Tag: Ford

VW’s $2 billion penalty for diesel scam, Electrify America, builds electric chargers across US

Source: Electrify America
Electrify America charging station

Almost a year to the day after opening its first charging station, Electrify America says it is rolling out the country's fastest-growing network of fast chargers.

Funded by $2 billion from Volkswagen's 2016 diesel emissions settlement, it has a goal of building hundreds of stations and putting nearly 2,000 chargers in place by the end of this year.

Many of those will let battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, owners charge up nearly as quickly as they could fill a gas tank. Charging speed — along with the lack of a national network of charging stations — has been cited as a key obstacle to the widespread public adoption of electric cars.

“Longer range and faster charging times are critical to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles,” said Brendan Jones, the chief operating officer at Electrify America, during a conversation at the company's headquarters in Reston, Virginia. It's the equivalent of the classic chicken-and-egg problem.

EVs go mainstream

Extended-range vehicles, offering anywhere from 200 to nearly 400 miles per charge, are starting to roll out in large numbers from mainstream brands such as Daimler, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen, as well as start-ups such as Tesla and Rivian.

Setting up a nationwide infrastructure is the next big challenge, according to many analysts. An August study by McKinsey & Co. projected it will cost as much as $50 billion to ensure public charging stations are as easily accessible as gas stations in three key markets — the U.S., Europe and China. The U.S. alone is expected to require an investment of as much as $11 billion, McKinsey estimated.

Several key players have entered the field and are starting to ramp up efforts to fill the broad gaps that exist across the country. These include Tesla, which has already put into operation 1,441 Supercharger stations across North America, the vast majority of them along U.S. roadways. Those facilities are only available to Tesla owners, but companies such as EVgo and ChargePoint are targeting the rest of the market. So is Electrify America.

Emissions settlement

Electrify America must spend that $2 billion by the end of 2026. The company, based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., was created as part of Volkswagen's diesel emissions settlement with U.S. and California regulators.

The company is spending that money on a mix of consumer education and infrastructure, the latter drawing the vast majority of the funding. Though Electrify America is housed in the same faceless office complex as Volkswagen's U.S. headquarters, the settlement calls for it to operate as an independent entity. That was underscored by a network television ad the organization ran last year that featured a number of different electric vehicles, including those from Nissan, BMW and General Motors, but none from VW.

Electrify America's charging stations are being outfitted to allow any plug-based vehicle to connect, though Tesla owners will need an optional, proprietary adapter.

The first of its charging stations opened for business about a year ago. Since then, more than 160 have come online, with dozens more in various stages of completion. Each station features an average of four to five chargers, with a maximum of 10 at what are expected to become high-volume locations.

Building out

The goal is to have about 2,800 Level 2 and more than 2,000 Level 3 chargers in operation around the U.S. by the end of this year, said Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo. To put that into perspective, the U.S. Department of Energy said a total of 54,638 public Level 2 and 3 chargers were in operation across the country at the end of 2018.

Electrify America's initial focus is on regions with high levels of EV ownership such as California and parts of the East Coast, he said. But it eventually plans to have charging stations that are no more than 70 miles apart along all major roadways in most states. Urban areas where EV ownership is expected to peak will have more of them.

The Level 2 systems, much like those that electric-car owners can install at home or find at many shopping centers and offices, provide 240-volt current at a rate that normally requires anywhere from four to 10 hours for a long-range vehicle to fully recharge. In many instances, Electrify America is targeting locations where owners who live in multifamily dwellings may not have on-site access to a charger.

The real transformation, industry observers believe, is the emergence of a Level 3 network. Around mid-decade, only a handful were open to the public in the entire country, but they are believed to now number in the 100s of stations and expanding rapidly, according to Palazzo and other experts.

Level 3

The first of these punched out 50 kilowatts of direct current, something that allowed for much more rapid charging — a Chevrolet Bolt EV, for example, can replenish about 80% of its charge in an hour or so.

Moving forward, Electrify America's new Level 3 systems will almost all provide a minimum of 150 kilowatts at 400 volts and many will push even further, taking that up to 250 kW and 800 volts. That's far more than most of the current crop of electric cars can handle. The new Porsche Taycan will be the first to be able to make full use of the technology, which can add about 20 miles of range per minute.

Source: Porsche
2019 Porsche Taycan

“That will let it recharge in about 10 minutes,” said Jones, “about the same amount of time as it takes to fill up a gas tank.”

To make things easier and speed up the charging process, Electrify America this week is rolling out a new smartphone app that can be used to locate its charging stations and see how long it will take for someone already hooked up to finish charging.

At the company's technical center, a short drive from its Reston headquarters, chief engineer Seth Cutler demonstrated to reporters last week what he hopes will further improve the customer experience and shave another minute or two off the charging process.

Tricky pricing

Normally, a user has to plug their vehicle in and go through a set-up process similar to paying for a tank of gas. But this time, as Cutler plugs a car into a charger prototype, everything is handled automatically. New software allows the charger to query the vehicle's on-board controller to find out how much power it can handle and how to bill it.

Pricing is still a bit of a challenge for EV owners. At home, based on typical U.S. energy rates of around 11 cents a kW, a vehicle like the Chevy Bolt, with a 65 kilowatt-hour pack, will cost less than $10 to “fill up.” And many owners are eligible for time-of-day rates that drop substantially when charging overnight.

That's why industry data show that about 80% of EV owners currently charge either at home or at an office during the day, noted Electrify America's Jones.

But the forecast is that more and more buyers won't have ready access to those Level 2 systems, while others will tap out their batteries while traveling longer distances, requiring them to plug into a commercially operated charging station.

Pricing can vary from company to company and even from one state to another. Charging companies typically offer discounted subscription services, but they also penalize nonsubscribers with “hook-up” fees of as much as $5.

More than gas

More often than not, motorists are billed on a per-minute basis, and that can add up if a vehicle is slow to charge, as I found out plugging in a Hyundai Kona EV to an EVgo charger in Ferndale, Michigan, earlier this year. After about 50 minutes, the battery crossover had gained only 80 extra miles of range on the 50 kW Level 3 system. The bill? Around $16, or 20 cents a mile. At the time, Michigan gas cost around $2.30 a gallon. A gasoline-fueled Kona, with mileage of 23 city and 28 highway, would have averaged less than 10 cents a mile.

While faster Level 3 chargers operated by Electrify America and other companies levy a higher fee when pumping out more current, the premium is modest, so it still works out to a lower final price. And that's before factoring in the convenience of not having to wait around for an hour or so.

Electrify America is now dropping its prices by 20%, which should make running an electric car while having to use public charging stations more cost-competitive with a gasoline vehicle, said Jones.

Yet another step some charging companies are taking will let their systems talk to one another and, in the process, accept competitors' subscribers without charging exorbitant hook-up fees.

Such steps will be critical to gaining acceptance for battery-electric vehicles, said Palazzo and Pasquale Romano, the CEO of ChargePoint.

In the red

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Rivian CEO Says Having ‘Clean Sheet’ Puts Firm Ahead Of Rivals

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Self-Driving Robot Makes Life Easier for Ford Employees

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Here’s the autonomous robot Ford built. It’s one of the company’s newest factory workers in Spain

Ford just introduced an autonomous robot to one of its factories
40 Mins Ago | 01:03

The Ford Motor manufacturing plant in Valencia, Spain has a new delivery employee — an autonomous robot named “Survival.”

The self-driving robot uses LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to visualize its surroundings and deliver spare parts to where they're needed in the facility. It was manufactured by Ford engineers and is the first of its kind to be used at one of the company's European plants.

Ford said Survival gives employees at the facility more time to undertake more complex tasks.

“When it first started you could see employees thinking they were in some kind of sci-fi movie, stopping and staring at it as it went by,” Eduardo García Magraner, manufacturing manager at the Valencia factory, said in a statement. “Now they just get on with their jobs knowing the robot is smart enough to work around them.”

Survival made its debut at Ford as workers around the world become increasingly worried their jobs will one day be stolen by technology.

Nearly half of the world's jobs face some risk of being automated in the future, according to research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Workers in America risk losing work to robots too, a report by the Brookings Institution says, warning that a quarter of Americans are at high risk of losing their jobs because of automation.

Workers in food services, manufacturing, administrative support, farming, transportation and construction have the greatest likelihood of being replaced by robots.

In 2018, there were a record number of robots that were put to work in North America. According to the Robotic Industries Association, 35,880 robots were shipped to the U.S., Canada and Mexico that year, with 53% of the shipments going to work in the automotive industry.

But Ford said workers at the Valencia plant don't need to fear Survival taking their job.

The company said delivering spare parts to different areas of the plant is “time consuming and relatively mundane,” adding that Survival saves up to 40 working hours for employees and does not replace anyone on the job.

AAA study finds Americans warm to electric vehicles, but most aren’t ready to buy — at least not yet

Getty Images

Americans aren't ready to buy electric vehicles and don't think their neighbors are either, according to a new study by AAA.

That said, as many as 40 million Americans say they will at least consider a battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, for their next vehicle, the automotive group found. And the public may be more interested in battery-based vehicles as a flood of new models comes to market, but only four in 10 people believe that the majority of vehicles will be electric by 2029. The majority of Americans actually expect that most new cars will be able to drive themselves within the coming decade.

“Today, more than 200,000 electric cars can be found on roads across the country as almost every manufacturer sells them,” said Greg Brannon, AAA's director of automotive engineering. “But, like other new vehicle technologies, Americans don't have the full story and that could be causing the gap between interest and action.”

Battery-based vehicles of all forms, including conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and BEVs, accounted for barely 5% of the American new car market last year. But plug-based models, BEVs in particular, saw sales roughly double, according to industry data. And the numbers are expected to continue growing rapidly as more long-range offerings, such as the Audi e-tron crossover, the Tesla Model Y SUV and the Porsche Taycan sports car come to market. By mid-decade, industry analysts such as LMC Automotive anticipate well over 100 options for potential buyers.

But the AAA study shows that Americans haven't been keeping up with the rapid rate of change reshaping the electric vehicle market, including the shift from first-generation models barely capable of running 100 miles on a charge to new and updated offerings that are now approaching 400 miles per charge.

“Many consumers are not sure what to expect from an electric vehicle,” a summary of the AAA report found, such as what sort of conditions typically yield the best range. As with hybrids like the Toyota Prius, electric vehicles can recapture energy lost during braking and coasting, which means they actually do better in stop-and-go traffic than on the highway – the opposite of what's true for conventional, gas-powered vehicles.

There remains plenty of confusion about what electric vehicles can and can't do, and not only in the United States. A survey of British motorists last year found 42% saying a BEV can't be driven through a car wash. It can. Some new models, like the Jaguar I-Pace, can even ford moderately deep levels of water.

The AAA study found that a growing number of Americans are at least considering BEVs and other electrified models, with millennials at the forefront. Other findings show:

Sixteen percent of those surveyed said they are likely to buy an EV next time they shop for a new vehicle.Concern about the environment is the primary motivator, cited by 74% of those surveyed; lowering vehicle operating costs is mentioned by 56% of those surveyed.There are fewer worries about the traditional obstacles to widespread adoption. The study found 11% fewer respondents pointing to a lack of places to charge up than raised that concern in a 2017 study.Significantly fewer respondents pointed to higher purchase prices and repair costs than in the 2017 AAA study.

Limited range, higher costs and the lack of a public charging infrastructure are traditionally seen as the key obstacles to mainstream adoption of battery-electric vehicles. But a number of new models now cost under $40,000. And the AAA found 44% of buyers would be willing to pay up to $4,000 more for an electric vehicle than a gas model, with 23% willing to pay even more of a premium.

A potential selling point is that the range of the second-generation models now coming to market routinely top 200 miles. Tesla is now offering an extended-range pack for its Model S sedan capable of 370 miles.

Concerns about charging nonetheless remain a major issue, with six in 10 of those surveyed raising that issue as a reason they are unlikely to buy, or are unsure about buying, a BEV. Fifty-seven percent said they think electric vehicles aren't suitable for long-distance travel.

Public charging is still limited, especially in the middle of the country, but companies including ChargePoint, EVgo and Electrify America plan to invest billions over the coming decade to fill that gap. And the latest versions of their high-speed Level 3 chargers are capable of delivering as much as 20 miles of range per minute, meaning a “fill-up” can be cut to around 10 minutes on some vehicles, roughly matching what it takes to fill a gas tank.

“These vehicles are a big part of the future of transportation since self-driving cars, when they do arrive, will likely be electric,” AAA's Brannon said. “The difference, of course, is that electric vehicles are already here (and) have become an even more viable option for many Americans.”

The first Chinese automaker sets sights on US with start-up Zotye taking on big rivals in Detroit

The Zotye Auto debut at Shanghai auto showH/O: Zotye AutoWhen Guangzhou-based GAC Group rolled out a concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show last January it was just the latest among a procession of Chinese automakers laying out plans to enter the American car market.
To date, however, the only Chinese-made vehicles to reach U.S. shores have been imported by General Motors and Volvo. But Zotye Auto, a small, privately held carmaker from Yongkang, Zhejiang, China, is determined to be the first domestic Chinese car company to reach American shores — and in as little as 18 months from now.
With a name that few Americans will likely know how to pronounce — it's Zoh-tee, not Zot-yee — a small budget and even less brand equity than bigger Chinese brands like BYD, Geely or Great Wall, there are plenty of skeptics. Americans “have a bad perception of Chinese vehicles, overall” cautioned Augusto Amorim, a senior analyst with LMC Automotive. And Zotye is particularly unknown, he said.
But the team of industry veterans who are leading the Zotye launch effort are confident they can pull it off, including seasoned salesman Duke Hale, 69, who sold his first car as a teenager and has spent decades working with automakers as diverse as Isuzu, Lotus and Land Rover. Hale said he's confident his “seven Ps” strategy will clinch the deal.
The list includes such things as “processes,” as well as “product.” The first model expected to enter Zotye's U.S. line-up debuted barely a month ago at Auto Shanghai. The T600 is a compact crossover that will be aimed at the likes of the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. It will be followed in 2022 by the midsize T700 crossover and, about a year later, by a three-row model.
The Zotye Auto debut at Shanghai auto showH/O: Zotye AutoBut while the T600 has generated some positive press, Hale believes the brand's biggest selling point will be “price.”
“Think in terms of 20% less than the targeted competition,” notably including the likes of Hyundai, Kia and Toyota, Hale said over dinner with journalists at the Detroit Renaissance Center on Thursday night.
That's an even bigger discount than Hyundai offered buyers when it came to the U.S. market 30 years ago — and with a name that was equally baffling to American consumers. And it would come at a decidedly opportune time, industry officials like Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of automotive operations, have openly worried about the rising cost of today's new vehicles. The average sticker price of a new car hit a record $34,000 at the beginning of the year, according to data compiled by industry research company LMC Automotive.
Industry observers note that translates into a typical monthly payment of around $550, enough to price millions of potential buyers out of the market, especially millennial and Gen-Z motorists, many already straining to pay off student loans.
Jan Thompson, a former marketing executive with Mazda and Toyota who's now handling that role for Zotye, believes the Chinese brand's primary buyers will be young shoppers who don't want to buy a used car. But with an estimated 42 million used vehicles sold in 2019, nearly three times more than new, customers could come from every market demographic, she said.
2019 Honda CRV with camper tent accessories.Adam Jeffery | CNBC “I tell my neighbors in Tennessee I'm going to sell a Chinese car and they all say they're not interested,” she said. “Then I tell them the price and they all ask where they can sign up.”
Unlike Hyundai, Kia and the many new automotive start-ups coming on the scene, Zotye won't actually run the show, if and when its cars come to the U.S. The marketing operation actually lifts a page from the strategy several Japanese automakers used in decades past when they tried to pry open the door to the U.S. market. Subaru, Mazda and even Toyota initially relied on independent American distributors — the Japanese giant still represented by one in a number of Southern states.
Hale's HAAH Automotive Holdings negotiated a deal to import and distribute Zotye's products in the U.S., a plan the Chinese carmaker was more than glad to accept, he said, considering it currently has capacity to build 1.2 million vehicles annually but only sold about 400,000 last year.
The arrangement gives HAAH plenty of flexibility and, in fact, “There are probably more brands to be announced in the future,” he said Thursday, suggesting his privately held company is negotiating with several other Chinese wannabe exporters.
Of course, the real question is whether HAAH will get past the bright idea stage. There have been plenty of attempts to set up new brands in the U.S. over the past 20 years but only Tesla has so far succeeded. Notable failures include India's Mahindra & Mahindra which even had lined up a network of dealers, early in the decade, before throwing in the towel.
The good news for HAAH and Zotye is that they claim to be generating strong interest from dealers, with several dozen now signed on representing 60 “points” in 15 states, and negotiations are well underway with about 20 others, according to sales chief Bob Pradzinski, who has spent decades working for Asian automakers including Hyundai, Mazda and Toyota.
What might surprise buyers is that despite record new vehicle prices, the typical automotive retailer loses about $331 for every car, truck or crossover they sell, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. They have to try to make that up by pushing finance, insurance and service.
Hale and his team is trying to make it easier — more profitable — for dealers. Zotye plans to use a “no haggle/no hassle” approach to pricing, like Saturn. And dealers will be offered large geographic franchises in which they could set up multiple outlets. That could include showrooms in malls, something Tesla has done.
Hale and his team acknowledged there are plenty of potential obstacles, like meeting U.S. emissions, mileage and safety standards, for one. The trade war between the U.S. and China is also an issue, although Hale said he's confident it will be resolved well before the first Zotye is ordered in the U.S.
“They seem serious about getting into the market and are clearly trying to understand what buyers want,” said analyst Amorim. While it will likely be a challenge for any Chinese makers, especially in a market already crowded with so many brands, he believes Zotye and HAAH could “have a higher chance of being successful” if they can execute the plan Hale and his team have put together.

Designers at Ford are using virtual reality tools to work with colleagues remotely

FordEmployees at Ford have started to use a 3D virtual reality (VR) tool that enables them to work on designs with colleagues remotely in real time.
The technology has been developed by Gravity Sketch, in collaboration with Ford. It sees workers wear headsets and use controllers to “draw, rotate, expand and compress a 3D sketch.”
A feature in the system, called Co-Creation, allows designers around the world to work on and evaluate designs in real time while being in different offices. The Gravity Sketch platform negates the need for an initial 2D design process, allowing designers to work with a 3D model from the start.
In a statement earlier this week Michael Smith, design manager at Ford, said that the Co-Creation feature added “more voices to the conversation in a virtual environment, which results in more efficient design work that may help accelerate a vehicle program's development.”
Ford said that designers in five Ford studios around the world were experimenting with Gravity Sketch, looking at both “workflow feasibility” and capabilities relating to “real-time co-creation and collaboration.”
As technology develops, VR is starting to be used across a wide range of industries. In April 2019, for example, it was announced that Qatar Airways had partnered with Rolls-Royce to trial a VR training tool.
The technology, which uses HTC Vive equipment, has been designed to give engineers virtual refresher training with Rolls-Royce's biggest engine, the Trent XWB.
A few months earlier, in February, the British Army awarded a £1 million ($1.3 million) contract to a software developer to “explore how virtual reality can be integrated into soldier training.”
The Ministry of Defence said the pilot scheme would look to test a range of virtual reality applications. These include high resolution virtual reality headsets; avatars that can be customized to replicate facial features and body shapes; and technology that offers data capture and analysis to help soldiers “better understand their own performance.”