Trade War Escalation

In a previous newsletter, we discussed the US's significant move to quadruple its tariff on Chinese electric vehicles. growdy.beehiiv.com

In response, China said, “Hold my beer.” bloomberg.com, electrek.co

Although nothing is in place, China is considering applying its own tariff on European and US-made vehicles. europe.autonews.com

Stallantis CEO stood up as a voice of reason. "When you fight against the competition to absorb 30% of cost competitiveness edge in favour of the Chinese, there are social consequences. But the governments, the governments of Europe, they don't want to face that reality right now," Tavares said. "This is not going to be easy for the dealers. It's not going to be easy for the suppliers. It's not going to be easy for the OEMs. As we know in Europe, everybody is talking about change as long as change is for somebody else." reuters.com

Elon did Elon and changed his mind. After first sounding the alarm regarding his concerns about China flooding the world with cheap EVs, he’s flip-flopped on that opinion now, saying he disagrees with the US tariffs. reuters.com

Most of this tariff talk is irrelevant bullshit and noise. Chinese OEMs and parts suppliers are feverishly building factories in Europe and Mexico. Once established within the EU and USMCA borders, these tariffs won’t matter. bloomberg.com, bloomberg.com, reuters.com

It will be a while before you can buy a BYD Shark north of the Mexican border. motortrend.com

I fucking love concept vehicles.

Last week, I quipped that if Mitsubishi built their fancy new electric van concept, I would buy one (this is still true). growdy.beehiiv.com

This week, BMW shows us they have rizz. caranddriver.com, caranddriver.com

Carscoops calls it “quite possibly one of the best designs we’ve seen out of BMW for a decade.” carscoops.com

I’m also weirdly fascinated with the new Smart ForTwo concept. motor1.com

And Jim Farley, if you’re reading this, I would love to one day drive the mythical Mustang Raptor. caranddriver.com

Chinese OEMs are not slowing down in the face of new tariffs and political resistance. cnbc.com

Changan assumes Volga brand in Russia. carnewschina.com

Xiaomi is working on a second model but is focused on SU7 deliveries. cnevpost.com

Elon reiterates that he believes AI will replace your job, but don’t worry about it because there will also be Universal High Income. foxbusiness.com

Elon drops into the World Water Forum and outlines a plan to solve humanity's growing water scarcity crisis. newatlas.com

Elon reminisces about the time he fought a Sumo wrestler. businessinsider.com

Tesla pulls back on production of Model Y and Gigafactory Shanghai. reuters.com

Tesla might have leaked some still photos of their robotaxi’s interior. electrek.co

MLB’s umpire robot will not likely be on the field in 2025. nbcnews.com

This new rock-climbing robot has Stargate SG-1 Replicator and 80’s movie Runaway vibes. newatlas.com

LA Startup Aerodome focuses on Drone-As-First-Responder (DFR) solutions. techcrunch.com

Pipedream wants to build train-esque drone tunnels into your home for package and food delivery. youtube.com

In addition to killing windmills, Trump also promises more pipelines and fracking. reuters.com

Google plans to use heat from data centers in Finland to heat homes. theverge.com

Aeromine Technologies wants to drop bladeless turbines on top of warehouses and other large boxy buildings. electrek.co

Saudi Arabia plans Aramco share sale to help fund their economic transition known as Vision 2030. reuters.com

Lucid Motors cuts 400 jobs. techcrunch.com, autonews.com, reuters.com

GM plans to get back into PHEVs by 2027. caranddriver.com

Ford dealers can pause their EV investments in Canada and the US while the motor company sorts its shit out. autonews.com, electrek.co

Stellantis may have cracked the code on how to build reasonably priced EVs with the Citroen e-C3. Spoiler alert: use cheaper batteries. europe.autonews.com

Kia confirms plans to bring the cheaper EV3 model to the US. caranddriver.com

Hyundai shows off EV line-up in new promo video. youtube.com

Audi and Hyundai are considering joining forces on software-defined vehicles. europe.autonews.com

Volvo and Aurora revealed a new autonomous truck. theverge.com

You’ll need to wait a bit longer if you want a VW ID7. theverge.com, canada.autonews.com

The new electric Range Rover gets faster charging and a bigger battery. electrek.co

UAW wants a do-over at the Alabama Mercedes plant. reuters.com, cnbc.com

NHTSA probe finds way more Waymo incidents. reuters.com

You probably haven’t seen the “Made in China” Ram 1200. motortrend.com

Airbnb is working with ChargePoint to give hosts options to buy, install, and manage EV chargers for guests with electric vehicles. theverge.com

There’s a weird but cool emergent interest in off-road autonomous vehicles. techcrunch.com

Startup South 8 Technologies thinks it has found a solution for cold-weather EV charging. Porsche Ventures drops in some cash to find out. techcrunch.com, south8.com

TomTom plans to build an in-car AI assistant with the help of Microsoft Azure and OpenAi. mashable.com

The US Federal Aviation Administration approved the first training program in the country for electric aviation. youtube.com

Paul McCartney delightfully roasts Bruce Springsteen at the Ivor Novello Awards, saying, “He’s known as the American working man, but he admits he’s never worked a day in his life.” nme.com

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have a surprise show at the Gordon Lightfoot Tribute Concert with Blue Rodeo. variety.com, youtube.com

The other new iPad video that doesn’t want to crush all your artistic dreams featured this awesome track from Biig Piig. ispot.tv, youtube.com

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