+++ There are still more questions than answers, but another ship hauling hundreds of ELECTRIC VEHICLES is on fire and abandoned in the middle of an ocean. This time it was the Morning Midas, carrying 3.000 vehicles (including 800 EVs) across the Pacific Ocean from China to Mexico. The cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately clear and early reports did not identify which vehicle brands were aboard. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued all 22 crew members. The story revived memories of the 2022 sinking of the Felicity Ace, carrying 4.000 Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini cars. The ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean before an official cause for the incident could be determined, but it wasn’t a stretch to conclude a malfunctioning EV battery could have caused the fire. Fast-forward to today and there will likely be similar questions raised about the Morning Midas fire. Insurance coverage for EV shipping has already been an issue. “The reality is the risk remains significant due to the size of these ships and the complexities involved in firefighting and salvage”, insurer Allianz Commercial said. This latest incident, coupled with EVs losing their luster in North America and U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles, might ultimately make it a rarity to see large shipments of EVs on the high seas. +++
+++ Tesla and Volvo have been criticised as part of EURO NCAP ’s latest round of car safety tests, with the former’s Autopilot autonomous driving system described as having an “inappropriate” and “misleading” name. Following its most recent batch of Assisted Driving Grading assessments, Euro NCAP blasted Tesla for the name of its Autopilot system, which led to the Model S only managing to scrape a ‘Moderate’ rating after performing strongly in the Safety Backup tests, but poorly in the Assistance Competence section. This latter test focuses on how easy it is for drivers to comprehend a system’s capabilities and limitations, how effective functions like adaptive cruise control and speed-limit assist are, and how easy it is to retake control of the car. As the name suggests, safety backup tests focus on how well a car avoids a collision and how it overcomes certain issues such as a blocked sensor. With all of this in mind, the technical manager of assisted driving systems at Euro NCAP, Adriano Palao, accused Tesla of “misleading consumers about their Autopilot system’s capabilities simply through its name and marketing, which could have potential safety implications”. Euro NCAP says the name is “inappropriate” because it “suggests full automation”; some of the main criticisms of Tesla’s autonomous systems include the amount of force needed to correct steering inputs, as well as the over-reliance on the car’s centre touchscreen for displaying alerts. Tesla refused to comment, however it did point to a disclaimer on its online car configurator, which states: “The currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous”. As mentioned above, it’s not just Tesla that disappointed Euro NCAP; Volvo also received lower-than-expected scores for its Pilot Assist system. Safety experts were unimpressed with how Volvo’s system fails to lock out drivers from semi-autonomous functionality, even if they repeatedly take their hands off the wheel. Conversely, the likes of the Renault 5, Kia EV3, Toyota BZ4X and Porsche Macan were all rated as ‘Very Good’ by the team at Euro NCAP. The Macan was particularly praised for how it clearly notifies drivers of its self-driving capacities, earning strong scores in both the competence and safety backup categories. Next year, Euro NCAP will completely overhaul its safety rating procedures, focusing on what it describes as 4 main pillars: safe driving, crash avoidance, crash protection and post-crash safety. +++
+++ HONDA will launch a wave of new hybrid models powered by what it calls “the world’s most efficient” combustion powertrain in response to lagging EV sales. At least 13 new Hondas will arrive between 2027 and 2030 in a revised range of hybrids that could kick off with replacements for today’s Civic and Jazz. The new electrified combustion cars will help the company to navigate the “transition period” until electric cars are suitable for mass-adoption. The move is a response to the speed of changeover to EVs, which has so far been slower than Honda expected. Announcing the strategic rethink recently, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe noted that “demand for hybrid-electric vehicles is growing”, while “the expansion of the EV market has fallen behind the initial projection”. Mibe suggested the relaxation of CO2 emissions and EV sales targets in the US were to blame for the slower than expected growth of EVs, because these were “the main premise for the widespread adoption of EVs”. Honda has not said which cars will be first to receive the new powertrain but has confirmed that it will come in 1.5- and 2.0-litre forms. That matches the capacities of the engines in the current Jazz and Civic, which are both due substantial updates in the coming years. The 1.5-litre version will provide peak torque over a rev range that’s 40% broader than currently to maximise efficiency without compromising grunt. Both variants will deliver the best thermal performance of any combustion engine on the market, claims Honda. Meanwhile, the hybrid system’s electric motor is being slimmed down to reduce weight and improve packaging. Combined, the new developments will yield a 10% improvement in fuel economy. The arrival of the 2 powertrains will coincide with a new platform that promises improvements in driver engagement, comfort and safety. For medium-sized cars, it will be 90 kg lighter than the current structure and the bodies applied to the frame will bring a further 10% saving in mass. Costcutting is also a key directive in the development of Honda’s upcoming cars. Models based on the new platform will share at least 60% of their parts, such as the engine bay and rear floor. The new hybrid powertrains, meanwhile, will be 30% cheaper to produce than those launched in 2023. Despite cutting its investment into EVs by €18 billion (to €59 billion in total) and losing €3.5 billion on them last year, Honda remains committed to EV development. “We would like to see the battery EV business as a pillar of our business from 2030 onward”, CEO Toshihiro Mibe told investors. The 0 Series of electric cars due to be launched in the US next year represents an effective reset of the company’s approach to the market, after it suffered setbacks with the E hatchback and e:Ny1 crossover. Honda will start by launching a boxy SUV and a futuristic saloon, followed by 7-seater small- and medium-sized crossovers and a saloon to rival the Tesla Model 3. This range signals the future of the brand. They will usher in a radical design language that will not be shared with the hybrids, though the new Honda emblem that was due to be exclusive to the 0 Series will now be rolled out across the line-up. Toshinobu Minami, head of Honda’s design centre, told: “Hybrid and combustion models are going to be different in terms of design but dynamic and simple will be key words for all models in future”. +++
+++ Ever feel like the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in new cars are more of a hindrance than a help because of how distracting, confusing or generally infuriating they can be? I do sometimes, and LEAPMOTOR ’s marketing boss would be inclined to agree, based on the thoughts he shared about ADAS in an interview. Francesco Giacalone, Leapmotor’s head of European marketing and the man responsible for customer experience, told me he would be happy for the brand to sacrifice high Euro NCAP safety ratings (which are earned partly by companies cramming in as much as driver-assistance technology as possible into new cars) for the sake of a better, less stressful driver experience. “Getting Euro NCAP ratings will not always be inexpensive and will not always be easy to achieve”, he said. “So at a point in time, there could be the compromise whether to not reach the maximum NCAP rating, but to provide the promise of our brand, which is to deliver life-easing technology at an affordable price. Maybe we need to sacrifice one star to deliver the right product to the customer, with the full content of useful and life-easing technology?” he added. “That could be the right choice”. But to clarify, Giacalone isn’t proposing that Leapmotor starts putting less safety or driver-assistance tech into its cars. Especially because all new cars sold in the EU must be fitted with Emergency Lane Keep Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking and Intelligent Speed Assist, and more systems will be added to this mandatory list next year. Instead, his suggestion is simply that the driver should be able to choose which of the systems onboard they want activated by default when they turn on their car. He explained: “Of course, we will not go to the extreme of the spectrum where we launch a car that has no active safety, and the passive safety is crap. All cars from Leapmotor are engineered with high-strength stainless steel on the side and in the frame, so the cabin is strong, and there’s lots of airbags. “All those elements will be there. Just maybe, to achieve the 5-star rating, you need some active safety which not all consumers equally appreciate”, he said. “Then, either you make a compromise in that little last mile and probably that will cost you a star (that could be the case) but there’s no compromise on the broad security of the car”. Essentially, as Giacalone put it to us, “the message is that all the tech, hardware and software is there at the service of the customer. So, if you want, we enable it”. The marketing boss would be the first to admit some parts of Leapmotor’s ADAS suite are not perfect, and still need work, which we very much agree with after driving the C10. However, unlike some other brands, Leapmotor is willing and able to update its cars extremely quickly after receiving feedback like ours. For instance, Giacalone told us, after receiving criticism about the C10’s driver-assistance systems and how difficult it was to turn them off last September, the company developed a solution in just six weeks and was ready to roll it out before Christmas. Now, the car has a drop-down control centre with shortcuts for deactivating certain functions much more quickly, and more easily than before. But while Leapmotor can update its cars incredibly quickly if and when it needs to, Giacalone thinks customers might find a major update every six weeks a bit annoying. Instead, he said: “We will try to have regular updates every four months or so, maybe once or twice a year, grouping more improvements and new features”. +++
+++ Meanwhile, the emerging SHORTAGE of rare-earth minerals is making headlines again as automakers and suppliers try to keep assembly lines operating in Europe and the U.S. Rare-earths are a bargaining chip in U.S.-China trade talks, as China controls about 90 percent of global production. Among vehicle parts at risk from the shortage are automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, power steering units and cameras, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. +++
+++ In the UNITED STATES , May car sales results began arriving today and they looked pretty good, especially for Ford. Ford generated a solid 16 percent gain in U.S. sales last month behind its employee pricing promotion. Deliveries rose 11 percent at the Ford brand and 39 percent at Lincoln. SUVs and crossovers improved 25 percent while pickups rose 11 percent. F-Series sales rose 15 percent. Hyundai, Kia, Genesis and Toyota also generated strong results in May. For the 7 automakers that reported today, combined sales rose 7.7 percent. +++
+++ VOLVO boss Håkan Samuelsson gave his strongest hint yet that a new model planned for the company’s plant in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the XC60 midsize crossover. The plant builds the electric EX90 and electric Polestar 3 large crossovers, but Samuelsson has previously said he wants to add more hybrid models to fill unused capacity which is currently close to 80 percent. +++