The EV Price War (1/23/23)

January 23, 2023

In today's newsletter:🚨 Making News: Tesla price cuts, GM and LG cancel plant, Sweden finds rare earths🧧 China Report: NIO Phone, price war deepens, BYD to the UK, Audi wins legal fight

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🚨 Making News 🚨

Tesla’s price cuts roil the car market. According to industry analysts, Tesla’s lower prices are undercutting competitors’ EVs just as those auto makers are trying win over investors and new buyers. Meanwhile, dealers have said the move has wreaked havoc on used-car lots, lowering the value of some Tesla models by several thousand dollars overnight. Per research firm Motor Intelligence, Tesla sales accounted for about 65% of total U.S. EV sales in 2022. Ford accounted for 7.6% while GM took 3.5%.

GM and LG cancel plans for fourth U.S. EV battery plant. LG didn’t commit to GM’s more aggressive ramp and timeline. The relationship has been a rocky one: GM had to recall all of the 143,000 Chevrolet Bolt EVs it had built due to battery fires, and its partner picked up most of the cost. They also had differing views on how to manage a union organizing drive at the Lordstown, Ohio, Ultium Cells LLC plant. The two companies will continue to operate the joint venture plant there, plus two planned facilities in Tennessee and Michigan. GM still intends to build another plant in the U.S. but did not specify a partner.

Sweden Says It Has Uncovered a Rare Earth Bonanza. State-owned Swedish miner LKAB said that it had found Europe’s largest known deposit of coveted rare earth metals, critical to many green technologies including electric vehicles, in a far northern part of the country within the Arctic Circle. It could take 10 to 15 years or more before the metals were delivered to market because of the lengthy environmental studies and other work required to open a mining facility in Europe.

Bloomberg’s Green Electric Car Ratings updated as six new models hit the market. Bloomberg Green has compiled all of them here, alongside range, battery size, base price, and its own “green” score. The six additions include the Nissan Ariya, Audi Q4-eTron, Cadillac Lyric, and Mercedes EQB SUV, EQS SUV and EQE sedan.

BMW tries to speed development of solid-state batteries. BMW will manufacture prototype cells in partnership with Solid Power Inc. at its research and development facility in Munich. The carmaker will begin producing cells in the first half of this year, with a goal to develop battery cells large enough to test in a vehicle before 2025, Peter Lamp, BMW’s head of battery R&D, said in an interview. Solid Power has development agreements with both BMW and Ford Motor Co., which are also investors.

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🧧 China Report 🧧

NIO applies for ‘NIO Phone’ trademark in China. A copy of the application shows that NIO applied for the trademark on December 12, 2022. Back in November, NIO founder and CEO William Li had earlier hinted that the company would launch its smartphone in 2023. In August, NIO Mobile Technologies Co Ltd was officially incorporated with $100 million of capital.

Audi wins legal battle against NIO, latter to rename certain vehicles. The Munich Regional Court in Germany arbitrated in favor of Audi in its trademark lawsuit against NIO, prohibiting the company from using and advertising the names ES8 and ES6 out of risk of confusion with the Audi S6 and S8 models. In Europe, NIO will use now use rename its ES lineup to EL.

BYD to start selling Atto 3 SUV in UK this quarter. The automaker, backed by Berkshire Hathaway, has signed up four UK dealer partners: Pendragon, Arnold Clark, Lookers and LSH. BYD began its expansion in Europe last year and plans to offer the Atto 3 compact crossover alongside the Tang large SUV and the Han large sedan in the region.

Chinese EV maker Xpeng joins Tesla, Seres in price cuts. Xpeng lowered the starting prices for its best-selling pure electric P7 sedan to 209,900 yuan ($31,015), according to the notice, 12.5% lower than its previous level. Price cuts for its other vehicles ranged from 10% to 13%. Tesla lowered prices of its vehicles in China by between 6% and 13.5%. Seres, meanwhile, cut its prices by 30,000 yuan in response.

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