Chairman’s Blog: For Consumers, EV Tax Credit is a Dud
Chairman Connelly is back with a brand-new blog post. Too many Americans today say they can’t trust Congress. Public approval of our legislative branch has sunk to 16 percent — the lowest rating in the past 12 months. It’s not hard to see why: the only thing Congress seems to do well these days is making a simple solution more complicated than it needs to be. Case in point. If Senate Democrats wanted to support President Biden in his ambitious goal of making 50 percent of new-vehicle sales emission-free by 2030, all they had to do was extend the current $7,500 credit and remove a highly discriminatory requirement that all qualifying EVs be built by union labor. As an industry, we made it easy for them. AIADA led the successful charge to block legislation in the Senate reconciliation budget bill that would have given union-made EVs a $4,500 advantage over non-union made EVs. At the same, lawmakers agreed to extend the tax credit to automakers that have already hit the 200,000 unit sales cap. All measures that benefit both dealers and consumers. Instead, Congress has made this needlessly complicated, click here for details.
How the EV Tax Credits in Democrats’ Climate Bill Could Hurt Electric Vehicle Sales
Proposed tax credits of up to $7,500 for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act could be counterintuitive for sales of EVs. The new rules would raise a sales threshold for qualification, but would impose materials sourcing and pricing stipulations, along with personal income caps. CNBC reports opponents of the new guidelines contend that pricing and sourcing rules, specifically for crucial raw materials used for the batteries on the vehicles, are too aggressive and could result in most EVs falling out of qualification for the federal incentive, at least in the short term. And unlike under current criteria, vehicles would have to be produced in North America to qualify for the credits. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automakers producing nearly 98 percent of cars and light trucks sold in the U.S., believes 70 percent of electric vehicles currently sold in the U.S. would be ineligible for the tax credits upon passage of the bill. Click here for the full story.
Toyota Won't Build an Electric Tundra Until EV Infrastructure Drastically Improves
If you've been holding out for a Toyota Tacoma EV or Tundra EV, you may be in for a long wait. Carbuzz spoke with Mike Sweers, executive chief engineer for the Toyota Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma, and 4Runner vehicle programs at Toyota Motor North America, and asked whether Toyota has any desire to follow Ford and Chevrolet into the full-size electric pickup truck segment. The short answer is that Toyota doesn't want to dive headfirst into the segment if it can't do the truck justice. The long answer is a bit more complex than that, and after discussing everything from the next-gen Tacoma to how the brand sees the 4Runner taking the fight to the Ford Bronco, Carbuzz discovered that the future of Toyota's approach to electrification is a fascinating one. While Sweers admits he can't confirm future products, he did talk about the 15 electric Toyota concepts that we saw in 2021, one of which was an electric pickup that looked similar in size to the current Tacoma. "Akio Toyoda mentioned in that roll-out [of the concepts] that the entire Toyota fleet will be electrified in the next five years," Sweers said. Click here for the full story.
Unity Game Software to Power New Mercedes-Benz Infotainment Domain
Mobile games and real-time 3D platform developer Unity Technologies will power the infotainment domain of the new Mercedes-Benz operating system. The infotainment domain is an essential component of the German automaker's plan to broaden its digital offerings. Mercedes' current infotainment platform, MBUX, was co-developed by Daimler and Luxoft, a unit of DXC Technology. The new Mercedes-Benz Operating System, or MB.OS, will debut in 2024 model-year vehicles and enhance four central domains — infotainment, automated driving, body and comfort, and powertrain, the automaker said. "With our own operating system, we want to achieve three key things: to shape the user interface according to a luxury brand, to create a bidirectional communication with the customer and to integrate the digital lifestyle of the customer into the vehicle domain," Magnus Östberg, chief software officer for Mercedes-Benz, told Automotive News. Unity is providing the development platform and the runtime architecture that will power all of Mercedes-Benz's in-vehicle experiences with MB.OS. The company claims a dominant position in the gaming world. Unity says it powers 70 percent of all mobile games on the market and the majority of augmented and virtual reality technologies. Click here for the full story.
These Were the Most Frequently Stolen Vehicles of 2021
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has released its car theft data from 2021, showing that the rate of stolen cars was up 8 percent from 2020. Full-size pickup trucks were the most stolen vehicles, with Chevrolet ousting Ford for the top spot in thefts for 2021, while economy sedans like Honda's Civic and Toyota's Camry trailed close behind. Recovering stolen cars can be a difficult process, but thefts reported within the first 24 hours have a 34 percent chance of recovery reports Car and Driver. With record demand and strained supply chains, the automotive market is in a period of severe fluctuation. Manufacturers can't produce enough cars to meet the demand from dealerships, with cars being sold before they even reach the dealer. With new cars sparsely produced and often sold above sticker prices, consumers fled to the used-vehicle market, where things haven't been much better in terms of options or price. This has led to a scarcity of choices for car buyers, but not necessarily for car thieves. There was a modest increase in theft, rising 8 percent year over year for 2021. Click here for the full list.
Around the Web
Mahle, Siemens to Jointly Develop Wireless EV Charging [Wards]
Famous 'Grease' Car Signed by Olivia Newton-John up for Auction [Fox News]
Instagram Account Documents 50 Years of Car Prizes on 'The Price is Right' [Autoblog]
2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport Teased as the Company’s Most Capable SUV Ever [Carscoops]
