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EV charging infrastructure gets a boost Kempower and JET Charge, one of Australia’s EV charging infrastructure specialists, are working together to support the take-up of EVs in Australia.
VW and Bosch software for Level 2 autonomous driving Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad and Bosch are teaming up to develop software for automated driving to use in Volkswagen’s cars using data from Volkswagen’s fleet, the partners will develop so-called Level 2 autonomous driving software enabling hands-free driving in cities, rural areas and on the motorway as well as a Level 3 system that takes over all driving functions on the motorway. They expect to implement Level 2 software in Volkswagen vehicles from 2023.
Currently, less than two percent of new vehicles sold in Australia are electric. In November 2021, the Australian government announced a new $250 million plan to incentivize electric mobility in the country. This strategy includes partnering with private enterprises to accelerate the rollout of 50,000 EV charging and hydrogen refuelling stations. The government expects the sale of battery electric or plug-in hybrid electric to increase to 30 percent by 2030.
Here one-minute VinFast the next Vietnamese VinFast has decided to exit Australia and is closing all operations including its Australian engineering centre in Port Melbourne and the Lang Lang Proving Ground it purchased from GM Holden for around $34 million. The company cited Covid as the reason. This comes as a double blow for many of VinFast’s Australian staff who were ex-GM and have now been made redundant twice.
The collaboration between the partners started when JET Charge was looking for a portable DC charger with an intelligent design, high quality and robust performance. This search led JET Charge to Kempower’s movable T-Series, which offers 40 kW of pure charging power and has a simultaneous dual charging option providing 20 kW from each channel.
Savic Motorcycle launches online design service Savic Motorcycles has launched a sophisticated Motorcycle Configurator that allows users to ‘build’ an electric motorcycle to their own specifications and enables users to design their own Savic C-Series in different colours with various trims and optional components and upgrades – offering a distinctive new way for customers to interact and shop online.
Since then, the companies have expanded their relationship to include Kempower’s C-Series and S-Series chargers, now being installed at major charging hubs and bus depots.
Yamaha develops hydrogen engine for Toyota Yamaha Motor has been commissioned by Toyota Motor Corporation to develop a 5.0-litre V8 engine for automobiles that is fuelled entirely by hydrogen.
At that announcement the V8 hydrogen engine developed by Yamaha for Toyota was unveiled to the public.
Yamaha began developing a hydrogen engine for cars about five years ago. Takeshi Yamada from the Technical Research & Development Centre’s Automotive Development Section is a member of the hydrogen engine development team, and he began to sense the depth of potential in the powerplant as the project progressed.
The unit is based on the 5.0-litre engine in the Lexus RC F luxury sport coupe, with modifications made to the injectors, cylinder heads, intake manifold and more, and delivers up to 336kW at 6,800 rpm and a maximum 540 Nm of torque of at 3,600 rpm.
Another thing that Mr Yamada and the team valued in the development process was Kanno Seino, meaning sensual or exhilarating performance. One example is the harmonic high-frequency exhaust note produced by the engine’s 8-into-1 exhaust manifold.
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The website also has a built-in Augmented Reality viewer which enables users to project their virtual motorcycle to scale in their driveway – both as a practical tool for storage and a unique visualisation of their ownership experience. M-B’s new chemistry for electric cars Experts from Daimler’s Formula One team have developed the EQXX Mercedes Benz electric car that can drive more than 1000 kilometres with a battery half the size of the company’s EQS electric car. This battery technology is expected to be used in the company’s compact cars from 2024. The technology employs new chemistry and used a new one-part casting method to form a major aluminium component for the rear of the car.
In Japan, Toyota and other automotiverelated companies are about to begin a collaborative effort to expand the range of fuel options for internal combustion engines. In November last year, five companies: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Subaru Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation, and Yamaha Motor jointly announced they would begin discussions for conducting collaborative research into possible avenues for expanding the range of fuel options for internal combustion engines in the quest for carbon neutrality.
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Semiconductor shortage to continue The US Commerce Department has published a semiconductor supply chain report estimating that the global shortage will last until at least the second half of 2022 but may extend into 2023. Demand was also 17 percent higher in 2021 than it had been two years before. Toyota has said it expects to miss its annual vehicle production targets because of the competition for semiconductors. Automotive News has said that the shortage will “dent global vehicle output by four million more vehicles in 2022”.Infineon which is one of the biggest suppliers of auto semiconductors says the shortage should ease by 2023. The German company plans to expand its production at its semiconductor plant in Austria which opened in 2021. VTE | 9
