A problem with many new car models

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(Elbil24): One after another car manufacturers are now facing problems of a technical nature or a general shortage of spare parts. This comes after a long period of chip shortages, or semiconductor shortages, if you will. Then came the war in Ukraine, from which many car manufacturers got ready-made cable devices for their cars. Much of this production had to be moved, which for many producers meant production was halted until new production was done, and the parts were in place. Three new car manufacturers are now reporting problems with the tower.

In all three cases, there are risky errors or omissions that have delayed deliveries – unfortunately indefinitely.

Tesla

The latest news is that Tesla will not offer already-produced Y Performance cars, the first car to enter production at the new plant in Berlin. The cause must be a fault in the so-called DU (Command Unit). Customers have also been informed that it is a voltage converter issue. At an early stage there was talk that this was something that could then be fixed, with a wireless (OTA – over the air) software update. This is later denied, and cars already delivered must be fixed, while non-delivered cars are parked until the error is corrected. Tesla has not yet given a clear indication on the timeline, or indicated in it in more detail what is actually wrong. But Tesla is not alone.

Toyota

Toyota also announced this week that it must halt delivery of its first all-electric vehicle in recent times – the bZ4X. Here it comes to falling wheels, and Toyota has no solution either. If this leads to the creation of new mechanical parts, it will lead to significant delays. The solution may also be of a simpler nature. In Norway, there are 461 cars so far, a number that will likely increase as cars already produced arrive in the country. So far, dealers have only been given cars for demo and for a test drive, a test drive that is also on hold until a solution is found.

stronghold

The Ford Mustang Mach-E has also been discontinued, and is not currently being delivered to more customers. This is because the components connected to the main battery can overheat and start to burn in the worst case. Here we are talking about about 100,000 cars produced at the plant in Mexico, where more than 8,000 cars found their way to Norway. Ford has a solution that can be implemented wirelessly in a short time, the so-called OTA – over the air. Also in Norway, Ford will not offer more Mustang Mach-E until it is updated, when the solution is ready. Customers who have already acquired a car can continue to use the car as usual, but it looks like they will be early in the queue for an update, and the update will also be available in workshops soon.

Exping

Most recently, yesterday, we were able to report that Xpeng has now stopped ordering the new P5 sedan, a vehicle that will end up in the same segment as the Tesla Model 3. Xpeng announced earlier this week that it has now stopped taking orders. In the four countries in Europe it is currently represented.

Ready, done, finished…

They are also in dialogue with customers who have already ordered the car, without having to have many cars. Whether there is a cold response to the model that causes Xpeng to opt out of taking orders will only be speculation. They themselves state that the reason is the ability to produce and share, without being able to say when (or if) it will be possible to order the car again.

Generally

These specific cases are basically just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of delivery challenges. Waiting customers are constantly notified of further delays in their ordered vehicles, and it is not uncommon for customers to be contacted for a faster vehicle when selected equipment is removed. But the delivery situation is improving, and the constant shortage of semiconductors or microchips — or chips, if you will — is constantly improving. Slowly but surely, though he estimates it will last for more than another year, albeit to a lesser degree. Batteries are also a hot topic, because here too there is limited access to some raw materials, and Tesla is among the manufacturers who have reported significant concerns about a shortage of raw materials.

Some models can still be had in the short term, but often the most popular models have the longest waiting time. So the question is, would you pick four over the requirements and just pick the second or third from the list?