• Electric vehicles confront the leap to the mass market

    DETROIT — The past year was sobering for investors who poured money into Tesla Inc and rival electric vehicle startups that hoped to emulate Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s success.

    As interest rates rose and financial markets gyrated, shares in many EV startups deflated. Rivian Automotive Inc, which had a higher market value than Ford Motor Co shortly after it went public in 2021, lost more than 70% of its value over the past year.

    Other EV startups fared worse. Electric van maker Arrival warned it could run out of cash in less than a year. Lucid Group Inc, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, struggled to build its sleek Air luxury EVs. Chinese Tesla challenger Xpeng Inc’s shares lost more than 80% of their value.

    Now comes the hard part: Persuading more mainstream consumers to come along for the ride.

    Why it matters

    The automobile industry is pouring more than $1 trillion into a revolutionary shift from combustion engines to electric vehicles guided by software. From Detroit to Shanghai, automakers and government policymakers have embraced the promise of electric vehicles to provide cleaner, safer transportation. European countries and California have set 2035 as the deadline for ending sales of new combustion passenger vehicles.

    Tesla Inc’s surge to become the world’s most valuable automaker – achieving a $1 trillion valuation last year – humbled established automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG that once were reluctant to go electric.

    Starting next year, a wave of new electric vehicles from pickup trucks to middle market SUVs and sedans will hit the world’s major markets.

    Industry executives and forecasters do not agree on how rapidly electric vehicles could take over half the global vehicle market, let alone all of it.

    In China, the world’s largest single automotive market, battery electric vehicles have captured about 21% of the market. In Europe, EVs account for about 12% of total passenger vehicle sales. But in the United States, EV market share is only about 6%.

    Among the barriers to EV adoption, industry executives and analysts said, were a dearth of public fast-charging infrastructure, and the rising cost of EV batteries, driven by shortages of key materials and uncertainty over government subsidies that have buoyed EV purchases in major markets including the United States, China and Europe.

    By 2029, electric vehicles could account for a third of the North American market, and about 26% of vehicles produced worldwide, according to AutoForecast Solutions, a consultancy.

    Electric vehicle sales likely will not increase in a smooth, ever-ascending curve, said AFS President Joe McCabe. If there is a recession next year, as many economists forecast, that will slow EV adoption.

    Wards Intelligence forecasts that combustion vehicles will make up just under 80% of North American sales in 2027. Based on automakers’ product plans, Wards analyst Haig Stoddard said at a recent conference that manufacturers “expect strong ICE (internal combustion engine) volume heading into the next decade.”

    What does it mean for 2023?

    Throughout 2022, established automakers such as Mercedes, Ford and General Motors Co unveiled dozens of new electric vehicles to challenge Tesla and the upstarts.

    Mass production of most of these vehicles kicks into gear starting in 2023 and 2024.

    By 2025, there could be 74 different electric vehicle models offered in North America, McCabe said. But he predicts fewer than 20% of those models are likely to sell at volumes above 50,000 vehicles a year. Automakers could be stuck with too many niche models and too much capacity.

    Slowing economies threaten overall vehicle demand in Europe and China, too.

    During the early years of the 20th Century, new auto companies sprang up, backed by investors eager to catch the wave of mass mobility that Henry Ford and other automotive pioneers started. By the 1950s, the global auto industry had consolidated and once-heralded brands such as Duesenberg had disappeared.

    The next few years will determine whether the 21st century’s crop of electric vehicle brands will follow a similar path.

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  • ‘Elon abandoned Tesla’: 3rd-largest individual shareholder calls for a new CEO

    Elon Musk. Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Getty Images
    • Investor patience in Tesla is wearing thin as CEO Elon Musk shifts his focus to running Twitter.
    • KoGuan Leo, Tesla’s third largest individual shareholder, tweeted that it may be time for a new CEO.
    • “Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO. Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO,” Leo tweeted on Wednesday.

    Tesla investors are growing frustrated with a falling stock price and a CEO who is splitting his time between running three different companies. 

    It’s become such that Tesla’s third largest individual shareholder, KoGuan Leo, is calling for a new CEO to take over the EV maker, which would allow Musk to focus on his other ventures like SpaceX and Twitter.

    “Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO,” KoGuan Leo tweeted on Wednesday. “Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO.” 

    KoGuan Leo amassed a 22.7 million share position in Tesla as of September, which is currently worth $3.57 billion. Leo built his stake in Tesla during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the stock traded at a split-adjusted price of about $40 compared to today’s $157.

    Shares of Tesla are down 55% year-to-date and the stock has erased about $225 billion in market value since Musk closed his deal to buy Twitter in late October. That decline came at a time when the S&P 500 climbed more than 3%, so investor concerns are real, and analyst Wedbush Dan Ives has called Musk’s Twitter venture a “circus” and “the twilight zone.”

    Despite his frustration, Leo is not selling his Tesla shares. Instead, he is planning to buy more as he believes the stock is undervalued and there’s still room for the company to grow with a laser-focused CEO.

    “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn if Elon stays or leaves Tesla. Tesla is a great company and $160/shr is cheap,” Leo said, adding that he’d like to see an operational executive similar to Tim Cook to take over the company.

    “Elon is a mere hired hands. He is our employee… Elon was the proud father, Tesla has grown up… An executioner, Tim Cook-like is needed, not Elon,” Leo tweeted. “I plan to invest more $billion bc Tesla will be the biggest company with or without Elon.”

    In an apparent reference to an options trade, Leo said that he will buy an additional 3 million shares at $160 per share if Tesla falls below $160 in a few weeks, but what bothers Leo is that while he’s buying Tesla stock, Musk is selling.

    “Today, I just put in another $500 million on the line to support Tesla stock price @$160 whereas Elon sold $35B his shares and maybe more last few days,” Leo tweeted.

    A few hours after this tweet, it was revealed that Musk sold an additional 22 million shares for $3.6 billion earlier this week. Incidentally, Musk’s sales in one week are roughly equal to the amount of Tesla stock that Leo owns. 

    Read the original article on Business Insider
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  • Drive like it’s 2154: What it’s like to take the space joystick of the wild Mercedes ‘Avatar’ concept car

    MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Who among us hasn’t imagined what it would be like to drive a car from the future? And we’re not talking about a 2028 Honda Prelude or whatever, interesting as that may be. No, we’re talking decades, maybe even centuries beyond what we have now, where even quaint notions like circular tires are reimagined. Something akin to a spinner from “Blade Runner” or one of those light cycles from “Tron.” So color us stunned when Mercedes-Benz actually offered us some seat time behind the wheel of their Vision AVTR concept.

    Mercedes unveiled the AVTR at CES in 2020 as a tie-in to the upcoming movie “Avatar: Way of the Water,” which will hit theaters December 16. The car and the motion picture have the same name, though Mercedes says that AVTR stands for Advanced Vehicle TRansformation. To understand what that means, we have to catch up on the fantasy world writer/director James Cameron created.

    “Way of the Water” is a sequel to 2009’s “Avatar,” which imagined a future in which humans have depleted most of Earth’s natural resources. To keep civilization going in the year 2154 they need to mine other planets, including the Earth-like moon Pandora. Unfortunately for the humans, a sentient race of blue-skinned humanoids resides on Pandora, keeping us from harvesting a compound named, literally, unobtainium. These Na’vi live in harmony with nature, hunting with bows and arrows, wearing loincloths, and generally wishing not to be exterminated by a heavily militarized space mining corporation. 

    The film was groundbreaking in its use of special effects. Cameron — of “Titanic,” “Aliens and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day fame — said that he wanted to make the movie in the 1990s but had to wait a decade for technology to catch up. We say this only in an attempt to explain just how much of a visual feast the natural beauty of Pandora was. Cameron painted a world awash with bioluminescence, lush vegetation and spectacular landscapes.

    Mercedes’ designers wanted to make the AVTR look as if it belonged in this world. As such, the car is imbued with design so organic it makes a 1996 Ford Taurus look like a Volvo 240. In profile, its lines are fluid and unbroken as a river pebble’s, with no angles or corners to denote a traditional three-box shape. An ultra-low roofline melts into a glass bubble cabin nestled more between the wheels than above them. Speaking of the wheels, they’re urethane-skin spheres instead of traditional discs. 

    The most animal-esque feature of the car can be found on the back, where an array of 33 bionic flaps open and close independently of one another. Each moves on carbon fiber hinges that accordion like pieces of origami. Their lightness allows for extremely quick actuation, and they can be programmed to flicker in a wave-like pattern like a bird fluffing its feathers. The honeycomb of holes radiates blue light, but if you were to stop suddenly, the flaps would go vertical like air brakes while the openings glow red. It’s an undeniably neat effect, but you probably shouldn’t stare at them too long if you suffer from trypophobia.

    To be clear, the car never actually appears in “Avatar: Way of the Water.” In the movie, machines are the enemy, destroyers of the natives’ lifestyle. Also, the Na’vi civilization is pre-agrarian, and it would be rather difficult to drive a car in a land where no paved roads exist. 

    It would’ve been easy — expected, even — for Mercedes to stop there. Many show cars aren’t drivable, but it went ahead and built an actual running concept and let ham-fisted journalists go for a spin. 

    Approach the car and it comes to life with a dazzling array of lighting animations that pulse and ebb like the glowing flora of Pandora. It’s almost as if the car is breathing, a sensation amplified by the twitching of the back flaps. Gander at the illuminated front end graphic and you’ll see where the EQS and EQS SUV got their noses. LEDs streak down the lower shelf beneath the taillight like comets. Even the wheels have throbbing light patterns that form the “spokes.” Mercedes chief of design Gorden Wagener says they were inspired by the wood sprites from the film.

    Glass scissor doors swing open on massive chrome hinges to allow access to the cabin. Points of light swirl and trace the edges of nearly every interior surface, adding to the sense that the car is somehow alive. Settling in gracefully requires you to back your posterior onto the thin, leaf-like seats, then swing your legs into the car. 

    The AVTR is so low that you don’t sit so much as you do recline. The first thing you notice is that there’s no steering wheel, screen or controls of any kind before you. The dash is simply one sweeping blank curve. All movement of the car is done through a mushroom cap-like joystick in the center console. Its location means either driver or passenger can operate it.

    Push the pad forward for Drive, push it backwards for Reverse. Roll it to the left or right to turn in that direction. The AVTR has rear-wheel steering, so the front and rear wheels can angle in opposite directions for a tightened turning radius. Rotate the pad to the left or right and the wheels will angle in the same direction for a diagonal crabwalk. And no, the wheels don’t actually spin in three dimensions like Will Smith’s Audi in “I, Robot.” The spherical shape looks cool, and only the band at the “equator” ever touches the ground. That’s how the lighting on the tires remains undamaged. 

    We were able to test these functions in a short drive around a parking lot, but it wasn’t as intuitive as it sounds. To my brain, it would’ve been more natural to rotate to turn and roll to crabwalk. It was also a tad difficult to finesse the pad slowly while the car was in motion, as the car has almost no suspension and minor bumps would transmit through my arm to unintentionally jolt the controller. It’s not the fault of the technology per se. This is just a concept and not designed to be driven at more than a few miles per hour. It also admittedly may have been easier if I were using my dominant hand.

    The absence of a steering wheel lets the entire expanse of the curved dash become a screen of sorts. An overhead projector beams a map onto the surface, and as a nod to the movie, Pandora is one of the selectable locations. Changes to the menu are made via gesture. Simply raise your hand to a spot above the console and you’ll see icons projected onto your palm. Then you flick your hand to the left or right to make selections. Like a touchscreen, it takes considerable focus, so such a system would only be prudent when the car is in autonomous mode. 

    Because environmental consciousness is a major theme of the “Avatar” movies, Mercedes says that the 110-kWh battery is organic and compostable thanks to the use of graphene and no rare earth metals. Total system horsepower is 469, and power comes from four motors, one at each wheel.

    It’s a fascinating thought exercise to imagine how a car from 2154 — or perhaps more accurately, a car not born on planet Earth — might differ from our current machines. Mercedes engineers assured me that I’d get used to it with more practice, but perhaps it was too big of an evolutionary leap for this particular human.


  • Rolling In To The Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show





    Rolling In To The Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show – Speedhunters




















    Rolling In To The Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show

    The first weekend of December is always an event double-whammy for me. It starts off on Saturday at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center for the Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show setup, while Sunday – the actual Mooneyes event day – is spent at Fuji Speedway for the Nismo Festival.

    Now that Covid disruptions seem to be behind us, this past weekend I had a lot of fun hitting up these two legendary meets once again. Let’s kick off with the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show 2022 – the 30th anniversary event no less.

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    The show prep is something I’ve always enjoyed shooting.

    Seeing so many wild vehicles arrive under their own power is a real spectacle, and even if I never get to see the actual show the following day, I never feel short changed.

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    With enough space inside the venue that I can easily break out my 70-200mm lens, plus no crowds to contend with, setup day at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show really is an automotive photographer’s paradise.

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    It’s also so cool to see the work that goes into preparing cars for display, not to mention the displays themselves.

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    Then of course there are the cars – the main reason why we’re here.

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    Although I’ve covered Mooneyes events in Japan for years – and learned a lot about this corner of car culture in the process – I could never call myself an expert. There’s just too much variety when it comes to vehicles, history and styles spanning pretty much a whole century.

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    But that’s OK. I’ve always enjoyed being a fish out of water at these events, but at the same time some things have become familiar. That’s because Mooneyes Japan events always throw domestic cars into the mix.

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    Like the Yajima Jidousha S14 Silvia, which I first ran into at Tsukuba back in 2018. Since then, its L28 engine has received a bump up to 3.1L and it now breathes through triple 50mm carburettors.

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    Right in front of the S14 was this Nissan Gloria wagon, also powered by an L-series engine with a similar spec.

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    It’s so cool to see owners continuing to use these older, carbureted straight-sixes. It must be rather cool having full-tune S30Z sound in your wagon.

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    Mooneyes always has its fair share of Volkswagen Beetles and Buses, but there were some other rear-engined VW beauties at the event, including this stunning Brazilian 1600 4-door notchback.

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    No matter how you decide to navigate the Pacifico halls, the variety keeps coming.

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    So, when I was done looking at old American trucks, I headed back outside to see what was on its way in.

    I love themed cars, especially ones that make sense. I wouldn’t look twice at a Nissan NV200 van on the street, but when one turns up to a Mooneyes event sporting the iconic BRE livery and running reimagined 4-spoke wheels – the originals used on old Datsun Sunny race cars – I start snapping away.

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    The NV200 wasn’t the only BRE-themed vehicle at the Pacifico. Check out this amazing track-side support van from Art Racing.

    On the ramps out back was a Datsun 2000, also sporting the legendary colors that Peter Brock of Brock Racing Enterprises made so famous. This rig and car setup was like a Hot Wheels Team Transport release, but in 1:1 scale and fully functional.

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    The Nissan racing theme didn’t end there…

    I am not 100% sure what we’re looking at here, but I got flashbacks of the S30-inspired Z33 I saw at TAS back in January, on the Nissan Automotive College booth. If the cars from Ground Designs are anything to go by, it seems like grafting old school faces onto modern cars is catching on.

    Here’s Ground Designs’ more street-oriented build, rolling in later on in the day.

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    Custom bikes are an important part of the Hot Rod Custom Show, so I always have to grab a few pictures.

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    Mooneyes Japan always likes to bring in builds from other countries for this event, but sadly it didn’t end up working out this year. The container coming from Los Angeles, that was filled with bikes, never even made it onto the ship due to dockworker strikes.

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    One area of the event was reserved for ‘Muscle Mopar’, and boy did the display live up to its name.

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    Not only did they have this crazy machine sporting a 9.3L big block engine…

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    …But a huge number of Plymouth Road Runners – more than I’ve ever seen in one place at one time.

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    It was fun trying to figure out the differences of the various model years.

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    For me, the winner was this Super Bird iteration – primarily based on the visuals and that massive rear wing. I tried to look for the owner to ask if the car was one of the few packing a 426ci Hemi V8 – and to hear the beep beep horn – but to no avail.

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    Earlier on I mentioned the variety of builds on display at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, and here’s more proof – a slammed Daihatsu Hijet.

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    This little display – a homage to the 1980 Subaru AWD wagon that was used by the US Ski Team during the Lake Placid Winter Olympics and subsequent ad campaign – stopped me in my tracks. It was so ’80s, and with so much pink I end up wondering if this is the reason STI used the color in its branding…

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    Ever since covering Andy’s Rod Works years back, I’ve become a real fan of Willys coupes. I’ve always found it visually-pleasing how the front and entire roof line of these cars dramatically lean forward, making them look like they’re going 100mph even when sitting still.

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    No surprise then that they look absolutely menacing when built up for drag racing.

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    There’s nothing like a big blower topped off with a bug catcher to make a statement!

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    I had my son in tow, sort of as an assistant, wheeling my camera case around and making sure to complain every few minutes at just how much walking we were doing. When we stopped to look at the ’90 Years of Deuce’ display he had trouble comprehending that these cars are close to 100 years old now. “But they look so new,” he kept saying. He was kind of right, and that’s really the whole point of kustom culture – keeping these historic machines alive and reinventing them over and over again. I’m pretty sure it struck a chord with the little fellow.

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    As the day went on, the displays were buttoned up and the show really started coming together.

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    It was towards the evening that I had a chance to take a closer look at some of my favorite builds of the show, including this one from a member of the famed Pharoahs Car Club Japan.

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    I’ve always been intrigued by the straight-eight engine, a Fireball 8 in this case.

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    Not too far away, the lowrider area was pretty much ready for Sunday.

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    I’m sure Snoop Dogg would feel right at home in this one.

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    The Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show has always managed to bring domestic and international kustom culture together in its own unique way, and this year’s event was no different. The fusion of old and new, the mix of styles and the amazing people make it all so special. As ever, I can’t wait for the 31st event in 2023.

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  • Commercial EV tax credit could ease concerns from automakers, South Korea

    WASHINGTON, Dec 6 — Many automakers and the South Korean government are urging the Biden administration to tap a commercial electric vehicle tax credit to boost consumer EV access, a plan that could help ease concerns over a climate bill approved in Congress.

    The $430 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in August ended $7,500 consumer tax credits for electric vehicles assembled outside North America, sparking anger from South Korea, the European Union, Japan and others.

    Some automakers say a lesser noticed IRA provision for “commercial clean vehicles” could be used to boost EV manufacturers and address foreign concerns.

    Rivian Automotive, Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp among others want the administration to let consumer vehicle leasing qualify for the commercial EV tax credit that could reduce monthly lease payments.

    The South Korean government in comments made public Tuesday urged Treasury “interpret ‘commercial clean vehicles’ broadly” to include rental cars, leased vehicles and vehicles purchased for use in Uber or Lyft rideshare fleets.

    South Korea also asked Treasury not to impose any budget restrictions on commercial vehicle tax credits through 2025.

    Hyundai and Kia want Treasury to allow people leasing EVs to be able to qualify for up to a $4,000 tax credit for used EVs if they buy vehicles when leases expire.

    The IRA consumer EV tax credit imposes significant battery minerals and component sourcing restrictions, sets income and price caps for qualifying vehicles and seeks to phaseout Chinese battery minerals or components.

    The commercial credit does not have the same sourcing or pricing restrictions but has an “incremental cost” eligibility test that might prove complex. Some automakers want Treasury to make it easier to ensure most commercial light-duty vehicles qualify for $7,500 tax credits.

    President Joe Biden said last week “there are tweaks that we can make that can fundamentally make it easier for European countries to participate.”

    Some automakers oppose using the commercial credit for consumer sales.

    Toyota Motor Corp said “the lack of criteria to qualify for (commercial credits) could undermine the IRA’s goals to expand domestic production of EV batteries and maintain America’s energy independence.”

    Tesla said commercial credits “should apply exclusively for commercial end-users” and the consumer tax credit “should apply exclusively for individual end-users.”

    General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra told Reuters on the sidelines of an event Monday that addressing foreign concerns about the credit is “more complicated than just one thing to solve it” and added “sticking to the intent of the bill” drafted by Congress “is important.”

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  • Why it’s so hard for Ford to catch up with F-150 Lightning orders

    The F-150 Lightning production line at Ford’s factory in Dearborn, Michigan. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images
    • Ford had to literally tear down the walls of its factory to cope with demand for the electric F-150.
    • Darren Palmer told Insider that Ford was surprised by the number of orders for the Lightning.
    • He said that meeting customers’ expectations was a “huge piece of work.”

    Ford’s F-150 truck looks set to retain its crown as America’s best-selling vehicle for the 41st consecutive year.

    After launching an electric version last year, it received nearly 200,000 orders for the Lightning opened and had to close its order book last December in a bid to catch up.

    “That surprised us – I think it surprised a lot in the industry, how ready people already were for electric vehicles,” says Darren Palmer, who heads up Ford’s electric vehicle (EV) program.

    Darren Palmer speaks with customers in front of a Ford F-150 Lightning with its trunk open.

    Darren Palmer speaks with customers in front of a Ford F-150 Lightning. Ford

    The level of demand forced Ford to take some drastic action to boost the number of Lightning trucks it can produce in Michigan.

    “They’re actually building a factory almost the same size alongside the one that’s producing at the moment,” Palmer told Insider. “We had to cut the walls open again and start again.” 

    Despite recently committing $50 billion to its EV program over the next four years, the success of an electric F-150 was never certain.

    Linda Zhang, the Lightning’s chief engineer, previously told Insider she initially had to convince her colleagues to buy the vehicle. Now it’s winning over customers who never owned an EV, as well as younger drivers who hadn’t previously bought a Ford, said Palmer and Zhang.

    Linda Zhang stands in front of a F-150 Lightning.

    Linda Zhang led the team behind Ford’s first all-electric version of its F-150. Ford

    Coping with the surge in demand has been a “huge piece of work,” Palmer says: “It will take most of this year and some of next year just to convert the reservations – and I trust we haven’t had it open for a year and a half.”

    A wave of positive reviews for the Lightning meant even more orders are likely to follow, he adds, but first it has to convert a multitude of existing reservations. Palmer couldn’t confirm when this would happen.

    In the meantime, Ford will try to increase production from the existing factory to double its annual output to 150,000 annually.  

    Supply chain woes

    Coping with demand hasn’t been helped by supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported in September that Ford had been forced to halt the delivery of some of its vehicles due to a shortage of the automaker’s famous blue badges.

    The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat.

    The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat. Ford

    A bigger issue has been the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips, although Palmer says Ford is prioritizing supplies for its EVs. Still prices for the trucks have been forced up by a wave of obstacles, increasing the F-150 Lightning Pro by $5,000 last month in the second price rise this year.

    Geopolitical factors helped influence the company’s decision to move some production closer to home, coming alongside a massive supply chain restructure after $1 billion of unexpected costs last quarter. 

    Palmer thinks the Lightning will go down in history as the vehicle that brought EVs into the mainstream in the US. He says there’s more to come, with a renewed focus on in-car technology in the next phase of Ford’s EV program.

    “The things we’re going to bring in the next three years are just mind blowing. They’re doing things that vehicles never did before,” he adds.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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  • Ford Expedition may have caused the Secret Service Hertz rental fire

    It’s looking like a Ford Expedition may have been the cause of a fire among Hertz vehicles rented by the Secret Service during President Biden’s recent Nantucket visit over Thanksgiving

    Several media reports say the fire, which involved five vehicles, appears to have first ignited in a white Ford Expedition. At least that’s the focus for investigators, who have not yet offered an official determination. Local officials have said the fire was not suspicious.

    2021 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators were subject to an urgent recall in May for a problem with the battery junction box. Ford said at the time the problem carried a fire risk, and advised owners to park the SUVs outside and away from structures or other vehicles. Ford devised a fix for the problem in July and said it could have all recalled vehicles repaired by September.

    That, of course, is dependent on owners (or rental car companies) actually getting the vehicles in for the repair. It’s unclear yet whether the Expedition in question got into the shop. Hertz told Automotive News, “We can confirm that a fire involving our vehicles occurred early the morning of Nov. 28, at the rental car overflow lot at Nantucket Memorial Airport. Fortunately, no one was injured. We are working with the local authorities on their investigation.”

    The Secret Service also released a statement Thursday:

    “The Secret Service had rented the vehicles for the President’s trip and dropped the SUVs off at HERTZ on Sunday night. We were made aware of one Ford SUV catching fire early Monday morning. That SUV was parked next to several other vehicles which also caught fire because of the proximity to the Ford SUV.

    “We had no issues when we drove the vehicles and they were returned without incident. The Ford SUV that caught fire was a Secret Service support vehicle and not used to transport any protectees. We look forward to following up with local fire authorities on their review of the incident.”

    The cars rented by Biden’s detail also included a Chevy Suburban, a Ford Explorer, a Jeep Gladiator, and an Infiniti QX80.

     

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  • The ’80s, Enhanced: A Wektor Mk3 Supra With 700+hp





    The ’80s, Enhanced: A Wektor Mk3 Supra With 700+hp – Speedhunters
























    The ’80s, Enhanced: A Wektor Mk3 Supra With 700+hp

    This 1989 Toyota Supra A70 by Wektor is one of the most unusual cars I’ve photographed this year. In fact, during the shoot I constantly needed to remind myself that we are in 2022, not in the 1980s capturing images for a bedroom poster.

    Wektor is a long-forgotten German tuning house, but back in the day European car magazines were creaming over their cars and comparing them to those from Koenig Specials.

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    The company was founded by Johann Bergmeier in 1988, and at that time Wektor were taking brand new top-of-the-line Mk3 Supras and transforming their looks with a fibreglass wide-body conversion that added 400mm (15.7 inches) of width. This wild styling was backed up with performance tuning that saw the Supra’s 3.0L 7M-GTE engine generate 420hp.

    Bergmeier called it the Wektor Competition, and it’s reputed that just 68 cars were built until they were discontinued in ’91.

    In ’96, Wektor returned and started building the W48 model, but this was basically a replica Ferrari 348 TS based on the Toyota MR2. That same year, the company wound up.

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    I have no idea how many Wektor Competitions are still around, but as a bonus, the one we’re looking at today has been treated to a number of modern upgrades including a twin-turbo setup, custom leather interior and a proper sound system. Importantly though, it hasn’t lost any of its ’80s charm in the process.

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    It’s easy to see where Wektor took some of its inspiration from for this car, and while browsing through some old articles, I noticed that it was nicknamed the ‘SupraRossa’ for this very reason. On top of the Ferrari Testarossa design cues, the car features some of the biggest side ducts I’ve ever seen.

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    The kit definitely has its quirks; being a 30-year-old creation, some of the panel gaps aren’t the sharpest and there are some cracks in the paint here and there, but none of this lessens the impact. It’s really hard to comprehend that there’s a humble Toyota somewhere behind the outrageous fiberglass body enhancements! And check out that oh-so-’80s stance with no shortage of tire meat and plenty of fender gap.

    The Wektor’s owner, Jose Ruiz, purchased the car in Germany back in 2001 while he was working in Spain. At the time, his other option was a Strosek-kitted Porsche 928 GTS, but the Toyota-based creation ultimately won out. In 2002, Jose drove it back to his home in Finland, where it still lives today.

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    I shot the car at the right time, as it’d just come back from a fully-forged engine rebuild and twin-turbo conversion. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to hear that there are two turbos strapped to the 7M-GTE when – regardless of the engine – most people are sticking with singles these days. But the company behind the engine work – MW Steel – has a proven drag racing background, so I’ve no reason to not trust their vision, especially since Jose is planning to take the car standing-mile racing next year.

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    On top of the twin Garrett GTX30s, the turbo system also features a custom intercooler and piping, exhaust manifold, down-pipe and 3.5-inch stainless steel exhaust all from MW Steel. The Finnish tuning shop also fabricated the dual-plane intake manifold and oil cooler system. Fueling comes via a KMS flex-fuel system, Bosch EV14 2,000cc injectors and three Bosch Motorsport 044 pumps.

    The last time the car hit the dyno, it made 732hp and 781Nm, running 1.72bar (25.3psi) boost pressure on E85 fuel. With this in mind, the 5-speed R154 transmission was also upgraded with billet gears.

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    BC Racing coilovers improve the handling, while a big brake kit from Wilwood provides the stopping power. I photographed the car wearing its period-correct, 3-piece 17-inch Tramont wheels, but Jose has 19-inch Weds Kranze Borphe wheels on the way to Finland, so he’ll soon be able to change up the look.

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    As mentioned, the interior has recently been given refresh with custom red and black leather trim, personalized pitbull logos, and a banging sound system. The most unexpected feature is the JEGS lever alongside the center console, which will deploy the soon-to-be-fitted parachute. Jose will need that once he starts racing the car.

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    As a long-time career man at Nokia, Jose is now in the position to be able to afford a modern supercar, but the fact he’s shunned that in favor of driving this awesome ’80s relic is something pretty cool.

    Vladimir Ljadov
    Instagram: wheelsbywovka
    because@wheelsbywovka.com
    www.wheelsbywovka.com

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  • SARD MC8: The One-Of-One Le Mans Homologation Special





    SARD MC8: The One-Of-One Le Mans Homologation Special – Speedhunters
























    SARD MC8: The One-Of-One Le Mans Homologation Special

    This is a bittersweet story of a little car that went up against giants and lost, but came away a hero.

    I use the word ‘hero’ in more of a philosophical sense, because although the SARD-engineered MC8-R race car never came close to a podium, it stands as a champion to many, for reasons I will endeavour to explain.

    The car I’m about to show you today is the one-of-one MC8, a car built to homologate the Toyota Team SARD MC8-R for Le Mans in 1995.

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    In the early ’90s, with the demise of Group C, Toyota decided to make a transition from purpose-built race cars like the TS010 to production-car-based GT machines for Le Mans.

    Toyota chose the JZA80 Supra and SW20 MR2 models to headline this new direction. The former, much like its rival, the Nissan Skyline GT-R LM, seemed like an obvious choice, but to satisfy the Le Mans rulebook, the GT-spec Supra was powered by a 2.1L turbo 3S-GTE engine.

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    The second entry from Toyota was a little more unlikely. They chose a SARD-developed MR2 to go head-to-head with the likes of the McLaren F1, Kremer K8 Spyder and Ferrari F40 LM. In order to stand a chance, Toyota and SARD would need to beef up the little mid-engine MR2 considerably. But would it be enough?

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    Toyota Team SARD built a few cars for competition use, but they only needed to build one road-going version to satisfy the homologation requirements. That makes this car the only road-legal, stretched, V8-powered MR2 in the world. It disappeared shortly after Toyota and SARD finished racing in 1997, but resurfaced 15 years later.

    The MC8’s current owner, Mr. Y, bought it a few years ago, and after a long process bringing it up to current road and safety standards, put the unique car back on the street.

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    As for the original cars that competed at Le Mans, the first ’95 car was scrapped, and the ’96 car was updated for the 1997 season and joined by another new MC8-R. One of those ’97 season race cars caught fire, and rumour has it that the fire-damaged machine was salvaged and turned into a road car, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

    The sole-surviving ’97 Toyota Team SARD MC8-R works car is owned by a private collector in Aichi Prefecture, or maybe Gifu. At the time of writing, further investigation is needed, but it’s a car that I for one would love to see.

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    To ensure the MC8-R would be stable at the constant high speeds that Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans demands, SARD reinterpreted the rulebook and lengthened the MR2 around 400mm from the rear wheel arches. Essentially, SARD built a tube frame to support the rear of the car, but kept the majority of the front half of the chassis untouched.

    This was the first GT machine to be modified from a road car by having its complete rear section replaced with a tube frame. It’s a technique Porsche borrowed for its hugely successful 911 GT1.

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    Another reason for stretching the MR2 was to fit a 4.0L 1UZ-FE V8, which at the time was found in the Lexus LS 400 and Toyota Aristo. It was a brave move from SARD, but a choice backed up by the reliability of the venerable quad-cam 32-valve V8. The engine was developed with GT500 applications in mind, although it never made an appearance in that series.

    The MC8-R race cars were fitted with a twin-turbo system from SARD’s catalogue, but the road-going MC8 version wasn’t treated to any forced induction.

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    In race trim, the MC8-R was a proper power-to-weight champion. In 1995, it weighed 1,273kg (2,806lb) and made 580PS. In the following years, weight was trimmed down to 1,061kg (2,339lb) and then down to 1,000kg (2,204lb) in 1997, while power went from 580PS to 664PS respectively.

    Sadly, no matter how cool the car looked, or how ridiculous the power-to-weight ratio was, the MC8-R had worse luck than a black cat walking under a ladder on Friday the 13th.

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    On its first appearance at Le Mans in 1995  it didn’t manage to finish the race due to clutch failure. In 1996, SARD switched from a 6-speed Hewland transmission to a 5-speed March Engineering unit, but the stronger gearbox was the least of their problems. Even after dropping around 200kg, the car qualified in basically the same place as the previous year, then came second to last on race day.

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    Considering the competition, it’s not surprising; even the mighty GT-R and NSX only came 15th and 16th respectively out of 25 finishers. The little MC8-R was up against cars like the McLaren F1 and the Porsche GT1

    Coincidently, remember I said that Porsche borrowed SARD’s idea to make a rear tube frame for their 911 GT1? Well, guess which Porsche absolutely wiped the floor that year… If Albert Einstein copied your homework, I think you can chalk that up as a pretty big win.

    Toby_Thyer_Photographer_-35

    In ’97, after shedding even more weight and pumping up the power, things still didn’t go well for the MC8-R at Le Mans. Despite the team’s best efforts, they didn’t qualify and ultimately gave up trying.

    The cars went on to race in a few Japan championships, but without any real success there either. It’s a shame, because the MC8-R was a brilliant recipe for a very cool race car; perhaps Toyota Team SARD just had their sights set too high…

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    As a road car, the MC8 is an absolute joy, so perhaps this is where it should have been developed more. Maybe, like so many marques, the homologation specials are actually better than the race cars they are modelled on.

    I’m sure if the SARD MC8 was built as a limited-run production car, it would have sold like hot cakes. At least there’s this one though, and thankfully Mr. Y is driving it on the streets of Japan as a reminder that dreaming big is sometimes more important than winning.

    Toby Thyer
    Instagram _tobinsta_
    tobythyer.co.uk

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  • Moskvich brand revived in Russia with Chinese design

    MOSCOW — After a two-decade hiatus, Russia on Wednesday launched production of the Moskvich car brand at a plant near Moscow given up by the French carmaker Renault, with a new, modern Chinese design that barely resembles the Soviet-era classic.

    While the last Moskvich (“Muscovite”) was a basic three-box saloon or pedestrian hatchback, the Moskvich 3 is a muscular-looking petrol-powered crossover hatchback with alloy wheels, LED slit-headlights and a large central touchscreen display.

    In fact, pictures of the car show that it looks identical to the Sehol X4 compact crossover (pictured above) made by China’s JAC, also known as the JAC JS4. Sources told Reuters that JAC’s design, engineering and platform were being used to produce the brand, with parts being delivered from China.

    Renault sold its majority stake in carmaker Avtovaz in May to the Russian state for reportedly just one rouble, but with a six-year option to buy it back. It sold its plant, now renamed the Moscow Automobile Factory Moskvich, for another rouble.

    With just 600 vehicles slated for production this year, the new car is unlikely to alter the gloomy outlook for the wider industry, whose annual sales could end the year below 1 million for the first time in Russia’s modern history.

    The government’s ultimate target of producing 100,000 Moskvich vehicles a year, some of which will be electric, is far below the industry average for a car plant of 200,000-300,000. Tesla makes 22,000 cars a week at its Shanghai plant.

    “The first Moskvich cars will come off the production line in December 2022,” truck maker Kamaz, the plant’s technological partner, said in a statement.

    Western sanctions over Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine have sorely hampered access to foreign-made components, while many foreign car manufacturers have left. Kamaz and the government have established new supply chains, but not disclosed details.

    “The task for the near future is to establish small-node assembly processes with the involvement of local suppliers by the end of 2023,” Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in a statement.

    The ministry said the launch of full-scale production would provide jobs for around 40,000 more people. The car goes on sale in Russia next month, it added.

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