Tesla Shuts Down Factory to Prepare Model 3 Production; Honda and Hitachi Plan to Form a JV for EV Motor; EV Insiders Believe Battery Cost Will Be Less Than $100/kWh Before 2020
Tesla Shuts Down Factory to Prepare Model 3 Production
According to Reuters, Tesla announced that this month it would shut down its Fremont factory for one week, to increase capacity of the paint shop and perform general maintenance. The shutdown is intended to prepare the factory for Model 3 production starting in July.
The test run of Model 3 production will start as soon as 2/20. The status should be updated in the shareholder report on 2/22. On the other hand, minor design changes could still be underway.
Separately, according to Fortune, workers at Tesla factory are trying to unionize. United Automobile Workers (UAW) union said workers at Tesla had approached the union and it would greet them with “open arms”.
Honda and Hitachi Plan to Form a JV for EV Motor
According to Fortune, Honda and Hitachi Automotive Systems will form a joint venture in July, to produce electric car motors. The investment is 5 billion yen (or $44.69 million). Hitachi will hold 51% of the JV and the remaining 49% ownership will go to Honda.
Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo commented that “producing motors is capital intensive, so rather than just manufacturing them for our own purposes, we would like to produce in large volumes with the possibility of supplying a variety of customers.”
Just last week, Honda and GM formed a JV Fuel Cell system Manufacturing LLC to make fuel cell power systems for both companies.
EV Insiders Believe Battery Cost Will Be Less Than $100/kWh Before 2020
According to a blog on Wards Auto, during the 2017 CES, EV experts expressed their confidence on future battery cost cut. They believe the cost of the battery will be less than $100/kWh before 2020, which would bring electric power system cost down to the internal engine level and thus makes EV cost competitive. Furture, they think $80/kWh will be reached “not long after that”.