Yahoo Autos The Tesla Model 3 is Finally Getting an Update
EV automaker Tesla is preparing to update its Model 3 sedan, Hyundai has plans to build a multi-billion dollar battery plant here in the U.S. and Vietnamese car maker VinFast has shipped its first car to America. All this and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, November 28, 2022.
1st Gear: Tesla is Preparing to Update The Model 3
Tesla has had its current range of cars for a while now. The Model S has been around in one form or another since 2012, the Model X SUV hit the road in 2015 and the Model Y in 2020. Then, there’s the brand’s smallest sedan, the Model 3, which has been on sale since 2017. It’s been a popular car for Tesla, but looks to be the time to update it.
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According to Reuters, while Tesla scrambles to ready the Cybertruck electric pickup for release, engineers at the electric vehicle maker have also been working on an update to a car that already exists, the Model 3. The update would “cut production costs and boost the appeal” of the Model 3.
“One focus of the redesign codenamed ‘Highland’ is to reduce the number of components and complexity in the interior of the Model 3 while focusing on features that Tesla buyers value, including the display, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the revamp has not been announced.
“The revamp of the battery-powered sedan, which could also include some changes to the Model 3’s exterior and powertrain performance, will go into production at Tesla’s factory in Shanghai and the company’s Fremont, California plant, two of the people said. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory will put the redesigned Model 3 into production in the third quarter of 2023, they said.”
Reuters says its “not clear” how great the cost savings will be on the updated Model 3, or if those savings will be passed onto EV buyers. Tesla has been slowly but surely increasing the prices of its EVs in most markets around the world, except in China, where it cut prices earlier this year.
Could the cost-cutting on Model 3 production hold the key to CEO Elon Musk’s promise of an affordable EV for the masses?
2nd Gear: Investors Are Bored Waiting for Self-Driving Cars
Every tech-head out there likes to tell you that autonomous cars are just a year away. The only problem there is that they’ve been just a year away for at least the last five years, and those ever-changing goalposts are getting a bit tiring.
It turns out that investors in the self-driving space are starting to feel the same way, according to the Wall Street Journal:
“After years of ambitious targets and bold promises, investors are growing impatient with the pace of driverless-car development, sending shock waves through an industry that had become accustomed to latitude and piles of cash from investors.
“Auto makers in recent weeks scaled back plans for the technology amid new pressure to curb expenses during an economic slowdown. An influential hedge fund also has questioned Google-parent Alphabet Inc.’s yearslong effort to advance self-driving technology, an endeavor that has proven thornier than many experts predicted just a few years ago.”
WSJ reports that “profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are still a long way off,” which is reducing investors’ faith in the space, adding that driverless startups, like Nuro, Inc., are also looking to reduce staff to cut costs.
This, the WSJ adds, is at odds with the sector just a few years ago, when big name automakers like Ford and GM were throwing money at driverless car startups. This begs the question, are full self-driving cars still more than a year away?
3rd Gear: Hyundai Plans $1.9 Billion U.S. Battery Plant
The automotive world was sent into a frenzy earlier this year when the U.S. amended its tax breaks for EVs so that only cars built in the States would qualify. First, there was outrage from oversees manufacturers and then, slowly but surely, they began pledging to build new facilities here in America.
Today, Hyundai is the latest automaker to make such a pledge as it plans a new $1.9 billion battery plant that could open in 2026. According to Reuters, the plant will be constructed by Hyundai in partnership with South Korean battery maker SK On. Reuters reports:
“Hyundai Motor and SK On, the battery unit of energy group SK Innovation Co Ltd, are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on the investment next week, the [Korea Economic Newspaper] said, citing unidentified auto and battery sources.
“Targeted to start in the first quarter of 2026, the plant aims to have an initial annual production capacity of about 20 gigawatt hours (GWh), enough to power about 300,000 electric vehicles (EVs), the newspaper said.”
