Model Y Global Triumph

Tesla, Foxconn, Polestar, LG, VinFast, Stellantis, Cadillac, Hyundai

Nov 29, 2022

The Big 5 This Week

1. Tesla Model Y - Global Powerhouse. Tesla will sell almost 800,000 Model Ys in 2022, making it the 4th best-selling car in the world. Should you get one? Check out pricing, which varies wildly depending on where you live. Link

2. Western Automakers - China Squeeze. Stellantis shut down its Jeep operations in China last month. Several other Western brands are bracing for a similar fate. Link

3. Battery Price Shock. Lithium ion-batteries got more expensive in 2022 after 7 straight years of price declines. China’s BYD and other automakers plan to lift prices of their electric car offerings in 2023, citing the higher costs of minerals. Link

4. Foxconn-PPT & BYD - Thailand. Foxconn broke ground on a $1 billion plant to build electric vehicles in partnership with PTT, Thailand’s most powerful energy provider. China’s BYD will soon add a Thai plant of its own. Thailand is SE Asia’s top exporter, shipping 1 million vehicles a year to global markets. Link

5. Chinese EVs Invade Europe. Schmidt Automotive Research reports that 150,000 Chinese EVs have been sold in European markets so far this year. SAIC MG and Polestar account for most of the volume. The second wave is now arriving, led by BYD, Great Wall Motors and NIO. Link

Model Y price spectrum: From $41K in China to over $100K in Singapore.

Quote of the Week: “Diversify or weep.” Apple will lose almost 6 million units of the iPhone 14 Pro production due to disruptions at Chinese factories. VW is idling some plants, too. Link

Fun Exchange of the Week. A friend, visiting a Cadillac dealer to get a look at the all-electric Lyriq, asked about quality, noting that Cadillac had a reputation for quality issues. Cadillac sales consultant: “Don’t worry, we took the engine out, there’s no engine anymore.”

Future EVs, Batteries, Charging

VinFast CEO Madame Thuy Le ships first 999 vehicles to America.

Electrics

VinFast Ships First Cars to USA. A ship loaded with 999 VinFast VF8 all-electric SUVs is headed to California. When production starts in North Carolina (July 2024) VinFast will qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act’s $7,500 in incentives. Link

Tesla & Korea. Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol is working hard to get Teslas made in Korea. Thailand (quality manufacturing, global exports base), Korea (battery-deep) and Indonesia (nickel-rich) are the three most attractive sites in Asia as Tesla works to reduce dependence on China. Link

Batteries

Hyundai-LGES JV for America. Hyundai and LG are looking at a massive new joint venture to build more batteries in America, enough to supply 1 million EVs annually. Link

Charging

Charging Networks Rated. WhatCar has done a nice job rating charging networks in the UK from best to worst. Reliability remains a problem for too many networks. Link EVAdoption published a quality review in 2021 for the American market. There is Tesla and then everyone else. Link

NIO Swapping Risks in Europe. An in-depth and informative interview with Few Shen, boss of NIO Power about NIO’s plans to build a swapping network in Europe. Link

New Numbers / Milestones

EV Mapping in America. America’s East and West coast states account for 84% of all electric cars sold in America. Arkansas, Wyoming, Michigan and Minnesota are the states where EVs are most scarce. Link

Michigan sent arch-rival Ohio State to the land of ignominious defeat last Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. Final score: Michigan 45, Ohio State 23. Entertaining to read the comments section of the Buckeyes’ colorful fan site, Eleven Warriors (h/t Tim Dunne). Link

$10,000, please. It is one thing to hear about “market adjustments” at the dealer, a wordplay on profit-taking over the MSRP. It is quite another to experience it first-hand.