Less than a year ago, automakers found themselves on the cusp of tariff hell. Auto companies have suddenly been hit hard by tariffs on their supply chains and completed vehicles.
The United States has imposed some heavy import duties on everything related to China in hopes of protecting local manufacturers. Now President Trump welcomes Chinese cars into the United States, as long as they are manufactured here.
A must-read automotive and technology digest, every day of the week.
Welcome back to Critical materialsYour daily report on everything related to electricity and technology in the field of cars. Also on deck: Three automakers have been crowned as innovators of electric vehicles and inside Ford’s multi-billion-dollar EV inversion. Let’s jump.
25%: “Let China in”
During a speech at the Detroit Economic Club this week, President Donald Trump made clear he’s completely fine with Chinese automakers setting up shop in the United States. With just four words, he effectively welcomed brands like BYD and Xiaomi to compete with Detroit in its backyard: “Let China in.”
On one condition, of course: These companies are welcome as long as they build a factory in America and hire Americans to work the factory floor.
Car News Pour details:
“If they want to come and build a factory and hire you and hire your friends and neighbors, that’s great, and I love that,” Trump said during his remarks at a Detroit Economic Club meeting on January 13. “Let China in, let Japan in.”
It is worth noting that Chinese car companies have been eyeing the United States for a long time. After all, we have the second largest car market in the world after China itself. Some companies were present at CES in Las Vegas last week, apparently to test the waters for their products.
Geely, the parent company of Volvo and Polestar, confirmed at CES that “Actively evaluate“An American launch is scheduled to be announced within the next few years. This will be the first major Chinese automaker to bring its cars to Americans without confusing them behind a more familiar brand name.
The Big Three know how devastating this can be. Ford driver Jim Farley admitted his love for the Chinese Apple (Xiaomi SU7), and the Americans do as well I’m starting to warm to the idea of purchasing electric vehicles on both sides of the political aisle. In fact, new car buyers under 44 are more open to buying a Chinese electric vehicle than ever before, and that could spell a big problem for little Detroit.
Trump’s plan is a bet on the Americans’ victory in both cases. Between more jobs and potentially cheaper cars, it sounds like a victory when drawn up on paper. But for Detroit, it suggests there could be more competition at home than ever before.
50%: These are the most innovative electric car companies
Photography: Patrick George
The world’s most important electric vehicle innovations clearly aren’t happening in some Silicon Valley R&D building, according to a new report.
Analysis by The Center for Automotive Management (CAM) at the University of Applied Economics in Germany points out that the real innovators in the car business are none other than BYD, Geely and Volkswagen. The trio managed to achieve the best balance between three factors – range, power consumption and charging power. Hence, they are driving innovation in the electric vehicle sector in ways that matter to the consumer’s everyday use.
electrical Explains the results of CAM:
CAM highlights specific examples of innovations that have contributed to the success of high-profile manufacturers: Geely, for example, has improved range and battery performance through continuous improvements across brands like Zeekr and Polestar, including new battery systems and efficiency improvements across multiple model generations. BYD has set standards in power charging and system integration with high-performance battery systems and megawatt charging solution for electric vehicles.
The Volkswagen Group has focused on the industrial expansion of electric mobility and has scored points with range and efficiency improvements in large-volume models such as the ID. family.
The report shows that Tesla has fallen further down the ranks than any other automaker, falling to eighth place after maintaining its strength at the top of the report from 2016 through 2020. Newcomers Lucid and Rivian are in 14th and 15th place, respectively, while other legacy automakers top the chart.
It is worth noting that CAM believes its ratings also represent growth potential. Brands that continually innovate in the electric vehicle sector are laying the foundation for long-term sustainable success.
Project leader Dr. Stefan Bratzel also noted that German automakers are quickly catching up with fast-moving Chinese innovation. It is stated that the German models “show high innovative strength” and can “technologically compete” with Chinese automakers. Admittedly, this is impressive considering all the praise Chinese automakers have received for in-car technology.
75%: Ford executives defend reversal of their expensive electric car
Photo by: Ford
When a company tells you it has cut nearly $20 billion, it may seem like admitting defeat. But according to CEO Jim Farley, that’s a far cry from what he meant at Ford.Even if it seems that way on paper.
Ford announced last December that it was canceling large parts of its electric vehicle program. This means effectively eliminating products like the F-150 Lightning EV and repurposing the battery plant for stationary energy storage instead of cars. In Detroit this week, Farley insisted this was more of a recalibration than a full-blown reignition of his electric car plans.
from Autocar:
“We’re not going backwards on electric vehicles,” Farley said. Speaking at the Detroit Motor Show, he added: “We are actually accelerating the amount of electric vehicles we bring to market. We will be doing less than we originally planned. That’s why we had to do the write-down.”
Farley memorandum on Do less It means Ford is simply scaling back its ambitions a bit. This means cutting back on the electricity plan Everything Down to Just what makes sense.
That next era begins with the EV skunkworks project, which eventually turned into Universal EV (UEV) architecture.. This is the Blue Oval turning its sights toward affordability with a $30,000 EV truck, along with future lower-cost models aimed at competing with China.
Autocar continued:
Farley insisted that despite the write-off, Ford has a “full plan” for electric models. “UEV is a full plan that we will build in Louisville — 300,000 units,” he said. “We have been second to Tesla (in electric vehicle sales) for many years, and we are accelerating our pure electric vehicles with UEV, but we are focused on affordable electric vehicles.”
(…)
“One of the big reasons we’ve had our best sales in a decade is because our affordable models are really popular,” he said. “So part of our write-down process is that we retool more affordable vehicles.”
Ultimately, the long-term path remains clear: Electric vehicles are the future. Automakers rushed and tried to move forward too quickly, and then came under fire for policy laziness from the Trump administration. Hence the need for industry-wide decline in spending and expansion.
Did Ford hit the brakes too hard? We will know that in time.
100%: Which electric car company is the most innovative?
Photography: Patrick George
Tesla was once the obvious answer. Who do you think is doing the most to push the boundaries of electric vehicles and automotive technology these days?
