Tesla is now starting to share its technology with other companies.

Tesla is now starting to share its technology with other companies. To some extent, I feel like I'm not fighting and let's go with a similar process, which is more efficient. I think I'll be able to take Tesla's advice once or twice at first, and then I'll be able to follow everything Elon Musk does once and for all after adapting perfectly. It's great that the company that came out later is teaching companies that have a long tradition," he tells Elon Musk. "Work together," Jimmy Farley says Ford's next-generation team is going down a "similar path" to Tesla's 48-volt architecture
12/8/2023 3:43am. (Benzinga Newswire)

Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) CEO Jimmy Farley said Thursday that the team working on the next generation of vehicles is following a similar path to the 48-volt architecture of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

The CEO made the announcement at X hours after receiving a document on the high-voltage architecture from rival CEO Elon Musk.

What happened: "I'm glad to read the document and realize that our next generation team is on a similar path," Farley wrote in X. "Let's work together to help the supply base move into the 48V future."

Musk sent Farley a document earlier this week that covers details from the basic components needed to implement a 48-volt architecture to its range and potential impact on power delivery.

The 48-volt architecture enables faster charging and better performance, as well as the steer-by-wire capabilities of the Cybertruck.

Ford's Next Generation Vehicle: Ford announced its next generation electric truck, codenamed "Project T3," in March. The company plans to produce the truck at its electric vehicle and battery manufacturing campus in West, Tennessee, in 2025.

Farley cited the second-generation truck as one of the most exciting vehicles of his career in Ford's third-quarter earnings release, adding: "This truck offers remarkable performance, a highly flexible cabin and an immersive digital experience that is 'lounge-like'."

"It's still an amazing product to pull off the wheels of this truck, and if it's a completely immersive and personalized digital experience, I'll pick this truck all week long. Rather than Cybertruck," he said. For Ford, Tesla, and other automakers in 2024, this word, not electric, matters.
12/8/2023 8:18am. Barrons

For automakers competing for market share in 2024, such as Tesla, Ford, and General Motors, the critical challenge is not to produce the most advanced electric vehicles, but to create more affordable ones. Companies that quickly realize these lessons will provide the biggest rewards to investors.

Earlier this week, MotorTrend named Chevy Colorado its 2024 Truck of the Year, the first gasoline-powered car since 2021.

The electric Ford F-150 Lightning won in 2023 and the Rivian R1T in 2022.

MotorTrend's decision is not a denial about an electric car. A midsize Colorado truck costs much less than an electrician. It starts at around $30,000, and a well-equipped model can cost more than $50,000. The F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T, on the other hand, can easily cost more than $80,000.

A similar trend has also been seen in the automotive sector. In November, MotorTrend named the Toyota Prius its 2024 Car of the Year. The Prius is inexpensive, starting at around $28,000.

Over the past few years, MotorTrend has been awarding luxury vehicles such as the Genesis G90, Mercedes E-Class, Corvette, Genesis G70, and Alpha Romeo Giulia.

Luxury vehicles have won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award nine times in the last 12 years. The period began when the Tesla Model S won the award in 2013, and the Car of the Year has been named the Electric Vehicle for the three consecutive years. Chevy Bolt and Lucid Air also won the award.

The need for more affordable prices than fewer luxury goods going forward is well documented. According to Edmunds' automotive data provider, the percentage of people who borrow more than $1,000 a month from buying a new car reached an all-time high of 17.5% in the third quarter. This percentage was around 4% of buyers in 2019.

Loans increased as interest rates and car prices rose. The average transaction price for a new car in October was about $48,000, up from $39,000 in December 2019.

In October, the average price of a luxury car was about $63,000, up from about $58,000 in December 2019. On the other hand, the average price of a regular car was about $44,000, up from about $34,000 in December 2019.

Here's a clear message for automakers from Tesla to Toyota.

Make more affordable cars. This is true for electric cars, too.

In the U.S., about 25 percent of all sales of luxury electric vehicles were made up of electric vehicles in the third quarter. But for non-luxury cars, sales of electric vehicles were about 3 percent.

This is not because there is no demand, but because there are not many affordable EV models. Car buyers are essentially shouting "provide cheaper EVs."

In 2024, Cadillac, Audi and Acura will all launch new battery electric vehicles in North America. However, they are all considered luxury brands.

Overall, electric cars are getting cheaper. Batteries are the most expensive part of electric cars, but they are down almost a tenth from when the Model S won the Car of the Year award in 2013.

GM still has plans to lower battery costs to about $70 per kilowatt-hour from the current $133 per kilowatt-hour.

The Chevy Bolt can travel about 260 miles on a single charge, and its battery pack measures 65 kilowatt-hours. This savings could deduct nearly $5,000 from the price of Bolt's stickers. The price of the base model of the Bolt starts at around $27,000.

In the third quarter, Tesla's average selling price was about $44,000 per vehicle, down from about $54,000 a year ago, and it was still able to make an operating profit of about $4,000 per vehicle.

Tesla could theoretically double its profits while reducing profitability by nearly 10% when battery costs reach GM levels.

The batteries are currently affordable enough to sell profitable electric vehicles.

BYD controls costs by manufacturing its own batteries, while GM, Tesla and others are ramping up their own battery production capabilities.

Launching luxury models was a good idea when the American automotive industry needed to sell hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles a year.

But when automakers try to sell millions of vehicles, they have to be cheaper.