GM sends large pickups with poorer fuel consumption

A shortage of spare parts means that GM is shipping a large pickup truck with a missing fuel consumption module, which means poorer fuel consumption. Anything to get pickups out the door! All this and more in The Morning Shift for March 16, 2021.

1st gear: shift shortage means no fuel consumption module

The global shortage of semiconductors has wreaked havoc in the automotive industry with large production cuts and factories are even closed here in the United States. Not turned off: GM’s full size pickup production. Nothing stands between America and its pickups. Not a global pandemic, certainly not a shortage of parts! Even if it means that trucks are sent out the door with less fuel consumption, such as Reuters reports:

General Motors said Monday because of the global shortage of semiconductor chips the US carmaker will build certain full-fledged pickups in 2021 without a fuel management module, which will hurt the fuel consumption of the vehicles.

The lack of the active fuel management / dynamic fuel management module means that the affected models are equipped with the 5.3 liter EcoTec3 V8 engine with automatic transmission with six gears and eight gears, a lower fuel consumption by one kilometer per liter Michelle, spokeswoman. Malcho said.

Malcho stressed that all trucks are still being built, something that GM has repeatedly stressed it would try to protect, as pickups are one of GM’s most lucrative models. She did not want to say the amount of vehicles affected.

GM will likely have to use credits from previous years that were more effective in still meeting the federal CAFE requirements for fleet fuel consumption. GM told Reuters he was not worried about meeting with CAFE for 2021, but if I were to buy someone who would buy a new pickup, I would be angry that I would miss this module.

2nd gear: What’s up with Byton? Let’s look in

Just last night, the limp channel of Jalopnik blew up: Do you remember Byton? What’s going on with that?

Well, the little startup that the guy from BMW used to have until he leaves and claims that the Chinese government has taken over the company, takes another strange step closer (or more adjacent) to production. Byton is partnering with iPhone maker Foxconn, and Foxconn may set up a car factory here in the United States, Bloomberg reports:

Foxconn Technology Group will decide this year between Wisconsin and Mexico to establish the first electric car factory, which will make a big bet on the burgeoning business at a time when technology giants, including top customers. Apple Inc. wants to expand to vehicles.

The Taiwanese manufacturer already operates in the central US state and the Latin American country and can utilize its existing structures, chairman Young Liu of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconn’s flagship unit, said in an information session in Taipei on Tuesday. . Availability and affordability of skilled labor and engineering talent will be among the crucial factors, he said.

[…]

In January, Foxconn signed a manufacturing agreement with Chinese start-up Byton Ltd. signed with the aim of starting mass production of the Byton M-Byte by the first quarter of 2022. One week later, Foxconn and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. said they would join forces to provide production and consulting services to global automakers.

Last month, Foxconn another transaction colored with US EV startup Fisker Inc. on a car that will be built by the Apple partner and will be aimed at various markets, including North America, Europe, China and India. Production of the vehicle sold under the Fisker brand will begin in the fourth quarter of 2023.

None of this is a clear announcement that exactly something is going to happen. Yet I am intrigued.

3rd gear: VW follows Tesla in top quota

VW’s playbook to enter the world of electric cars is still ‘copying absolutely everything Tesla does’, up to VW has its own copy of Battery Day this week. Now VW continues in the trend, reflecting Tesla’s ability to boast. It’s not enough to build electric cars, you see. You have to spend all your time on the promising EV plans to come.

“VW sees global lead by 2025 in platform pressure,” Bloomberg reported, and VW claims that it will soon be the largest manufacturer of electric cars:

Volkswagen Group plans to increase its savings efforts by standardizing key technologies, as the German manufacturer wants to accelerate a seismic shift towards electric motors to combat Tesla and keep traditional competitors like Daimler at a distance.

VW is aiming for 1 million sales of electric vehicles this year and aims to become the global EV market leader by 2025 at the latest, the company said. By 2030, the share of fully electric vehicles in Europe will rise to as much as 60 percent of group deliveries.

To put this in perspective, the two companies currently sitting are:

If you have an electric car industry, you have to shout “This is just the beginning!” forever and ever.

4th gear: Toyota explains why switching to cars is not so easy

Toyota is not a big deal of ‘electric car’, and is strongly invest in hydrogen. (Japan as a nation is also very hydrogen.) Does that make it very biased in this conversation? Natural! But you are not going to hear this straightforward truth from a company like VW, which is very invested in you think EVs are going to magically fix our transportation. and climate problems simultaneously.

Either way, Toyota wants you to think that making EVs is not particularly easy. Reuters reports:

A senior Toyota executive on Tuesday will express skepticism before U.S. senators about the efforts of rival automakers to phase out petrol-powered vehicles, saying these goals must overcome many obstacles.

Robert Wimmer, director of energy and environmental research at Toyota Motor North America, will testify at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

“If we want to make dramatic progress with electrification, it will have to overcome tremendous challenges, including refueling infrastructure, battery availability, consumer acceptance and affordability,” he said in a preview of his remarks.

Okay, that’s less what Toyota wants you to think it’s hard to make EVs. It’s more that Toyota wants the government to think about it and make it a little slack.

5th gear: NYC taxi protests continue until day 8

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance hit the streets today, as it did last week, and is protesting for debt forgiveness:

The city’s response so far to its yellow drivers drowning in debt that only helps the city create is to … donates tens of millions to a hedge fund in Connecticut.

Reverse: Hey, we need to put people on top of one of those