Photos emerge of NIO’s new mass-market ‘Alps’ EV competitor to Toyota and VW
The first photos of NIO’s new “Alps” brand have allegedly emerged online. The new EV brand is designed to take NIO mainstream, positioning itself to compete with automaking giants like Toyota and Volkswagen in the mass-market segment.
NIO’s new Alps mass-market EV brand surfaces
NIO CEO William Li confirmed the company would launch a new mass-market brand in August 2021.
Li said during the company’s Q2 2021 earnings call, “We’ll enter the mass market with a new brand. The quoting of the new brand has been assembled, marking the first step of the strategic initiative of NIO.”
Although local media outlet 36kr reported in July 2021 that NIO had been considering a sub-brand initially called “TV” for Toyota and Volkswagen, the codename changed to “Alps” to avoid complications.
According to the report, Toyota and VW are the highest-selling automakers, and the Alps are Europe’s tallest mountain range.
NIO’s leader compared the relationship between NIO and the new brand to Volkswagen and Audi or Lexus with Toyota. But he said this is more about the positioning of the brands. The brand will differentiate itself rather than using a Tesla-like strategy with the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X.
NIO currently targets the $50,000 to $100,000 market segment, but its new mainstream EV brand would be priced around $30,000 to $50,000.
The new brand will be based on NIO’s new tech (NT) platform 3.0, with in-house batteries developed for the mass-market models. Li said the company believes the Alps brand can “sell probably 50,000 units per month” with one model.
More recently, on the company’s first-quarter earnings, Li mentioned that NIO is still planning to launch the Alps EV brand in the second half of 2024, but the focus was on moving models to the new NT 2.0 platform (like the new ES6 pictured above) and ensuring a smooth launch.
The first alleged spy photos emerging out of China suggest NIO’s first EV from the Alp brand is under development.
The images posted on Weibo show a heavily camouflaged vehicle that appears to be a sedan but could pose as a potential crossover. We should point out that the design looks eerily similar to the NIO ET7 with slight variations. It doesn’t have a LiDAR on the roof but does include a camera under the windshield, indicating a smart drive system.
Electrek’s Take
With NIO’s positioning as a premium EV maker, a cheaper mass-market sub-brand would make sense. Volkswagen and Toyota are the largest automakers but are losing market share as the industry transitions to electric quicker than many predicted.
A more affordable brand could help expand NIO’s user base beyond premium customers, reaching new markets. Li has already confirmed NIO will launch the new mass-market brand in Europe.
Not only is NIO looking to take on legacy automakers, but car makers in China like BYD are rapidly expanding, with low-cost EVs like the Dolphin starting at around $33,000.
BYD is vertically integrated, allowing it to offer electric models at these prices. NIO says it’s working to establish this. Check back for more info on NIO’s upcoming Alps mass-market brand as it approaches its official launch.
Source: CnEVPost, Weibo
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Environment
U.S. could reach deal with Canada that avoids oil and gas tariffs, energy secretary says
HOUSTON — The U.S. could reach an agreement with Canada that avoids tariffs on imports of oil, gas and other energy resources, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday.
Wright said such a scenario is “certainly is possible” but “it’s too early to say” in response to a question from CNBC during a press conference at the CERAWeek by S&P Global. The U.S. is in “active dialogue” with Canada and Mexico, the energy secretary said.
President Donald Trump has paused until April 2 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports that are compliant with the agreement which governs trade in North America. Trump originally imposed broad 25% tariffs on goods from both countries as well as lesser 10% tariffs on energy imports from Canada.
It’s unclear, however, how much of the oil, gas and other energy that the U.S. imports from Canada is compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Wright declined to provide specifics when CNBC asked how much of those imports are USMCA compliant.
“I’m going to avoid the details for now,” Wright said. The energy secretary said, “We can get to no tariffs or very low tariffs but it’s got to be reciprocal” in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
Canada’s energy minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, warned last week that energy prices will rise in the U.S. if the tariffs on energy imports go into full effect.
“We will see higher gasoline prices as a function of energy, higher electricity prices from hydroelectricity from Canada, higher home heating prices associated with natural gas that comes from Canada and higher automobile prices,” Wilkinson told CNBC’s Megan Cassella in an interview.
The U.S. has been the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world for years. But many refiners in the U.S. are dependent on heavy crude imported from Canada. The U.S. imported 6.6 million barrels of crude oil per day on average in December, more than 60% of which came from Canada, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Wright acknowledged that the tariffs are creating uncertainty in energy markets as negotiations continue.
“We’re in the middle of negotiations for where things are going to go with tariffs, so that feels frightening and gripping right now but this time will pass,” Wright said. “Deals will be made, we’ll get certainty and we’ll have a positive economic environment for Americans going forward.”
U.S. crude oil fell more than 1% Monday to close at $66.03 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent closed at $69.28 per barrel. Crude oil futures have pulled back substantially as Trump’s trade policy creates uncertainty and OPEC+ has confirmed that it plans to gradually bring back 2.2 million barrels per day of production beginning next month.
Apple is rolling out a notable update to Apple Maps EV Routing for Ford drivers. Starting today, Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning drivers can use Apple Maps EV Routing via CarPlay to plan road trips that include Tesla Superchargers – or any station that uses the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector.
As I’ve explained before, Ford began shipping adapters CCS to NACS adapters that allow Mach-E and Lightning drivers to charge at Tesla Superchargers last year. Until today, however, Apple Maps was unaware of this change. This meant Apple Maps EV Routing would only route Mach-E and Lightning drivers to CCS charging stations, even though a route with Tesla Superchargers might’ve been more efficient.
With today’s change, Apple Maps via CarPlay will now include NACS fast charging stations, such as compatible Tesla Superchargers, in recommended route planning recommendations.
In a blog post, Ford explains:
Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay allows drivers to input their route and can view the estimated battery level they will have when they get to a destination, as well as suggested charging stations along the way if charging is needed. Previously, Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning drivers would have to manually open another app, then enter a NACS fast charger as a destination to have it added to their route. Now, with the Apple Maps EV Routing and NACS fast charger integration, the experience will be more seamless.
How to Use Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay:
- Connect your Apple iPhone to CarPlay.
- Open Apple Maps, go to Settings, and confirm your preferred charging network(s) – make sure you select a NACS fast charging station, such as Tesla Supercharger. You only have to do this once.
- Enter a destination.
- Apple Maps will then calculate the estimated state of charge you will have when you get to a destination.
- If a charge is required, depending on the fastest route, it will automatically route you to a NACS fast charging station.*
This is a significant update to the Apple Maps EV Routing experience for Ford drivers. Next up on my wishlist is support for battery preconditioning when using Apple Maps EV Routing. Android Auto added this feature last October.
The new feature is available now to iPhone users running iOS 17 or later. No software update is required for your car.
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James Murdoch, a Tesla board member and friend of CEO Elon Musk, has confirmed that he sold about $13 million in stock today as the stock (TSLA) crashed.
There has been a lot of insider trading at Tesla lately, and by trading, we mean selling – cause no insider is ever buying at Tesla.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares last week and over $100 million in the last 3 months.
Now, it’s James Murdoch’s turn. The Tesla board member just confirmed, through a required SEC filing, that he sold 54,776 Tesla shares for just over $13 million today:
He sold as Tesla’s stock crashed 15% today. It is now down more than 50% from its all-time high just a few months ago.
Murdoch was appointed to Tesla’s board in 2017.
He is better known as the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
Murdoch was one of the Tesla board directors who was forced to return almost $1 billion in cash and stock options to Tesla as part of a settlement for over-compensation.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla insiders are unloading, and those are just the ones we know about. Public companies only have to report insider trading for board directors and listed top executives.
For the latter, Tesla purposefully only lists 3 people: Elon, Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s CFO, and Tom Zhu, whose role at Tesla has bit quite fluid in recent years.
Therefore, we don’t know about the dozens of other top executives potentially selling their shares right now amid a giant correction.
It’s really suspicious because there are clear top leaders at Tesla who are often on Tesla’s earnings calls, and they are not even listed, like Lars Moravy, for example.
But it’s par for the course at Tesla, which has some of the worst corporate governance I have ever seen. It’s truly shameful.
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