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- #631 - 🚀🍁📌 Launches, LEAFs, and Locations
#631 - 🚀🍁📌 Launches, LEAFs, and Locations
Stellantis Launches, Nissan LEAFs, and Charging Locations
TOGETHER WITH
We’re excited to send these emails daily and see what comes back. Sometimes replies, sometimes LinkedIn posts that tag back to us, and sometimes conversation at the next in-person event.
ASOTU CON is a chance to shorten the time between send and reply to…well…real-time.
We look forward to reading some articles over coffee with you all in May.
Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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BUSINESS
Big Money News
Giphy/PBS
Playing the mobility game is expensive, from $6B in South America to $5B in Georgia and $1.9B in California.
And, that's just today's news! The running total on "shaping our product as a solution for the future's problems" keeps increasing. Of course, "shaping the future's problems so our product is a solution" is even more expensive.
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Six Billion Dollar Plan
Stellantis has a $6B plan to develop new gas and ethanol engines in South America.
The investment will support over 40 new vehicle launches.
Hybrid, PHEV, BEV, and ICE vehicles are planned between 2025-2030.
Stellantis hopes to lean into the success of its Fiat brand in the region.
R2-Details
In a world with discounts and price wars, Rivian is just releasing a cheaper model.
The midsize SUV, R2, will start between $45K and $50K.
Launching in 2026 from the brand's $5B plant in Georgia.
The company hopes to recapture some of the $40K lost per vehicle that plagued its sales in 2023.
With Amazon investments keeping the lights on, the EV startup hopes to bring a broadly appealing vehicle to a "massive market with limited compelling EV options."
LEAF List
The 2024 Nissan LEAF has regained eligibility for a $3,750 U.S. federal EV tax credit. Nissan confirmed the LEAF, produced in Smyrna, Tenn., meets the battery component requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act. The credit applies to 2024 models sold after March 6, enhancing the LEAF's appeal among eco-conscious consumers and placing it on the short list of eligible models.
Solid and Ceramic
Maryland-based ION Storage Systems achieved a milestone with its anodeless, compressionless solid-state batteries (SSBs), reaching over 125 cycles with less than 5% capacity degradation.
That means that after being fully charged 125 times, the battery still keeps at least 95% of its original power capacity.
Using a unique 3-D ceramic structure, this innovation promises safer, more efficient batteries potentially exceeding 1,000 cycles.
Initially marketed to the U.S. military, ION aims for broader applications, including EVs and energy storage. A recent supply agreement with Saint-Gobain Ceramics marks a step towards scaling that production.
So Many Chargers
EV advocates are celebrating California crossing 100K public chargers. Another 500K personal home chargers mean the infrastructure growth in CA is making good on the $1.9B investment by the state's Energy Commission.
Apples to (Pine) Apples. In 2021, the state of California estimated 10,423 retail fuel stations, of which approximately 7,997 offered gasoline. So, there are far more places to charge up an EV, but it takes longer.
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It's hard to imagine a future with ten mobility options to choose from, but lately, it has been just as hard to imagine that all these companies, consumers, and regulatory bodies will come to an agreement on any of them in the long haul unless we literally put three options in each vehicle. Like a vroom-vroom cocktail.
TOGETHER WITH TRADEPENDING
What’s the Best Trade-in Tool for My Dealership?
TradePending
Trade-in tools are a mixed bag of options that should be straightforward but are surprisingly nuanced and demonstrably different in the “results” department.
There are basic "leave 'em hanging" forms, quick and simple valuation ranges, and time-consuming single-price offers. Each approach has benefits as well as their own drawbacks.
To better understand the pros and cons of all of those options, TradePending breaks ‘em all down for you.
Give it a watch and then schedule a demo with TradePending, purveyors of the slickest integration of trade-in ranges and guaranteed single-price offers.
/Positivity
We talk a lot about “Unreasonable Hospitality” around here, and we are excited to hear more from Will Guidara at ASOTU CON about how we can learn from his experience.
Have you seen any stories of unreasonable hospitality in our industry? We call those More Than Car Moments, and we LOVE telling people about them.
Hit reply or the link below and let us help share your story!
AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
Coming Soon
It's finally here! The release of Episode 3 for our More Than Cars docs-series featuring West Herr Automotive Group has officially been scheduled for March 27th at 1:00 pm EST. 🥳
We will showcase several of their epic dealership employees, their culture, and behind-the-scenes looks at how they lead with a "more than cars” mindset every single day.
If you're a dealer looking for inspiration on how to change up your game to push back on the negative dealer stigma, this episode is for you!
DATA & INSIGHT
The Topple of Titan
The Autopian
The last several days have been brutal for tech giant, Apple.
Not only was it fined $2B in Europe for abusing its power against Spotify, dropped from a Goldman Sachs list of top stocks, and caught backtracking on the issue of web apps on its iPhones, but it also quietly dissolved its long-troubled project to build an electric car.
Oof. And you thought you were having a bad week.
We dug into the start-up and breakdown of Apple’s automotive venture, aka “Project Titan,” this week — read all about it here.
Quick Hits
History
1950: The iconic Volkswagen Type 2 "Bus" begins production. 🚌
1969: The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the epitome of the American muscle car, is introduced. 🦅
1979: Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time. 💿
Thanks for reading, friend! We hope your choice to prioritize information and connection in your morning sets the tone for your Friday, weekend, and next week. For now, let’s just give today the 24 hours it deserves.