In connected car news are Stellatis, Nauto, Easyrain, Marelli and Parade.
In this Article
Stellantis Leaves CES 2024
As the costs of the ongoing UAW strikes against Stellantis continue to mount, the Company has decided to cancel its planned display and presentations at CES® 2024, the world’s largest technology show, scheduled for January 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Being second to none in value creation for all stakeholders – customers, employees and investors – is a key component of the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan. In light of the current status of negotiations in the United States, preserving business fundamentals and therefore protecting the future of the company is a top priority of Stellantis leadership.///
Infineon Technologies AG and Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation have signed a multi-year supply agreement for silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon (Si) power semiconductors. Infineon will build and reserve manufacturing capacity to supply SiC as well as Si power modules and chips to Hyundai/Kia until 2030. Hyundai/Kia will support the capacity build-up and capacity reservation with financial contributions.
“Infineon stands as a valued strategic partner, boasting steadfast production capabilities and distinct technological prowess within the power semiconductor market,” said Heung Soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy Office (GSO) at Hyundai Motor Group. “This partnership not only empowers Hyundai Motor and Kia to stabilize its semiconductor supply but also positions us to solidify our leadership in the global EV market, underpinned by our competitive product lineups.”
“The future car will be clean, safe and smart and semiconductors are at the heart of this transformation. As a trusted partner, we are proud to advance our long-term partnership with Hyundai/Kia,” said Peter Schiefer, President of Infineon’s Automotive Division. “We contribute premium products of high quality, our system knowledge and application understanding combined with continued investments in manufacturing capacity to address the increasing demand for automotive power electronics.”
Infineon’s power semiconductors are key enablers for the transition to electromobility. This transition will lead to strong market growth for power semiconductors, especially those based on wide bandgap materials like SiC. With the significant expansion of its Kulim fab, Infineon will build the world’s largest 200-millimeter SiC power fab and further strengthen its market-leading role as a high-quality, high-volume supplier to the automotive industry. In line with Infineon’s multi-site strategy, the Kulim facility will complement Infineon’s current manufacturing capacity in Villach, Austria, and further capacity expansions in Dresden, Germany.
Nauto New Product
Nauto®, the leader in AI-powered safety and operations excellence for commercial vehicles, t announced the introduction of new telematics capabilities offering visibility into vehicle tracking, utilization, misuse and maintenance planning. Nauto’s latest offering delivers telematics alongside cutting edge AI-powered driver and vehicle safety capabilities, all on a single device and a single software platform. This streamlined solution curbs the proliferation of devices within the already crowded commercial vehicle cabs, helping fleet operators trim costs and maximize efficiencies. In addition, Nauto has further enhanced its safety capabilities with new detectors that are designed to provide distinct alerts that differentiate between pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, when there is a risk detected of colliding with one of these vulnerable road users (VRUs). A sobering statistic from the CDC indicates that in 2021 one in six people who died in crashes were pedestrians while the average size of the verdict in the US trucking industry has gone up by 867% from 2010 to 2018 according to the US Chamber of Commerce Institute of Legal Reform.
“We are thrilled to announce the integration of core telematics functionality into our safety platform,” said Yoav Banin, Chief Product Officer of Nauto. “With this enhancement, we’re streamlining the fleet management experience, offering a comprehensive solution that simplifies the complex landscape of multiple technologies. Our goal is to provide fleets with a single, powerful solution that not only enhances driver and road safety, but also optimizes day-to-day operations and reduces cost. Furthermore, the new detector for vulnerable road users represents a significant milestone on the Road to Zero fatalities.”
Modern commercial fleets face a multitude of safety and operational challenges, including heightened collision-related losses, a surge in fatalities and injuries, elevated driver turnover rates, diminished productivity, escalated fuel, and insurance costs, increasing operational costs, and the growing expenses associated with technology management. Nauto’s solution addresses these by:
- Delivering proven rapid ROI for fleets of all sizes and all types of commercial vehicles from sedans, SUVs, pickups, van to large heavy trucks
- Providing superior safety results by helping improve driver safety performance, reduce collision losses, and save lives
- Helping reducing driver churn and automate training through a driver-friendly solution that safeguards driver privacy, helps prevent collisions and detect policy violations, alerts that can improve driver performance in just two weeks1, performance analytics, and driver appreciation that their fleet has the best-in-class safety solution in the industry
- Delivering increased operational efficiency using a single device and a single pane of glass for safety and telematics
Nauto Telematics is available to subscribers of the Nauto vehicle safety solution. To learn more about Nauto, visit: www.nauto.com
Easyrain & Marelli
Easyrain announce the partnership with Marelli, a global automotive supplier that will work with us to industrialize our technologies: AIS (Aquaplaning Intelligent Solution), the first system for restoring vehicle traction on wet roads, including aquaplaning conditions, and DAI (Digital Aquaplaning Information), a platform of virtual sensors for detecting road conditions and calibrating ADAS.
The agreement with Marelli represents a significant milestone in the 2023-2030 industrial plan. This plan aims to launch AIS and DAI on the market, scheduled for late 2025 and mid-2027, respectively.
Marelli will focus on industrializing the AIS system’s evolution (called Proto-B). It is under development to prevent the potential loss of a wheel. In the event of a loosening of the wheel fastening nuts, micro-vibrational phenomena can occur, causing the nut to become loose. DAI detects these situations and alerts the vehicle.
Giovanni Blandina, founder and CEO of Easyrain: Our goal is to develop the Proto-B version of the AIS system. I have no doubts about Marelli’s technical capabilities in making it an extraordinary product in terms of performance, as well as lightweight and cost-effective. Today, with a prestigious partner like Marelli by our side, Easyrain can undoubtedly look further into the future and confidently take a seat at the table of automakers.
Francesco Miticocchio, VicePresident Strategic Planning, Technology & Innovation of Marelli: The AIS system, perfectly fits with one of the strategic pillar of Marelli: vehicle dynamics. Safety, security, comfort, agility and energy management are new vehicle dynamics features that complement the traditional acceleration and speed. The AIS system is a key safety element that we are very happy to bring to market in partnership with Easyrain.
Parade New Display Port
Parade Technologies, Ltd. (Taiwan OTC: 4966.TWO), a leading high-speed interface, video display, and touch controller IC supplier, announced the availability of its new high-resolution, automotive-grade PS8627V DisplayPort™ to LVDS protocol converter. The PS8627V is used to convert a DisplayPort™ (DP) or eDP™ (Embedded DisplayPort) video transport stream to the LVDS (Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) interface used by automotive-grade display panels or display assemblies.
The PS8627V enables ultrawide display up to 7680×1260@60Hz with 30bpp color depth. For comparison, PS8625V, the current DP/eDP to LVDS converter in mass production for top automotive OEM, supports up to 1920×1200 display resolution. The PS8627V features a DP/eDP input of up to 4 lanes and LVDS output of up to 6 ports. Enabling a native DP/eDP connection between an automotive Video Control Unit (VCU) and display assembly can simplify system design and lower implementation cost by eliminating the need for a SERDES (serializer-deserializer) for the audio/video transport channel. The use of DP/eDP as an end-to-end connection between the video source and display also enables higher resolutions and color depths in addition to potential cost savings.
The automotive industry is currently following the consumer electronic trend in transitioning from display panels using an LVDS interface to those using eDP. Notebook PCs and high-end tablets have migrated to eDP to enable higher display resolutions and color depth, and to reduce power, cost, and physical bulk. While automotive-grade eDP display panels are slowly becoming available, many automotive-grade LVDS panels of various sizes remain in production. When using an LVDS panel, Parade’s PS8627V provides an eDP input for the display assembly.
Most newer SoCs and GPUs provide an output video stream using DP and eDP which enable both reduced interface pin count and full integration of the video interface into the sub-micron chip process. The higher speed data serialization rates also support higher resolutions and even multiple displays. DP and eDP both include automatic channel equalization and link training to accommodate a direct end-to-end physical connection between video source and display over several meters.
“The PS8627V/PS8625V family provides a bridge for eDP display panel adoption in the automotive industry,” says Jimmy Chiu, Executive VP of Marketing at Parade Technologies. “Automotive-grade eDP panels are just becoming available, and there are SoCs today supporting eDP. But there are many automotive qualified LVDS panels already available in various shapes, sizes and resolutions which can be upgraded to the eDP interface using the PS8627V/PS8625V.”
For a cable connection from the VCU to display assembly this can eliminate the need for additional SERDES chips that implement the proprietary FPD-link® or GMSL® protocols for example. With proper video source and display configurations and cabling, the reach of native eDP can exceed 3 meters. And as with DisplayPort, eDP can support HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which is supported by the PS8627V and is required for streaming premium content from DVDs and video services such as Netflix®, Hulu® and the like, or to prevent hacking of automotive display content in the interest of driver safety.