I’ve spent this week driving around in an electric car, and it’s fair to say that for many people, an electric car offers a lot of advantages over a regular gas-powered car. But do you know what also offers a ton of advantages over a regular gas car and works for virtually everyone? A hybrid. And 2024 will be the year of the hybrid. Let me finish.
This morning your beloved Autopian website will be on full display at the LA Auto Show, and I think most journalists will be in attendance. Our booth will be amazing and we’ll be doing interviews/podcasts with some of the biggest names in design and tech out here.
We’ll also have news from our own stand, with an announcement from Dutch supercar maker Zenvo that’s quite apt. Would you also like to receive updates on the UAW strike? Yes, let’s do that. And finally, uh, Nikola is in LA and will have some news to perhaps counteract the news that’s already out there.
Everything comes hybrid
The MotorTrend Car of the Year, like Peter Pan, is only as real as you want it to be. If you all clap, if you believe, then it’s real. If you don’t care, like most awards, it’s meaningless. Because I agree with MotorTrend and because it serves my rhetorical purposes, I will preface today’s “Morning Dump” with the news that the 2024 Toyota Prius is the MotorTrend COTY. Well done, Tinkerbell.
Here’s what MT said in his review:
The new Prius 2024 is then a sign of the times. It is a well-designed and largely sophisticated hatchback with improved efficiency and performance over the previous model and comparable compact cars. It’s a taste of the inevitable EV life without requiring drivers to meaningfully change their daily habits.
The transition to electric vehicles isn’t quite as terrible as everyone has made out, as both infrastructure and sales are increasing, but the high costs are definitely keeping consumers out of the market and there aren’t many solutions for that in the short term.
A short-term solution for this? Getting people used to electrification through hybrid vehicles, which require smaller batteries and generally dramatically reduce the need for fossil fuels. Even better, plug-in hybrids require almost no fuel if they can be plugged in regularly at home, and they also encourage people to build more electric vehicle infrastructure.
Want more proof that 2024 will be the year of the hybrid? Check out the excellent Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid or perhaps the fact that the best-selling car in America is hybrid-only in the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
Ok, ok, not enough for you?
Edmunds sent us some hybrid market share data this week and it’s a doozy.
Year-on-year, the market share of hybrid vehicles (6.5% to 11.4%) has increased significantly more than that of electric vehicles (6.0% to 7.5%).
According to Edmunds data, the market share of electric vehicles has almost doubled, while the increase in electric vehicles has been significantly smaller. I think this shows both the strength of the hybrid market (and the number of choices) and the uncertainty that the EV market currently has.
Want to see more crazy data from Edmunds? Yes, yes, you do. In October of this year, the average transaction price for a new car was $47,753, according to their data. The average EV transaction price was $59,064. The average transaction price for a gasoline-powered car was $47,417. The average hybrid? Only $42,259.
And it’s not because of discounts. The average incentive for an electric vehicle last month was $2,601, for a gasoline car it was $1,031, but for hybrid vehicles it was just $394. Part of this reason is obviously because the most popular hybrid vehicles are fuel-efficient cars like the Prius, Civic, Accord, etc., rather than pickup trucks (although hybrid pickup trucks are on the rise). I also think that this product mix is the reason for its success.
It’s a challenging macroeconomic environment for both dealers and buyers, and the humble hybrid is the perfect “eat your cake and have it too” type vehicle, offering environmental friendliness in attractive body styles with improved efficiency for just a small premium over a gas-powered one Automobile.
2024! Year of the hybrid! You heard it here first.
Zenvo gets a US distributor…Galpin
When we were at The Quail in Monterey this year, one of the cars we looked at was the 1,850 horsepower Zenvo Aurora. We all liked the hyper-hypercar with its hybrid powertrain (see?!?) and its mechanically switchable gauges:
They are so satisfying.
But that’s it, we thought. We looked at a cool hypercar. Had a nice conversation. Went on.
So it was a fun surprise this week when we noticed that there was a Zenvo exhibit in the Galpin customs hall where the Autopian booth is located. Why this? I’ll let today’s press release explain:
On the West Coast, Zenvo has partnered with Galpin Motors, the No. 1 Ford dealer and one of the world’s best-known automobile companies, founded in 1946. With an extensive showroom in LA where they also manage another 12 manufacturers including Porsche, Aston Martin and Lotus. Galpin Motors will provide Zenvo customers on the West Coast with unrivaled support.
Zenvo LA is led by President/CEO of Galpin Motors and President of Galpin Auto Sports, Beau Boeckmann, as well as its elite sales team as the dealership’s sole hypercar brand. Speaking about the new partnership between Galpin and Zenvo, Beau said: “When I first saw the Zenvo Aurora, I fell in love. It’s the most beautiful hypercar I’ve seen in a long time. And when I learned about the technology, the bespoke V12 engine and the incredible performance, I was thrilled. We are incredibly excited to represent Zenvo on the West Coast!”
So I spoke to Beau yesterday when we were setting up the booth and he confirmed that everything came together after we did the video. Come and check out the cars at the show if you haven’t already, they look great. If you are a custom hypercar builder, be sure to book a video with The Autopian. Good things happen.
The UAW deals are likely to go through
Photo: UAW
With all the hand-wringing lately over close votes at some UAW plants, it looks like all three deals will go through.
As of this morning: Ford is at 67% “yes,” Stellantis is at 67% “yes,” and GM is at a much narrower 54% “yes.”
Why is GM lagging behind? There’s a whole story worth reading in the Detroit Free Press this morning, but here’s what caught my eye:
In Fort Wayne, Rich LeTourneau, chairman of the UAW Local 2209 Shop, told the Free Press that the reason for the rejection there was that traditional members – those hired before 2007 – wanted the larger wage increases in the first two years of the agreement , instead of waiting for the total gain of 25% over 4.5 years.
They also wanted a larger contribution to their pensions, LeTourneau said. The contract provides a $5 gain for the bond multiplier. The price is currently $54, so it would go up to $59. That means that for someone who worked at GM for 30 years, their pension would increase from $1,620 per month to $1,770 per month. Some thought the profit was too small, LeTourneau said.
For those members who are currently “in progression,” LeTourneau said they want to reinstate the pension and retiree health care, which was not the case in this contract.
This is how deals come about. They are not equally good for everyone and this offer in particular seems to put workers in spare parts warehouses at a slightly greater disadvantage.
Nikola founder seeks probation
Photo credit: Nikola Motor
The opening of this year’s LA Auto Show includes a breakfast and a keynote from Nikola, the struggling electric semi-truck maker. This comes as its founder, Trevor Milton, seeks parole after being convicted on multiple counts of wire and securities fraud stemming from statements he made about Nikola’s technology.
According to Portal:
In a court filing Tuesday night, Milton’s lawyers said he should receive a suspended sentence when he is sentenced Nov. 28, in part to care for his ailing wife.
The lawyers said there was “not a shred of evidence” that Milton had any ill intentions and that any misrepresentations were due to his “deep optimism and belief” in his Phoenix-based company.
[…]
Attorneys characterized Holmes’ case by saying that Theranos, which promised to perform many medical tests on a drop of blood from a finger prick, was not a “real company with real products” and that Holmes’ lies put people at medical risk.
The old “we’re not as bad as Elizabeth Holmes” defense has to work, right?
The big question
We’re all out here at the LA Auto Show. What would you like to see?