Volkswagen Looks to Deal With Cost Problems, but Faces Constraints
The carmaker said it would increase the number of battery-powered cars it sells and cut spending on research and development, but it will find it tough to reduce its work force.
Mercedes-Benz to electrify all model series in €7B R&D investment
Over the next two years, Daimler is slated to invest an unprecedented seven billion euro (approximately $7.8 billion in US) into what they are referring to as green technologies. Usually, such a large sum of money would be invested over a long period of time, but Daimler is leading the industry in doing so over a mere two years. By 2017, the car maker will offer all models with electrified powertrains.
According to Professor Dr. Thomas Weber, a member of the Board of management of Dimler AG, stated, “…no other manufacturer offers a comparable range of electrified vehicles and solutions in the field of electric mobility. The spectrum ranges from the smart city runabout and attractive Mercedes-Benz passenger cars to buses, coaches, and trucks of the Fuso brand. We will electrify all Mercedes-Benz passenger car model series step by step.“
The Mercedes-Benz name will not be compromised by lack of power, as stated in a press release, but will instead offer customers a broader range of engine options, keeping in mind the specific needs of each model and the desires of the purchaser. Mercedes-Benz will offer a multitude of plug-in hybrids and expand carbon-free options by implementing emission-free vehicles into every realm of their model options including buses and commercial vehicles. The car maker recognizes a need for more innovative technology within the automotive industry though, and is making great strides toward the future.
Mercedes-Benz will unveil a high-performance four-door, four-seat, all-wheel drive GT electric only saloon with 500 km range at the Paris motor show in October.
Source: Daimler
All-electric 4-motor SH-AWD NSX EV Concept to race @ Pikes Peak
Acura will field a pair of 2017 Acura NSX supercars in the 100th Anniversary of the running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26, marking the North American racing debut of Acura's next-generation NSX: the pinnacle expression of Acura Precision Crafted Performance and the only supercar made in America.
The two Acura NSX supercars will compete in the Time Attack 1 and 2 classes and will be piloted by brothers James and Nick Robinson, respectively, both from the company's North American engineering team. In addition, Acura will campaign an NSX-inspired prototype vehicle in the Electric Modified Class, featuring a further evolution of the experimental all-electric, 4-motor Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) powertrain that won last year's Pikes Peak Challenge Exhibition class.
"Pikes Peak is like no other race in the world and offers a unique opportunity to showcase the power and performance of our products," said Jon Ikeda, vice president and general manager of the Acura Division. "We are excited for this year's 'Race to the Clouds' to test the endurance and engineering of the Acura NSX and our advanced powertrain technologies – as well as an expression of our racing spirit."
A team of North American R&D engineers has been working on both NSX entries, which feature the same three-motor Sport Hybrid Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive powertrain (Sport Hybrid SH-AWD) as the production NSX. This powertrain features a twin-turbo V6 engine mated to a 9-speed dual clutch transmission and Rear Direct Drive Motor, and a front Twin Motor Unit with a world's first electrically powered torque vectoring capability in the supercar realm. Modifications to the NSX competing in the Time Attack 1 class included chassis lightening and a custom high-flow racing exhaust.
The NSX competing in the Time Attack 2 class is a production car with the required safety equipment for competition. The Time Attack 1 NSX will be driven by James Robinson of the company's North American powertrain development group, who drove a first-generation NSX in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb from 2012 to 2015. His brother Nick Robinson, an engineer in charge of the new NSX's dynamic performance during its development, will drive the Time Attack 2 NSX. Nick is also the reigning PP250 winner from the 2015 Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
The supercar-inspired 4-Motor EV Concept will be driven by Tetsuya Yamano, who campaigned last year's CR-Z-based electric prototype. The EV Concept is the ultimate embodiment of the all-wheel-drive Electric SH-AWD powertrain featuring a world's first technology that enables four-wheel independent torque allocation. The Electric SH-AWD powertrain, an evolution of the CR-Z prototype powertrain, produces three times the total system output of last year's electric prototype and is mated to the NSX body.
As Official Pace Car sponsor, Acura will feature three pace cars – the NSX, the seven-passenger MDX performance-luxury SUV and the TLX sports sedan. President of Polyphony Digital and Producer of the Gran Turismo series Kazunori Yamauchi and Pikes Peak legends Randy Schranz and Leonard Vahsholtz will lead the field of 100 entrants to the top of the 14,115-foot Colorado peak.
For Pikes Peak race attendees, the NSX and other pace cars will appear at a number of pre-race activities, including the popular Fan Fest in downtown Colorado Springs, 5 to 10 p.m. MDT Friday, June 24.
Tesla Model S Suspension Failures Under Scrutiny by Safety Agency
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also warned Tesla Motors to refrain from encouraging Model S drivers not to report safety concerns.
CHAdeMO Announce 150 Kw Supercharging Protocol
During CHAdeMO’s annual General Assembly in Tokyo, Japan, the Association’s management has announced its plans and ongoing activities towards bringing high power CHAdeMO chargers to the market.
The Association plans to release an amendment to the current protocol, which will enable charging with up to 150kW (350A), this year. The revision of the protocol, announced to the Regular Members already last year, is still ongoing with technical consultations with members happening both in and outside of Japan.
CHAdeMO’s Secretary General Dave Yoshida said: “One of the purposes of the Association is to evolve CHAdeMO protocol so that it can better respond to market needs. We see a movement towards mass market EVs with higher capacity batteries and we, as the Association of fast charging protocol, prepare for it by working on the high power protocol. This will enable faster deployment of the high power charging infrastructure, in preparation for EVs that can charge with higher power.”
Recognising that the upward trend in EV autonomy will lead to a need for charging with higher power at key locations, especially along the motorways, CHAdeMO mandated its Technical Work Group to tackle issues such as the size of the high power cable or managing temperature increase of the charger that may come in contact with users.
The ‘plug’ itself will remain exactly the same as the current one, meaning the high power CHAdeMO chargers can feed power to both the current EVs as well as the upcoming EVs with higher battery capacity. Current CHAdeMO EVs will also be able to use the 150kW charger, but as today’s EVs are configured to charge at around 50kW, they will charge at the current speed.
Dave Yoshida added: “We are very pleased that, thanks to the hard work of our technical team, we will soon be able to release the new version of the protocol to our members. We expect first 150kW standardised chargers to be deployed in 2017.”
CHAdeMO technical representatives are also actively involved in the IEC Committee working on high power charging, where, together with other international experts, they are preparing a revision of the DC high power standards, based on the IEC standards published in 2014.
In terms of higher power, for example 350kW (1 000V x 350A), technical studies are ongoing and the Association will determine its further development around 2018, should there be market demand.
Tesla Comes to Brooklyn
The electric car company opens a showroom in Red Hook, joining the craft distilleries and artisanal chocolate makers.
Beijing’s Electric Bikes, the Wheels of E-Commerce, Face Traffic Backlash
On the congested roads of China’s capital, a conflict is playing out between increasing numbers of both car drivers and couriers who depend on powered two- and three-wheelers.
Volkswagen planning a multi-billion euro battery factory
Volkswagen is considering building a multi-billion-euro battery factory as part of a major expansion of its electric-car portfolio, Handelsblatt has learned from company sources.
The factory would allow VW to operate independently of Asian firms like Panasonic, LG and Samsung that have dominated the battery market to date.
VW Chief Executive Matthias Müller and his team are currently working on a new strategy to increase electric car sales in the coming 10 years to 1 million. The non-executive supervisory board will consider the plans before the Wolfsburg-based firm’s annual meeting on June 22.
The aim of the new plans in part is also to put the recent “Dieselgate” scandal over cheating emissions tests behind it. The hope is that focusing on battery technology and electric cars can help the beleaguered company make a fresh start and improve its negative image.
Building a new battery factory would also allow VW to take a leadership role in the development of the new technology. The company’s executive board looks likely to approve the plan, which is also supported in principle by the works council and the state of Lower Saxony, its major shareholder, sources said.
VW invested in solid-state battery startup QuantumScape in late 2014 and have publicly stated they expect the technology can deliver 700 km range. VW is also targeting a 66 percent cost reduction by using a single battery module design for all of its electrified vehicles.
“We want to launch a major initiative, one that will put us at the top of the industry,” said one insider familiar with the plans.
To date one of the main reasons established automakers have been reluctant to move into high volume EV manufacture is having to outsource battery production. Where the largest cost component in an internal combustion car is the engine itself, which virtually all automakers build in-house, in an EV it is the battery that is the most expensive component. Automakers need to vertically integrate battery production into their manufacturing process in order to make EVs profitable.
Peugeot / Citroen unveil new electrification platform [VIDEO]
PSA Group unveiled their electrification strategy plans at the “Innovation Day” event. PSA Group is consolidating the development of its new electrification strategy on two global modular platforms, which will allow it to offer a wide range of internal combustion, electric and plug-in hybrid petrol models as from 2019. Both platforms will be compatible with the manufacturing resources put in place as part of the Plant of the Future programme.
The Common Modular Platform (CMP), which was developed in partnership with DFM (Dongfeng Motors), is dedicated to compact city cars, core sedans and compact SUVs. The all-electric e-CMP format co-financed by PSA Group and DFM will allow the two parties to offer a new generation of spacious, multi-purpose electric vehicles with a driving range of up to 450 km and ultra-fast charging solutions providing up to 12 km of driving per minute of charging. Four electric models will be introduced by 2021, the first of which will reach the market in 2019.
The Efficient Modular Platform (EMP2), which is dedicated to compact and premium models, was launched first in 2013 with the new Citroën C4 Picasso and Peugeot 308 and then in 2014 in China. From 2019 onwards, its innovative design will enable the deployment of the first plug-in hybrid petrol models equipped with the best of hybrid technology:
To facilitate use, the plug-in hybrid models will come with a four-hour charging system as well as an optional feature for recharging the battery more quickly, in less than two hours. Seven plug-in hybrid vehicles will be gradually introduced between 2019 and 2021.
On Innovation Day, Gilles Le Borgne said: "These next-generation hybrid and electric technologies will complement our range of internal combustion engines, thereby enabling PSA Group to offer its customers a diversified line-up of technologies that meet all of their mobility needs. This innovative strategy clearly demonstrates the Group's commitment to global, sustainable solutions that will allow us to take on the energy transition challenge."
Automakers Befriend Start-Ups Like Uber, Girding Against a Changing Car Culture
Companies like Toyota and Volkswagen are supporting the tech companies working to change the way people travel by car.
Toyota sells 9 Millionth Hybrid car
Toyota's hybrid vehicles have saved their owners 25 billion litres of petrol - enough fuel, theoretically, for each of their cars to travel around the Earth... and then some.
The calculation was revealed by the world's leading carmaker when it announced it has sold more than nine million Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles around the world, including more than 85,800 delivered in Australia.
The latest milestone, achieved in April, comes as Toyota Australia prepares to introduce its newest hybrid, Corolla, early in the second half of this year.
Toyota's parent company in Japan has revealed that the total fuel saving from its nine million hybrids represents an average of more than 2,770 litres per vehicle compared with driving petrol-only cars of similar size.
The saving would provide enough fuel for each of those vehicles to travel at least 52,400km, or 1.3 times around the equator, based on a nominal average consumption of 5.3 litres per 100km. Three-quarters of the nine million hybrids use less than this amount of fuel.
Instead of doing that, of course, Toyota's hybrid owners have pocketed billions of dollars in savings.
Toyota has also estimated its hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 67 million fewer tonnes of CO2 emissions than would have been emitted by petrol-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance^.
Toyota Australia's executive director sales and marketing Tony Cramb said the extent to which hybrid vehicles had found homes in driveways around the world confirmed them as a mainstream option for motorists.
"Toyota's hybrid vehicles are renowned for their performance, reliability, durability and exceptionally low running costs as well as their contribution to the environment and to saving precious fossil fuels," Mr Cramb said.
"In Australia, we are looking forward to bringing Toyota's full hybrid technology to the country's best-selling car, Corolla - a move that will further broaden the market appeal of both," he said.
Corolla hybrid hatch will be introduced as a well-specified single grade, expanding the local company's Hybrid Synergy Drive offerings to a fifth model.
It will join Camry, which is the best-selling hybrid vehicle in Australia with 37,879 deliveries - almost double the Prius tally of 19,682 cars - followed by Prius c (7,432) and Prius v (3,430).
Globally, Toyota's total is led by the world's best-selling hybrid, Prius, with 3.7 million sales since its debut in Japan in December 1997. Prius c has reached 1.25 million sales, Prius v 634,000 and Camry hybrid 574,000.
While it took 10 years for Toyota to achieve one million global hybrid sales, it has sold eight million in the past nine years and has averaged more than one million hybrid sales a year since 2009.
The company's hybrid vehicles are sold in more than 90 markets.
Toyota has positioned hybrid advances as core environmental technologies for the 21st century. Using these technologies, Toyota is also working on improving non-hybrid cars.
TOYOTA HYBRID MILESTONES
9 million | April 2016 |
8 million | July 2015 |
7 million | September 2014 |
6 million | December 2013 |
5 million | March 2013 |
4 million | April 2012 |
3 million | February 2011 |
2 million | August 2009 |
1 million | May 2007 |
A Formula One Champion on a New Frontier
Alain Prost discusses his involvement in the Formula E series.
Drivers Do the Winning, Not the Cars
Not only a top-level, innovative racing category featuring some of the finest drivers in the world, Formula E is also one of the series that most emphasizes driver skill over car technology.
Almost at the Races, via Virtual Reality
The Formula E series and its partner, Virtually Live, a start-up based in San Francisco, are offering an immersive experience of races.
Racing’s New One-Day Wonder
In Formula E, the practice, qualifying and racing, and the drivers' off-track appearances for the media, fans and sponsors, all happen on a single day, Saturday.
Tesla to Offer $2 Billion in Stock to Meet Model 3 Production Goal
Tesla aims to make 500,000 of its lower-priced and much-sought Model 3 electric car by 2018. Raising money will help.
Tesla to Sell $2 Billion in Shares to Bolster Model 3 Output
Tesla aims to make 500,000 of its lower-priced and much-sought Model 3 electric car by 2018. Raising money will help.
Tesla consider LG, Samsung & SK for Model 3 battery supply
Tesla Motors is approaching LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation as part of its strategy to diversify its battery-sourcing channels beyond Japan's Panasonic.
LG Chem is expected to win the Tesla business thanks to its output commitment, good pricing and on-time delivery. A solid partnership with LG Display could also help LG Chem. The company previously supplied batteries for Tesla's Roadster model, though the volume it shipped was "small."
"Tesla intends to use more Korean technology on its Model 3. It decided to use tires manufactured by Hankook Tire and LG Display will possibly be supplying its OLED panels for the automotive systems. Additionally, Tesla is testing the manufacturing capability and production of LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation," said an official, Tuesday.
Tesla executives recently visited key research centers at LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation, holding working-level meetings with all of them.
An LG Chem spokesman said the largest battery supplier in the world has no official comment about its business with specific clients. Samsung SDI said it has no authority either to confirm or to deny business deals with its major clients. SK Innovation wasn't available for comment.
The Model 3 electric vehicle is faster, cleaner, more reliable and has better handling; while its entry price will start at around $35,000, cheaper than many competing gas powered cars.
Because of those factors, market analysts and officials say that the Model 3 "should be a game changer" at an affordable price point.
They said the Model 3 will drive the "third wave of adoption" in the electric vehicle industry. This third wave will finally attack the majority "mainstream and economically attractive" segment and it's been expected that others will follow including the GM Chevy Bolt, which should help propel EVs to the real tipping point of mass adoption.
"This is why LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation all are keenly interested in boosting their tie-up with Tesla. The three Korean battery manufacturers can't afford to lose the new business given the Model 3's impressive initial responses from customers," said another official.
Tesla plans to produce up to 500,000 electric vehicles by 2018. The Model 3 will be available in 2017, at the earliest. The company has received 400,000 pre-orders.
Currently, Japan's Panasonic is the exclusive battery partner with Tesla, supplying 18650 batteries as these are more economical and easier to mass produce.
Both LG Chem and Samsung SDI are also manufacturing 18650 cells.
Although LG is pushing the pouch-type battery as its mainstream product with Samsung SDI focusing on the rectangular-type battery, sources who are involved with the issue say Tesla may use LG and Samsung's mainstream technologies to keep adequate inventory levels as it's been widely expected the supply for the Model 3 will remain tight.
Nissan working on next-gen amorphous silicon (SiO) Li-ion battery
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Nissan Arc Ltd. announced today joint development of an atomic analysis methodology that will aid in boosting the performance of lithium-ion batteries, and ultimately extend the driving range of zero-emission electric vehicles.
The breakthrough was the result of a combined R&D effort between Nissan Arc Ltd., a Nissan subsidiary, Tohoku University, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
The analysis examines the structure of amorphous silicon monoxide (SiO), widely seen as key to boosting next-generation lithium-ion battery (Li-ion) capacity, allowing researchers to better understand electrode structure during charging cycles.
Silicon (Si) is capable of holding greater amounts of lithium, compared with common carbon-based materials, but in crystalline form possesses a structure that deteriorates during charging cycles, ultimately impacting performance. However, amorphous SiO is resistant to such deterioration.
Its base structure had been unknown, making it difficult for mass production. However, the new methodology provides an accurate understanding of the amorphous structure of SiO, based on a combination of structural analyses and computer simulations.
The atomic structure of SiO was thought to be inhomogeneous, making its precise atomic arrangements the subject of debate. The new findings show that its structure allows the storage of a larger number of Li ions, in turn leading to better battery performance.
“The invention of this new analysis method is essential to further develop the next generation of high-capacity lithium-ion batteries. It will certainly become one of our core technologies. The utilization of this analysis method in our future R&D will surely contribute to extending the cruising range of future zero-emission vehicles,” said Takao Asami, senior vice president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and President of Nissan Arc Ltd.
Daniele Schillaci, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Global Sales & Marketing including Zero Emission Vehicle and Battery business, said the development was another proof point of Nissan’s commitment to innovation in advanced technologies.
“Nissan is exploring a wide range of energy sources for tomorrow’s vehicles, and we recognize our role in continuously investing in multiple technologies and intelligent mobility,” said Schillaci.
More: Nature Communications
Young Analysts Press the Case for Innovation, and Tolerance, in Pursuing a Post-Carbon Energy Menu
Two young energy analysts offer a path past the tangled debates over how much to invest in deploying today’s renewable-energy technologies and tomorrow’s breakthroughs.