Tesla Once Again Delays Cheaper Models

Good morning! It's Monday, April 21, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition of TMS, we're looking at a reported delay in Tesla's plans for a cheaper Model Y, as well as Chinese automakers' pivot away from autonomy as a selling point. Plus, a new EV battery that promises five-minute charge times, and a big recall out of the Volkswagen Auto Group. 

Tesla has promised an entry-level car for nearly as long as the company has been promising cars, and it's never happened. The Model 3, the Model Y, even the Cybertruck was supposed to have an attainable variant that never materialized. Now, the company is reportedly working on a cheaper version of the Model Y, and guess what — it's delayed. From Reuters:

Tesla's long-awaited plans for an affordable car include a U.S-made, stripped-down version of its best-selling electric SUV, the Model Y, but the production launch has been delayed, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Tesla has promised affordable vehicles beginning in the first half of the year, providing a potential boost to flagging sales. Global production of the lower-cost Model Y, internally codenamed E41, is expected to begin in the United States, the sources said. That would occur at least a few months later than outlined in Tesla's public plan, they added, offering a range of revised targets from the third quarter to early next year.

The Model Y already has cheap enough suspension to make getting one as a rideshare an unenviable experience, so one shudders to think what an even cheaper version might look like. Maybe the seats will just be made of injection-molded spikes or something. If, of course, the car ever actually comes out — especially given what tariffs will do to Tesla's parts prices. 

Autonomous driving is the hot new thing that companies are trying to win at, but the race to get the tech right — with customers behind the wheel as test dummies — has led to deaths. Regulators in the United States have pushed back against AV development in some smaller ways, but China is going harder on its crackdown in the wake of a crash last month. Now, Chinese automakers are quickly pivoting away from marketing the capability of their AV tech. From Reuters:

As a years-long consumer price war in China drags on, next-generation automated-driving features have become the next front in the battle for vehicle sales and profits.

But automakers' plans to tout next-generation driver-assistance systems in Shanghai have been upended by a government crackdown on marketing claims using terms such as "smart" or "autonomous" to describe their technology after a fatal crash of Xiaomi SU7 in March

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The resulting government scrutiny has Chinese automakers such as BYD and Zeekr scrambling to revise their marketing presentations, veering away from boasts about automated-driving capabilities and instead emphasising driver caution.

This kind of regulatory attention towards semi-autonomous marketing is a good thing — it helps when customers are informed, rather than having their new car's capabilities exaggerated to them — but it remains to be seen what impact this push will actually have on development and adoption of AV tech. Will companies stop using their customers as test dummies? 

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited, better known as CATL, is the biggest maker of EV batteries globally. It calls the shots, to some degree, about how much range and capacity electric vehicles around the globe get — when CATL makes an advancement, the EV market gets its upgrade. Now, the company has shown off tech that could be a sea change: Five-minute EV charge times. From Bloomberg:

Even so, one of the main products CATL talked about was an upgraded version of its Shenxing battery, a cell it says can now offer 520 kilometers (323 miles) of range from just five minutes of charging time. BYD Co., which is primarily an automaker but which also makes its own batteries and semiconductors, recently launched a car system it says can charge a vehicle for 400 kilometers in about the same time.

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CATL batteries can already be found in a wide range of automakers' EVs. Tesla Inc. is one of its top customers and it has a technology licensing agreement with Ford Motor Co. Its hold on the world's market for EV batteries is hard to overstate. CATL commands a share of around 38.2% based on data for the first two months of the year, according to SNE Research. Its nearest competitor BYD is at 16.9%.

This is, officially, parity with gas cars. It would be entirely reasonable for an ICE vehicle to get 323 miles to a tank, and any road trip gas stop should probably take you at least five minutes anyway — it's nice to stretch your legs a little on long drives. Now we just need charging infrastructure to catch up. 

Porsche and Audi are recalling nearly 53,000 cars for a frustrating little issue: Screen glitches. Audi A6, A7, A8, RS6, RS7, Q7, Q8, and SQ8 cars from 2021 are at risk of dashboard screen failures, while 2024-2025 Porsche Macan EVs may not have their backup cameras properly render. Audi's recall covers 44,387 vehicles, while Porsche's covers just 8,571. From Automotive News: 

The virtual cockpit instrument cluster on affected vehicles may shut down because of the detection of an internal fault. During the disruption, engine speed, vehicle speed, gear/mode indicators, time, date and mileage may not be available. The failure is caused by a malfunction of flat cables within the display system. A lack of warnings or gauges can increase the risk of a crash.

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A software issue may result in the rearview image not displaying when the vehicle is in reverse. The reverse cameras fail to wake from standby mode because of moisture intrusion in the reverse camera housing and may result in a blurry image. Blurry or missing camera images could increase the risk of a crash.

Despite both issues affecting digital systems, these are both hardware faults — no OTA updates will save you from a damaged cable or water. 

Prince was perhaps the most purple any musician has ever been. He rode a Honda CM400 Hondamatic. His name was fully unpronounceable for a minute. Truly no one did it like him. 

I woke up this morning with my brain yelling "conclave" to the tune of this track. CoooOOOOoooonCLAAAAaaaAAAVE! I guess I should probably see that movie, given that the pope's dead.