Market trends and business perspectives
by Anna
The BMW Startup Garage – part of the company’s Research, New Technologies and Innovations unit – has been tracking down the most innovative startups in the business for four years now, allowing the BMW Group to tap into their potential quickly and directly.
So far, more than 50 up-and-coming technology companies have completed its startup programme.
The BMW Startup Garage talks with over 1,500 startups from all over the world every year.
by Anna
Volkswagen will be installing a total of 36,000 charging points in Europe by 2025; 11,000 of these are to be developed by the Volkswagen brand.
They will be installed at Volkswagen plants and at about 3,000 Volkswagen dealerships in all large towns and cities. With its Group company for charging infrastructure Elli (Electric Life) and its charging service “We Charge”, Volkswagen is also moving into further lucrative business areas connected with charging.
All in all, the Group is investing about €250 million at its European locations. At the same time, the Group calls for other measures to take effect rapidly for more charging stations in Germany.
[Read more…] about Volkswagen plans 36,000 charging points for electric cars throughout Europe
by Anna
General Motors has unveiled its all-new electronic platform for its next-generation of vehicles.
As the automotive industry and vehicles evolve in the next five to 10 years, more electrical bandwidth and connectivity will be needed to ensure that features such as electric propulsion systems, the Super Cruise driver assistance feature and advanced active safety systems can all run in conjunction with each other.
Debuting on the recently-unveiled 2020 Cadillac CT5 sedan, the electronic platform will go into production later this year and should be rolled out to most vehicles within GM’s global lineup by 2023.
[Read more…] about General Motors unveils its digital vehicle platform
by Anna
Toyota Motor Corporation and Subaru Corporation are to jointly develop a platform dedicated to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) for midsize and large passenger vehicles and to jointly develop a C-segment-class BEV SUV model for sale under each company’s own brand.
The two companies will combine their respective strengths, such as Subaru all-wheel-drive technologies and Toyota vehicle electrification technologies, to create attractive BEVs.
Ever since concluding an agreement on business collaboration in 2005, Toyota and Subaru have been deepening their cooperation in various fields, including development, production, and sales.
[Read more…] about Toyota and Subaru to jointly develop battery electric vehicles
by Anna
Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a research and development subsidiary of Honda, has begun a collaboration with the Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), Japan, in neuroscientific research of humans in the areas of mobility and robotics.
CiNet is a flagship research institute that focuses on the brain and artificial intelligence within the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
Honda has recently established the Innovative Research Excellence within Honda R&D, a new centre of excellence which will be responsible for the pursuit of revolutionary advancement and the creation of values for mobility and people’s daily lives.
[Read more…] about Honda and CiNet begin joint neuroscientific research in Japan
by Anna
Microsoft and the BMW Group have announced what they describe as “a new community initiative” to enable faster, more cost-effective innovation in the manufacturing sector.
In manufacturing today, production and profitability can be hindered by complex, proprietary systems that create data silos and slow productivity.
The Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) is designed to break down these barriers through the creation of an open technology framework and cross-industry community.
[Read more…] about BMW and Microsoft launch ‘Open Manufacturing Platform’
by Anna
ZF Friedrichshafen has received a customer order with a double-digit billion euro value for its enhanced 8-speed automatic transmission. The business is planned to run over a period of several years.
The latest version of ZF’s 8-speed transmission – a technology which has been production since 2009 – has been improved by integrating an electric drive. This also includes a hybrid variant.
The new transmission generation will start series production in 2022 at ZF’s plant in Saarbrücken, the lead production facility for ZF’s automatic passenger car transmissions.
[Read more…] about ZF wins multi-billion-euro order for 8-speed automatic transmission
by Anna
A fleet of Toyota Mirai zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell cars has been delivered to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland as a key part of the organisation’s mobility plan.
The eight fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) were unveiled on the eve of World Environment Day at Olympic House, the IOC’s new sustainability-driven headquarters to be inaugurated on 23 June 2019.
To allow refuelling of the vehicles, a temporary hydrogen fuelling station – one of the first in Switzerland – will be installed at the new headquarters, before a public station is commissioned nearby.
[Read more…] about IOC takes delivery of zero emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from Toyota
by Anna
Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. has announced a sponsorship deal with MassRobotics.
MassRobotics is an independent, non-profit organisation serving as an innovation hub for robotics and connected devices.
Through this sponsorship, Mitsubishi aims to enhance MassRobotics’ prototyping space so startups can accelerate testing and support startup initiatives to develop the next generation of advanced manufacturing solutions that use cutting-edge technology and robots for factory automation customers worldwide.
[Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric to sponsor MassRobotics in the USA
by Anna
Doosan Robotics showcased a wide variety of application scenarios using their cutting-edge collaborative robots (cobots), indicating the company’s entry into the North American market.
Doosan cobots have a track record in several markets worldwide including Germany, France and China, with capabilities such as a working radius of 900 to 1,700 millimetres and a load capacity of 6 to 15 kilograms.
The company gave a demonstration of six cobots collaborating with two human workers to execute fine motor activities on an auto assembly line.
[Read more…] about Doosan debuts collaborative robot at US trade show
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