Hyundai has introduced the Ioniq V EV for China, but so far there are no plans for the United States. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ Stellantis is shifting its focus to its four major brands—Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, and Fiat—and relegating less profitable brands to “selective investment” to regain momentum. More at MSN.
+ Driven by current tariff policy, Ford now now builds 83 percent of its U.S.-sold vehicles domestically, but is losing billions on import tariffs on materials and components. More at Autoblog.
+ The latest JD Power-GlobalData forecast shows that the 7.3 percent decline in sales in April is actually due to the buying rush triggered by last spring’s tariff uncertainties. More at CBT News.
+ Retired NASCAR Cup stars Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray will return to competition in the Truck series driving in one-offs for the Kaulig Racing Ram team. More at Fox Sports.
+ Porsche agreed to sell its 45 percent stake in Bugatti Rimac to a consortium led by HOF Capital, with BlueFive Capital as its largest investor, leaving Rimac in control of Bugatti. More at Yahoo! Finance.
+ Ponz Pandikuthira, senior VP and Chief planning officer for Nissan North America, says development of the next GT-R is currently held up by political uncertainty in the USA. More at The Drive.
+ Ford unveiled its latest Cobra Jet Mustang drag car, a 2,200-hp EV that ran a 6.832-second quarter-mile at more than 220 mph in its debut at Zmax Dragway in Charlotte. More at Competition Plus.
+ Sales and deliveries by Italian luxury sports carmaker Lamborghini in the Middle East are at a standstill due to the military conflict in the region, forcing dealership closures. More at World Auto Forum.
+ Hyundai introduced the Ioniq V EV with 373 miles of range and styling based on the Vision concept, but so far it’s only for China with no plans to bring it to the United States. More at Car and Driver.
+ Former Formula 1 driver and three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish has become the racing director of the Audi Formula 1 team, expanding his motorsports remit for the company. More at Racer.
Photo courtesy of Hyundai.
Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from April 24 here.
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From the horse’s mouth:
NHRA handles EV battery fires using the same national lithium‑ion emergency‑response standards used by local fire departments: heavy, sustained water cooling, strict standoff distances, and long‑term monitoring for reignition. Lithium‑ion packs behave very differently from gasoline systems, producing extreme heat, toxic gases, and the possibility of delayed flare‑ups hours or days later. Because of this, responders must isolate the vehicle, cool the battery for extended periods, and treat the high‑voltage system as energized even after the crash appears over. These characteristics make EV incidents far more complex than traditional drag‑racing fires.
At a national NHRA event, an EV crash or battery‑fire incident will significantly disrupt the schedule because the response requires far more time, space, and resources than an internal‑combustion crash. Tracks will need to halt racing, evacuate staging areas, reposition fire crews, and isolate the damaged EV far from other vehicles and spectators. The extended cooling period, the risk of reignition, and the need for specialized handling can delay or suspend competition until officials confirm the area is safe. In the worst‑case scenario, a thermal‑runaway event can escalate into a prolonged, high‑heat fire that overwhelms on‑site resources, forces full‑venue shutdowns, and exposes crews and spectators to toxic gases and explosive cell‑venting — a level of hazard that can turn a single crash into a major safety emergency.
Enjoy!
Online estimates from publicly reported U.S. battery‑import data and global‑market share data show that the U.S. imports tens of billions of watt‑hours of Chinese‑made lithium‑ion batteries each year, which translates into billions of individual cells annually, up to a trillion cells or more accumulated domestically over time so far.
The United States today now contains up to 1 trillion or more Chinese‑made battery cells, which is roughly as many batteries as there are LEGO bricks in every house, school, store, car, and pocket. A trillion seconds is about 31,700 years, so counting a trillion Chinese battery cells at one per second would also take about 31,700 years.
The NASCAR EV prototype runs a three‑motor AWD, two in the rear and one front, fed by a 78‑kWh liquid‑cooled 1230# battery in a heavily modified Next Gen chassis. Over 1,000 horsepower and regen‑braking maps dialed in to change how the car rotates, balance shifts depending on how much torque split the driver selects, basically a high‑voltage “video game” version of current Cup car with insane adjustability, no gears, and an oddball thermal‑management for repeated high‑load cycles, but no encabulators (yet).
The test driver beta-testing the post-modern regen bite, AWD pull, and silence like Parnelli Jones in the ’67 Indy turbine is David Ragan
(David Regen!) 680 starts, 2 cup wins, 2 busch and 1 arca, I wish him well…
NASCAR IMPACT is the project dedicated to reaching net-zero operating emissions by 2035. Operation Decarbonization is ABB providing equipment to electrify race tracks and haulers.
In 2025, NASCAR and ABB installed 30 EV chargers at Daytona to “serve as a mobility laboratory to foster educated, informed discussions about the benefits of the national energy transition”.
According to mr. internet: Nascar/ABB engineers placed the 1200# battery where the passenger seat would normally be, encased in a carbon fiber-reinforced shell 1.5 inches thick that acts as a structural member of the chassis, and oused within its own dedicated roll cage to prevent intrusion.
As everyone should know by now standard fire suppression can’t stop a lithium-ion thermal runaway, so the Nascar EV prototype features specialized “failsafes”. The system uses a non conductive dielectric oil system to cool the batteries. Unlike water or standard coolant, this oil won’t conduct electricity if a crash ruptures the lines, preventing a massive short circuit. The car is designed with an “emergency cooling flush system” that allows large volumes of water to be pumped directly through the battery pack in any emergency to “stop the fire”…
NASCAR’s EV battery “failsafes” sound like good idea. Makes me wonder if the NSTB should mandate the same or similar failsafes for EVs that are being sold for use on American highways.
Me too…