Summary of Nutson’s weekly automotive news on October 31, 2021

AUTO CENTRAL CHICAGO – October 31, 2021: Every Sunday Larry Nutson, The Chicago Car Guy and Executive Producer, with the able help of Editor-in-Chief Thom Cannell of the Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, compiles The Auto Channel’s “take” on the automotive news from last week, condensed into easy-to-digest news nuggets.

LEARN MORE: Full versions of today’s news nuggets plus nearly one million pages of automotive content from the past 25 years, archived news, articles, reviews and relevant stories residing in the News Library The Auto Channel’s automobiles can be found by simply copying a title and then inserting it into any Search box on the site.

Nutson Automotive News Summary – Week ending October 30, 2021; Below you’ll find important, relevant, semi-secret, or eye-catching automotive news from the past week, opinions and insider stories presented as easy-to-digest news nuggets designed by experts.

* Quote of the week is from Joe White writing for Reuters. “At a high level, the investment community has slammed the hammer on the debate over the future of combustion engine vehicles in major markets around the world. The verdict: it’s over. Electric vehicles are the winners, and Tesla is by far the leader in electric vehicles that it will take any market share it can manage – like GM in the 1950s and 1960s, except on top of that. “

* GM plans to install 40,000 electric vehicle chargers in the United States and Canada as part of a new community charging program. The program, which is slated to start next year, will work with its dealers to install charging stations in locations such as workplaces, multiple-dwelling buildings, sports and entertainment venues, colleges and universities. . Almost 90% of the American population live within 10 miles of a GM dealership. EV chargers will be available to anyone with an electric vehicle, regardless of brand.

* From a Detroit Free news article, we learn that a new report details the costs for “refueling” an electric vehicle versus a gasoline-powered car. Anderson Economic published the report “Comparison: The True Cost of Powering Electric Vehicles and Electric Vehicles in the Real World.” The study has four major findings regarding the additional costs of powering electric vehicles beyond electricity: the cost of a home charger, commercial charging, the electric vehicle tax, and deadhead miles. For now, electric vehicles cost more energy than gasoline to power an internal combustion car that gets reasonable gas mileage. Charging costs vary more widely than gasoline prices. It takes a long time to find reliable public chargers, and a charger can take 30 minutes to go from 20% to 80%.

* Hertz announced that it has ordered 100,000 Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles for its car rental fleets in the United States and Europe and 50,000 for the Uber partnership. Hertz will have access to the Tesla Supercharger network. Hertz also plans to build its own charging network with 3,000 chargers in 65 locations by the end of 2022 and 4,000 by the end of 2023. Hertz will provide Uber drivers with up to 50,000 rented Tesla – a deal which fleshed out the justification for Hertz’s order. of 100,000 Teslas. Former Ford CEO Mark Fields is Hertz’s interim CEO.

* The record prices of used cars over the past 15 months due to the shortage of microchips have slowed the average depreciation rate of all vehicles. The latest iSeeCars study found that the average depreciation of a five-year-old vehicle slowed to 40.1% in 2021, down from 49.1% in 2020. Jeep Wrangler tops the list of vehicles with the lowest depreciation , at 9.2% over five years. . The Nissan LEAF depreciates the most, losing 65.1% of its value, down $ 23,666 in five years. Trucks and truck-based SUVs retain their value the best, while electric vehicles and luxury sedans suffer the most depreciation. See how your vehicle is HERE

* Land Rover has unveiled the new Range Rover 2022. The first redesign in a decade. It is expected to go into production next year as the fifth generation of the large off-road luxury SUV since the model range launched in 1970. There will be a V8 as well as a mild hybrid inline 6 engine. A pure battery-electric version will arrive in 2024. The new Range Rover is available to order now, priced at $ 104,000 in the US, with deliveries starting in spring 2022.

* The 2023 Kia Sportage premiered in the United States. The new Sportage is gaining momentum compared to the previous model. The overall length is 7.1 inches longer and the wheelbase increases by 3.4 inches. The fifth generation of the crossover arrives in America in the first quarter of 2022.

* Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Small SUV Crash Results introduces a new, stricter side crash test to deal with high-speed collisions that continue to cause fatalities. In early 2020-21 vehicle tests, only one in 20 small SUVs, the 2021 Mazda CX-5, scores well. Nine vehicles get acceptable ratings: the Audi Q3, Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Venza and Volvo XC40. Eight others – the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, GMC Terrain, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Jeep Renegade, Kia Sportage and Lincoln Corsair – get marginal marks. Two others, the Honda HR-V and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, received poor marks. To deal with higher speed collisions, the updated side test uses a heavier barrier moving at a higher speed to simulate the striking vehicle. The new barrier weighs 4,180 pounds – nearly the weight of today’s midsize SUVs – and hits the test vehicle at 37 mph, against a 3,300-pound barrier traveling at 31 mph in the original estimate.

* Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 won the German Car of the Year 2022 (GCOTY) award in the “New Energy” category. As a category winner, the manufacturer’s fully electric intermediate CUV will automatically participate in the last round of GCOTY. IONIQ 5 will compete against the winners of the “Compact”, “Premium”, “Luxury” and “Performance” categories. The big winner will be announced on November 25, 2021.

* The Lucid Air sedan went into production about a month ago in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid plans to deliver its first customer cars on Saturday, October 30, marking a significant milestone for the company. The first examples to be handed over to owners are the Dream Edition range with an EPA range estimate of 520 miles and the Dream Edition Performance with a horsepower rating of 1111 hp.

* Honda at SEMA 2021: Honda will showcase its diverse paths to fun and performance at the SEMA 2021 show in Las Vegas from November 2-5, showcasing seven vehicles, including the debuts of two all-new Civic Si race cars and A pair of rugged Honda light trucks custom designed for extreme overland adventures. Honda Performance Development (HPD) will present a prototype of its next-generation Civic Si turnkey racing car. Designed for touring car competition, it will be on display alongside the new Civic Si race car from Team Honda Research West (THR-W), which will compete in the 25-hour Thunderhill Endurance Race from 3 to December 5.

* The Dodge brand doubles its role as a pure performance brand with a preview of one of two new performance-based programs to be announced in early November. National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing superstars Matt Hagan and Leah Pruett helped kick off the launch streak by wearing special “Direct Connect” graphics on their respective race cars at the Dodge National Championships // SRT NHRA presented by Pennzoil, scheduled for the weekend October 29-31 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Strip. “Tune in” to the virtual announcement of two new Dodge brand performance initiatives on November 8 on Dodge.com.

* The winner was not a driver but an algorithm last Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the best car reached an average speed of 135mph, ushering autonomous vehicles into a new era. By setting the record pace over two laps, a team from Technical University of Munich (TUM) won a million dollar prize in the inaugural Indy Autonomous Challenge, an event dedicated to self-driving cars. Each autonomous car relies on sensors, cameras, radars, but above all GPS, without which no controlled movement is possible, to the point that some have two on board. The Dallara IL-15, used by all teams, looks like a Formula 1 car but is smaller and costs $ 230,000. However, the technology on board makes each car worth more than a million dollars, according to the organizers of the event.

Be careful. Be well.