Tectonic Shifts, New Design

Mach E, Lucid, Baidu, BYD, Tesla, Battery Billions

Aug 10, 2022

- Hey, nice design on the ZoZoGo logo. Is that new?

- Yessir.

- What inspired the new look?

- We were hoping you would ask! Ready for the backstory?

– Do tell.

When ZoZoGo was founded, we concentrated on the East. Asian companies totally dominated the EV arena: China for vehicles. Korea, China and Japan for batteries.

Here in 2022, we can feel the tectonic plates shifting. Europe and America are pouring tens of billions into electrics and batteries. Tesla is the reigning king of EVs. India and Southeast Asia are ramping up, too.

It's official: The great global electric race is happening! New companies emerge weekly. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Supply chains are the new oxygen. The world of electrics is bigger and way more complex.

ZoZoGo services are now global too, with coverage in Asia, North America and Europe. We wanted to celebrate the expansion with a new look.

- The design feels fresh, forward-looking, and clean.

- Well, thank you.

- So, how can we figure out which countries, companies and products will emerge triumphant five years from now?

- Easy. Stay in the know with ZoZoGo.

The "Grabber Blue" color Mustang Mach E GT commands attention wherever you go.

What I Am Driving: The Mustang Mach E is sharp looking, very quick and easy to drive. You sit up high and see the whole road. Awesome for short bursts to Home Depot, Chuck's Bar and Grill. But the charging experience on road trips is a source of unrelenting anxiety.

What I Am Reading: Surveillance State authored by Josh Chin and Liza Lin (two of my favourite people). If you are curious about how China's Communist Party is building a "new kind of political control through the brutal harnessing of data", this is the one to read.

Future Cars & Markets

Lucid aims to win over people now driving the S Class, 7 Series and Audi A8.

Electrics

Lucid / Sliding Production. Guidance for production in 2022 has dropped from 20,000 in Q1 to 14,000 in Q2 to just 6-7,000 in Q3. Lucid leaders blame supply chains but don't we all know there must be more to the story? Link

China EVs / Powering On. Demand for NEVs in China is expected to eclipse 6 million in 2022, accounting for more than 60% of the global total. BYD and Tesla lead the way. Link

Autonomy's EV Buy List. This startup EV subscription outfit has placed orders for 23,000 electric vehicle across 17 brands, including VinFast. Half of the total will come from just two brands: Tesla and GM. Link

Autonomous

Baidu / Autonomous Fares. Baidu has secured hard-to-get licenses to charge for commercial rides in autonomous vehicles (without a driver) in geofenced areas of Wuhan and Chongqing. Think of licenses in China as forbidding moats. Link

JiDu / Exuberance. This two-year old JV between Geely and Badu says it will deliver 800,000 robot axis a year by 2028. That is not a typo. 800,000. Link

Batteries / Charging

Battery Billions / Footprint. An estimated $39 billion dollars is scheduled to be invested to build battery plants in North America between now and 2025. Host states include the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Indiana, Nevada and Texas. Link

Tesla China / Manganese Batteries. Model Ys built in China will begin to be powered by LFMP anodes from CATL. Link

Battery Brunch / Podcast. Don't miss our Driving With Dunne podcast episode with Yen Yeh, co-founder of Battery Brunch, a weekly gathering of the brightest minds in batteries. Link

Northvolt / Bulging Order Book. Sweden's Northvolt say it has orders for batteries totalling more than $55 billion. Goldman, Baillie Gifford and Volkswagen are investors. Link

New Numbers / New Deals

China Car Exports. Of China's top 5 car exporters, four are state enterprises. How to spell hidden subsidies in Chinese? Link

CALB / Hong Kong IPO. CALB, a fast-growing battery maker, has won approval to list in Hong Kong with an aim to raise $1.5 billion. Link

Korean Battery Makers Lay Out. LGES, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation plan to invest $35 billion into new battery plants between now and 2030. Link

Tesla / Indonesian Nickel. Indonesia says that Tesla has agreed to buy $5 billion worth of refined nickel material from Indonesian suppliers. Link