EV Market Becomes Unstoppable: The Week in Automotive

The Electric Vehicle (EV) market took the spotlight this week. New investments, competitiveness and demand for EVs are expected to increase but there are still barriers for this market.

Here is the Week in Automotive!

AMIA Rejects the Electric Reform

The Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA) said that it rejects President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's electrical reform proposal because it could affect financing, infrastructure and electricity generation. José Zozaya, President, AMIA, assured that this reform generates uncertainty not only for future investments in the sector but also for existing ones. "The commitment to less clean and more expensive energies would negatively impact Mexico's competitiveness, which could discourage future investments and redirect them to other countries," he said.

Link EV to Build US$265 million EV Plant in Puebla

Renewable energy company Citizens Resources, in collaboration with Chinese EV Dynamics and Spanish QEV Technologies, will invest US$265 million to open an EV plant in Puebla.

The plant will operate under the name “Link EV” and will manufacture last mile and passenger EVs, with a starting annual capacity of 1,400 units in four production lines. The project, which will create 400 new direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs, will start in July 2022 and the plant will begin production in 1Q2023.

EV Market Competitiveness Against USCMA Restrictions

As future trade actions remain unresolved and EV inputs are subject to high tariffs, OEMs in Mexico, the US and Canada that wish to qualify for duty-free treatment within North America must comply with the USMCA’s rules of origin, advice legal experts from the industry-focused firm ArentFox Schiff.

EVs Will Consume 80 percent of Global Lithium Production

During the next decade, about 80 percent of the global lithium production will be destined to the manufacture of batteries for EVs and PHEVs, according to a report by the government of Chile. The country’s Ministry of Economy estimated that global electromobility required 176 kilotons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) during 2021, which will grow to 1,416 kilotons LCE by 2030, an annual growth of 21 percent on average.

Canada, US Question GM Mexico Union Vote

Unionized-eligible workers are set to vote on Feb. 1-2 to decide which of four unions will represent more than 6,000 employees in GM’ plant in Silao, Guanajuato. The vote holds large domestic and international significance, as it is not only predicted to set a precedent for labor unions in Mexico but it will shed light on the advances of the labor provisions the country committed to by signing the USMCA. However, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of unions in the US, claimed that this exercise will not be “free and fair.

Chips and Semiconductors Shortage Extends

The US Department of Commerce warned that the shortage of chips and semiconductors, components of electronic devices, will continue until at least the second half of 2022, which mainly affects the automotive and technology sectors. Some companies, such as Intel, expect it to last until 2023.

View from the Top

Do not miss our interview with Salvador Orozco, Sales Director, Bechem Lubrication Technology, in which he discusses the new age of lubricants for EVs.