FILE PHOTO: The logo of Volkswagen carmaker is seen at the entrance of a showroom in Nice, France, April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen said on Friday that it aims to raise up to 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) by floating a stake of at least 10% in its Traton trucks… Continue reading Volkswagen aims to raise 1.9 billion euros from truck unit IPO
Tag: Electric vehicles
BYTON Releases Production Interior Pictures
Yes, that huge, 48″ display screen will make it to production As BYTON moves closer to formally introducing their first offering, the M-Byte SUV, they’ve released some pictures of the production interior. Lo and behold, that enormous 48″ “Shared Experience Display” from the original concept, will actually make it to production. BYTON News BYTON had… Continue reading BYTON Releases Production Interior Pictures
Mate Rimac Presents Rimac Automobili Episode 3: Video
Here is how the Rimac C_Two all-electric hypercar is developed in Croatia with heavy use of software simulations. The third part of the Rimac Automobili factory tour with Mate Rimac presents the design, engineering and the development of the upcoming C_Two hypercar. Once again it’s awesome to see how the top electric cars arise from… Continue reading Mate Rimac Presents Rimac Automobili Episode 3: Video
Local vehicle production to resume in Adelaide – WhichCar
While Holden’s Elizabeth car plant in Adelaide sits dormant since shuttering in 2017, just 20km down the road a new Australian electric vehicle startup will begin producing vehicles once more. ACE EV is the first company to build electric commercial vehicles on Australian soil, and has set a target to build 15,000 EVs by 2025.… Continue reading Local vehicle production to resume in Adelaide – WhichCar
Honda e battery specs and platform revealed, 31,000 have ‘expressed interest’ in the electric car
Honda has revealed more information about its Honda e urban EV, including details on the new electric car’s battery and platform. A new look at the car from Honda reveals its compact water-cooled 35.5 kWh Lithium-ion battery, which can be charged using either a Type 2 AC connection or a CCS2 DC rapid charger. The charging port… Continue reading Honda e battery specs and platform revealed, 31,000 have ‘expressed interest’ in the electric car
Chinese firm makes insane $23 billion investment in production of 1 million EVs/yr and 500 GWh of batteries
Evergrande, a Chinese firm believed to be the biggest real estate company in the world and backers of electric vehicle startups like Faraday Future and NEVS, announced a massive $23 billion investment in the production 1 million electric cars and 500 GWh of batteries per year. The company is known for having its hands in… Continue reading Chinese firm makes insane $23 billion investment in production of 1 million EVs/yr and 500 GWh of batteries
European lithium projects gain attention amid push toward electric vehicles
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – European lithium projects are making a fresh push for capital, eager to supply the white metal to a burgeoning network of battery manufacturers and electric vehicle makers across the continent, the world’s second-largest EV market after China. A regional EV supply chain would help achieve European Union goals to lower carbon emissions,… Continue reading European lithium projects gain attention amid push toward electric vehicles
VW boss Diess wants to expand cooperation with Ford – even with electric cars: “VW is very strongly influenced by Chinese – we need a counterweight in the US”
DPA “We need a counterbalance in the US”: Ford CEO Jim Hackett (r) and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess know each other well, they agreed at the beginning of the year, together to develop vans and mid-sized pick-ups The speculation about a close cooperation of Volkswagen and ford Autonomous driving and electric car technology have been… Continue reading VW boss Diess wants to expand cooperation with Ford – even with electric cars: “VW is very strongly influenced by Chinese – we need a counterweight in the US”
Car manufacturers are the largest customer group: weakness of the German car industry also reaches BASF
DPA Paint inspection at Porsche: With a sales share of just under 20 percent, car manufacturers are one of BASF’s most important customers The flagging automobile industry makes the German chemical giant BASF Show stock market chart to accomplish. In the Coatings division, up to 200 jobs will be cut at the Münster site by… Continue reading Car manufacturers are the largest customer group: weakness of the German car industry also reaches BASF
Tesla loses key Autopilot engineer to self-driving truck start-up Embark
Embark self-driving truckEmbarkZeljko Popovic, a leader within Tesla's Autopilot team, is leaving for Embark, the autonomous trucking start-up in San Francisco, according to a person familiar with the move. Embark confirmed the hire.
The departure comes at a critical time, as Tesla is promising its electric vehicles will be capable of operating as “robotaxis” by the end of next year — which is to say, they'd be fully self-driving in normal conditions, without human intervention. Tesla also says it plans to start production of its long-awaited electric semi trucks by the end of 2020.
Popovic, whose background is in robotics, built and ran the perception team for Tesla's Autopilot division.
According to people familiar with his accomplishments there, Popovic managed the development of highly accurate maps of U.S. highways for Tesla, and created a “sensor fusion system” which combines data from the many cameras, radars and ultrasonic sensors that Tesla vehicles employ. The sensor fusion system enables Autopilot to “see” other cars on the road.
At Tesla's annual shareholder meeting this week, CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that some Tesla self-driving features still need improvements. “Summon,” which allows a driver to automatically call their car over from wherever it is parked, was supposed to be widely available by now. But at the meeting, Musk said it is still being tweaked.
Founded in 2015, Embark integrates its self-driving systems into Peterbilt semis rather than building its own trucks completely from scratch, and the trucks are generally operated with human supervisors behind the wheel. It now has more than a dozen trucks and 60 employees. Amazon is using self-driving trucks developed by Embark to haul some cargo on the I-10 interstate highway in California, both companies previously acknowledged.
Attrition has been a big issue for Tesla in the last two years as the company has missed some of its production goals and its stock price has swung wildly. Among others, self-driving VP Jim Keller left for Intel, and head engineer Doug Field rejoined Apple to work on that company's secretive self-driving technology.
Popovic and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
WATCH: Self-driving trucks are here — here's how they'll transform the trucking industry
VIDEO13:0513:05How the rise in self-driving trucks will transform the trucking industryTech