Trouble for several new car models

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(Elbil24): One after the other car manufacturer has now got into trouble of either a technical nature, or of a general lack of parts. This comes after a long time of chip shortage, or semiconductor shortage, if you will. Then came the war in Ukraine, where many car manufacturers get the finished cable sets for their cars from. Much of this production had to be relocated, which for several producers meant a halt in production until the new production was underway, and the parts were in place. Now three new car manufacturers are reporting trouble in the tower.

In all three cases, there are such precarious errors or omissions that the extraditions have been postponed – unfortunately indefinitely.

Tesla

The latest news is that Tesla will not deliver already produced cars of Model Y Performance, the first car to go into production at the brand new factory in Berlin. The reason must be a fault with the so-called DU unit (drive unit). It has also been reported to customers that it is a question of the voltage converter. At an early stage, there was talk that this was something that could be fixed afterwards, through a wireless update of the software (OTA – over the air). This is later denied, and the already handed over cars must be repaired, while undelivered cars are held back until the error has been corrected. Tesla has not yet given a clear indication on the timeline, or pointed it out in more detail what the actual error is. But Tesla is not alone.

Toyota

Toyota also announced this week that they must hold back the delivery of their very first fully electric car in recent times – the model bZ4X. Here it is a question of wheels falling off, and Toyota does not have a solution in place either. If this leads to the construction of new mechanical parts, this will lead to significant delays. The solution may just as well be of a simpler nature. In Norway, there are 461 cars so far, a number that will probably increase as already produced cars arrive in the country. So far, only dealers have been given cars for exhibition and test driving, a test driving that is also put on hold until a solution is in place.

Ford

The Ford Mustang Mach-E has also been stopped, and is currently not delivered to more customers. This is because components in connection with the main battery can overheat and in the worst case start to burn. Here we are talking about around 100,000 cars produced at the factory in Mexico, where over 8,000 cars have found their way to Norway. Ford has a solution that in a short time can be implemented wirelessly, so-called OTA – over the air. Also in Norway, Ford will not deliver more Mustang Mach-E until these are updated, when the solution is ready. Customers who have already been given a car can continue to use the car as usual, but will apparently be early in the queue for the update, an update the workshops will also have available shortly.

Xpeng

As recently as yesterday, we were able to report that Xpeng has now stopped ordering its new sedan P5, a car that would end up in the same segment as the Tesla Model 3. Xpeng announced earlier this week that they have now stopped order intake in the four countries in Europe they are currently represented.

They are also in dialogue with customers who have already ordered the car, without this having to be many cars. Whether there is a cold response to the model that makes Xpeng choose not to take orders will only be a speculation. They themselves state that it is production and sharing capacity that is the reason, without being able to say when (or if) the car will again be possible to order.

In general

These specific cases are basically just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of delivery challenges. Waiting customers are constantly being notified of further delays of their ordered cars, and it is also not uncommon for customers to be contacted with offers for a faster car when removing selected equipment. But the delivery situation is improving, and the ongoing shortage of semiconductors, microchips – or chips, if you will – is constantly improving. Slowly but surely, although it is estimated that it will last for over another year, albeit to a lesser extent. Batteries are also a hot topic, because here too there is limited access to certain raw materials, and Tesla is among the manufacturers who have reported significant fears of raw material shortages.

Some models are still quite possible to get in the short term, but it is often the most popular models that the waiting time is longest. So the question is, will you four on the requirements and settle for second or third choice from the list?

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