The Week in Mobility News — 14 January 2021
There’s a lot going on….
January normally proves a fruitful time for gathering technology and automotive gambits. Partly driven by CES, which this year has continued virtually, this week has proved that January 2021 is no exception.
Kia and GM started the year by revealing their new logos. Kia have opted for an (almost) ambigram which was revealed in this bonkers firework and drone display. GM, or rather gm, elected to combine lowercase letters and some kind of hp, Intel Inside mash up. The response has been mixed to the logo but not to its motivation. The m and line underneath, according to the brand, represent a plug. This is to point to the brand’s commitment to its electric future starting with 30 EV variants by 2025 and investing $27 billion to autonomous and electric technology.
The logo was not the only news from GM which captured headlines. It also revealed its e-VTOL vehicle concept at CES and (perhaps more excitingly) a new business unit, BrightDrop which will focus on creating an integrated ecosystem of electric commercial vehicles and supporting services. The first product will be an electric pallet, the EP1 which will be followed by the 250 mile range EV600 van later this year. 500 vans have already been promised to FedEx with general sale expected in 2022.
CES has delivered some other highlights, including Caterpillar’s mammoth autonomous mining vehicle, a plethora of rollable screens, transparent screens, 8K screens, round screens and dual screens. In a time lived largely online, CES has generated a new type of screen fatigue. Robots have of course featured, with Samsung’s wine-pouring-tablesetting-dishwasher-loading “Bot Handy” causing the biggest stir.
However, outside of CES the EV world has continued to provide far juicier and more imminent nuggets. Lordstown announced it has 100,000 (albeit non-binding) orders for its Endurance EV pickup truck. Kyte, a contract free car rental platform, raised $9 million. Based in San Francisco, Kyte doesn’t own the fleet, it partners with car rental companies and other fleet providers to put their inventory on the platform. Amazon is ordering 2,500 EV trucks from Lion whilst its Rivian delivery van was recorded operating with an almighty pedestrian warning noise.
Meanwhile the Apple — Hyundai — Canoo rumour mill has churned. Reportedly Canoo and Apple were in discussions for Canoo to provide their electric vehicle platform as the basis for the Apple Car, codenamed “Project Titan”. However the partnership (apparently) fell by the wayside when discussions turned to Apple investing in Canoo. The Hyundai tie-up seems a little more concrete, with speculation that the Apple Car could be manufactured in Kia’s Georgia plant. The rumour mill’s turbulence has been reflected in both Hyundai’s and Canoo’s share price over the past week.
The Apple Car has been an automotive- Ross & Rachel- will they- won’t they since 2014. In its narrative is possibly in season 9 of 10 with the heartbreak of the job in Paris still to come. Watch this space for the saga to unfold.
In the UK, Vauxhall is considering manufacturing the e-vivaro in Luton and BYD plans to build electric buses in the UK. ADL will start assembly of BYD’s electric solo and double decker buses for the UK market in the second half of 2021.
Finally in China, Nio has presented its flagship sedan, the ET7, Tesla plans an entry level model for China, Baidu confirms partnership with Geely to manufacture its electric vehicles and Alibaba’s Jack Ma is still missing. Vertical integration in the automotive industry is not new, Ford even owned mines for raw materials. However 100 years on and only Great Wall, BYD and Tesla have it nailed with regards to battery vertical integration. The next wave of EV mania will see competitors desperately try to follow suit.
Miscellaneous
If you’re in need of a change of scenery from your lockdown setup then open a window somewhere else in the world via window-swap (thank you Angus Dick).
Have a wonderful weekend!
