BlueOval City's Big Bet

Hyundai Ioniq 6, Tesla, China, BYD U9, Walmart, BMW, Korean Battery Leaders

Apr 11, 2023

The Big 5 This Week

1. BlueOval City. Ford is investing more than $5 billion to create 6,000 new jobs to build up to 500,000 electric trucks in West Tennessee. Bill Ford calls the plant “the blueprint for Ford’s electric future around the world.” Now Ford must race to build out North American supply chains to support the colossal assembly plant. Link

2. Tesla MegaPacks / Shanghai. Think of energy storage as the giant – if unsexy – side of the battery business. Tesla will build a plant in Shanghai to produce 10,000 energy storage Megapacks a year starting in 2024. Mr Musk seems undaunted by heated US-China political tensions. Link

3. China: Flat, Up and Down. How is that possible? ICE-powered vehicles are down. EVs are up. So, the overall numbers are flat year on year. Global joint ventures are feeling most of the pain. Link

4. BMW EV Momentum. Bavaria is still playing catch up but EVs accounted for more than 10 percent of BMW sales in Q1 2023. The main drivers are models from the premium electric segment. Link

5. Hyundai Trifecta - Again. Find me a car company with better momentum than Hyundai right now. The company from a nation the size of Michigan won the most prestigious car awards at the New York Auto Show, repeating the sweep it made in 2022. Link

Meet the Ioniq 6, Winner, World Car Of the Year Award

Listen Up

US Manufacturing - Explosive Growth. Investments in new manufacturing facility construction in America are reaching never-seen-before levels. In 2022, the number reached $102 billion. Leading the way are investments in electric vehicle and battery plants. Link (Paywall)

Future EVs, Batteries, Charging

Electrics

Dancing Yangwang U9. This prototype supercar from BYD does a jig on command and will go 0-60 in 2 seconds. Prices are expected to start at $150,000. Curious to see whether BYD will keep the Yangwang brand name for global markets. Link

Batteries

Korea’s $5.3 Billion Battery Butter. The Korean government is offering more than $5 billion in incentives to Korean battery leaders who are investing in North America. Link

Charging

Here Comes Walmart. Thousands of fast-charging stations will appear at Walmart outlets nationwide between now and 2030. Walmart counts some 240 million weekly visits to its stores in America. Link

Walmart: When 240 million customers need a charge.

New Developments / Milestones

The Great EV Mineral Race in Africa. The US and China are engaged in a great battle for supremacy in African battery minerals. “We cannot allow China to become to Opec of lithium, copper, cobalt and nickel.” Link

And…Your Weekly Modicum of Wisdom

"The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time." – Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD)