Senate puts $40,000 cap on price of EV qualifying for tax credit
Welcome to The Fly’s latest edition of “Charged,” where we look back at some recent analysts’ notes, news and activity in the electric vehicle and clean energy space.
TESLA PROBE BY NHTSA: On Monday morning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a formal investigation into Tesla’s (TSLA) autopilot system which covers 765,000 models Y, X, S and 3 for years 2014 through 2021. Since January 2018, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation has identified eleven crashes in which Tesla models of various configurations have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes. The crashes resulted in 17 injuries and one fatality. Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones, the agency said in a post on its website. The involved subject vehicles were all confirmed to have been engaged in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control during the approach to the crashes. The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist, and enforce the driver’s engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation.
GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson views this morning’s formal autopilot investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a “potential big problem” for Tesla. The agency is focusing on the danger that Tesla’s autopilot creates for people outside the vehicle, so the drivers accept autopilot’s risks does not appear to be a defense here, Johnson tells investors in a research note. The analyst is of the opinion that Tesla’s driver assist software does not monitor driver awareness nearly as well as other available systems. Johnson has a Sell rating on Tesla shares.
Also commenting on NHTSA’s formal safety probe into Tesla’s Autopilot system, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said the scrutiny supports his industry view around the need for sensor redundancy and is a risk that he has noted before given what he called “Tesla’s more controversial approach to automated driving than peers.” Michaeli, who acknowledged it is too early to predict how NHTSA’s probe might conclude, believes the probe could end in some sort of recall or feature changes in the “worst case.” Michaeli has a Sell rating and $209 price target on Tesla shares.
TESLA CHINA SHIPMENTS: Tesla shipments of cars made in China to the local market fell 69% in July from June to just 8,621 units, Bloomberg reported. In June, Tesla’s Shanghai factory shipped 28,138 cars to the local market. Exports jumped to 24,347 in July from 5,017 in June, and overall Tesla China shipments in July declined 0.6% to 32,968, according to the report.
DELIVERY DELAY: Ford (F) confirmed that it is delaying deliveries of its electric Mustang Mach-E crossovers and some Bronco SUVs amid manufacturing issues, CNBC’s Michael Wayland reported. The delays are due to a roof issue on the Bronco SUV and a shortage of semiconductor chips for the Mustang Mach-E crossover. Ford said that, “As a result of continued roof challenges, we will be producing fewer 2021 model year Bronco vehicles than initially planned” and that “We are working closely with all of our key suppliers to address production constraints tied to this global semiconductor shortage so we can continue to build Mach-E vehicles, and get them to our customers as quickly as we can.”
On Wednesday, Electrek’s Jameson Dow reported that Ford had sent out an email to future Mach-E owners warning of a six-week delay in delivery times for orders produced or scheduled between July 5 and October 1 due to the global semiconductor shortage. Ford will provide an additional 250kWh worth of complimentary charging to affected owners, according to the report.
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