BMW re-ups electric-vehicle commitment—and hydrogen fuel-cell investment

BMW i Hydrogen Next development vehicle (fuel-cell X5)BMW remains committed to both electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The German automaker will continue a planned rollout of battery-electric models, as well as investing in fuel-cell research for passenger cars. By 2025, BMW plans to invest over 30 billion euros ($32 billion) in research and development, according to a press release...

Electric Volvo XC90 will likely offer optional fully autonomous highway driving

2020 Volvo XC90An upcoming electric version of the Volvo XC90 could get what the automaker calls "fully autonomous highway driving" thanks to new sensors. Volvo announced Monday that, beginning in 2022, vehicles built on its SPA2 platform will get roof-mounted lidar sensors from Luminar, a Silicon Valley firm the automaker has been funding since 2018. The lidar...

VW design chief: ID electric vehicles among first created all-digitally

Volkswagen ID Space Vizzion conceptComputer-aided design has been part of the toolkit for engineers creating cars and their components for decades. Yet the actual car design itself hasn’t completely made the digital transformation until very recently. Volkswagen is one automaker that’s taken at least some of its vehicle design all-digital. In a webconference...

Tesla’s battery approach vs. others: Teardown video breaks it down

Tesla Model 3 battery pack teardown, from YouTube video by Sandy Munro, May 2020As other automakers have launched competing electric cars, Tesla has managed to maintain an advantage in several key areas, including batteries. This teardown video provides a glimpse at how Tesla's battery approach differs from that of rivals. Sandy Munro, of Munro & Associates, has been conducting a teardown of a Tesla Model Y. This time, he...