Automotive Ventures Weekly Intel Report | Jan 22 2024
Intel Report: Mobility News
BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | JAN 22 2024 | VIEW ONLINE
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What We're Reading:
All 10 of the top auto insurers in the U.S. raised rates double digits in 2023. (Thanks to Stephen Applebaum and Alan Demers for this story). | Insurance Journal
Tesla owners in the Chicago area found out the hard way that the EV maker's Supercharger network can't always overcome extreme weather conditions. Chicago news outlets reported that several Tesla owners had to have their vehicles towed after running out of juice while waiting for a charge at jammed Supercharger stations. | Automotive News ($)
Lithium-ion batteries unavoidably degrade over time, beginning from the very first charge and continuing thereafter. However, while lithium-ion battery degradation is unavoidable, it is not unalterable. Rather, the rate at which lithium-ion batteries degrade during each cycle can vary significantly depending on the operating conditions. Of course, degradation will be at its fastest if the battery is operated under extreme conditions such as high temperatures, high current rates, or cold temperatures with high charging current rates. | Zitara
Hyundai has launched a major cash-back incentive, offering up to $7,500 to US buyers of its Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Kona Electric car models through the end of January. This aggressive move comes in response to Hyundai’s electric vehicles missing out on valuable tax credits under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. | Quartz
The Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Survey found that 67% of U.S. consumers said they would prefer an internal combustion engine for their next vehicle purchase. Only 6% said they favored a battery-powered EV—down from 8% last year. | Deloitte
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent to the White House for review its proposal to finalize sweeping emissions cuts for new cars and trucks through 2032 that could drastically boost electric vehicle sales. Under the initial EPA proposal, automakers are forecast to produce 60% EVs by 2030 and 67% by 2032 to meet requirements. | Reuters ($)
The Biden Administration keeps throwing around billions in subsidies for electric vehicles, and the press corps keeps hailing them, but consumers don’t seem to want them. The evidence is building that this green industrial policy is a bust. | The Wall Street Journal ($)
European lawmakers agreed to CO2 targets for heavy-duty vehicles that will phase out almost all sales of new diesel trucks by 2040. Manufacturers will have to cut the average emissions of new trucks by 45% in 2030, 65% in 2035 and 90% in 2040. | Transport & Environment
California's money for road repair and maintenance depends on the state’s motor fuel taxes, and that revenue is expected to plunge. Electric vehicles don’t use gasoline, so EV drivers don’t pay the gas tax. Taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel now total about $14.2 billion a year. More than $4 billion annually could disappear by 2035 when the state’s ban on the sale of new fossil fuel cars takes full effect. | LA Times ($)
Some Tesla Superchargers are getting overwhelmed by new Uber drivers in New York City after a new program enabled a lot of Tesla ridesharing vehicles in the city. Last year, New York City became the first major city to mandate that rideshare fleets be electric by 2030. This week, the situation reached a peak, with several local owners reporting massive lines at Supercharger stations. To mitigate the situation, Tesla implemented a new “congestion fee” at the local Supercharger station in New York. | Electrek
Automakers like Ford, Kia, and Toyota are offering more hybrid options to appeal to buyers who aren’t ready for fully electric vehicles. | The New York Times ($)
The nation’s "super drivers" are the small percentage of American motorists who drive, on average, about 110 miles per day. While the average American driver travels about 13,400 miles per year, people who buy electric vehicles today tend to drive them less than that, limiting the climate benefits of switching to a cleaner car. By contrast, the top 10% of motorists in the U.S. drive an average of about 40,200 miles per year and account for roughly one-third of the nation’s gasoline use. | The New York Times ($)
Automotive suppliers depend on stable factory orders and clear insight into automakers' product plans to operate profitably. The slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth has put suppliers in a bind as they look to manage customer demand for parts for both EVs and internal combustion-engine vehicles. | Automotive News ($)
Solid-state batteries hold the promise of more energy storage, longer driving ranges and faster charging for next-generation electric vehicles. Yet despite decades of research and billions of dollars invested, their future still looks elusive. | Reuters ($)
Volvo Cars remains confident of "tremendous growth" in the electric vehicles market. The carmaker, which aims for electric vehicles (EVs) to contribute half its sales volume by mid-decade and to sell only EVs by 2030, said the growth in demand for its premium brand was stronger than that of mass-market rivals. | Reuters ($)
BMW has passed the tipping point for combustion engine vehicle sales and now generates most sales growth from electric cars, its chief financial officer said. "The current sales plateau for combustion cars will continue and then fall slightly." | Reuters ($)
Automakers are looking to an old friend to help offset rising labor costs: robots. For decades, car companies have increased automation inside their factories. Now, auto executives are looking more closely at this approach, to address a rising labor bill and take advantage of more sophisticated technology. | The Wall Street Journal ($)
The average auto dealership employee surveyed predicted their 2023 income would surpass $200,000. That’s about 3 times higher than what the average U.S. worker made in 2022. | Automotive News ($)
Cox Automotive is embracing dry battery recycling, an approach that omits the use of water and chemicals commonly found in traditional battery recycling methods. This less energy-intensive method has a reduced carbon footprint and produces no liquid discharge, minimizing environmental hazards. | Recycling Today
A new law on vehicle battery regulation has been announced requiring electric vehicles (EVs) to show a digital passport when entering European Union (EU) countries. From February 2027, a QR code will provide access to a digital ID with detailed information on each battery about the sources and nature of the raw materials prior to manufacturing, along with post-manufacturing details, such as capacity and condition. | MOVEMNT
A small but growing group of commercial medium-to-heavy-duty truck drivers who use electric trucks. These drivers — many of whom operate local or regional routes that don’t require hundreds of miles on the road in a day — generally welcome the transition to electric, praising their new trucks’ handling, acceleration, smoothness and quiet operation. | The Washington Post ($)
Chinese brands will launch a price war and will capture a sixth of the UK electric car market by 2030, according to Auto Trader UK. Chinese brands have the pricing power from their low-cost manufacturing bases to change the market amid the so-called ZEV mandate, the government’s new regulation now in force that requires all manufacturers to sell at least 22% of their cars this year as zero-emission vehicles. | AutoTrader Insight
Connectivity solutions and in-car digital offerings, such as entertainment and advance hazard warnings will, according to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, play an increasingly important role in the future mobility experience and change the revenue streams for automakers. By 2030, core connectivity use cases, such as gaming and over-the-air upgrades, as well as Wi-Fi and even heated seats, among others, could deliver $250 billion-$400 billion in annual revenues. | Wards Auto
Waymo's caution, once seen as a weakness, is starting to pay off. According to the most recently available data, Waymo’s cars have traveled 7.1 million miles and have caused just three minor injuries. Waymo has consistently acted more slowly despite considerable pressure from outside investors wondering why, with all of its financial might, it wasn’t running rings around competitors. | Bloomberg ($)
German startup Vay has launched a remotely driven car service in Las Vegas. Vay’s offering involves humans remote-controlling cars — Vay calls them teledrivers — from physical stations miles away. Teledrivers will deliver electric vehicles to customers who hop in and drive themselves to their desired destination. The teledrivers will then steer the vehicles to their next client. Vay said it’s currently charging customers $0.30 a minute when users drive. | Bloomberg ($)
John Deere, the world’s largest farm machinery manufacturer, signed a deal with SpaceX’s Starlink business to connect tractors, seed planters, crop sprayers and other equipment in areas that lack adequate internet service, allowing them to use Deere’s digital products. | The Wall Street Journal ($)
OC&C Strategy Consultants' second annual Marketplaces report is out, a major study of the world's top 250 digital marketplaces. Here are the key takeaways:
1. Marketplaces continue to grow strongly.
2. Specialist models are outgrowing generalists.
3. Generalists' GMV growth slows, but take-rate grows.
4. Marketplaces face several risks and opportunities.
| OC&C Strategy
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman said an energy breakthrough is necessary for future artificial intelligence, which will consume vastly more power than people have expected. Altman said the silver lining is that more climate-friendly sources of energy, particularly nuclear fusion or cheaper solar power and storage, are the way forward for AI. | Reuters
“Airplanes have never been safer. The biggest U.S. airlines have now gone nearly 15 years without a fatal crash—and it’s not just because of tech, engineering and luck...But it still feels like a miracle that flying across the skies of America has become safer than walking across the street. And it’s worth remembering the next time you’re sitting in a giant metal tube at 30,000 feet.” | The Wall Street Journal ($)
Slowly but surely, the dial on public transport policy across Europe is shifting. The pandemic – and the apparently long-term change to working patterns it triggered – has played a part, as has the cost of living crisis. | The Guardian
If drone delivery is going to go mainstream, it’s going to need bigger aircraft that can handle more stuff. Today, Alphabet Inc.’s Wing unveiled the first in a new lineup of larger drones with more payload capacity. Wing’s flagship drone is designed to handle payloads of up to 2.5 pounds. The new drone can handle up to five pounds without sacrificing range. The company says that it has enough battery power to complete 12 miles round trip while cruising at up to 65mph. | The Verge
NASA and Lockheed Martin have finally taken the wraps off of the X-59, a “quiet supersonic” aircraft that can fly faster than the speed of sound — in this case, 925 MPH — without generating the window-rattling sonic boom that results from the resulting pressure wave. Though it’s impossible to entirely mitigate the effect of a large body moving through the atmosphere at great speed, the team aims to reduce the boom to a “sonic thump” that’s less disruptive to people, infrastructure and wildlife. | TechCrunch
Have a great week,
Steve Greenfield
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Notable & New
On this week's "Future of Automotive" segment on CBT News, we discuss how rising labor costs will propel the automakers towards more robotics and automation. | CBT News ($)
Scott Case from Recurrent was on national news discussing how cold weather affects EV charging time. | Recurrent
Great to see Automotive Ventures portfolio company Recurrent cited in The Washington Post! | The Washington Post ($)
Recurrent is looking to hire a Business Development Manager: Link
Seraphim interviews Winnie Lai, the Founder-CEO of Automotive Ventures portfolio company Auriga Space. | YouTube
Thanks to Auto Remarketing for covering Automotive Ventures portfolio company AlgoDriven! | Auto Remarketing
Steve will be your MC at the new Auto Tech Investments conference at NADA this year: Friday, Dec 2nd. | Auto Tech Investments
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Companies to Watch
DeepHawk offers next-generation AI for visual quality control on manufacturing production lines. | DeepHawk
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