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automotive

ZF expands its R&D capacities in Friedrichshafen

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ZF Friedrichshafen AG has opened the doors of its new testing centre for drive technologies. This centre provides extended capacities for testing electric, hybrid and combustion engine drives in Friedrichshafen.

The company also took the opportunity to announce its future plans for the R&D Centre site with the construction of a new office building next to the testing centre, designed to create additional working space for the developers who work there.

“The new testing centre for drive technologies is the fitness centre for mobility of the future. This is where all of ZF’s vehicle drives are technologically fine-tuned to get them in peak condition,” said Chief Executive Officer of ZF, Wolf-Henning Scheider.

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Continental and Vodafone cooperate on road safety

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At the 2019 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Continental and Vodafone showcased the first results of their innovation partnership.

Last summer, the partners announced that they would be working together to increase road safety. The first results confirm this – state-of-the-art communications technologies such as 5G, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) and mobile edge computing help to better protect all road users.

The 5G-ready tests are taking place under real-life conditions at Vodafone’s 5G Mobility Lab in Aldenhoven, Germany. A start of series production based on these technologies is planned for the beginning of the 2020s.

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NXP launches chipset solution for connected vehicle data

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NXP Semiconductors N.V., supplier of automotive semiconductors, has announced a vehicle network processing chipset solution for high-performance service-oriented gateways, which it claims enables automakers to unlock the value of connected vehicle data and offer new services.

The MPC-LS chipset solution combines the NXP automotive MPC5748G microcontroller and enterprise networking LS1043A communications processor to offer the high levels of performance and networking required for service-oriented gateways.

For development, evaluation and demonstrations, the chipset solution is supported by an evaluation board, enablement software and a growing ecosystem.

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Lexus reaches new record with 10 million vehicle sales

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Lexus has sold its 10 millionth vehicle, a landmark achievement that came shortly after a strong 2018 year-end sales performance with Lexus achieving multiple best-ever sales goals around the globe.

In addition, the brand that pioneered the world’s first luxury hybrid-electric vehicle in 2005, and offers 11 electrified models globally, surpassed the 1.45 million unit mark in self-charging hybrid vehicles sold worldwide.

Lexus hybrid vehicle sales jumped nearly 20% in 2018 from the prior year, a result that underscores the brand’s heritage with, and commitment to, electrification.

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Visteon opens automotive software development centre in Romania

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Visteon Corporation, a Tier 1 automotive supplier focused exclusively on cockpit electronics, is opening a new software development centre in a 5,000-square metre facility in Timisoara’s new ISHO Offices building, part of the ISHO campus.

Starting initial operations in Nov. 2018, the centre will primarily be engaged in software development for advanced cockpit electronics products – including digital instrument clusters, infotainment and information displays – and will support the development of new technologies for connected and autonomous driving.

The Timisoara centre will operate as an integral part of Visteon’s European product development footprint, which also includes development centres in Germany, Bulgaria, France and the UK.

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The cooperative car: Intuitively knowing what the car is planning

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Autonomous driving is going to be an integral part of mobility in the future. Mercedes-Benz considers empathy and trust to be central factors for the acceptance of self-driving vehicles.

Because for people to have trust in the machine, they must immediately and intuitively be able to recognise what an autonomous vehicle intends to do. Mercedes-Benz is conducting research into this “informed trust” with the help of the “cooperative car”.

The cooperative car is based on an S-Class, and features 360-degree light signalling. Turquoise lights on the roof indicate autonomous driving mode, and provide information on what happens next:

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Alliance Ventures invests in Enevate to advance electric vehicle battery technology

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Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, has invested in the latest round of funding in Enevate Corporation, an advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology company based in Irvine, California, USA.

Alliance Ventures was launched last year to support start-ups, early-stage development, and entrepreneurs at the cutting edge of next-generation systems for the automotive industry.

The investment reflects the capability of Enevate in breakthrough Li-ion batteries capable of extreme fast charging with high energy density.

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Audi promotes EEBUS for intelligent connection of electric cars and buildings

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Audi is involved in the EEBUS initiative to promote networking across manufacturer and industry boundaries. The Audi e-tron is the first electric car whose charging system uses the new communication standard.

At the “Plugfest E-Mobility” event at the Audi plant in Brussels, developers tested cross-industry compatibility before the EEBUS standard for energy communication is introduced this month.

The electric car will play an important role as a power consumer in the digital energy world. As an energy storage device, the electric car has great potential to drive the energy transition forward and absorb peak loads resulting from regenerative generation.

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Volkswagen focuses more closely on multi-brand plants

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Volkswagen has approved new plant assignment plans, which reflect the challenges of the next five years and lay the necessary foundations.

The plants in Emden and Hanover will be converted to build electric vehicles: models from the ID. family will begin rolling off the assembly lines there from 2022.

In order to serve growth in Europe, the Group will  expand its production capacity post-2022 with an additional plant in Eastern Europe.

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Heraeus and Volvo invest in Forciot’s stretchable electronics technology

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Heraeus Holding GmbH and Volvo Cars’ Technology fund AB have made investments in Forciot as part of the its Series A investment round.

Forciot’s product is a unique stretchable electronics and algorithm solution that measures and reports accurately force, weight, balance and pressure which can be utilised as HMI touch controller.

The investment enables Forciot to broaden its international business entry and supply chain operations.

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