Battery Shortages Lease to Audi e-Tron Production Delays

Building electric cars is harder than it looks.

According to a report last week in the Brussels Times, Audi is delaying the production of its planned E-tron Sportback and slowing production of its E-tron SUV following battery shortages from supplier LG Chem.

The factory that builds the e-tron has cut back from eight hours of production a day to six, and is reported to be planning to cut back from running five days a week to four, leading to a day of unemployment for workers there. The moves would cut production of the long-awaited electric car by 10,000 cars annually, from more than 55,000 to just over 45,000 in 2019, according to the Brussels Times. In the report, Audi declined to comment on the delay.

Many automakers ramping up production of plug-in hybrids and electric cars depend on LG Chem for cells, including Hyundai, Volkswagen, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. LG's dominance in supplying batteries to electric cars gives it power to control prices.

A report last year by Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper suggested that LG Chem raised prices on its batteries for the Audi E-tron by 10 percent, leading to the production shortage. Waiting lists for the car in Europe have reportedly expanded from 4-5 months to 6-7 months, as demand has also increased by 15 percent. Audi's Belgian spokeswoman Sofie Luyckx told the Brussels Times, that is "not an exceptional waiting time for an all-new Audi."

At the New York auto show last week, Audi E-tron product manager Matt Mostafaei said that the company has U.S. orders for the car, which is expected to go on sale here in May, but would not specify how many.

The delays could also be impacted by a shortage of the car's electric motors following a strike at the Hungarian factory that produces the motors.

The reports say the introduction of the E-tron Sportback, a smaller hatchback version of the E-tron SUV, has also been delayed from late this year to 2020.

Audi is planning a whole line of electric E-tron models, including the SUV, the Sportback, the e-tron GT sports sedan, a new smaller Q4 E-tron SUV, and reportedly a new E-tron GTR supercar to replace its R8 flagship, according to a new report in British auto journal Car.

If it's going to fulfill all those dreams, the company will need to secure a large and reliable source of batteries and, if these hiccups are any indication, it still might not have that.

VW Reveals I.D. Roomzz Electric SUV With 280-Mile Range

The newest addition to the I.D. range is bigger than the I.D. Crozz and has three rows.

Auto Shanghai 2019 is literally just around the corner and Volkswagen wants to be among the firsts to introduce one of its latest creations – bound to strengthen the German marque’s electric I.D. range. For the uninitiated, China is currently the largest market for zero-emission vehicles in the world.

Dubbed as the I.D. Roomzz, the all-electric SUV is bound to stir the continuously growing global three-row SUV market but with zero emissions and smart in-car technologies. It sits on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform but it’s bigger than the I.D. Crozz, which was debuted in Los Angeles in 2017.

One of the key features of the I.D. Roomzz is its three-row seating configuration. This could, however, turn into a lounge on wheels with the electric SUV’s open space interior design.

In the front cabin, the I.D. Roomzz features a digital, glass-front panel. The dashboard and steering wheel floats in front of the driver as a visual display. In combination with the I.D. Pilot mode, the I.D. Roomz concept vehicle can be driven autonomously without an active driver.

The VW I.D. Roomzz has its own version of 4MOTION technology, with two electric motors powering the front and rear axles with a system output of 225 kiloWatt (302 horsepower). This allows the electric SUV to accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 6.6 seconds and reach regulated speeds of up to 180 kph (112 mph).

More importantly, the VW I.D. Roomzz is powered by an 82-kWh battery, which allows ranges of up to 450 km (280 mi) under WLTP, or 475 km (295 mi) under NEFZ in China.

VW is set to debut the production version of the I.D. Roomzz, I.D. Crozz, and the Compact I.D. in 2020, with all three models to be sold globally. On the other hand, the I.D. Vizzion sedan and I.D. Buzz will debut its production version in 2022.

Categories: Volkswagen

Musk Says Tesla Will Make Astonishing 500,000 Cars In Next 12 Months

Production to increase from 300,000 to 500,000

By the way of answering questions about the expected appreciating value of Tesla cars due to Full Self Driving capability, Elon Musk said that within the next 12 months, the company will produce more than 500,000 cars.

Of course, all of those cars will be hardware ready for fully autonomous driving and according to Tesla, soon the software update will be ready to unleash the capability. Because the update will be available only for cars with the FSD option, the price of those are expected to increase (as well as the option).

“Very much so. There are 2.5B cars & trucks on Earth. Even replacing 1% of that fleet would require making 25M vehicles per year. Tesla will make over 500k cars in next 12 months, but that’s a mere 2% of 25M or 0.02% of global vehicle fleet. Car industry slow -> demand >> supply.”

Let’s take a look at the production rate – Tesla’s 12-months rolling output was at the end of March 2019 at around 297,000, including over 206,000 Tesla Model 3. Sales during the period amounted to about 280,000.

To achieve 500,000 in 12 months, Tesla needs to produce and sell at least 125,000 cars per quarter. The automaker’s production record was 86,555 in Q4 2018. In Q1 2019 production was 77,100, including a record 29,950 Model 3.

The increase from almost 300,000 to 500,000+ requires growth of about 67% year-over-year. Assuming that the Model S/Model X will stay at around 100,000 per year, Model 3 production and sales need to double to 400,000 per year.

If Tesla does manage to produce and sell 500,000 per year, and additionally significantly increase the revenues because of the autonomous driving capability, profitability should reach high levels. The FSD option is sold for $5,000 per car and is expected to be priced higher in the near future.

Just 100,000 cars (20% of planned) with the $5,000 option for robot taxi alone would provide $500 million of revenue.

If the production growth and automation is achieved, Tesla also should not have any problems with staying in good shape (in the business perspective) until the Tesla Model Y launch to gain yet another engine of growth.

Noa DeNova@KnightmarArchon

 · Apr 13, 2019

Replying to @EvBite and 2 others

When FSD becomes reality, demand will outstrip supply, hence a rise in value for those who already own one.

Elon Musk

✔@elonmusk

Very much so. There are 2.5B cars & trucks on Earth. Even replacing 1% of that fleet would require making 25M vehicles per year. Tesla will make over 500k cars in next 12 months, but that’s a mere 2% of 25M or 0.02% of global vehicle fleet. Car industry slow -> demand >> supply.

762

3:28 PM - Apr 14, 2019

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