As Aquarius heads to Spain, the 629 migrants on board the boat continue to endure difficult conditions with limited space, food and water. _Euronews’ Anelise Borges, the only TV journalist on board the ship, provides the latest: _ “For some of the member of the teams who are here, providing medical assistance and care to… Continue reading Exclusive: SK Innovation in talks to set up EV battery JVs with Volkswagen, China partners – euronews
Tag: Possible_Terrorism_Warfare
Uber expects a long wait before self-driving cars dominate – VentureBeat
(Reuters) — Uber expects it will be a long time before one of its biggest investments, self-driving cars, is ready for wide-scale deployment, a senior scientist said on Monday, as the ride-sharing firm gears up to go public. Raquel Urtasun, who is chief scientist at Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) and heads the group’s unit… Continue reading Uber expects a long wait before self-driving cars dominate – VentureBeat
Ford, GM and Toyota set up a safety group for self-driving cars
Malorny | Moment | Getty Images
Aerial view, view from above, drone view, or birds eye view of a highway at night.
Ford, General Motors (GM) and Toyota, together with SAE International, have established a new consortium that will focus on the safety of autonomous vehicles.
In a statement Wednesday, SAE International, a global association of engineers, said the Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC) would work “to safely advance testing, pre-competitive development and deployment of SAE Level 4 and 5 automated vehicles.”
SAE International has defined five “levels” of driving automation, with the highest being where a vehicle's automated features can drive itself under all conditions.
“We understand that autonomous vehicles need to operate safely and reliably in concert with infrastructure and other road users to earn the trust of the communities in which they are deployed,” Randy Visintainer, chief technology officer at Ford Autonomous Vehicles, said in a statement.
“Our goal with the consortium is to work with industry and government partners to expedite development of standards that can lead to rule making,” Visintainer added.
The executive director of the newly formed AVSC, Edward Straub, said that being able to advance the safe deployment of level four and level five vehicles represented “another exciting chapter in the realization of autonomous mobility and the benefits this will bring to people around the world.”
“To achieve these benefits, industry collaboration, cohesion and flexibility to merge new ideas with proven safety processes are critical,” Straub added.
While there is excitement surrounding the potential of autonomous vehicles, concerns have been raised with regards to safety. In March 2018, for example, one of ride-hailing powerhouse Uber's autonomous vehicles killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.
When it comes to regulation, there are also a host of questions to be answered. “There are no rules right now, international rules, on how to regulate automated vehicles,” Philippe Crist, from the International Transport Forum, told CNBC in January 2018.
“The safety regulation of automated vehicles will have to be the same as for regular vehicles, using the same principles,” Crist added.
Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
Lime just pulled its scooters out of Lubbock ahead of tonight’s NCAA game
Lubbock fans watching tonight’s NCAA Men’s National Championship basketball game between the University of Virginia and Texas Tech will have numerous ways to celebrate if the latter wins, but riding Lime-branded electric scooters will not be among them. Six months after Lime rolled out its motorized vehicles in Lubbock — the city in Northwest Texas… Continue reading Lime just pulled its scooters out of Lubbock ahead of tonight’s NCAA game
Old Opel love does not rust
*/ ]]> Armin Rauschenberger in front of some models from his classic car collection. Armin Rauschenberger’s great-grandfather next to his captain (besides the father of Armin Rauschenberger as a child). Armin Rauschenberger owns about 15 Opel classic cars; predominantly models with six-cylinder engines. His fondness is no coincidence: when – a few days after his… Continue reading Old Opel love does not rust
UPDATE 1-Exor’s Elkann stresses long-term commitment to Fiat Chrysler
(Recasts lead, adds background) MILAN, April 2 (Reuters) – Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, remains committed to Fiat Chrysler (FCA), chairman John Elkann said, in comments that may dampen speculation the Italian carmaker could be the target of a takeover. “Our permanence in the capital of FCA has given its successive leadership… Continue reading UPDATE 1-Exor’s Elkann stresses long-term commitment to Fiat Chrysler
Grove launches hydrogen fuel-cell car brand in China
Grove Hydrogen Automotive fuel-cell car
China is the world's largest market for cars—especially electric cars.
The country has even announced that at some point in the future it will ban internal combustion cars. But it's not all about battery electric EVs, it turns out.
A new company called Grove Hydrogen Automotive Co. announced that it will focus on fuel-cell cars, starting with a four-door SUV that it plans to launch in China later this year. The company says it will reach mass production sometime next year. Grove is home to several former automotive executives from Volkswagen, Audi, Infiniti, and other established automakers.
MUST READ: Why the future of electric cars depends on China's war on pollution
Grove says the car will have up to 625 miles of range from its hydrogen tanks, which can be refueled in a “few minutes.” The company says the car will be built with composite materials and use regenerative braking to maximize efficiency, which implies that it also includes some battery capacity that could be used to provide extra bursts of power beyond the fuel-cell's output.
The car is scheduled to debut at next month's Shanghai auto show.
Grove Hydrogen Automotive fuel-cell car
Grove has plans to sell a line of hydrogen cars, not just a single model, and will set up “experience centers” similar to Tesla stores, in China. It plans to explore export markets in 2020, but did not specify where.
The car company was founded by the Institute for Geosciences and the Environment, which develops hydrogen from industrial wastes, giving it a more sustainable, less carbon-intensive footprint that most hydrogen produced in the U.S.
READ MORE: 2019 Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle pricing: Puzzling economics
IGE plans to roll out hydrogen fueling infrastructure in “Tier 1” cities in China starting in 2020, Tier 2 cities in 2021, and then “aggressively” throughout all “significant” cities in China thereafter. They gave no indication what's considered a significant city.
The company is working with officials in China to pave the way for the rollout.
Grove did not specify any plans to come to the U.S., where hydrogen infrastructure is still sparse. If it did, it might find a more fertile market as a supplier of renewable hydrogen production and refueling equipment than as another automaker trying to sell fuel-cell cars in the States alongside Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and GM.
UPDATE 1-Honda says 16th U.S. death confirmed in air bag rupture
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co said on Friday it had confirmed a 16th U.S. death has been tied to a faulty Takata air bag inflator. FILE PHOTO: Honda’s logo on its Modulo model is pictured at its showroom at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, February 19, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon The Japanese automaker said that… Continue reading UPDATE 1-Honda says 16th U.S. death confirmed in air bag rupture
Nissan executives allegedly orchestrated Carlos Ghosn’s arrest to kill merger with Renault
Takaaki Iwabu | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan Motor Co., center, sits in a vehicle as he leaves his lawyer's office in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
Nissan executives took steps to have former Chairman Carlos Ghosn jailed in the hopes the arrest would stall or kill any attempts to merge the Japanese automaker with its French counterpart Renault, reported the Wall Street Journal Thursday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who had in the past been close with Ghosn, said at a Jan. 31 meeting that he believed Nissan executives had gone digging for evidence and presented their findings to Japanese authorities with the purpose of removing Ghosn from power, the paper reported. Ghosn had reportedly been trying to merge the two automakers, who had formed an alliance in 1999.
Theories that Nissan executives might have had a role in Ghosn's arrest have abounded in the automotive world. Ghosn had become something of a national hero in Japan for his role in helping to turn around Nissan, but many who follow the industry say the Japanese would have balked at the idea of a foreign automaker such as Renault owning such an important company in Japan.
Ghosn spent more than 100 days in jail in Japan for an array of alleged financial misdeeds before he was released on bail. He has been stripped of his roles at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, which he had formerly chaired. If found guilty he could face up to 15 years in prison. He has denied the accusations.
Nissan was not immediately available for comment to CNBC, but company spokesman Nicholas Maxfield told the Wall Street Journal the motives of company executives is not relevant, and that the company found “substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct. The sole cause of this chain of events is the misconduct led by Ghosn.”
Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.
Great Wall, Ford hitch up to burgeoning Chinese demand for pickup trucks
BEIJING (Reuters) – Grey Liu bought his third vehicle four months ago – a Foton pickup truck, lured by its $7,000 price tag and its ability to transport his sports motorcycle to the grasslands of northern China where he likes to ride. A worker closes the back of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck at Pickup… Continue reading Great Wall, Ford hitch up to burgeoning Chinese demand for pickup trucks