Mobility – Page 5739 – I wish I had more to offer

Uber Plans New Engineering Lab in Toronto

The Toronto location will be the ride-hailing firm’s eight engineering hub outside of the U.S. Photo via Prayitno/Flickr. Uber announced it is expanding its presence in Canada with a new engineering office to be opened in Toronto early next year, CNN reports. The Toronto location will be the ride-hailing firm’s eight engineering hub outside of… Continue reading Uber Plans New Engineering Lab in Toronto

Delivering a World-Class Driver Experience with Two New Lyft Leaders

We’re excited to welcome Cal Lankton and Geoffrey Bain to Lyft as Vice President of Infrastructure Operations and Senior Director of Retail Operations, respectively. Cal and Geoffrey will work closely with Karim Bousta, who was recently brought on as Vice President of Driver Experience Operations. Together, this group will develop and execute Lyft’s long-term vision… Continue reading Delivering a World-Class Driver Experience with Two New Lyft Leaders

A message from the new CEO of comma.ai

A message from the new CEO of comma.ai Earlier this week, George Hotz, founder and former CEO of comma.ai, became the Head of Research Team and promoted me, Riccardo Biasini, from VP of Quality to CEO. Before joining comma, I received my master’s degree in automotive engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 2010. I… Continue reading A message from the new CEO of comma.ai

Mahindra Group companies sign up for commitments addressing Climate Change:

Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd, Mahindra Heavy Engines Ltd sign up for EP 100; Mahindra Electric joins EV 100 and Mahindra Holidays commit to RE 100

Mumbai, 12th Sept: As the world looks to heavy industry to help drive emissions cuts, Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd, Mahindra Heavy Engines Ltd have, today, pledged to put energy efficiency at the heart of their business growth strategies by joining EP100.

EP100 is a global collaborative initiative on energy productivity led by The Climate Group in partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy. By setting ambitious targets and integrating energy efficiency into business strategy, EP100 members are driving clean tech innovation while delivering on emissions reduction goals. Today’s announcement comes just ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit (September 12-14), where Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, will address leaders from business, states, regions and cities who will come together in San Francisco to “Take Ambition to the Next Level”.

Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, said, “I am excited to see such a significant group of large energy users’ step up their efforts on energy efficiency. Lowering energy use in sectors like auto-manufacturing is an ambitious task, but the figures speak for themselves – making smarter use of energy boosts the bottom line and drives down greenhouse gas emissions. These announcements will inspire many more to come on board, accelerating a clean economy.”

Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd has committed to doubling its energy productivity by 2041 (2016 baseline); Mahindra Heavy Engines Ltd by 2041 (2016 baseline). Mahindra & Mahindra and Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd. are already members of EP100, having joined in 2016. Mahindra & Mahindra, a leader in the automotive and farming equipment sectors with operations spanning 21 industries in more than 100 countries, has, to date, invested INR 44.7 Rs Cr in 1,757 energy efficiency projects globally, saving 8.3 KWh, 67,655 tons of carbon emissions, and INR 66.7 Cr over the last four years.

Speaking about this commitment, Vijay Kalra, Chief of Manufacturing Operations – M&M, Auto Division said, “Operating in a country like India which is energy deficient, energy security and energy cost is of vital importance for sustainable business performance. By joining the EP100 program, we demonstrate our commitment to our employees, society and the nation at large. As we take aspirational targets to enhance energy productivity there will be innovation and development of new technologies that will change the way we live and work. It’s all about arriving at a win-win situation for all. Be it business, employees and society.”

In addition to this, Mahindra Electric, a Mahindra Group company, has signed EV100, a global initiative bringing together forward looking companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and making electric transport the new normal by 2030. Another Group company, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd. has committed to RE 100, setting a 100% renewable electricity target for its entire global operations by 2050.

About Mahindra

The Mahindra Group is a USD 20.7 billion federation of companies that enables people to rise through innovative mobility solutions, driving rural prosperity, enhancing urban living, nurturing new businesses and fostering communities. It enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world’s largest tractor company, by volume. It also enjoys a strong presence in agribusiness, aerospace, commercial vehicles, components, defense, logistics, real estate, renewable energy, speedboats and steel, amongst other businesses. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,400,000 people across 100 countries.

Learn more about Mahindra on www.mahindra.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraRise

Media contact information:

Shubhada Dharwadkar
Group Communications
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Tel:+91-22-24901441
Dharwadkar.shubhada@mahindra.com

BMW Group and Swiss Re develop ground-breaking car insurance concept

Munich. The BMW Group and Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, are working together to develop a vehicle-specific insurance rating that primary insurers worldwide can use to calculate car insurance premiums: The innovative assessment system takes integration of safety-relevant driver assistance systems into account. The automotive sector is in a period of… Continue reading BMW Group and Swiss Re develop ground-breaking car insurance concept

Indonesia’s Go-Jek could ‘soon’ launch its ride-hailing app in Thailand

Indonesia’s Go-Jek could expand into Thailand ‘very soon,’ its president says
1 Hour Ago | 01:32

Indonesia's largest ride-hailing, payments and services company, Go-Jek, plans to expand its presence across more markets in Southeast Asia in the near future, according to its president.

After officially launching its services in Vietnam earlier this week, Go-Jek is building up its operations in Thailand and working with regulators in Singapore and the Philippines, Andre Soelistyo told CNBC on Friday.

“Thailand is coming very soon … the team is already working to operationalize the product,” he said, adding that, for Singapore and the Philippines, “we're still working it out with local regulators, local teams to make sure that all the requirements are being checked properly, before we do the expansion.”

Earlier in May, Go-Jek announced that it would invest about $500 million to move into the four markets over the next several months. The company said it would provide “technological support and expertise” to local founding teams that would then work on gaining traction in each of those countries.

The mobile app that was launched in Vietnam is called Go-Viet and is now available in the major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. On that app, users can book two-wheel rides and make use of courier services — the company said there are plans to introduce four-wheel ride-hailing, food delivery and digital payment services on the application in the future.

Soelistyo said the decision to launch first in Vietnam had several motivations, including its cultural similarity to Indonesia, and the high social media penetration rate.

“Motorcycle penetration is very high, and that's very key for our platform” he said. “We saw a lot of excitement from the local team, and local partners, and they really wanted to push this. So, we started with Vietnam as a result.”

Ultimately, Go-Jek's goal is to consolidate transactions on its app by building new technologies on top of it that can do various functions such as making payments, buying goods and services online and ordering food, according to Soelistyo.

In Singapore, reports previously suggested that Go-Jek was in talks with the country's largest taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, to forge a partnership ahead of the company's entry into the market. Soelistyo declined to comment on that report, and instead said Go-Jek always takes a “very partnership-driven” approach.

Go-Jek's expansion into Southeast Asia is set to potentially fill the void left by Uber. The U.S. tech company earlier this year sold its regional business to local competitor Grab. The two Southeast Asia-based companies already compete in Indonesia and will now do the same in Vietnam.

Both companies have notable backers: Grab counts SoftBank, China's Didi Chuxing, Toyota, global asset manager OppenheimerFunds and China's Ping An Capital among its investors. Go-Jek, which reportedly raised about $1.5 billion in funds in February, is backed by Google, Singapore's Temasek Holdings and tech giant Tencent.

ChargePoint commits to build charging stations for 2.5 million cars by 2025

2014 BMW i3 REx fast-charging at Chargepoint site, June 2016 [photo: Tom Moloughney]
At the Global Climate Action Summit this week in San Francisco, several companies made commitments to reducing climate change.

ChargePoint, one of the oldest electric-car charging networks in the U.S., said Wednesday that it aims to complete enough charging stations globally by 2025 to cover 2.5 million parking spots. The commitment does not include thousands of home chargers that ChargePoint also sells. Each station could cover one or two parking spots, a ChargePoint spokeswoman said.

READ MORE: ChargePoint invests in commercial charging for buses, delivery vans, taxis

According to the company's website, it currently has 45,000 charging locations across the U.S. and has begun expanding in Europe.

Setting such a goal by 2025 represents a huge challenge for the company.

ChargePoint Express Plus modular DC fast-charging system for electric cars, launched at 2017 CES

“Our commitment to deploy 2.5 million charging spots by 2025 comes as the company embarks on the most significant period of growth in our history and in the midst of a revolution in transportation,” said Pasquale Romano, president and CEO, ChargePoint. “The time for transformative change is now, and broadly distributed, substantial and immediate investments in charging infrastructure are necessary to usher in the future of e-mobility.

“We're at a huge tipping point here,” he said, “where this thing begins to accelerate very, very quickly.”

Even as the Trump Administration in Washington, D.C., begins dismantling the legal framework that incentivized electric cars, Roman said, it's a “train that has already left the station.”

CHECK OUT: Gas stations aren't a model for electric-car charging: ChargePoint CEO

Romano said that he expects the electric-car business to grow from almost $78 billion last year to almost $128 billion by 2022.

The additional chargers from ChargePoint will help expand public charging at businesses, workplaces, apartment buildings, as well as charging for commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses.

ChargePoint recently acquired Kisensum, a data analytics firm focused on helping utilities manage power loads.

Facing increased competition, especially from Electrify America, operating under a court mandate to spend $2 billion expanding public charging in the same time frame, Romano says there is room for multiple charging networks in the industry, but he expects some consolidation.

ChargePoint to grow global EV charging network to 2.5 mln

FRANKFURT, Sept 14 (Reuters) – ChargePoint, operator of one of the world’s largest charging station networks for electric vehicles (EV), is targeting a near fifty-fold increase in its global network of loading spots by the middle of next decade, it said on Friday. The group, in which German companies BMW , Daimler and Siemens hold… Continue reading ChargePoint to grow global EV charging network to 2.5 mln

Baidu sets its sights on taking A.I. and self-driving cars outside China

Online search provider Baidu — referred to as the Google of China — has been expanding aggressively into cutting edge technology such as artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.

The Chines tech titan is one of the largest internet companies in the world with a strong user base, thanks in no small part to China's massive population of 1.4 billion people.

About 70 percent of China's internet searches go through Baidu. The Chinese-language search platform is one of the most visited websites in the world, with its traffic surpassed only by Google, YouTube and Facebook, according to Alexa Internet, which measures web data and analytics.

Most of Baidu's revenue comes from online advertising. While its primary business is its search engine, it also offers maps, images, videos and news platforms to users. It's also a majority stakeholder in iQiyi, widely referred to as the Netflix of China.

But like other Chinese internet firms, Baidu is subject to Beijing's strict online censorship laws. The government has fined companies, including Baidu, for failing to properly censor content on its platforms.

Baidu is also investing heavily into its autonomous vehicle projects and has formed partnerships with the likes of Microsoft and Intel, and carmakers BMW, Ford and Daimler.

Leading the charge in China's push for driverless technology, Baidu has already developed and produced more than 100 self-driving buses. The autonomous vehicles will soon be deployed to the streets of Beijing and Shenzhen, and are due to enter Japan's self-driving market in early 2019.

The company has set its sights on markets outside China. It's next move would be to take its AI and self-driving technology to foreign markets, bringing it one step closer to becoming a global tech titan.

Blackmore Is Betting the Rest Of the Lidar Industry Has It All Wrong

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use. Nearly everyone agrees that cost-effective lidar is an essential component of autonomous vehicle systems. That’s brought literally dozens of startups into the space, with lofty promises often accompanied by lofty funding rounds. However, many of them seem to be stuck… Continue reading Blackmore Is Betting the Rest Of the Lidar Industry Has It All Wrong