News

AUTO PRODUCTION: GM Cautious on Platinum Switch Even as Palladium Hits Record

• Date: 29-10-18
• Source: https://www.bloomberg.com

Palladium’s surge to a record has intensified talk among analysts that carmakers will look to replace it with cheaper platinum for use in pollution-control devices. The auto industry’s answer: Not so fast.

EMISSIONS: Detroit 3 diverge on path to cut tailpipe emissions

• Date: 29-10-18
• Category: EMISSIONS
• Source: Automotive News

Detroit automakers expressed divergent views on how to reform U.S. rules on fuel economy and tailpipe emissions, even as they urged President Donald Trump to continue coordinating the federal government's policies with those enacted by California.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: India's electric rickshaw revolution tops China's EV push

• Date: 27-10-18
• Category: ELECTRIC VEHICLES
• Source: Automotive News Europe

NEW DELHI -- An electric-vehicle revolution is gaining ground in India, and it has nothing to do with cars. The South Asian nation is home to about 1.5 million battery-powered, three-wheeled rickshaws, a fleet bigger than the total number of electric passenger cars sold in China since 2011.

AUTONOMY: Here's When Waymo, GM and Others Will Actually Put Self-Driving Cars on the Road

• Date: 26-10-18
• Category: AUTONOMY
• Source: https://www.thestreet.com/

Autonomous driving solutions are just around the corner, but will regulators and tech be able to keep working together on this matter?

When looking at the autonomous driving industry, there are multiple components to consider before it becomes a reality. Broadly speaking, two main components have found their way to the forefront: Technology and regulation.

Companies like General Motors' (GM - Get Report) Cruise, Alphabet's (GOOGL - Get Report) Waymo, Mercedes Benz, Uber and others will be able to offer autonomous taxi services to customers in just a few years. Waymo is looking to launch its commercial service sometime this year in Arizona, while Cruise is eyeing a 2019 launch. Zoox, an autonomous mobility startup from the Bay Area, says it's aiming for a launch in 2020. Really, this is happening now.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Cheaper EV Charging Seen Under U.K.'s First Half-Hourly Tariff

• Date: 26-10-18
• Category: ELECTRIC VEHICLES
• Source: Bloomberg

Charging your electric vehicle may be about to get a whole lot cheaper. Renewable power supplier Octopus Energy Ltd. is introducing the U.K.’s first time-of-use tariff, allowing consumers to choose the cheapest time to charge their cars, do the laundry or top-up storage heaters. The energy supplier’s flexible rate will save users money and reduce demand on the grid at the busiest times of the day.

AUTO SALES: European car market volume dropped 23.4% in September due to WLTP issues; electrics and SUVs bucked that trend

• Date: 26-10-18
• Category: AUTO SALES
• Source: Green Car Congress

The European car market recorded the highest monthly decline of the last decade in September 2018, as 1.12 million vehicles were registered—343,000 less than in September 2017, according to figures from JATO Dynamics.

FUEL CELLS: Great Wall Motor Acquires Minority Shares in German Hydrogen Refueling Station Operator H2 MOBILITY

• Date: 24-10-18
• Category: FUEL CELLS
• Source: FuelCellsWorks

On October 24, at the 3rd International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicle Conference (FCVC 2018) held in Rugao, Jiangsu, Great Wall Motor officially announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with H2 MOBILITY Deutschland (hereinafter referred to as H2M). By providing additional investment in H2M, it became the seventh shareholder outside Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and Total.

DELIVERY: Uber Ambitiously Eyes 2021 for Food-Delivery Drones Launch

• Date: 21-10-18
• Category: DELIVERY
• Source: The Wall Street Journal

Uber Technologies Inc. envisions taking to the skies with a fleet of food-delivery drones in as little as three years, an ambitious timeline for a ride-hailing company that would face numerous technical challenges and regulatory hurdles.