If politics makes strange bedfellows, then surely trade policy creates its own weird pairings. Restrictions to market access in the form of tariffs and other levies have given a unique advantage to those with production capacity in the United States. Unsurprisingly, Stellantis continues to be the most polyamorous of automakers.
The Morning Dump is starting off with a stretch, albeit a small one. JLR and Stellantis have signed a deal to discuss co-developing cars in the US, giving the former access to un-tariffed production. Stellantis has also started a JV with Chinese automaker Dongfeng, which will help Stellantis use its underutilized factories in Europe.
Not like having a factory is easy. In South Texas, an independent analysis claims to have found potentially carcinogenic chemicals in a drainage ditch used by Tesla’s battery facility. In Hungary, a new government has found that BYD might have transported toxic soil against regulations in the building of its factory there.
Can’t life just be easier? Perhaps it will be one day. “Hey, Google, can I park here?” is the question you might be asking your Volvo soon to help make parking simpler.
Stellantis And JLR Sign An MOU for US Something, Something
Stellantis has to convince investors it continues to be a good bet after all the, you know, Carlos Tavares (not pictured) drama. It’s going to be a tough market for cars, and the timing of the turnaround is bad, so one way to cover for this is to help show that the company can make deals to help use all of its plants and lower its development costs.
Let’s start with the big one, via Bloomberg:
Stellantis NV plans to develop cars with Jaguar Land Rover in the US, the latest step in a deep overhaul for the maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram trucks.
Both companies will explore opportunities to collaborate on product development in the country, they said Wednesday. It’s the first deal Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa is striking in the US, a lucrative market the company is prioritizing.
But why, tho?
The latest deal may eventually give JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd., access to Stellantis factories in the US. That would allow the British luxury-car maker to sidestep import tariffs in its largest market.
Neither JLR nor Stellantis are commenting further, but it makes a lot of sense. The UK has a decent trade agreement with the United States, but if Land Rover wants to expand its product lineup it’s going to have to find somewhere to build more cars and who knows where else is going to work. With the US being a huge market for JLR it is logical to do something here, and not having to develop an entirely new facility makes sense.
Could we get the return of the Freelander? Could Discovery production move here on a platform shared with Jeep? Is this just about powertrains? It’s not clear that Stellantis or JLR even have an answer these questions. Of all the brands, though, it seems like Jeep maybe has the most potential capacity. Could Warren–which builds the Jeep Grand Wagoneer–be used to also make Discoveries?
Over in Europe, Stellantis is tying up with Chinese automaker Dongfeng, as Reuters reports:
Stellantis NV and China’s Dongfeng plan to form a joint venture in Europe, including potential production in France, the companies said on Wednesday, offering another glimpse into the French-Italian automaker’s longer-term strategy.
The two groups signed a preliminary agreement that will cover sales and distribution, manufacturing, purchasing and engineering activities focused on Dongfeng’s new energy vehicles. The JV will be owned 51% by Stellantis and 49% by Dongfeng.
Huh. Stellantis has a JV with Leapmotor to build small EVs in Europe, right? Dongfeng has a deal to make Nissan products. Everyone is in bed with everyone until all of this gets worked out, I guess.
Tesla And The Drainage Ditch
The rendering above of Tesla’s Lithium Refinery in the far western suburbs of Corpus Christi hits me hard. That’s where I’m from. That’s where I have my first memories. That endless, low sky and corn tortilla flat plain is forever the landscape of my mind.
When I heard that Tesla was opening up a facility to source lithium down there I thought it was generally not a bad thing. South Texas is almost indefinitely short on industry and the US is desperately behind in producing both the anode and cathode precursors necessary for modern battery manufacturing.
The situation in Corpus is quite desperate as they’re running out of water, which is a thing necessary to keep people alive. Some of this is just drought and some of it, maybe, is data centers. Either way, it’s bad. Water is precious, as you need water to make the aforementioned tortillas.
So this, via the Texas Tribune, ain’t great:
After Texas regulators said Tesla’s lithium refinery near Corpus Christi wasn’t violating its permits by discharging what local officials reported as black wastewater into a drainage ditch, independent water testing there this month found two toxic metals and other contaminants.
Eurofins Environment Testing, an accredited lab with locations across the globe, reported traces of hexavalent chromium, a well-known carcinogen, and arsenic, an environmental poison. Nueces County Drainage District No. 2, which manages the ditch, commissioned the test.
Neither hexavalent chromium nor arsenic is included as an allowable discharge pollutant in Tesla’s wastewater permit.
The Nueces County Drainage District No. 2 sent a cease and desist letter to the company, though so far nothing has changed and the state agency responsible for monitoring this sort of thing hasn’t done anything. Here’s a line that’ll make you less nostalgic:
Nueces County groundwater is known to contain some arsenic, said Chris Cuellar, a retired chemical plant worker who spent 10 years managing wastewater operations at one of the region’s largest industrial facilities. Eurofins tested the wastewater from the ditch, rather than from Tesla’s outfall pipe, so it’s possible there was residual arsenic from a nearby pond overflow that leached into the ditch, for example, rather than coming from the industrial process itself, Cuellar said.
Yikes. Lithium production is incredibly important and in a normal place, various agencies would investigate it, figure out what’s going on, and then the company would mitigate the issue if one existed. Something like this happens with basically every car-related manufacturing facility at some point.
Texas isn’t a normal place politically speaking and Tesla in general is averse to doing things the regular way. How this gets resolved, or if this gets resolved, is unclear, but Autonocion does frame the central question pretty well:
None of this is illegal as currently constituted, because the permit that was written does not require monitoring for the things the independent lab found.
What it should do, for any American driver whose next EV is going to be built around domestically refined lithium, is force a real conversation about what “clean lithium” actually means and who gets to define it.
Is Clean Lithium the new Clean Coal?
Hungarian Police Are Investigating BYD Over Environmental Issues
BYD is sure having a hard time building plants outside of China. In Brazil, the company got in a spot of bother of the implication that it was forcing people to work in terrible conditions. And now, in Hungary, the company is in trouble for potentially not following environmental regulations.
The probe relates to the movement of toxic soil from BYD’s construction site in the southern city of Szeged to an outside location, the police said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the MTI state news service.
The move suggests Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s administration is taking environmental concerns in the country’s burgeoning EV industry seriously after they were relegated under his predecessor Viktor Orban. Battery makers Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. and Samsung SDI have also faced scrutiny.
The police action was announced a day after newly installed Environment Minister Laszlo Gajdos said BYD was in “serious breach” of its environmental permit and called on the company to “immediately stop” polluting activities. The new Hungarian government has vowed to make the enforcement of green regulations a priority for the EV industry.
Elections have consequences.
Google And Volvo Might Help You Park Your Car
Google had its big series of announcements this week, and most of it had to do with more AI. If you love AI and would like for more websites to die, this is great news for you (if you enjoy TMD, please become a member).
Volvo’s CEO mentioned in a chat earlier this week that I attended that he was looking forward to a new tool being announced by Google and Volvo that could, eventually, read road signs and help you figure out where you can park:
As part of a world first, Volvo Cars and Google will demonstrate Google Gemini vehicle camera integration in the EX60, at Google I/O conference (May 19-20). This paves the way for a future where, with the driver’s permission, Gemini will be able to see and understand its surroundings from the perspective of the car in real time.
This will enable a more helpful driving experience for things like recalling a road sign, making sense of lane markings or simply asking for more information about a landmark or a restaurant.
Take parking as an example. By reading and interpreting parking signs in real time, the system helps drivers quickly understand restrictions, time limits, permit requirements or charging rules. Instead of second-guessing whether a space is valid, drivers receive clear guidance exactly when and where they need it.
Who will be the first person to blame a parking ticket on AI? I can’t wait.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
It’s Skin Cancer Awareness Month and our friends at XPEL are celebrating with National Don’t Fry Day, so I’m going to do a week of beach songs. Today, it’s Lana Del Rey’s cover of “Doin’ Time.”
Observed annually on the Friday before Memorial Day, National Don’t Fry Day raises awareness about the dangers of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and promotes sun-safe habits as Americans head into summer. In recognition of the occasion, XPEL is offering 15% off automotive window tint installations at participating authorized dealers and company-owned stores across the U.S. on May 22 only.
The Big Question
What should Land Rover build here next?
Top photo: Stellantis
The Autopian needs to have better editorial standards on things like this Tesla article.
The EPA limits for hexavalent chromium in wastewater discharge are published things, under 40 CFR Part 419, 423, and 433. A quick look at the inspection results and the relevant limits would reveal that the findings that much alarm is being made of are actually well within limits. The arsenic levels are a similar story, being 1/5th of the allowable levels for human consumption of fish, much less industrial wastewater discharge.
Like, this is actually fake news- alarms are blaring about an entirely benign results, and the whole story depends on scientific illiteracy of it’s readers, which is unfortunately on full display in the comments. I get that Tesla man bad and all, but for fucks sake, do better.
The story mentions how the local government issued a cease and desist to stop all hexavalent chromium and arsenic discharge because they are not included in the tesla permit. the article doesn’t even mention the levels.
The real question is, will JLR insist that the Americans use the correct name: aluminium 😉
> Take parking as an example. By reading and interpreting parking signs in real time, the system helps drivers quickly understand restrictions, time limits, permit requirements or charging rules. Instead of second-guessing whether a space is valid, drivers receive clear guidance exactly when and where they need it.
To my left, incredibly advanced and resource-intensive technology.
To my right, reading.
Hmmm.
Counterpoint: You’re a jetlagged tourist on your first vacation ever in France and the sign is in French. You don’t speak or read French.
Then maybe you shouldn’t be driving in a country where you don’t know the language? France (and many other countries) have great public transit.
If you’re going to drive somewhere, you should spend some effort ahead of time learning local laws, road markings, at least a few basic words you’ll see on signs (like yield and stop), and the like. Other wise you’re just a danger to yourself and others, and AI certainly won’t make that any better.
Point taken. But Google Translate sure came in handy on my last trip to France when it told me the hand-lettered sign on the exit door of the parking garage said (in essence) “Hey dumbass, don’t leave your ticket in your car or you won’t be able to get back in”.
Please tell me you are not serious.
It’s inspiring to see Stellantis is still joining up with other paragons of quality and reliability.
Clearly a partnership of equals…
The “reliable” is silent.
I hate to defend Tesla here but this is exactly what is wrong about the media and science.
1)We are basing all of this speculation off a single test, this is not enough, the results need to be repeatable. We do way more than one test when we do an environmental assessment of a site.
2) if anyone bothered to read the chemical analysis the hexavalent chromium levels were at almost undetectable levels just barely above the error reporting limit. Seriously go go read it, they came in at 0.0104 mg/l when the reporting limit is 0.0100 just a 4% error and they would have said there was none.
3) they tested it from the ditch downstream and not from the outflow from the factory. This is absolutely an unacceptable variable when combined with the fact that there was only 1 test seriously calls into question the results. Those results were so low for hexavalent chromium that anything could have caused that, did someone dump a bumper back in the 50’s nearby. When we do an enviromental impact study we look 50 years back to see what was there before as this can impact a site.
I’m not saying they are not polluting but I will say we don’t have enough data to say they are and it is completely irresponsible to report this as a scientific fact. I know it may be unpopular on the internet to tell people to not rush to judgement but let’s get more data before we report next time.
2) if anyone bothered to read the chemical analysis
I did, cursorily.
the hexavalent chromium levels were at almost undetectable levels
The hexavalent chromium levels of 0.0104 mg/L were over a hundred times greater than method SM 3500CR B’s detection limit of 0.000100 mg/L which was also listed.
just barely above the error reporting limit. Seriously go go read it, they came in at 0.0104 mg/l when the reporting limit is 0.0100 just a 4% error and they would have said there was none.
That is true, however that is the reporting limit which is a very different metric from the detection limit of the method used.
There is a very, very large difference between detectable and reportable (two orders of magnitude in this specific case). Now Space is incorrect in saying they were barely above the detectable limit, when actually they were barely above the reportable limit, but that doesn’t change the technical intent: concentrations below the reportable limit are not reported as even being present. This is because there are sufficient sources of error below this resolution as to make results functionally meaningless- they will not hold up in a peer-reviewed publication, nor in a court of law.
For reference, .0104 mg/L Hexavalent Chromium concentration would technically meet California State requirements (strictest in the country, where the whole Erin Brokovich/PG&E thing happened) for fucking drinking water. It’s 1/5th of the limit for waste water discharge.
So Space is correct in that this entire story is an unscientific hit job on Tesla, and should be thrown in the trash. I get the Autopian loves to bash on Tesla, but yeah, editorial standards should be higher than this.
Sure. My point was only that the chromium was very detectable. Whether that result is meaningful is a separate issue and given the data, well I’d hate to be tasked with arguing it is.
It’s a filter issue. Give me a random sample from anything and a mass spectrometer and I’ll show you Cr-6. Also U-235, Pu-238, and frigging Au-197. Yes, it’s detectable, but that is true of quite literally any environmental sample you take, ergo it’s statistically meaningless. The question is does it rise to the level of concern? In the case, the answer is very much no, but the story is sure trying to make it seem like a HUGE DEAL, EVIL CORPOS ARE POISONING YOU!
EVIL CORPOS ARE POISONING YOU!
Oh they sure are!:
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live
And those are just the documented ones.
Where I live the local reservoirs are toxic from mercury, including methyl mercury left over from mining it for the gold rush. The water is safe once treated but you really don’t want to eat the fish in there.
https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13960/t6p068j69/
There’s also the question of whether hexavalent chromium is even used in or produced by lithium refinement. As far as I can tell, the answer is no.
That’s another good point that was never asked in the article. Sadly very few people would read this far down in the comments to find this.
After watching her video, I think they should build the Lana Del Rover.
A:
B:
A ≠ B B does not follow directly from A (A therefor B). Only A combined with an A1 -“anything not required by the relevant permit to be monitored is a legal discharge, regardless of any laws regarding discharges” would make B true. So, is A1 true?
Matt failed to mention from the article: they tested the outflow pipe when the project started and the heavy metals levels were non existent /low. Therefore they were not included in the permit.
Assuming they do regular testing A1 is not true. If they test once and never again then A1 is true. Unfortunately it was not mentioned in the article.
If I understand you correctly, I disagree, since A1 should never be true.
In other words, if emission of a regulated chemical was zero or below legal action threshold at the time of plant opening, and then the permit was written and did not include ongoing monitoring of that chemical — then if the level of said chemical passes the max threshold later on, the regulation still exists, and the discharge is illegal. No?
Metaphorically it is like ‘just because we never told you not to steal from this store doesn’t mean you can steal there’ or ‘when you moved in to your house you didn’t own a gun, but that doesn’t mean now you can shoot your neighbor’.
So, basically, our protectionist policies mean that foreign automakers will now have to set up joint ventures to sell here? Does that make us the new China? Will the company be called Toledo Jaguar Land Rover Automobile Group Corporation?
“What should Land Rover build here next?”
At the risk of repeating the same joke when you asked this about VW: Its reputation.
Everybody is moving to Texas for this exact purpose, lax regulations. This leads to higher profits.
I predict Texas will become a manufacturing juggernaut as a result.
I have firsthand experience with this exact thing. My previous employer moved everything to Texas specifically because of this. California is in trouble. Texas is the new China and Mexico.
Californians tend to favour drinkable water and breathable air. I think they’ll be OK.
But think of the profits!
Funnily enough, the hexavalent chromium test results would actually pass California drinking water standards. Much less waste water discharge standards.
When does the Stellantis, VW, Porsche MOU drop? Dejadoodoo.
JLR and Jeep building cars together…I can smell the quality from here…
Obviously land rover wants to build a extra fancy Durango with a supercharged hemi. It’s a little bit of a strange partnership. I’m genuinely curious what the drivetrains will be. I guess they could always just import their aj-xxx. But using something domesticly available would be more interested to think about. Especially if they used the hurricane or somehow got cumins to get one of their smaller engines certified to use.
Maybe a luxury truck? They could bring back a defender pickup.
The problem with AI in this case is asking it ‘Can I park here?’ is not the same as ‘Is it legal to park here?’.
The AI’s goal is to make you happy, and parking apparently will make you happy in the AI’s opinion, so yes, you can park here.
We’re all going to face the results of the 30% of morons that voted for corporate shills in the red states, and then allowed them to fix an election so all corporate regulations get thrown out the window. Welcome to dystopia. We’re fucked, and it’s your fault republitards.