Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Mr. Dazzle]

This came up on my LinkedIn today...Turbocharged electric powertrains Wonder if you can still get it to go "Pffffttt!". S'not even a joke, this works with fuel cell tech to force more air in and speed up the hydrogen reaction which generates electricity.

https://www.dieselprogress.com/news/new ... 02.article

[Potter]

I imagine though that as more manufacturers dedicate more production to non-ICE the competition will increase and prices will drop. At the moment it's all early adopter/premium pricing and very iffy on cost benefits on the total cost of ownership. It will probably look very different in 20 to 30 years time but it's a bit like turning an oil tanker.

Indeed, times change.

It might be like when motorcars first appeared, only mega rich people had one and the poorer people had to stick with horses.

Now in my village the mega rich people ride about on horses whilst the rest of us have to manage with cheap Range Rovers.

[Mr. Dazzle]

If lawmakers ans OEMs don't get their arses in gear EVs are probably gonna spike in price again next year anyway.

Current plan is for all cars made in the UK and sold in the EU to have more than a certain percent of their value come from within the EU or UK, or get hit with tariffs (works the othet way too AIUI). It's intended to prevent China becoming the sole supplier of certain key hardware (pretty much!).

Comes into force 2024, but so far the OEMs are behind schedule and the law is ploughing on.

[Count Steer]

Current plan is for all cars made in the UK and sold in the EU to have more than a certain percent of their value come from within the EU or UK, or get hit with tariffs. It's intended to prevent China becoming the sole supplier of certain key hardware (pretty much!).

Comes into force 2024, but so far the OEMs are behind schedule and the law is ploughing on.

Interesting that the UK is included in that.

Is that within individual cars? It looks a bit like protectionism as it's obvs easier/cheaper to do it if your cars are manufactured in the EU/UK. Might put a crimp on Japanese/Chinese/Korean imports?

[Horse]

And in today's news, re EU:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66117178

China's largest car manufacturer SAIC Motor says it will build its first factory in Europe, after sales of its vehicles on the continent jumped.

The state-controlled company - which owns the iconic MG brand - says the new plant will produce electric vehicles.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Interesting that the UK is included in that.

Is that within individual cars? It looks a bit like protectionism as it's obvs easier/cheaper to do it if your cars are manufactured in the EU/UK. Might put a crimp on Japanese/Chinese/Korean imports?

AFAIK it only applies to cars built here, so a 100% Japanese car would be considered differently.

The UK is explicitly mentioned to stop us undercutting Europe of course. If the EU says European cars must be X% European they can hardly have the UK not following that rule, swerving the cost of setting up Western (not Chinese ) manufacture, and still maintaining tariff free car trade. Why would they do that?

However in a wish to not be entirely unreasonable the EU have also agreed that stuff made in the UK can still be considered "made in Europe".

And in today's news, re EU:

EU policy seems to be having the desired effect then!

[Count Steer]

I assume the rule already applies to cars built in the EU? (They could hardly demand it of the UK if not).

Cars are strange anyway...wasn't there some story about a Volvo having more parts in it that were made in the UK than some cars actually built in the UK?

[Mr. Dazzle]

The rule comes into force next year AFAIK, but 'they' all want to push it back. AIUI it's based on value too, rather than "amount" and a battery is a massive chunk of an EVs value - 'tis also the part which is most often made in the far east. This is why you're seeing so many stories of manufacturers building battery plants and opening Lithium mines!

[ZRX61]

I wonder what the cost per car of the Lordstown clusterfuck was.... $Millions invested & they produced 19 cars before it all went tits up.

[Horse]

I wonder what the cost per car of the Lordstown clusterfuck was.... $Millions invested & they produced 19 cars before it all went tits up.

Never heard of it.

Google finds:
https://investor.lordstownmotors.com/ne ... ng-process
Jun 27, 2023

LORDSTOWN, Ohio, June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lordstown Motors Corp. (Nasdaq: RIDE), ("Lordstown" or the "Company"), an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of electric light-duty vehicles focused on the commercial fleet market, today announced a strategic restructuring process to maximize the value of its assets: its on-the-road Endurance all-electric (EV) pickup truck and the intellectual property, platform and people that developed it.

As part of the process, Lordstown today filed litigation against global technology company Hon Hai Technology Group (TWSE: 2317; LSE:HHPD) and certain of its affiliates, including Foxconn Ventures Pte. Ltd. (collectively, "Foxconn"), in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Bankruptcy Court"). The litigation details Foxconn's fraud and willful and consistent failure to live up to its commercial and financial commitments to the Company. Foxconn's actions led to material damage to the Company as well as its future prospects.

In addition, and as a consequence of Foxconn's material and irreparable harm, Lordstown is commencing a comprehensive marketing and sale process for the Endurance vehicle and related assets. To accomplish this expeditiously and provide a prospective buyer with a going concern asset that is free and clear of any legacy issues, Lordstown is restructuring under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code ("Chapter 11") in the Bankruptcy Court. Lordstown further anticipates that the restructuring will enable an expedited timeline for hearing Lordstown's litigation against Foxconn.

Edward Hightower, CEO & President of Lordstown, said, "As one of the early entrants to the EV industry, we have delivered the Endurance, an innovative and highly-capable EV with significant commercial and retail potential – and had subsequently engaged with Foxconn in a purposeful, strategic partnership to leverage this expertise into a broader EV development platform. Despite our best efforts and earnest commitment to the partnership, Foxconn willfully and repeatedly failed to execute on the agreed-upon strategy, leaving us with Chapter 11 as the only viable option to maximize the value of Lordstown's assets for the benefit of our stakeholders. We will vigorously pursue our litigation claims against Foxconn accordingly."
The complaint filed against Foxconn centers on a transformative, strategic partnership Lordstown's management team entered into with Foxconn to combine Lordstown's innovation, technology, accomplished vehicle engineering team and manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio with Foxconn's resources, supply chain capabilities and position as one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers with stated significant automotive capabilities to form a new, scalable joint vehicle development platform.

Under the partnership, Lordstown agreed to divest its most valuable assets to Foxconn, namely its Lordstown, Ohio manufacturing facility, which is one of the largest in North America, along with its highly talented and experienced manufacturing and operational employees. The up-front purchase price for the Lordstown manufacturing facility reflected the expected benefits of the contractual assurances from Foxconn that Foxconn would support the Endurance pickup truck in a variety of ways and follow through on a joint vehicle development program, leveraging what was purported to be Foxconn's established and extensive EV ecosystem and meeting its commitments to the Lordstown community.

The lawsuit details the fact that Foxconn had no intention of living up to its commitments, particularly with respect to the new vehicle development platform. As the lawsuit describes, Foxconn simply used its variety of contractual arrangements with the Company as a tool to maliciously and in bad faith destroy Lordstown's business—while leveraging resources gained through the partnership to advance its own business interests.

And more.

[ZRX61]

Turns out they built 40 vehicles, they were all recalled.

[ZRX61]

Was just reading a Jalopnik link about the worse selling cars in the US this year.. Not sure how many EV Hummers GM are building, but sales are one every three days...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Not at all surprised, anyone with a small enough penis to buy a hummer would feel even more inadequate without a big noisy engine.

Plus Arnie. Bet he's got a leccy one

[demographic]

111 pages of people protesting too much, methinks.

[ZRX61]

Not at all surprised, anyone with a small enough penis to buy a hummer would feel even more inadequate without a big noisy engine.

Plus Arnie. Bet he's got a leccy one

GM must be losing their ass on them. Hard to justify a production line when they've only sold about 60 cars all year. Ford sell over 1300 F Series every day...

[ZRX61]

New EV jobs are spendy...

https://climatechangedispatch.com/green ... lion-each/

[Mr. Dazzle]

KFB (I think) posted a rumour story about this news a few months ago...here it is officially.

JLR/TATA to build a battery factory in Zummerzet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66237935

[MyLittleStudPony]

New EV jobs are spendy...

https://climatechangedispatch.com/green ... lion-each/

The polluters will pay. And the fixers will flourish.

[demographic]

KFB (I think) posted a rumour story about this news a few months ago...here it is officially.

JLR/TATA to build a battery factory in Zummerzet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66237935

I heard something about that on the radio this morning, I wasn't paying too much attention but IIRC the taxpayer was giving em a hundred million pound bung as a sweetener?

[Count Steer]

KFB (I think) posted a rumour story about this news a few months ago...here it is officially.

JLR/TATA to build a battery factory in Zummerzet.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66237935

I heard something about that on the radio this morning, I wasn't paying too much attention but IIRC the taxpayer was giving em a hundred million pound bung as a sweetener?

×5 is the figure I heard although Grant Shapps wouldn't confirm it - 'Commercial confidentiality etc'. Apparently it was going to be built either here or Spain.

There was some talk about a £sub for Tata steel as a bargaining chip recently too iirc.

Pretty much what the USA has been doing for a while so I guess that's what it takes.