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Ride-hailing app Yango launches in Bucharest

Yango, an digital e-hailing app currently operating in 16 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was launched in Bucharest on Thursday.With the launch of the app, a dedicated driver’s center was recently opened by a Yango partner in Bucharest.Best rated drivers get more orders, while drivers with low ratings will receive fewer rides or may even be denied access to the service if their rating is very low (temporarily or permanently).

Ford cutting another 12,000 European jobs as restructuring continues

An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory on January 13, 2015Carl Court | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesFord is cutting 12,000 jobs at its operations across Europe by the end of 2020, the automaker said Thursday, continuing a broad, global restructuring program that already has cost about 2,300 jobs in the U.S.
The latest move comes as Ford prepares to close or sell off six of its 24 European plants, including an engine plant in Wales, a transmission factory in France and three facilities in Russia. It also plans to cut production and drop shifts at assembly plants in Germany and Spain.
Its stock rose more than 2% in morning trading.
The company's global workforce of 199,000 employees as of Dec. 31, 53,000 of them in Europe, will be notably smaller next year. The European cutbacks were widely expected and follow on other layoffs announced earlier this year. They come as the Detroit-based automaker struggles to reverse years of losses in the U.S. Since Jim Hackett was named CEO two years ago, Ford has launched a number of worldwide cost-savings measures, but company officials say the cuts announced Thursday also reflect a planned shift from conventional, gas and diesel-powered vehicles to electric and other battery-powered cars.
“Ford will be a more targeted business in Europe, consistent with the company's global redesign, generating higher returns through our focus on customer needs and a lean structure,” Stuart Rowley, president of Ford of Europe, said in a statement. “Implementing our new strategy quickly enables us to invest and grow our leading commercial vehicle business and provide customers with more electrified vehicles, SUVs, exciting performance derivatives and iconic imported models.”
While a large share of the new European job cuts will target hourly employees, Ford last month said it was eliminating 7,000 white-collar jobs, including 2,300 in the United States. At that time, CEO Hackett hinted there would likely be more to follow, noting, “We still have a lot of work to do in the coming months.”
That includes more than just job cuts, however. Since being named CEO following a management shake-up in May 2017, Hackett has ordered a number of major changes, among other things dropping all U.S. passenger car models — but for the Mustang. The shift to sport and crossover-utility vehicles has extended to other markets, including Europe and China, though not to quite the same degree.
Jim Hackett, FordSource: Ford Motor Company Ford has been trying to right-size operations around the world, especially in weak markets like Europe and Latin America, Joe Hinrichs, the president of the company's automotive operations, told CNBC earlier this year.
But it is not going as far as its Detroit rival, General Motors, which shut down operations in Russia, India and several other markets, while selling off its European Opel subsidiary to France's PSA Group.
Investors seem to like Hackett's changes so far. While the company's stock is still down 11% over the last 12 months, its gained almost 33% since Jan. 1.
According to Ford's statement, it will reorganize European operations into three “customer-focused” groups that will focus on passenger vehicles, imports — such as the American-made Mustang — and commercial vehicles. The latter unit will play a central role in the new joint venture Ford announced with German automaker Volkswagen in January.
Ford also is negotiating other possible alliances on autonomous and electric vehicles with VW that could be announced in a matter of weeks, according to several company executives.
Ford was an early entrant into the battery-car field but has since fallen behind competitors like Tesla, GM and VW, the latter company planning to unleash as many as 50 all-electric models by the middle of the coming decade.
Automakers face increasing pressure from regulators around the world to shift to battery-based vehicles, and Ford plans to unveil its first long-range all-electric model, a crossover influenced by the Mustang, later this year.
“Our future is rooted in electrification,” said Ford's Rowley. “We are electrifying across our portfolio, providing all of our customers with more accessible vehicle options that are fun to drive, have improved fuel economy and are better for our environment.”
Ford is just one of a number of automakers who have announced major cutbacks in recent months. GM announced in November plans to close three assembly plants and two parts factories in North America, eliminating 14,000 jobs. In March, VW said it would cut 7,000 jobs on top of previously announced reductions.
The moves come at a critical time for the industry, according to a new study by the Detroit-based consultancy, AlixPartners. Sales in the U.S. and China are in a slump and European demand is stagnant, at best, it noted.
At the same time, manufacturers are being forced to invest heavily in the development of autonomous and electrified vehicles. They face a “profit desert,” warned Mark Wakefield, head of the firm's automotive practice, and must take steps to cut costs.

Grab Invests in Global Mobility Consolidation App

Grab and Splyt share a common vision to make it easy for anyone to get a ride when they need it, wherever they may be, through the app of their choice. Photo via Grab. Southeast Asia’s Grab has invested in Splyt Technologies, a London-based, global mobility marketplace. The investment will see an enhanced collaboration between the… Continue reading Grab Invests in Global Mobility Consolidation App

Volkswagen launches WeShare all-electric car sharing service

Making good on plans revealed last year to debut an EV-exclusive car sharing service, Volkswagen is actually launching its fleet for customers – debuting WeShare, a new shared service similar to Car2Go or GM’s Maven, but featuring only all-electric vehicles. Initially, WeShare will be available only in Berlin, where it’s launching today with 1,500 Volkswagen e-Golf… Continue reading Volkswagen launches WeShare all-electric car sharing service

Grab raises more money — again

Southeast Asia’s highest-capitalized startup is sitting on even more money from investors today after ride-hailing Grab announced it has raised $300 million from Invesco. The deal takes Singapore-based Grab $7.5 billion raised to date. The money is part of its ongoing — feels-like-everlasting — Series H round which was started last June via a $1… Continue reading Grab raises more money — again

JAC Electric-Only Ride-Hailing Service — #CleanTechnica Exclusive

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Published on June 26th, 2019 |

by Tim Dixon

JAC Electric-Only Ride-Hailing Service — #CleanTechnica Exclusive

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June 26th, 2019 by Tim Dixon

Chinese automaker JAC Motors (江淮汽车) launched an electric-only ride-hailing service called Hexing (Hexing on-line Hailing) (和行约车/Hexing Yueche) on the 9th of January in Hefei, Anhui, China. I have been monitoring this service since launch. Today, I will explain the service, its future expansion plan, and my experience in the vehicles.

I wrote about it originally in the January 2019 edition of our China X Cleantech newsletter. The story was based on an EV Partner article announcing the service.

The Service
Similar to other ride-hailing services, you easily download the app by scanning a QR code prominently displayed on any of the vehicles, and whenever you need a ride, you enter your destination and request pickup. The app is minimalist and functional, but the best thing is that all 2,000 cars in Hefei are all-electric vehicles.

The drivers don’t own the cars. They are more like employees of the service. The service owns the car but the drivers are allowed to use it for work — the reason given is so that the drivers and cars go through a thorough background check and technical checks before passengers go in them. This is a big issue in China due to a number of cases of assaults and murders in ride-hailing vehicles in China.

Hexing has three cars available:

JAC iEV A50 (long-range sedan)

JAC iEV 7S (long-range SUV)

SOL E20X (Volkswagen–JAC joint venture long-range SUV)

The service is presently limited to Hefei, but the plan is to expand rapidly.

The Plan
In Chinese press releases, JAC/Hexing mentioned that the plan is to expand to 10 cities across Anhui and have 10,000 cars on the road by the end of 2019. In 3 years, they plan to expand to every major city in China with a combined fleet of 50,000 electric cars. At the moment they have a fleet of 2,000 cars in one city.

Automakers, Post Ownership, & Autonomous Vehicles
I think it is no surprise that JAC is creating a ride-hailing service. Numerous reports and articles are coming out about consumer trends shifting towards ride hailing and autonomous cars getting closer to reality, so it is wise to get ahead and create an in-house service that will use JAC’s car production.

JAC is already investing in partnerships to create self-driving JAC vehicles, such as a partnership with Baidu (“the Google of China”), which is well known for investing heavily into self-driving technology and has recently claimed that its technology can achieve level 4 autonomy.

Other international companies and Chinese companies are planning the same, such as Tesla, BMW, Xpeng Motors, and many others which I plan to test in the future. Why are these companies doing this? Because the combination of electrification and autonomous vehicles will dramatically impact demand and use of vehicles, just as the smartphone impacted the dedicated digital camera market.

My Experience
My family decided to travel to see my wife’s family during the Dragon boat festival and to finally try out the app for that trip. The JAC iEV A50 pulled up and quickly loaded up us and our luggage. The app was quick, but finding drivers was slow due to the holiday — other days it took only a minute.

The A50 was comfy, quiet, and quick. The driver acted professionally and drove perfectly. I decided to ask some questions about what the driver knew and his own experience. I asked how he got the job and he said he applied on the website and had to pass a number of tests and get a certificate to drive for the service. I inquired if he owned the car. He said Hexing owned the car. I asked how he charged and he said he uses the public charging but that it is free due to Hexing providing a card and them partnering with State Grid. I wanted to understand the driver’s side well, so I asked about how he likes the car. He said it was comfortable and made his new (internal combustion engine) personal car felt very uncomfortable by comparison. (No surprise to any EV driver.) I asked about the acceleration and he confirmed he liked it. On working and compensation, I found out he has to drive a certain number of clients per day to get his wage, but after that number, he can either stop or earn extra fares. We also talked about cars and the fleet and he confirmed what I had already found out.

All in all, it was a very pleasant and informative experience. I’ve used the service 6 times now, and the drivers are very professional and courteous.

The Volkswagen Link
This Hexing service is linked to Volkswagen. The two companies previously signed an agreement with the Hefei city government to start a ride-hailing service and short-term rentals of electric vehicles in Hefei. The SOL brand is the JAC–Volkswagen joint venture and Hexing uses the SOL E20X.

The Name
The name of the app/company — 和行约车 Hé xíng yuē chē — like many companies names does not mean anything in particular. It could be understood as many things, including “a peaceful trip” or “with the car.” I used Hexing as shorthand, but that is westernization of the Pinyin.

Conclusion
My wife and I found the service good, better than the local taxi services and Didi Chuxing, and while it is the early days, I think this service is a good example of one of many shifts that automakers are making to get ready for the future of consumer transit — be it ride-hailing, autonomy, carsharing, connected vehicles, or vehicle as a service or advertisement medium. Additionally, Hexing is a good start for JAC to get its electric cars more widely known throughout China, which might also benefit its electric car sales.

All photos by Timothy Dixon (CC BY-SA license)

About the Author

Tim Dixon When not researching the Chinese electric car market, I am teaching in China. My interest in sustainable development started in University and it led me to work with Tesla Europe in the Supercharger team. I'm interested in science fiction, D&D, and travel. You can follow me on Twitter @TimDixon3.

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Sustainability award for SEAT in recognition of its commitment to natural gas as an alternative fuel for sustainable mobility

MADRID, 27-Jun-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — SEAT has been recognised for its commitment to natural gas as an alternative fuel by the Sedigas, the Spanish Gas Association. The recognition is in the form of the “Energy and Sustainability” award, which was given to the car maker at a ceremony at the Reina Sofía National Museum of Art in Madrid. The ceremony was attended by José Domínguez Abascal, Secretary of State for Energy from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Luca de Meo, SEAT President, who has accepted the award.

Sedigas’ acknowledgement is for SEAT’s strong commitment to natural gas as an alternative fuel for sustainable mobility. In Europe, SEAT has the broadest range of vehicles that run with compressed natural gas (CNG), with three models produced in the brand’s Martorell factory — the Leon, Ibiza and the Arona, which is the world’s only CNG powered SUV. In terms of sales, the company has tripled its sales of CNG vehicles in 2018. Furthermore, SEAT has also announced plans to increase the production of gas driven vehicles from currently 90 to 250 per day by investing 6 million euros in its Martorell factory.

Commenting on the recognition, Luca de Meo, President of SEAT, said:

“At SEAT we are convinced that natural gas is a key element in the transition toward sustainable mobility. Now is the time to take a step further and boost the creation of infrastructure and make gas a source of renewable energy that can be injected in the network and promote its consumption. Furthermore, biogas and biomethane production represent an opportunity for reducing the rate of emissions derived from transportation.”

He added further: “the goal we must set ourselves is that biomethane be considered a source of renewable fuel, and this is where certificates of origin play a fundamental role. Inexpensive cars that run on clean energy and can be refueled quickly in a few minutes already exist – they run on gas and biogas.”

Through SEAT’s initiative “Life Methamorphosis” the company is sourcing renewable gas for its vehicles from solid urban waste from the city of Barcelona and animal organic waste from a farm in Lleida. The company is also partnering with Aqualia to turn waste water into biomethane. Those projects and initiatives by SEAT aim at promoting the circular economy, energy efficiency and emissions reduction.

In this regard, establishing the certificate of origin for the production of biogas is of great potential. A system like that would make the development of the industry in Spain much easier, just as in other EU countries. Being able to transfer these certificates among sectors would also create many possibilities for the transport industry to guarantee a zero impact in terms of “well to wheel” CO2 emissions throughout the entire life cycle of a vehicle.

The European Union considers CNG fueled mobility as environmentally efficient. Vehicles that run on natural gas can access European cities when there are traffic restrictions in place due to pollution.

Media contacts:

Cristina Vall-Llosada
Head of Corporate Communications
T / +34 93 708 53 78
M/ +34 646 295 296
cristina.vall-llosada@seat.es

Blanca Marco
Corporate Communications
M/ +34 699 158 887
blanca.marco@seat.es

SOURCE: SEAT

MORE ON SEAT, COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG), BIOGAS, BIOMETHANE, ETC.:
Transport group Stagecoach to focus on energy reduction as part of its fifth annual Group-wide Green Week programme on 3 – 7 June, 2013Snam, Enagás and Fluxys consortium to acquire 66% interest in Greek natural gas infrastructure operator DESFAIVECO's pioneering work in developing natural gas vehicles recognized with “NGV Global Industry Champion” awardUKFast doubles its DDoSX capacity; Amsterdam, Seattle, Manchester now part of the firm's networkENGIE acquires 13% minority stake in HomeBiogas, an Israeli startup pioneering the field of household biogas solutionsEni and SABIC partner over truly innovative technology for natural gas conversion into synthesis gas Germany’s largest natural gas and crude oil producer Wintershall advocates greater use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in maritime shippingEni and Snam to create 20 new CNG refuelling stations for vehicles in ItalyValio and Gasum partnership will recycle farm manure into biogas to reduce milk’s carbon footprint Neste to drive successful execution of its global growth strategy in renewable products with new organizational structureSnam and BHGE to develop micro-liquefaction plants for sustainable mobilityCarrefour and ENGIE open public natural gas vehicle station at La Courneuve in the Paris regionSEAT's first electric car called Mii to debut in Oslo, Europe's EVs capitalCNH Industrial N.V. underlines its European leadership in natural gas commercial vehicles at ECOMONDOFerrovial and Enagás to jointly explore opportunities in biogas production and distributionSEAT and Snam partner to support the implementation of natural gas and renewable gas infrastructure, research and development projectsRamboll to investigate the feasibility of replacing diesel by biogas on the railroads in NorwayTop Employer's recognition for SEAT comes as a beacon for attracting external talent

Alliance Ventures | Jun 27th 2019ALLIANCE VENTURES INVESTS IN THE MOBILITY HOUSE TO BOOST ELECTRIC MOBILITY Read more

PRESS RELEASE – Paris/Munich, June 27, 2019 Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, announces an investment in The Mobility House, a technology company that provides a platform for integrating vehicle batteries into power grids using intelligent charging, energy and storage solutions. That investment is the latest by Alliance Ventures in start-up, early-stage… Continue reading Alliance Ventures | Jun 27th 2019ALLIANCE VENTURES INVESTS IN THE MOBILITY HOUSE TO BOOST ELECTRIC MOBILITY Read more

APPOINTMENTS TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF RCI BANK AND SERVICES

RCI Bank and Services is changing its organization structure. It has created a Group Compliance Division, effective from July 1, 2019. Jean-Louis Labauge has been appointed Chief Compliance Officer and a member of the Executive Committee. He reports to Bruno Kintzinger, CEO. Frédéric Schneider has been appointed Vice President, Sales and Marketing of… Continue reading APPOINTMENTS TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF RCI BANK AND SERVICES

ALLIANCE VENTURES INVESTS IN THE MOBILITY HOUSE TO BOOST ELECTRIC MOBILITY

Paris/Munch, June 27 2019 – Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, announces an investment in The Mobility House, a technology company that provides a platform for integrating vehicle batteries into power grids using intelligent charging, energy and storage solutions. That investment is the latest by Alliance Ventures in start-up, early-stage development… Continue reading ALLIANCE VENTURES INVESTS IN THE MOBILITY HOUSE TO BOOST ELECTRIC MOBILITY