasure and emotion are important parts of a Porsche purchase, the EV version of the 718 must also be better to drive. +++
+++ Electrification poses a problem for sports cars. Combustion engines have been integral to the sports car experience, providing the raucous soundtrack to more than a century of motoring. But EVs are silent, forcing automakers to create an artificial, less enthusiastic stand-in. For some, the reckoning will come sooner rather than later as they begin the transition to producing only EVs, but not all are rushing. Porsche will take its time. A new report got the German automaker on the record about its plans to electrify its lineup, specifically, its plans for the iconic 911. Fans shouldn’t worry, at least not yet. Porsche boss Oliver Blume told that the 911 would keep its combustion engine for the next decade. However, that doesn’t mean the company will keep batteries entirely away. Blume let slip that the company is already working on hybridising the 911, likening it to the setup in the Porsche 919. It should certainly enhance the driving experience. Porsche is in no hurry to electrifying the 911 because it’ll likely run into packaging issues. Part of the 911’s appeal is not only the engine itself but also where it’s located: at the rear. Electric powertrains often put a lot of the car’s weight low and between the wheels, which would radically change the 911’s driving characteristics. And putting the electric powertrain in the rear just wouldn’t work either, according to Blume, who said, “you wouldn’t be able to drive the car”. Automakers have set 2030 to be a pivotal date in the transition between combustion-powered cars and electrified ones. Volvo has announced it will stop producing ICE-powered vehicles by then. Ford has made a promise to sell only EVs in Europe by the same year. General Motors is right behind them with a 2035 deadline date for its EV transition, though that’s a global goal. Electrification is coming, and it’s doubtful a model like the 911 can survive in such a world without some batteries. +++
+++ What was born as a startup company between 3 individuals, which was later funded heavily by entrepreneur and engineer Elon Musk, Tesla wasn’t exactly a threat to automotive industry giants almost 2 decades ago. But now, the California-based car-making techcompany has surpassed Toyota to become the world’s most valuable car company by market capitalization, valued at $206 billion in July 2020. But Toyota, which was valued at $202 billion in the same month, isn’t fazed by the American automaker. President Akio Toyoda even said that Tesla isn’t making “real products” in a press briefing. Another techcompany is looking to join the automotive industry fray, and it’s one of the biggest and most valuable brands in the world. Apple, which recorded a brand value of $241.2 billion in 2020, has been in the rumour mill lately for its foray into the carmaking industry. Reports found talks between Hyundai and Apple early in the year, which was then reportedly canceled the following month. Apple then contacted Nissan to forge a partnership for the Apple car, but that didn’t even reach senior management due to a branding dispute. Despite these reports, Toyota has kept its nonchalance with another car-making tech company. “but after making a vehicle, I’d like them to be prepared to deal with customers and various changes for some 40 years”, Toyoda said at a news conference held by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. While the future of the Apple car is still uncertain at this point, it could happen within this decade and we can’t deny that the brand’s influence over consumer spending and decisions, which makes it a formidable market disruptor even this early. Then again, let’s cross the bridge when we get there, but that doesn’t mean legacy automakers, no matter how big they are, should be any less concerned. +++
+++ In the newly released ASTON MARTIN shareholder report, CEO Tobias Moers reveals plans for the company’s future powertrains, and he intends things to be almost entirely electrified by 2030. The only combustion-powered vehicles would be track-only models, and they’d only make up just 5 % of the automaker’s output. “We understand that having hybrid and electric options for our vehicles is imperative to the company’s future in this industry and our partnership with Mercedes-Benz is fundamental to our hybrid and EV plan”, Moers said in the report. Moers’ plan is that all of Aston Martin’s road cars would be hybrid or purely electric by 2025. From there, half of the lineup would be BEVs and 45 % would be hybrid by 2030. Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll outlined a little about the brand’s more recent future in the shareholder report. A new variant of the DBX arrives in the third quarter of 2021, and recent rumours suggest that it might have a hybrid V6. In addition, the brand’s front-engine models are getting a refresh in 2023. While not outlined in the report, Stroll recently said that a zero-emissions SUV and sports car are arriving in 2025. These vehicles would likely adopt technology from Mercedes-Benz due to Aston’s partnership with the German automaker. The company is also preparing to launch the Valkyrie hybrid hypercar in the second half of 2021 after originally planning to begin deliveries in 2019. It packs a Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 with electric assistance with a total system output of 1.160 hp and 900 Nm. Aston Martin is building 150 of them with an asking price of around £2.5 million each. Plus, there are 25 units of a track-only version. +++
+++ Even in 2020, a challenging business year, AUDI vigorously drove ahead its transformation into a provider of sustainable and networked premium mobility. As a result of the pandemic, deliveries and sales revenue fell significantly in the first half-year. Thanks to a strong second half, including an excellent fourth quarter, sales revenue reached a total of approximately €50 billion in the 2020 business year. Operating profit before special items was €2.7 billion, and operating return on sales before special items was 5.5 %. In addition to synergies in the Volkswagen Group, the Audi Transformation Plan (ATP) and Audi.Zukunft made important financial contributions. Net cash flow remains a strength of the company, with a figure of €4.6 billion. The reasons for this are continuing cost and investment discipline and the divestment of shareholdings within the Volkswagen Group amounting to some €1.5 billion. The company moved purposefully ahead with its e-roadmap: in 2021 alone, Audi doubled the number of all-electric models in its range and is also reinforcing its PHEV offensive. Subject to developments in the corona pandemic and the supply of semiconductors, Audi views 2021 with cautious optimism. “Audi has resolutely faced up to the challenges of the last year and done everything necessary to emerge stronger from the crisis”, says CEO Markus Duesmann. “The global consequences of the corona pandemic had a decisive influence on our business year. Following a collapse in demand for cars in all regions of the world, stability returned to the markets later in the year: first in China, then in Europe and the USA too. In the 4th quarter, finally, we were able to conclude the year with a record number of deliveries: it was the most successful quarter in the company history. In total we earned an operating return on sales before special items of 5.5 % in the 2020 business year. This achievement is also the result of responsible crisis management during the corona pandemic and above all a strong team performance. I am delighted at the willingness to change and the flexibility of Audi’s employees”. The total number of deliveries of Audi-brand vehicles to customers in 2020 was 1.692.773 (2019: 1.845.573). Here the fall of approximately 8 % resulting from the pandemic was significantly lower than the almost 15 % fall in the total worldwide market. Following a difficult start to the year, the markets recovered considerably: with 505.583 deliveries (4th quarter of 2019: 488.471), Audi was even able to conclude the financial year with the most successful quarter in company history. The reasons for this strong final surge in 2020 were active corona-crisis management by the company and a noticeable recovery in core markets. Through the expansion of digital sales and services, furthermore, Audi reacted flexibly to the challenges of the corona pandemic. In 2020 the top-range and SUV models were especially successful. For example, deliveries of the Q3 and A6 rose by 18.1 % and 11.8 % respectively in comparison to the previous year. The all-electric e-Tron, together with the e-Tron Sportback, was the bestselling electric vehicle worldwide by a German premium manufacturer, with a growth in demand of almost 80 % compared to the previous year. In this way the e-Tron series is making a decisive contribution to fulfilment of the company’s targets on CO2 emissions. A new best result was also achieved in the business year 2020 by Audi Sport, with an increase of deliveries amounting to 16.1 % above the previous year. In terms of volume, the sales revenue of the Audi Group in 2020 amounted to €49.973 million (2019: €55.680 million) . The operating profit before special items was €2.739 million (2019: €4.509) million, equivalent to an operating return on sales before special items of 5.5 % (2019: 8.1 %). The 4th quarter, above all, with an operating profit before special items of €2.456 million (2019: €1.271 million) and an operating return on sales of 14.7 % (2019: 8.9 %), helped the company to more than make up for the losses of the first half of the year. This strong performance is attributable, on the one hand, to a significant rise in the numbers of vehicles delivered as the markets recovered. Moreover, Audi maintained strict discipline on costs and investment until the end of the year. A positive contribution to the financial development was also provided by the successful implementation of the Audi Transformation Plan (ATP). Here, measures with a total value of €2.6 billion (2019: €2.5 billion) were put into effect. To a large extent these savings influenced the operating profits and will also have a sustained impact in the years to come. Since it began 2 years ago, this program to improve efficiency has released €7 billion. The goal is to achieve a total of approximately €15 billion up to 2022 through measures on the cost and revenue sides. As a result of loss of volume due to the pandemic, there may be a slight delay in this, however. The Audi.Zukunft (Audi.Future) agreement concluded in 2019 is also making a noticeable contribution to success through a reduction in employment costs. As before, the company stands by its employment guarantee until 2029 and is ensuring long-term competitiveness by using plant capacity on a platform basis. “Even in the turbulent year of 2020, Audi demonstated its robust condition and healthy business situation”, says Arno Antlitz, CFO. “In the corona pandemic we have reinforced our discipline in investment and costs without compromising on the substance of the products or the Audi brand’s fitness for the future. Both the Audi Transformation Plan and the Audi.Zukunft basic agreement are well established. Both programs have made an important contribution to Audi Group results that are more than respectable, and have enabled us to continue investing in the electrification and digitalization of our products”. The financial results of the Audi Group increased in comparison to the previous year to €1.618 million (2019: €713 million). The principal reason for this was the good performance of the Audi brand in China, where recovery was already noticeable in March 2020 and the monthly delivery figures of the previous year were exceeded from April onwards. The cumulative figure for deliveries in China was 5.4 % above the previous year – in spite of a decline in the market volume. In addition, the sale within the Volkswagen Group of Audi Electronics Venture GmbH had a favorable influence on the financial results amounting to €589 million. The final figure for pre-tax profits was €4.187 million (2019: 5.223 million). The commitment of the Audi workforce in an extremely challenging year in 2020 was rewarded through participation in profits. For a skilled worker in the German plants, the Audi profit-sharing sum in 2020 is €1.080 (2019: €3.880). The basis for this is the calculation formula dependent on operating profits that is laid down in the wage agreement. In Audi subsidiaries, too, there are agreements on profit participation. In addition Audi is paying a special bonus of €1.200 to employees who are paid according to the collective wage agreement, to show appreciation of their flexibility and commitment during the corona pandemic. The traditionally strong net cash flow of Audi rose in the challenging year of 2020 to a total of €4.589 million (2019: €3.160 million). This is mainly attributable to stricter control of investment and costs. Fixed investments, especially, were significantly reduced by Audi: the proportion amounts to 3.8 % (2019: 4.9 %). Sale of shareholdings within the Volkswagen Group had a positive effect on net cash flow of €1.5 billion. Consequently net liquidity, at €22.377 million (2019: €21.754 million), remains stable at a high level. In order to meet the challenges of transformation in the automotive industry, the Volkswagen Group is combining its resources. For this reason, at the annual general meeting in 2020 shareholders approved a squeeze-out in accordance with shareholding law. By this means, all shares held by minority shareholders of passed to Volkswagen. This was an important step enabling Audi to maintain a strong and competitive position in the future. Synergies in the Volkswagen Group can now be exploited more efficiently. A key example of close cooperation in the Group is the Car.Software Organization, founded in mid-2020, in which the software knowhow of the Volkswagen Group brands is being united and expanded. This new company of the Volkswagen Group, in which Audi CEO Markus Duesmann has taken the role of chairman of the supervisory board, is developing a unified electronics architecture and an operating system for all brands. At the end of 2024, this software platform will be premiered in the first Audi model based on the Artemis Project. The operating system will be integrated step by step into all vehicles of the Volkswagen Group. Through the budgetary transfer of development costs to the Car.Software Organization and through efficiency gains in Technical Development, the share of research and development costs in the 2020 financial year fell to 7.3 % (2019: 7.9 %). Investments in future models and technologies remain untouched at the Four Rings. In this way Audi is taking great strides forward in its electro-offensive during the pandemic. This business and strategic approach can be seen in the planned investments over the next 5 years. Almost half of the total foreseen investments of €35 billion will flow into future technologies; about €15 billion of this for electromobility and hybridization alone. In 2021 for the first time, more than half of the newly introduced models will be electrified. This began in February with the world premiere of the e-Tron GT, the first all-electric Audi, made in Germany. By mid-year the Audi Q4 e-tronand Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback will already be on the starting line: these models enable the company’s customers to enter the electric world of Audi for the first time in the compact-car segment. Moreover, Audi is enhancing its range of PHEVs: in half of the internal-combustion series there will be a plug-in hybrid model in the current year. Audi plans to offer more than 20 all-electric models by 2025 and aims to push ahead with a significant expansion of the PHEV portfolio. The company predicts that by this date about one third of global vehicle deliveries to customers will consist of all-electric and hybridized automobiles. In implementing the e-roadmap, the Chinese market plays a decisive role. The company is further expanding its presence here and purposefully carrying out the reorientation of its business model. Audi established an important milestone by founding the Audi FAW New Energy Vehicle Company, a cooperative venture with FAW, a partner of many years. On the basis of the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) jointly developed with Porsche, from 2024 onwards electric vehicles will be produced in Changchun (China) for the Chinese market. “China is a significant provider of technological impulses for us and a key pillar of Audi’s long-term success,” says Audi CEO Markus Duesmann. “Especially in the premium segment, we see more enormous potential in China and will therefore strengthen our product portfolio further in our biggest market.” By the end of 2021 twelve Audi models will be produced in China at the long-established FAW-Volkswagen joint venture. With a view to 2021 the Audi Group expects a recovery of the global economy, subject to further developments in connection with the corona pandemic. “We look forward to the year 2021 with cautious optimism”, says Arno Antlitz. “We want to carry over the strong momentum of the 4th quarter. Our ambitious goal is to grow significantly in comparison to the previous year”. On the basis of its product substance, the Audi expects a clear increase in deliveries and sales revenue in comparison to the previous year. For 2021 the company plans an operating return on sales of between 7 % and 9 %, and thus aims to approach its strategic zone of 9 % to 11 %. In doing so Audi as a premium manufacturer is giving priority to product-related investments and reducing its strategic target zone for fixed investments by one percentage point to between 4 % and 5 % of sales revenue. In contrast Audi is intensifying investments in products and future technologies. Instead of 5 % to 6 %, as hitherto, Audi plans to devote 6 % to 7 % of sales revenue to research and development, thus underlining its innovative strength and pushing forward its transformation into a provider of sustainable and networked premium mobility. +++
+++ In a year of significant challenge such as 2020, marked by the spread of the pandemic worldwide, Automobili LAMBORGHINI responded to the situation with great energy, flexibility and determination, recording positive commercial and financial performance. The most notable financial result is the achievement of the highest-ever profitability. Stephan Winkelmann, president & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, commented: “Our immediate responsiveness, an ideal model mix, and the growing demand for customization of our products pushed profitability to the highest levels. In such a difficult year, the brand demonstrated great strength and continued its growing appeal, bucking the trend in the global luxury industry”. 2020 was the second-best year ever for Lamborghini in terms of both turnover and number of cars delivered. Lamborghini ended fiscal year 2020 with a turnover of €1.61 billion, just 11 % down from 2019. This is attributed to the decline caused by the 70-day production stoppage in the spring, in compliance with Italian government directives and to protect the health of workers during the initial emergency phase. The company demonstrated prompt reaction and flexibility in responding to the emergency period, through careful cost management and ensuring continuity in the launch plan. In 2020 Lamborghini delivered 7.430 cars worldwide, a figure representing the second-best sales result ever following the record set in 2019 with 8.205 cars delivered. The United States remained the top market with 2.224 cars delivered, followed by Germany (607), Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao (604), Japan (600), United Kingdom (517) and Italy (347). Winkelmann added: “2021 opened with a very positive outlook: deliveries in the first 2 months of this year have already surpassed those of the previous pre-pandemic period, and the orders placed thus far already cover 9 months of production”. This year the company expects further growth with China jumping to second place in its core markets. The new year was inaugurated by the commercial launch of the latest model unveiled by Lamborghini at the end of 2020, the Huracán STO; Super Trofeo Omologata a road-homologated super sports car inspired by the racing heritage of Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s one-make race series with Huracán Evo Super Trofeo, as well as its 3-time 24 Hours of Daytona-winning and 2-time 12 Hours of Sebring-winning Huracán GT3 Evo. This year, the Huracán STO will be joined by 2 further new products, based on the iconic V12. +++
+++ Remember when badges actually meant something? The short-lived SL 73 AMG came out in 1999 and it lived up to its name by offering a 7.3-litre engine. The V12 roadster of the R129 series was the most powerful product from Affalterbach at its launch, offering a massive 525 hp and 750 Nm. Fast forward to 2021, Mercedes is dusting off the fabled ’73’ name for a new family of high-performance AMGs. The 3-pointed star took the legal measure to secure the moniker back in February 2018 when it trademarked a number of ’73’ models, at least one of which will debut on a production car in the following months. Here are the oily (and electric) bits of the new-era ’73’ cars: Gaining an ‘e’ at the end, the 73e models will all share a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine with an electric motor believed to be largely borrowed from the zero-emissions Mercedes EQC and EQV. The e-motor will reportedly be good for as much as 204 hp and an instant torque of 363 Nm. Combined with the conventional 8-cylinder engine, the Mercedes-AMG 73e cars will unleash “previously unattained levels of power and torque”. In fact, we’re hearing the cars will “at least match” the 810 hp muscle delivered by the AMG GT Concept introduced at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. The combined torque should be enough to move mountains, with the electrified AMGs will develop a massive 1.000 Nm. The GT 73e should be the first to break cover and offer neck-snapping acceleration by sprinting to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds en route to more than 320 km/h. The Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid rival will be followed by an AMG S 73e based on the latest S-Class and also by an AMG SL73e as a worthy successor to the 300 kph roadster from more than 2 decades ago. The report goes on to say AMG’s new breed of performance cars will have an electric mode, in which case the vehicles will be purely rear-wheel drive. It is believed a similar plug-in hybrid setup will be installed in the new C 63e, but with a smaller 2.0-litre 4-cylinder mill instead of the V8 for a total output expected to surpass the 510 hp mark. As a final note, it’s worth mentioning ‘G73’ and ‘GLS 73’ were also among the trademarks registered by MERCEDES-AMG 3 years ago, but it’s unclear whether the boxy off-roader and the fullsize luxury SUV will get the 810 hp hybrid powertrain. For now, it seems only the GT 73e, S 73e, and SL 73e are planned. The trio will represent the most powerful AMGs ever made, outside of the hotly anticipated One hypercar. +++
+++ What Happened to PICK-UP TRUCKS ? As U.S. drivers buy more full-size and heavy-duty pickups, these vehicles have transformed from no-frills workhorses into angry giants. And pedestrians are paying the price. To get a handle on what’s happened to pickup trucks, it really helps to use a human body for scale. In some nerdy Internet circles (specifically, bike and pedestrian advocacy) it has become trendy to take a selfie in front of the bumper of random neighborhood Silverados. Among the increasingly popular heavy-duty models, the height of the truck’s front end may reach a grown man’s shoulders or neck. When you involve children in this exercise it starts to become really disturbing. My 4-year-old nephew, for example, barely cleared the bumper on a lifted F-250 we came across in a parking lot last summer. Vehicles of this scale saddle their drivers with huge front and rear blind zones that make them perilous to operate in crowded areas. Even car guys have been sounding the alarm about the mega-truck trend recently. A few months ago, the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Neil complained about his close encounter in a parking lot with a GMC Sierra HD Denali: “The domed hood was at forehead level. The paramedics would have had to extract me from the grille with a spray hose”. Since 1990, U.S. pickup trucks have added almost 1.300 pounds on average. Some of the biggest vehicles on the market now weigh almost 7.000 pounds, or about 3 Honda Civics. These vehicles have a voracious appetite for space, one that’s increasingly irreconcilable with the way cities (and garages, and parking lots) are built. During the pandemic, U.S. buyers seemed to respond to this kind of packaging. In May 2020, Americans bought more pickup trucks than cars for the first time. 5 of the 10 top-selling vehicles in the U.S. last year were pickup trucks. Giant, furious trucks are more than just a polarizing consumer choice: Large pickups and SUVs are notably more lethal to other road users, and their conquest of U.S. roads has been accompanied by a spike in fatalities among pedestrians and bicyclists. As I wrote in my 2020 book Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Detroit Free Press have pointed to the rise in SUVs and large pickups as the main culprit in the pedestrian mortality surge. The truck trend is contributing to another troubling crash-related disparity: In a new study, the IIHS shows that women (who tend choose smaller vehicles) are suffering higher injury and death rates than their male counterparts, despite the fact than women engage in fewer risks and crash less. Why have pickup trucks morphed into such huge, angry, and dangerous presences? Traffic safety experts, commentators on U.S. automotive culture, and social scientists have suggested a range of forces behind truck bloat. One key driver of pickup growth relates to how they are now being used. If you overlook their gleefully violent styling and garage-unfriendly footprint, these vehicles have become more practical as family vehicles. Despite the agrarian pursuits that TV commercials suggest, today’s pickup trucks are being built more to haul kids and families than sheep and boulders. Until the 1980s, almost every pickup truck sold in the U.S. had a single cab, meaning seating for three max in a single bench-style seat, with a bed that was 8 feet long for a full-sized long-bed vehicle. That old no-frills working-style truck is fading into history. In 2020, 85 % of pickup trucks sold had “crew cabs” or “extended crew cabs” or one of a handful of other tough-guy euphemisms with 2 sets of seats for 5 people, most with 4 doors. Some have 4 regular-size doors. These passenger-heavy, cargo-lite arrangements are so popular that some automakers (like Ram) have stopped even offering single cabs in their best-selling pickup. As pickups transformed into family vehicles, they also became more luxurious. The average truck in the U.S. sells for almost $50,000 now (a 41 % increase compared to a decade ago) and many boast posh, feature-laden interiors designed to compete with high-end SUVs and sedans, as auto writer Jim Gorzelany writes in Forbes. As a result, today’s truck owners include all kinds of people who don’t necessarily need (and rarely use) these vehicles’ defining features: the open cargo-hauling bed and towing capabilities. Some choose big trucks because smaller vehicles make them feel too vulnerable on modern highways. Michael Powell, a social worker who lives in rural Maine, says he’d rather drive a compact car, but he has PTSD from a former car crash: He drives a truck, he says, “because everyone else in my town does, and it’s the only way I can get around without feeling like I’m gonna die”. Jeff Weidner, an assistant professor at a college in El Paso, Texas, says he feels a little guilty about choosing to buy a full-size Toyota Tundra, but admits he likes it. “We were looking for something that would hold six people, would be good for long trips in terms of space and carrying our stuff”, he says. At first, he planned on buying the midsize Tacoma, but “they upsold us hard with the Tundra. They barely even had stock of Tacomas: they probably do not make enough money on them”. The U.S.’s perverse regulatory and tax environment contributes to this arms race. Ford’s heavy-duty F-250, for example, benefits from its regulatory status as a commercial vehicle, unlike the slightly smaller F-150. The same goes for other heavy-duty models like the Ram 2500 and Silverado 2500HD, which aren’t classified as passenger vehicles, but as work machines, and are thus exempt from EPA fuel economy reporting regulations. “Nobody tracks the gas mileage. There’s no EPA rating for that car”, says Dan Albert, author of Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present and Driverless. Business tax structure also encourages many business owners to opt for the bigger F-250 over the F-150, making the added cost almost negligible. Going large doesn’t necessarily exact a major toll in fuel expenses, either: While pickups have gotten bigger they have also become (while not exactly green) certainly less gas guzzling. Equipped with a hybrid powertrain, the 2021 Ford F-150 can achieve 25 miles per gallon in the city, 6 more than a Honda Odyssey minivan. “We have gotten better at making them more efficient”, says Benjamin Sovacool, a researcher who studies energy transitions. That fuel efficiency is set to leap forward again, with the arrival of Tesla’s Cybertruck, General Motors’ rebooted 1.000 hp Hummer EV and host of other electrified rigs: battery-powered vehicles that overcompensate for their non-polluting powertrains with hyper-aggressive styling and power ratings. But that doesn’t mean the decision to buy a $50.000 truck with a 4.200-pound payload rating for the occasional trip to the golf course or hardware store is strictly rational. Personal vehicles are not merely functional appliances: They are used as refuges, fortresses and private enclaves, and serve as important signifiers of class and gender identity, as Sovacool explored in a 2018 study. To Albert, the booming appeal of bigger and more brutish trucks reflects “a crisis of masculinity”, he says. “Nothing could be more emasculating than driving a minivan. So you want the vehicle that’s going to maintain your performative masculinity”. The fact that supersized pickup trucks were often deployed as political props (and weapons) during the Trump era did not escape the notice of scholars like Cara Daggett, a professor of political science at Virginia Tech. In a widely shared 2018 journal article, Daggett coined the term “petro-masculinity” to describe flamboyant expressions of fossil fuel use by men (and some women as well, but mostly men) as a reaction against social progress. To these drivers, “the affront of global warming or environmental regulations appear as insurgents on par with the dangers posed by feminists and queer movements seeking to leach energy and power from the state/traditional family”, she wrote. Petro-masculinity helps explain not only these vehicles’ confrontational styling, but the often equally belligerent way in which they are operated. The EPA estimates that more than half a million trucks (15 % of the diesel-powered pickups on U.S. roads) have had their emissions equipment modified over the last decade in order to increase their power and polluting potential. There’s a cottage industry devoted to the practice of bypassing emissions standards; such modified vehicles are believed to emit as much pollution as 9 million emissions-compliant diesel trucks. While illegal, some drivers flaunt their ability to pollute, via the behavior known as “rolling coal” in which drivers of modified diesel trucks blow black smoke at targets of their disapproval (often Prius drivers or bicyclists). “Burning fossil fuels can come to function as a knowingly violent experience”, Daggett writes, “a reassertion of white masculine power on an unruly planet that is perceived to be increasingly in need of violent, authoritarian order”. Geopolitical factors have long played a role in car and truck design in the U.S.: Jeeps, of course, began as military vehicles adapted to civilian use, a heritage the company still proudly announces on its site, saying the brand is “forever tied to freedom, capability and adventure”. The first iteration of GM’s Hummer brand spun from the high-profile role that Humvee military vehicles used in the Persian Gulf War. Other manufacturers continue to cultivate connections to the military as well. Ford advertises its F-150 is made of “military-grade aluminum alloy” for the “working warrior”. In his excellent illustrated essay “About Face”, cartoonist Nate Powell, whose father was an Air Force officer, explores the recent emergence of the overtly “paramilitary aesthetic” in truck and SUV design and connects it to recent U.S. “forever wars”, in which regular troops have mixed with private security units, special forces and law enforcement officers in battlefields around the world. Many veterans of these campaigns employed up-armored civilian vehicles, and they brought a taste for such machines back home with them. “It’s a kind of spectacular performance of power”. That aesthetic can be detected not only in the raised “militarized” grille height of pickup trucks, but also the popularity of aftermarket modifications like blacked-out windows and “bull bars” affixed to the front end. Together, the way these trucks look speaks to a “rejection of communication, reciprocity and legal accountability”, Powell writes. At their heart, these consumer choices also reflect something else, says Sovacool: fear. “We are questioning our place in the world, with globalization and Trump. We’re also feeling really uncertain and unsafe: the pandemic, terrorism”. With its “bulletproof” stainless-steel skin and “bioweapon defense mode,” perhaps no vehicle feels as precisely calibrated to the anxieties of its era as the Tesla Cybertruck. Such vehicles promise more than just “defensive security”, wherein a larger vehicle at least theoretically protects its occupants better in a collision with a smaller vehicle: They are built to project “offensive security”, Sovacool says. “If you do need a vehicle that will go off road, carry lots of weapons or run over people”, he says, “then these bigger vehicles do it better than these smaller ones”. Threaded within the pickup’s militaristic branding is a powerful appeal to national pride. U.S. automakers have long dominated pickup truck sales, which produce enormous profits for Detroit-based companies and employ a lot of domestic auto workers. No wonder there’s such hesitancy among regulators to stand in the way of some of their more egregious styling trends or emissions loopholes. “In a way, critiquing them is seen as anti-American and anti-jobs”, says Sovacool. In a 2016 essay for N+1, Albert also reflected on the burden of associations (nostalgic and nationalistic) that pickups carry: “To drive a thirsty truck is to live in a pre-EPA era, before the spikes in gas prices, before political correctness”, he wrote. “To fill the bottomless tank of a pickup is to practice the religion of the American Way. It is to affirm climate denial, petrol-adventurism, and American exceptionalism”. There are many ways to untangle pickup trucks from this trap and rein in their most destructive excesses. Federal regulators could revise the EPA mandates that the largest pickups now avoid, and impose stronger rules on pedestrian safety to make trucks and SUVs less lethal. The tax code could be reformed, so businesses that purchase the largest commercial trucks aren’t rewarded with a 100% depreciation bonus on the first year. Cities could stiffen parking policies and raise vehicle fees so that such impractically scaled machines will be less appealing to buyers who have little need of their capabilities. But any such efforts can’t be merely “technocratic”, Daggett says: they must grapple with the broader societal forces that these supertrucks have tapped into. “A lot of things are attached to fossil fuel culture because they are symbolically a part of a certain way of life or an identity,” she says. “It’s no longer possible to operate in the world and not understand that fossil fuels are violent. It’s a kind of spectacular performance of power”. Angie Schmitt is a writer and planning consultant and author of Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America. +++
+++ PORSCHE has been so busy lately. Along with its bid to develop and use synthetic fuels by 2022, the German automaker is obviously banking on electrification and future-proofing its lineup. From the highly successful Taycan, the bigger Taycan Cross Turismo has now entered the range as well, and we can expect more electric Porsche models in the years to come. The latter’s the exact reason why Porsche isn’t pushing for a new hypercar lately, according to CEO Oliver Blume talking after the company’s annual results conference. You’d be glad to know, though, that Stuttgart still has its sight for a Porsche 918 Spyder successor, it’s just not a priority. This isn’t the first time that Blume shot down any hopes of a 918 Spyder successor soon. After the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the head honcho already mentioned that the Porsche hypercar is coming by 2025 at the earliest. But he cited a different reason back then, saying that the battery technology back then wasn’t suitable for a flagship model. Now, with the same timeline but different reasons, Blume’s quite consistent with his answers. We can also assume that he has been quite transparent when it comes to the development of their hypercar even before. With that said, the question remains whether the upcoming top-spec Porsche will come with a full-electric powertrain, or if it will still have an internal combustion engine. Whatever the automaker decides in the years to come, we can be assured that it will never be short of performance – not just in output but also in battery technology, which is practically the heart and soul of electrified powertrains. Meanwhile, an all-electric version of another iconic Porsche isn’t happening until the next decade, so that’s another story that we should keep an ear out for. +++
+++ The Volkswagen Group will introduce a single platform for most electric vehicles across its brands in the future, with the new architecture being developed by Volkswagen’s PROJECT TRINITY eventually replacing the current MEB and PPE platforms. The new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is currently being developed within Volkswagen, and is set to be used for the first time as part of the first car developed by Audi’s Project Artemis in 2024 or 2025. The hardware for the SSP platform is based heavily on the current MEB and PPE architectures, currently used for volume and premium EVs respectively. When asked about SSP during the VW Group’s annual results presentation group, boss Herbert Diess said: “The SSP platform will replace the existing platforms over a long period of time. The start-up will begin with Artemis in 2024/2025. We’re taking what we’ve got with the MEB, and we’ll have cost improvement and standardisation of the battery, which goes hand-in-hand with a new electronic architecture providing more computing power to the vehicles. The SSP will eventually be the single backbone for the Group, we’re talking beyond 2035 here”. The move is part of step by the VW Group to introduce largely standardised technical foundations across its brands in the future, through increased use of standardised platforms, software, batteries and mobility services. The German giant, whose brands include Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Seat / Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen, already operates extensive platform sharing but will substantially increase that approach in the future to increase its share of the electric car market. “Volkswagen’s platforms are an important building block of the Volkswagen success story, and we are taking the platform approach to a new level”, said Diess. “By providing strong unified platforms our brands can unleash their full potential and synergies. Our MEB platform serves as a proof of concept. It has taken mobility into our core business”. Diess added that the increased use of platform sharing could enable greater economies of scale, which are “absolutely critical” for developing electric and digital technology. The firm has already introduced the MEB electric platform, which will be used for 27 EVs by the end of next year, including the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4, the Cupra Born, Skoda Enyaq and Audi Q4 e-tron. The first vehicle on the Audi and Porsche-developed PPE platform, likely an EV version of the Porsche Macan, will launch next year. Volkswagen has also launched Project Trinity to develop a new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), which is due to be introduced in the middle of this decade. That platform is described as fully digital and highly scalable, with the firm saying it is suitable for “models of all brands and segments”. It is heavily based on technology from the MEB and PPE platforms. Diess said SSP, which will largely be built in standardised form with options subsequently bought and activated online, will eventually replace both MEB and PPE. That process will likely take until the middle of the next decade. He added: “How many platforms does a group need? We believe the differentiation of platforms due to many different drivetrain concepts is no longer relevant because all the new platforms have a battery skateboard. That gives us major scalability, because they can easily accept different battery sizes and so on. “This approach makes perfect sense and is going to be one of the main levers to leverage the major scalability across the group”. For software, the Volkswagen Group has invested heavily in its Car.Software division, and is developing a next generation VW.OS operating system that will be used across all brands in the coming years. The system is due to be introduced for the first time on the first production vehicle being developed by Audi’s Project Artemis in 2024. Diess said that the aim is for VW’s software division to become Europe’s second largest software company. He added: “There is only one software domain where Europe still has a chance to play a leading role: that’s the next generation of automotive software. We want to lead the way in that”. During its recent Power Day event, Volkswagen confirmed that it would switch 80 % of its EVs to a unified cell system, which it says will dramatically reduce costs. The cell will be designed so that different materials can be used within, depending on the performance needs of each model. The Group is also investing in mobility solutions such as car sharing services, through its MOIA ride sharing firm and WeShare car sharing company. +++
+++ We know that TESLA may already be at work developing a vehicle even more affordable than the Model 3, with a predicted retail price of around $25,000. Now while that bit of news may in and of itself be quite significant for those looking to buy an EV but currently find them too pricey, it could have even more important implications for the industry as a whole. According to Adam Jonas, who is a Morgan Stanley analyst, the cheap Tesla announces the arrival of an even more affordable EV, a sub-$5,000 EV, one that would eventually end up costing around $3,000. Jonas doesn’t provide a clear time frame as to when this super-affordable EV would hit the market. Based on our frequent discussions with OEMs, suppliers and domain experts in the EV business, we would not be at all surprised to see the prices of many EVs eventually fall to below $5k/unit. Jonas and his team argue that it’s all down to economies of scale, a basic principle of microeconomics. It basically iterates that companies gain cost advantages in, say, manufacturing by making more products, thus bringing down the per-unit price. This would not be the first time this has happened in the automotive industry, and a pertinent example of economies of scale paying dividends is the story of how Henry Ford and his moving production line allowed for more Model Ts to be built and thus allowed him to build them cheaper. The current situation with electric vehicles would not differ much. As companies gain experience designing and manufacturing EVs and build them in higher volumes, analysts predict that the number of parts needed for an entire vehicle could at some point in the future drop from the 10.000 or so mark today to around 100 (or even less). But with mounting pressure by governments who now favour electric vehicles over ICE, manufacturers may not have a choice and focus more and more on EVs. In fact, the Morgan Stanley analysts say: “In the not-too-distant future, we believe the internal combustion automobile may be so expensive to buy and maintain that it will be extremely difficult to justify its continuing role in the mobility ecosystem”. But how far are we from the $5.000 EV today, really? In Europe, for instance, Citroen already sells the Ami, an electric quadricycle that costs the equivalent of around €7.000 today. It is not the last word in performance, technology, safety or any area in particular, but it is a brand new EV that you can buy today for not that much money. The cheapest ‘real car’ with an electric powertrain that you can currently order in Europe is the Dacia Spring, a subcompact model that costs €16.990 in France, so we still have a bit to go before matching the scenario predicted by the analysts quoted in this article. +++
+++ A senior executive from TOYOTA is said to express skepticism before US senators on Tuesday, stating that while rival automakers are pushing hard to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles, the obstacles that need to be overcome beforehand are plentiful. Automotive giants such as Volvo, Ford and General Motors have vowed that at least one of their vehicle segments will be entirely electric by 2030 and are eager for the US government to support their stand by taking initiatives to speed up legislation mandating the adoption of EVs. But Toyota has repeatedly warned companies that have made, or are planning to make, the full-on switch to EV power. Last year the Japanese carmaker petitioned governments to rethink their blanket bans on ICE car sales. Speaking at a news conference for the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, claimed Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if all vehicles were electric. He added that the infrastructure needed to support a complete transition to EVs would cost the country the equivalent of $135 billion to $358 billion. Toyota’s North American Division made a similar claim as they prepare to lay out their findings to US Senators. “If we are to make dramatic progress in electrification, it will require overcoming tremendous challenges, including refueling infrastructure, battery availability, consumer acceptance, and affordability”, Robert Wimmer, director of Energy and Environmental Research at Toyota Motor North America, told. Wimmer added that even though rivals make ambitious aspirations, the reality is that less than 2 % of vehicles that were sold in the US last year were battery-powered and that Toyota took 20 long years to have 4 million hybrids on US roads. Toyota will be introducing 2 new BEVs to the US this year and add 1 fully-electric model to the Lexus line-up. However, during the announcement of the new electric products, the automaker continued to reinforce the fact that they are still committed to offering multiple drivetrain options rather than going all-in with battery electric vehicles. Toyota reasons that, between a BEV and a PHEV, both yield similar environmental benefits, but the cost of long-term BEV ownership is “much higher” than that of a PHEV. Toyota isn’t the only large car manufacturer to refrain from going all-in to an EV future. Recently, BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse was quoted saying that the demand for ICE vehicles will remain robust for many years to come. +++
+++ The VOLKSWAGEN GROUP is developing a new SSP electric car platform to replace MEB. Volkswagen is already planning for post-MEB electric future with next-generation SSP EV platform by middle of the decade. The Volkswagen Group will introduce a new singular electric vehicle platform from 2025 onwards, intended to replace both the new MEB and the upcoming PPE electric car platforms in the 2030s. Called SSP (Scalable Systems Platform), its rollout will be applied across all VW Group brands and across numerous vehicle sectors. It will be revealed in 2024, as the platform that will underpin a next-generation all-electric Audi, dubbed “Project Artemis”. “In 2024, we start to merge our electric platforms and synchronize them”, explained Volkswagen Group chairman, Herbert Diess, at the Group’s annual financial results presentation. “The SSP platform will replace the existing platforms but over a long period of time. The start-up will begin with Artemis, so 2024/2025”. Diess hinted that the SSP wouldn’t be a new vehicle platform from the ground up, but would instead be an evolution of both the MEB and PPE modular toolkits the group has spent billions developing from scratch. “It shouldn’t be seen as something brand new. What we are taking is what we have got with the MEB, with cost improvements. And standardization of the battery will play a significant role. This will go hand in hand with a new electronic architecture which will provide much greater computing power. “SSP will eventually be the single backbone for the group. We are speaking about beyond 2035 here. By the end of the decade we will be able to roll out the SSP on all vehicle classes. We will reduce complexity and focus on only one single battery cell from ‘23 onwards. From 2030, one cell format will cover 80 % of use cases across the Group. New chemistry and manufacturing processes will reduce battery costs by 50 %. This will make e-cars even more affordable”. VW’s plan for a new ‘unified’ battery cell will see the vast majority of upcoming electric cars move to a new highly standardised battery system. They will use the same cell packaging with the same dimensions, for greater ease of manufacturing. Cost and range will no longer be determined by the size of the pack, but the cell chemistry instead. +++