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3 Us lawmakers are calling for a freeze on the Oshkosh contract to produce the next generation vehicles for the USPS. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the chair of an appropriations subcommittee, along with Reps. Jared Huffman and Tim Ryan are wanting to investigate if the contract is consistent with the current administration’s goal for reducing the US’s carbon footprint. The current 6 billion dollar bid is for 10% electric vehicles and Oshkosh stated it will be several billion dollars more to increase that percentage. Huffman also introduced new legislation on monday that would require at least 75% electric or zero emission vehicles for this contract.
A Tesla plant in Fremont California caught fire yesterday. The fire department stated that molten aluminum came into contact with hydraulic fluid. The fire was contained and put out quickly and no one was injured. Tesla has not commented on the extent of the damage or how the plant will be affected.
Kia Motors America will be recalling almost 380,000 vehicles due to the chance of electrical fires. 2017 – 2021 Sportage and Cadeza models may have an issue with the hydraulic electric control unit short circuiting, increasing the risk of fire. So far no fires or injuries have been reported but Kia will be telling owners to park outside and away from structures until the recall is complete.
GM is set to idle its Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan from Monday until at least the end of the month as the parts shortages continue. This plant employs 1,400 workers and it is where the Chevy Camaro and Cadillac CT4 and CT5 are produced. Assembly plants in Kansas City and Ingersoll Ontario that have been down since february 8th are expected to stay down until at least the middle of April.
Renesas Electronics Corporation, a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, warns that the global semiconductor shortage may last late into 2021. Renesas is running its critical plants at full capacity to try and get production caught up to demand. It is being estimated that over 321,000 vehicles have not been produced so this year and the number will continue to grow. Auto manufacturers are expected to miss out on $61 billion in sales this year alone.
LG is planning on investing $4.5B in us battery production through 2025. They intend to open 2 new us plant locations and expect to create 4000+ jobs. I expect other companies to start looking to fill the holes in chip production over the next few years as demand does not seem to be subsiding anytime soon.
South Korea is trying to boost chip production by waiving the 2 week quarantine for international business people coordinating the purchasing of the chips starting in april. They are also prioritizing making the vaccine available to these people as well.
Gm teams up with SolidEngery Systems to developer lithium-metal batteries. This next generation battery could cut cost in half while also doubling the energy density. The companies are expected to build a manufacturing prototyping line in Woburn Massachusetts a suburb of Boston. They are hoping the new battery chemistry could boost driving ranges to 500-600 miles while also helping to reduce the cost, making electric vehicles a very compelling option for many more consumers. They are hoping to have a pre-production battery complete by 2023.
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