U.S. to Spend More Than $3 Billion on EV Battery Manufacturing
The Biden administration will allocate more than $3 billion in infrastructure funding to finance electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing. The funds will be allocated by the Department of Energy from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed last year. Among the initiatives will be processing of minerals for use in large-capacity batteries and recycling those batteries, reports Reuters. Biden wants half of vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030, a goal he hopes will boost unionized manufacturing jobs in key election battleground states, thwart Chinese competition in a fast-growing market, and reduce climate-changing carbon emissions. The administration is also positioning the measures as a step to secure energy independence and cut long-term inflation pressures exacerbated by Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. "As we face this Putin price hike on oil and gas, it's also important to note that electric vehicles will be cheaper over the long-haul for American families," Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure coordinator, told reporters, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Click here to learn more about the Biden Administration’s plan.
Hyundai Is Ending Projects with Rimac
Hyundai Motor is ending projects with Rimac Group, after the Croatian automaker deepened its ties to Porsche. Automotive News reports Hyundai and sister brand Kia jointly invested $84 million in the electric startup in 2019 to take a 12 percent stake. Hyundai subsequently announced two projects: an electric sports car for Hyundai's N performance subbrand and a sporty fuel-cell vehicle. At same time, Rimac formed a 55-45 joint venture with Porsche to take over Volkswagen Group's Bugatti hypercar brand. Hyundai will finish the electric sports car project started in collaboration with Rimac in-house, one of the sources said. The vehicle's expected launch date is early 2023. Joint work on the fuel cell project, previewed by the Hyundai Vision FK concept shown last year, won't continue, the sources said. "We have two active high-level projects ongoing [with Hyundai], one completed and several future projects under discussion," a Rimac spokeswoman said in an email reply to questions from Automotive News Europe. Click here for the full story.
Q&A: Hiroshi Tamura, Nissan Z Chief Product Specialist
A discussion about what gives the Nissan Z its essence and the voices that matter most when creating a car. It’s been more than a decade since a new Nissan Z debuted, and although the newest iteration has been delayed a couple months, The Detroit Bureau had the chance to sit down and talk with Hiroshi Tamura, the product planner charged with overseeing development of the new Z. Here’s their conversation, edited for length and clarity. The Detroit Bureau: What was the first sports car that really set your heart aflame, that really spoke to you. Hiroshi Tamura: That would be a Nissan Skyline. I bought it when I was 18 years old. The Japanese license system starts from 18 years old, not your country’s 16 years old. So, that was the first car that had a big impact for me. And it’s a slow engine, just a 2.0-liter and a 110 horsepower. But I tuned it and increased the displacement, and added triple carburetors. I learned from this inline 6 Skyline engine, which is not a dual-camshaft type of fancy engine like a GTO. Click here for the rest of the interview.
How Car Dealers Can Honor and Celebrate Veterans
May is National Military Appreciation Month, honoring members of all military branches for their service as the country’s protectors. Across the nation, more than 2.2 million people are current members and countless others have served in the past, representing a large portion of the population, and a group worthy of recognition. As military personnel are celebrated this month, there are ways dealerships can get involved. Some may be simple community-focused events while others are large-scale opportunities that can garner national attention. CBT News shares a few ways that auto dealers can support and recognize veterans this month. Serve up Discounts: Discounts tend to de-value a product or service, unless they are exclusive. For a set time, perhaps the last week of the month, offer a notable discount for current service members and vets. Apply the discount to any service or parts invoice, or offer a flat-rate discount on any vehicle purchased. By isolating the discount to only military personnel and their spouses, you acknowledge their service with a small token of appreciation. Click here to learn more ways to celebrate and honor veterans.
Carbon-Neutral Gas is Coming That Cleans Our Air
EVs are pretty widely accepted as the newer, greener path of the automobile. Sometimes, they're pitched as a solution to climate change that we can all buy at a dealership. But some haven't given up on conventional motors yet. Porsche is perhaps the best example. Carbuzz reports the brand has been exploring synthetic, carbon-neutral fuels for a while now, and being able to run our Porsche 911 on green fuel sounds like a win-win to us. But it appears that another company might have figured out how to do it better. The firm claims that it can produce a carbon-neutral fuel that'll also clean the air around us. It sounds like a magic cure-all for personal vehicle emissions, but the technology is solid. The company's name is Carbon Engineering. The Canada-based company has been working on this since 2015 and says it is currently establishing plants that will capture the C02 needed for this process at a rate of a million tons per year. That will then be used to produce methanol, one of a few candidates for an alternative fuel. Most importantly, and not dissimilar to Porsche's synthetic fuel. Click here for the full story.
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