TomTom – Volvo cooperation ended

The map service provider TomTom from the Netherlands loses the Swedish automaker Volvo as a customer. There are currently major fluctuations in the traffic segment. HERE Has Google Maps pushed off the throne. Meanwhile, Google Maps is stepping up its engagement and Apple’s maps are coming soon no longer existent. Now also has the map… Continue reading TomTom – Volvo cooperation ended

Drive Now is electrifying its car-sharing fleet

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ChargePoint users can now access networks in Canada, Europe

2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016 [photo: Tom Moloughney]
Plugging in an electric car should be as easy as making a call on a cell phone—only it isn't always.

Now a series of new agreements—similar to cell-phone roaming agreements that let users make calls on other networks—are beginning to make that easier.

The latest, announced Tuesday morning, is an agreement between ChargePoint, America's largest charging network, and FLO, the largest network in Canada.

DON'T MISS: ChargePoint commits to build charging stations for 2.5 million cars by 2025

The agreement will allow electric-car drivers with ChargePoint accounts to see FLO chargers in their ChargePoint apps when they're traveling in Canada and to plug in to any one of them using their ChargePoint account—and vice versa.

ChargePoint signed a similar agreement last Tuesday with EV Box, one of the leading providers of charging stations in Europe. The EV Box agreement will allow travelers renting an electric car on either continent to use their ChargePoint or EV Box account from the other. EV Box operates in 45 countries.

READ MORE: ChargePoint launches electric-car charging activated by smartphone (2017)

Such interoperability agreements depend on a common set of new charging standards used by networks, automakers, and charging station producers called Open Charge Point Interface.

It bundles billing, account, charger location and availability information, among other things into a common protocol communicated between the car, the charging station, the network, and its app to allow drivers simply to plug in and go.

Before drivers show up at a charger on any of the apps, they can see whether the charger is available, working, or in use, and the price to charge.

Behind the scenes

The announcements come on the heels of an announcement by Hubject, another company working behind the scenes to integrate the data streams of different chargers and charging networks and their apps into one common standard to enable agreements like those between ChargePoint, FLO, and EV Box.

Hubject has promoted such interoperability movements across Europe and in Israel, Japan, and Canada, and announced in June that it is setting up shop in the U.S., to bring such agreements to North America. The company works with EV Box and Ionity, a large fast-charging consortium supported by automakers in Europe. Its service includes integrating navigation directions to available charging stations within the network's apps.

The eventual goal, Hubject executives say, is for drivers not to even have to get out a credit card, but for payment to be handled automatically when the car is plugged in.

Press Releases – Brexit: auto industry urges negotiators to avert worst-case scenario

Brussels, 17 October 2018 – Ahead of this evening’s Brexit summit, Europe’s auto manufacturers and suppliers have come together to issue a stark warning on the potentially far-reaching impacts of a no-deal scenario on their sector, which would threaten their very business model. Automobile production plants – be they in the EU27 or the UK… Continue reading Press Releases – Brexit: auto industry urges negotiators to avert worst-case scenario

Business model at Brexit without contract in danger: car industry is making dramatic appeal to EU summit

Bloomberg via Getty Images Mini-production in the UK: Not only on the island, the car manufacturers fear in a Brexit contract without chaotic conditions A Brexit without a contract would threaten the entire business model of the industry from the point of view of the European auto industry. Before the EU summit this Wednesday evening,… Continue reading Business model at Brexit without contract in danger: car industry is making dramatic appeal to EU summit

Lister thunders back with the £2.5m Storm

Stirling Moss drove a Lister in 1958 and backs Lawrence Whittaker’s revival of the marqueREX FEATURES Behold the return of another classic British carmaker. Under new ownership Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin have all enjoyed a 21st-century renaissance. Now it is the turn of Lister, a throwback to the 1950s and the… Continue reading Lister thunders back with the £2.5m Storm

Daimler, BMW offer concessions to ease EU concerns on car-sharing deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – German luxury carmakers Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE) have offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns about their plan to combine their car-sharing businesses, the European Commission said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: The BMW logo is seen on the second press day of the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, October 3,… Continue reading Daimler, BMW offer concessions to ease EU concerns on car-sharing deal

German carmakers have 50:50 chance of facing Detroit’s fate, VW says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German carmakers only have a 50 percent chance of surviving as leading players in the auto industry unless they transform their businesses to meet new regulations and adapt supply chains, Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) chief executive said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: Mechanic staff work on the production line of Volkswagen e-Golf in the Glaeserne… Continue reading German carmakers have 50:50 chance of facing Detroit’s fate, VW says