Electric dreams unplugged
The current global pandemic is likely to have shattered Tesla’s goal of delivering 500,000 vehicles this year.
In 2020’s first quarter, the EV automaker has reported just 88,400 cars worldwide. For comparison, the company delivered more than 110,000 cars in 2019’s fourth quarter.
Further, coronavirus fallouts are expected to hit Tesla much harder in the second quarter. According to Dan Ives, a market analyst tracking Tesla, it will be “virtually impossible” to achieve CEO Elon Musk’s goal of 500,000 deliveries in 2020.
Ives has lowered his year-end forecast to 400,000 to 425,000 vehicles, while analyst Joseph Osha of JMP Securities altered his forecast to 433,000.
Tesla did, however, top the 63,000 vehicles it shipped in the first quarter of 2019—by 40 percent, no less. At the time, Tesla had just started sending Model 3s to Europe and was wrestling with serious delivery snags.
Car-sharing cancelled
Enterprise has suspended its car-sharing service in the GTA amid the coronavirus pandemic, though the car rental business is still operating as an essential service.
On Mar. 27, the company officially halted its car-sharing services in the GTA to “ensure the safety of [its] community,” according to an online statement.
Though its rental services remain open, some locations have been
Enterprise’s CarShare program currently operates in the Ontario cities of Toronto, Mississauga, Oshawa and Waterloo. The service allows customers to remotely rent vehicles scattered about cities for short periods, making it difficult for the company to clean the cars between uses.
Other car-share programs including, Quebec’s Communauto and Zipcar are so far still operating as normal, though Communauto reported a 75 percent decrease in demand amid the virus.
The companies say they are cleaning the vehicles regularly and suggest users bring disinfectant wipes.
Banding together for batteries
Honda will be teaming up with General Motors to create two new electric vehicle models.
Honda will be responsible for working on both the interior and exterior of the cars, but the two electric cars will actually be made in GM’s factories.
Thankfully, both cars involved in the partnership will make their way to the North American market in 2024—unlike Honda’s only current electric car, the little Honda E, which does not have a North American release.
“This collaboration will put together the strength of both companies, while combined scale and manufacturing efficiencies will ultimately provide greater value to customers,” said American Honda president Rick Schostek. “This expanded partnership will unlock economies of scale to accelerate our electrification roadmap and advance our industry-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
He also said the two companies could “extend the partnership” in the future.
This is not the first endeavour between the two companies—back in 2012, the automakers collaborated on hydrogen fuel cell technology, and both partnered with Cruise a few years ago.
