A special alloy was developed for the big metal castings so that they wouldn’t flex.
Monthly Archive: June 2023
Tesla Rumored To Pause Model Y Production In Austin In Early July
The pause is reportedly needed to implement assembly line upgrades and switch to day and night shifts only.
Self-driving chip maker Black Sesame files for HK listing
Black Sesame is the world's third largest supplier of automotive SoCs with high computing power by 2022 shipments.
(Image credit: Black Sesame Technologies)
Black Sesame Technologies, a self-driving chip startup, has filed for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is expected to be the first Chinese company to go public in the area.
Black Sesame has not yet announced the number of shares it plans to issue or the amount of capital it will raise, but has provided a detailed description of its business, according to a prospectus released today.
Founded in 2016, Black Sesame is a supplier dedicated to automotive SoCs and solutions, and was one of the first companies in China to lay out its presence in the autonomous driving chip space.
In January 2018, Black Sesame announced the completion of a Series A+ financing round of nearly RMB 100 million, led by NIO Capital.
The company's products include the Huashan series of autonomous driving SoCs and recently launched the Wudang series of cross-domain SoCs.
Black Sesame is the world's third largest supplier by shipments of automotive SoCs high computing power in 2022, its prospectus said, citing data from Frost & Sullivan.
Black Sesame has received intent orders for 15 models from 10 automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and has partnered with more than 30 automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
Black Sesame's revenue in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were RMB 53.02 million ($7.32 million), RMB 60.5 million and RMB 165 million, respectively.
It will invest RMB 255 million, RMB 594 million and RMB 766 million in R&D in these three years, respectively.
In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Black Sesame's annual adjusted net loss were RMB 273 million, RMB 614 million and RMB 700 million, respectively.
Black Sesame expects its net loss to increase significantly in 2023, as it is in the process of expanding its business and operations in the automotive SoC and solutions market and continues to invest in research and development.
The company provided products and solutions to 89 Chinese and overseas customers in 2022, shipping more than 25,000 SoC products and contributing 86 percent of annual revenue.
Based on 2022 shipments, Black Sesame's share of the market for SoCs with high computing power in China and globally were 5.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, according to its prospectus.
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Dongfeng to build smart driving platform based on Black Sesame's chips
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China’s extended tax breaks should facilitate steady EV sector growth, Fitch says
PHEVs get the same tax exemption as BEVs, and the extension of the tax break will attract more automakers to the market, Fitch said.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
China last week extended tax incentives for new energy vehicles (NEVs) for four years, a move that in the view of international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings could help renew electrification momentum.
China's extension of tax breaks for electric vehicle (EV) purchases should facilitate steady growth in the sector, while the continued coverage of subsidies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) reinforces Fitch's view that such vehicles will be a key catalyst for China's transition to EVs, analyst Jing Yang's team said in a June 28 research note.
On June 21, China's Ministry of Finance announced that NEVs with a purchase date between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, will continue to be exempt from vehicle purchase tax, but the exemption will not exceed RMB 30,000 yuan ($4,340) per vehicle.
For NEVs with a purchase date between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027, the vehicle purchase tax will be levied at half the normal rate, with a tax reduction of no more than RMB 15,000 per vehicle.
"We believe the renewal of tax waivers for consumers purchasing EVs until end-2025 aligns with market expectations. Purchase taxes will be halved in 2026-2027 and then return to normal levels," Fitch said.
Sales of PHEVs, including extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), will continue to grow rapidly under the updated policy, with these vehicles receiving the same tax exemption as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the note said.
PHEVs are a close substitutes to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles because drivers do not suffer from mileage anxiety or charging inconvenience, and are therefore widely seen as a transitional product before the market shifts completely to BEVs, Fitch said.
PHEVs' share of China's EV market soars from 17 percent in 2021 to 28 percent in January-May 2023, Fitch said.
Competition in the PHEVs segment has intensified, and the extension of tax breaks will attract more automakers to the market, according to the note.
Plug-in hybrids are an easier sub-segment for traditional automakers to compete in than BEVs, with Great Wall Motor, Geely and Changan Automobile all launching competitively priced plug-in hybrids this year, Fitch said.
Joint venture brands, despite having a firmer foothold in the market, have been slowed due to their global parent companies' focus on BEVs and less attractive pricing, the note said.
Tax breaks for high-end EVs will remain in place, which could ease local automakers' concerns about upgrading to premium EV brands, did not expect the waivers to be renewed, and should incentivize traditional luxury carmakers to transition faster toward EVs, Fitch said.
The latest program exempts consumers who buy battery swap-enabled EVs from the battery tax for the first time, Fitch noted, saying it expects this to benefit EV brands selling high-end BEVs with battery swap capability and to encourage automakers to adopt the model.
Overall, Fitch believes the subsidy extension will have little impact on EV sales in China in 2023 and continues to forecast EV deliveries to grow by more than 30 percent during the year and EV market penetration to reach 35 percent.
However, the extension could reduce front-loaded purchases in the fourth quarter of 2023, as consumers will no longer be eager to take advantage of expiring tax breaks, Fitch said.
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China's Ministry of Finance explains in detail how consumers will enjoy NEV tax breaks in 2024-2027
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Nio puts 29 swap stations into operation, most ever in single day
In June, Nio added 95 battery swap stations in China.
(Image credit: Nio)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) today saw the largest single-day increase in the number of battery swap stations, as the electric vehicle (EV) maker moves toward its goal of adding 1,000 stations this year.
Nio put 29 new battery swap stations into operation in China today, bringing the total to 1,543, with 423 of those stations located along highways.
This is the highest single-day addition of battery swap stations for Nio, surpassing the previous record of 22 on October 31, 2021, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.
In June, Nio added 95 battery swap stations, largely meeting the company's previously mentioned goal.
Nio announced plans late last year to add 400 battery swap stations in 2023, but that plan was raised to 1,000 on February 21.
William Li, Nio's founder, chairman and CEO, said at the time that the company would further accelerate the deployment of battery swap stations, with a goal of having more than 2,300 battery swap stations in China by the end of 2023.
The company will deploy about 100 battery swap stations in June and more quickly thereafter, which will help boost sales, Li said during a June 9 first-quarter earnings call.
In overseas markets, Nio put a new battery swap station into operation in Germany on June 29, its third in the country.
As of June 29, Nio had 18 battery swap stations and eight charging stations in Europe.
Nio also put 18 supercharging stations into operation in China today, bringing the total to 1,482 and providing 7,271 supercharging piles. It added four new destination charging stations today, bringing the total to 1,285 stations with 9,096 charging piles.
The company made a decision earlier this month that will likely have far-reaching implications for its battery swap system.
On June 12, Nio lowered the starting prices of its entire lineup of vehicles by RMB 30,000 ($4,140) and made the previously free battery swap service offered four or six times per month a paid option with an upgrade package that costs RMB 30,000.
The move is expected to increase the appeal of Nio vehicles in areas where battery swap stations are few, as potential customers will not have to worry about paying the extra price but not enjoying the convenience of battery swap service.
Nio's local counterpart Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), whose current models are all extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) that can be refueled, has also begun building out its charging network.
Li Auto today put five supercharging stations into operation, bringing the total number to 30. The company opened the first seven superchargers for trial operation on April 20.
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Li Auto delivers over 32,000 vehicles in Jun, CEO says
This means that Li Auto had another record month of deliveries in June, and the first time it has surpassed the 30,000-unit mark.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
It's the practice for China's major electric vehicle (EV) makers to announce their deliveries for the previous month on the first day of each month, and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) couldn't wait to share a number today to showcase its strong performance.
Li Auto delivered more than 32,000 vehicles in June, taking premium Chinese brands to a whole new level of sales, its founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said in a speech today celebrating the company's eighth anniversary.
The company aims to become the No. 1 seller in the Chinese market for passenger cars priced at more than RMB 200,000 yuan ($27,590) and to reach 1.6 million annual deliveries by 2025, he said, repeating previous remarks.
The latest figure means that Li Auto's deliveries in June reached another record high and were the first time to exceed the 30,000-unit mark, up more than 145 percent from 13,024 units a year earlier.
The company delivered 28,277 vehicles in May, up 145.97 percent year-on-year and up 10.11 percent from April, the third consecutive month to exceed the 20,000-unit mark.
Earlier this week, local media reported that Li Auto had recently raised its full-year sales target to 400,000 units from the original 300,000. However, this was subsequently denied by Li.
Li Auto finished the first half of the year with more than 130,000 units sold and does not have any ability to make it to 400,000 units for the full year, he said on June 27.
The company's capabilities, including product, sales, capacity and organization, cannot support 400,000 units sold this year, and the gap is huge, Li said.
On June 18, Li said on Weibo that most members of Li Auto's management team thought the company should set an annual sales target of 360,000 units at the beginning of the year, but he ultimately decided to set a budget target based on annual sales of 306,000 units.
"This was partly because I didn't think we could be too optimistic about the economic environment this year, and partly because we didn't meet our budget targets for all three years from 2020-2022," he said at the time.
Li said the too-low targets he set led the company to place orders at suppliers at the beginning of the year that were clearly not keeping up with current sales, so several key components would take more than a quarter to reach the right capacity if production ramp-up began now.
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Li Auto CEO denies raising sales target for this year to 400,000 units
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Solar & Schools — Powering Today, Empowering Tomorrow
There is a bumper sticker that says, “What if our schools had all the money they need to educate our children but the military had to hold a bake sale to buy new weapons?” The Steelton–Highspire School District near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been struggling with budget challenges for years. Recently, it installed 3500 solar panels […]
Xpeng targets G6 monthly sales of over 10,000
Xpeng's Hong Kong-traded shares rose more than 14 percent to HK$51.80 at press time, giving it a 30 percent gain for the week.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) officially launched the G6 yesterday, and the company's management clearly has high hopes for the new SUV.
The G6's monthly sales target is at least 10,000 units, Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said in an interview with local media after yesterday's G6 launch, according to a report by Auto Home.
Mr. He disagreed with the idea that Xpeng needs to turn its fortunes around with the G6, saying that a company that bets its future on one car is doing it wrong.
In the auto industry, automakers need long-term thinking and systemic competitiveness, he said.
Xpeng officially launched the G6 yesterday, offering five versions with starting prices of RMB 209,900 ($28,940), RMB 229,900, RMB 234,900, RMB 254,900 and RMB 276,900 respectively.
Of the five options, the three versions in the middle price range will be the best sellers, meaning the G6 will be in the RMB 250,000 range in terms of average sales price, according to Mr. He.
At yesterday's launch, he said the G6 is expected to be the top-selling smart electric SUV in China within two months priced at the RMB 250,000 level.
The Xpeng G6 received more than 25,000 pre-orders within 72 hours of the start of pre-sales on June 9, and more than 35,000 pre-orders as of June 28, said Yi Han, the company's vice president of marketing, repeating Mr. He's remarks at yesterday's launch event.
Forty percent of Xpeng G6 orders came from offline stores and 60 percent from online channels, Yi said.
Mr. He made it clear in yesterday's interview that Xpeng will not launch extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) models similar to Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI).
As an entrepreneur, choices need to be made and trade-offs need to be made, he said.
In a June 15 speech, Mr. He said he could foresee a large number of hybrid models in China in the next two years, especially inside family cars.
"Because everyone sees the success, they will follow. Because they are following, a large number of models will focus on the same place. It's a very interesting thing," he said in the speech.
Xpeng shares traded in Hong Kong continued to rise today, up more than 14 percent to HK$51.80 at press time, giving it a 30 percent gain for the week.
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Xpeng officially launches G6 with starting price of $29,010 to regain past glory
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Canadian Smoke Reaches Europe
Smoke from wildland fires, which have been burning in the Canadian province of Quebec for weeks, has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and darkened skies in southwestern Europe. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image in the morning (11:10 Universal Time) on June 26, 2023. At the time, smoke drifted […]
Killer Heat Threatens 75 Million People in US South
Today climate change has broken a new Danger Season record: 76 million people in the US — or 23% of the total population — are currently under extreme weather alerts, including alerts for heat, flooding, storms, and wildfire weather conditions. Almost all of those alerts — impacting 75 million people — are for extreme heat […]
