what is happening with General Motors' supply chain, Nissan's EV plans, and Denver's e-bike rebates
| 1. General Motors is reportedly bidding for a minority stake in Brazilian mining company Vale to gain earlier access to materials for EVs. In January, GM signed a $650M agreement with Lithium American Corp to source materials from the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada. Q: GM plans to release 30 new EVs globally by 2025. Do you think the automaker will be able to attain its EV goal? Share your thoughts. |
| 2. Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi announced they have reached an agreement on the changes to their alliance, which would see Renault lower its stake in Nissan to 15% from 43.4%. Nissan would also own 15% of Renault's new EV spinout, Ampere. Q: Nissan notified dealerships in the U.S. that the electric Ariya would be in limited supply this year due to high battery material costs. The launch of the Ariya was postponed in 2021 due to the global semiconductor shortage. Do you think the launch of a separate EV division will accelerate production? Let us know. |
| 3. Eaton Zveare, a white-hat hacker from Florida, reported a vulnerability with Toyota's supplier portal that enabled access to emails, accounts, and documents. Toyota addressed the breach but did not offer Zveare a bounty. Q: ABI Research estimated that automakers would spend $100B in digital transformation in 2022. Will automakers increase their IT budgets this year? Share your thoughts. |
| 4. The North Carolina State Treasury increased its stake in American Airlines by 4.5% to $3.438M. The airline recently announced a third daily service between Charlotte Douglas and London Heathrow. |
| 5. The city of Denver launched its latest round of e-bike subsidies, which were exhausted in 20 minutes due to high demand. The city offered a $300 rebate for new e-bikes and $1,200 for income-qualified residents. |
| 6. U.S.-based wireless charging company WiTricity is partnering with Chinese manufacturer Yutong Bus to provide inductive charging for autonomous minibuses in Zhengzhou. In August, WiTricity raised $63M to implement wireless vehicle-to-grid solutions. |
| 7. Chilean budget airline JetSmart announced its interest in acquiring Colombian carrier Viva Air. Last month, American Airlines gained regulatory approval in Chile to acquire a stake in JetSmart. |