Ford – Page 1490 – I wish I had more to offer

Toyota pulls Suzuki firmly into its orbit through stake deal

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T) will take small equity stakes in each other, the Japanese car makers said on Wednesday, as they seek to develop newer technologies and meet sweeping changes upending the global auto industry. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Toyota is pictured at the Bangkok Auto… Continue reading Toyota pulls Suzuki firmly into its orbit through stake deal

PSA Group re-states Brexit warning for Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant – AM

PSA Group chairman and chief executive Carlos Tavares has re-stated the French carmaker’s warning that Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant could be closed if Brexit makes it unprofitable. In an interview with the Financial Times Tavares said that Vauxhall, “has another plant in mind” if the conditions of Brexit are “unfavourable”. “Frankly I would prefer to… Continue reading PSA Group re-states Brexit warning for Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant – AM

Cities Won’t Be Taking A Backseat When Self-Driving Cars Are Ready for Prime Time

Peter Rander, President of Argo AI; Bryan Barnett, Mayor of Rochester Hills, MI; and Jim Farley, President of Ford New Business, Technology and Strategy By Peter Rander, President, Argo AI At Argo AI, and in collaboration with Ford, our plan is to work directly with cities as we prepare to launch services enabled by self-driving… Continue reading Cities Won’t Be Taking A Backseat When Self-Driving Cars Are Ready for Prime Time

Toyota and Pony.ai

The Japanese manufacturer Toyota and the Chinese startup Pony.ai are working together. The startup Pony.ai was founded in 2016 and has had some success last year. They started the first robot taxi service in China, they test in Peking and you have your own fleet elevated. This year you got one license for the operation… Continue reading Toyota and Pony.ai

Can power napping solve electric car charging challenge?

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) – Automakers around the world are pushing hard for new networks that can charge electric cars fast. In Europe, some power companies and grid operators are testing whether it might be smarter and cheaper to move into the slow lane. An electric car parks next to a charging station in Ostfildern near… Continue reading Can power napping solve electric car charging challenge?

Ford says its autonomous cars will last just four years

The automotive industry has embraced — and advertised — self-driving cars as a kind of panacea that will solve numerous problems that modern society is grappling with right now, from congestion to safety to productivity (you can work while riding!). Unfortunately, a very big question that has been almost entirely overlooked is: how long will… Continue reading Ford says its autonomous cars will last just four years

Volkswagen ID 4X spy shots reveal production direction for Crozz electric crossover

The model that’s leading Volkswagen’s electric-car push—and what Volkswagen has called the replacement for the e-Golf, the city-focused ID 3 hatchback, isn’t coming to America.

Instead, the U.S. will be getting the second model, a rugged-themed, somewhat taller crossover hatchback based on the ID Crozz concept from 2017.

We’d previously expected the production Crozz—now potentially called the ID 4X—to be an ID 3 that was simply lifted an inch or two and fitted with some body cladding and rugged cues, a la Golf Alltrack or Subaru Crosstrek. But a new set of spy pictures published at our companion site Motor Authority underscores that there may be more of a difference between the two models.

Both models have a “cab-forward” design that takes advantage of how the platform doesn’t allow for an engine or transmission in front. A steep windshield and rounded roofline look good for aerodynamics. It also doesn’t borrow the ID 3’s unique segmented front window.

Volkswagen ID 3 and ID 4 (crop) – S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

Otherwise from these camouflaged prototypes, it appears that the production Crozz is “scaled up” a size from both the ID 3 and the Hyundai Kona Electric it was spotted testing with. The production ID 3 is 161.4 inches long, with a wheelbase of 108.3 inches, whereas the ID Crozz concept measured 182.1 inches long and had a wheelbase of 109.2.

Size-wise, it’s one of the most popular segments of the market, comparable to the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, or Honda CR-V—or the Tesla Model Y.

While the ID 3 will offer three different battery packs—48, 62, and 82 kwh (45, 58, and 77 kwh usable capacity)—we expect only the top two to be offered in the ID 4X. U.S. rated range has not been estimated as of yet, but both will have 100-kw CCS DC fast charging.

A new ID concept car that will sketch out the Volkswagen brand’s sixth production-bound vehicle on the MEB platform is likely headed to the LA auto show, in November.

The ID-4X is due to reach the market in summer or fall 2020, for the 2021 model year.

Self-driving cars will only last four years, Ford says – The Telegraph

Self-driving cars will only last four years because they will be used so much, a Ford executive has predicted. John Rich, operations chief of Ford Autonomous Vehicles, dismissed concerns that demand for cars would wane in the future. “The thing that worries me least in this world is decreasing demand for cars. We will exhaust… Continue reading Self-driving cars will only last four years, Ford says – The Telegraph

Tesla Will Obtain Battery Cells From LG Chem For Chinese Model 3 Production

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Published on August 23rd, 2019 |

by Steve Hanley

Tesla Will Obtain Battery Cells From LG Chem For Chinese Model 3 Production

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August 23rd, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Tesla has said all along it will work with multiple battery suppliers for the electric cars it manufactures in China, beginning with the Model 3 later this year and including the Model Y later. Both cars will use advanced 2170 cells like the ones manufactured for Tesla by Panasonic at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla has agreed to source at least some of those battery cells from LG Chem. The Korean company will manufacture the cells at its production facility in Nanjing, about 200 miles west of Shanghai where Tesla’s new Gigafactory 3 is under construction. Although work on the new factory was not begun until January 3, Tesla expects Model 3 production to begin there before the end of this year.

Bloomberg adds that Tesla is still in talks with CATL. Anonymous sources say the two companies are discussing technical specifications and that LG Chem was more flexible in meeting Tesla’s technology requirements. There are also rumors that Panasonic may be in the mix somewhere down the road. Representatives for Tesla, LG Chem, and CATL all declined to speak on the record with Bloomberg. LG Chem is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and intent on further increasing its market share.

Politics & Production
Tesla is wise not to put all its battery eggs in one basket in China, where politics have an outsized impact on commerce. Two years ago, China refused to allow Hyundai and Kia to import any cars with batteries made by LG Chem in South Korea, according to Business Korea. It was only after the companies agreed to power their electric cars with battery cells manufactured by CATL that the ban was lifted, according to the report.

Because of the need to switch suppliers, the Hyundai Kona Electric is only now becoming available in China. And the move by Chinese authorities was no doubt instrumental in LG Chem’s decision to build a battery factory in China.

Why would authorities slap Hyundai and Kia around while smiling benevolently on Tesla? President Xi Jinping does not return our phone calls, so we can’t be sure, but clearly Tesla enjoys some special status with the Chinese government. For whatever reasons, no other foreign manufacturer seems to enjoy such a close relationship.

The Trouble With Tariffs
As Donald Trump and Xi Jinping play “mine’s bigger than yours” in their ongoing tariff fight, China announced today it will reimpose a 25% tariff on cars imported from the US on December 15. According to CNBC, the new tariffs will impact Mercedes and BMW the most. Both German companies export US-made cars to China. Ford will also suffer, as will Tesla with regard to its Model S and Model X vehicles, which are manufactured exclusively at the factory in Fremont, California.

In response, the unstable lunatic in Washington, DC, sent the stock market into a selling panic by tweeting an “order” for all US companies to cease doing business in China forthwith. The Dow shed 600 points as soon as the tweet appeared.

The question now for Tesla is how will the new tariffs affect the cars built in the Chinese factory in Shanghai beginning later this year? According to CNET Road Show, the first cars will be knockdown kits made in Fremont and shipped to Shanghai for final assembly. Tesla does something similar with its factory in Tilburg in the Netherlands.

No one knows the answer to that question at the moment. Is a knockdown kit assembled in Shanghai subject to the new tariff? It’s simply too early to answer that question authoritatively. Given Tesla’s special relationship with the Chinese government, we can only hope the cars exiting Gigafactory 3 will be exempt from the new tariff. It is to be hoped the business community will give the puling potentate of Pennsylvania Avenue the fickle finger of fate and ignore his insane order completely.

What Do We Know?
We know that Model 3 cars will begin rolling out the door at Gigafactory 3 before the end of this year, God willing and the creek don’t rise, and that those cars will have battery cells manufactured in Nanjing by LG Chem. We know that battery cells from CATL or Panasonic might be used in locally produced Model 3s and upcoming Model Ys at some point in the future. And we know that the tariff situation is a muddled mess at the moment. When we know more, you’ll know more.

About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. His motto is, “Life is not measured by how many breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.

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Trump adds tariffs to $550 billion of Chinese imports in trade war reprisal

President Trump announced Friday on Twitter that tariffs on Chinese imports will increase 5 percentage points in a tit-for-tat response to China’s own plans to place new duties on U.S. goods. About $250 billion of goods produced by China and imported into the U.S. already have a 25% tariff. This newest increase will push tariffs… Continue reading Trump adds tariffs to $550 billion of Chinese imports in trade war reprisal