Connected Car News 5/9 Nikola, Green Hills Software, HARMAN, Infineon, Electrify America, Michelin, Arity, UBQ, BlackBerry & Iteris

In connected car news are Nikola, Green Hills Software, HARMAN, Infineon, Electrify America, Michelin, Arity, UBQ, BlackBerry, and Iteris.

Nikola Partners with TTSI

Nikola Corporation announced a collaboration with Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI), one of Southern California’s prominent port trucking companies, to expedite zero-emission transportation at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach. The collaboration includes vehicle trials and a Letter of Intent (LOI) to order 100 Nikola Class 8 battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) semi-trucks. The collaboration is subject to negotiation and execution of definitive do cumentation acceptable to the parties.

Green Hills Tool Box

Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded software development tools, safety and security, announced the immediate availability of the MULTI® Toolbox for Embedded Coder, enabling engineers to easily and efficiently develop and deploy their Simulink® and MATLAB® models on a wide range of embedded processors. The integration bridges advanced software development products from industry leaders in their respective domains – MathWorks®, the leading developer of mathematical computing software, and Green Hills Software, the leader in safe and secure embedded software solutions. Engineers and scientists who develop algorithms in MATLAB and Simulink now have a simple and safety-qualified way to develop, debug, optimize and deploy their programs on thousands of embedded processors supported today by Green Hills.

The MULTI Toolbox for Embedded Coder connects Simulink and MATLAB on the desktop with the MULTI integrated development environment (IDE) that comprehends and controls embedded target processors. On the desktop, users develop Simulink and MATLAB models and generate C/C++ source code. MULTI then compiles, connects and runs the optimized binaries on either the target processor, or on the MULTI IDE’s built-in embedded core simulator. MULTI feeds back results to Simulink via Processor-In-the-Loop (PIL), enabling the user to visualize the results or to confirm programmatically that results from Simulink algorithms on the workstation match the actual results run on the embedded processor.

HARMAN 5G Testing Lab

HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today announced the introduction of a new end-to-end 5G Testing Lab for 5G CP devices. This will equip technology providers like device manufactures, chipmakers, Telcos and more with the ability to execute a variety of protocol and functional tests, along with validating and examining applications in a real 5G radio environment.

As the world continues to embrace 5G technologies, with Gartner predicting 5G network infrastructure revenue to have doubled in 2020 reaching more than $8 billion, technology providers need a way to quickly and cohesively test 5G devices across a number of parameters – including speed, scale, application output and more. The HARMAN 5G Testing Lab provides an independent environment in which technology providers can ensure positive performance and pre-validate any 5G CP device, while also examining applications across additional parameters, third-party integrations and use cases.

HARMAN’s state-of-the-art 5G Lab enables a holistic, device-to-cloud performance analysis – enabling chipset conformance testing, pre-certification testing, network operator approval testing, application performance verification and more. As a result, technology providers can receive detailed and authentic insight into the full-spectrum user experience of a device and accelerate their path to market.

Infineon Gets More Supplies from Shwa Denko

Infineon Technologies AG has concluded a supply contract with the Japanese wafer manufacturer Showa Denko K.K. for an extensive range of silicon carbide material (SiC) including epitaxy. The German semiconductor manufacturer has thus secured more base material for the growing demand for SiC-based products. SiC enables highly efficient and robust power semiconductors that are used in particular in the fields of photovoltaic, industrial power supply, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

“Our broad and fast growing portfolio demonstrates Infineon’s leading role in supporting and shaping the market for SiC-based semiconductors which is expected to grow 30 to 40 percent annually over the next five years”, says Peter Wawer, President of the Industrial Power Control Division at Infineon.* “The expansion of our supplier base with Showa Denko for wafers in this growth market marks an important step in our multisourcing strategy. It will support us to reliably meet the growing demand mid to longterm. Furthermore, we plan to collaborate with Showa Denko on the strategic development of the material to improve the quality while cutting costs at the same time.”

The contract between Infineon and Showa Denko K.K. has a two-year term with an extension option. Infineon has the industry’s largest portfolio of SiC semiconductors for industrial applications.

Electrify America Invests in Calif. ZEV.

Electrify America announced its plan to invest $200 million in California Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure and education programs over the next 30 months. This represents the third of four investment phases as part of its 10-year commitment of $800 million in the state.

Additionally, the company will direct $25 million of the $200 million investment for an initiative in the City of Long Beach and the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles (Long Beach–Wilmington), for a “Green City” program. This initiative will have a specific focus on charging station investments for electric transit buses and medium / heavy-duty trucks located in or serving the community.

Following the success and key learnings of building EV infrastructure from its previous $400 million investment in California over the last five years, Electrify America will focus the $200 million across three main categories: Infrastructure; Public Education, Awareness, Access & Marketing; and Green Cities. Additionally, Electrify America will strive to ensure that 35 percent of the investment is in low-income and disadvantaged communities, as guided by California Air Resources Board (CARB).

The California ZEV Investment Plan provides ultra-fast charging in more metro areas, as well as strengthens highway and regional charge routes while providing charging infrastructure and solutions for medium and heavy-duty fleets. Approximately 90 percent of Californians now live within 15 miles of an Electrify America ultra-fast charger, with 96 percent living within 25 miles. Electrify America’s continued investment in the state will only strengthen these statistics through wider accessibility to charging options in the years to come.

In addition to infrastructure, the investment will continue broad brand-neutral ZEV education and awareness efforts, and development of the second Green City program in the Long Beach–Wilmington community. Electrify America would begin implementation upon approval by CARB, and continue these investments through June 30, 2024.

Michelin Smarts Data with Arity

Michelin will analyze billions of datapoints to isolate near-miss events and atypical behaviors caused by or attributed to road infrastructure. The resulting insights will facilitate decision-making and infrastructure optimization for departments of transportation on the state, city, and municipal level to make key improvements and prioritize projects as part of their infrastructure programs for safer mobility.

Michelin, a leading mobility company, announced it is partnering with Arity, a mobility and data analytics company founded by The Allstate Corporation, to develop data-powered solutions for transportation departments and cities to improve road safety across the U.S. Combining the unique data science expertise of MICHELIN Driving Data to Intelligence (DDI) around  data and driving behavior analysis, and Arity’s database of driving behavior data collected from nearly 100 million consumer connections – the largest in the world, the partnership will leverage data for safer mobility to transform road management.

ZEV Tests Class 3 Athena

Zero Electric Vehicles, Inc., (ZEV), an innovative engineering solution company for electric vehicles (EVs), announced the successful road test of its Class 3 Electrification Solution, code named Athena. Athena is a proprietary retrofit solution intended to accelerate the migration to ‘green’ low-carbon fleet vehicles with minimal capital expense and time to market. Athena delivers a unique power train and electrification design that significantly reduces installation time, while maintaining native vehicle weight distribution and cargo load specifications per original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). ZEV’s Class 3 electrification solution provides commercial customers and fleet owners immediate access to zero emission “green” credits, powered by our intelligent cloud “Fleet Management” service with specific EV metrics to support customers through their electrification journey. ZEV’s advanced energy system model optimizes power distribution across vehicle devices to meet customer delivery schedules and reduce charge cycles.

UBQ Sustainability Awarded

UBQ Materials, developer of the most climate-positive thermoplastic material on the market, announced that together with Mercedes-Benz, it has won the Sustainability Award in Automotive 2021 in the “best start-up” category. The two companies won the award for their collaborative work developing sustainable car parts.

The Sustainability Award in Automotive honors companies whose products, processes and initiatives have a positive and holistic impact on the sustainability of the automotive industry and make a significant contribution to at least one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The award’s aim is to establish specific benchmark standards and, in turn, a framework for corporate decision-making that is environmentally, socially, and politically sustainable.

UBQ™, patented by UBQ Materials, is a bio-based material made entirely from landfill-destined waste, preventing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The material, which is fully recyclable and actively reduces landfill buildup, decreases the overall carbon and methane footprint of both manufacturing processes and end-products.

Local Motors Funds and Scales Olli

Local Motors, a leader in the design, manufacturing, and deployment of autonomous vehicles, announced it has received funding to help scale the production of Olli, the company’s electric autonomous vehicle. The investment from GameAbove Mobility, a division of CapStone Holdings Inc., demonstrates a continued interest in partnering with established, innovative companies to create next-generation mobility solutions.

The investment will allow Local Motors to scale AV production as demand for level 3 autonomous vehicles continues to grow within campuses, city centers, and municipalities. Local Motors manufactures Ollis from a microfactory in Knoxville, Tennessee. The build floor’s production capacity will increase as a result of GameAbove Mobility’s investment.

BB 4 WM

BlackBerry Limited  announced that Chinese electric carmaker WM Motor has selected its QNX® Neutrino® Realtime Operating System (RTOS), QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP 7.0), and QNX® Hypervisor to power its advanced W6 SUV model. The deployment will enhance the safety of the mass-produced, all-electric W6, marking another milestone since the companies announced in December 2019 that BlackBerry® QNX® software had been selected for use in WM Motor’s third-generation of SUVs.

Modesto Picks Iteris

Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITI), the global leader in smart mobility infrastructure management, today announced that it has been awarded a contract with a total potential value of $3.3 million by the City of Modesto to supply Iteris’ Vantage Vector® hybrid video and radar detection systems throughout the Northern California city, in support of Modesto’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan focus of Governance and Service Delivery, and its 2021 Smart City Strategy.

Power InnoSwitch 3

Power Integrations announced that its automotive-qualified InnoSwitch™3-AQ flyback switcher IC family is now available with a member rated to 900 V, providing greater headroom for 400 V and 800 V electric vehicle inverter, battery management and climate control applications. The InnoSwitch3-AQ family combines primary and secondary controllers plus safety-rated feedback circuitry into a single IC. This allows accurate output voltage regulation, low component count and configuration options for operation over the ultra-wide input voltage range of 30 V to 1200

Electric Thomas Built Bus for Lounon County

Thomas Built Buses (TBB), a leading manufacturer of school buses in North America, its exclusive Virginia dealer, Sonny Merryman Inc., and Proterra Inc (“Proterra”), a leading innovator in commercial vehicle electrification technology, this week celebrated the delivery of the 50th Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley battery-electric school bus. The milestone delivery went to Loudon County Public Schools in Virginia as part of phase one of Dominion Energy’s Electric School Bus Initiative.

Advanced Reconnaissance Textron for USMC