Good morning! It’s Friday, April 12, 2024, and that is The Morning Shift, your every day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from world wide, in a single place. Listed below are the necessary tales you’ll want to know.
1st Gear: Ford Cuts Up To $5,500 Off Lightning EV Value
Should you’re trying to choose up a cut price EV, now is an effective time to move to the sellers as corporations throughout the U.S. are slashing costs of their electrical fashions. Tesla has been trimming the price of its vary for months, Lucid adopted go well with and Fisker is even providing its electrical SUV for lower than $25,000. Now, Ford has turn into the most recent automaker to chop costs of its electrical fashions, slashing hundreds off the price of an F-150 Lightning pickup truck.
Ford has minimize as much as $5,500 off sure fashions of F-150 Lightning because it appears to be like to reignite gross sales of the electrical pickup now that deliveries have resumed weeks after a stop-ship order was issued, stories Bloomberg. As the location explains:
Ford Motor Co. slashed costs of its electrical F-150 Lightning pickup truck by as a lot as 7.5% as its EV stock balloons and the automaker prepares to renew deliveries this month following a halt earlier for an undisclosed high quality situation.
The value cuts put in place April 5 partially reverse hikes in January as Ford was decreasing manufacturing of its signature electrical automobile by half and eliminating a shift of staff. The largest discount of $5,500 is on the Flash extended-range mannequin, which now begins at $67,995, the automaker mentioned.
Ford mentioned through electronic mail that the cuts will assist it “adapt to the market to attain the optimum mixture of gross sales progress and buyer worth.”
Ford halted gross sales of the F-150 Lightning again in February 2024 when the corporate issued a stop-ship order on the electrical vehicles. The order got here because of a high quality situation that Ford was compelled to handle. Whereas it was wanting into the problem, manufacturing of the Lightning seems to have continued, with stock of the electrical truck now swelling to greater than 130 days price, stories Bloomberg.
The over-supply sparked the minimize in costs for the electrical truck, which can also be eligible for additional manufacturing facility incentives and tax breaks introduced as a part of the Inflation Discount Act.
2nd Gear: Polestar Gross sales Plummet 40 P.c In Q1
Whereas Ford is making ready to kick off deliveries of its electrical truck as soon as once more, Swedish automaker Polestar might be hoping for a supply enhance of its personal after asserting disappointing gross sales for the start of 2024. In line with the model’s newest figures, gross sales of the swanky electrical automobiles have been down 40 % within the first three months of the yr.
The dip in gross sales meant that Polestar delivered simply 7,200 autos within the first quarter, stories Reuters. That determine was down from greater than 12,000 automobiles that the corporate offered this time final yr. As Reuters explains:
A ramp-up in deliveries of its Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 two luxurious SUVs will contribute to income within the latter a part of the yr, CEO Thomas Ingenlath mentioned in a press release.
“These two automobiles will present the premise for a powerful income and margin development through the second half of the yr, supporting our 2025 targets,” Ingenlath mentioned.
The corporate goals to ship 155,000-165,000 automobiles in 2025.
Up to now, deliveries of the brand new Polestar 4 have solely began in China, with the corporate receiving round 1,200 items of the brand new automotive initially of the yr. The Polestar 4 and a couple of will quickly be joined by the Polestar 3 SUV, which is hoped will assist enhance the corporate’s gross sales in markets such because the U.S.
Gross sales of the Polestar 3 are projected to kick off within the second quarter of 2024, and the Polestar 4 will roll out to markets together with Australia and Europe within the coming months. Hopefully, it will present the Geely-backed automaker with the enhance it wants by way of 2024.
third Gear: Mustang Mach-E Was Utilizing BlueCruise In Deadly Crash
Federal investigators wanting right into a deadly crash that noticed a Ford Mustang Mach-E crash into two stationary automobiles in Pennsylvania have revealed that Ford’s superior driver help characteristic BlueCruise was working on the time of the collisions.
The crash, which occurred in February, was the topic of a Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) probe, which has immediately shared that the driving force help characteristic was working on the time of the incident, stories Reuters. In line with the location:
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned the Ford had “BlueCruise” in use. Primarily based on information from the automobile, the Ford driver had been working in BlueCruise mode earlier than the crash that killed the 56-year-old Honda driver, the NTSB mentioned.
A San Antonio police report mentioned beforehand the Ford had “partial automation” engaged on the time of the crash.
Each the NTSB and the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) are investigating the San Antonio crash and are additionally investigating a March 3 crash in Philadelphia involving a Ford Mach-E the place a sophisticated driver help system is suspected of use.
On account of the findings, the probe into the collision has now turn into a full-blown investigation, with the NTSB hoping to seek out out what function BlueCruise performed within the crash.
4th Gear: EPA’s Push In opposition to Poisonous Chemical compounds Is Coming For The Auto Trade
A marketing campaign launched by the Environmental Safety Company might be about to upend how we make the batteries that energy our electrical automobiles. The federal government company has begun a clampdown on so-called “endlessly chemical substances,” that are compounds that don’t simply break down within the setting or human physique and may trigger critical well being points akin to most cancers.
Substances like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, generally known as PFAS, are often used within the auto business in issues like batteries and o-rings. The compounds are linked with hormonal points and sure varieties of most cancers, so the EPA has launched a push to remove their use, stories Automotive Information. As the location explains:
Regulators are attempting to scale back the quantity of endlessly chemical substances — which don’t simply break down within the human physique or within the setting — in U.S. waterways and cut back the quantity the general public is uncovered to. Simply this week, the EPA introduced its first-ever consuming water commonplace to guard individuals towards the chemical substances and provided $1 billion to states for public water system testing, the company’s first main transfer to curb the cancer-causing chemical substances.
Excessive publicity to those chemical substances has been linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, in addition to decreased fertility. Regardless of this, they’re widespread in on a regular basis objects akin to sure non-stick frying pans. Due to the well being dangers of those compounds, the EPA is working to gather data from corporations that produce and use them.
There are presently few options to the PFASs used within the auto business, however Automotive Information defined that there are startups creating different choices for the sector.
