Happy Thursday. We have news on Honda, Toyota, BMW, Rivian, Baidu, Lyft, and so much more.
Make sure to share this newsletter with the link below and have a fantastic day and a great long weekend.
EV News
Toyota announced that the company is investing $5.27 billion in Japan and the U.S. to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. This is an additional $2.5 billion for manufacturing in the US, now totaling a $3.8 billion investment in its NC operations.
In other EV News
- After receiving $700 million from Amazon, Rivian’s partnership with the company continued to bring Rivian on top. Last month, Rivian and Amazon launched the first of Rivian’s electric vans. (video link below too)
- A BMW plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, has requested to produce only all-electric vehicles. The factory already manufactures plug-in hybrids. With the Inflation Reduction Act, the i4 and iX are no longer eligible to receive the EV tax credit. By moving production to SLP, they would meet the requirements again.
- Honda and LG Energy are partnering to build a $4.4 billion EV battery plant in the United States. The trend is to locate near other manufacturing facilities, which makes sense. In that case, Honda has manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Alabama, and Indiana.
- The national average for a used electric vehicle is rising five times faster than the average cost of a used ICE vehicle. Does that mean demand is strong?
- As most of you know by now, California is set to phase out gas-powered vehicles completely by 2035. All new cars, pickups, and SUVs will be electric, as mandated by law. 15 other states will follow CA and phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
EV of the Week
GM, Siac Motors, and Wuling have teamed up to bring you China a cute little two-seater electric Cabrio that only costs around $5,940-8,707 USD. There will be two versions with the cheaper version getting around 124 miles of range and the more expensive long-range version getting around 186 miles of range. My favorite part is the retractable roof to catch those rays. If you are a subscriber in China, the Cabrio goes on sale on September 1. Oh hey, that’s today. Go get one, especially now knowing that the Cabrio is the EV of the Week.
-John @ Mobility EVo
AV Corner
Baidu has hit 1 million autonomous rides in China. This comes on the heels of Baidu beating Wallstreet’s expectations for Q2 earnings and unveiling its next-generation vehicle, the Apollo RT6.
In other AV News
- Hyundai announced they have successfully narrowed the time it will take to manufacture Level-3 autonomous vehicles to one year. Originally, the company expected the manufacturing process to take several years.
- Always aiming to be ahead of all competition, Elon Musk announced Tesla aims to have self-driving Teslas ready by the end of 2022. Can the company do it? Stick with our newsletter to find out.
- Motional and Lyft introduced an autonomous vehicle in Las Vegas in response to Lyft’s campaign to introduce AVs to the Lyft network by 2023.
- Pilot has teamed up with Kodiak to offer self-driving delivery trucks. The companies are building an autonomous truck stop in Atlanta.
- In downtown Phoenix, residents and tourists are now able to ride in fully autonomous Waymo vehicles without a backup driver. The service started on August 30.
EPG and Mobility EVo
Mobility EVo is brought to you by EPG. EPG is an electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle recruiting and staffing company. We created Mobility EVo to bring you the latest news on the Electric Vehicle and Autonomous Vehicle industry through our newsletter. Whether it’s Tesla, Ford, Mobileye, Cruise, Waymo, GM, Rivian, we bring it to you. We also have some electric vehicle merch too. Check out our EV hats, EV Shirts, EV Hoodies, etc… We have something for everyone.