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Weekly News
Apple Car may debut in September next year
According to confirmation from Taiwan’s key suppliers, Apple is expected to release the Apple Car in September next year, at least two years ahead of schedule. Taiwanese media quoted high-level executives in the electric vehicle supply chain who revealed that the prototype of the Apple Car has already been on the road in California, USA for testing, as orders have been shipped and assembly has been completed.
(Apple Car concept, source: wccftech)
Previously, Apple had not revealed the progress of its electric car project, and it was originally expected that the Apple Car would not be released until at least 2023.
Comment：
There have been frequent reports about Apple’s car-making project, and this time it seems to be more specific and credible. Even if Apple can launch the Apple Car in September next year, there is still a considerable amount of time before mass production. It is worth looking forward to the changes that Apple’s entry into the electric vehicle industry will bring.
National Development and Reform Commission expects car production and sales to reach around 25 million this year
On December 16th, the National Development and Reform Commission held an online press conference for December and stated that since April, the automotive industry has shown a rapid recovery and sustained growth. From January to November, the year-on-year decline in car production and sales has narrowed to around 3%, and main business income, total profit and value added have achieved positive growth year-on-year.
(Scene of the press conference, source: Gnews)The new energy vehicle market experienced a significant decline in the first half of the year, but began to show a sustained upward trend starting from July. In November, production and sales reached 198,000 and 200,000 vehicles, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 75% and 105%.
It is expected that the overall automobile industry will recover to the level of the previous year this year, with major economic indicators such as value-added surpassing those of last year. Production and sales are expected to reach around 25 million vehicles, with new energy vehicle production and sales expected to exceed last year.
Quick Comment:
Although the auto industry was greatly affected by the epidemic at the beginning of this year, with the easing of policies and the significant effectiveness of domestic epidemic prevention and control, the industry has gradually rebounded, especially in the new energy vehicle market.
Amid the global economic impact of the epidemic, the electric vehicle and its industrial chain undoubtedly provide good opportunities to stimulate the economy and provide employment.
Countries have introduced favorable policies one after another. For instance, Biden promised to build 500,000 charging stations, the EU announced that the number of new energy vehicles will reach 30 million by 2030, and Japan is even considering ceasing the sale of fuel vehicles in the mid-term from 2030 to 2040. With the influence of the overall environment, the new energy vehicle market next year is worth looking forward to.
Tesla’s stock hits a new high before being added to S&P 500
On the last trading day before being added to the S&P 500 index, Tesla’s stock hit a historical high, rising 5.96% to $695, with a market value of $658.7 billion.
Since announcing its inclusion in the S&P 500, Tesla’s market value has increased by $271.96 billion. In terms of market value, Tesla will become the largest company to join the S&P 500. So far this year, Tesla’s stock has risen by 731%, while the S&P has only gone up approximately 15%.
Quick Comment:
As Tesla’s stock price has been climbing all year, its market value has exceeded the sum of Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Such a large trading volume has raised market concerns about what positive news will stimulate the stock price to rise further. After officially joining the S&P 500 this week, Tesla’s stock price may face fluctuations.
VW CEO Diess receives support from the supervisory board to build a new factory to compete with Tesla
Recently, the Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board issued a statement expressing full support for Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess’s transformation strategy in electrification and digitization.
After expressing its support for Diess, Volkswagen may accelerate its transformation by upgrading and improving production capacity at its Wolfsburg factory in Germany to shorten production time to 10 hours per car in order to compete with Tesla. Diess’ long-term goal has been to lead Volkswagen in outpacing Tesla in the new energy industry, and the support from Volkswagen demonstrates the company’s attitude towards the new energy market.
The Voyah FREE was officially launched on December 18th, offering two models with 1.5T 4-cylinder extended range and pure electric powertrains. The former has a NEDC range of 860 km and an acceleration rate of 4.6 seconds from 0-100 km/h, while the latter has a NEDC range of 500 km and an acceleration rate of 4.8 seconds from 0-100 km/h. The generator in the extended range powertrain has a maximum power of 80 kW and a rated power of 60 kW. The price of the two models will not exceed RMB 400,000, and Voyah will adopt a direct sales model for sales, which is already open for pre-orders.
The position, configuration, and promotion of the Voyah can be seen as aimed at the Ideal ONE. Voyah has stated that they are comrades in arms rather than competitors. Delivery of Voyah vehicles is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021.
On December 17th, Wu Wa, an Internet user, posted drone footage on YouTube that showed 40 covered Model Y vehicles parked inside Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, leading to speculation that Model Y has been mass produced and is preparing for delivery early next year.In the past nine months, Tesla has more than doubled the size of its Shanghai Gigafactory in preparation for Model Y production. On November 5, Model Y was added to China’s Catalogue of New Energy Vehicles, and it seems increasingly likely that it will be officially delivered on January 7 next year. According to the previous pace, the announcement of the official price of Model Y is not far away.
Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory faces setbacks due to deposit issue
As the Berlin Gigafactory has not yet obtained full construction permission, the local environmental department requires Tesla to pay a security deposit of 100 million euros for possible demolition costs. The deposit was supposed to be paid by December 17.
In October of this year, the construction project of the Berlin Gigafactory was cut off from the water supply due to overdue payments. At the beginning of this month, Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory also suspended construction due to a lawsuit filed by a local environmental organization over deforestation.
(Photo of the halted Tesla Berlin Gigafactory, source: Reuters)
On December 18, the mayor of Tees Valley in England welcomed Tesla to build a Gigafactory in the Teesside area and mentioned the issue of the Berlin Gigafactory being repeatedly stopped.
He stated that Tesla will not encounter similar problems in the UK as there are sufficient land resources and a skilled labor force for automobile manufacturing and battery production.
Quick comment:
As the first Gigafactory in Europe, Tesla chose Germany because of its developed automobile industry. However, compared with the ten-month speed from groundbreaking to production of the Shanghai Gigafactory, the construction of the Berlin Gigafactory has been bumpy in recent months. Therefore, local officials in the UK invited Musk to come and build the factory. From the current situation of the Berlin Gigafactory, this may not be impossible.
This month, the first batch of 7,000 Model 3s produced in Shanghai have arrived in Europe. Will the planned production of Model Y in Berlin be delivered on time next year?
Akio Toyoda: Electric vehicles are overhyped
Recently, Akio Toyoda, the President of Toyota, stated that electric vehicles are being overly hyped without considering the carbon emissions during power generation and the cost of transitioning to electric cars. He questioned whether politicians truly understand the implications of their calls to stop using fossil-fuel vehicles.
(THE DETROIT BUREAU) According to Akio Toyoda’s estimation, Japan may spend JPY 14 trillion ($135 billion) to JPY 37 trillion ($358 billion) on building the infrastructure for electric vehicles. He also warned that Japan’s electricity will be depleted in the summer if electric vehicles become mainstream.
Quick Comment:
Among numerous automakers, Toyota has long been committed to hybrid technology and has a leading advantage. Toyota also started developing new solid-state batteries in 2017 and plans to launch a fully electric SUV by 2028.
Earlier this month, there was news that Japan is considering banning sales of gasoline vehicles and only selling electric vehicles from 2030 to 2040. While Akio Toyoda’s warning is based on Japan’s current reliance on coal and natural gas power generation, how will Toyota respond to the trend of electrification?
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.