The Tesla Model 3 is Finally Getting an Update

EV automaker Tesla is making ready to replace its Model 3 sedan, Hyundai has plans to construct a multi-billion greenback battery plant right here within the U.S. and Vietnamese automobile maker VinFast has shipped its first automobile to America. All this and extra in The Morning Shift for Monday, November 28, 2022.

1st Gear: Tesla is Preparing to Update The Model 3

Tesla has had its present vary of automobiles for some time now. The Model S has been round in a single kind or one other since 2012, the Model X SUV hit the street in 2015 and the Model Y in 2020. Then, there’s the model’s smallest sedan, the Model 3, which has been on sale since 2017. It’s been a preferred automobile for Tesla, however seems to be the time to replace it.

According to Reuters, whereas Tesla scrambles to prepared the Cybertruck electrical pickup for launch, engineers on the electrical automobile maker have additionally been engaged on an replace to a automobile that already exists, the Model 3. The replace would “cut production costs and boost the appeal” of the Model 3.

“One focus of the redesign codenamed ‘Highland’ is to reduce the number of components and complexity in the interior of the Model 3 while focusing on features that Tesla buyers value, including the display, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the revamp has not been announced.

“The revamp of the battery-powered sedan, which could also include some changes to the Model 3’s exterior and powertrain performance, will go into production at Tesla’s factory in Shanghai and the company’s Fremont, California plant, two of the people said. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory will put the redesigned Model 3 into production in the third quarter of 2023, they said.”

Reuters says its “not clear” how nice the price financial savings will probably be on the up to date Model 3, or if these financial savings will probably be handed onto EV consumers. Tesla has been slowly however absolutely growing the costs of its EVs in most markets around the globe, besides in China, the place it minimize costs earlier this yr.

Could the cost-cutting on Model 3 manufacturing maintain the important thing to CEO Elon Musk’s promise of an inexpensive EV for the lots?

2nd Gear: Investors Are Bored Waiting for Self-Driving Cars

Every tech-head on the market likes to let you know that autonomous automobiles are only a yr away. The solely drawback there’s that they’ve been only a yr away for at the least the final 5 years, and people ever-changing goalposts are getting a bit tiring.

It seems that traders within the self-driving house are beginning to really feel the identical approach, in keeping with the Wall Street Journal:

“After years of ambitious targets and bold promises, investors are growing impatient with the pace of driverless-car development, sending shock waves through an industry that had become accustomed to latitude and piles of cash from investors.

“Auto makers in recent weeks scaled back plans for the technology amid new pressure to curb expenses during an economic slowdown. An influential hedge fund also has questioned Google-parent Alphabet Inc.’s yearslong effort to advance self-driving technology, an endeavor that has proven thornier than many experts predicted just a few years ago.”

WSJ reviews that “profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are still a long way off,” which is lowering traders’ religion within the house, including that driverless startups, like Nuro, Inc., are additionally seeking to cut back employees to chop prices.

This, the WSJ provides, is at odds with the sector only a few years in the past, when large title automakers like Ford and GM have been throwing cash at driverless automobile startups. This begs the query, are full self-driving automobiles nonetheless greater than a yr away?

third Gear: Hyundai Plans $1.9 Billion U.S. Battery Plant

The automotive world was despatched right into a frenzy earlier this yr when the U.S. amended its tax breaks for EVs in order that solely automobiles constructed within the States would qualify. First, there was outrage from oversees producers after which, slowly however absolutely, they started pledging to construct new services right here in America.

Today, Hyundai is the newest automaker to make such a pledge because it plans a brand new $1.9 billion battery plant that might open in 2026. According to Reuters, the plant will probably be constructed by Hyundai in partnership with South Korean battery maker SK On. Reuters reviews:

“Hyundai Motor and SK On, the battery unit of energy group SK Innovation Co Ltd, are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on the investment next week, the [Korea Economic Newspaper] said, citing unidentified auto and battery sources.

“Targeted to start in the first quarter of 2026, the plant aims to have an initial annual production capacity of about 20 gigawatt hours (GWh), enough to power about 300,000 electric vehicles (EVs), the newspaper said.”

The new plant is predicted to interrupt floor in Georgia, close to Hyundai’s new EV plant. Hyundai broke floor on its $5.54 billion new EV manufacturing facility final month. It will produce electrical automobiles for each Hyundai and Kia when it’s absolutely operational.

SK On additionally presently operates two battery vegetation in Georgia, as nicely.

4th Gear: VinFast Ships its First Car to the U.S.

Vietnamese automaker VinFast has had a quick and livid launch into the U.S. Earlier this yr, the automaker introduced plans to construct a manufacturing facility right here in America, and opened its first stateside showrooms shortly after. Now, whereas it waits for its U.S. manufacturing facility to rise up and working, it’s began transport its first EVs to America.

According to Automotive News, VinFast has shipped its first batch of automobiles from Asia to North America, comprising 999 EVs destined to succeed in clients over the approaching weeks. A second batch of automobiles is destined for these shores initially of 2023 as nicely.

“The first cars are expected to be handed over to customers by the end of December, the company said.

“VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said some of the VF 8 electric crossovers being shipped Friday would be sent to U.S. car subscription service Autonomy but the majority would go to retail buyers who have ordered the car.”

But regardless of touchdown its first automobiles within the U.S. lower than two years after asserting ambitions to launch right here, the rollout is delayed for VinFast. The firm initially stated it wished to ship 5,000 automobiles to the U.S. by December. Instead, it can ship simply 999 fashions, determined as the correct quantity for its first cargo as it is a fortunate quantity in Vietnam.

fifth Gear: H2-Go

As the world scrambles to scrub up its act, engineers need to the aviation trade as the following large sector that wants consideration. It’s due to this that initiatives investigating electrical plane or hydrogen-powered engines are being investigated.

Now, the BBC reviews that engine producer Rolls Royce has fired up its first hydrogen-powered jet engine. The engine in query is a Rolls-Royce AE-2100A gasoline turbine motor, the identical mannequin used to energy the C-130 Hercules.

“This is the first time a modern aircraft engine has ever been run on hydrogen.

“Devoid of bodywork, with its intricate wiring and pipework exposed, it sits securely fastened to a sturdy test rig, while engineers cluster around an array of screens in the control room, a safe distance away.

“The tests are being carried out by Rolls-Royce, after development work in Derby and in partnership with the airline EasyJet.”

The take a look at aimed to show {that a} jet engine may very well be run and managed safely whereas burning hydrogen as gas. It’s a part of a undertaking backed by UK finances airline EasyJet, which believes the gas holds the important thing to the way forward for sustainable aviation.

But if engineers can show that the gas will efficiently energy airliners, the following problem will probably be creating it in a sustainable method. While this small-scale take a look at used hydrogen created utilizing renewable vitality, scaling that as much as energy the worldwide airline trade will probably be one other problem totally.

Reverse: Lights Out and Away We Go