Raphael Stevens

As GM works to fix problems that have caused Bolts to catch fire, it’s also attempting to ensure the issues don’t happen in its next-generation EVs.
The new battery system is crucial to the automaker’s future as it pivots to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035.
Problems with the Bolt – the company’s flagship mainstream EV – have led the automaker to recall every one of the electric cars since production began in 2016, which is expected to cost $1.8 billion.

A 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV caught fire at a home in Cherokee County, Georgia on Sept. 13, 2021, according to the local fire department.
Cherokee County Fire Department

DETROIT – As General Motors scrambles to repair defects that caused fires in at least 13 Chevrolet Bolt EVs, the automaker is aggressively working to ensure the same problems don’t seep into its next-generation Ultium batteries and its highly anticipated relaunch of an all-electric version of the Hummer this fall.
The new power system is crucial to the automaker’s future as it pivots to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035. The batteries and the company’s entire Ultium system – platforms, motors and other components – are expected to underpin every EV for GM for the foreseeable future.

Problems with the Bolt – the company’s flagship mainstream EV – have led the automaker to recall every one of the electric cars since production began in 2016. Fixing the vehicles, including completely replacing some batteries entirely, is expected to cost $1.8 billion.
That expense – averaging roughly $13,000 per vehicle – highlights a gamble for automakers planning to use common platforms or battery cells to power massive amounts of vehicles. If there’s a problem, it’s going to be costly.

It’s one of the reasons officials throughout GM have aggressively been working “around the clock” to fix the issues and ensure future electric vehicles such as the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq — two of the first GM models to use its Ultium batteries — don’t have the same problems. They’re also working on wireless technology that will enable GM to detect potential defects sooner.
“There’s a commitment across the company to not only address the issue with the LG cells and the Bolt but also make sure that all the future products are set up for success,” Mike Harpster, chief engineer of electrification propulsion for GM, told CNBC during a deep dive into the automaker’s upcoming Lyriq. “There’s not creating the fault or defect, but there’s also how the pack and the vehicle respond to it. And on both those fronts, we’re moving very aggressive.”
The automaker’s efforts stretch outside of its own organization. GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson recently said GM engineers are working with LG Chem, which makes the batteries, to “clean up the manufacturing process” and implement some “GM quality metrics” at LG’s plants.

GM on Monday announced fixes to the manufacturing process of the battery cells as well as updated monitoring software for the vehicles. Both are expected to be used for future vehicles, Tim Grewe, director of GM’s electrification strategy, told reporters Monday.
GM is pursuing reimbursement from LG, which produced the defective parts at plants in South Korea and Michigan.

New battery plants

The increased quality efforts come as GM is building a U.S.-based battery cell plant through a joint venture in Ohio with LG Chem called Ultium Cells. It’s the first of several battery plants expected from GM in the coming years.

While the Ultium batteries include new chemistries and production processes compared with LG’s production and cells, GM is taking lessons learned from the current production process, including safeguards and monitoring, for the new plants.
“There are improvements in that process that were learned from the current process,” said Harpster, who was chief engineer of the Bolt EV’s propulsion system. “That’s not only on the cell level, it’s at the module level, the pack level. Everything we’ve done in the past, we’ve done with a partner, LG. All those learnings are going into here to push it to the next level.”
Grewe earlier this month told CNBC that the new production is “not any more vulnerable” than anything the company does today.
“Any contaminant anywhere can cause problems,” he said. “If you look at the battery plants that we have today, there’s all kinds of controls that look for that.”
GM CEO Mary Barra last month said the new plants will be “applying all of General Motors’ quality processes to the manufacturing process,” signaling the company expects better quality controls in place in the new facilities.

“We work every day to make sure that what we’re doing is validated and tested. When we find an issue like this, and this again, happens to be two rare manufacturing issues in the same cell, we’re going to address it,” she said Aug. 4 during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Barra stressed Ultium is an entirely new battery system, however producing batteries will always be more volatile than assembling a traditional vehicle. The batteries can’t simply be drained and filled up later like automakers can do with gasoline.
“The manufacturing processes are really going to have to be tightened up,” Guidehouse Insights principal analyst Sam Abuelsamid previously told CNBC. “It’s part of dealing with the way batteries behave. They don’t like heat, and they don’t like contamination. They’re very sensitive.”

The Vermont State Police released this photo of the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV that caught fire on July 1, 2021 in the driveway of state Rep. Timothy Briglin, a Democrat.
Vermont State Police

Wireless monitoring system

The “rare manufacturing defects” in the Bolt EVs are a torn anode tab and folded separator that when present in the same battery cell increase the risk of fire, according to GM.  
While GM continues to ensure the manufacturing of the cells are fixed, it may be able to identify such problems sooner with Ultium-powered vehicles.
Specifically, the new battery cells will be able to communicate wirelessly, providing GM with additional data 24/7 to evaluate any problems. Bolt EVs, by comparison, aren’t able to make major updates to their software remotely, and only communicate when the vehicle is running or charging, according to officials.

General Motors revealed its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, on March 4, 2020 at its Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan.
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

“It’s all over-the-air updateable,” Grewe said. He added the wireless system likely would have assisted the company in determining a problem was present “a little bit faster.”
What the wireless system would be able to do quicker is reset the software of the batteries remotely to lower the risk of fires, he said. Currently, Bolt EV owners have to do it themselves or take it into a dealership to reset the software.
The wireless battery monitoring system, which will be standard on all Ultium vehicles, also can refocus the network of modules and sensors as needed, helping safeguard battery health over the vehicle’s lifespan.

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Statkraft is one of several major companies involved with floating offshore wind projects.
One advantage of floating turbines is that they can be installed in deeper waters compared to bottom-fixed ones.

Norway’s Statkraft said Tuesday that a long-term purchasing agreement related to a floating offshore wind farm dubbed “the world’s largest” had started, in another step forward for the emerging renewable energy sector.
The Kincardine Offshore Windfarm is a six turbine, 50 megawatt facility located in waters off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland. Turbine installation for the project — which Statkraft described as “the world’s largest floating wind farm” — was recently completed.

A power purchase agreement between Statkraft and developer Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Ltd, signed in 2018 but which now enters into force, will see the former buy “all electrical output from the floating wind project with a guaranteed minimum price per MWh [megawatt hour] until 2029.”
According to Statkraft, which is owned by the Norwegian state, the KOWL project will send more than 200,000 megawatt hours to the grid each year. This, it said, would be enough to power more than 50,000 homes.
“This is the first floating project that Statkraft has been involved in and we expect more to follow,” John Puddephatt, Statkraft’s manager for long term PPA origination, said in a statement.
The technology, Puddephatt said, “could help countries around the world achieve their renewable energy targets.”

Read more about clean energy from CNBC Pro

Statkraft is one of several major companies involved with floating offshore wind projects. Back in 2017 another Norwegian energy business, Equinor, opened Hywind Scotland, a 30 megawatt facility it calls “the first full-scale floating offshore wind farm.”

Earlier this month, a joint venture centered around the development of a massive floating offshore wind farm in waters off South Korea was formally established.
Oil and gas major Shell has an 80% stake in the JV, which is called MunmuBaram, with the remaining 20% held by CoensHexicon.
In a statement at the time, Shell said the project was in “a feasibility assessment stage.” If built, the 1.4 gigawatt wind farm would be situated between 65 and 80 kilometers off Ulsan, a coastal city and industrial hub in the south east of South Korea.
In August, it was announced that RWE Renewables and Kansai Electric Power had signed an agreement that will see the two businesses study the feasibility of a large-scale floating offshore wind project in waters off Japan’s coast.
Floating offshore wind turbines are different to bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines that are rooted to the seabed. One advantage of floating turbines is that they can be installed in deeper waters compared to bottom-fixed ones.RWE has described floating turbines as being “deployed on top of floating structures that are secured to the seabed with mooring lines and anchors.” More

Subway announced Tuesday that August sales for its U.S. restaurants were its strongest since 2013.
The company said it expects to beat its sales targets for the year by more than $1 billion.
The announcement is an early victory lap for the privately held company, which has been trying to turn around its business for years.

A Subway Restaurant location in New York, U.S., on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Subway’s menu overhaul is yielding early success for the sandwich chain.
The company announced Tuesday that August sales for its U.S. restaurants were its strongest since 2013. It’s now projecting it will beat its systemwide sales targets for the year by more than $1 billion.

In mid-July, Subway’s U.S. restaurants began offering nearly a dozen new or improved ingredients, as well as 10 revamped or original sandwiches. The menu changes, which were in the works for more than two years, were a key component of the company’s comeback bid. The chain’s culinary team created new versions of its sandwich bread, upgraded its protein offerings and added new toppings such as smashed avocado.
The results released Tuesday are a sign that the turnaround plan is working and an early victory lap for the company, which as a privately owned business doesn’t have to report monthly sales results.
Subway saw its highest average unit volume per week in eight years during the week that the new menu and upgraded ingredients went nationwide. By August, U.S. restaurant sales rose more than 4% compared with the same time two years ago. The top 25% of Subway’s restaurants saw their sales climb by a third, and the top 75% of its footprint reported an average increase of 14%.
“Our loyal regulars — in addition to many first-time guests — are commenting to our team that they taste a real difference in our new sandwiches and ingredients,” said Subway franchisee David Liseno in a statement.
Subway has struggled to find its footing for years, even before founder Fred DeLuca’s death in 2015. The success of its $5 footlong deal during the 2008 financial crisis fueled massive expansion, helping the chain become the largest in the U.S. by number of units. But new rivals such as Chipotle Mexican Grill lured consumers away, and its large footprint led to sales cannibalization among its remaining customers. As sales slid, ugly fights with franchisees played out in courts and splashed across headlines.
Subway’s parent company, Doctor’s Associates, reported 2020 revenue of $689.1 million, down 28% from 2019′s net sales of $958.9 million, according to franchisee disclosure documents. The sandwich chain has also been steadily shrinking its massive store footprint since 2016. It ended 2020 with 22,201 U.S. locations.

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Hydrow, the maker of a $2,295 rowing machine, said it has secured nearly $200 million in financing after its latest funding round.
Some of the business’ celebrity backers include Lizzo and Justin Timberlake.
“This puts us in the same category as the other leaders in the fitness industry,” founder and CEO Bruce Smith said.

Hydrow broadcasts some of its live content for at-home users from instructors rowing out on the water.
Source: Hydrow

Hydrow, the maker of a connected rowing machine, said Tuesday it has secured nearly $200 million in financing after its latest funding round with celebrity backers including Lizzo and Justin Timberlake.
Founder and Chief Executive Bruce Smith said a portion of the funding will be used to make sure it has enough product to meet the anticipated demand this holiday season. Hydrow’s machines sell for $2,295, and the company offers on-demand fitness classes including pilates and yoga and rowing instruction through a monthy subscription fee.

The company didn’t disclose its latest valuation, but Bloomberg reported in August that Hydrow is in talks to go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Sandbridge X2 Corp., in a deal that would value the combined entity at more than $1 billion.
Smith declined to comment on the report.
“This puts us in the same category as the other leaders in the fitness industry,” he said. “Until now, we might have been a little bit under the radar because people thought of us as a smaller company. But we’re actually very ambitious.”
Hydrow is raising fresh capital at a time when more consumers are returning to gyms and in-person fitness classes, forcing connected-fitness makers to sweat harder to find new users. There are also more at-home options than ever, from Peloton’s cycles and treadmills, to Lululemon’s Mirror, to Tonal, to portable boxing machines. Meantime, Peloton is rumored to be working on its own rowing device, which could bring Hydrow even more competition.
According to a monthly tracking by the Wall Street research firm Jefferies, foot traffic to fitness centers has been gradually returning to normalized levels over the summer, as pandemic restrictions ease. As of earlier this month, Jefferies found gym visits back to about 90% of January 2020 levels, and down just 1% from the same period in 2019.

People are returning to gyms most consistently in Georgia, Florida and Texas, Jefferies said, while visits across New Jersey and New York lag the rest of the country.
Among the top players in digital fitness, Peloton has held its spot as the most-visited platform in August, followed by BeachBody, Jefferies added.
“Although last year saw a rise in digital and at-home fitness, we believe this medium will continue to see a drop in utilization as things normalize and will serve as an accompaniment to the traditional gym experience going forward,” Jefferies analyst Randal Konik said in a research note.

Hydrow, the maker of a $2,295 rowing machine, said it has secured nearly $200 million in financing.
Source: Hydrow

Hydrow, which offers on-demand rowing classes, was founded in 2017 by Smith, a former USA Rowing national team coach. Comedian Kevin Hart was an early backer and recently was named creative director.
Last year, the company raised $25 million from investors including LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton and Rx3 Ventures, which was co-founded by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Smith said Hydrow’s sales surged more than 500% in 2020, as consumers looked for ways to workout from home during the Covid pandemic. Through June of this year, sales rose 300% from the same period in 2020, he said.
Moving forward, however, Smith emphasized Hydrow is a commercial-grade product that can be added to hotel gyms, apartment complexes and other business settings. That’s a strategy Peloton has pursued. It announced this week a new platform for hospitality customers to shop its products, as people begin to leave their homes and Peloton looks for ways to keep building its member base.
“As the economy reopens, that also opens up additional sales for us,” Smith said. “And we’re really determined to be everywhere that our customers are.”
Hydrow is also looking to expand its presence internationally. It plans to use its latest financing to create more live and on-demand content for users, to keep them engaged.

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Ford Motor unveiled a new off-road Timberline model as part of its updates to the 2022 Expedition SUV.
The new model features a freshened exterior, increased ground clearance and other off-road features such as upgraded tires and a heavy-duty skid plate.
It’s the second Timberline model after Ford introduced the trim on the 2021 Explorer SUV with similar features.

2022 Expedition Timberline SUV

DETROIT — Ford Motor unveiled a new off-road Timberline model on Tuesday as part of its updates to the 2022 Expedition SUV.
The new model features a freshened exterior design, increased ground clearance and other off-road features such as upgraded tires and a heavy-duty skid plate to protect the undercarriage of the vehicle.

It’s the second Timberline model after Ford introduced the trim on the 2021 Explorer SUV with similar features.

2022 Ford Expedition Timberline SUV

With the new Timberline trim, Ford wants to capitalize on increasing sales of SUVs and demand for off-road-capable vehicles. The looks and features of such vehicles have become more popular with mainstream consumers in recent years.
The Expedition Timberline will be powered by Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine that produces 440 horsepower and 510 foot-pounds of torque.
“Timberline sets a new standard with full-size SUV customers who need more passenger space, great off-road capability and a basecamp for life’s journeys,” Ford Expedition chief engineer Mike Kipley said in a statement.

In addition to the Timberline trim, Ford also introduced a blacked-out “Stealth Edition Performance Package.” Ford also will offer its BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system on its top-end Expedition Platinum for 2022.

The BlueCruise system allows for hands-free driving on more than 130,000 miles of dedicated highways in North America. It controls the vehicle’s speed and steering, while also monitoring the driver’s attentiveness through an infrared camera system.

2022 Ford Expedition “Stealth Edition Performance Package”

Ford’s system is similar to General Motors’ Super Cruise technology and would also compete against Tesla’s Autopilot.
The 2022 Expedition is assembled at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville and will go on sale in the first quarter of next year.
The company did not announce pricing for the 2022 Expedition. The vehicle currently starts at $50,000 to $75,000.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill’s newest menu item is smoked brisket, which will only be available for a limited time.
Loyalty program members can start ordering the item on Tuesday, two days before the company starts selling it at its U.S. and Canadian restaurants.
It’s the third new item to join Chipotle’s menu this year.

Smoked brisket joins Chipotle Mexican Grill’s menu
Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday announced the third new menu item for this year: smoked brisket.
The latest meat option will only be available for a limited time. Those signed up for Chipotle’s loyalty program, which now has 24 million members, will be able to start ordering the smoked brisket through the chain’s app and website on Tuesday. By Thursday, it will be available in U.S. and Canadian restaurants and to all of Chipotle’s app and website users. Third-party delivery apps like DoorDash won’t offer brisket as an option until Monday.

Chipotle has been working on crafting the smoked brisket for the last two years. The company tested the limited-time option in Cincinnati and Sacramento nearly a year ago before deciding to launch it nationwide. The brisket is made by smoking beef until tender, charring it on a grill, seasoning it with Mexican spices and then topping with a new sauce made with smoky chili peppers.
Earlier this year, Chipotle released cauliflower rice as a limited-time option and quesadillas as a digital-only entree. Under CEO Brian Niccol, who previously led Yum Brands’ Taco Bell, the company has accelerated adding new menu items through a process it calls stage-gate testing. The chain has been strategic with new releases, making many of them limited-time options to drive customer traffic to its restaurants and to keep the menu from becoming bloated.
Last month, Chipotle said it was testing meatless chorizo in several markets.
“We have a lot of ideas, that’s one of the great things about Chipotle, and sorting through those ideas and figuring out which ones are the best is one of the biggest challenges. The stage-gate process certainly helps us do that,” Chipotle chief marketing officer Chris Brandt said in an interview. “We’re getting consumer feedback, all along the path, but we’re also getting finance feedback and operations feedback, because a great consumer idea that can’t be executed well in the restaurant is a really bad idea.”
The new item performed “extraordinarily well” in test markets, Brandt said.

Limited-time menu items can return. That happened to carne asada. It began in a limited run and was added back onto the menu again for a limited time in 2019 and 2020 as the company secured additional supply.
Supply chain challenges have been hitting restaurants around the globe due to the ripple effects of the pandemic. Chipotle touts its strict supply chain standards, including offering responsibly raised beef with no antibiotics or added hormones.
“It is really hard to find high quality responsibly raised beef in large quantities that we need. But the good news is we’ve been successful. … It should run somewhere into November or December, depending on how things go,” Brandt said.
Shares of Chipotle have climbed 35% this year, raising its market value to $52.9 billion.

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McDonald’s is pledging to offer sustainable Happy Meal toys made with dramatically less plastic by the end of 2025.
The company hopes to cut 90% of the amount of virgin fossil fuel-based plastic it used in the toys in 2018.
McDonald’s sells more than a billion toys a year through its Happy Meals.

A photo illustration of a Happy Meal at McDonald’s on November 3, 2010 in San Francisco, California.
David Paul Morris | Getty Images News | Getty Images

McDonald’s is pledging to offer sustainable Happy Meal toys made with dramatically less plastic by the end of 2025.
The fast-food giant said that it has already slashed use of virgin fossil fuel-based plastic in its toys by 30% worldwide since 2018 after starting the process in markets like France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. If it achieves the target it announced Tuesday, the company will have cut 90% of the amount of virgin fossil fuel-based plastic it used in the toys in 2018.

More than 100 countries worldwide sell Happy Meals at McDonald’s locations. The burger chain began selling the meals in 1979. In 2018, after widespread concern about children’s meals at fast-food restaurants, the company revamped its options to selections that were lower in calories, sodium, saturated fat and sugar.
Happy Meal toys have grown into a marketing mechanism for movies, TV series and other toys through partnerships with powerhouses like Disney, Warner Brothers and Hasbro. McDonald’s sells more than a billion toys a year, according to Amy Murray, McDonald’s vice president of global marketing enablement.
Murray said children and parents alike have been asking for more sustainable toys. In 2019, two British school children started a petition that generated international attention asking McDonald’s and Burger King to scrap the plastic toys in their children’s meal deals.
Some toys, like board game pieces, will be made with plant-derived or recycled material. Others will have more significant changes to their appearance. Superheroes and movie characters will be 3-D cutouts rather than plastic figurines. The company is also looking into switching from plastic wrapping to plant-based and certified fiber packaging.
“As you can imagine, our entire supply chain has to change with this,” Murray said. “It has been a massive undertaking, and we’re really just changing the way we do our Happy Meals.”

McDonald’s chief sustainability officer Jenny McColloch said the company has already been learning from feedback in France, the U.K. and Ireland, where the toys have already rolled out. The goal is to make sure they are safe and sturdy enough for children.
The newer options will also be “cost neutral” for franchisees because the effort was designed with the existing price in mind, Murray said. In the past, lower-plastic options have included Pokemon cards and books.
According to McColloch, the more sustainable toys will begin rolling out widely in the U.S. by January.
The fast-food giant is also looking for ways to recycle the old plastic Happy Meal toys within its restaurants. Its locations in the U.K. and Japan, for example, have reused the plastic for playgrounds and restaurant trays.
In 2018, McDonald’s announced that it would cut greenhouse gas emissions related to its restaurants and offices by more than a third between 2015 and 2030. The company included packaging as one area that it would target to reduce its carbon footprint.
Shares of McDonald’s have risen 11% this year, bringing its market value to $184 billion.

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