Good morning! It’s Thursday, July 6, 2023, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
1st Gear: The Neverending Probe
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving beta dates back to the summer of 2021. It’s now the summer of 2023, and today the government agency wants to know if Tesla actually implemented the changes it promised it would when some 363,000 of its vehicles were recalled in February. NHTSA reached out to the EV maker on July 3 and has demanded a response by July 19. Courtesy ABC News, via the Associated Press:
In a letter dated July 3 and posted on the agency’s website Thursday, NHTSA asks Tesla to describe all changes to the systems in the “design, material composition, manufacture, quality control, supply, function, or installation of the subject system, from the start of production to date.”
Tesla must respond to the request by July 19, or it could face civil penalties, the letter states. It asks the electric vehicle maker to update a previous response dated Sept. 19 of last year. [...]
The letter also asks for which Tesla vehicles had cameras installed in the cabin to monitor drivers, and whether the system uses “Tesla Vision” which relies only on cameras to view the road and does not use radar.
NHTSA’s request includes changes that Tesla made as part of a February recall of “Full Self-Driving” software. NHTSA pressured Tesla into recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles with the software because the system can break traffic laws. The problem was to be fixed with an online software update.
Reuters added that NHTSA is seeking information about the occupant-facing cabin camera in particular because “nine of 11 vehicles in prior crashes exhibited no driver engagement, or visual or chime alerts, until the last minute preceding a collision, while four showed no visual or chime alerts at all during the final Autopilot use cycle,” according to department data from 2022.
Despite NHTSA’s findings and concern, Tesla appears determined to move fast and maybe break some things. At the end of June, CEO Elon Musk promised the next FSD release would take the software out of beta. This coincided with news that the company was looking to hire FSD testers — you know, in addition to those some 400,000 paying guinea pigs driving across the U.S. and Canada already.
2nd Gear: France Begs Stellantis For ‘Economic Patriotism’
A few months back, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire snapped a selfie with Elon Musk, presumably after talking about the possibility of a Tesla Gigafactory in the nation. This seemed to offend Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis which also claims Peugeot and Citroen as two of its many brands. Tavares seems to think Tesla and other startups are getting favorable deals; Le Maire seems to think Tavares ought to back the country that made it, even if it costs a bit more at the end of the day. From Bloomberg:
On Wednesday, Le Maire called for Tavares to show some “economic patriotism” and follow archrival Renault SA in producing a small electric car in France. The CEO hit back before day’s end, reiterating his view that carmakers without legacy combustion-engine assets are getting favorable treatment relative to companies that have made greater contributions to the wealth of western Europe.
“There is no reason why we should take an additional risk by making compact cars in a high-cost country,” Tavares told reporters during a conference call. “If the country is trying to attract newcomers with the investments of new plants, please ask them to take that risk.”
See, Stellantis has many compact EVs planned for its various makes, all sharing major components. But for the most part, these cars will be made in countries where labor and taxes are cheaper. Take the new Fiat 600 and Topolino, for example:
Stellantis showed off two new EVs in Italy earlier this week. Chairman John Elkann presented the Fiat 600 compact SUV that starts at €35,950 ($39,130), and the Fiat Topolino quadricycle priced from just €9,890.
While Stellantis staged the event at a historic former Fiat factory in Turin, it will build these models in Poland and Morocco. Last month, Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso complained that Stellantis isn’t producing enough cars in Italy and said the country has room for a a second major automaker. He and Tavares are scheduled to meet on Monday.
It’s a similar picture in France. Stellantis has pledged to make a dozen EVs in the country, but they’re mostly larger, higher-end models like the e-308 sedan and e-408 crossover. Le Maire wants Stellantis to expand production of the electric version of the compact Peugeot 208, one of Europe’s best-selling cars, in France to retain jobs and help counter inflation.
As of this moment, it seems likely that Peugeot’s e-208 will roll off production lines in Spain, not France.
3rd Gear: In Other Stellantis Factory News
Stellantis and LG have wanted to build a battery plant in Canada. They also wanted a better deal from the government — more in line with rival Volkswagen’s and what the U.S. government offered to the south. After some bickering, all parties reached an agreement in recent days, and construction on the plant in Windsor, Ontario has resumed. The facility will belong to NextStar Energy, the name of Stellantis and LG’s joint venture. From Automotive News:
Terms of the offer are unknown. But, Ontario has pledged to pay for up to one third of the entire package. Sources say that could be as much as $3.7 billion.
NextStar earlier this year said it wanted more subsidies to help pay for production of the cells and modules. It wanted terms similar to the U.S. IRA.
Stellantis, the federal government and province of Ontario then spent all of May and early June blaming each other for the standoff.
All levels of government said they wanted to offer something they deemed fair.
The automaker halted some construction May 15.
Stellantis said at the time that the federal government had not met its financial commitment to the project and that the company was implementing “contingency plans.”
Sources at that time told Automotive News Canada those plans were to move the module production to the United States, likely somewhere in Michigan.
LG has seven other battery plants built or in construction in North America, with several other partners, including Hyundai and General Motors.
4th Gear: Audi Doesn’t Want To Talk About Mexico
Audi is reportedly on the brink of announcing a plan to build EVs in Mexico, per Reuters. However, it doesn’t want to talk about it. Not yet.
German carmaker Audi is this month scheduled to announce plans to begin producing electric vehicles in Mexico, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, joining other major carmakers in ramping up EV output in Mexico.
Asked to comment, a spokesman in Germany said the company had no such plans. [...]
An announcement on Audi’s EV expansion plans is due to be made July 18 at its plant in San Jose Chiapa, Puebla, according to people familiar with the matter.
Top management from Germany is expected to attend the event surrounding what is likely to be a major investment, they said.
An Audi spokesman in Germany said no specific announcement was planned in Mexico.
“There is no announcement planned, and we cannot confirm any business trips or announcements,” the spokesman said.
Audi started churning out Q5 SUVs in Puebla in 2016 so it’s not like the brand doesn’t have a footing in the country, which makes the stern dismissal all the stranger. Sure, companies don’t announce things until they’re ready to, but typically you leave these things open to possibility. Also, Audi has publicly stated before that it intends each of its production sites to build at least one EV model by 2030; naturally, it would have to happen in Mexico sooner or later. Shame on you, me, and anyone else for talking about it.
Reverse: Joe Tanto Turns 77
Happy birthday to star of Driven and only Driven, Sly Stallone, who was born on this day in 1946. Motorsport journalist Marshall Pruett documented every minute or so of his rewatch three years ago, making for a handy companion next time you watch the best worst racing movie ever.
Neutral: You Know He Wants To
Twitter’s PR department has been responding to media inquiries with poop emojis since March. Elon should incorporate that strategy into Tesla’s communication with NHTSA and see what happens.