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Tesla Starts 2022 Model Y Customer Deliveries from Giga Texas by Maria Merano, Teslarati
Tesla has kicked off the 2022 Model Y’s customer deliveries from Gigafactory Texas. One of the first customers to receive a Model Y from Giga Texas shared a review of his new vehicle with the public. According to the host of YouTube’s Spoken Reviews channel, he recently received a Tesla Model Y Standard Range from Giga Texas. The Tesla owner said his Model Y was one of the first 1,700 units out of the Texas plant.
The Texas-made Model Y has a dual motor badge at the back. The owner also showed the Model Y shelf at the back of the car and the carpet, which reportedly goes up higher in Texas-built vehicles compared to those made in Tesla’s Fremont Factory. The build quality of the Model Y from Gigafactory Texas seemed pristine. The panel gaps appear to be well-aligned, worthy of a review from car expert Sandy Munro. The Model Y’s paint looked pretty smooth too. It would be interestSee Customer Deliveries, Page 12
New-Vehicle Prices Flirt with Record High in May New-vehicle average transaction prices (ATPs) increased to $47,148 in May, according to new data released by Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive company. Prices rose 1% ($472) month over month and remain elevated compared to one year ago, up 13.5% ($5,613) from May 2021. The average price paid for a new vehicle in the U.S. in May was the second-highest on record, behind only December 2021, when ATPs reached $47,202. New-vehicle inventory days’ supply stayed in the mid-30s in May—holding steady since
mid-January—while customer demand remained stable. These conditions enabled most dealers to continue selling inventory at or above the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). The average price paid for
a new vehicle has been “over sticker” throughout 2022. In May, new vehicles from Honda, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz See New-Vehicle Prices, Page 14
Vol. 40 / Issue 7 / July 2022
Arizona to Spend $76.5M in EV Charging Stations on Highways by Tom Joyce, The Center Square
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) plans to invest in electric vehicle charging stations in the coming years. The state is set to receive $76.5 million in federal dollars through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program over the next five years. This will allow the department to establish publicly accessible EV charging stations along Arizona’s federal interstate highways. “The first step of the plan will focus on deploying EV fast chargers
along Arizona’s currently designated alternative fuel corridors—the interstate system—to reduce range
anxiety and encourage vehicle purchasers to consider EVs as a viable alternative to gasoline or diesel-powSee Charging Stations, Page 6
Insurers Too Late for Subrogation in Auto Parts Price-Fixing Case, Court Rules by Jim Sams, Insurance Journal
Insurers waited too long to intervene in anti-trust litigation that brought settlements requiring dozens of auto parts manufacturers to pay a total of $1.2 billion to resolve price-fixing allegations, a panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled June 1. In a published decision, the appellate panel affirmed a U.S. District Court ruling that denied a motion to intervene filed by Financial Recovery Services on behalf of eight insurers that sought “equitable subrogation” for the payments it made to insureds for the total loss of their vehicles. FRS did not seek to intervene in the litigation until long after settlement negotiations were concluded and final-approval hearings were held in 41 coordinated cases. The 6th Circuit panel said in its opinion that allowing intervention would require the court to revisit issues that were settled while FRS “watched from the sidelines.” “Allowing FRS to claim subro-
gation rights after settlement would uproot earlier efforts to define classes, expend considerable resources to amend allocation plans and increase costs associated with the claims-administration process, thereby reducing the amount of settlement proceeds available,” the panel said in an opinion written by Justice Karen Nelson Moore. Attorneys representing consumers in 2012 filed anti-trust lawsuits against dozens of auto manufacturers. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into price-fixing allegations, resulting in guilty pleas by 26 manufacturers that paid millions in fines. The civil lawsuits were consolidated into a single case assigned to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Detroit. The court approved four separate settlement agreements between the plaintiffs and 73 of the defendants from 2016 through November 2020. FRS, a third-party administrator for auto insurers, did not get See Price-Fixing Case, Page 16
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