Tag: VW

Automotive and Mobility Industry Leaders Publish First-of-its-Kind Framework for Safe Automated Driving Systems

“Safety First for Automated Driving” (SaFAD) white paper emphasizes the importance of safety by design for automated vehicles Emphasizing safety by design, 11 industry leaders across the automotive and automated driving technology spectrum today published “Safety First for Automated Driving,” (SaFAD), a non-binding organized framework for the development, testing and validation of safe automated passenger… Continue reading Automotive and Mobility Industry Leaders Publish First-of-its-Kind Framework for Safe Automated Driving Systems

Involvement of German car maker Audi in diesel scandal widens: reports

BERLIN, July 1 (Xinhua) — The involvement of German carmaker Audi in diesel scandal surrounding illegally manipulated exhaust levels has apparently been more extensive than previously known, German media reported on Monday.
The German public broadcaster BR and the business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Audi had used four and not one so-called defeat devices in order to comply with the exhaust emission standards until the beginning of 2018.
Until now, the responsible German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has only declared the engine warm-up function as inadmissible. After the engine has been started, such a warm-up function is increasing the exhaust gas purification for a limited time.
Although the German authorities found that three other defeat devices had been used by Audi to keep exhaust emissions artificially low during test phases, the German carmaker was allowed to “voluntarily” remove these defeat devices from the engine software, BR and Handelsblatt cited from ..

BMW isn’t finished with internal combustion engines yet

Many automakers now see electric vehicles as the long-range future of the passenger vehicle.

What may actually say more though, in the language of corporate nuance, is that few companies have gone so far as to solidly declare that the end is nigh for internal combustion engines.

Among the examples that have been so bold: Volvo won’t develop a new generation of engines after its present one; and Volkswagen will develop its last generation of internal-combustion tech in 2026. Both brands might of course keep building the engines for a decade or more after freezing development.

Don’t count BMW in that group. BMW plans to keep investing in the engineering and development of internal combustion engines for a long time—with diesel engines expected to be part of the automaker’s global product line for at least 20 years and gasoline engines for at least 30 years.

2019 BMW M2 Competition

That reality check, from remarks made by Klaus Fröhlich, the company’s BMW Group board member in charge of development, to Automotive News, stands as a sharp reality check to what was otherwise the news from BMW’s NextGen event in Munich earlier this week: electricfication.
The event this week brought a series of sweeping electric-vehicle announcements that included a stepped-up plan to electrify its lineup and bring 25 new plug-in models by 2023.

BMW Concept iX3

Fröhlich, who called the shift to electrification “overhyped” and pointed to issues with battery raw materials, noted that even with the most optimistic assumption of electric vehicle adoption, at least 80 percent of its vehicles would still have an internal-combustion engine in 2025.

Beyond then, even, the lack of a charging infrastructure may slow the adoption of fully electric vehicles in Russia, the Middle East, and even Western China, Froelich said.

The continued development of IC engines by BMW runs counter to what many inside the industry have predicted. In 2017, for instance, Wolfgang Schaefer, the CFO of the supplier Continental, predicted that investment and engineering for engines would taper off between 2023 and 2025.

That said, there will be casualties as engine lineups get trimmed down. Some of BMW’s specialty diesel engines won’t be replaced. BMW’s gasoline V-12 used in Rolls-Royce products might not be around much longer either. And BMW is currently putting together a case to save something Americans hold near and dear: the V-8.

Cooling issue slowing some Electrify America fast chargers over holiday week (Updated)

This story has been updated to clarify Electrify America's steps to stabilize the affected charging units, and the as-yet-undetermined timeline to bring them back to full charging power.

Drivers of the Audi E-tron electric SUV aiming for a holiday-week road trip could be up for a longer wait at the charging station.

It's no fault of the vehicle, and it's not a widespread issue; but if you have an E-tron it would be cause for some advance planning. The charging network Electrify America today announced that it will temporarily reduce the power of 30 of its fastest (for current vehicles) 150-kw CCS DC stations due to concerns over a potential coolant leak.

150-kw Electrify America charger – The Cannery, Sacramento CA

The affected systems, from the charging-hardware provider Efacec, have a built-in safety mechanism that will shut them down automatically if the coolant issue arises. In the meantime, to make sure they keep running, Electrify America is helping rapidly deploy a software update that will limit the output power of the chargers. It is following that up within the next week, with a firmware update and physical adjustments that together will be done by a technician.

The affected models, the HV160 and HV350, are capable of providing power levels of up to 160 kw and 320 kw, respectively. It's a global issue, not one specific to Electrify America.

Electrify America stresses that the issue affects liquid-cooled CCS connectors; CHAdeMO connectors aren’t impacted. They also emphasize that most of their charging stations—and most of their higher-power stations—are operating at full capacity.

Electrify America mobile app

Stations with reduced power will be indicated within the EA app, as well as on PlugShare. Session fees will be waived during this time, and chargers will operate with the lowest per-minute rate.

At present, E-tron owners might be the only ones to notice the difference. A few other new electric vehicles from Hyundai and Kia using CCS can go beyond 50 kw but not past 100 kw. The Kia Niro EV, for instance, will hit a claimed 100 kw for a brief time; and the Hyundai Kona Electric will top out at around 70 kw.

While these stations will be running and a functional part of the network for the foreseeable future, the slowdown might not be resolved in time for peak road-trip season. Electrify America is dispatching maintenance technicians to the affected stations for the firmware and adjustments, but a followup visit will be required to retrofit the hardware to Efacec's specifications—details and timeline yet to be announced.

EV startup Lucid Motors snaps up Tesla’s former production executive

Lucid Motors, the electric vehicle startup backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has hired Peter Hochholdinger to head up manufacturing operations just a week after news leaked the automotive executive had left a similar post at Tesla. Hochholdinger was an executive at Audi for more than two decades before joining Tesla as its top… Continue reading EV startup Lucid Motors snaps up Tesla’s former production executive

Average CO2 emissions from new light-duty vehicles registered in Europe increased in 2018, requiring significant future emission reductions to meet upcoming 2020 and 2021 targets

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Average CO2 emissions from new light-duty vehicles registered in Europe increased in 2018, requiring significant future emission reductions to meet upcoming 2020 and 2021 targets

21/06/2019The average CO2 emissions of new light-duty vehicles registered in the EU and Iceland in 2018 stayed well below the applicable targets, according to provisional data published by the European Environment Agency. However, average CO2 emissions of both new passenger cars and new vans were higher in 2018 than in 2017. Manufacturers will have to significantly reduce emissions of their fleet to meet the upcoming 2020 and 2021 targets.

The data shows that the average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, measured in laboratory tests, of new passenger cars registered in the EU and Iceland in 2018 were 120.4 grams of CO2 per kilometre, which is below the current target of 130 g/km. However, average emissions increased by 2 grams per km compared to 2017.

The average..

Richmond acquires Skoda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi dealerships

Richmond Motor Group has acquired Skoda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi businesses near Southampton for an undisclosed sum. The group has bought Skoda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi in Fareham and a Skoda business in Botley from Sparshatts. The businesses will be rebranded as Richmond. A number of the Sparshatts directors have retained the company name and their non-franchised… Continue reading Richmond acquires Skoda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi dealerships

Volkswagen talks through Europe’s tough new emissions tests

From the U.S., we most often encounter European WLTP standards in the context of sizing up plug-in driving range for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that haven’t yet been rated by the EPA.

The Worldwide Harmonised Light-Vehicle Test Procedure, is however taking form as the most comprehensive emissions program in the world, replacing former New European Driving Cycle.

Given that context, for vehicles with tailpipes, Volkswagen deserves a hat tip for producing, last month, one of the easiest-to-understand video walk-throughs (featured at the bottom of this piece) of the WLTP program yet—especially when the new regulations and tests themselves were finalized in response to the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal.

Compared to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) that it replaced, WLTP involves a more tightly defined test in all areas, and it’s brought downward adjustments for fuel efficiency and range of up to 20 percent, or about 16 percent on average.

Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) (Photo by Millbrook Proving Ground)

What distinguishes the WLTP test, which was phased in starting in September 2018, is that in addition to dynamometer (machine-based) testing, vehicle compliance for nitrogen oxides and particulate matter (two of the offenders in the diesel scandal) is also measured in a real driving emissions (RDE) test.

More stringent evaporative emissions is another important part, especially for gasoline vehicles. At 95 degrees F, gas vehicles are kept in an enclosed container for twice as long as before with the same maximum for hydrocarbons.

WLTP and the new program makes compliance an ongoing process, rather than something that’s done at the start of production for a new model. VW says that during series production it will continue to test cars on the dynamometer for the WLTP cycle, “and will continue to do so throughout a model’s entire production time.”

The program includes follow-up emission checks on vehicles that are less than five years old, with the owner’s approval, as well as checks that the emissions still keep within the limits after about 62,000 miles (100,000 km). And from 2020 onwards, vehicles will have a lifelong fuel consumption monitor (FCM) that’s defined by the EU regulations and itself tested on the WLTP cycle.

The diesel scandal didn’t spur the same kind of stem-to-stern testing remake in the U.S. as it did in Europe. But the U.S. has stepped up supplementary tailpipe testing in response. On either continent, things will never be the same.