Ford’s electric car division reports another billion-euro loss

With a loss of a whopping 2.46 billion dollars in the first half of the year, Ford Model e has already incurred a loss of 3.66 billion dollars after three quarters. In all three quarters, the division recorded an EBIT loss of over one billion dollars. In Q3/2023, the annual report already showed an EBIT loss of 1.3 billion dollars. This is mainly due to the high expenditure for investments in development and the plants combined with low sales – meaning that the electric car division is missing out on revenue. In the third quarter, Ford Model e achieved a turnover of 1.2 billion dollars with 32,000 vehicles sold – or 37,500 dollars per vehicle. By comparison, the van division Ford Pro was able to increase its deliveries by nine per cent to 342,000 vehicles in Q3, generating a turnover of 15.7 billion dollars. The combustion engine division Ford Blue is still the largest division of the group and achieved sales of more than 26 billion dollars with 721,000 vehicles (-2%). While Ford Blue and Ford Pro are highly profitable, the situation is different in the e-car business. “The $500 million of year-over-year cost improvements were offset by expected industrywide pricing pressure,” Ford writes. “The segment continues to improve its profit trajectory, achieving almost $1 billion in cost improvements year-to-date.” While Ford has repeatedly reduced investment in this area due to losses and the slower transformation to electric cars and announced more hybrid vehicles instead of new electric models, it remains committed to eMobility. “Ford continues to remove barriers to EV adoption by offering customers greater access to charging both at home, through the Ford Power Promise, and on the road through a growing charger network. And the nearly 3,000 Ford dealers now able to sell electric vehicles are a competitive advantage as Ford reaches new customers in areas of the U.S. that might otherwise be slow to adopt electric vehicles.” “We are in a strong position with Ford+ as our industry undergoes a sweeping transformation,” says Ford CEO Jim Farley. “We have made strategic decisions and taken the tough actions to create advantages for Ford versus the competition in key areas like Ford Pro, international operations, software and next-generation electric vehicles. Importantly, over time, we have significant financial upside as we bend the curve on cost and quality, a key focus of our team.” However, the US group is less optimistic for the current year for the time being: while company-wide EBIT of around ten billion dollars is expected, the management at Ford Model e anticipates an annual loss of around five billion dollars. In other words, the fourth quarter will probably see another billion-dollar loss. ford.com (PDF), ford.com

Northvolt holds onto prospect of short-term financial boost of $300 million

According to media reports, the Swedish company is expected to close a financing round totalling around 300 million dollars in the coming week. A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the troubled battery cell manufacturer wants to use this to put its finances on a more stable footing. However, it is still unclear whether the deal will actually be finalised next week: due to the complex documentation for the deal with customers, investors and lenders, the final steps could still take some time. Earlier this month, it became known that the investment subsidiary of the major US bank Goldman Sachs is reportedly considering rescuing the ailing battery manufacturer Northvolt together with other investors. And it is precisely this consortium that is probably now involved: as part of the rescue financing, both new equity and new loans are in prospect, reports Bloomberg. Northvolt itself declined to comment to the news agency. The financial injection would give Northvolt time to stabilise production and establish longer-term financing. Meanwhile, there is some good news on the customer side: truck brand Scania, which belongs to Volkswagen’s Traton Group, has announced that it intends to equip all of its future electric vehicles with Northvolt batteries, giving the struggling manufacturer a boost. “We are now shifting over. For the future, all of our currently sold battery electric vehicles will come with Northvolt cells,” said Christian Levin, CEO of Scania. “We are on our way out of our production hell. I think we have the toughest period behind us,” commented Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson in an interview. The CEO declined to say when the production rate at Northvolt’s main plant in Skellefteå, near the Arctic Circle, will reach full capacity. The plant is currently operating at just five to ten per cent of its total capacity. Volkswagen, Northvolt’s largest shareholder, has so far stated that it will support Northvolt in the expansion of battery cell production. However, Scania CEO Christian Levin declined to give details of any funding, but pointed out that Scania will continue to support Northvolt. “It lies in our interest to make sure they can continue to deliver cells to us,” said Levin. “So we can continue to deliver vehicles to our customers where we have a customer contract.” The situation surrounding Northvolt has come to a head since the summer. At that time, it became known that shareholder BMW had cancelled an order for battery cells worth billions – apparently because the Swedish company was behind schedule and BMW would no longer need the ordered prismatic cells at a later date. At the beginning of October, it then became known that the subsidiary Northvolt Ett Expansion AB, which was responsible for the cancelled factory expansion, had filed for insolvency. This is said to have been the subsidiary in which production for Audi and BMW was bundled. “Audi, too, as confirmed by high-ranking Group and brand managers, has therefore initially withdrawn its order from Northvolt,” the article states. bnnbloomberg.ca (financing), bnnbloomberg.ca (Scania)

Tesla discloses patents for 48-volt system

In the short blog post, Tesla describes the 48-volt architecture as “the optimal long-term choice, requiring ¼ of the current to deliver the same amount of power.” It has been developed “enable reliable autonomous vehicles, it utilizes robust single wire sealing and independent secondary locking mechanisms while minimizing the package size.” As is so often the case with Tesla, the core aim is to simplify production and thus lower costs. According to a Deloitte study cited by Tesla, modern comfort and assistance systems have doubled the complexity and cost of electronics in the automotive industry. Today, more than 200 connections are usually required for a single vehicle, and the trend is rising. The LVCS is intended to put an end to this trend: Engineers have defined just six plug designs for the LVCS. These are “designed to meet the power and signal requirements for over 90% of typical electrical device applications. This standardization unlocks further operational efficiencies, cost reductions and manufacturing automation,” Tesla wrote. The US car manufacturer invites “all device suppliers and vehicle manufacturers to join us in this initiative.” The email address lvcs@tesla.com was set up for this purpose. The background to the project is clear: if the Tesla system becomes a (de facto) industry standard, the quantities of LVCS-compatible components will increase significantly and prices will fall, which could theoretically also make repairs easier and cheaper. However, shortly after the publication of the Tesla proposal, it remains to be seen whether the LVCS is attractive enough for the rest of the industry to throw its own systems overboard. When Tesla disclosed the patents for its own charging connection and coined the name NACS for ‘North American Charging Standard’, the reaction was initially rather muted, until around six months later, when two US heavyweights, Ford and GM, adopted the NACS. Today, almost all car manufacturers rely on the NACS for their electric North American models. However, the adaptation of a charging standard – especially in view of the much better developed Tesla Superchargers in the USA compared to CCS fast chargers – has been attractive for companies and end customers alike, while it is of secondary importance to the customer which 48-volt plugs are installed in their vehicle. As long as the functionality is right. tesla.com

Ioneer wants to build lithium mine in Nevada

Construction is now scheduled to begin in 2025, with production set to start in 2028, according to Ioneer. During the construction phase, 500 jobs are to be created and later will be followed by another 350 jobs “with high wages” spanning “decades of operation.” According to the company, Rhyolite Ridge is the first US lithium project to receive approval from the Biden administration. The approval itself is an important interim step but does not yet mean that construction will begin. Ioneer still has to make the final investment decision. This is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025. The management is making this estimate “accounting for the Sibanye-Stillwater agreement, U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office conditional loan and anyother required funding close.” Nevertheless, Ford, Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, the battery joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, and EcoPro have been finalised as customers. In order to obtain the licence, Ioneer had to change some points in the planning over time. For example, this involved protecting a rare plant species called Eriogonum tiehmii, also known as Tiehm’s buckwheat. To this end, the location of the western quarry face was “significantly” relocated in 2022, and “all possible infrastructure and associated disturbances were relocated to areas outside the critical habitats.” Separately, there were also requirements to conserve water and monitor dust and noise. Ioneer accepted these conditions because, according to Executive Chairman James Calaway, “there are few deposits in the world as impactful as Rhyolite Ridge.” “Today’s approval of Ioneer’s federal permit is the culmination of countless hours of work and a testament to our remarkable team’s dedication to developing and building one of the most sustainable mining projects in the country,” Calaway said. The Rhyolite Ridge project is scheduled to run for 26 years. On an annual average, 20,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate/hydroxide are to be mined together with around 174,400 tonnes of boric acid per year. “The dual production of lithium and boric acid allows Ioneer to produce lithium not only in the US, but at the lowest end of the global cost curve,” it was stated in 2022 when the agreement with Prime Planet Energy & Solutions was signed. At that time, however, there was still talk of a planned start of production in 2025. Now, construction is set to start next year. ioneer.com (PDF)

Stellantis rolls out its Free2Move Charge Go charging service

Last year, Stellantis announced the launch of an ecosystem for charging infrastructure and energy management under the name Free2move Charge, which would cover the areas of home charging, business charging and public charging. Now Free2move Charge is being launched – the second of the three strategic pillars ‘Free2move Charge Home’, ‘Free2move Charge Go’ and ‘Free2move Charge Business’. As is usual with most charging services, there is an app as well as a classic RFID charging card. Customers can choose between two variants: The ‘pay-as-you-go starter tariff’ with no basic monthly fee but with a charge of 90 cents per charging session plus the electricity costs incurred. With the ‘Pay-as-you-move-Advanced’ tariff, there is no charge per charging session, but a basic fee of €4.99 per month. This means that the Advanced tariff is worthwhile from six charging sessions per month. However, if you look at the details, Free2Move Charge Go turns out to be a rather expensive roaming service with an unrivalled confusion of tariffs. Unlike with other providers, there is not just a flat-rate AC and DC price, regardless of who owns the charging station, so users have to take a close look at the prices. For the DC chargers from EnBW it is 0.82 euros per kWh, for Aral Pulse 1.02 euros and for Mer even 1.16 euros. However, it does not appear to be possible to use Ionity charging stations at present. And AC chargers can also be expensive: In Leipzig, for example, prices vary between a rather hefty €0.66 and a rather exaggerated €1.06 per kWh, depending on the provider. The service therefore turns out to be a rather confusing and expensive maze of tariffs. By way of comparison: EWE Go is introducing a tariff on 1 November that charges just €0.62 per kWh at all roaming partner charging points, regardless of whether they are AC or DC. And only €0.52 is charged at the company’s own charging stations. And most other providers also have much clearer tariffs. But perhaps the aim of Free2Move is to establish a Europe-wide range first. Mathilde Lheureux, CEO of Free2move Charge, says: “With the launch of Free2move Charge Go, we are empowering EV drivers to travel freely across Europe, with peace of mind experience. By giving our customers access to an extensive charging network, combined with intuitive tools that simplify their experience, we are removing the key hurdles to adopting electric mobility. Free2move Charge Go marks a significant step forward in our mission to make EV charging seamless, accessible, and tailored to the individual needs of every driver.” The service can be used via a free app for iOS and Android. Users can use it to find charging stations, call up the status of the charging stations in real-time, check the power capacity and start, monitor and pay for charging processes. Alternatively, there is also an RFID charging card. This simplifies charging, especially when data reception is weak or the mobile phone battery is low. stellantis.com

Ford rolls out a new software update for EVs

Product Manager at Ford Motor Company, Anthony Phillips, has announced that Ford is rolling out a software update to Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles. The new software update is to enable EV routing for Google Maps through Android Auto. Anthony Phillips explained: “Our team saw an opportunity to provide customers with an end-to-end EV routing experience in Google Maps, and we’re proud to work with Google to make it happen.” Ford had previously stated at the CES 2024 that the latest update would provide electric vehicle customers with an estimated battery level upon arrival at a destination. Furthermore, drivers could be informed about charging stops along the way and how long charging will take based on live information from the vehicle. With this update, Ford enabled the integration between Android Auto and Tesla Supercharger as Android Auto users can view compatible Tesla Supercharger locations to top up the charge for their EVs. Ford says that drivers who want to enjoy this new feature and have received the Ford software update should download the latest version of Google Maps to their smartphone and access the app in Android Auto. linkedin.com Author: Abdulwaliy Oyekunle

Xpeng Aeroht lays foundation stone for eVTOL plant in China

Asia’s largest flying car company, Xpeng Aeroht, has announced the establishment of a cutting-edge plant that will produce the air module of a Modular Flying Car called ‘Land Aircraft Carrier‘. It is envisaged that the plant will push out 10,000 units of the product annually. The first public flight will debut at the China Airshow on November 12, followed by pre-sales by year-end. Located in the Guangzhou Development District, the plant incorporates a comprehensive traceability system that tracks each component from the supply chain to final assembly. According to Xpeng Aeroht, this is the first facility globally to apply advanced assembly line processes for large-scale flying car production. The China Construction Fourth Engineering Bureau oversaw the construction of the manufacturing base of the plant, spanning approximately 180,000 square meters and including the construction of 4 workshops namely: Composites Shop, Joint Shop, Painting Shop, and Assembly Shop, all within the plant facility. While constructing the manufacturing base, Xpeng Aeroht followed the aviation industry standard to maintain safety, accelerate delivery timelines and ensure high efficiency of automotive mass production. Thanks to these conscientious efforts and due diligence, the factory seeks to engender integration between the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry and the low-altitude economy. The company also reports that the plant will be equipped with solar power generation across its facilities in a bid to save energy in high-energy areas. When unveiling the new facility, Xpeng Aeroht Founder, Zhao, remarked that the “manufacturing base of the plant adheres to the principles of exquisite, intelligence, and green, establishing a global benchmark for flying car production.” “This establishment of the world’s first mass production facility for flying cars is a milestone not only for Xpeng Aeroht but also for the Guangzhou Development District’s advancement in the low-altitude economy sector,” said Shao Jingbo, Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Development District Administrative Committee. “We look forward to collaborating with Xpeng Aeroht to drive the flying car industry forward, reaching new heights and expanding the industry’s impact on national economic growth.” aeroht.com Author: Abdulwaliy Oyekunle

VW considers closing up to three factories in Germany

“This is not just sabre-rattling as a tactic in the current round of in-house wage negotiations – the Management Board really wants all of this and believes there is no alternative,” a leaflet distributed to employees read. The statements were also made at an information event organised by the works council. The cuts Cavallo is referring to were recently presented to the General Works Council. According to the head of the works council, “all German VW plants are affected by the plans.” If the plant is not closed, there will probably be other cuts. “None are safe!” says Cavallo. There is no confirmation from VW for these statements, a spokesperson did not want to comment on the alleged measures in detail. “The company’s proposals and plans will first be presented internally to the negotiating partners and then discussed,” a spokesperson told Automobilwoche. VW is “at a decisive point in its corporate history.” “The situation is serious and the responsibility of the negotiating partners is enormous,” the spokesperson continued. eMobility production would be affected The figure of three plants is indeed surprising. In September, the Board of Management counted German plants for the first time and calculated that sales of 500,000 vehicles would not be enough to fully utilise the factories. This corresponds to the production of two plants, said VW CFO Arno Antlitz at a Works Council meeting at the time. Now there are already three locations in question. While it was previously assumed that smaller sites in particular, such as the Transparent Factory in Dresden and the former Karmann plant in Osnabrück, were on the brink (Osnabrück is currently without a model commitment from 2026), a larger site would also be up for discussion with three plants. It is not known which one. However, it is clear that this would also affect eMobility production. The main plant in Wolfsburg will probably not be closed. This means that the Emden plants (ID.4 and ID.7, purely electric car plant from 2025), the VWN factory in Hanover (ID. Buzz, among others) and the MEB plant in Zwickau (ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, Cupra Born and Audi Q4 e-tron) will remain. The component plants (Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Kassel and Chemnitz) also supply eMobility components. However, the Works Council also warns that jobs outside of production are also at risk. The company management wants to “relocate entire departments and areas abroad or outsource them,” they say. This is said to range from semi-skilled workers to academically qualified employees. According to employee representatives, those who keep their jobs are threatened with a loss in pay of “around 20 per cent.” The Handelsblatt had previously reported on the threat of pay cuts of ten per cent, and ‘bonus payments in the highest pay scale group ‘Tarif Plus’ are also likely to be affected, as are bonus payments for employee anniversaries’. Internally, these measures are said to have been compiled on a ‘poison list’. In addition to the across-the-board pay cut, zero rounds for 2025 and 2026 are also said to be on the list. There is talk of a ‘week of truth’ for Volkswagen. On Wednesday, the Group will not only present its business figures for the third quarter, which are likely to be rather modest following the profit warning a few weeks ago. On the same day, negotiations with IG Metall in the next round of collective bargaining will also begin. While management is probably preparing the list of factories to be closed, the trade unionists are demanding a seven per cent wage increase for employees and more money for trainees. The Handelsblatt summarises the situation: “It is unlikely that an agreement will be reached quickly.” spiegel.de, automobilwoche.de, handelsblatt.com (all in German)

Waymo to expand ridership with $5.6 billion investment

The partnership led by Alphabet and supported by a host of corporations including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price has yielded an oversubscribed investment round of $5.6 billion for Waymo One ride-hailing service. Thanks to this investment, Waymo services will continue to expand across major US cities in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Leveraging its partnership with Uber, Waymo hopes to expand to Austin and Atlanta by 2025. This means that the oversubscribed financing is even slightly higher than announced in July – at that time the figure was five billion dollars. Waymo reported that fully autonomous freeway operations have been initiated in Phoenix and San Francisco, providing over 100,000 paid weekly trips. The achievement will see Waymo upgrade its AI-powered autonomous driving system called ‘Waymo Driver.’ This will enable the influx of a wide range of AI-powered business applications and products, providing value to the autonomous vehicle ecosystem. Commenting on the investment, Co-CEO Silver Lake, Egon Durban, said: “While AI is only just beginning to capture the public imagination, Waymo has been working to bring its endless possibilities to the world of physical transportation for years.” It is envisaged that with this investment, Waymo customers will continue to enjoy seamless rides with the newly introduced 6th-generation Waymo Driver. With this, Waymo seeks to enable the safety and mobility benefits of the Waymo Driver to more places while enhancing operational capabilities. The improved Waymo Driver system will pave the way for Waymo service to operate in more complex environments through road trips to cities like Buffalo, New York, and Washington D.C. waymo.com Author: Abdulwaliy Oyekunle

QuantumScape starts building its B-samples and announces management change

The B-sample cell called QSE-5 is set to become QuantumScape’s first commercial product – with a capacity of 5 Ah and an energy density of over 800 Wh/l. As QuantumScape writes in its current report for the third quarter, small-scale production and delivery of these cells for tests to customers in the automotive sector has now begun. Volkswagen is also likely to be one of the recipients: This is because its battery subsidiary PowerCo is aiming to industrialise solid-state batteries and concluded a deal with QuantumScape in July 2024 to this end. The aim is a licence partnership for the subsequent series production of solid-state cells on a gigawatt-hour scale. “QSE-5 represents an important milestone for our company and the battery industry as a whole,” comments QuantumScape in the annual report. “These cells are, to the best of our knowledge, the first anode-free solid-state lithium-metal cell design ever produced for automotive applications. This cell is capable of simultaneously delivering exceptional performance with respect to energy density, discharge power, charging speed, low-temperature performance, and safety.” However, the American company does not want to raise expectations too high: QuantumScape has announced extensive product tests ‘that will take many months’. Additionally, the company writes: “We have to substantially improve on metrics such as cell reliability, yield and equipment productivity, among others.” Energy density of 844 Wh/L The company describes the QSE-5 as a solid-state battery cell measuring 84.5mm x 65.6mm x 4.6mm, which can be charged from ten to 80 per cent in under 15 minutes at 45 degrees Celsius. The developers state an energy density of 844 Wh/L or 301 Wh/kg and a discharge rate of up to 10C. The cell is also said to work at low temperatures of up to -30 degrees Celsius. The QSE-5 has already been preceded by two cell prototypes at QuantumScape: the company had already delivered the ‘A0’ cell samples to car manufacturers for testing in December 2022. The so-called ‘Alpha-2’ cells followed in March 2024. In addition to the cells themselves, the US company is also working on a manufacturing process suitable for mass production. The so-called ‘Raptor production process’ for the small series of the QSE-5 is said to have been implemented in the meantime. The ‘Cobra production process’ is still being developed in parallel for the large-scale production of the solid-state electrolyte separator and should be available in 2025. QuantumScape dedicates a separate passage in its annual report to the deal with PowerCo, which was concluded in the third quarter, and describes it as a landmark agreement. The first phase involves intensive collaboration, “with PowerCo contributing skilled personnel to aid the industrialization of the QSE5 technology platform,” the company writes. “Upon satisfactory technical progress in this phase, QuantumScape will grant PowerCo a license to mass produce battery cells based on QuantumScape’s technology platform in exchange for royalties, including a $130M prepayment.” Joint development activities between groups from both sides are currently taking place at QuantumScape’s facilities in San Jose. Both sides already know each other well: the Volkswagen Group has been involved with QuantumScape since 2012 and is one of the main investors in the technology start-up. The companies have also maintained a joint venture since mid-2018, but this was replaced by the new agreement in July. This is because PowerCo is now in the lead and no longer Volkswagen. It was also the battery subsidiary that confirmed QuantumScape’s ‘encouraging results’ with its solid-state battery cells at the beginning of the year after months of testing in its own laboratories. In retrospect, this was an early public commitment to the company’s technology. The core of the future collaboration is a non-exclusive licence, on the basis of which PowerCo intends to enter into the large-scale production of solid fuel cells. According to the Wolfsburg-based company, whether this will actually happen depends on technological progress and certain licence payments. Both parties have agreed that PowerCo may produce up to 40 gigawatt-hours per year using QuantumScape technology, with the option of doubling production capacity. However, the Volkswagen subsidiary has not specified a time horizon. Dennis Segers replaces Jagdeep Singh Meanwhile, income from licences is an essential part of QuantumScape’s business model. However, in view of the capital-intensive development, the company initially expects a loss of 280 to 300 million US dollars in the current year. At the same time, the transformation from a pure R&D company to a player with product and industrialisation ambitions will also be reflected in terms of personnel: Jagdeep Singh, co-founder and CEO of the company founded in 2010, will step down from the Executive Board at the end of 2024 after almost 15 years, according to the annual report. His position will be taken over by Dennis Segers, most recently CEO of Xilinx, a provider of programmable logic solutions, and President of Matrix Semiconductor, among others. QuantumScape is also announcing who will replace Frank Blome on the Board of Management from Volkswagen. Blome resigned from the QuantumScape Board of Directors in the summer. He will be replaced by Dr Günther Mendl, Head of the Battery Competence Centre at Volkswagen AG since 2022. quantumscape.com (PDF)