Follow PSR’s ongoing global coverage of eMobility across a wide range of segments, including electric cars, commercial vehicles, electric motorbikes and e-buses.
Vinfast has announced plans to export approximately 5,000 EVs to the U.S., Canada, and Europe by the end of 2022. This is the first time for them to export EVs. The company also plans to start construction of a new EV plant in the U.S. by the end of this year, accelerating its global strategy.
According to the plan, exports to the U.S. and other countries will begin in early November, with delivery to customers starting in December. Vinfast’s CEO revealed that the company has orders for approximately 65,000 EVs worldwide.
On Sept. 13, 2022, Honda announced it will eliminate gasoline-powered motorcycles by the mid-2040s. All new vehicles will be EV motorcycles; 3.5 million, or 15% of global sales, are to be EV motorcycles by 2030. Honda has already declared that all its four-wheeled vehicles will be EVs by 2040, but this is the first time the company has laid out a concrete strategy for decarbonization on two wheels.
From now on, Honda will pursue electrification exclusively with EVs. First, it will launch at least 10 EV motorcycle models by 2025. Since investment in new vehicle development and production facilities will be a heavy burden, Honda will use a common platform for batteries, motors, and other components for three large motorcycle models to be launched in Japan, the United States, and Europe between 2024 and 2025.
Formerly using chassis built by other companies, mainly BYD, Marcopolo has announced plans to build its own EV chassis. It plans to produce and offer a complete set of bus chassis and bus body. It plans to deliver of 30 units in different setups for Brazilian cities in 2023.
PSR Analysis: Marcopolo is betting that its own chassis is more competitive for the market from an engineering and product standpoint. While preparing to compete with its chassis suppliers and partners in the EV segment, it still depends on them for the main volume of transit and intercity buses that is ICE powered. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development-South Americafor Power Systems Research
Volvo’s EV bus is now in the homologation phase in Brazil. Initially it will be produced in Sweden, with plans to be produced in Brazil for the South America market. The Curitiba plant engineering has participated significantly in the Bus Development.
PSR Analysis: Volvo adapt its line-up to compete in the Brazil and South America market that will demand significant part of the volume for the EV models. It is slightly behind Mercedes and Marcopolo with its own bus, but still able to catch-up and compete in main markets. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development-South Americafor Power Systems Research
Global auto supplier, BorgWarner has announced it is buying EV charging company Rhombus Energy Solutions. The deal will boost its EV charging presence in North America while adding to its European market and will accelerate its charging business by leveraging its existing capabilities. This is the latest in a round of EV related acquisitions the company has made. In August 2021 it took control of AKASOL,(a German EV battery company) and in March 2022, BorgWarner acquired 100% of Santroll Automotive Components (a light vehicle eMotor business).
PSR Analysis: This acquisition will generate good revenue for BorgWarner and continues their move into this market. It’s also a good example of the many acquisitions that OEMs are making into the broad arena of electric power as they see future opportunities. Other recent examples include: Nikola acquiring Romeo Power to bring its battery supply inhouse, Terex investing in Acculon Energy, and Cummins acquiring Meritor (Cummins believes eAxles will be a critical integration point within hybrid and electric drivetrains). PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research
Tesla has linked up with bk World to provide its Supercharger stations to offer services to customers while their vehicles charge. Tesla has been trying to deploy its Supercharger stations at properties that include amenities that offer food, coffee, and restrooms, but that is not always easy. At a few locations, Tesla has deployed its own lounges to offer those amenities, including one test site in Germany which even has a swimming pool, and another has a restaurant.
PSR Analysis: With over 300 lounges planned in Europe, Tesla is trying to make the recharge wait time more enjoyable for customers, and at the same time generate another revenue stream. Providing customers with activities while they wait could encourage charger use and could develop charging stations into a destination location like selling customers of IKEA meatballs when they visit a store. Anything to help relieve the boredom of a charge waiting time that can run to an hour or more is an improvement. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research
Frontier Energy conducted a pre-feasibility study (PFS) at its Bristol Springs Solar project in Australia to show that it has the potential to be a low-cost green hydrogen producer, with power sourced from the company’s planned first stage 114 MW DC solar farm. The solar would power a 36.6 MW alkaline electrolyser, producing an estimated 4.4m kilograms of green hydrogen per year.
PSR Analysis: With green hydrogen costs being around $3/kg to $6.5/kg, production of green hydrogen at this cost significantly boosts the use of hydrogen as a fuel for either Hydrogen ICEs or FCEVs. It also closes the price gap with dirty hydrogen which is generated using fossil fuels. Dirty hydrogen costs around $1.8 per kg, according to S&P Global. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research
BMW remains primarily focused on electrified combustion engines and battery electric cars, but it is adamant that hydrogen FCEVs (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) will play a part of its transportation package. A limited batch of hydrogen-fueled BMW X5s soon will enter production, and the company says it is already planning for the next model with FCEVs making their way into its 2025 next-generation electric vehicle portfolio
PSR Analysis: This moves BMW into the Toyota/Hyundai camp supporting FCEV, with Tesla and VW being firmly in favor of battery-powered Electric Vehicles only. BMW is developing its position so that it can offer a full range of alternative power vehicles and meet customer demand whichever way it goes. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Leadat Power Systems Research
VinFast, an automotive subsidiary of Vingroup, the largest conglomerate in Vietnam, announced that it ended orders for two types of gasoline-powered vehicles in early July. The models covered are SUVs and sedans, and the company now will only sell the Fadil, a compact gasoline-powered vehicle. The company has announced its plan to withdraw from the production of gasoline-powered vehicles by the end of this year and is hastening its shift to EV production.
VinFast states that the reason for the suspension of orders for the two models is that “procurement of parts has become difficult and the number of units delivered to customers was not as large as expected.” The company did not mention the timing of the suspension of orders for Fadil. The company began selling EVs in Vietnam in December 2021.
The European EV market is expanding, and in the UK, Korean-made EVs are gaining popularity as vehicles that are more affordable than Tesla’s and that offer superior performance.
Last year in the UK, the Tesla Model 3 ranked second in sales of all passenger cars by model, marking the “first year of EVs” in earnest. However, the popular Tesla cars are not inexpensive, costing about three times as much as similarly sized gasoline-powered cars. On the other hand, Hyundai and Kia cars are priced at 60-70% of Tesla’s Model Y and have been a hit with environmentally conscious 30–40-year-olds who had been putting off purchasing EVs because they wanted to replace their cars with EVs but thought Tesla were too expensive.
A major reason for the high support for Korean-made EVs is their price competitiveness. In terms of corporate car leasing prices, Tesla’s Model Y costs 40 pounds per day (for a three-year lease), while Kia’s low-priced e-NIRO EV costs less than 20 pounds per day, about half the price. While the price may be reasonable due to the large difference in vehicle quality, the figures are enough to shatter the preconceived notion that EVs are expensive.
UK EV Market Share by Brand (Feb-April 2022)
Tesla, 25.2%
Hyundai & Kia, 14.6%
VW Group, 13.6%
Stellantis, 12.9%
BMW Group, 8.9%
Mercedes, 6.7%
Renault-Nissan, 4.4%
Others, 13.4%
The reason why Europeans have no resistance to “Korean-made EVs” has to do with historical backgrounds other than vehicle prices and tax benefits. Korean-made cars are highly regarded in Europe, and Korean cars have an extremely high share of the compact car segment in Europe. This is due to the fact that Korean automakers have aggressively expanded their factories into former Eastern European countries, where wages are low but skill levels are high; Hyundai and Kia established production bases in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, respectively, soon after both countries joined the European Union.
PSR Analysis: As mentioned above, many potential buyers believe EVs are more expensive than conventional engine models. Hyundai and Kia are successfully implementing mass-market EV strategies in Europe, where EVs are most prevalent, in order to overcome the sales slump caused by this image. IF the Korean carmakers can overcome this mis-perception of pricing, it will make a big difference in acceptance in this important EV market. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asiafor Power Systems Research
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