The Intersection 7-3-23

When the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in summer last year, one thing was abundantly clear: The future of the U.S. electric vehicle industry will depend greatly on home-grown battery plants.

The law — which has stringent sourcing requirements for vehicles to qualify for tax credits — was designed to boost U.S. manufacturing of EVs and batteries.

In October, Automotive News reporter John Irwin wrote about the incoming wave of battery plant investments following the new law. At the time, Our Next Energy CEO Mujeeb Ijaz said: “We’re happy to see the U.S. government focused on the localization of the supply chain, as well as having cell manufacturing be a very big part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s purpose.”

Fast-forward to today, and you’ll see what the act has wrought — quickly.

In this week’s issue, Part 3 of our five-part Intelligence Report 2023 details 16 battery plant projects that are underway or close to kicking off in the U.S. and Canada. Around this time next year, it’s likely there will be more on the horizon.

And in case you missed previous installments of this year’s Intelligence Report:

Part 1: A look at where leading new ventures that hope to replicate Tesla’s startup success stand.

Part 2: The suppliers — legacy and newbies alike — that are vying for piece of the evolving industry.

And stay tuned for future installments on the status of EV factories and robotaxi companies.

— Omari Gardner, director of content and commentary      

In Monday’s Automotive News:

More complicated than it looks: General Motors, Ford, Rivian and Volvo have committed to adopting Tesla’s North American Charging Standard plugs (so far). Stellantis and Hyundai have said they are considering the move. The NACS plug receptacles are scheduled to start appearing on non-Tesla EVs in 2025. But, as this Automotive News story explains, from the wiring to the sheet metal to the software, automakers that plan to adopt Tesla’s plug for their own EVs have bigger design and engineering challenges than just changing the receptacle in the charge port.

How Stellantis made quality gains: Stellantis’ brands have been near the top of J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study in recent years after decades being mid pack at best. A breakthrough came in 2020 when Dodge tied with Kia for the top spot, while Ram tied for third that year and then flip-flopped with Dodge to lead the industry in 2021. Dodge finished second in 2022 and reclaimed No. 1 in 2023 and Ram jumped back into second place. How did it happen? David McDonald, head of customer experience in North America until he retired earlier this month, tells Automotive News about some of the measures put in place recently to improve quality.

Weekend headlines

Peter Horbury, who shifted Volvo styling, dies at 73:  The British Lotus design chief lead Volvo’s transition from boxy shapes to the now-famous “shoulders” below the window. At Ford, where he was executive director of design, Horbury and design head J Mays created a global ‘One Ford’ styling language for the automaker’s next-generation cars.

Tesla turns 20 years old: After many ups and downs in the early years, Tesla is now — at the age of 20 — a force. It is the global market leader in electromobility, a pioneer in battery technology, and an important protagonist in autonomous driving. Now the maker is at a crossroads.

We’re watching you: Nissan installed a camera surveillance system at the home of former COO Ashwani Gupta so the automaker’s internal security team could monitor him, according to the preliminary findings of an investigation into the surveillance, two people with knowledge of the report told Reuters. Nissan has been investigating a claim that CEO Makato Uchida carried out surveillance of the carmaker’s second-in-command to acquire leverage to remove him from the company because of Gupta’s opposition to some terms in a new partnership deal with Renault. Nissan directors were briefed on the preliminary findings of the investigation into the claim by U.S. law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell at a June 20 board meeting.

Stellantis’ first Black ad agency of record: And it’s female-owned! Stellantis bolstered its creative roster with TKT & Associates, through its TKT Collab division. The agency is tasked with reaching Black consumers for Stellantis’ North American brand portfolio — Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram. The agency will report to Kim Adams House, the head of merchandising, licensing and multicultural marketing. House, who once led Jeep advertising in North America, recently added multicultural marketing for Stellantis North America.

Only the beginning: Lucid plans to pursue more deals to sell its EV equipment as it looks to grow its technology supply business. So the recent Aston Martin deal is just the start. The EV firm will provide Aston with technology including a rear-drive unit with twin motors, battery modules and software for integrating systems. The parts will come from Lucid’s Arizona plant. “This (deal) really kicks off that wing of the Lucid Group’s business,” CEO Peter Rawlinson told Reuters.

Ups and downs: Ford and Chevrolet topped S&P Global Mobility’s 2023 loyalty ranking of mainstream brands for the first four months of the year, while Toyota fell to seventh place, the market research firm said. Toyota is typically “neck and neck” with Ford and Chevrolet, analyst Tom Libby said during an S&P webinar. Ford recorded 59.5 percent brand loyalty this year through April, followed by Chevrolet, at 57.1 percent, and Subaru, Nissan, Kia and Hyundai. Toyota was down 5.7 points from the same time last year to 52.3 percent. “We will obviously have to watch the results going forward, but just in these first four months, Toyota is a disappointment,” Libby said.

July 5, 2019: Jaguar’s XJ sedan, the last car that featured Jaguar founder Sir William Lyon’s design input, ended production. The sporty luxury sedan debuted in 1968. With its traditional wood and leather English interior, combined with a silky smooth inline six-cylinder overhead-cam engine and four-wheel independent suspension, the XJ6 immediately propelled Jaguar to the ranks to the world’s elite luxury automakers. Later versions would sport a beefy V-12, and Jaguar, as part of British Leyland, even made a two-door coupe version in the mid-1970s. The XJ series, produced in five generations, established a number of firsts for Jaguar, including the brand’s first supercharged engine in the late 1990s XJR, the first V-8, and, in 2003, Jaguar’s first all-aluminum chassis and body. Today, the 1968-87 XJs are the most coveted by collectors.