About two-thirds ford‘s signed for the dealer network in the United States the company’s electric-car certification programprice batteries for electric cars It is on the rise for the first time in more than 10 years and United Airlines Looking at the delta pilots Contract as a template. These stories and more Morning shift For Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
1st Gear: Most Ford dealers are EV Certified
About two-thirds of its U.S. dealer network is on board, Ford says with the company’s prized electric-car certification program. The automaker’s CEO, Jim Farley, says 1,920 dealers have signed up.
He added that 1,659 people went on the “Certified Elite” route. This program requires a dealer investment of up to $1.2 million. Another 261 dealers went with the cheaper “Certified” status. This program only requires dealers to spend up to $500,000 on EV upgrades. However, this level limits EV sales to 25 per year. From Automotive News🇧🇷
Ford has about 3,000 dealers in the U.S. The company said last week that those who did not register by the deadline would not be allowed to sell EVs after 2023, but would have another opportunity to do so in 2025.
Ford’s retailer needs to evolve to better compete with EV startups like Tesla and others that sell directly to customers, Farley said.
“The future of the franchise system hangs in the balance here,” Farley said. “No. 1 EV player in the US bets against the dealers. We wanted to make the opposite choice.”
The announcement comes as protests against the program mount. Last week, dealers in New York filed a lawsuit alleging the program was illegal, while a separate dealer group in Illinois filed a complaint with the state motor vehicle board. Also last week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and Connecticut state lawmakers expressed displeasure at what they said were excessive costs that potentially violated the state’s franchise laws.
Ford has consistently said it believes the program does not violate any state laws.
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“We want to work with our dealers, but there are certain things our customers want that are nonnegotiable,” Farley said to the crowd at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit.
He added that he does not regret rolling out the program.
“There’s always a better way,” Farley continued. “But I don’t think we made, really, any big mistakes.”
2nd Gear: EV Battery Prices on the Rise
The price of lithium-ion batteries is on the rise for the first time in over 10 years. The increase comes from surging prices raw material costs, and it will ultimately have a negative impact on the automotive industry’s push for EVs to get cheaper. From Financial Times🇧🇷
Flying prices battery metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel and higher component prices pushed battery pack prices to $151 per kilowatt-hour, up 7 percent from a year ago and the first increase since BloombergNEF began its annual survey in 2010.
The company expects prices to rise to $152 per kWh next year. In 2010, prices averaged $1,160 per kWh.
This is bad news for the auto industry. FT states that the industry is looking at $100 per kWh battery pack as the number at which EVs become cost-competitive with ICE vehicles.
However, lithium prices are up 10-fold since the start of 2021, nickel is up 75 percent, and cobalt prices have more than doubled their 2020 average this year.
As a result, BloombergNEF predicts that the level will reach $100 per kWh by 2026, two years later than previously expected. This would “negatively impact the ability of automakers to produce and sell mass-market EVs in non-subsidized areas,” he said.
He added that higher costs could also pose a challenge to the economics of battery energy storage projects, which are vital to stabilizing the grid as intermittent renewables increase.
If car companies and cell manufacturers in the Chinese market had not switched to cheaper lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which do not use cobalt and nickel but have a shorter range, the increase in the price of battery packs would have been even higher.
Currently, there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether battery materials prices will actually decrease. Rising demand and production issues only add to the challenge for battery manufacturers and consumers.
3rd Gear: United seeks deal with Delta as blueprint
united airliness’ CEO Scott Kirby says a possible deal between Delta and the pilots’ union ccan be used as a template for similar contracts. From Reuters🇧🇷
“It’s a rich deal, but I think the really good news is that we’re all going to get deals on the same terms and move forward,” Kirby told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Washington on Monday. Delta reached a preliminary agreement Friday to give pilots a 34% cumulative pay increase in a new four-year contract.
Kirby says the Delta deal will increase pilot pay across carriers and be passed on to consumers in the form of higher airfares.
“The biggest news from an investor perspective is that costs are converging across the industry, which means that all the low cost carriers that are different now are hitting these higher pay rates,” Kirby said. “It will go up like oil prices – there will be a transition.”
Delta’s deal also reportedly offers a lump sum payment, reduced health insurance premiums, better 401(k) settings and improved paid time off.
Kirby added that demand is still very strong for airline tickets, which he said are cheaper today than they have been in the last 15 years.
His union estimates the proposed deal represents a cumulative value increase of more than $7.2 billion over the next four years.
American Airlines and United promised “industry-leading” contracts to pilots.
Reuters reports that last month American Airlines the pilots rejected a proposed 19 percent pay raise over two years that would have cost the company nearly $2 billion. United pilots previously rejected an offer that would have given them a cumulative pay increase of about 14.5 percent.
4th Gear: Strike at Pennsylvania Auto Parts Supplier
About 270 workers at the Autoneum AG plant in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, are on strike against the global automotive insulation supplier, and the ripples could soon be felt throughout the rest of the auto industry.
The workers walked off the job last Thursday after negotiations between the company and the union broke down after the last contract offer was rejected by the workers. From Automotive News🇧🇷
Based in Winterthur, Switzerland, Autoneum focuses on interior and exterior sound and thermal insulation systems. The supplier works with nearly every major automaker, including General Motors and Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, according to its website.
His exact list of customers for the Bloomsburg plant is unclear. However, the plant received awards from Toyota in 2011, Ford in 2014 and GM in 2021. Autoneum did not return calls. Automotive News‘ is looking for comments about the strike.
Brian Heverly, president of Local 1700 Workers United, awning FOX 56 the commoner rejected Autoneum’s third and final contract offer.
Among employee complaints is the supplier’s insistence that workers pay 5 percent more of their health care costs in addition to the usual annual increases.
Local 1700 Vice President Dave Schaffer, who has worked at the plant for 44 years, told FOX 56 the workers didn’t want to go on strike, but they had to given the conditions.
It is reported that this is the last strike at the plant In 1968, a year known for nothing but this holiday.
A spokesman for General Motors said the automaker is aware of what’s happening, but they don’t see the strike having an immediate impact on GM operations.
5th Gear: GM’s BrightDrop begins production in Canada
General Motors has begun production of the BrightDrop electric utility vehicle at its CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario. This makes it the first EV factory in all of Canada.
Last month, GM said the startup would generate about $1 billion in revenue by 2023. Revenue is expected to reach $5 billion by the mid-2020s and $10 billion by 2030.
“It is really important to start mass production; it’s a very important product for GM,” said Sam Abuelsamid, lead research analyst at Guidehouse Insights Detroit News🇧🇷 “It’s finally starting to bring them back to a more competitive proposition in the minivan segment and with electrification, so … it has the potential to be a really strong case for GM.”
GM began production of the larger Zevo 600 electric delivery vans at CAMI this week. The delivery vans were produced on a small scale at the supplier’s Michigan plant until the CAMI facility was ready for production. Production of the Zevo 400, a smaller model than the Zevo 600, will begin in late 2023. BrightDrop plans to produce 30,000 units next year and reach 50,000 by 2025.
[…]
GM BrightDrop was founded in 2021. The business is focused on providing zero-emission products for delivery companies. Its products include Zevo electric delivery vans, Trace eCarts for easier package delivery, and BrightDrop Core software platform.
The automaker has invested more than $800 million to build CAMI into high-volume EV production. The plant was revamped in just seven months—the fastest GM plant rebuild ever.
[…]
BrightDrop also announced Monday that it is entering the Canadian market by adding logistics company DHL Express Canada as a client. DHL will add the first Zevo vans to its fleet early next year. The company is also testing BrightDrop Track Electronic Cards and software platform in Toronto.
BrightDrop has also received inquiries for electric delivery vans from FedEx Corp., Walmart Inc., Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
In total, BrightDrop has 25,000 production reservations and expressions of interest for its EV delivery vans. So far, the company has delivered 150 Zevo vans to FedEx out of 2,500 ordered by the shipping company.
Reverse: Washington
Neutral: Boeing 747, Over and Out
On the Radio: Darlene Love – “Christmas (Baby Come Home)”
This is the best Christmas song ever and I wouldn’t hear it any other way.
