2022年1月16日星期日

Tesla's Batteries

What is the most expensive part in an electric vehicle? Semiconductors, since we are in shortage of semiconductors. Probably not, I heard it is the battery. A Finnish man bought his Tesla in 2013, and now, mechanics said he’d need the “whole battery cell” replaced, at a price of 20,000 euros, or about $23,900. (1)

Tesla has signed an agreement last month with Australia's Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world’s largest graphite mines in the southern African country. It's a unique partnership between an electric vehicle manufacturer and a producer of the mineral that is critical for lithium-ion batteries, according to the news that I read. Tesla will buy the material processed from its plant in Vidalia, Louisiana, and it sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique. Tesla plans to buy up 80% of what the plant produces about 8,000 tons of graphite annually — starting in 2025. Syrah must prove the material based on Tesla’s standards. (2)

According to other sources, Tesla is changing the battery cell chemistry that it uses in its standard range vehicles. As mentioned above, the new batteries will use a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry rather than nickel-cobalt-aluminum which Tesla will continue to use in its longer-range vehicles. The move is likely a way for Tesla to increase profit margins on its cars, while not necessarily having to raise prices. In fact, Tesla is already making vehicles with LFP chemistry at its factory in Shanghai, and the top producers of these types of battery cells are CATL and BYD. Tesla is already procuring batteries from CATL, Tesla sells those cars in China, the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe. (3)

New 4680 Battery has a much longer driving range:

1. https://nypost.com/2021/12/24/tesla-explodes-after-mechanics-charge-man-23k-for-new-battery/ 2. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tesla-inks-deal-to-get-key-battery-component-outside-china/ar-AASPwKE?ocid=BingNewsSearch 3. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/tesla-switching-to-lfp-batteries-in-all-standard-range-cars.html

2022年1月15日星期六

From General Motors, Ford's Lightning pickup, to Tesla's Cybertruck

Chip shortage makes General Motors no longer the top seller of vehicles in the US, as of January 4, 2022. Toyota, which reportedly sold about 114,000 more vehicles than GM in 2021. GM reported that total sales were down almost 13 percent last year due to semiconductor shortages and GM has had to cut features from some vehicles, such as wireless chargers and HD radios, due to supply issues. (Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/4/22867285/gm-toyota-us-top-selling-automaker-chip-shortage)

Meanwhile, GM on last Tuesday (1/4/2022) introduced CarBravo, a website that will list all the used car inventory across GM's participating dealerships as well as used cars owned by GM and its finance arm. According to the news that I am reading, there are 400,000 used vehicles in dealer inventory on an ongoing basis. For sure, this will promote GM's business. Currently, dealers sell about 2.5 million used cars a year. GM and GM Financial have an additional 500,000 used cars in stock each year. (https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/01/11/gm-carbravo-used-vehicle-car-retail-carmax-carvana/9171201002/)

Another source points out that GM made it the rule that lease holders could no longer sell their vehicles outside the GM dealership network at the end of the term, which should help to bolster the available inventory on CarBravo. (https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38738514/gm-launches-carbravo-sales-website/)

Andrew Bary, Barron, named GM as one of his top stock picks for 2022, he believes General Motors is fast becoming one of the most exciting players in the electric-vehicle space. (https://www.barrons.com/articles/buy-gm-stock-pick-evs-51642111070)

Well, I won't disagree with him. On the other hand, Ford and Tesla are also key players in the EV industry. Ford CEO Jim Farley, leading the company’s battery vehicle plans, said in late 2021 that it would double production of both the fast-selling Mach-E electric crossover to 80,000 units in 2022. Then later he claimed that Ford would also boost its annual production target for the new F-150 Lightning pickup to 150,000 units from a previous 80,000-truck goal. According to another news that I am reading, Ford didn’t design a completely new platform for the Lightning, it simply modifies its existing F-150 design. This decision has enabled Ford to move FASTER to market. The Lightning, unveiled in May 2021, starts with a base price of $39,974 (before federal and state incentives) and driving range of 230 miles per charge. Top-end models will cost more than $90,000. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also promised that the Cybertruck would have a base price of $39,900 and a range of 250 miles per charge. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/01/13/fords-amped-up-electric-vehicle-strategy-boost-shares-tops-gms-market-cap/?sh=4b0a533b365c)

But,Recently, reference to a 2022 production schedule was scrubbed from its website, production of the vehicle won’t begin until the first quarter of 2023. （https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/13/22881646/tesla-cybertruck-production-date-2022-removed-website）

2021年10月14日星期四

【The World】IKO IKO 你聽過冇

我第一次見到以下嘅片段，我就鍾意咗IKO IKO呢首歌啦。他們跳得有點亂，衣服又不一致，身型更有點多元化，但加起來，我感覺十分舒服。我起初認為可能係音樂嘅原因，因為首歌的確好令人愉快。但我再看其他嘅IKO IKO嘅MTVs，我就知我鍾意呢個片段係因為佢哋嘅舞蹈加上呢個特別嘅音樂。我先將佢哋嘅片段放第一位（1），然後其他嘅，歌詞放到最後！

（1）IKO IKO BY JUSTIN WELLINGTON DANCE COVER