Michel Baudin

Automotive News joined a sneak peek inside the new solid-state battery pilot plant that Nissan is building in Yokohama. The goal: start trials in March, and put these breakthrough batteries into electric vehicles in five years. YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan showed off construction of a new pilot plant for all-solid-state batteries with executives calling the technology a “game changer” its next-generation electric vehicles. Right now, the building is little more than a maze of unfinished walls and dangling air ducts in an old, repurposed machining plant at Nissan’s sprawling Yokohama factory complex. But by next March, Japan’s No. 3 automaker says, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment will be installed and turning out trial runs of the breakthrough next-generation batteries. Initial volumes will be limited to several tens of thousands of cells, enough to power only a handful of prototype vehicles, executives said during an April 16 tour of the facility. But the pilot run will gradually scale up to about 100 megawatts per year, or enough for about 1,000 to 2,000 EVs, depending on the battery size, said Executive Vice President Hideyuki Sakamoto, Nissan’s global manufacturing chief. After mass production begins in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2029, volume could eventually reach between 3 to 30 gigawatts a year. “The all-solid-state battery we are working on will be a game changer for the penetration of EVs,” said Shunichi Inamijima, corporate vice president for powertrain and EV engineering. Nissan has said it plans to plow about $1.2 billion into developing solid-state batteries. Nissan’s goal The breakthrough battery pilot is a potent symbol of Japan’s transition from internal combustion to the modern age of electrification. Automakers from Toyota to Honda are reconfiguring their domestic operations to meet demand for electrification. Nissan, Toyota and Honda are banking on solid-state batteries to regain an edge in the global EV race, after falling behind such international rivals as Tesla and China’s BYD. CEO Makoto Uchida unveiled a new midterm business plan on March 25 that envisions getting 40 percent of Nissan’s global sales from pure EVs in the fiscal year ending March 2031. That is up from 9 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. A new family of next-generation modular EVs debuting after April 2027 will be key. By the end of the decade, Nissan thinks its new EVs can achieve cost parity with gasoline-powered cars. Overall cost will fall 30 percent compared with Nissan's current EVs. And Nissan believes it can save 150 billion yen ($990.7 million) in development costs for its wave of next-generation models. Nissan believes it can deliver a solid-state battery by 2028 that holds twice the energy of a lithium ion battery, charges in one-third the time and costs $75 per kilowatt-hour. Nissan also thinks it can whittle that cost to $65 before too long, achieving price parity with gasoline cars.

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🚀 Exploring VinFast: Beyond the Headlines 🚗 The recent buzz around VinFast in the EV space has been palpable, with headlines touting it as a major contender to Tesla. But what's the real story? We cover it in depth at: https://bit.ly/3UNVZS1 VinFast, established in 2017, entered the EV market in 2021 under the ownership of Vietnam's tycoon, Phạm Nhat Vuong. While it's been making waves, the numbers tell a nuanced tale: 📊 Sales Performance: In 2023, VinFast sold 34,855 4W EVs globally, a fraction of Tesla's and BYD's figures. Notably, a significant portion of its sales were related-party transactions, raising questions about its market presence. 📈 Financial Performance: Despite a soaring market cap post-NASDAQ listing, VinFast's valuation plummeted by 96% within eight months. Its revenues pale in comparison to Tesla's, with substantial net losses. 🎯 Current Outlook: VinFast aims to bolster sales with an ambitious target of 100,000 EVs in 2024. However, Q1 FY 24 results fell short, raising concerns amidst fierce competition. 🌏 Expansion into India: VinFast's foray into India, backed by a $2 billion investment plan in Tamil Nadu, signals strategic ambition. Yet, questions linger about its capacity utilization and financial stability. 🔍 Reality Check: While VinFast garners attention, its scale and performance trail behind industry giants like Tesla and BYD. Its success in India hinges on overcoming challenges in key markets like the US. As the EV landscape evolves, VinFast's trajectory will be one to watch closely. Amidst the hype, a pragmatic assessment of its capabilities is crucial. Let's keep an eye on how this unfolds! #EVIndustry #VinFast #TeslaRivalry #ElectricVehicles #IndustryAnalysis

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Biden's 100% Chinese EV tariff is a terrible policy that ignores history and panders to the wrong stakeholders. Full article: https://lnkd.in/gQsQyRG7 In 1972, the U.S. faced an energy crisis that made large American cars expensive and impractical. Foreign automakers like Toyota, Nissan, and Honda, producing smaller, efficient cars, capitalized on this shift. Japanese automakers opened plants in America, catering to a market that American car manufacturers couldn’t, saving the industry during tough times. Fast forward to today, American car companies are again focused on high-margin, large vehicles, ignoring the needs of the average consumer. The supersized vehicles of today average 2.05 American tons, but that's only 0.05 tons more than the average in 1970. The average age of cars on the road has increased from 5.6 years in 1980 to 12.5 years today, as fewer people can afford new vehicles (and as vehicle quality improved in large part thanks to Japanese automakers). President Biden’s decision to impose a 100% tariff on cheap Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) is deeply wrong-headed. Instead of embracing affordable EVs that the 80% of Americans who can't afford any new American car could buy, that would benefit most Americans and align with climate goals, the administration is catering to union interests and succumbing to Sinophobia. Historically, America welcomed Japanese automakers to fill a gap in the market by setting up factories on American soil employing Americans. Today, a similar approach with Chinese EVs could provide affordable options for the average consumer and jobs for average Americans. However, the fear of China’s growing influence and outdated protectionist policies are preventing this logical step. Biden's tariff on Chinese EVs does not serve American consumers, the economy, or climate objectives. It seems driven by a mix of union politics, xenophobia, and a reluctance to adapt to global economic shifts. The path forward should involve embracing affordable, efficient vehicles, regardless of their origin, to meet the needs of all Americans. I would have expected this from the other side of the aisle and am saddened that the good work that's been done over the past few years will have this albatross around its neck. #politics #china #america #cars #protectionism #history #failure

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IMO this is mostly correct: The Biden Administration is mostly wrong on blocking Chinese imports. It is a mistake for Western countries to deny our citizens (and industry) the benefit of access to the best automotive (or other) technologies at the best prices. Over many decades, in many contexts, this kind of protectionism has consistently been shown to simply escalate costs, inhibit innovation, breed economic uncompetitiveness and ultimately cost jobs. Lose, lose, lose, lose. At the same Chinese exporters must play by fair trade practices. The Biden Administration is not wrong to point to China developing “excess capacity” in order to swamp importers’ economies with products priced cheaply on the basis of state subsidies, unfair labour practices and/or neglect of environmental impacts. Accepting cheaply-priced imports on these premises represents unfair competition and will undermine our workers’ jobs, our industrial health, our environmental standards and our economic vitality. The answer must lie in a more considered response, perhaps focussed on narrowing the fairness gap inherent in the above-mentioned factors (for example, through the carbon border adjustment mechanisms developed in the EU and USA), and/or stimulating Chinese manufacturers to invest in North American and European manufacturing and content. Reminder that back in 1965 the North American Auto Pact created a 1:1 proviso which permitted the free trade of autos across the 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 border, while providing that the volume of American-made vehicles sold in Canada must equal the number manufactured in Canada (albeit not necessarily the same vehicles or even models). This allowed the assembly and parts industries to invest and expand on both sides of the border and consumers to have the widest possible selection. It may be time for some thinking along such lines, rather than simply mounting barriers which restrict trade, reduce choice, impair innovation and drive up costs. #cdnpoli

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We just talked about this in class...“Cost recovery mechanisms should not be judged in isolation. Inflation-driven cost increases & adjustments need to be addressed in a timely manner that is consistent, tested, & institutionalized & supported by OEM & supplier cost reduction efforts.” From Plante Moran: https://lnkd.in/ebpCgDZw. 70% of new supplier agreements contain inflation driven economic adjustment clauses with the use of indices being the most common. https://lnkd.in/g_ByzrNU. It might be time for price risk sharing in buyer-supplier relationships. Has Strategic Cost Mgmt (i.e., Price Analysis) become a lost art? Tools we use to teach this: https://lnkd.in/gNrUtNU5. I have asked a lot of SCM managers how they “prepare” to negotiate price increase requests from their suppliers. In particular, I was curious about how and where they get their data from (i.e., CME, COMEX, etc.). Many said their suppliers provide that information. I am not convinced that using data from your suppliers is a form of “Preparation” for negotiation.   What are buyers to do? Procurement orgs need processes & “tools” to mitigate & negotiate on these requests in a strategic, data-driven manner (& we/I need to do a better job of teaching it). In our SCM program, we are looking at raw material market data from multiple sources, we will visualize & analyze historical pricing scenarios, & do some simulating on planned purchases & what-if scenarios against forward price curves. Stay tuned for our case study report based on price analysis & strategic cost mgmt research... Some of our alumni are already testing and / or implementing automated business processes based on such tools, serving as the basis for addressing price indexing implementations (formulas, economic adjustments, etc.) by champions in a few larger orgs, & we're following these implementations from an academic perspective. It beats updating color coded excel spreadsheets. https://lnkd.in/ghjfe3gh https://lnkd.in/gMuhMNf6 Automated economic adjustments: https://lnkd.in/gNrUtNU5.   Ongoing Study by WMU’s SCM Program  · Studying how orgs in different industries administer indexing & economic adjustments, their challenges, & how such processes may be improved  · Initial findings:  o Organizational ownership of process is not well defined  o Human error, lack of audit trail  o Lack of automation, requiring sufficient time & manual effort  o Limited collaboration & visibility  o Scalability issues o Data security & access control  o Limited integration Some Practices that Can Make Your Commodity Related Supply Chain Job More Fun and Rewarding ($$$): https://lnkd.in/gwPfkdkK. #inflation #procurement #rawmaterials #supplychain

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Industrial #globalization is an inevitable trend and challenge that every country must navigate. By imposing such steep #tariffs, the U.S. risks alienating crucial trade partners and stifling innovation in the burgeoning electric #vehicle market. This policy fails to recognize the interconnected nature of the global economy and could ultimately hinder American competitiveness. Instead of resorting to protectionist measures, we should be fostering international #collaboration to drive technological advancement and sustainable growth. #motorcycle #ev

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The European Union informed Beijing about the hike in tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, potentially paving a way to trade war. Following the tariff implementation, Chinese manufacturers have to pay additional tariffs of 17.4 percent and 38.1 percent on top of existing 10 percent, pushing the overall tariffs to around 48 percent, the European Commission said. The announcement follows the agency's investigation into whether China's state support to car manufacturers has allowed them to sell EVs at a lower price compared to European carmakers. The nine-month investigation, launched in October, found that the EV industry in China "benefits from unfair subsidization, which is causing a threat of economic injury." read more....👇 #rttnews #tradewar #euhikesimporttariffs #euimposesextrachargesonchinesecars #additionaldutyonchineseevimports #europeanunion #europeancommission #evindustryinchina #chinasubsidiesforevmakers

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https://lnkd.in/gUwETw43 Seeing how China excess production continue to impact smaller Production House regionally aka one country self-engineering capability. It is increasingly an issue that would affect a lot of community and social issue, into generations ahead. Yes, it could be cheaper to buy from China. Assisting with the inflated short terms issue. But it would erode the generation-built capability and making the country ever rely on others engineering might. That's also mean less manufacturing or technical job and more into limited "service" job. Skill workers need to be imported and does not add generation value to the country workforce. It is scary. We already see some countries, going into these route - by the social nature.

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#Circulation and #Goods Movement for #LithiumValley • To optimize synergies between industrial, manufacturing, and logistics uses. • Plan assigns roadway classifications, based on Imperial County Transportation Model • Performance Measures: Level of Service (LOS) and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) • Proposed rail alignment to transport lithium to an Industry Transportation Hub to the Union Pacific Railroad Calexico Subdivision. • Public Transportation Hubs to service Calipatria and Niland, CA This image shows the drainage of the region immediately next to the #saltonsea with #everything else we’re thinking of for #geothermal and #battery and #criticalmaterials in the region, we even need to think of grading and drainage. But, we got this. The green future is #worthit Attending the #imperialcounty economic and energy summit and I’m thinking about the #brilliant people working on this #generational project Poonum Patel E. Kaina Pereira Melissa Howlett Robert Meyer Pete Cooper Jaime L. Gutierrez Jessica Grimes (Matthews), PhD Karen Connolly, M.S.W./M.P.H.

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Automaker is reinvesting profit in next-gen EVs, software and AI. TOKYO – CEO Koji Sato wrapped his first year at the helm of Toyota by driving profit up 77 percent in the latest quarter to rack across-the-board record results as the world’s biggest automaker bankrolls piles of cash to plow into next-generation technologies. The automaker did not skip a beat in saying how it would reinvest the bonanza. The company said it would boost investment in growth technologies such as electrification, software and artificial intelligence by 42 percent to 1.7 trillion yen ($11.24 billion) in the current fiscal year. Toyota will also spend billions more on improving human capital, including efforts to support suppliers and dealers. Those outlays will tally about 380.0 billion yen ($2.51 billion). The outlays are so heavy they will eat into earnings this fiscal year. Ever-conservative Toyota forecast that operating profit and net income will actually fall in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, retreating from the just-achieved records. The slowdown is part of an intentional pause Sato outlined earlier this year as part of an effort to regroup and stay profitable for the long run after sprinting to record sales and production. “We need this time of plateau for our long-term future growth,” Sato said at a Tokyo news conference. “We would like to make proactive efforts for future sustainable growth.” In the company’s just-ended fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, Toyota’s operating profit soared 77 percent to 1.11 trillion yen ($7.34 billion), from 626.9 billion yen ($4.14 billion) a year earlier. Toyota delivered a stellar double-digit operating profit margin of 10.0 percent in the quarter, up from 6.5 percent the year before. Net income nearly doubled to 997.6 billion yen ($6.59 billion) in January-March, from 552.2 billion yen ($3.65 billion) a year earlier. Global revenue rose 14 percent to 11.07 trillion yen ($73.17 billion) in the quarter. Toyota stormed ahead as the global semiconductor shortage eased and customers snapped up the company’s trademark gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. The company cranked up its global manufacturing machine to record output. Favorable foreign exchange rates also helped, bolstering yen-denominated earnings and adding 305.0 billion yen ($2.02 billion) to operating profit. Consolidated global sales declined 7.9 percent to 2.15 million units in the quarter, including shipments from the company’s Daihatsu minicar and Hino truck-making subsidiaries. North American sales rose 18 percent to 655,000 units; Europe increased 13 percent to 308,000. Deliveries in the home market of Japan tumbled almost by half to 363,000.

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MIT Review-excellent article on how China policy and long term strategy helped dominate EVs. CNBCThe Wall Street Journal Bloomberg News BYD InsideEVs #Comotion #cars #automotive #ev #innovation #venturecapital #startups #electricvehicles #startup #sustainable #esg #lastmiledelivery #rideshare #delivery #evs #commercialvehicles #fleetmanagement #engineering #automotivedesign #lastmile #automotivenews #mit #automotiveindustry #stanford #teslamotors #rivian #lucidmotors #indigotechnologies

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Elon Musk's recent visit and discussions with Shanghai's mayor Li Qiang highlights Tesla's ongoing commitment to innovation and expansion. Baidu, Inc., the leading web search provider in China, will offer mapping and navigation services to support Tesla's driver assistance technology known as "full self-driving" (FSD), as reported by sources cited in Bloomberg News. Mapping services, essential for driver assistance technologies, are closely regulated by the Chinese government. Tesla's shares surged by 17% to $197 today, boosting the company's market value to $615.8 billion. This substantial increase follows a more than 30% climb over the past week, marking a notable turnaround after a period of decline over the last two years. #automotivenews #tesla #china #innovation #autonomousdriving #automotive #automotiveindustry

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HAMBURG, Germany -- Chinese makers of electric vehicle batteries are curtailing their production plans in Germany as falling EV purchases in Europe's largest auto market hamper their sales. SVOLT Energy Technology, spun off Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, said last week it would halt plans to build a battery cell plant in Lauchhammer in eastern Germany's Brandenburg state, citing what it called the "new European strategy" and the cancellation of a large customer order. SVOLT declined to name the customer, but German public broadcaster SR reported it was BMW. In the same statement, SVOLT cast doubt on plans to build a battery cell production factory in Ueberherrn in western Germany's Saarland state, citing lawsuits against the project. If this also is derailed, the company will end up having built a sole factory in Germany that combines battery cells into packs and modules in nearby Heusweiler, expected to open July 1. "At SVOLT, in addition to the already low level of planning security at various points -- from the threat of international punitive tariffs to market distortions due to lengthy and unevenly distributed subsidies -- a significant customer project has now also been lost," Kai-Uwe Wollenhaupt, president of SVOLT Europe, said in a statement on Friday. The company also said on its website, "There are the renewed discussions about the end of combustion engines in the [European Union], which have a counterproductive effect on the planned localization efforts." These comments were in sharp contrast to what Wollenhaupt told Nikkei Asia in 2021 when SVOLT was about to break ground on $3.2 billion worth of production facilities in Germany to serve Europe's expanding market for new-energy cars. "We have to get into Germany to position ourselves in the market because local-to-local production is not just a catchphrase for European automakers," Wollenhaupt said then. SVOLT's backpedaling follows similar action by rival Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) in December. CATL scrapped plans to expand its first cell plant outside China in the eastern German town of Arnstadt, where production began in early 2023. That decision came after Volkswagen stopped producing electric vehicles in eastern Germany's Zwickau due to a lack of demand. Instead, CATL plans to set up a new plant in Hungary. The rationale for Chinese companies to invest in battery production in Germany was weakened greatly by Berlin's abrupt move in late 2023 to cancel buyers' subsidies for EV purchases as an emergency measure to plug a fiscal hole. As a result, the share of electric cars in all new registrations fell by 2.5 percentage points on the year in April to only 12.2%. Gasoline vehicles still had, by far, the largest share of new registrations in the country at 37.3%. The EU will ban, effective in 2035, all new cars with combustion engines that emit carbon dioxide when driven. But a growing number of German politicians question this move.

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In case of Japanese OEMs such as Toyota, they do not clearly state that they are moving toward BEVs. From the beginning, Japanese OEMs have pursued multi-pathway strategy and they are ready to enter the BEVs market if there is 'real' market. Many people say that Japanese OEMs only insist on HEVs, but it is not correct also it is not correct to say that they will push H2 (hydrogen). I think Japanese OEMs consider reality and profitability. In a situation where European and North American OEMs are struggling in terms of profitability due to the shift to BEV market and its outlook for the BEV market itself is being revised downward. Same time, Japanese OEM such as Toyota, which stayed still, continued to achieve profitability as they always did. And although they do not appear in lots of news, there are many projects that are operating beneath the surface. I do not know how Japanese OEM are evaluated in global, but in order to maintain Toyota's brand power has big size as a 10M unit/year, it means Toyota/Lexus brand only and it is ultimately impossible to change direction as easily as like other companies. Since the advent of Tesla, the automotive industry itself has been largely swayed by Tesla. However, even though Tesla is an icon of innovation, the key is how much consumers in real society accept Tesla. And in the end, some company who can understand important point what is the mainstream in the real market (people) and knowing how market is going on, is at the center of the industry clearly. Lastly, I am not denying possibility of BEV, but I predict that it will takes time longer than expected for BEVs to become mainstream in terms of materials, technology, global regulations, trade barriers, and infrastructure. I do not know if BEV will be the final goal of electrification, but what is clear is that an intermediate process must be established to move to BEV, and that social convergence to move to BEV must be achieved in that process for BEV to enter the mainstream.

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Pretty decent article about the TOC and Lean manufacturing explaining how both can play nicely together https://lnkd.in/ePGyDh-S

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Chinese automaker BYD unveiled the Shark, a mid-size hybrid-electric pickup truck, in Mexico on Tuesday, as its regional chief brushed off new U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese EVs, saying the company was not eyeing an entry to the U.S. market. The Shark strengthens BYD's foothold in the North American market with a vehicle aimed directly at incumbents Ford, General Motors and Toyota. It is for now only available in Mexico, executives said, and is the first time the world's largest electric-vehicle (EV) maker has launched a new product outside its home country. BYD chose Mexico because of the rapid growth in demand for pickup trucks in the country, Chief of Americas Stella Li said. The unveiling event in Mexico came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden announced steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports, citing unfair competitive practices. Duties on Chinese EVs were quadrupled to over 100%. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai later said that the United States is weighing tariffs on imports from Mexico. In an interview with Reuters after the event, Li said the U.S. tariff hikes have no impact on BYD, which plans to build a plant in Mexico. "We don't have plans to go to the U.S. market, so this announcement does not impact us at all," Li said. "When we build a Mexican plant, we only consider the Mexican market and other countries' markets, we have not considered the U.S.," she added. There is now a shortlist of potential sites for BYD's plant in Mexico, Li said, adding it will be centrally-located in the Latin American country. A "deeper dialogue" was needed to make the final decision, Li said, which was expected to come by the end of the year. The plant, which will have a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year, will take two to three years to finish, Li added. The presence of Chinese automakers in Mexico has grown exponentially since 2017. One out of 10 cars sold in Mexico last year was from a Chinese automaker, with MG Motors, a unit of SAIC, dominating nearly half the market. Reuters exclusively reported last month that Mexico's federal government, under pressure from the U.S. in keeping Chinese automakers at arm's length by refusing to offer such incentives as low-cost public land or tax cuts for investment in EV production. Li said BYD has not yet discussed incentives with Mexico's federal government, citing the busy period ahead of the country's elections in June. She did not share details on incentives BYD would be seeking from the federal government or individual states. "I think all the states will try their best to give a best offer to attract us because we will be bringing a lot of technology there and create a lot of local jobs," Li said. "Every state, and even the central government, would love this kind of investment."

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