They will have access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers starting in 2025.
Mariella Moon
·Contributing Reporter
Thu, October 19, 2023
John Keeble via Getty Images
One by one, automakers have started adopting the North American Charging Standard (NACS) used by Tesla's Superchargers as they move towards their goal of replacing their fleet with electric vehicles. Toyota is the latest company to join the growing list. The automaker has announced that it has reached an agreement with Tesla to incorporate NACS ports into certain Toyota-branded vehicles starting in 2025. Some EVs under its luxury brand, Lexus, will come with the standard's charging ports, as well.
By using NACS ports on its electric vehicles, Toyota is effectively giving its customers the power to access more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across North America. While the company won't be implementing the standard over the next year, its timeline matches its rival automakers'. To note, customers who already have Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with the Combined Charging System (CCS) will be offered access to NACS adapters starting in 2025, as well.
BMW also recently announced that it was adopting the standard for all its EVs in the United States and Canada. A few months ago, GM and Ford revealed they were making the switch starting in 2025, but owners will already be able to access Tesla Superchargers next year with an adopter. Hyundai will adopt the port for its EVs in the US in 2024, with EVs in Canada to follow in 2025. Honda, Toyota's fellow Japanese automaker, announced its transition to NACS in September and its plans to sell vehicles with the port in two years' time. It also said, however, that it's developing an adapter to allow pre-2025 Hondas to charge using Tesla's system.
Reuters
Wed, October 18, 2023
The logo of Suzuki Motor Corp. is pictured at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Suzuki Motor will start producing electric vehicles in India and export them from there to Japan as early as 2025, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday.
In a step to make India its global electric car manufacturing hub, Suzuki will also consider supplying India-made EVs to partner Toyota Motor for European markets that would be sold under the Toyota brand, the Nikkei said.
Suzuki declined to comment on the report. Toyota, which owns a 4.9% in Suzuki, was not immediately able to comment.
Nikkei said Suzuki will set up a new production line at a plant in India's western state of Gujarat, where its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki would start producing next autumn.
The battery-powered cars that Suzuki plans to export to Japan would be small sports utility vehicles and would have a price tag of around 3 million yen ($20,043) to 4 million yen, Nikkei said.
The production line would also make gasoline-powered cars and would reach an expected capacity of 250,000 units a year, the newspaper added.
($1 = 149.6800 yen)
Wed, October 18, 2023
By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Electric vehicle company Lordstown Motors received U.S. bankruptcy court approval Wednesday to sell its manufacturing assets to a new company affiliated with its founder and former CEO Stephen Burns for $10.2 million.
LAS Capital, majority-owned by Burns, will acquire Lordstown's intellectual property, business records, and machinery including assembly lines for electric vehicle motors and batteries.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath approved the sale at a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying it was the best available offer.
The sale does not include any rights to pursue legal claims against Lordstown's directors, officers or equity owners, which will remain with the bankrupt company, Lordstown Motors' attorney David Turetsky said at the court hearing. Several investor groups have already brought claims against Lordstown and its directors, alleging that the electric truck startup misled consumers and investors about its ability to ramp up electric vehicle production.
Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in June, seeking to wind down its business after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn, which had agreed to collaborate on the development of Lordstown's electric pickup truck after its purchase of Lordstown's manufacturing center.
Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW) and best known for assembling Apple's iPhones, has argued that it was not required to make further investments in Lordstown after the automaker's stock fell below $1 per share.
LAS Capital's attorney Jennifer Madden said that it was not purchasing any Endurance trucks for resale to the public and not acquiring any vehicles that had already been sold to customers and are subject to recalls from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Most of the purchased equipment is located at an Ohio manufacturing facility now owned by Foxconn, and Madden said LAS Capital will work with Foxconn to remove the machinery.
Burns resigned from the role of CEO in 2021, following an internal investigation into a short seller's claim that Lordstown had overstated the viability of its technology and misled investors about production plans. Burns later sold his remaining equity in the company before it went bankrupt.
Lordstown's ex-CFO Julio Rodriguez, who resigned at the same time as Burns, is also involved with LAS Capital as a minority owner and manager.
Tim Levin
Wed, October 18, 2023
Most Americans don't intend to buy an electric car in the near future, according to a new study.
People who do spring for an EV often buy a gas car as their next purchase, per another study.
Still, EV sales are climbing fast and are on track to surpass 1 million units in the US this year.
Even as electric vehicles dominate headlines and hot new models hit the market, most Americans aren't interested in giving up gasoline.
In a recent poll conducted by Yahoo Finance and Ipsos, 57% of respondents said they were not likely to choose an EV when they buy their next car. (For the purposes of the study, EVs included fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids, which have a larger battery and more electric range than traditional hybrids.)
Of that majority, 36% said they were "not at all likely" to go electric, while 21% said they were "not too likely." Thirty-one percent of those surveyed said they were likely to buy an EV.
The biggest factors turning potential buyers off from EVs are the same worries that consistently pop up in these kinds of surveys: High vehicle cost, limited driving range, and insufficient charging infrastructure. The study also highlights a striking political divide among the EV-curious; 41% of Democrats said they'd buy an EV, compared to only 17% of Republicans.
Once a person takes the electric plunge, they're not always instant converts.
A recent analysis from S&P Global Mobility found that many EV-owning households buy a gas-fueled car next. In the mainstream market, 52.1% of EV households (excluding Tesla's industry-leading loyalty numbers) buy an EV as their next vehicle, meaning almost half do not.
That next vehicle could be either a replacement or an additional car. Owning both an EV and an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle makes sense if consumers want an EV for short daily trips and another car that's better for long-haul journeys.
Automakers "are spending huge amounts of money to develop EVs," Tom Libby, associate director for loyalty solutions and industry analysis at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement. "So the last thing they want is for an EV owner to go back to ICE."
Tesla households, which most EV households are, buy another EV a whopping 76.7% of the time, lifting the average for the luxury EV segment as a whole to 72.6%. Some other brands don't fare as well; Porsche and BMW had EV loyalty rates of 36.8% and 45.9%, respectively.
Despite the headwinds, EVs continue to take off. US EV sales have increased for 13 straight quarters, according to Cox Automotive. And the US is on pace to notch its first year with more than 1 million EVs sold.
No comments:
Post a Comment