Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
Stellantis CEO Wants Greater Tariffs On Chinese EVs
From BYD to Great Wall Motors, it’s been a big Paris Motor Show for Chinese cars. However, not everyone’s stoked to see models with names like Funky Cat in Europe. Automotive News Europe says that Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares wants to see higher tariffs on Chinese-built cars coming into Europe. Higher tariffs on Chinese-built cars seem fair, so long as the tariff hike is commensurate with established Chinese tariffs for European cars. Level the playing field, why not? Tavares apparently isn’t the only person to feel this way. Tavares said Chinese brands must pay tariffs of 10 percent to import cars into the European Union, while European automakers pay tariffs of between 15 percent and 25 percent to import Europe-built cars into China. Given America’s manufacturing requirements for EVs to qualify for tax credits, global precedent exists if the European Union wants to pump the brakes on Chinese EVs.
BMW To Spend Big On U.S. EV Production
It seems like every automaker is announcing huge U.S. EV manufacturing investments, and now it’s BMW’s turn. Automotive News reports that the Bavarian luxury brand will spend $1.7 billion to make electric models at its Spartanburg plant in Greer, S.C. Keep in mind that an iXM likely won’t be an M version of the current iX, but instead it’ll probably be an i version of the XM. Confusing, right? In any case, BMW’s Spartanburg plant has a long history of building SUVs, so going battery electric really is the logical next step for the facility. “Plant Spartanburg has been a cornerstone of the global success of the BMW Group,” BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse said. “The ‘home of the X’ is also becoming the ‘home of the battery-electric vehicle’.” BMW did not reveal which electric models it will build at the plant — the automaker’s largest in the world. But according to AutoForecast Solutions, U.S. production of the battery-powered iX5 crossover should start in late 2026, followed by the iX7 a year later. Production of the iX6 and iXM crossovers could begin in 2028.
Automakers Want More Time To Source Free Trade Battery Materials
It’s no secret that not every automaker is a fan of the EV tax credit structure brought in under the Inflation Reduction Act, and Reuters reports that several believe the timeline of phasing in battery sourcing requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act is unrealistic. From the news site: On the other hand, Stellantis’ North American chief operating officer Mark Stewart is reportedly working to secure material capacity in free-trade countries, but has a warning for the rest of the automotive industry. “All of us source from different parts of the world and changing these long-term contracts, you don’t do that from one day to the next. We have 10, 15, 20-year commitments,” Di Si said at the Reuters Events auto conference in Detroit. U.S. lawmakers need to create a more phased-in process that goes out to 2030 instead, he and Hyundai Motor Co Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz said at the Reuters event. This is the key right here. If the future of new cars isn’t egalitarian, the motoring industry can’t sustain exclusively making playthings for rich people. Remember how some of the first modern-era electric cars were entry-level vehicles? It’s time we get back to that, whether it means building certain models outside of North America or sourcing battery materials from existing contracts with non-free-trade zones.
Tesla’s FSD Will Get Updates Soon, But Not Regulatory Approval
In news that should surprise absolutely nobody, Reuters reports in its story “Tesla flags its cars not ready to be approved as fully self-driving this year” that Tesla’s FSD software won’t be properly autonomous anytime soon. It’s almost like passing off a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system as self-driving won’t fly with regulators. Who’d have thought? While it’s entirely possible that updates can improve FSD, there’s a big difference between “will” and might. For now, the claim of this FSD update being able to let drivers go hands-off for whole trips without intervention should be treated with suspicion, especially given Musk’s track record of overpromising and underdelivering. “The car will be able to take you from your home to your work, your friend’s house, the grocery store without you touching the wheel,” he said. “It’s a separate matter as to will it have regulatory approval. It won’t have regulatory approval at that time,” he added.
The Flush
Whelp, time to drop the lid on today’s edition of The Morning Dump. Can you believe it’s Thursday already? Since the week is flying by, let’s play a game. If you could change one automotive law, what would it be? Maybe you want higher speed limits on controlled-access highways, or a basic inspection every few years for basic safety items like brakes and ball joints, or signs marking intersections with high collision rates. Whatever the case, let’s hear it.
Lead photo credit: BMW
There are many places with inadequate shoulders and fairly high traffic that get traffic jams and wrecks because cops can’t drive a few miles after sitting and running radar for who knows how long.
Nannies. Remove the required nannies. I don’t want stability control. I’m okay with ABS, but not stability control or traction control. At least, give me an option for their default behavior (aka default OFF).
https://thedriven.io/2022/10/18/huge-expansion-next-ora-cat-specs-more-gwm-electric-models-on-way/
The side profile is very nice and restrained with good proportions IMHO.
https://preview.redd.it/5lnsnh2ddyu91.jpg?width=768&auto=webp&s=7ca582b96caee825aa387a106b90fe43d55b39c6
If the cars are cheaper because of terrible labor practices, then tariff the daylights out of them.
They need to sell cheaper cars over here. Rebadge their small Pugs and sell them as Dodge or Chrysler.
Given the difficulty of getting supplies necessary to make anything, Stellantis is doing what they should and only selling the most expensive, most profitable vehicles.
Actual testing to get a license, and periodic retests.
People can be trained to be better drivers, the US just chooses not to bother.
Will it cost to add examiners? Yes, and license prices can increase (amortized over four years, should be fully manageable) to compensate.
Will it save on insurance costs, due to fewer accidents caused by bone-headed drivers? I surely think so.
Will some people be forced to find alternate transportation until they can suppress their bad habits enough to not fail? Probably (This is where it goes off the rails most quickly; nobody wants to admit they might not be the great driver they think they are…)
Is any one state willing to even approach this idea, given that licenses are fully transferrable and valid across state lines? Not a chance in hell.
As for retesting for renewing, I think this should be more of a point-based system. Get x number of tickets since your last renewal, then you need to pass a driving test. Found liable for a car accident? Driving test. For those of us driving every day without issue, a driving test is just yet another annoyance. But if you demonstrate a lack of understanding or willingness to follow the laws, then prove you know how to drive.
About 12 years and roughly 80,000 miles (7 of those years and 60,000 of those miles primarily in a conversion van) later, and I do not have a single accident or ticket to my name.
I think the car-centric-ness of our culture needs to be addressed before we can try something like this. And I still shudder at the thought of taking that kind of exam again.
Here’s a list of runner ups:
Electric car noise makers
The Footprint rule
The 25 year old import rule
Mandatory Car insurance (NH doesn’t have it and it also has the lowest car insurance rates in the country)
Mandatory Backup Cameras
That stupid anti drunk driving technology mandate for new cars starting in 2026 at the latest
and many more….
All I know is when the government mandates you purchase something the companies that sell said something can charge whatever they want to for it because you have to buy it.
The mods aren’t the problem, it’s that they don’t take the time to aim them properly (as I see it)
I also want noise ordinances enforced. A basic safety inspection should include a sound levels check. Every traffic stop should also include a sound check.
The roads are a shared resource, and I’m tired of jackasses who don’t care about having peaceful spaces to relax. I’m also tired of overgrown children who don’t want to accept the dangers of motorcycling and therefore expect others around them to suffer willingly.
My prior weekend car had a large V8, but it also had a quiet exhaust because I’m not a douchebag. I’m also a motorcycle rider, and I ride with factory stock pipes. Any additional danger of not being loud is mine to bear, just like owning an “unsafe” vehicle would be.
But truthfully i’d probably prefer higher driving standards be enforced.On average, drivers are now so shit nothing else works.No matter what draconian laws they make, it doesnt help.They just end up infuriating the good drivers while slowly degrading everyone’s driving skills.
The hard part to reconcile for me is cars being necessary in parts of the US to live comfortably, it’s yet another enforcement that will disproportionately impact people already hurting.
Washington state did away with emission testing in 2020, saves everyone time and money.
This is the entire problem with subsidized, and forced EV adoption. even the entry level stuff was and is over priced with inadequate ROI when traded in due to high battery replacement cost. those living in large metropolis areas are not considering anyone except themselves when they try to force a square peg down a square hole that rounds out half way down.
Total reciprocity on emissions, safety, and design conformity with regulatory bodies in other developed markers – eg, anything sold in Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the EU should automatically be legal for private import into the US
And, of course, higher speed limits on Interstates and stricter enforcement of other safety issue traffic laws besides just speeding, because there’s a lot more issues than that going on out there
So, when did this become the new policy here for posting comments? ┐(´-｀)┌
Story 3: “Automakers want less regulated market when it benefits their bottom line”
