Scaling up the EV business

Issue #256, July 25, 2024

It is time to scale up the electric vehicle (EV) business - from manufacturing to sale, maintenance, repair and end-of-life management! Elon Musk plans to use humanoid robots in Tesla to produce cars efficiently and reduce labor shortages. Tesla also uses gigacasting for making the vehicle chassis as the process works to reduce weight and dramatically improve manufacturing efficiency. Extracting and processing lithium is both costly and tough on the environment. To meet that demand, Gradiant is spinning out a new business called alkaLi. Instead of mining from rock, the venture plans to extract lithium from brine. Volt Singapore will build an EV fast-charging hub hosting up to 80 charging points, the largest public fast-charging facility at a single site in Southeast Asia. India in its recent budged announced the establishment of Critical Mineral Mission to boost domestic production and overseas acquisition of critical minerals and their recycling. Isuzu will launch a new small truck that requires only a regular driver's license to drive, as Japan battles a severe driver shortage. Below are some recent media updates that help in scaling up EV adoption globally.

Humanoid robots at Tesla

Elon Musk recently said that he believed humanoid robots would be “genuinely useful.” Tesla wants the robots to help produce its cars more efficiently, complete difficult chores and reduce labor shortages. He has said the company wanted the robots to have a price point below $20,000. The robots are expected to have conversational capabilities and include safeguards to prevent wrongdoing. - WSJ

Gigacasting for efficiency

In the race to make EVs cheaper and more profitable, companies are pulling just about every lever they can. But while improving battery technology often hogs the spotlight, automakers are investing heavily into changing how the rest of the car is made. One such method is megacasting, or gigacasting, as Tesla calls it. Gigacasting is a form of die-casting — pouring materials like molten aluminum into large molds to form parts. Tesla said the process works to reduce weight and dramatically improve manufacturing efficiency. For example, the front and rear portions of the early Model 3 chassis each contained more than 70 parts. The same two portions on the very similar Model Y are now just one part each.?- CNBC

Lithium from brine

Lithium is hugely important to electrifying the world’s vehicles, with just one car’s battery requiring more than 17 pounds of it. But extracting and processing the critical mineral is both costly and tough on the environment. To meet that demand, Gradiant, which cleans up wastewater on an industrial scale, is spinning out a new business, called alkaLi. Instead of mining from rock, the standalone venture plans to extract lithium from brine – naturally occurring extremely salty water found in a variety of regions – and process it for use in batteries using a technique that it developed. - Forbes

SE Asia's largest EV charging hub

Volt Singapore, a unit of Singaporean asset manager Keppel, will build an EV fast-charging hub in the city-state to serve both commercial and passenger cars. Hosting up to 80 charging points for buses, taxis, privately owned cars and other EVs, the new hub will be the largest public fast-charging facility at a single site in Southeast Asia. - Nikkei Asia

India's Critical Mineral Mission

India in its recent budged announced the establishment of Critical Mineral Mission to boost domestic production and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets and their recycling. With this initiative, an indirect boost is given to EV production. Critical minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements are exempted from customs duty. This move is welcomed by the auto industry players as it can significantly boost the recycling of critical minerals in India along with its production. - ET Auto

Trucks for anyone to manage driver shortage

Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors will launch a new small truck in Japan that requires only a regular driver's license to drive, as Japan battles a severe labor shortage in the logistics industry. Isuzu sees the new truck, the Elf Mio, with a 1.9-liter diesel engine, as suitable for a small-lot delivery operators and independent business owners who struggle to recruit drivers. - Nikkei Asia