Category: Automotive

ClipperCreek Launches New High-Power And Super Rugged Charger

5 H BY MARK KANE Designed specifically for heavy utilization fleets, public parking lots, and extreme weather locations ClipperCreek announced an interesting expansion of its EVSE lineup by two new “Ruggedized” charging stations – HCS-60R (48 A, 240 V, up to 11.5 kW) and HCS-80R (64 A, 240 V, up to 15.4 kW), which are… Continue reading ClipperCreek Launches New High-Power And Super Rugged Charger

Waymo Tops Self-Driving Car ‘Disengagement’ Stats As GM Cruise Gains And Tesla Is AWOL – Forbes

A Cruise self-driving car doing a test route in San Francisco in January 2019.Getty Images It’s tough to know for sure which companies really have the best self-driving car technology, though Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and General Motors Cruise can point to the only public data available in the U.S. that compares dozens of programs testing… Continue reading Waymo Tops Self-Driving Car ‘Disengagement’ Stats As GM Cruise Gains And Tesla Is AWOL – Forbes

Driverless truck startup TuSimple raises $95 million at $1 billion valuation – VentureBeat

There’s a healthy demand for driverless trucks. It’s an industry predicted to reach 6,700 units globally, totaling $54.23 billion this year, and one that stands to save the logistics and shipping industry $70 billion annually while boosting productivity by 30 percent. Besides cost savings, the growth is driven in part by a shortage of human drivers. In 2018,… Continue reading Driverless truck startup TuSimple raises $95 million at $1 billion valuation – VentureBeat

Ford Motor Company Issues Three Recalls in North America

DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 13, 2019 – Ford Motor Company is issuing two safety recalls and a safety compliance recall in North America. Details are as follows: Safety recall for select 2011-13 Ford F-150 vehicles with 6-speed automatic transmission shift issues Ford is issuing a safety recall on select 2011-13 Ford F-150 vehicles with 6-speed automatic… Continue reading Ford Motor Company Issues Three Recalls in North America

Dana to Pay Dividend on Common Stock

MAUMEE, Ohio, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Dana Incorporated (DAN) announced today that its board of directors has declared a dividend on its common stock.   Dana Incorporated logo. (PRNewsFoto/Dana Incorporated)More The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable March 22, 2019, to holders of Dana common stock as of March 1. About… Continue reading Dana to Pay Dividend on Common Stock

Edited Transcript of GT earnings conference call or presentation 8-Feb-19 2:00pm GMT

Q4 2018 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co Earnings Call AKRON Feb 13, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) — Edited Transcript of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co earnings conference call or presentation Friday, February 8, 2019 at 2:00:00pm GMT TEXT version of Transcript ================================================================================ Corporate Participants ================================================================================ * Darren R. Wells The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company –… Continue reading Edited Transcript of GT earnings conference call or presentation 8-Feb-19 2:00pm GMT

Lime loses appeal to operate electric scooters in SF

Lime, similar to its competitors Spin and JUMP, just got word that while its appeal to operate electric scooters in phase one of San Francisco’s pilot program was denied, it may be able to deploy scooters during phase two. This comes following San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Neutral Hearing Officer James Doyle’s decision regarding Ford’s… Continue reading Lime loses appeal to operate electric scooters in SF

Check out the first interior view of Honda’s Urban EV prototype

Honda began teasing its all-electric urban vehicle in 2017, when the automaker showed off its vision of the future — that had a distinct 1970s first-generation Civic flare. Now, two years later, a production version of the Urban EV is nearly here. And the automaker is finally giving us a glimpse — albeit the tiniest… Continue reading Check out the first interior view of Honda’s Urban EV prototype

Self-driving truck start-up achieves unicorn status in funding round that values it at $1 billion

Imaginechina | AP Images
A self-driving TuSimple truck is on display during 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China.

Autonomous trucking company TuSimple has achieved unicorn status on Wall Street with a fresh funding round that values the start-up at $1 billion.

The company said Wednesday it raised $95 million in a series D funding led by Sina Corp. and Composite Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, as it prepares to expand its testing of self-driving semis on highways in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

“By the end of 2020 or early 2021 we think we think we can take the driver out of the cab on trucks,” said Chuck Price, chief product officer of TuSimple.

San Diego-based TuSimple is developing technology to allow shipping companies to operate self-driving class 8 tractor-trailers, potentially eliminating the need for drivers, the biggest expense facing trucking firms today, especially in a tight labor market. On average, shipping firms spend $2 per mile hauling goods, a cost TuSimple believes it could cut by 30 percent by eliminating the driver with autonomous trucks.

The money will help TuSimple expand its fleet of 12 test trucks to more than 50 by June. The company is currently testing autonomous semis on routes between Phoenix and Dallas.”

The extra cash will also help the company develop joint production of autonomous semis with truck manufacturers. TuSimple is currently working with two tractor-trailer makers, which it is not naming.

There are just under 3.5 million semis on the road in the U.S., according the American Trucking Association. They are the heartbeat of an $800 billion freight shipping industry TuSimple executives believe will continue growing.

“With e-commerce growing by double digits every year, freight shipping is not slowing down,” said Cheng Lu, CFO of TuSimple

Most of the attention surrounding the development of autonomous vehicles has been focused on self-driving cars and the race to build autonomous ride-hailing companies. Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, General Motors subsidiary Cruise and Uber are just a few of the companies that have dominated headlines with their work on self-driving cars. By comparison, the potential of autonomous semis has not received as much attention.

That could change as TuSimple and others demonstrate tractor-trailers can drive autonomously from shipping depot to shipping depot. “A big milestone will be showing that on one route we can take out the driver completely,” said Price.

TuSimple is not alone in the push to develop self-driving semis. Embark Trucks, Ike, Starsky Robotics, Thor Trucks and Udelv are also working on autonomous trucks.

Correction: This story was revised to correct the date of TuSimple's announcement to Wednesday.