Good morning! It’s Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 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: Tesla Cybercab To Have Remote Drivers On Standby
If you’re already a member of the church of Elon Musk, you’re probably excitedly counting down the days until Tesla’s self-driving Cybercab hits America’s highways allegedly in 2026. The “autonomous” taxi, which was unveiled by Tesla earlier this year, is due to bring true self-driving to the masses, but when it finally launches that might not be entirely true.
The two-seat Cybercab is scheduled to launch in a little over a year, according to Musk, but when that happens it might not be running without human input, reports Reuters. In fact, the long-promised self-driving taxi may have remote drivers on hand for each car, as Reuters reports:
Tesla aims to start its robotaxi service with a company-owned fleet backed up by human teleoperators for safety, Deutsche Bank said in a note after a meeting with the company’s head of investor relations.
Tesla plans to launch robotaxi service in California and Texas next year, Deutsche Bank said. Tesla had set that goal earlier this year.
Axelrod did not respond to a request for comment.
“Tesla believes it would be reasonable to assume some type of teleoperator would be needed at least initially for safety/redundancy purposes,” the bank said in the note. “Management intends to start off entirely with the company-owned fleet” and to use an internally developed ride-hail app, it said.
Using safety drivers wouldn’t be new in the world of autonomous taxis, as Waymo and Cruise both launched their autonomous ride-hailing services with safety drivers at the wheel to begin with. The two-seat design of Tesla’s Cybercab, however, means that the drivers won’t be physically inside the vehicle to monitor passenger safety and will instead need to be stationed away from the action.
Remote operators will instead need to monitor footage and other data that’s sent from onboard sensors and cameras fitted on the Cybercab. They’ll then need to be prepared to take control of the car should anything go wrong, as Tesla drivers are already required to do when using their own car with Autopilot or Full Self-Drive engaged.
Tesla has already begun recruiting for such roles, with Popular Science recently reporting that the American automaker is on the lookout for people who can provide “remote access to our robotaxis and humanoid robots” while they are working “autonomously in challenging environments.”
Presumably those teams will join the fleet of analysts Tesla currently has on hand to monitor Autopilot data collected by its cars on the road across America. At a Tesla plant in upstate New York, almost half of the employees there are solely focused on analyzing data from Autopilot.
2nd Gear: Retired Ram Boss Back To Save The Company
Stellantis is in turmoil right now with sales falling, dealer dismay and the departure of CEO Carlos Tavares. In an attempt to bring some stability back to its brands, the Jeep owner has called back former Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis to lead the brand to better fortunes.
Tavares abruptly left Stellantis earlier this month, sparking a reshuffle at the top for the Fiat owner. As a result of the reshuffle, the automaker has called for the return of Kuniskis less than six months after he retired as Ram CEO, reports Automotive News:
Michael Bettenhausen, the incoming chairman of Stellantis’ U.S. dealer council, said retailers contacted him with excitement over Kuniskis’ return. Bettenhausen said he recognized Kuniskis’ talent early in the executive’s 32-year tenure, when he was a field operations manager for the Chicago area.
He said Kuniskis is popular among dealers because he’s “just a down-to-earth guy. He’s not a suit.”
Kuniskis understands the market better than just about anyone, Bettenhausen said.
“Tim has the ability to transcend and make an impact across all brands even if he’s focusing on one or two of them, as he’s done in the past,” he said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge, and I think everyone in the company at some point of time has leaned on Tim for guidance and advice. You just can’t get those 32 years of sales and marketing experience he has and let it sit idle.”
As well as the reappointment of Kuniskis, Stellantis has also named Chris Feuell as the lead of Alfa Romeo’s operations in North America and Jeff Kommor will return to his position as head of U.S. sales. All of the changes are effective immediately, adds Automotive News.
Executives at the automaker will be hopeful that the reshuffle will be the start of a change in fortunes for Stellantis, which has struggled with sales as its lineup ages and faced backlash from dealers over its strategy for the U.S. market.
3rd Gear: Stellantis Plans $4.3BN EV Battery Plant
A new boss at Ram isn’t the only change afoot at Stellantis, as the Chrysler owner has also pledged billions of dollars to support the construction of a new battery plant in development with China’s CATL, reports CNBC News.
Stellantis will partner with CATL to build a $4.3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Spain that could have capacity to produce as much as 50 gigawatt hours. The plant will be a 50-50 venture between the two companies and could be up and running by the end of 2026, as CNBC adds:
Dodge maker Stellantis said the plant will boost the car giant’s “best-in-class” LFP credentials in Europe, enabling the company to make more high-quality and affordable battery-electric passenger cars and SUVs.
It comes at a time when Europe’s automakers are facing a perfect storm of challenges on the road to full electrification, including a lack of affordable models, a slower-than-anticipated rollout of charging points and the prospect of targeted U.S. tariffs.
“This important joint venture with our partner CATL will bring innovative battery production to a manufacturing site that is already a leader in clean and renewable energy, helping drive a 360-degree sustainable approach,” Stellantis Chairman John Elkann said in a statement.
The project is the latest in a string of hefty investments that have been earmarked for electrification. Last week, the Department of Energy announced more than $7 billion in loans to support the electrification of America’s auto industry and VW previously increased its investment in American startup Rivian.
The influx of cash in EVs comes ahead of president Trump’s inauguration in the new year, with the convicted felon expected to slash support for battery-powered cars across the U.S.
4th Gear: NHTSA Closes Fisker Probe
Negative reviews, poor sales and buggy software killed Fisker and its Ocean SUV before it really had a chance, and a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe promised to be the final nail in the cursed automaker’s coffin. Now, the NHTSA has closed its inquiry into unintended movement of the Ocean following recalls and fixes issued by the failed automaker.
The NHTSA initially launched an inquiry into around 4,000 Ocean SUVs after reports that the cars weren’t shifting into park, reports Reuters. The probe was expanded to cover more than 7,000 cars and recalls were issued in an attempt to rectify the issue, as Reuters explains:
The complaints alleged an inability to shift into the park mode or into the intended gear, which could result in an inadvertent vehicle movement.
The NHTSA said last month Fisker is recalling 7,745 vehicles as a rollaway increases the risk of a crash or injury.
The company was fixing the issue by releasing a software upgrade “OS 2.0″, which introduced an “Auto Vehicle Hold” feature that prevents the vehicle from rolling under gravity, which therefore helps engage both the park gear and electronic parking brake, NHTSA said on Monday.
This doesn’t mean that the problems are over for Fisker, and the automaker is very much dead after its assets were stripped and its remaining stock was sold off to the lowest bidder. In fact, company boss Henrik Fisker already appears to have moved on, with plans already in the works for a new company headed by the former car designer. I wonder how that one’s going to pan out?