Tesla Cuts Prices of China-Made Cars

Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Taking advantage of new battery options and big government subsidies, Tesla has slashed its Model 3 prices in China. The company’s Chinese website is now advertising a base price for the popular battery-electric sedan of 249,900 yuan, or roughly $36,800.

While this is big news for the company in its efforts to remain dominant in the Chinese market, U.S. consumers won’t be affected…at least, not yet

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The Lithium Revolution Has Yet To Come Home



This article is being written the week after SpaceX successfully brought two astronauts to the International Space Station, which has been celebrated across the country as a great achievement for the United States Space program.

I certainly share the feeling that it is good to be back in space, but there is also this lingering feeling that 50 years after we landed on the moon, we might be somewhere further along than just getting back into space on American-piloted rockets.

Tyler Wiegert
Tyler Wiegert

Combining that with a pandemic that has brought us to a public health and economic situation more appropriate for the early 20th century than the early 21st century, and protests over racial inequality issues that many hoped we’d be further along with 60 years after the Civil Rights movement, it feels appropriate to reflect on the phenomenon of future-hype.

The blog article Why Have Home Battery Forecasts Been Staggeringly Wrong for Years? examines the future-hype specifically around home battery systems. Specifically, why were predictions made only four years ago, not 50 or 60 or 100 years ago, so wrong about where home battery systems would be now?

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Russia Economic Outlook – October 2021

Maxim Sakov, Market Consultant-Russia for Power Systems Research, discusses his Q3 2021 economic outlook for Russia in this episode of PSR PowerTALK.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Emiliano Marzoli

Hello everyone. From Power Systems Research, I’m your host, Emiliano Marzoli, editor of PSR PowerTALK. And today we’ll discuss the economic outlook for Russia with Maxim Sakov, our market consultant in Moscow.

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Sales of Agriculture Machines in Russian Increase 50%

The Russian market for AG machines has increased by 1.5 times during the first six months of this year, reaching 93.9 billion rubles (US$ 1.27 billion). Production volume has increased by 45% to 112.7 billion rubles (US$ 1.54 billion).

The largest growth has been in the output of plows, climbing to 1,800 units and AG tractors – by 43% to 2,800 units. Production of sprayers has increased by 37.3% to 953 units. There has been a modest gain in production of grain combines, increasing 10.2% to 3,800 units, and self-propelled mowers, gaining 2.6% to 228 units.

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Korean Battery Companies Increase Sales Significantly

FAR EAST: SOUTH KOREA REPORT

The consolidated financial results for the April-June period of the three major Korean battery companies show significant sales growth. LG Energy Solution’s sales grew 73% y/y and operating profit was 2.4x y/y. SK On’s sales grew 2.9x y/y due to the expansion of EV production. Samsung SDI’s sales grew 23% y/y.

LG Energy, the world’s second largest automotive battery maker, posted a 73% y/y increase in sales to KRW 8.774 trillion (approximately $6.6 billion) and a 2.4x y/y increase in operating profit to KRW 461 billion (approximately $340 million), while its joint production with GM of the U.S., which will begin operations in 2022, also contributed to the continued growth in sales and profit.

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Near Term Recession Fears Recede in North America

SUMMARY.  The North American economy remained stable in 2019 and pure economic conditions as well as fundamentals in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains stable to flat for most market segments. However, we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Consumer confidence declined slightly in December, following a moderate increase in November.  The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index stood at 126.5 in December, 1.4 points higher than in September 2019. 

Per Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “While consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects. While the economy hasn’t shown signs of further weakening, there is little to suggest that growth, and in particular consumer spending, will gain momentum in early 2020.”

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Bus Sector Bounces Back: EVs Fuel Post-Covid Growth

Aditya Kondejkar

OEMs increasing their focus on the Bus sector to drive growth in the post-Covid period.

Ashok Leyland. One of India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, Ashok Leyland has announced plans to invest ₹1,000 crore in setting up an integrated commercial vehicle (CV) and electric bus (e-bus) manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh. This plant is expected to have a planned production capacity of 2,500 buses annually, with the potential for expansion to 5,000 buses per year.

This significant investment is a strategic move for the company and carries several implications and opportunities. This critical analysis examines the key aspects of this investment decision.

“Contingent on market adoption and demand of alternative fuel vehicles in the state, Ashok Leyland intends to invest up to ₹1,000 crore in this new facility over the next few years,” says Shenu Agarwal, Ashok Leyland MD & CEO.

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Publications Welcome to the New Gilded Age

This forecast appeared in the September 2019 issue of Diesel Progress magazine.

SUMMARY. The underlying weak conditions in the global economic picture could put pressure on the North American power generation industry for the remainder of 2019 and through most of 2020. We forecast little or no growth for the industry through 2020.

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Welcome to the New Gilded Age of Gen-Sets

This forecast appeared in the September 2019 issue of Diesel Progress magazine.

SUMMARY. The underlying weak conditions in the global economic picture could put pressure on the North American power generation industry for the remainder of 2019 and through most of 2020. We forecast little or no growth for the industry through 2020.

Even though the power generation production market was up slightly (0.9% in 2018-2019), we see it declining about 1% over the next year. 

Tyler Wiegert
Tyler Wiegert

For those of you a few years removed from your high school U.S. History courses, the original Gilded Age was a period covering the 1870s-1890s that was marked by astonishing economic growth. Driven by the expansion of industrialization in the North and West, facilitated by growing railroad networks, real wages grew an enviable 60%.

But Mark Twain dubbed this period the “Gilded Age” rather than the “Golden Age,” because it was also marked by extreme poverty, and he represented it with gilded, decaying apple. The shiny outward appearance of growth was masking a rotten core of massive inequality.

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Q4 2020 North American Gen-Set Outlook

The Q4 2020 PSR PowerTracker survey provides information on North American gen-set sales from manufacturers, consumers and retailers. Joe Zirnhelt, Power Systems Research, President and CEO, provides the analysis.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Joe Zirnhelt:

From Power Systems Research, I am Joe Zirnhelt. In today’s PowerTALK podcast we will discuss results from the fourth quarter of 2020 based on our ongoing PowerTracker survey.

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