#ElectricVehicles

We covered Hertz expanding its EV offerings yesterday. As I think it over, I have a couple of questions.

Earlier this week, Matt wrote about Dodge's take on how American muscle will evolve as cars become more electrified.

With the brunt of the automotive industry vowing to electrify their lineups and government regulators keen on restricting emissions, many have wondered how the change will impact American brands. While Tesla has managed to solidify the United States as the dominant purveyor of all-electric vehicles, American performance has long been synonymous with exceptionally large motors boasting the kind of oomph foreign manufacturers might consider excessive at a price point that seems downright reasonable.

The concern here is that the changing landscape is about to close the door on American muscle cars for a second time. However, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis is trying to assure the world that this won’t be the case. He’s telling anyone willing to listen that its forthcoming products will continue to deliver the kind of performance Mopar fans are accustomed to.

Those who follow the automotive industry will have undoubtedly noticed that dealer inventories are slowly approaching levels that would have been considered normal before the pandemic. While this is presumably good news for people who have absolutely had it with dealerships marking up their products, some are growing concerned by how much electric vehicle inventories are outpacing their gasoline-reliant counterparts.

Despite elevated fuel prices, aggressive marketing, and most companies vowing to transition toward building electrified automobiles exclusively, America has an EV supply of more than 100 days on dealer lots. That’s about double the average for gasoline vehicles. While it would seem that people are losing interest in battery-driven automobiles, industry experts are claiming that all is not as it seems.

The Mazda MX-30 EV will be pulled from the U.S. market after 2023, with the manufacturer stating its preference to prioritize hybrid models. While the small crossover will live on in other parts of the world with a rotary range extender, mimicking what BMW did with the i3 with some Mazda-specific flair, the company’s first all-electric vehicle seems to have been a flop in North America. 

An enormous vehicle carrier that caught fire at sea earlier this week appears to have far more electric vehicles on board than first suggested.

On Wednesday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares suggested that Tesla’s profitability was on the decline due to the automaker having to confront some of the issues of a legacy manufacturer.

"They are entering my world, the world of tight pricing, cost competitiveness, and the operational issues that a big company like ours may face," Tavares told the press during a presentation of Stellantis’ half-year financial report. 

Since everyone loves a little industrial drama, the statement became national news. But is Tesla really on the decline because it’s finally on the level of other multinational automakers or is Tavares just coping? 

We’ve been hearing about the rise of electric vehicles for years, but while they are growing rapidly in number, there’s still a disconnect between an auto industry hell-bent on electrification and the desires of the people they rely on to buy new cars. Axios recently highlighted the issue and found that dealers have EV inventory sitting on their lots for extended periods, suggesting that supply is significantly outpacing demand.

Tesla clearly isn’t just a car manufacturer anymore - it’s a buzzword. For some, it’s a synonym for disruption and innovation; for others, that disruption and innovation aren’t all that welcome. And Tesla’s existence is inextricably linked to politics, the ongoing “Full Self Driving” soap opera, and the Almighty’s gift to headline writers himself, Elon Musk. All of this tends to polarize people into “Love Tesla” and “Loathe Tesla” camps, but I think both camps would agree about the brand’s impact - the company has revolutionized the way mass-market cars are designed, powered, and sold.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is launching an investigation into the Kia EV6 after 11 complaints were filed regarding sudden power losses. 

The Kia EV6 gets most of the attention when it comes to Kia EVs. That and the upcoming EV9. But the EV version of Kia’s Niro flies a bit under the attention radar.

Canadian dealers of Mercedes-Benz vehicles are reporting that the automaker is considering revising its strategy for North America.

The dealers attended a market-wide retailers meeting in Vancouver held in May and noted that the automaker was fretting about consumer hesitancy over expensive electric vehicles. Concerns centered around the ailing economy, which has been undermined by higher interest rates and ongoing inflation.

On Tuesday, Lordstown Motors Corp. (LMC) officially filed for bankruptcy and sued Foxconn. Though the writing was already on the wall for the Ohio-based electric vehicle manufacturer. Lordstown’s share price collapsed in 2021 and the company has suffered numerous production delays. This seems to have encouraged the Hon Hai Technology Group/Foxconn to back out of its strategic partnership.

But it’s not bad news for everybody. Former chief executive of Lordstown Motors, Steve Burns, managed to sell off every share of his stock before the company filed for Chapter 11. You might remember him as the executive who abruptly quit the company without explanation shortly after LMC's stock valuation slammed into the pavement.

While most automakers were working out what their first all-electric model should be, Tesla was building up a proprietary charging network that helped assure that it would be the EV manufacturer other brands would envy. The vehicles themselves certainly became the benchmark for electric vehicles. But it was the network that guaranteed Tesla’s dominant position in the market. Simply having access to the Supercharger stations is one of the biggest perks of owning a Tesla, as they’re relatively common and suffer less downtime than rival networks.

Despite originally being exclusive to Tesla customers, the brand has decided to open its ports up to the whole world. Ford and General Motors have even signed agreements with the company so that their customers can utilize those charging stations in 2024. Now it appears to be Rivian’s turn.

Sixty-five grand doesn’t fetch you what it used to, it seems.

Yes, sure, prices inflate over time, we all know that. But even accounting for that fact, and even accounting for the fact that electric vehicles are commanding premium prices and likely will for the foreseeable future, I was nevertheless disappointed with the experience of being loaned a 2022 Audi 50 e-tron quattro* for a week.