CES Wrap-Up (1/9/23)

Good morning and Happy New Year. EVDigest is back, and there's no shortage of news with CES wrapped up and December production numbers released. We've collected the best highlights below.

In today's newsletter:🚨 Making News: Sony EV, Ford record sales, Ram Revolution, VW ID.7, Stellantis + Archer🧧 China Report: Tesla China protests, BYD's luxury brand, NIO 300k, Zeekr's big plans

🚨 Making News 🚨

Afeela EV from Sony and Honda is coming to the U.S. in 2026. Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the two Japanese companies, has revealed a prototype of a handsome new electric sedan that it plans to sell in the U.S. as soon as 2026. Afeela will start taking orders in 2025, and says that deliveries will start in North America in 2026. Afeela isn’t Sony’s first concept EV. The company unveiled the Vision-S at CES in 2020 and an updated SUV version, the Vision-S 02, a year ago.

Ford Tripled BEV Sales In December, Doubled In 2022. Ford was the second-largest maker of all-electric vehicles in the U.S. in 2022. In the year, Ford more than doubled its BEV sales to 61,575 units, a new record that represents 3.3 percent of the total volume. Sales of the F-150 Lightning numbered 2,359 units in December, with 15,617 units delivered to customers since launch.

The 2024 ID.7 Is Volkswagen's Tesla Model 3 Fighter. Set to go on sale later this year, the ID.7 gets over 400 miles of range on Europe's WLTP cycle. the ID.7 will be Volkswagen's sixth all-electric production car in the ID family. Volkswagen says it will reveal the production ID.7 in the second quarter of 2023, but doesn't mention when it'll go on sale.

Tesla falls short of its goal of growing 50 percent in 2022. Tesla delivered just over 1.3 million vehicles in 2022, missing its goal of achieving 50 percent growth year-over-year. The company needed to hit approximately 1.4 million deliveries to meet its target. Tesla said it delivered 405,278 vehicles in in the fourth quarter of 2022, which includes 17,147 Model S and X vehicles and 388,131 Model 3 and Y vehicles. Wall Street analysts had been predicting 415,000 vehicles delivered during the quarter. Rivian, meanwhile, fell just shy of its annual target of 25,000 vehicles produced.

Ram electric pickup to join a crowded field next year. Ram unveiled a concept version of the Ram 1500 Revolution battery-powered truck at CES in Las Vegas. Four models — Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Rivian’s R1T, Lordstown Motors’ Endurance and the GMC Hummer EV Pickup — already are on the road. And this year or next, three others — the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and Tesla’s Cybertruck — are scheduled to roll out as the Ram Revolution gets ready for launch.

Illinois dealers to continue legal fight against direct sales by Rivian, Lucid. Illinois Automobile Dealers Association chief Joe McMahon told that dealers will appeal a court decision that favors the EV makers. Rivian began production of its R1T pickup, R1S SUV and EDV electric delivery vans in Normal, Ill., in 2021 and employs about 5,000 people. Rivian bought the plant, which had been abandoned by Mitsubishi Motors, in 2017.

VinFast says Americans can get its EVs this year. Vietnamese automaker VinFast announced it will start taking orders for its VF6 and VF7 electric SUVs starting in March. The company had previously announced it would start delivering its larger VF8 to the U.S., but customers have not received them as of the beginning of January. The subcompact VF6 is expected to have a WLTP range of up to 248 miles, which could translate to a 200-mile EPA rating. The compact VF7's WLTP range is estimated to top out at 280 miles, or as much as 224 EPA-rated miles.

Hyundai, Polestar to Add Nvidia Cloud-Based Gaming to Future Vehicles. At CES, Nvidia announced it will bring its GeForce Now cloud-based gaming service to vehicles from the Hyundai Motor Group, Polestar, and BYD. Nvidia describes GeForce Now as a low-latency streaming service that "instantly transforms nearly any laptop, desktop, Mac, SHIELD TV, Android device, iPhone, or iPad into the PC gaming rig you've always dreamed of." The tech company can now add select Polestar, BYD, and Hyundai/Kia/Genesis vehicles to its list of supposedly dreamy PC gaming setups.

The Peugeot Inception concept EV unveiled at CES. The concept, which was announced at CES this week, will inspire a lineup of future EVs that will start making their way to customers in 2025. Peugeot says the Inception will ride on top of the STLA Large platform, which is a larger version of Stellantis’ modular EV platforms.

Stellantis, Archer expand partnership to build electric aircraft. The aircraft is optimized for trips of about 20 miles and has a range of up to 100 miles. The charging time between trips is about 10 minutes. Stellantis is providing up to $150 million in equity capital for Archer to draw down this year and next. But Archer will need to achieve certain business milestones to tap the funds, which Stellantis declined to reveal. Stellantis will support Archer's recently announced manufacturing facility in Covington, Ga., that will begin building Midnight in 2024.

Tesla starts offering $700 round wheel retrofit for people with yoke steering wheels. Tesla is starting to offer a $700 round steering wheel retrofit for people who bought a Model S or Model X with a yoke steering wheel. Tesla finally is offering round steering as an option on Model S and Model X vehicles, which the automaker was only offering with its “yoke” steering wheel for the last two years.

🧧 China Report 🧧

Tesla owners protest against surprise price cuts they missed. Hundreds of Tesla owners gathered at the automaker's showrooms and distribution centers in China over the weekend, demanding rebates and credit after sudden price cuts they said meant they had overpaid for electric vehicles they bought earlier. With the latest discounts, Tesla EV prices in China are now between 13 percent and 24 percent below September levels.

BYD’s luxury YangWang U8 Launched in China. At the launch event, Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, personally drove the car into the venue. It uses the company's new Yisifang technology, a new wheel-side motor that powers the vehicle through four independent motors without relying on the steering wheel to turn. This enables the car to achieve 360-degree steering in one spot.

Xiaomi working on two models, 1st model to take on Tesla Model 3. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is working on two electric vehicle models, with the first model aimed at a market priced around RMB 300,000 (43,600), according to a report yesterday by local media outlet LatePost. Xiaomi's second production car, internally codenamed Le mans, is expected to launch in 2025, the report said, citing people close to the company.

Dongfeng Mengshi M-Terrain EV SUV Production Vehicle Exposed In China. According to the logo on the rear of the car, it may be named Mengshi 917. Mengshi (Warrior) is Dongfeng‘s off-road brand. The pure EV model will feature four motors with a combined output of more than 1,000 hp and 16,000 Nm torque. It will sport a 140 kWh battery with a 500 km range. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.

NIO rolls 300,000th car off the production line. Moreover, the production of the 300,000th car marked another milestone for the company’s all-around growth in 2022. This year, it started the delivery of products derived from its second-generation product platform NT2.0, namely ET7, ES7, and ET5.Geely's EV brand Zeekr aims to double sales in 2023, expand in Europe. Zeekr CEO Any An told Reuters on Thursday that it aims to double sales in 2023 to about 140,000 vehicles and expand sales in Europe this year. Last month, Zeekr filed for a U.S. initial public offering, without providing details on the size or timing. Reuters previously reported Zeekr was aiming to raise more than $1 billion in the IPO and seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion.

China has a 10,000 euro cost advantage in small EVs, auto supplier says. Forvia CEO Patrick Koller said the overwhelming cost advantage will put pressure on European manufacturers in their home market. The issue is "more dangerous" for Europe than the United States, Koller told Reuters in an interview, as high duties have limited China's U.S. market share.

Evergrande NEV reportedly halts mass production of its only model due to lack of orders. In case you missed it, Evergrande NEV has suspended mass production of its sole model, the Hengchi 5, due to a lack of sufficient new orders, according to Reuters.