Mobility – Page 7161 – I wish I had more to offer

Eclipse Foundation launches openMobility Working Group

The Eclipse Foundation announced the launch of the openMobility Working Group that will focus on open and shared collaboration around one of the major issues in urban planning around autonomous vehicles and future transportation requirements — traffic simulation and modelling. Based on the Eclipse Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) project that originated at the German Aerospace Center,… Continue reading Eclipse Foundation launches openMobility Working Group

Ridecell Enables Nation’s Largest All-Electric Car Sharing Fleet

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The BMW Group at the RETTmobil 2019.

Fulda. At stand No. 208 in Hall 2 and on the outdoor area of the specialist trade fair RETTmobil 2018 in Fulda (15 to 17 May 2019), the BMW Group will again present a wide selection of its tailor-made special-purpose vehicles for rescue teams, fire services, emergency physicians and police forces. The RETTmobil, which is… Continue reading The BMW Group at the RETTmobil 2019.

Press: ZF to Acquire Software Specialist for Occupant Recognition

ZF plans to acquire 90 percent of Simi Reality Motion Systems Specialist for image-based 3D systems for recording and analysis of human movement Over 25 years of experience in high-performance sports and medicine Occupant recognition is a key enabler for integrated safety and autonomous driving Friedrichshafen/Unterschleißheim (Germany). ZF plans to expand its network of cooperations… Continue reading Press: ZF to Acquire Software Specialist for Occupant Recognition

Tesla faces twin assault as Mercedes, VW start taking orders for first long-range EVs

Elon MuskMike Blake | ReutersIt's been a tough month for Tesla, and the challenges the Silicon Valley electric-car maker faces will only accelerate now that two major European automakers are launching sales of their first entries into the long-range EV market.
Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz began taking orders Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, for new battery-electric vehicles, with the two companies each planning to follow up with a wave of additional entries over the next few years. Whether they will prove to be “Tesla killers,” as some observers have dubbed them, is far from certain but the two German manufacturers are each investing billions of euros in their electrification programs.
VIDEO1:3501:35Tesla has new competitor from AudiThe Bottom Line “With the Mercedes-Benz EQC, we are entering a new era of mobility,” said Britta Seeger, member of the board of management of Daimler responsible for Mercedes-Benz cars sales. “It is part of the growing family of all-electric vehicles at Mercedes-Benz and combines brand-defining features such as quality, safety and comfort.”
But one of the keys to success Seeger added, is likely to be longer “range absolutely suitable for everyday use.”
The Mercedes Benz EQC.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe first wave of electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus Electric, could deliver only around 100 miles per charge. Tesla proved an immediate breakout with its Model S sedan yielding more than double that – and its latest version of that sedan is EPA-rated at 370 miles between charges.
The compact Mercedes EQC, essentially an electrified version of its GLC crossover, will get around 270 miles in European trim and even more in the version slated for the U.S. market.
Volkswagen's first long-range entry, the ID.3, lifts a page from Tesla's playbook by offering customers three different battery pack options. The smallest, at 45 kilowatt-hours, is expected to manage around 200 miles, based on European testing, with optional 58 and 77 kWh battery packs rated at around 260 and 340 miles, respectively.
The new VW hatchback hasn't even had its official world premiere — expected to take place at the Frankfurt Motor Show next autumn — and it will be about a year before the first customers can take delivery. But the automaker on Thursday opened up a special website for advance orders. Pricing for the ID.3, which initially will target the European market, will start at 30,000 euros ($34,000). Customers in Europe preordered 10,000 ID.3s in the first 24 hours on the market there, overwhelming the company's website and leading to long wait times online, VW said.
A Volkswagen ID 3 electric car is seen in a glass cage during a press conference in Berlin on May 8, 2019.ODD ANDERSEN | AFP | Getty ImagesThe crossover, which will anchor a new sub-brand dubbed Volkswagen ID, will be just the first in a broad array of about 50 long-range electric vehicles the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker plans to bring to the market by mid-decade through its various brands. It has already launched sales of the new Audi e-tron crossover and is preparing to deliver the first Porsche Taycan battery sports cars.
For the U.S., VW will begin its electrified assault next year with a production version of the ID Crozz concept. In January, during a visit to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said his company will spend $800 million to expand its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to handle that crossover and another all-electric model, a move that also will create about 1,000 new jobs.
“The supertanker is picking up speed,” Volkswagen executives said during a March presentation in Frankfurt. “We are aligning Volkswagen with e-mobility like no other company in our industry.”
Adam Jeffery | CNBCAdam Jeffery | CNBCVolkswagen's diesel emissions scandal has already cost it around $30 billion and seen a number of executives jailed or indicted, including former CEO Martin Winterkorn. The company's shifting its focus from the “oil-burners” that long dominated its lineup to focus on electrification.
It has announced plans to spend 9 billion euros, about $10 billion at current exchange rates, on battery cars by 2023. And during his Frankfurt speech, Diess upped his estimate of VW's global EV salesprojections from 15 million vehicles to 22 million over the next decade.
These numbers dwarf those of Daimler, but the parent of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands is making a similarly aggressive push relative to its size.
“We are going to launch 10 pure battery-electric vehicles until the end of 2022, and we are covering the whole portfolio — from Smart [cars] to big SUVs and big sedans,” board member Wilko Stark announced during a news conference at the Paris Motor Show in September.
The Mercedes Benz EQC.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe new Mercedes EQC will go on sale in Europe first and then follow with an American market launch sometime next year, officials said during last month's New York International Auto Show. The event saw the debut of the EQC Edition 1886, a special launch version referencing the year when the founders of what is now Daimler patented the world's first vehicle to use an internal combustion engine.
The EQC Edition 1886 is promised to deliver 292 miles per charge and, with an output of 402 horsepower and 564 pound-feet of torque, it will launch from 0 to 60 in less than five seconds. Those numbers suggest it will pose a direct challenge to both Tesla's older Model X and upcoming Model Y.
While Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are just putting their battery-car programs into motion, BMW is preparing its own ramp-up. It currently offers an all-electric city car, the i3, through a special sub-brand, though that model doesn't match the range of what can be thought of as second-generation BEVs.
A new BMW i3 electric car is seen on the assembly line at the BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany.Getty ImagesFuture long-range products will more directly target Tesla, as well as Mercedes and VW. The Bavarian automaker recently confirmed plans to migrate to new vehicle platforms that will allow it to offer all-electric versions of virtually every model in its lineup.
Jaguar Land Rover was actually the first European automaker to enter the long-range space, its Jaguar I-Pace last month being named World Car of the Year by an international panel of motoring journalists.
But the wave of new products will soon turn into a tsunami. According to InsideEVs, a website devoted to electrification, 14 new battery cars will land in the U.S. market in 2020, with even more coming to Europe and China — the latter market encouraging the buildup with tough new energy vehicle regulations enacted in late 2017.
Ian Callum and the Jaguar I-Pace accept the award for the 2019 World Car Award at the New York Auto Show in New York on April 17th, 2019.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe big question is whether consumers will accept the new offerings. A study released by AAA on Thursday found that only about 16% of U.S. motorists surveyed are definitely considering battery power for their next vehicle.
Last year, all forms of battery-based vehicles, including conventional hybrids, plug-ins and battery-electric vehicles, accounted for barely 5% of the American market. But BEV sales, in particular, roughly doubled.
That said, virtually all the growth could be accounted for by Tesla's new Model 3 sedan. Demand for competing long-range offerings like the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Jaguar I-Pace did grow, but at a much slower pace.
Manufacturers such as Mercedes and Volkswagen will have to hope more buyers start to plug in. The good news for them is that AAA found 40 million U.S. motorists would at least consider a BEV in the future, with millennials particularly open. And the long-standing axiom in the auto industry is that the more product available, the bigger the appeal.
Paul Eisenstein is a freelancer for CNBC. His travel and lodging to the New York auto show was paid for by an automaker.

Uber prices IPO at $45 per share, toward the low end of range

VIDEO3:3403:34Needs to be path to profitability to go publicPower LunchUber priced its IPO at $45 per share Thursday, toward the low end of its stated range.
At the IPO price of $45 per share, the company will be valued on a non-diluted basis at about $75.46 billion, which will put the stock's market cap right around the size of Caterpillar's and make it one of the most valuable companies ever to go public. On a fully diluted basis, Uber has an implied market valuation of $82.4 billion.
Early reports suggested Uber was seeking a valuation of up to $120 billion. Its expected rangewas between$44 and $50 per share, according to a filing last month.
The company is offering 180 million shares of common stock, which means it could raise around $8.1 billion on Friday, with an option for underwriters to buy an additional 27 million shares.
A ride-hailing pioneer and Silicon Valley darling, Uber made on-demand transportation a new norm throughout the world, while accumulating massive losses and controversy along the way.
In 2018, Uber's revenue reached $11.3 billion for the year, up 43% from 2017, while reporting adjusted losses of $1.8 billion, an improvement over losses of $2.6 billion in 2017, according to its IPO filing. The company has never turned a profit.
To cover these losses and fund its rapid expansion, the company raised more than $24 billion from a wide range of investors since its founding a decade ago, according to Crunchbase. Investors have included traditional VC firms like Benchmark, and companies with interests in transportation like Alphabet and Toyota. Its biggest shareholder is Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, which invested more than $8 billion through its Vision Fund and owns 16.3% of the company pre-IPO.
“Uber is a great reminder to venture capitalists that the biggest opportunities lie in our most common needs as humans,” said Shawn Carolan, an early Uber investor and partner at Menlo Ventures. “When a start-up presents, look beyond the current product, which often feels trivial, to the underlying need being served. An on-demand black car service was easy to dismiss, but nearly everyone needs transportation.”
At Uber, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi replaced co-founder Travis Kalanick in 2017 after myriad missteps for the company. Kalanick's ouster was preceded by revelations about unchecked sexism within Uber's ranks, and a high-stakes lawsuit over trade secrets from Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car business.
While Khosrowshahi is working to restore Uber's reputation, the company faced driver strikes in major cities this week leading up to the IPO.
Personal mobility remains Uber's core business. Its ride-hailing services reach into 63 countries and more than 700 cities. But its ambitions and revenue streams have diversified into bike and scooter rentals, food delivery and freight. Uber is also developing air taxis and driverless car technology, among other things.
Uber is engaged in an intense pricing battle with its chief competitor in the U.S., Lyft, as the companies try to attract and retain riders with low fares, while paying drivers just enough to keep them on the platform. Lyft went public in late March. Its stock has fallen more than 25% since its IPO.
The companyplans to list on Friday with the ticker UBER.
CNBC's Leslie Picker contributed to this article.
Clarification: Uber priced its IPO at $45 per share on Thursday, toward the low end of its stated range. The relation of the price to the stated range was unclear in an earlier version of this article.

Ford CEO reassures investors of EV plans as it pours money into electric F-150, Mustang-inspired car

An electrical charging port sits on the bodywork of a Kuga Vignale hybrid automobile displayed during a Ford Motor Co. launch event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWith the automaker's first long-range electric vehicle set to be unveiled later this year, Ford officials said Thursday they're on the right path as they “reconceptualize” the company's vehicle lineup as well as its future.
Ford is in the midst of one of the most dramatic transformations the company has faced since founder Henry Ford threw the switch to start the auto industry's first assembly line rolling more than 100 years ago. The automaker is largely abandoning passenger cars in favor of SUVs and crossover vehicles, pursuing the development of self-driving vehicles and exploring the transition from a classic automaker into a provider of mobility services.
The automaker laid out plans last year to spend $11 billion on the technology by 2022 — up from its original target of $4.5 billion by 2020 — to develop 40 new all-electric and hybrid models. The company has already announced two EVs it plans to introduce next year: a fully-electric F-150 pickup and a “Mustang-inspired” electric crossover vehicle.
VIDEO1:2901:29Ford is investing $500 million in electric truck maker RivianThe Bottom Line “When there's new technologies, it takes a while, and there's a tipping point,” CEO Jim Hackett told investors during the automaker's annual shareholder meeting Thursday. “When it happens, you want to be there.”
Investors need some reassurance. While the company's shares are up by more than 33% so far this year, they're still down by almost 8% over the last 12 months. Sales of its first-generation EVs, like the Ford Focus Electric, have been modest at best. Hackett assured investors that more buyers will plug in. Company data shows one in five younger buyers would consider buying an electric vehicle at some point.
That's not far out of line with a study released by AAA on Thursday that found that 16% of American motorists it surveyed are giving serious consideration to an electric car for their next vehicle. The AAA report also said 40 million Americans would consider a battery-electric vehicle, or BEV — especially as prices drop, range improves and it becomes easier and quicker to recharge batteries.
Ford is clearly not alone.
Two of Europe's most powerful automakers, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG, launched sales of their first battery-electric vehicles this week. VW said it took about 10,000 advance orders for the new ID.3 crossover during the first day, even though the vehicle won't actually reach showrooms until next year. VW AG CEO Herbert Diess last year said his company is committing about $10 billion through 2023 to electrification. He also upped the number of battery-electric vehicles VW expects to sell by 2029 from 15 million to 22 million.
Japan-based Toyota plans to bring more than 10 EVs to market in the next six years, aiming to sell about 5.5 million battery-electric vehicles by 2030. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance – which launched the world's first BEV, the Nissan Leaf, in 2010, is making a similar push.
Ford was an early proponent of electrification, rushing to market with a mix of conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and first-generation battery-electric vehicles, like the Focus Electric. But a variety of factors, including limited range and high sticker prices, limited demand. The automaker briefly hesitated before stepping up its efforts. But since Hackett replaced former CEO Mark Fields in a boardroom coup two years ago this month, he has ordered major new commitments to Ford's electrification, autonomous driving and mobility services efforts — including a “Mustang-inspired” crossover vehicle that's generated all sorts of buzz.
VIDEO3:3103:31Here's why Ford is the only auto stock Cramer endorsesMad Money with Jim CramerThe scant details and cult-following of the Ford's iconic muscle car has helped fuel speculation of what the electric version will look like. “Spy photographers” stake out the routes and locations where Ford is known to test its products, hoping to catch a glimpse of even a heavily camouflaged version of the vehicle.
“There's a lot of intrigue around this product,” said Hackett, adding that, “we're going to be telling our community more about it, but it is going to be a great story about Ford.”
Hackett shed little new light on the car Thursday.
“What we've done is reconceptualized [vehicle design] with all of the extra space that you actually retrieve using battery-electrics into a very, very unique vehicle that takes advantage of some inspiration from our Mustang brand,” Hackett said.
Whether Ford's bet on electrification will pay off is far from certain, as its earlier sales serve to remind observers. Nonetheless, there is a growing belief among those in and around the auto industry that battery power is the way of the future.
Ford plans to bring out a mix of hybrids, plug-ins and BEVs, betting that the unique characteristics of each will resonate with different groups of consumers.
In the Snowbelt, for example, where there are fewer public chargers and cold weather reduces range, analysts like IHS Markit and the Boston Consulting Group see stronger demand for the plug-ins that can switch to gas power when their batteries are depleted.
Rivian EV SUV.Adam Jeffery | CNBCMany experts believe that BEVs will be the long-term solution, a strategy underpinning new competitors like Tesla and suburban Detroit-based Rivian. EV ownership is expected to spike by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency, with an expected 125 million Americans owning an all-electric vehicle by that year.
Rivian revealed a pair of all-electric models, the R1T pickup and R1S sport-utility vehicle, at the Los Angeles International Auto Show last November and hopes to launch production within the next year. Rivian has raised more than $1.2 billion in capital recently, first lining up $700 million from a consortium led by Amazon. Ford kicked in the other $500 million. Rivian agreed to a new battery-powered electric vehicle for Ford as part of the deal.
The tie-up with Rivian will help Ford produce at least one, and likely several, new BEVs, according to industry analysts. But it won't slow the battery-car development program Ford already had underway for vehicles like the all-electric SUV that has gone by the codename “Mach One.”
If handled properly, experts contend, electric vehicles offer a number of advantages, including reduced – albeit displaced – emissions, lower energy costs, reduced vehicle noise and even more roomy interiors. That's because there's no engine under the hood anymore, Ford and most other manufacturers migrating to a skateboard-like platform where batteries and motors are mounted under the load floor.

NH Research’s 9300 Battery Test and Battery Emulation Solutions Now Expandable to 2.4 MW

NH Research Enabling Electrification with Higher Power Modular Battery Test and Battery Emulation

IRVINE, CA, U.S.A., 3-May-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — NH Research Inc. (NHR), a leading provider of power electronics test solutions for the aerospace, automotive, defense and energy industries, announced that the popular 9300 high voltage battery test and battery emulation solution now covers more power ranges from 100kW up to 2.4MW.

The innovative 9300 platform, introduced in early 2017, addresses the higher voltage and higher power test requirements for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. The platform provides a modular 100kW building block with dual voltage ranges of 600V or 1,200V and current up to 333A. It can now parallel up to 24 building blocks to get 2.4MW of power and up to 8,000A of current.

NHR’s 9300 modular system has become a popular choice for EV battery pack testing, EV Powertrain testing, and DC Fast Charger testing where superior performance, safety, easy automation, and regenerative energy savings are important. The enhanced 9300 platform can be seen live at two key upcoming industry trade shows: The Battery Show Europe 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany from May 7th to 9th and at 2019 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo in Novi, MI June 19 to 21, 2019.

About NH Research
NH Research, Inc. (NHR) enables electrification by accelerating innovation, validation and functional testing of today’s technologies. Backed by over 50 years of experience in power conversion and power electronics test systems and instruments, our test solutions deliver the performance, simplicity, and safety that engineers and researchers in aerospace, defense, automotive and energy industries require. For more information visit www.nhresearch.com.

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VW Approves Big Investment In Battery Cell Factory

Volkswagen to invest just under €1 billion to set up a battery cell production facility with a partner. Volkswagen announced today that the Supervisory Board and Board of Management approved the plan to build a battery plant in Lower Saxony (Salzgitter), Germany. The planned investment will be just under €1 billion ($1.12 billion), which sounds… Continue reading VW Approves Big Investment In Battery Cell Factory

Supervisory Board and Board of Management take important decisions for future of Volkswagen Group

The Supervisory Board and Board of Management of Volkswagen AG took important decisions for the future of the Volkswagen Group today. As part of its electrification offensive the Volkswagen Group is to move forward with setting up a battery cell production facility in Europe under a partnership. To that end, the Supervisory Board approved investments… Continue reading Supervisory Board and Board of Management take important decisions for future of Volkswagen Group