Tesla EV charging agreements with Ford, GM muddle standard

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Two pathways are emerging as electric vehicle charging infrastructure expands across the US Automaker partnerships will determine whether those technologies will coexist or whether one will push the other out, like VHS and Betamax. Four months ago, the US was heading toward a standard way of charging EV with chargers other than those built by Tesla using a common connector to become eligible for federal funding. Tesla’s charging agreement with Ford Motor Co. and General Motors threw that push to standardization into question and could further fragment the country’s charging infrastructure, at least for now, analysts say. GM and Ford…
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Toyota future EV plans include batteries with 900-mile range

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As it prepares for its new products, factory engineers will also introduce a slew of manufacturing techniques for the 2026 EVs. Their goal is to halve the number of production processes, halve the amount of plant investment and halve the amount of production lead needed to set up for new nameplates. The new techniques will include the use of giga casting, which eliminates the countless parts and brackets by essentially casting the vehicle’s front and back as two giant modules. The under-rear section of the current Toyota bZ4X, for example, is an amalgam complex of 86 parts manufactured through 33…
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A fraud tale: Misdirection of parts

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Image credit: Depositphotos. comOne type of fraud a shop can fall victim to is a misdirection of sales part. A red flag for any shop would be a discrepancy between what the shop thinks it’s making on parts and what is actually being realized. Hunt Demarest, a senior accountant who specializes in working with automotive repair shops with Paar, Melis & Associates, had a client suffer through this kind of scheme. The client’s books were a mess. In the process of cleaning it up, parts margin data was compared to the shop management software. In Demarest’s eyes, so long…
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Millions Of Kia Cars Could Have Dangerous Airbags

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View of the dashboard of a 2007 Kia Optima as it’s being driven.good morning! It’s Thursday, June 1, 2023 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: Kia And ARC Automotive On Wednesday, a newly released federal document placed the number of Kia vehicles equipped with airbags supplied by Knoxville-based ARC Automotive at almost 4 million, according to The Wall StreetJournal. This is believed to be merely a fraction of the total number of affected…
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As the West surges toward electric cars, here’s where the unwanted gas guzzlers go

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Cotonou, Benin CNN —Standing on the stony ground in the bustling Fifa Park car lot, Rokeeb Yaya is haggling over the price of a dark red car. It is one of a couple hundred vehicles, parked in long lines stretching out across the vast lot – some shiny and new-looking, others dented and dusty.The car Yaya has his eye on, a 2008 US-built Ford Escape, is on sale for around $4,000. It’s relatively affordable – US cars are cheaper than most other brands in the lot – and he wants to upgrade from his motorbike to a car.…
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Stellantis and Vulcan sign a deal for French geothermal projects

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Stellantis has signed a new agreement with Australia-listed lithium supplier Vulcan Energy Resources aiming to help decarbonize its European operations, the two groups said. As global demand for electric-vehicle batteries rises, Stellantis has signed deals with multiple miners to secure key minerals, including with Vulcan, in which the automaker is now the second largest investor. The binding agreement announced on Wednesday is for the first phase of a project to develop new geothermal sources contributing to the energy supply of an industrial site in Mulhouse, eastern France, where Stellantis produces several Peugeot and DS models, including the full-electric Peugeot e…
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Ford, GM, Volvo exhaust supplier Wescast closing Ontario foundry, Unifor says

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Wescast Industries, a Tier 1 automotive supplier of exhaust manifolds, has informed Unifor of its intention to close its foundry in Wingham, Ont., where it has operated for more than 120 years, the union said May 29. Unifor said the closure will devastate workers, families and the community of Wingham, about 190 kilometers northwest of Toronto. About 250 members of Unifor Local 4207 work at the facility. “Wescast and its overseas owners are turning their backs on the foundry’s dedicated workforce and the community that has supported them for generations,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said. “The Wingham foundry closure…
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