In connected car news are Stellantis, GM, Hyundai, Hyundai, Audi, Hitachi, VW, InnoSwitch, AECC, Microsoft, ITeris and Airbiquity.
New Name for Merger
Peugeot S.A. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. announced that the corporate name of the new group will be STELLANTIS. STELLANTIS is rooted in the Latin verb “stello” meaning “to brighten with stars.”
GM to Go Very EV
GM revealed in its sustainability report that it is working on a full-size electric truck, a mid-sized electric SUV and the Chevrolet Bolt EUV that will have Super Cruise autonomous driving.
KONA EV Sales
No More Fits Coupe or Accord Manual
Audi e-tron Sales
The Audi e-tron is the worldwide market leader in its segment. The first fully electric series production model from Audi is popular all over the world with customers and media alike. Numerous awards and comparative tests stand testament to this. With the e-tron GT, the Q4 e-tron, and the Q4 e-tron Sportback, Audi is looking toward an electric year 2021 in both senses of the word. The Audi e-Tron Sportback is on sale now.
In the first half of 2020, Audi delivered 17,641 e-tron models to customers worldwide. This corresponds to an increase of 86.8 percent as compared to the previous year – despite the difficult market situation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fully electric Audi model is therefore way ahead of its competitors in the full-size battery electric vehicle SUV segment.
Funding for TuSimple
Navistar International Corporation, a producer of International® brand commercial trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus® brand school and commercial buses, and TuSimple, a global self-driving technology company, announced today that the two entities have entered into a strategic partnership to co-develop SAE Level 4 self-driving trucks targeted for production by 2024. The strategic partnership is the result of a successful technical relationship between the companies for more than two years. In addition, Navistar has taken a minority stake in TuSimple.
Hitachi Launches Grid-EMotion for Fleets
Hitachi ABB Power Grids today launches Grid-eMotion™ Fleet, a game-changing grid-to-plug EV charging system that delivers a step-change approach for public transport and commercial operators. The smart mobility solution enables operators to efficiently scale up their operations and is expected to contribute to sustainable society for millions living in urban areas.
The global technology leader has been pioneering EV charging solutions since 2013, where it first introduced innovative flash-charging eBus solutions in Geneva and Nantes. Through close collaboration with transport operators, Hitachi ABB Power Grids has identified a market need for a more holistic approach to large-scale charging. The launch of Grid-eMotion™ Fleet marks a game-changing shift from a charger-product based approach to a charging-system based approach, which helps to accelerate the future of smart mobility.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids is leveraging its world-class power systems capabilities together with Hitachi’s advanced digital technologies and proven track record of innovation in smart cities and sustainable mobility. The newly formed joint venture is pioneering a broader range of clean solutions for the global mobility market.
VW Installs EV Stations at AZ Proving Grounds
Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) announced the opening of one of the most extensive electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at a North American test facility. This next-generation charging station at its Arizona Proving Grounds will be used to help VWGoA evaluate battery and charging performance under extreme hot-weather conditions. Engineers will also receive real time data to see how various chargers compare.
InnoSwitch New Switchers
The InnoSwitch3-AQ uses Power Integrations’ high-speed FluxLink™ coupling to achieve ±3% accuracy for combined line and load regulation while eliminating both dedicated isolated transformer sense-windings and optocouplers. FluxLink technology maintains output voltage regulation even under the transient stress test, which is particularly challenging for PSR-based implementations. The integrated 750 V MOSFET meets stringent automotive de-rating requirements, and an on-chip synchronous rectifier controller delivers above 90% efficiency at the nominal 400 VDC input voltage. Optimized InnoSwitch3-AQ designs achieve less than 10 mW no-load energy usage across the input voltage range. The InnoSwitch3-AQ family ICs are packaged in a surface-mount InSOP with 11 mm primary to secondary creepage, which exceeds the stringent requirements for high altitude (> 5000 m) isolation.
The RDR-840Q reference design kit incorporating the newly released IC demonstrates start-up, shutdown and efficient operation from 30 VDC to 550 VDC input, as well as fast transient response and a variety of safety and protection features.
Comments Power Integrations’ product marketing manager, Edward Ong: “The InnoSwitch3-AQ represents the highest level of integration for a flyback controller, resulting in automotive power supplies with the lowest component count and smallest PCB area. The high efficiency of the device across a wide load range means that it easily meets the automotive industry’s demanding thermal requirements.” Ong continued, “FluxLink technology enables accurate performance and is highly reliable.”
InnoSwitch3-AQ ICs are available in the InSOP-24D package. Devices are available now with prices starting at $2.75 in 10,000-piece quantities.
New Lab at Auburn
For researchers in Auburn University’s GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory, prepping autonomous vehicles outside in Alabama’s elements — from the sweltering summer sun to pop-up thunderstorms — has become a near daily occurrence.
Whether researchers are debugging algorithms, installing sensors or running data analyses, much of the work from the GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory, or GAVLAB, is done outdoors — and subject to Mother Nature’s whims.
AECC Offers Data Plan
-The Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC), a non-profit consortium of cross-industry players working to drive best practices for the coming vehicle and computing convergence, today announced the publication of Version 2.0 of its technical report, Driving Data to the Edge: The Challenge of Data Traffic Distribution. The report is available for download at no charge by visiting https://aecc.org/resources/publications/.-
In the report, the AECC Technical Solutions Working Group (WG2) proposes a “distributed computing on localized networks” solution concept and architecture for ensuring service flexibility, efficiency, and the continued evolution of the automotive industry. By offering recommendations to vehicle OEMs, MNOs and the service provider ecosystem, the report provides ways to optimize service offerings to meet the growing needs of connected vehicle owners and users.
The solutions are around three key issues: edge data offloading, mobility service provider server selection and vehicle system reachability. The report adds discussion and recommendations on three new important issues related to localized networks:
- Access network selection
- Provisioning and configuration update
- Opportunistic data transfer
Human Horizons Partners with Microsoft
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020 (WAIC 2020) held online this year, Human Horizons announces its strategic partnership with Microsoft to jointly develop an on-board AI assistant, the HiPhiGo, for HiPhi vehicles. Human Horizons is an innovative mobility company with HiPhi, a subsidiary brand, providing premium smart all-electric vehicles. Supporting the partnership, HiPhi and Microsoft are in discussion to establish a smart computing lab. This will be the latest addition to Human Horizons’ ‘3 Smart’ strategic blueprint (Smart Vehicle, Smart Road and Smart City) enhancing its next generation connected vehicles.
EV Connect and Greenlots Connect
To improve the electric vehicle (EV) driver experience, EV Connect and Greenlots, a member of the Shell Group, have announced the completion of the driver roaming integration between the companies’ charging networks. Built on a previously announced agreement for inter-network roaming, users of the EV Connect charging smartphone application will be able to locate, initiate sessions, and pay for charging at Greenlots charge stations and vice-versa, later this year.
Intelligent Imaging Systems Inc. (IIS) and its wholly owned subsidiary Drivewyze Inc., the leading providers of safety and efficiency solutions for the transportation industry in North America, announced today the close of a $60 million (USD) minority financing by Sageview Capital, a growth capital firm investing in leading tech-enabled businesses. This new investment will help IIS/Drivewyze continue to scale its connected truck platform in the commercial vehicle services market and achieve continued strong growth in SaaS revenue. With this investment, two members of the Sageview team will join the IIS Board of Directors – Scott Stuart, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and Andrew Korn, Partner.
ITeris Gets FHWA Contract
ITeris, Inc., the global leader in smart mobility infrastructure management, announced that it has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling of $9 million from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to provide the continued development, delivery and update of design for a National Highway Institute (NHI) training and development program.
Airbiquity & YESWAY
Airbiquity, a global leader and pioneer in connected vehicle service delivery, today announced a partnership with YESWAY, a leading Chinese automotive service operator and integrated solution provider. Through this partnership, YESWAY will add Airbiquity’s OTAmatic over-the-air (OTA) software and data management solution to the YESWAY Automotive Platform, and represent and support Airbiquity OTAmatic in the Chinese automotive marketplace.
This unique partnership will enable Chinese automakers to more easily evaluate, integrate, and deploy Airbiquity’s industry-leading OTA technology for future connected vehicles. OTAmatic enables automakers to securely orchestrate and automate highly scaled connected vehicle software updates and data management campaigns from the cloud. With OTAmatic, automakers can efficiently plan and execute OTA campaigns with highly refined vehicle and device targeting, discrete policy and privacy controls, customizable consumer communications, and solution deployment flexibility.
Polyplastics’ DURANEX
As the automotive industry makes a strong shift to electric vehicles, Polyplastics Co., Ltd., a leading global supplier of engineering plastics, sees strong potential for its innovative resin products in Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) parts that enable autonomous driving. The company’s DURANEX(R) PBT materials–targeted for actuators and communications equipment–deliver strong durability, alkali resistance, hydrolysis resistance, and heat shock resistance.