The Intersection 4-23-23

In this week’s pages, we explore America’s charging challenge.

Constructing public charging infrastructure for what will be hundreds of millions of electric vehicles is a time-consuming, complicated process that requires coordination and investment across sectors.

Many players, including automakers, charging companies, retailers, utility companies and other stakeholders, are coming together to develop a convenient, reliable charging map for EV drivers.

Automotive News spoke with dozens of industry participants and observers during the past two months to identify the hurdles and solutions to deploying charging infrastructure.

■ My articles highlight the challenge and urgency of charger deployment with buy-in across sectors, the process for choosing charger locations, collaboration between automakers and charging companies and alternatives to standard public charging.

■ Laurence Iliff explains how Tesla secured EV dominance and built its global Supercharger network, freeing its customers from range anxiety. Now, it’s opening up a portion of the network to everyone.

■ Molly Boigon explores how restaurants and retailers that host chargers are seeing financial benefits, even as the charging companies face a long road toward profitability.

■ Lindsay VanHulle visits Young Chevrolet-Cadillac in Owosso, Mich., to learn how the store is working with General Motors to install chargers in its community. GM is targeting 40,000 Level 2 chargers in communities across the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2026, in partnership with its dealerships.

■ Pete Bigelow shares his experience renting a Tesla Model 3 from Hertz. “The Hertz experience can bring both enthusiasm for EVs and apprehension over charging complications,” he writes.

An EV world is imminent. If leaders want to promise consumers that they can go the distance with these vehicles, easy public charging is crucial. We hope the industry will move quickly and pragmatically to ensure a smooth transition.

— Hannah Lutz      

In Monday’s Automotive News:

Dealership groups change seats in used-vehicle sales ranking: Three weeks ago, Automotive News told you how Lithia Motors supplanted AutoNation at the top of our annual list ranking U.S. dealership groups by retail new-vehicle sales in 2022. This week we do it again, only this time based on used-vehicle retail sales. Spoiler: Lithia has done it again. A more significant change this year is that four top-ranking retailers on last year’s list — CarMax, Carvana, Vroom and Shift Technologies — are no longer part of the tally. They will be ranked on a separate list of large used-only retailers that Automotive News will publish in May. Check back for that, and click here for our top 100 dealership groups ranked by retail used-vehicle sales.

Will real affordable EVs from China influence Western markets? The Seagull, unveiled last week at the Shanghai auto show by BYD, China’s largest EV maker, starts at $11,000. That’s a quarter of the price of most EVs now on the market in Europe and the United States. With a battery range of more than 186 miles, the Seagull has shocked analysts and rivals. Such offerings has one Morgan Stanley analyst predicting an aggressive push from Chinese companies to sell entry-level EVs outside China. Could such an effort force lower prices for EVs in Western markets? Automotive News looks at the role China is now playing on the world’s EV stage. 

Who gets an EV tax credit? The answer got a bit clearer this week, but it’s still complicated, and not a little controversial. A new Treasury Department list shows that only 10 of the EVs in production will qualify for the full $7,500 credit intended to lure consumers to the EV marketplace. Effective Tuesday, the credit is being split in two, with eligibility dependent on where the battery components and critical minerals were made or extracted. The news is generally a win for the Detroit 3 and Tesla. GM was the only automaker with all of its eligible EVs qualifying for a full credit. For foreign automakers, including BMW, VW and Nissan, it’s a different story — at least for now. Automotive News looks at the winners and losers and what the Treasury Department list means for consumers.

Weekend headlines

Remembering Lloyd Reuss, 1936-2023: A mechanical engineer and classic company man who rose to become GM president and fathered another GM president, Lloyd Reuss used his post-GM career to champion engineering and support education and training opportunities for thousands of Detroiters.

Transport tech startup funding plunged 43 percent in March: Investment by venture capitalists, companies and others into burgeoning advanced transportation technology companies has cooled sequentially from $1.16 billion in January to $690.5 million in February and then again to $394 million in March.

Hyundai speeds up software fix for easy-to-steal vehicles: Hyundai is speeding up its rollout of a software upgrade for its vehicles without engine immobilizers as part of its response to increasing thefts of its vehicles. It’s also partnering with AAA to provide insurance for owners who cannot renew or secure new coverage because of the problem

Lordstown Motors resumes production, deliveries after February pause: Lordstown Motors said production and deliveries of its Endurance electric pickup resumed this month after a pause in February to address quality issues.

Flow Automotive buys Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Stellantis dealerships: Flow Automotive Cos. added to its presence in Charlottesville, Va., with the purchase of five auto stores representing eight brands, in one of the largest dealership acquisitions Automotive News has tracked so far this year.

April 29, 2020: Designer Gale Halderman, 87, died of cancer. When he was a young designer out of the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio in the 1950s, he was hired for Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln-Mercury studio. He soon moved to the Ford brand design studio, where he would be tapped to help on a secret project: designing an affordable, sporty car that would become the Mustang. The Mustang is recognized today as one of Ford’s milestone achievements. But in the early 1960s, the company’s corporate mood was conservative. Ford Division’s general manager at the time, Lee Iacocca, launched the pony car project in secrecy to avoid having it quashed. And Halderman, already busy turning out fresh designs for existing Ford products by day, had to work on the Mustang project at home at night.