Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Coming To US In December - Maybe

Following many, many years of waiting, it appears that Mitsubishi will finally be launching the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander SUV in the US — with the release of the 2018 model year now slated for December.

This hot Japanese vehicle, which has seen top-of-the-market sales in Europe and Japan, has had planned releases in the US something like 30 times (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration) and repeatedly been delayed, so I’m sure some of you will still wait to see the model in a US parking lot before cheering, but the timing is near enough now that we can probably be optimistic.

While the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid (PHEV) would likely have sold very well in the US just a couple of years back, it’s an open question how well it will in the now fairly competitive US electric vehicle market.

The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will have a base price of $34,595 in the US, so it won’t be cheap, but that is still the most affordable price by far for a plug-in SUV.

As it stands, not too much can predicted as far as the EPA range rating and fuel consumption figures, especially since this model may be reworked a bit from what’s been selling in Europe and Japan over the past several years.

Green Car Congress provides more: “The two 60 kW full-time, high-output electric motors are separately mounted at the front and rear axles. The front electric motor is positioned transaxle-style on the left side of the engine; the front motor is a smaller, lighter and higher output enhanced version of the permanent magnet synchronous electric motor used in the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. The system features a front-mounted generator that converts mechanical power to electricity and continuously charges the drive battery, while a Power Drive Unit (PDU) helps to convert the electric power and send it to the front motor. The engine delivers 117 hp @ 4500 rpm, with 137 lb-ft (186 N·m) of torque. The front motor delivers 137 N·m of torque; the rear deliver 195 N·m. Combined system power output is 197 hp.”

Notably, despite being a plug-in hybrid rather than an all-electric vehicle (EV), the model will reportedly still come standard with DC Fast Charging capability — which will allow the model’s battery pack to be nearly fully recharged (80%) in under 25 minutes or so.

Self Balancing “Ride Assist-e” Motorcycle From Honda

A motorcycle is one of the most efficient transportation devices available, especially in the world’s increasingly crowded cities. Although it uses a gasoline engines, it tends to spew out fewer emissions per mile than any automobile. But beginning motorcycle riders have a problem keeping their machines upright when stopped or at very low speeds.

Once the wheels get turning, they act as gyroscopes to keep the motorcycle upright, thanks to a phenomenon known as precession. It’s the force that keeps tops spinning, enables inertial navigation, and makes it possible for 600 pound Harley Davidsons to motor serenely along while on the superslab, unfazed by frost heaves, wind, or the occasional armadillo carcass.

Motorcycles are attracting lots of first time riders, many of whom are not yet adept at the art of keeping the machine upright at stop lights or moving slowly in traffic. Honda thinks it has the answer for such newcomers — Ride Assist-e. It’s not an electric motorcycle; it’s a motorcycle with an electric assist feature.

The company hasn’t released many details as of yet. A full introduction is scheduled for the Tokyo motor show that kicks off on October 27. This latest offering from Honda features an unusually low ride height for a low center of gravity. The low seat also makes it easier for riders to reach the ground.

The self-balancing mechanism — whatever it is — seems to be packaged at the front of the bike, although the extra heft built in to the single sided swing arm suggests some technological wizardry in that area as well.

A motorcycle needs to lean in order to negotiate turns and curves in the road. Riding a bike that refused to lean would be a very weird and unnerving experience. Not to worry, says Honda. Its Ride Assist-e system only operates at “very low speeds,” which makes sense. Once road speed increases, the rotation of the wheels themselves do all the stabilizing necessary.

The photo of the electronic dashboard shows the bike in “Mode 4.” By lightning like calculation, that suggests the Ride Assist-e system has at least four levels available. Presumably, the rider can select the level of assistance that is most comfortable for his or her riding style and degree of experience. A lean angle indicator also hints at the ability to program the system to the riders tastes.

Will the new Honda with Ride Assist-e be able to stay upright at a dead stop with no rider aboard as long as the engine is running, like Luke Skywalker’s land speeder? We should know more in about a month.

Source: New Atlas

California Ponders Banning Internal Combustion Engines From Its Roads

California may join the growing list of places where vehicles power by internal combustion engines will soon be no longer welcome. China is the principle driver of the idea. With the largest new car market in the world, it carries tremendous clout . But France, the UK, and India are also beating the drum for a ban on cars powered by internal combustion engines.

Mary Nichols is head of the California Air Resources Board. She says she is getting “love notes” from governor Jerry Brown asking why California is not following China’s lead by starting to plan for the demise of conventional cars with internal combustion engines. “I’ve gotten messages from the governor asking, ‘Why haven’t we done something already?’” Nichols told Bloomberg in an interview on September 22. “The governor has certainly indicated an interest in why China can do this and not California.”

Brown is one of the most ardent climate change activists, pledging that his state will adhere to the commitments made by the United States to the other nations of the world at the COP 21 conference in Paris in 2015. He has reached out to other governors to join him in resisting the ignorance flowing from the federal government under the leadership of #FakePresident Trump.

California is the largest car market in the US (Texas is a close second), which gives it enormous influence over the kinds of vehicles that get sold in all 50 states. At present, ten other states follow the emissions regulations prescribed by CARB. While car makers rail against how stringent they are, those rules are actually quite mild compared to emissions standards in other countries, especially China.

The key to profitability in the car business is spreading the cost of developing new products over as many units as possible. That means companies cannot afford to build cars solely for the California market. They have to sell them in all 50 states in order to amortize the investment needed to meet California’s standards. The same holds true globally. What China requires will impact the vehicles car companies sell in other countries.

The industry complains long and loud about how burdensome emissions regulations are but what really sticks in their craw is having to meet a bewildering welter of confusing, conflicting, and often contradictory regulations imposed by the nations of the world. They have a point. Much time, effort, and money goes into trying to satisfy rule makers in multiple countries rather than just building cars. And none of them want governments to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. The internal combustion engine is the bedrock upon which the automobile industry is founded.

California is able to impose higher standards for cars sold within its borders thanks to a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency that dates back decades. But the EPA is now in the hands of rabid, foaming at the mouth climate change deniers. It is unlikely they would go along with any proposal to ban internal combustion engines entirely.

Mary Nichols thinks there is a way to get it done anyway without involving the feds. The state could use other means, such as its power to license the cars that are permitted to use its roads. And every state is free to set its own tax policies. California could simply tax conventional cars out of existence. “We certainly wouldn’t expect to get a waiver for [banning conventional cars] from EPA,” Nichols says. “I think we would be looking at using some of our other authorities to get to that result.”

India and China are looking at 2030 as the date when an internal combustion ban could take effect. France and the UK are looking a little further down the road. 2040 is more what they have in mind. And California? “There are people who believe, including who work for me, that you could stop all sales of new internal-combustion cars by 2030. Some people say 2035, some people say 2040,” she said. “It’s awfully hard to predict any of that with precision, but it doesn’t appear to be out of the question.”

Source: Bloomberg

EasyJet Says Electric Airplane Service Could Begin Within A Decade

Airplanes emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and they put it high into the atmosphere where it can’t be absorbed easily by the world’s forests and oceans. Globally, airplanes contribute significantly to the total emissions created by the transportation sector. An electric airplane would keep all those emissions out of the skies but the technology isn’t quite there yet except for certain experimental aircraft being tested by NASA and short range oddities that are little more than drones scaled up to fly one or two people short distances.

Wright Electric has been working on a real electric airplane, one that can carry up to 120 passengers on flights of 300 miles or less. Such short hops make up 30% of all flights in Europe and in many other specialized markets such as Hawaii, where jumping from island to island is a regular part of everyday life.

EasyJet is a European airline that specializes in short range journeys such as London to Paris. It announced recently that is it working closely with Wright Electric and expects to begin electric airplane passenger service within a decade. EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, says the aerospace industry will soon follow the lead of the automotive industry in developing an electric airplane that will cut emissions and noise.

“For the first time in my career I can envisage a future without jet fuel and we are excited to be part of it,” she said. “It is now more a matter of when, not if, a short haul electric plane will fly.”

EasyJet’s executive Peter Duffy, says working with Wright Electric will help both companies understand what is required to make an electric airplane suitable for commercial use by focusing on such things as maintenance and revenue management. “You’re seeing cities and countries starting to talk about banning diesel combustion engines. That would have been unthinkable just a short time ago,” Duffy says. “As technology moves on, attitudes shift, ambitions change, and you see opportunities you didn’t see. This is genuinely exciting.”

Wright Electric claims an electric airplane will  be 50% quieter and cost 10% less for airlines to purchase and operate. The key to their plan is to mount the batteries for the planes inside conventional aircraft shipping containers so they can be easily swapped out a and replaced with fully charged units as needed.

An electric airplane for commercial service is not possible today because the batteries available are too heavy. But Wright and EasyJet are anticipating improvements in battery technology will make the batteries they need possible within ten years. Based on the steady flow of news about breakthroughs in laboratories around the world, they may well be right.

Source: The Guardian

The Tesla Model 3 Most People Want Will Cost $890 A Month

Ben Sullins of Teslanomics has a good thing going on. A few weeks ago, he put up an online cost estimator that allowed people to see how much the Tesla Model 3 equipped the way they want it will cost. Incredibly, more than 100,000 people used the calculator, which provided Sullins with lots of valuable data. Sifting through the numbers, several trends became clear — some of them expected, some of them not.

Before jumping in, note that this was not a scientifically sound “survey.” Ben used data from what people put into a Tesla Model 3 price calculator, but those people could have repeatedly played with different options just for fun, or might have completed it without taking certain options seriously, and or may have just run through it all to see what’s included. How many of them were genuinely pricing out the car they wanted? And how many of them did that but also put in various other options they wouldn’t actually choose just to understand the variation? Anyway, on to the results Ben pulled out …

Assuming the results were actually representative (an assumption you probably don’t want to make), the takeaway from the data is that prospective Model 3 owners seem to want to keep the initial cost of their cars down. While 60% say they want the premium interior package — a $5,500 option that includes heated seats, two rear USBs, wood decor, 12-way power adjustable seats, premium audio system, tinted glass roof, auto dimming and heated side mirrors, LED fog lamps, and a center console with storage for docking two smartphones — they are reluctant to pay the price with several other available options.

Fully one half indicated they are fine with basic black paint. All other colors cost an extra $1,000. They are also happy with the standard alloy wheels rather than spending $1,500 more for the optional sport wheels. The aero wheels have not won much praise. They look rather low budget for such a groundbreaking new car. It could be a matter of money or it could be that the Model 3 has longer range with the standard wheels.

A big surprise is that 50% of buyers didn’t spend the money for Enhanced Autopilot ($5,000 extra) or full autonomous driving capability (for an additional $3,000) in the simulator. And half of respondents say they are perfectly content with the 220 miles of range available from the standard battery rather than spending $9,000 for the extended-range version with a larger battery.

Sullins added up all the numbers, estimated the cost of electricity for a month of driving, assumed a $5,000 down payment and a loan at 4.5%, added $120 a month for insurance and came up with a total cost for a Model 3 equipped the way most drivers like it of $890 a month. Watch the video for more details.

Keep in mind that this estimate does not include options that are not yet available such as dual motors and air suspension, both of which will add significantly to the price. Is $890 a month too much for a so-called “affordable” midsize electric car? If it’s the car you want and the money fits your budget, no problem. But for many, almost $900 a month for a car — any car — is a lot of cashola. Is the Model 3 affordable? Only you can answer that question

Tesla Developing Proprietary Chip For Autonomous Driving Use

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk gets an idea into his head, he is like a dog with a bone. “Single minded” does not begin to describe his determination to get what he wants. Sometimes, that narrow focus can be draining for those working with him.

Musk made a promise earlier this year that Tesla automobiles would be fully autonomous within two years. Shortly thereafter, Chris Lattner, a former superstar tech guru at Apple, severed his relationship with the company. Lattner had been in charge of the autonomous driving program since Sterling Anderson left the company at the end of 2016.

In a statement, Lattner said, “In the end, Elon and I agreed that he and I did not work well together and that I should leave, so I did.” He went on to say that the Autopilot team was involved in a stressful transition period and was struggling with attrition. The company began equipping all its cars with an all new collection of radar, camera, and ultrasound sensors — a package known as Hardware 2 — in October of last year.

Musk promised customers the HW 2 equipped cars would have all the self driving capabilities of older cars with the Hardware 1 package by the end of 2016. In fact, it took a lot longer than that. It was not until Consumer Reports downgraded the Model S because its emergency forward braking system was not yet fully operational that Tesla finally made good on its promise.

Now reports have surfaced that Tesla is working on designing its own proprietary computer chip for use in its autonomous driving systems. At present, it uses an advanced supercomputer from Nvidia to provide the massive amount of computing power required to make the millions of calculations per second necessary.

But Tesla is wary of outside suppliers and likes to do as many operations as possible in house, where it can control both performance, timeliness, and price itself. And the Nvidia unit is not specifically designed solely for autonomous driving duties. The chip Tesla is said to be working on what would narrowly targeted solely for such use.

The reports suggest that Tesla is collaborating with AMD on development of the new chip, but Sanjay Jha, CEO of AMD will only confirm that his company is working with several automakers on dedicated computer chips.

The AMD connection is buttressed by the fact that Jim Keller, who previously worked for AMD, has now taken over from Chris Lattner as head of the Autopilot unit at Tesla. Tesla has also hired several other AMD engineers to work with Keller, including director Ganesh Venkataramanan, principal hardware engineer Bill McGee and system circuit design lead Dan Bailey.

Elon has proclaimed that a Tesla Model  S will leave Los Angeles, drive itself to New York City, and park, all without intervention from a human driver before the end of 2017. That suggests the 50 people assigned to the Autopilot program probably aren’t going to be spending much time with their families for a while.

Adding a layer of intrigue to the story is another report that Tesla has developed yet another collection of hardware known internally as Hardware 2.5. This goes against Musk’s claim last year that cars with HW 2 would have all the sensors needed to permit full autonomous operation once regulations and software caught up with the system’s potential.

When asked about the new hardware configuration by The Verge, a Tesla spokesperson said, “The internal name HW 2.5 is an overstatement, and instead it should be called something more like HW 2.1. This hardware set has some added computing and wiring redundancy, which very slightly improves reliability, but it does not have an additional Pascal GPU.”

The person went on to say that cars with the existing HW 2 package would be upgrade at no cost to the customer if the new configuration proved more capable in real world testing. One of the features of Tesla is that is continues to improve its cars continuously and incorporates those improvements into production cars as soon as possible, rather than waiting for annual model changes the way traditional car companies do.

Elon Musk continues to overpromise and underdeliver. In theory, that is just the opposite of how a successful company is built. But he always gets there eventually and those who maintain their faith in him are amply rewarded with some of the safest, most innovative cars available.

In the grand scheme of things, whether a Tesla drives itself cross country this year or next won’t be significant. What will be significant is that a Tesla will have done it first. Every one knows the name of the first person to walk on the moon. Few know the name of the second person to do it. Elon Musk definitely knows the importance of being firstest with the mostest.

Source: CNBC

New York Announces Plan To Install Up To 1,000 EV Fast Charging Stations By 2020

When it comes to electric vehicles, New York mayor Bill De Blasio gets it. “The easier we make it for electric vehicles, the more manufacturers will build and the more prices will go down,” he says. “The future is electric.” And De Blasio is willing to put his money where his mouth is. On September 22, he announced that the city plans to spend $10 million to install 50 fast charging hubs in the city’s five boroughs by 2020. Each hub will have up to 20 fast charging stations.

Charging infrastructure in metropolitan areas is a matter of vital concern to city dwellers, many of whom have no access to private chargers they can use to charge their cars overnight. Tesla has recently announced a new style charger that operates on lower power (72 kW) than its traditional Supercharger equipment (125 kW) but is more compact, making it more suitable for urban installations.

The mayor managed to take a swipe at the President while announcing the new program. “New York will continue to invest in the new technologies we need to reduce our emissions, especially in the face of Trump’s abdication of leadership on climate. By helping develop the infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles, we’re going to make it easier than ever for New Yorkers to switch. This is another step towards aligning our action on climate change with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree stretch goal.”

At the present time there are only 16 fast chargers available for public use in New York. There are over 600 Level 2 chargers, but they require up to 8 hours to complete their task. New York officials are now working with utility company ConEdison to select the best location in each borough for the first fast charging hub to be constructed.

The New York initiative is laudable, but it also allows traditional car makers to snicker up their sleeves as they wait for tax payers to foot the bill for doing what Tesla has done on its own. Sadly, this sends a signal to the auto industry that if they wait long enough and drag their feet, someone else will do the heavy lifting for them. Leadership is something the traditional car companies all seem to avoid like The Plague.

Source: Inhabitat

Mercedes Expands Its Electric Car Plans For US And Chinese Markets

Mercedes is boosting its electric car investments in America and in China, reports Fortune. In the US, it builds the GLE and GLS SUV models and the GLE coupe at a factory near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Earlier this year, it announced it would spend $1.3 billion to expand and modernize that facility, which built 310,000 vehicles in 2016.

Now Mercedes says it will invest a further $1 billion to make the Tuscaloosa plant ready to build electric cars and to build a battery factory nearby. The one million square foot battery manufacturing facility will be the fifth constructed by Mercedes worldwide. The plan is to begin the battery plant in 2018 with a target date for the start of production in 2020. The company says the expansion will create 600 new jobs in the area.

Manufacturing of electric cars, which will be sold under the EQ brand, is not expected to begin until 2021 at the earliest. While the new investment in America can be seen as a response to the growing demand for Tesla automobiles, the California company says it will have its own midsize electric SUV — the Model Y — on sale by 2020. Mercedes will begin producing its first electric SUV, the EQC, at its factory in Bremen, Germany, in 2019. Mercedes says all its cars will have an electric motor by 2022 — although, that statement includes hybrid and plug-in hybrid models as well as battery electric vehicles.

At the same time, Mercedes and BYD are looking to expand their partnership, which builds electric cars for the Chinese market under the Denza brand according to a report by Bloomberg. The two companies have been working together since 2012. BYD, partially backed by Warren Buffett, is currently China’s electric car sales leader. It has delivered nearly 50,000 EVs so far this year while General Motors has delivered fewer than 1,000.

China is pushing hard to convert its fleet of automobiles to electrics by 2030. It currently has the most rigorous EV quota system in the world. While the automakers all agree that China’s timetable for going all electric is far too aggressive, the fact is that China’s new car market — at nearly 25 million vehicles a year — is simply too large and too lucrative to give up on.

As China goes, so will the rest of the world go. Carmakers will need to spread the development costs of electric cars across all markets in order to continue being profitable in the future when electric cars go mainstream.

Ten Global Companies Commit To 100% Electric Vehicles

A group of new big-name businesses including Baidu, IKEA, and Vattenfall have this week launched EV100, the first initiative of its kind to fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles and accompanying infrastructure.

Following in the wake of initiatives such as RE100 and EP100, the newest initiative to focus on helping businesses commit to 100% targets to help the environment (EV100) launched in partnership with The Climate Group this week at Climate Week NYC. The launch includes 10 founding members — Baidu, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Heathrow Airport, HP Inc., IKEA Group, LeasePlan, METRO AG, PG&E, Unilever, and Vattenfall. Where RE100 seeks to accelerate the adoption of 100% renewable energy targets, and EP100 aims to increase the number of companies doubling their energy productivity, EV100 is looking to bring together companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

Image via ecartestdrives

Members of EV100 will each commit to transitioning from diesel and petrol vehicles to electric vehicles, and installing battery charging infrastructure by 2030. The aim of EV100 further seeks to set out timetables for these transitions, which will help drive massive rollouts, reduce costs, and make electric cars more affordable more quickly for everyone around the world.

“We want to make electric transport the new normal,” explained Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group. “There are two fundamental problems to be addressed. Transport is still the fastest growing area of carbon emissions, as the shift to electric vehicles is not happening fast enough; and mass system change, even with Government intervention, needs much greater customer demand.

“EV100 will use companies’ collective global buying power and influence on employees and customers to build demand and cut costs. The members being announced today see the business logic in leading a faster transition and addressing local air quality issues in their markets. They are setting a competitive challenge to the auto industry to deliver more EVs, sooner and at lower cost.”

The news comes only a day after The Climate Group announced that its premiere campaign, RE100, had added 4 new companies, bringing the number of companies committed to 100% renewable energy targets up to 106. Among the companies signing up to transition their vehicle fleets to electric is Swedish power company and wind energy giant Vattenfall.

“Vattenfall delivers solutions for sustainable and climate smarter living for customers and citizens,” said Magnus Hall, Vattenfall’s president and CEO. “Climate change is one of our biggest challenges so we are very happy to join the EV100 initiative as electrical vehicles can make a significant contribution in reducing carbon emissions.”

Specifically, Vattenfall pledged in January of this year to replace all its passenger and light commercial vehicles in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany to electric alternatives.

“We will replace the whole 3500 car fleet to EV in the coming five years,” explained Hall. “With the decision we do not only contribute to reducing CO2-emissions in Europe, we also set an example for other companies. We work with our customers to deploy charging infrastructure and building northern Europe’s biggest connected charging network, InCharge.”

Shanghai Home To World’s Largest Tesla Supercharger Facility

China is a huge market for Tesla and it has committed to having 1,000 Superchargers installed and operating within the country by the end of 2017 to support its sales efforts there. From the evidence supplied by a new video uploaded to YouTube by German source TeslaMag, somewhere between 40 and 60 of those Superchargers will be located in the parking garage below the Lilacs International Commercial Center in Shanghai.

They won’t be the new compact 72 kW chargers Tesla announced just last week. Looking at the video, these appear to be Tesla’s conventional chargers rated at 125 kW of power. A Tesla spokesperson has confirmed to the folks at Teslarati that installation of the charging equipment is underway but declined to give any further details until after the process is complete. On Reddit, the new location is being referred to as a “superstation” that will serve as an important link for those travelling between Beijing and Hong Kong.

At the present time, the largest Tesla Supercharger facility is located in Nebbenes, Norway, a rural town 40 miles outside Oslo. It features 20 stalls. Several similar installations are underway in the US, particularly in California as Tesla races to fulfill its promise to have 10,000 Superchargers in operation worldwide by the end of 2017.

The Tesla Supercharger network is one of the most powerful sales tools for the Silicon Valley startup, as many of its competitors are sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone else to take the issue of electric car charging infrastructure seriously. Porsche’s new electric 4 door sedan is said to be capable of an 80% recharge in only 15 minutes using its proprietary 800 volt charging equipment. The problem is, there are fewer of those than there are real Fabergé eggs.

When stock analysts rave about how much Tesla stock will be worth in the future, they often overlook the importance of the Supercharger network the company has created and continues to expand aggressively. That infrastructure, though, is what allows Tesla to sign up hundreds of thousands of new customers for its automobiles when other companies are running around complaining that no one wants to buy electric cars.

No. What people don’t want is to buy electric cars if there is no convenient way to recharge them away from home. That’s the simple fact that most auto company executives can’t seen to grasp.

Source: Teslarati

Cruise Claims First Production Ready Self Driving Car Title

Alright, all you Teslaholics. Settle down. We all know that every Tesla built since October 2016 is capable of full Level 5 self driving operation. But that hasn’t stopped Cruise Automation, the San  Francisco based autonomous car startup purchased outright by General Motors last year, from claiming it has the world’s first production ready self driving car. How can they make such an outrageous claim? Read on.

The car Cruise Automoation is crowing about is a modified version of the Chevy Bolt. Last week, its CEO Kyle Vogt told the press, “Today, we’re unveiling the world’s first mass-producible car designed to operate without a driver. This isn’t just a concept design — it has airbags, crumple zones, and comfortable seats. It’s assembled in a high volume assembly plant capable of producing 100,000’s of vehicles per year, and we’d like to keep that plant busy.”

What does “production ready” mean? According to Cruise, it means the third generation Autonomous Chevrolet Bolt has all of the hardware and sensors needed for full autonomy but can be built on a conventional General Motors assembly line using The General’s standard mass production techniques.

Doug Park, GM vice president for autonomous technology, says the autonomous car requires changes to the electrical system, redundant steering and braking systems, plus the installation of additional sensors and different safety systems. For an idea of the amount of new pieces needed to make the cars capable of driving themselves, see the illustration below.

Previous iterations of the self driving Bolt were hand built after the the normal production process was complete. That meant the company spent most of its time tracking down electrical gremlins and making repairs instead of accumulating test miles. “Hand building a few hundred complex cars is tortuous and expensive, but it’s technically possible. People have done it. But things start to fall apart beyond that,” Vogt says.

“Achieving massive scale with a low defect rate and high reliability is ridiculously hard,” he adds, echoing what Elon Musk has said about auto manufacturing. “Cars are big, heavy, and have tens of thousands of parts. So you really need a well-run assembly plant to build something that works, such as the billion dollar plant we’re using in Lake Orion.

The complexity of modern automobiles is something Tesla is working hard to address. The new Model 3 has far more parts than the Model S or Model X and the upcoming Model Y will have fewer still. It’s all part of Tesla’s drive to simplify the manufacturing process.

Vogt goes on to say that just in time production has also sped up development of the car. The current model is the third in only 14 months, due largely to the ability to observe a problem in the field and implement an in-plant fix the same day.

Current regulations still require a human driver behind the wheel, but once the software and regulations catch up, Cruise says it is ready for to begin production of driverless car. It anticipates sales to ride hailing and ride sharing fleets first with sales to individual consumers following shortly thereafter.

Cruise may have made great strides in creating a production ready self driving car, but it still has a long way to go before it makes one that is visually appealing. Tesla deserves lots of credit for integrating its autonomous driving systems seamlessly into its cars, so they don’t look like refugees from the Lost In Space sound stage.

Source: TechCrunch

Battery Swapping Is Back On The Agenda At Tesla

Back at the dawn of the electric car era, when cars like the Nissan LEAF, BMW i3, and Tesla Model S were just starting to get noticed, a lot of people thought battery swapping instead of battery charging might be the way to go. The logic was sound. If you could swap out a discharged battery and replace it with a fully charged one in a few minutes, that would be better than hanging out at a service area on the interstate for an hour or so, waiting for fresh electrons to insinuate themselves into your battery pack, wouldn’t it?

Tesla explored battery swapping briefly, then decided it did not make economic sense and dropped the whole idea after building one facility in Silicon Valley. Now, the idea is back. A patent application dated September 14 describes a system that would raise a vehicle in the air with one set of hydraulic lifts while another inboard lift would drop the battery pack and replace it with a fully charged unit. Here is what the patent abstract says:

A system for exchanging an electrical energy storage system (EESS) of an electric vehicle includes. An EESS station is configured to position an electric vehicle in x and y directions. A vehicle lift raises the electric vehicle to a predetermined height. An EESS lift supports and lowers the EESS and replaces the EESS with a differing EESS. The vehicle lift may be an inboard lift and the EESS lift may be an outboard lift. The system may also include one or more rollers configured to guide the electric vehicle. The system may include a horizontal door having at least one tube positioned thereon for guiding the electric vehicle and/or at least one vehicle chock for positioning the electric vehicle in at least one of the x and y directions. The vehicle lift may include lifting arms to engage jack pads of the electric vehicle.

Such systems could be installed at service stations or even incorporated into a mobile rig. While the patent speaks about using the battery swapping system for  Model S and Model X vehicles, Elon Musk is on record as saying that if Tesla decided to pursue the idea, it would apply to commercial vehicles as well, according to TechCrunch.

Gee, Tesla doesn’t make any commercial vehicles does it? Oh wait. It’s going to take the wraps off the Tesla Semi on October 26, isn’t it? Hmmm, could there be a connection?

Mercedes Unveils eCanter Electric Truck, Partners With StoreDot On Fast Charging Batteries

Daimler has unveiled its Fuso branded eCanter electric truck in Manhattan. Mitsubishi Fuso is part of the Daimler Truck Group, along with Freightliner and Mercedes Benz. The eCanter electric light duty delivery truck has been under development for several years and will be manufactured in Tramagal, Portugal. It goes on sale in the US, Europe, and Japan starting later this year, according to a company press release.

Fuso eCanter Electric Truck

The Fuso eCanter has a range of 100 kilometers and a load capacity up to three and a half tons depending on body type and usage. Its electric powertrain consists of six 420 volt lithium ion battery rated at 13.8 kWh each. In comparison with a conventional diesel truck, its projected operating costs are at least $1,000 less for every 6,000 miles traveled. Seven Eleven Corporation has already agreed to add 25 of the new electric delivery vans to its fleet in Japan and UPS says it will add them to its US fleet of sustainable vehicles.

Marc Llistosella, head of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation and Daimler Trucks Asia says, “In times when everybody is talking about electric trucks, we are the first to actually commercialize a series produced all electric truck. Having a long history in alternative drivetrains, we are proud to step into this new era. Our FUSO eCanter comes with years of customer testing, and the assurance of parts, services, and warranty through our global FUSO dealership network.”

“Our new FUSO eCanter now addresses the increasing global deand for products to meet and exceed high CO2 emission standards. It offers an attractive and cost-effective alternative to combustion engines and makes electric trucks key to the future of inner city distribution”, Llistosella added.

StoreDot Partnership

The introduction of the eCanter is only part of the good news coming from Daimler regarding electric trucks this week. It has also partnered Israeli startup StoreDot, which claims it has created a battery like the ones needed for electric trucks that can be recharged in as little as 5 minutes. StoreDot has recently completed a funding round which raised $60 million, thanks in large part by leadership from Daimler according to Venture Beat.

StoreDot’s FlashBattery technology is uniquely suited for commercial vehicles that start and stop repeatedly during daily use because the system maximizes the benefits of regenerative braking. That means a vehicle can travel further before it needs recharging.

Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot, says, “Having Daimler, a world leader in the automotive field, as a strategic partner is of significant value to StoreDot. It will accelerate the completion of our development process and the introduction of FlashBattery to the market. Together with Daimler teams, we create synergies that optimize the characteristics of our innovative solutions with the requirements of the electric vehicles of the future.”

If StoreDot can make 5 minute charging the norm, the electric car and truck revolution will be complete.

Audi Brings Level 4 And Level 5 Autonomous Concepts To Frankfurt

Audi has never been about building automobiles for the hoi polloi. That’s what corporate cousins Volkswagen and SEAT are for. It is focused on building premium transportation for folks of wealth and taste. Lately, it has been thinking about how to do that in the car market of the future, which will feature autonomous electric cars that drive themselves most if not all the time.

Audi Elaine Autonomous Concept

At this year’s Frankfurt auto show, Audi is showcasing two such concept cars — the Aicon, a Level 5 autonomous car with not pedals and no steering wheel, and Elaine, a refreshed version of the e-tron Sportback electric SUV that graced the Audi podium at the Shanghai auto show earlier this year. It is content with Level 4 autonomy, which is more likely to see use on public roads sooner.

“To get to full autonomy, auto innovators will need to be transparent about what automated technologies can and cannot do, and the timeline for their availability. Audi has been and will remain at the forefront of this technology, leading the transformation in mobility to bring greater safety to our roads, improve system-wide efficiency, and offer greater mobility.” Audi says in a press release from the Frankfurt show.

Since Shanghai, Audi has added a more powerful processor and upgraded the onboard sensors. The autonomous concept is now able to drive hands free at speeds between 35 and 80 miles per hour and can change lanes on its own, freeing the driver to attend to more important tasks like taking selfies along the way or checking e-mail. If drivers are willing to wear a fitness tracker, the car can accurately keep track of how tired or stressed they are. An in cabin display can guide them in breathing exercises and the seats can be configured to massage passengers to the beat of music. Oh, happy days.

The Audi Elaine concept features a 429 horsepower electric powertrain good for 0 to 100 kph sprints in 4.5 seconds. It has a 95 kWh battery and a 311 miles range in the New European Drive Cycle. Subtract about 30% to get an idea what its EPA range will be. Self parking and wireless charging are part of the package. Audi says the car will be able to park itself, charge the battery, or maybe visit a car wash independently after the owner exits the vehicle. Life is good, huh?

Audi Aicon Autonomous Concept

Audi’s Aicon concept is where the real action is at Frankfurt, though. This car is like a Google car that is all grown up. It never needs a hand on the wheel or a stab on the brakes as it lacks any controls whatsoever. The Aicon is designed for smooth, effortless high speed touring. Since the car will virtually eliminate collisions, passengers won’t need to wear seat belts, Audi claims, leaving them free to play Parcheesi or compose sonatas on their smartphones.

The car has four electric motors that produce a total of 350 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque. Electronically controlled active suspension at all four wheels and torque vectoring mean the Audi Aicon can traverse any kind of road in any kind of weather. Lightweight construction and advanced aerodynamics should allow the car to travel up to 500 (NEDC) miles on a single battery charge.The batteries operate on 800 volts and can be charged in less than 30 minutes. Wireless charging is also built in to the package.

The Aicon is no compact car. Its wheelbase is more than 9 inches longer than the Audi A8L, the largest car Audi currently makes. Interior roominess is emphasized as is an aggressive exterior that speaks of power and grace beneath its sculpted flanks. On dark nights, a mini-drone detaches from the car to guide passengers to the door at their destination.

The Audi Aicon is a technological tour de force, one that cossets is occupants in sumptuous surroundings whilst going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house. Whether the world of automobiles in the future will need a car that makes such conspicuous consumption possible remains to be seen. Such splendiferousness seems quaintly at odds with the mundane tasks of commuting to work and buying groceries, but if the need exists, Audi has every intention filling it.

It’s good to know that opulence will not become outmoded as the world transitions to self driving electric automobiles that whoosh us quietly and serenely about as we perform our appointed tasks each day.