Tides of EV change

Issue #239, February 20, 2024

The tides of change are not leaving the shores of electric vehicles (EVs) untouched. The Europe auto industry may go for a consortium like Airbus for aviation, to beat competition. Ford's approach for competition is to go for smaller EVs. EVs are not just for mobility! They are tried out for power management and as future workspaces too. EVs offer flexibility for power operators by acting as mobile capacities for charging from remote, renewable sources like wind. Sulfur is an alternate material being tried out for lithium batteries, instead of cobalt and nickel. Waymo issued its first-ever recall over a software issue after two of its cars in Phoenix collided with a pickup truck being towed backward. Below are some of the changes happening in the EV industry.

An Airbus of autos

As Chinese rivals and Tesla expose competitive weaknesses at Europe’s biggest carmakers, a sense of urgency is growing and a business-as-usual approach is a losing option. Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis are thinking the unthinkable, exploring tie-ups with sworn competitors to make cheaper EVs and fend off existential threats. An ‘Airbus of autos’ is one of the ideas being floated to help Europe’s carmakers fend off existential threats. - Bloomberg

Ford and smaller EVs

Ford CEO Jim Farley said the shifting market for EVs has made it tougher to predict the profitability of those models but that the automaker needs to develop smaller EVs that can make money quickly. Farley said the company made that decision because the economics on smaller vehicles makes more sense for consumers. He said smaller, cheaper EVs are needed to compete with Chinese automakers, which the head of Ford's EV unit this week labeled a "colossal strategic threat."

"If you cannot compete fair and square with the Chinese around the world, then 20 to 30 percent of your revenue is at risk," Farley said. "We have to fix this problem. We have to address this." - Auto News

EVs for power supply

Hiroshima University enlisted Nissan, which is rolling out a service that can supply electricity to buildings via EVs parked nearby. The university started in late December with a pre-trial line up of 10 Nissan Leaf and Sakura models — five that are being used by students for ride sharing and five that are being driven by university employees. Using Nissan Energy Share software and 10 charging stations out front, the system obtains data about a building’s electricity consumption from its meter and autonomously makes decisions about when to upload or download electricity from the cars’ batteries. - Bloomberg

Cars as work spaces

BMW, Audi, Volvo and others are coming up with ideas for making the car function as your office when you no longer have to drive it. - WSJ

EVs for flexibility

EVs are starting to challenge fossil fuels not only on the road, but also within the power grid. They are being used to balance power markets, mainly by way of tactical charging. EVs and batteries offer more capacity for local flexibility contracts. Electric cars also move around and can charge at varying places and time. They will start helping alleviate the defining issue for the UK’s transmission grid, which is how to get power from wind-rich Scotland to the consumption centers in the south. - Bloomberg

Sulfur for EV batteries

As the need for more batteries grows, digging up the required materials becomes more challenging. The solution may lie in a growing number of alternatives that avoid some of the most limited and controversial metals needed for lithium-ion batteries, like cobalt and nickel. One contender chemistry, lithium-sulfur, could soon reach a major milestone. Sulfur is widely abundant and inexpensive. - MIT Technology Review

Waymo's collission with towed truck

Self-driving car company Waymo issued its first-ever recall over a software issue after two of its cars in Phoenix collided with a pickup truck being towed backward. Alphabet-owned Waymo has a fleet of roughly 700 autonomous vehicles. Waymo said it voluntarily recalled software used in its cars after two of its vehicles in Arizona hit the truck on Dec. 11. It has since updated the software in its fleet which didn’t interrupt its ride-hailing service. - WSJ