#EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

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EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

2018 Nissan Leaf

Fans of EVs say reliability is part of their charm: no combustion engine, fewer moving parts, no muffler or catalytic converter, less wear and tear on the brakes. Now there’s proof from the most recent JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study: The Nissan Leaf (main photo) ranks as the most reliable car in its class and two other EVs, the BMW i3 and the Chevrolet Bolt EV, are in the top three in their categories, or three EVs out of 23 cars highlighted by Power as most dependable.

The 2020 study of reliability among three-year-old (2017) cars anointed Genesis as the most reliable brand and the Lexus ES as the single most reliable vehicle with the average ES having one problem every two years. Buick is the most dependable mainstream brand while Chrysler and Land Rover are least dependable. Toyota and GM had the most segment awards while Cadillac has the biggest one-year improvement. Tech features showed the most improvement but they (or their users) are still the most problematic areas.

Power cautions that score differences of a few points may not be statistically significant.

The 2020 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, measured in problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). Tesla isn’t on the list because it won’t share access to its owners.

Of All Power Surveys, VDS Is the Most Important

JD Power runs a lot of surveys and this is the most important one because reliability at three years is useful and meaningful. In comparison, the Initial Quality Study (IQS) doesn’t find much wrong with cars mechanically 90 days in, so owners instead now get a chance to gripe about brake dust or volume knobs which is not, in our opinion, as meaningful as a repair that would require a tow back to the dealership.

VDS measures at three years because that gives problems a chance to build up, and that’s also the typical lease term, so VDS gives you an idea of how an automaker is doing over time if you’re buying new and is helpful for people looking for the best three-year-old cars. What you find is how the best individual models are doing. Power reports all car brands above and below average because when they tried years ago to report only above-average scores, USA Today or Automotive News got hold of the full report sold to automakers within a day. It’s harder to get drill-down information on individual model reliability from VDS. For that, you need Consumer Reports.

Top three models for the models where Power has enough data to report. Asterisk means only one or two cars were above average, not three.

  The top SUVs, minivans, and pickups on the 2020 VDS.

Less Drilldown Than You Want?

Some segments aren’t reported because of small sample sizes or the inability to get “at least three models with 80% of market sales or four models with 67% of the market sales in any given award segment.” For details, check out the Power VDS release. Meanwhile, you won’t as a potential car-buyer find model breakouts for these categories: city car, compact premium sporty car, compact multi-purpose vehicle, large premium car, large premium SUV. Not enough responses, the company says.

Tesla is not reported for a different reason: Power asks for owner/lessee contact information from the automakers, and Tesla doesn’t provide it.

Tech Features Are Better, Still Problematic

In-vehicle tech, one of the features that goes into the overall problems-per-100-cars rating, showed the most improvement from 2019 to 2020 among the eight breakout categories (and 177 specific problem areas) that make up the overall score. Yet it’s still the most problematic category. According to Power VP Dave Sargent:

“Many owners complain about these systems early in the ownership experience and, three years later, they’re still frustrated with them. We’re seeing improvement, but automakers still have a long way to go to before they can declare victory in this area. … the rapid introduction of technology is putting increased pressure on dependability, so it would not be surprising to see problem levels plateau, or even increase, over the next few years.”

Overall, the 2020 industry average of 134 problems per 100 cars is the lowest (best) over VDS’ 31 years. VDS the past two years has improved by 2 points this year, 6 points last year. Cars on average rate 7 points better than SUVs.

Chevrolet Bolt EV, one of three EVs among JD Power’s most dependable cars.

Recognition for EVs

For the first time, a battery-electric vehicle is a segment award-winner, the Nissan Leaf, which finished ahead of the Chevrolet Cruze and Toyota Corolla. The Chevrolet Bolt EV was top-three in the small car category along with the Honda Fit and Chevrolet Sonic, and the BMW i3 was runner-up to the BMW 2 Series in the small premium car category. The i3 is primarily an EV but can also be had with a helper engine (gasoline) to extend its range.

If you bought a Lexus ES in 2017, it’s been to the dealer once for a repair last year (statistically speaking), and you’ll go again for another fix around 2021. The ES’ 52 PP100 (problems per 100 cars) is Power’s best ever in the study’s 31 years.

Something for Most Makers to Celebrate

Depending on how you slice and dice the data, lots of automakers are happy. Consider especially the automakers who were up the most, among those rated above average:

#12 Cadillac, improved by 35 PP100 (that is, problems per 100 fell to 131 from 166)

#11 Mazda, improved by 29 PP100

#7 Lincoln, improved by 28 PP100

#10 Ford, improved by 20 PP100

#3 Buick, improved by 15 PP100

#6 Volkswagen, improved by 15 PP100

Toyota had the most segment awards (top rating) with six including Lexus, and GM had five among Buick, Chevy, and GMC. GM brands don’t win a lot of comparative reviews but all their cars are more than good enough, and if you combine reliability with great lease or financing deals, sometimes just-okay is okay.

Being top-three gets you a medal at the Olympics and it’s a badge of distinction even if JD Power doesn’t license awards for first-runner-up or most-congenial. GM (Buick, Chevrolet, GMC) had 14 top-three finishes. Toyota-Lexus had eight top-three finishes.

But not everyone is full of smiles. Four automakers had twice as many problems reported as Genesis with 89 PP100: Volvo 185, Jaguar 186, Chrysler 214, Land Rover 220. Three of the four are luxury brands. A decade ago, premium-brand automakers could argue a premium car is more complex, so maybe it will spend more time at the dealership being serviced. But now among the top 10, positions 1-2-3-7-8 are premium brands, and with Porsche holding a top-five position the past few years, it’s hard for another German automaker to say that theirs needs more attention than Genesis or Lexus.

The corporate group with the most issues is Fiat Chrysler Automobile, or FCA. Of 32 brands in Power’s VDS, the FCA group holds positions 19-25-26-27-31. Ram trucks are doing reasonably well on sales, and the Chrysler Pacifica has lots of fans with more to come now that’s bringing back all-wheel-drive.

Now Read:

Why the Best Super Bowl Commercials Were All Cars and Tech

The Future of Sensors for Self-Driving Cars: All Roads, All Conditions

5 Lessons From the Death of Frankfurt Motor Show

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/306155-evs-finally-get-some-love-from-the-most-important-jd-power-study from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/02/evs-finally-get-some-love-from-most.html

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EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

2018 Nissan Leaf

Fans of EVs say reliability is part of their charm: no combustion engine, fewer moving parts, no muffler or catalytic converter, less wear and tear on the brakes. Now there’s proof from the most recent JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study: The Nissan Leaf (main photo) ranks as the most reliable car in its class and two other EVs, the BMW i3 and the Chevrolet Bolt EV,…

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At Last: Driver-Assist Terms Will Be Common Across All Cars

Adaptive cruise control radar illlustration (Mercedes)

Here’s a major step forward in helping car buyers understand the meaning of car technology buzzwords, especially the terms for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). This is a list of 19 terms primarily for single safety features that have described in as many as 40 different ways by various automakers. An industry-affiliated consortium has agreed on terms for 19 ADAS terms such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking.

Most terms are for single pieces of technology. Nothing stops an automaker from employing a unique, company-specific umbrella term for a collection of multiple technologies, such as Ford Co-Pilot 360 or Nissan Safety Shield, says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, one of the groups that got the effort underway. The others are AAA, JD Power & Associates, and the National Safety Council.

Same Feature, Dozens of Different Names

Say you want a car that has a basic safety package of driver assists. How can you compare features when they have different names, and a dealership sales rep might not know, or knows and doesn’t tell you, that dynamic cruise control (more below) is just as good as adaptive cruise control? Now there’s a list of common features. It’s voluntary on the part of automakers. But third parties, including data aggregation companies that provide features information, will start using similar terms.

Here are the common terms that these groups will use going forward:

Nineteen ADAS terms the auto industry should use to describe core safety technology and avoid confusion. Automakers are still free to use their own umbrella names to describe a combination of several systems.

How Bad Is the Confusion?

A year ago an AAA automotive engineering team looked at 34 car brands sold in this US. This is how many different terms were used to describe common driver-assist features.

AAA 2019 Survey of ADAS Features Feature Unique Names Automatic Emergency Braking 40 Adaptive Cruise Control 20 Surround View Camera 20 Lane Keeping Assistance 19 Blind Spot Warning 19 Automatic High Beams 18 Rear Cross Traffic Warning 15 Driver Monitoring 13 Semi-Automated Parking Assist 12 Forward Collision Warning 8 Night Vision and Pedestrian Detection 5 ADAS = Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems

“We believe a united message [on names] could propel the industry forward,” says Kristen Kolodge, executive director for driver interaction and HMI at JD Power. Power’s involvement is doubly important: It does multiple car surveys that shape buyer attitudes, and a 2019 merger with Autodata Systems and its Chrome-branded solutions provides data on individual cars to automakers and major websites that report and cars and provide buying information. Now there’s a common language to describe what’s on each of the 17 million light vehicles sold in the US each year.

Our Take: Good Start. More Needed.

At Extreme Tech, we’ve described ADAS features using terminology that maps closely to the conclusions of the ADAS-naming consortium; often in reviews, we also cite the automaker’s own term. We’ve always used adaptive cruise control, the same as the consortium recommended. We’ve used blind-spot detection and the consortium’s blind-spot warning is close enough.

There are a couple of issues. The consortium uses two terms, lane-keeping assistance and lane-departure warning, to describe three different situations, from least to most helpful driver assistance:

Lane departure warning. When your crosses over a lane marking (or just before), you’re warned. This term is clear and its functionality maps to what the consortium calls it.

Lane keep (or keeping) assist. We’d say it’s like Pong for cars. When your car reaches the boundary marker for your lane, the steering pushes you back into the lane. Most of the time. Occasionally, the car keeps edging out-of-lane on a sharply curved road.

Lane centering assist. Real simple: The car always centers itself in the lane. (Except on really curvy roads where you shouldn’t be using LCA.) As long as you keep your hands lightly on the wheel — or in some cases, an eye tracker sees that you’re looking at the road — the car stays centered. Add adaptive cruise control and you’ve got SAE Level 2 self-driving, or what the consortium calls active driving assistance.

Similarly, adaptive cruise control covers several differences in functionality. Stop-and-go or full-range ACC takes the car all the way down to 0 mph and then back up to speed. At a light, you may have to press the gas pedal or hit a resume button. That’s the best ACC. Some older cars have ACC that goes down to 20 mph and then cuts out because the radar can’t focus on cars that may be close ahead in dense traffic, and that makes partial ACC unhelpful in stop-and-go traffic. And of the cars that stop and go, including some FCA products, they disengage ACC if the car is stopped for more than three seconds.

Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking have nuances, too: on the highway versus in-town FCW (and also emergency braking), and detection of cars versus pedestrians, versus detection of pedestrians at night.

Dynamic Cruise Control Isn’t Active Cruise Control

BMW Driving Assistance Professional Package now with ADAP and ETJA/LAH. Including ACC.

For me, the confusion hit home last year when a neighbor dropped by in a new BMW X5 with a $68,000 list price (and that’s modestly optioned, with only $7,000 worth of extras). Her adaptive cruise control almost ran her into the car in front while on the interstate, she said. I went through the owner’s manual, checked the Monroney (the window sticker listing standard and optional features), and it eventually dawned on me: While some automakers use dynamic cruise control as a synonym for adaptive cruise control, as does Wikipedia, on her Bimmer “dynamic” means conventional cruise control. So no auto-pacing behind the car in front, but the car does slow down going around curves, then speeds up again. So it’s dynamic that way.

What my friend wanted but didn’t get – and this becomes linguistically confusing – is that while our president uses the best words, Germans string together the longest words. If you want ACC on many BMWs, you don’t want BMW Dynamic Cruise Control, nor do you merely want Active Driving Assistant (six ADAS features standard on the X5 but not including ACC). Instead, you want the Driving Assistance Professional Package, which incorporates Active Driving Assistant Pro and Extended Traffic Jam Assistant for Limited Access Highways. DAPP incorporating ADA and ETJA/LAH is a $1,700 bundle of very useful technologies that lets the car change lanes automatically, avoid side collisions, and help you maneuver in low-speed traffic.

But that’s how you get adaptive cruise control in this BMW. And never mind that ACC comes standard – no extra charge – on a $20,555 Toyota Corolla L. Where the feature is called – wait for it – dynamic radar cruise control, except in this case DRCC means ACC, all part of what the company calls Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 (TSS 2.0).

And this is where the consortium-for-simplicity comes in. It wants every automaker to call ACC adaptive cruise control. It doesn’t want to tell BMW it has to make ACC standard (even though BMW really should) and it doesn’t want to stop BMW from saying DAPP, ADA or ETJA/LAH, nor to stop Toyota from using TSS. But it is suggesting Toyota should move on from dynamic radar to active cruise control.

Consumer Reports, April 2020.

Consumer Reports, the most influential voice when it comes to promoting safety or evaluating reliability, has more tricks up its sleeve. For 2020 and its annual auto issue, it is raising the bar on what a car must do to be eligible for CR‘s Top Pick designation (the best car in each of 10 segments): It must be CR-recommended, and come standard with forward collision warning (FCW), with automatic emergency braking (AEB), and for 2020 it must come with pedestrian detection be standard and tied to AEB. CR’s Fisher also says the features have to be standard across the board for a model. No fair leaving it off the entry trim line that has an attractive price and only amounts to 5 percent of the model’s sales.

CR told automakers in advance about the change in Top Pick criteria for 2020. The upshot, Fisher says: The number of models that now have pedestrian detection, standard, on all trim lines, shot up significantly. Critics have argued the accuracy of pedestrian detection technology is hit or miss – so to speak – and doesn’t always work, especially in dim light. Against that, Fisher says, most advances in car safety protect the occupants, not pedestrians, so CR wants to prod the automakers.

Now read:

Consumer Reports Picks Its Top Car Brands

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

Are Auto Shows a Goner in the Wake of Coronavirus?

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/307572-at-last-driver-assist-terms-will-be-common-across-all-cars from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/03/at-last-driver-assist-terms-will-be.html

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Top Cars of the 2020 Geneva Motor Show That Never Was

Out of an “abundance of caution,” a phrase we’re hearing a lot, the Swiss government pulled the plug on the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS). Since this is 2020, not 1990, the news from the show went out anyway as automakers switched to video reveals over the past week. Geneva intros fall into three categories: a wide range of mainstream and upscale cars from across the world; a lot of EVs and some plug-in hybrids because Europe is moving more quickly (governments for sure, buyers somewhat less so) to alternative energy sources; and the eye-candy $150,000-$3 million cars for those flush with oil money and others who Americans, from a distance, sniff at as Eurotrash.

Geneva is not just any auto show. In the even years when there’s no Frankfurt show, this is the world’s most important auto show. And unlike Frankfurt, Detroit, and Tokyo, there’s no hometown bias since Switzerland has barely any auto industry. It does have a lot of wealthy residents and visitors with money to burn. Here’s our take on virtual Geneva 2020.

2021 Audi A3 gets a standard 10.1-inch center display. The instrument panel goes up to 12.3 inches.

The 2021 Audi A3 debuted with a showing of the Sportback version, meaning hatchback, which will ship later this year along with the A3 sedan. It has bolder styling and will be heavy on tech with a 10.1-inch center stack display standard, this on a subcompact vehicle about 175 inches long. At a time when some mainstream small cars are doing 8 inches as standard, this is one way to justify a price tag that can push into the forties. The instrument panel is digital, too (dubbed Audi Virtual Cockpit), with a 12.3-inch version optional and offering more display modes.

International editions will get small turbocharged gas and diesel engines. The US gets a larger turbo-four (gas) with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Sport S3 and RS3 versions will come later. Ditto hybrid versions. The big difference: the US for sure will get an A3 sedan but probably not the A3 Sportback. That’s because it’s a hatchback. But you could also call it a small SUV – many of which have sloping rear rooflines – and we’d happily buy. Although to our eyes it mostly looks like a wagon, which is another body style Americans aren’t currently keen on.

The Fiat 500 will be an EV-only vehicle with a range 0f 175-200 miles depending on test procedure.

The beloved little Fiat 500 Cinquecento (Italian for 500) – beloved for its style and sporty driving, less so for reliability – is gone as a combustion-engine car. Bigger Fiats such as the Fiat 500X motor on, and the Cinquecento is to become a battery electric vehicle. An older version was called the 500e but now that electric is the only way you’ll get a Fiat 500, it will be the 2021 Fiat 500, no e.

The new EV 500 has doubled its range. Fiat says it can drive up to 199 miles (320 km) using a 42.0-kWh battery. That’s on the European WLTP test, which stands for Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure. Harmony or not, US EPA numbers are lower, perhaps 175 miles. For a car that’d be great urban runabout, 175 would be plenty, but American buyers like 250-300 miles even more. Because of this, Fiat has not yet said if it’s bringing the new 500 to the US. Right now, pure EV sales are less than 1.5 percent of the US vehicle market, and the majority of those sales belong to Tesla, at least currently.

Eight-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI. It’s the only Golf Americans will get: the fast one.

Golf GTI cockpit.

The 2021 Golf GTI is redesigned inside and out. This is the sportiest of VW’s compact (actually, subcompact at 168 inches long), four-door Golfs. Let’s jump ahead to why lots of people buy GTIs: The 2.0-liter turbo-four engine climbs from 228 to 245 hp, and torque from 258 to 276 pound-feet. The standard transmission is a six-speed manual, or millennial anti-theft device, as VW says in its ads – and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is offered.

VW had some years with mixed reliability. That’s better. The most recent Consumer Reports reliability survey has VeeDub right at average. And since reliability has gone up over time, VW is in a good spot. Still, as VW works to rebuild sales, it isn’t bringing every variation to the US. For now, only the sportiest Golf will be offered, even if this car, with its upright seating, provides a lot of rear-seat comfort and luggage capacity.

Hyundai Prophecy is much smoother-looking than 2019’s sharply edged 45 Concept.

The Hyundai 911 Turbo. Or so it seems.

How many more reminders do we need to understand what a mature car company the Hyundai group has become? Now there’s the Prophecy concept EVd using Hyundai’s Sensuous Sportiness concept. The effect is of an elongated, lowered Tesla Model 3 done right, with beautiful curving lines and few interruptions (such by side mirrors) in the concept. In the rear view, there’s a spoiler that pays homage to Porsche 911s. Inside the cockpit, the steering would be done by joystick, at least on the concept.

Propulsion, were the concept to come to market, would be electric-only, and Hyundai vows to have 44 electrified vehicles by 2025. According to Hyundai, “The expectation is to sell more than 670,000 battery and fuel cell electric vehicles annually by this time [2025], and to be positioned among the top three EV providers globally.”

BMW i4 Concept: Shipping in Europe late 2021, US early 2022.

The BMW i4 Concept is the stalking horse for a late 2021 / early 2020 3 Series-sized EV. It’s a closer-to-production advance on the Concept 4 coupe from last fall’s Frankfurt Motor Show. (See, with all the motor shows, sometimes you have more than one concept, plus the final shipping car, and you’ve got new at three shows.) It will be a powerhouse, with 530 hp and a sub-4-second 0-60 mph time.

Range is in flux, or rather the world’s competing test cycles are not in sync. The WLTP figure says 600 km or 373 miles. But BMW says on EPA tests, range will likely be in the mid-200s. Length is listed at 189 inches, or 3 inches longer than the 3 Series sedan. Based on BMW’s evolving naming convention, 4 in the name means 4 Series means the coupe version of the 3 Series, and four doors make it a 4 Series Gran Coupe. We believe most buyers don’t need 300 miles of range most of the time. But try telling that to someone cross-shopping the Tesla Model 3 that provides two options: 250 miles (standard range) or 322 miles (long range). While Tesla is the industry’s benchmark for battery efficiency, long range, and loyal followers who put Bernie Bros to shame, BMW is the leader in cockpit telematics and the past few years the premium German automakers have developed a reputation for highly reliable cars (Porsche, Audi, and BMW; Mercedes-Benz is a bit below average currently).

Fisker Ocean will have a head-up displaying karaoke lyrics. Your life is now complete.

Fisker Ocean cockpit. No, no 48-inch display across the dash. That’s Byton.

The Fisker Ocean SUV got its European (virtual) debut at the non-Geneva show, reprising some of what the industry saw in Las Vegas at CES 2020. It is “the world’s most sustainable vehicle” with a vegan interior, offers a solar roof adding up to 1,000 miles a year of range (that is, 3 miles a day) in sunny climes, and Fisker would prefer to lease out the Ocean rather than sell this compact (183-inch) SUV: $379 a month with $3,000 down.

Safety fanatics may freak, but Fisker says there’ll be a head-up display with karaoke mode, meaning the lyrics to songs will be projected at the base of the windshield so you can sing along. Fisker’s challenge is that the company will be coming to market along with a lot of other electric vehicles from vendors with lengthy pedigrees. But then, Tesla was just a startup, too, and not long ago.

Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport: You can’t afford it. Most people who can are too old to get in. There is justice.

Some Bugatti customers had a complaint. Not the $3 million price tag. (Paying that kind of money proves you’re a Player.) Nor was it the top speed well over 200 miles per hour. Rather it was the feeling the car wasn’t 100 percent comfortable to drive at speed.  Now comes the Chiron Pur Sport.

The Pur Sport is lighter, but it also has a six-foot-wide spoiler to plant the car at its insanely high speeds. The engine remains the same: 16 cylinders, quad-turbos, and 1,500 horsepower. The tradeoff is the top speed of about 235 mph has been scaled back to 217 mph. Price will be $3.3 million and 65 will be built.

Now read:

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

2020 Subaru Forester Review: The Safety-First, Can’t-Go-Wrong-Buying-One Compact SUV

Tesla Teardown Scares Competitors: ‘We Cannot Do This’

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/307280-top-cars-of-the-2020-geneva-motor-show-that-never-was from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/03/top-cars-of-2020-geneva-motor-show-that.html

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GM Unveils New Lithium-Ion Battery Tech, Vows 400-Mile Cars

General Motors reveals its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at the Design Dome on the GM Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors)r

General Motors is going electric in a big way. This week the company announced plans for a new battery technology called Ultium that will have more range than Tesla and be used in a broad array of future EVs including an upcoming Cadillac luxury SUV and flagship sedan. GM says the technology uses less hard-to-get, hard-on-miners cobalt, and cell costs should fall below the $100-per-kilowatt-hour level that starts to make EVs more competitive than gasoline-engine cars.

The batteries will be built as rectangular pouches rather than cylindrical cells – more space-efficient – that can be stacked horizontally and vertically. GM promises 19 battery and drive unit configurations initially for affordable cars, luxury cars, SUVs and pickups. GM and partner LG Chem are scheduled to break ground in the next three months on a $2 billion plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that could create more than 1,100 jobs. Sorry, make that “good-paying jobs,” since this is an election year.

General Motors chairman / CEO Mary Barra at the Ultium rollout Wednesday in Michigan at GM’s Design Dome.

GM is spending this week briefing analysts, media, employees, and partners at its Warren, Michigan, Design Dome on its Empire Strikes Back strategy. Since fall, relative-newcomer Tesla tripled in value and is worth more than GM and Ford combined as analysts see Tesla being the best pure-play for people who want to get in on EVs as an investment. “GM is building toward an all-electric future because we believe climate change is real,” said chairman and CEO Marry Barra Wednesday. She pegged GM’s EV investment at $3 billion annually.

One attention-grabber is GM’s claim that its new battery technology will provide a range of 400 miles or more per charge, slightly topping the 390 miles Tesla claims for the Tesla Model S Long Range sedan. (Tesla, for its part, plans to lay out its future EV and battery plans within the next month or so.) GM didn’t go into detail on what size battery pack would accomplish the feat, although you’d obviously need larger packs for larger cars.

Working with LG Chem, GM’s new battery technology uses rectangular pouch cells rather than cylindrical cells. Battery modules will be built in Lordstown, Ohio.

The new battery technology will have configurations from 50 kWh to 200 kWh for cars and SUVs. Performance vehicles will achieve 0-60 mph acceleration of as little as 3 seconds. GM says most will have 400-volt battery packs, and support for Level 2 charging (possible at home with 220 volts) and DC fast charging at up to 200 kW. The truck platform would have 800-volt battery packs and 350 kW fast-charge capability. This would include commercial vehicles.

For both cars and trucks, the pouch cells will allow for even higher energy density and lower centers of gravity. The ability to stacks cells horizontally or vertically is unique in the industry. GM also says battery management is built-in and – compared with the current Chevrolet Bolt – reduces battery pack wiring 80 percent.

GM says the new cells will have “the highest nickel and lowest cobalt content in a large format pouch cell.” It also says its researchers are working to eliminate cobalt as one of the battery components. Currently, cobalt is tough to mine, comes from countries that are not always friendly to the US, and working conditions are said to be unsafe, although there’s considerable discussion about whether that’s because of inherent dangers or because the mining companies don’t treat workers well.

GM’s new battery technology will be called Ultium.

GM plans an extensive rollout of new electric vehicles starting this year. According to GM:

Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick will all be launching new EVs starting this year. The next new Chevrolet EV will be a new version of the Bolt EV, launching in late 2020, followed by the 2022 Bolt EUV, launching Summer 2021. The Bolt EUV will be the first vehicle outside of the Cadillac brand to feature Super Cruise, the industry’s first true hands-free driving technology for the highway, which GM will expand to 22 vehicles by 2023, including 10 by next year.

The self-driving, shared EV called the Cruise Origin was shown in concept form in January in San Francisco. Next up to be announced is the Cadillac Lyriq in April. The GMC Hummer EV will be introduced May 20 with production due to begin in fall 2020 at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant, the company’s first plant just for EVs.

GM is staking its massive investment on a big uptick in demand for EVs – whether voluntary, helped by tax incentives, or mandated because of concerns about climate change. GM says:

Third-party forecasters expect U.S. EV volumes to more than double from 2025 to 2030 to about 3 million units on average. GM believes volumes could be materially higher as more EVs are launched in popular segments, charging networks grow and the total cost of ownership to consumers continues to fall.

GM revealed an all-new modular architecture and Ultium batteries at the GM Design Dome in Michigan.

GM is right to be optimistic since there’s pretty much nowhere to go but up for the EV industry. The market last year for electric vehicles was 330,000 in the US out of 17.0 million light vehicles sold, 1.9 percent, and those 48 vehicles include both pure EVs and plug-in hybrids that go 15 to 50 miles on battery before the combustion engine kicks in (but not hybrids like the Toyota Prius).

Pure EVs, 18 models total, accounted for 245,000 sales, or 1.4 percent of the US market. But when Tesla Model 3, Model X, and Model S got done feasting on the market – with no tax credits to offer anymore – what’s left amounted to barely 50,000 sales. Just six pure-EV models managed more than 5,000 sales last year:

Tesla Model 3, 158,925

Tesla Model X, 19,225

Chevrolet Bolt EV, 16,148

Tesla Model S, 14,100

Nissan Leaf, 12,365

Audi e-tron, 5,369

GM had two other electrified vehicles on sale in 2019, the end-of-life Chevrolet Volt PHEV with 4,910 sales and the Cadillac CT6 PHEV with 24 sales. The year before Chevy killed the Volt PHEV, it actually had slightly more sales than the Bolt EV, but demand for plug-ins continues to be soft. Last year the Toyota Prius Prime was the second-best-selling electrified vehicle with 23,630 sales, but the only PHEV with more than 10,000 sales was the Honda Clarity, at 10,728. BMW has the most electrified vehicles, six, with five of them PHEVs.

History has shown that first-to-market status doesn’t always guarantee long-term dominance. Facebook was not the first social media platform. Remember Myspace? In other words, Tesla absolutely dominates the market for EVs today, but this is a long race, not a sprint.

Now read:

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

No need to wait for Tesla: the Chevrolet Bolt is excellent (and already shipping)

Tesla Teardown Scares Competitors: ‘We Cannot Do This’

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/307027-gm-unveils-new-lithium-ion-battery-tech-vows-400-mile-cars from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/03/gm-unveils-new-lithium-ion-battery-tech.html

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Consumer Reports Picks Its Top Car Brands

Four brands stand at the top of the annual Consumer Reports car issue. Three of them, Porsche, Genesis, and Subaru all received brand rankings of 80 or more. The magazine gives a recommended rating to every model sold by Porsche, Genesis, and the fourth-highest-scoring brand, Mazda, while every Subaru is recommended except for the WRX.

Two vehicles earned the highest overall scores: the Toyota Avalon family sedan (main photo) and the Kia Telluride SUV that won several car/truck of the year awards. Each received 93 of 100 possible points. The details are in the magazine’s April 2020 issue.

33 car brands ranked by overall score, which comprises road tests, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety. CR says the road-test score is based on 50 different tests; reliability is based on 17 problem areas. It covers cars surveyed for the last three years.

Porsche, Genesis, Subaru, Mazda, Lexus, Audi, Hyundai, and BMW all received overall brand scores of at least 75 on a 100-point scale. The midpoint score (half above, half below) was 70. The biggest gainer was Tesla, which jumped eight spots from 19 to 11; its weak point remains reliability, which is below (but not significantly below) average. It’s not clear if there’s a statistical difference between brands rated a couple of points apart.

The 2020 Kia Telluride, tied with Toyota Avalon for the highest overall score, is one of Consumer Reports’ Top Picks and one of ExtremeTech’s 10 Best cars of the year.

Ten Top Picks (And They’re Super-Safe)

Consumer Reports has an annual Top Picks comprising the one top vehicle in each of 10 categories. To be considered, the vehicles must have received a recommended rating from the review and come standard with:

Forward collision warning (FCW)

Automatic emergency braking (AEB)

Pedestrian detection, an adjunct to AEB

CR does not, however, require blind spot detection or adaptive cruise control. The CR-required safety features can be implemented by a single, sub-$100 camera mounted at the top of the windshield. Blind-spot detection (BSD) requires multiple rear sonar/radar sensors. Some safety experts say BSD is crucial especially for older drivers who have trouble looking over their shoulders. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) makes rush-hour commutes and long highway drives less stressful and safer as well. But it, too, requires a separate front-facing radar. With forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, you don’t know the device is working until it’s almost too late, while ACC slows you as soon as the vehicle in front slows or brakes.

CR Top Picks Per Segment Score Midsize 3-Row SUV: Kia Telluride 93 Big Sedan: Toyota Avalon 93 Midsize Sedan: Subaru Legacy 87 Small SUV: Subaru Forester 84 Midsize SUV: Lexus RX 80 Sports Car: Toyota Supra 80 EV: Tesla Model 3 80 Hybrid: Toyota Prius 79 Compact Pickup: Honda Ridgeline 76 Small Car: Toyota Corolla 75

These are the 19 vehicles to which Consumer Reports awards a score of 85 or higher. That’s out of 260 vehicles rated.

CR 2020 Highest Rated Cars Score Toyota Avalon Hybrid 2.5L 93 Kia Telluride 3.8L 93 Lincoln MKZ 2.0T 89 Genesis G80 3.8L 89 Audi A4 2.0T 88 Porsche 718 Boxster 2.0T 88 Porsche Cayenne 3.0T 88 Subaru Legacy 2.5 87 BMW M240i 3.0T 87 Subaru Outback 2.4T 87 Hyundai Palisade 3.8L 87 Lexus ES350 3.5L 87 Lexus GS350 3.5L 87 Mazda Miata MX-5 86 Mazda CX-9 2.5T 86 BMW 740i 4.4T 86 Subaru Crosstrek 2.5L 85 Toyota Camry 2.5L 85 Kia Cadenza 3.3L 85 Score of 85 or higher (of 100 points).

Interesting Factoids (to Us, at Least)

Consumer Reports, April 2020.

The top individual-model rankings (above, those rated 85 and higher) are skewed toward Japanese, German and Korean automakers:

Japan: Toyota/Lexus 4, Subaru 3, Mazda 2

Germany: BMW 2, Porsche 2, Audi 1

Korea: Kia 2, Hyundai 1, Genesis 1 (all part of Hyundai)

US: Lincoln 1

Among the overall brand ranking, the biggest loser was Acura, which fell eight places from 16 to 24 among the 33 brands. Lincoln and Volkswagen each fell five places, from 8 to 13, and from 11 to 16. The eight automakers at the bottom, scoring below 60 points, remained the same, and CR noted:

The bottom brands are an unchanged club, with Fiat [lowest scoring, 43], Mitsubishi, Jeep, Land Rover, Cadillac, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, and GMC again falling short. We tested a total of 36 models from these brands, and we recommend only the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Among small cars, Consumer Reports picked 33 best used vehicles under $20,000. They have to have performed well on tests when new and have above-average reliability. That includes:

Toyota, 13 models

Lexus, 6

Mazda, 4

Honda 3

While Honda and Toyota both sell a lot of vehicles, the recommended-used-cars differential is more than 4-1 (13 Toyota, 3 Honda). Mostly because of the $20K price cap, there are only two premium-brand European cars cited, the Volvo Xc70 and BMW i3. And in what may be an ominous sign for the US-flagged automakers, among recommended used cars, not a one is from GM, Ford/Lincoln, or Dodge/Chrysler/Ram.

Much of Consumer Reports car coverage is behind a paywall. But it does make freely available safety news (recalls) and some top lines on cars on the site if you don’t want to lay out $39 a year for digital access.

Now read:

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

2020 Subaru Forester Review: The Safety-First, Can’t-Go-Wrong-Buying-One Compact SUV

Tesla Teardown Scares Competitors: ‘We Cannot Do This’

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/306930-consumer-reports-picks-its-top-car-brands from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/03/consumer-reports-picks-its-top-car.html

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Coronavirus Takes Down Geneva, 2020’s Biggest Auto Show

2019-GIMS-Geneva

The 2020 Geneva Motor Show got the hook early Friday in the wake of the Swiss government’s concerns about coronavirus and a ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The show’s first events were scheduled for Sunday, with media days beginning Monday, and public days from March 5-15. As of Thursday, show organizers had been reassuring exhibitors, the media, and the public that the show was definitely going ahead.

Geneva draws about 600,000 to its annual, early March dates. While other major shows draw a million visitors, Geneva has been important because it’s not seen as the host country’s show, the way Frankfurt, Tokyo, and Detroit are seen highlighting German, Japanese, and American cars.

The immediate issue is keeping the public safe, dealing with coronavirus (also called COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2), and its implications. Current research suggests coronavirus is fatal in 2 percent of cases while influenza is fatal in about 0.1 percent of cases – 20 per thousand infected versus 1 per thousand. What’s not known is what percentage of the population might be afflicted; with the flu, it’s about 8 percent, but can vary depending on the strain that season.

New Car Intros We Now Won’t See in Geneva

Among the major Geneva show introductions that now will have to be handled in some other way include:

Audi A3 Sportback (wagonlike), and possibly a sportier, longer-range e-tron S EV.

BMW i4 EV, as well as plug-in hybrids on the 3 Series and X2 crossover. Tesla scoffs at plug-ins, but they’ve got at least a decade of life where they can provide many of the benefits of EVs, but without the range anxiety.

Fisker Ocean, an electric SUV that was teased at CES.

Honda Civic refresh, plus EVs that won’t come to the US (Jazz, Honda E).

Hyundai was to reveal a new electric-drive platform with the Prophecy concept.

Jeep was to provide more details on its plug-in hybrids that were shown at CES.

Kia Sorento SUV, fourth generation.

Mercedes-Benz, E-Class midlife refresh, and the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45, claimed to have the most powerful inline-four-cylinder engine ever.

Toyota crossover based on the subcompact Yaris sedan.

Volkswagen Golf GTI and (for Europe if not the US) and the sport Golf GTD, where D is for diesel.

Concerns for the Health of Auto Shows

The cancellation of the Geneva show will amplify the discussion about the financial health of auto shows in general. The last traditional Detroit show (NAIAS) was in January 2018, with soft attendance and the absence of many high-end, international automakers tired of spending millions to market cars Michiganders aren’t likely to buy when they have friends-and-family discounts for Fords, Chevys, and Ram pickups. And with the Detroit show in January, more high-profile introductions shifted to CES in Las Vegas. So that’s the reason for problems in Michigan. Detroit hopes for a reset with the re-emerging as a celebration of spring with more outdoor events, running June 9-20.

A worse sign for auto shows is the absence at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), which begins with press days the Wednesday before Good Friday, then has public days through April 19. The three biggest German automakers are gone this year: Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Porsche will exhibit. Audi issued a statement that it will “continue to evaluate auto shows on a case-by-case basis moving forward to determine if they are the best platform for US and world premieres of our upcoming models.” For every luxury automaker, metro New York is typically their biggest market, and if not it’s in the top three along with Los Angeles and Miami.

Auto shows serve multiple purposes. New cars are introduced at the show. Automakers can sometimes milk the same car for as many as three go-rounds: world premiere, North American premiere, and on the off chance a car was introduced in Canada or Mexico first, the US premiere. Add the debut of the concept car, sometimes early concept and late concept, and you’ve got five. All this gives the media something to write about, and gets the public thinking about buying cars. But splashy events can become expensive. An off-site event with special effects and transportation of guests easily tops a million dollars.

The public days give potential buyers a chance to see cars. That’s when the automaker staffs are for the most part departed, leaving the regional dealer associations to staff the booths. There’s an open question about how effective shows are now at luring serious prospects when they can learn so much online. If automakers skip the shows, the dealer groups wind up shouldering more of the cost of the booth space.

Finally, there’s the interaction of automakers, media, analysts, and academics. The LA Auto Show, Nov. 20-29 this year, again has a conference and showcase focusing on green cars and the environment, called Automobility LA, that has been well received. Detroit countered with Automobili-D but it didn’t get quite the response. It’s also a time for automakers and suppliers to talk on background about future plans, and for job-seekers to pass around business cards.

The cancellation hit so quickly that Geneva’s media page was still offering credential information Friday morning.

All through the week, show organizers had said game on, but they urged automakers and media to be screened if they had concerns about being infected. At the same time, automakers had been pulling top executives from the show, which meant canceled briefings for analysts and media. And some organized media trips supported by automakers had been canceled as well. For small companies and individuals who bought non-refundable airline tickets and reserved hotels, that money is lost.

By midday European time Friday, the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) landing page carried a brief note:

The 90th edition of the GIMS, which was supposed to welcome the media from next Monday and the general public from 5 to 15 March 2020, will now finally not take place. This is an injunction decision of the Federal Council of 28 February 2020 that no events with more than 1,000 people are allowed to take place until 15 March 2020.

Now read:

11 Best EVs and Plug-Ins of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show

Tesla Teardown Scares Competitors: ‘We Cannot Do This’

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/306749-coronavirus-takes-down-geneva-2020s-biggest-auto-show from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/02/coronavirus-takes-down-geneva-2020s.html

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Panasonic Shuffles Out of Buffalo, Ending Tesla Solar Panel Partnership

Panasonic Corp. will end its upstate New York partnership with Tesla to produce solar panels at a former steel mill in Buffalo. Tesla says it will continue on its own and build the panels; it may also hire some of the Panasonic engineers assigned there. This is one more sign that Panasonic’s longstanding relationship with Tesla is showing strains.

The two are building lithium-ion batteries at the Gigafactory in the Nevada desert outside Reno. But Tesla is now working with two other international battery-makers to meet demand as Tesla scales up its auto assembly plant in China. It’s also worrying to the state of New York and the so-called Buffalo Billion, effectively how much money the state invested to lure a pair of high-tech names to the rust-belt part of New York 400 miles away from booming New York City.

Why does inside-baseball stuff matter? It shows that agreements among industrial giants can fray and generate a seven-year itch in less than seven years. It’s also a cautionary tale to regions willing to invest money to lure high-tech business: You’d better get agreements from the businesses that they’ll invest, too. Tesla has pledged to invest $5 billion in New York State (capital expenditures and operating expenses) and have certain levels of employment. But … right now, Tesla has an April deadline to have 1,460 people working at the plant or face a $41.2 million underperformance penalty. Tesla says it has 1,500 full-time employees working there, including some contractors, with starting wages of $17 an hour ($35,000 a year based on a 40-hour week).

Howard Zemsky, chairman of Empire State Development (a state economic development authority that tracks operations at what is called Gigafactory2; the Nevada battery plant is Gigafactory1), says the state will be making its own headcount to ensure that many people are there. Tesla says it will hire some of the 380 Panasonic engineers at the plant.

Tesla solar panels.

How Bad Are Things in Buffalo?

Beyond the Buffalo Bills having the all-time worst Super Bowl record (four straight trips, four losses 1990-1993), the Buffalo Sabres not being in the Stanley Cup finals in 20 seasons and the NBA’s Buffalo Braves decamping for San Diego in 1978, Buffalo’s population of 255,000 is less than half its peak of 1940-1950. That’s because of the decline of the steel industry by the mid-1990s and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which let goods from the near-Midwest travel by ship to the ocean rather than through Buffalo. Thus the desire for economic growth, especially if it has a high-tech flavor.

Gigafactory2 in Buffalo is a 1.2-million-square-foot facility (about 10 Home Depots big) on an 88-site called Riverbend, the once-contaminated, now-remediated former Republic Steel location. Solyndra, an early, now-defunct solar panel company, first went into the site. It went under in 2011. In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, a company founded in 2006 by Elon Musk relatives, including the Buffalo operation. That’s the facility Panasonic is now stepping back from.

The Riverbend site has other companies, or at least buildings that would have held high-tech companies. Soraa, a maker of LED bulbs highly regarded for their color fidelity (as well they should be given the prices), agreed to build bulbs there after the state spent $90 million to build a factory that Soraa would lease for $1 a year. The state declined a request to buy and install “tens of millions [dollars]” of production equipment for Soraa, which then opted in 2017 to do production elsewhere; it faced no penalty for dropping out. Last year the state found a new tenant, NexGen Power Systems, that manufactures power transistors. This time around, the state negotiated payback penalties if NexGen doesn’t meet hiring requirements.

Tesla wants to supply a battery ecosystem: EVs, solar panels, and batteries. Here, phone apps to manage them.

Who Else Builds Batteries for Tesla?

As we noted, Panasonic will still work with Tesla building batteries at the Gigafactory in the Nevada desert. But there have squabbles – sorry, “discussions” – over costs, how to best run Gigafactory1, and production delays.

Meanwhile, Tesla has cut deals for battery production in Asia, with CATL (China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.), to produce batteries for the Tesla Model 3 plant in Shanghai, as well as with South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd.

Now read:

Tesla Sales Climb Nicely. But the Stock Price Soars. What Gives?

Tesla Teardown Scares Competitors: ‘We Cannot Do This’

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/306675-panasonic-shuffles-out-of-buffalo-ending-tesla-solar-panel-partnership from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/02/panasonic-shuffles-out-of-buffalo.html