Geely’s FY11 will have a 2.0-liter turbo engine under the hood. Geely Auto Chinese automaker Geely Auto has released the first photos of its new FY11 crossover, and it’s notable for being the first Geely to be built atop the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) employed by the Volvo XC40. The Geely FY11 is a coupe-style… Continue reading Geely reveals Volvo platform-based FY11 crossover – CNET
Tag: BMW
Graham Hoare
Dr. Graham Hoare OBE is executive director, Business Transformation, Ford of Britain, leading the implementation of Ford’s Sprint to 6 Reset & Redesign plan in the UK, reporting to Steven Armstrong, group vice president and president, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is also a member of the Boards of Ford of Britain and Ford… Continue reading Graham Hoare
Mercedes-Benz moves to build battery supply chain in Europe
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
A key obstacle to getting more electric cars on the road at the moment may be building up a big enough supply of batteries to power them.
So far, the only automaker with a large enough supply of batteries to produce electric cars in large volumes is Tesla. Volkswagen has also announced a $10 billion investment in electric-car batteries, but those factories have not yet borne full fruit.
On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Mercedes-Benz will invest $230 million (200 million Euros) in the Polish town of Jawor. That factory will contribute to Mercedes-Benz's plans to eventually purchase $23 billion worth of batteries for its new lineup of electric cars. Mercedes already operates an engine factory in the town.
READ THIS: Mercedes breaks ground on US battery factory (Updated)
“We are very happy that an investor that has been with us for a few years has entrusted us again and in the same place in Jawor,” Morawiecki said.
Mercedes plans to introduce the first of its new EQ line of electric cars, the EQC, this summer in Europe. It will be followed next year by a smaller EQB electric SUV as well as an EQC, made at the company's U.S. factory in Alabama alongside dedicated battery production facility for its U.S. models. Mercedes' parent company, Daimler, is also planning to produce a line of electric heavy trucks that will require additional battery investments.
Other automakers are also ramping up production of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. BMW announced it will spend “somewhere in the mid-double-digit millions of euros” to build a battery production facility at its car factory in Dingolfing, Germany. At the same time, the brand is setting up a longer-term battery supply chain using recycled cells from Belgium to supply what is expected to be the world's second-largest battery factory in Stockholm.
CHECK OUT: BMW sets up end-to-end battery recycling in Europe
LG Chem has set up battery factories in Korea, China, Poland, the U.S., and elsewhere to build electric-car batteries for General Motors and most recently Nissan.
Battery manufacturers in China have also been building production, primarily for that country's wave of electric cars already on sale.
Many of these production facilities, however, have yet to come online, and automakers such as GM (and even Tesla) have struggled to buy (or make) enough batteries in order to build more electric cars.
With these investments, that may soon change.
UPDATE 1-As Google races ahead, German carmakers look to go faster on autonomous driving
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s top carmakers including BMW and Volkswagen are looking at ways to speed up development of the next generation of self-driving cars, possibly by even working together, as tech giant Google forges ahead with plans to mass produce such vehicles. FILE PHOTO: Three of the fleet of 600 Waymo Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid… Continue reading UPDATE 1-As Google races ahead, German carmakers look to go faster on autonomous driving
Urgent.ly Raises $21M in Series B Funding
Urgent.ly, a Vienna, VA- and San Diego, CA-based connected roadside assistance service supported by a technology platform, raised $21m in Series B funding. Backers included InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund, BMW i Ventures and Porsche Ventures. The company, which had already announced the raise of $10m in Series B in Oct. 2017,… Continue reading Urgent.ly Raises $21M in Series B Funding
Desktop Metal Closes $160M Series E Funding Round
Desktop Metal, a Burlington, MA-based metal 3D printing technology company, closed a $160m Series E funding round. The round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Panasonic, and Techtronic Industries, as well as previous venture capital investors Lux Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Kleiner Perkins. The company,… Continue reading Desktop Metal Closes $160M Series E Funding Round
German carmakers, suppliers eye autonomous driving alliance – magazine
FILE PHOTO: The Mercedes-Benz logo is seen on the second press day of the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo BERLIN (Reuters) – German carmakers Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), and some of their major suppliers are in talks about developing a joint system for autonomous driving, manager magazine… Continue reading German carmakers, suppliers eye autonomous driving alliance – magazine
Pininfarina’s Italian design may be good Karma for plug-in carmaker
2017 Karma Revero
Fisker, the luxury plug-in hybrid car company that went bankrupt in 2013, was founded by a car designer. Henrik Fisker, the brand's namesake was a designer at BMW before forming his own company.
Now that venture, renamed Karma after is primary product, following the company's revival at the hands of Chinese investors, has hired a new design firm to bring it into the future.
DON'T MISS: 2018 Karma Revero: first drive of reborn luxury plug-in hybrid sedan
The company announced an agreement with the most famous Italian design house, Pininfarina, to design its next round of products, which could include an update to the Karma Revero (the car that began life as the Fisker Karma), as well as develop future products.
Now owned by Indian automaker Mahindra, Pininfarina has begun developing its own cars under its brand name, but the company still designs cars for other brands.
CHECK OUT: 2020 Karma Revero spy shots
The companies announced that the first products of the tie-up should appear in the second quarter of 2019, which could indicate it is an update of the existing Revero. Spy photographers have caught a camouflaged version of the Revero testing on U.S. roads.
The company, now owned by Chinese auto-parts supplier Wanxiang, also plans other updates to the design, including connectivity, performance, and artificial intelligence. CEO Lance Zhou said in a statement that the company plans to join other partnerships to make that happen, but wasn't specific on what might be announced or when.
Company founder Henrik Fisker has gone on to start another new automaker, Fisker Inc., that revealed its first concept car last year and has made waves with announcements about solid-state batteries.
Lifting the hammer: Germany considers limits on Autobahn speeds
2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC
Efforts to curb global warming have led Germany to propose limiting speeds on its famous Autobahns.
Facing heavy fines from the European Union if it fails to meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets, the country's committee on the future of transport put forward a series of draft proposals that includes limiting speeds on currently unfettered sections of autobahn. Reuters obtained copies of the draft proposals.
The autobahn, Germany's freeway system, has long had speed limits in congested urban areas, but has until now also had long sections without limits.
READ THIS: Automakers face big fines in Europe for missing CO2 targets
The new proposals by the committee on the future of transport would limit speeds on previously unlimited sections of the autobahns to 81 mph (130 kilometers per hour.) They would not affect speeds in urban areas.
European Union nations agreed in October to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to levels 35 percent below those already agreed to for 2021, following a particularly dire climate report by the United Nations' International Panel on Climate Change. That report showed that catastrophic effects of climate change could arrive by 2040.
CHECK OUT: Europe commits to 35 percent CO2 cut by 2030, after dire UN climate report
European countries have been making dramatic efforts for more than a decade to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from powerplants and other sources. Transportation, however, is the one economic sector whose emissions are still on the rise. To meet the new climate targets, Germany, the largest country in Europe with the highest emissions of any Western European nation, will have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its cars.
As the country which also has by far the largest auto industry in Europe, Germany has long prided itself on its hammer-down autobahns which show off the performance of its cars and its drivers.
After German automakers spent decades trying to improve fuel economy with diesel engines, the country's largest automakers are now facing scandals, criminal indictments, and billions of dollars in fines over cheating diesel emissions tests.
DON'T MISS: Catastrophic climate effects could hit by 2040, UN report says
Now those automakers are beginning to focus on building and selling electric cars. Germany's largest automaker, Volkswagen, has invested $10 billion in developing new electric models and battery supplies. Daimler and BMW aren't far behind.
Included in the proposals by the committee on the future of transport are California-style quotas for electric-car sales.
Several previous efforts to reduce autobahn speeds have been defeated, and it remains to be seen if the latest government upholds the proposals in the face of increasingly dire climate warnings.
Green Car Reports respectfully reminds its readers that the scientific validity of climate change is not a topic for debate in our comments. We ask that any comments by climate-change denialists be flagged for moderation. We also ask that political discussions be restricted to the topic of the article they follow. Thank you in advance for helping us keep our comments on topic, civil, respectful, family-friendly, and fact-based.
Green Car Reports respectfully reminds its readers that the scientific validity of climate change is not a topic for debate in our comments. We ask that any comments by climate-change denialists be flagged for moderation. We also ask that political discussions be restricted to the topic of the article they follow. Thank you in advance for helping us keep our comments on topic, civil, respectful, family-friendly, and fact-based.
Dodge Challenger electric boost, Karma styling, limited autobahns: Today’s Car News
Uber-owned Jump electric bike-share
Plug-in luxury-car maker Karma brought in a new design house to carry it into the future. Germany revealed a plan to impose a national speed limit on its famously unlimited autobahns. And our latest Twitter poll asks readers how soon they expect Ford to come through with an electric F-Series pickup. All this and more on Green Car Reports.
The performance community looks to be getting the electrification message. Chrysler CEO Mike Manly announced that the next version of the Dodge Challenger muscle car will ditch is signature big V-8 for a smaller engine with boost from an electric motor.
After four years under Chinese ownership, Karma, which builds the car famously developed by ex-BMW and Tesla designer Henrik Fisker, plans to take styling in a new direction in a new partnership with Italian design house Pininfarina.
In an effort to combat climate change, a German government agency has proposed limiting speeds on the country's autobahns.
After a senior Ford executive announced last week that the company will build an all-electric version of the bestselling Ford F-Series—with no mention of when—we decided to ask our readers to fill in a date in our latest Twitter poll, in a gauge of how serious electric car fans think the company is.
BMW and its rival Daimler are reportedly in talks about joining forces to develop self-driving cars.
Finally, Uber plans to start a new division to develop self-riding shared bikes and scooters.
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