Automotive News

Green light for Premcar Patrol Warrior

Nissan Australia has announced that it has given the green light for Premcar to develop and produce the newest model to join its successful Nissan Warrior program: the Patrol Warrior.

Wheel, tyre and suspension enhancements are set to feature in the Patrol Warrior’s forthcoming Australian engineering program, giving it even greater ground clearance, a wider stance and enhanced ride and handling. These enhancements, along with the Patrol’s 298kW/560 Nm 5.6-litre directinjection V8 engine, will create the ultimate Warrior.

The Patrol Warrior program is expected to take around 12 months to complete before production commences at Premcar’s Epping (Victoria) manufacturing facility. The Patrol is the latest Nissan nameplate to join the company’s Warrior model series, a Nissan-specific OEM-level new-vehicle enhancement program produced and delivered by Premcar. It involves creating market-specific versions of new-model Nissan vehicles using extensive automotive design and engineering development, which requires gruelling testing programs for prototype vehicles and components, government mandated new-vehicle certification, and secondary vehicle manufacturing, all of it done by Premcar in Australia. This latest new-vehicle enhancement program with Nissan is a significant force behind Premcar’s ongoing expansionrelated investments in personnel, manufacturing facilities and production technologies.

Historic agreement on position and paths to electrify Australia

Australia’s peak National, State and Territory automotive representative organisations reached a historic agreement at an industry summit on critical positions and pathways to achieve the considered and practical transition and electrification of the national motor vehicle fleet.

Representing thousands of businesses that make, sell, distribute, provide novated leasing, service, repair, supply aftermarket parts, components, and accessories, dismantle, recycle, and train tens of thousands of automotive professionals, the peak organisations developed and agreed to more than 25 principles including: • Embracing the electrification of the

Australian motor vehicle fleet • Mandating CO2 targets, not Electric

Vehicles (EV) targets. • Supporting the Federal Government in developing a National Zero and Low

Emission Vehicle (ZLEV) Electrification

Transition Strategy • Considering the entire registered vehicle fleet and the needs and requirements of

Australians who own and operate them • Maintaining the safety, security, service, repair, and efficiency of the legacy Internal

Combustion Engine (ICE) fleet • Opposing the introduction of bans that

limit consumer choice and remove options for meeting car owners’ needs and Australia’s emission reduction targets • Ensuring Government targets and milestones are ideally Federally led (or at least nationally consistent), are realistic, supported by facts and sound qualitative data, and applied to an Australian context. The organisations welcomed and congratulated the Albanese Labor Government for its decisive action in fulfilling its Fringe Benefits Tax exemption for Electric Vehicles promise. Automotive organisation leaders shared and discussed comprehensive global and domestic data analysis on the future production and delivery of ZLEVs past 2030 (particularly to the Australian market); impacts and use of targets, milestones, incentives, subsidies, and penalties; jobs and skills; tariffs and taxation; fuel standards and security; legacy fleet management and maintenance; and awareness and education.

Minister hints at local car manufacture’s return to Australia

It was reported in the Australian Financial Review that Energy Minister Chris Bowen said he wanted to see an EV manufacturing sector set up in Australia, as the energy crisis accelerates the country’s move to renewable power and transport.

Mr Bowen was attending a global clean energy forum in Pittsburgh where he roadtested an electric Ford FT150. With Australian electric car sales at only two percent and Labor’s target for 50 percent of all new cars sales by 2030 to be electric, Mr Bowen said he wanted to see EV manufacturing take off in Australia with government help. “We can make electric vehicles in Australia. Not only do I think that, so do the electric vehicle manufacturers,” Mr Bowen told The Australian Financial Review. “There’s work to do to make that more viable in Australia, but the economics of an electric vehicle are a lot different to the economics of making internal combustion engine (cars).”

Ray, Rosie and Roberto in harm’s way every day

At Ford’s Proving Ground in Australia, Ray, Rosie and Roberto are integral members of Ford’s safety team, helping to develop the very latest in crash protection features and advanced driver assist systems.

Deployed to work on Next-Generation Ranger and Everest, they’re placed in harm’s way every single day, can work 24/7 if required, and only take short breaks to recharge. They don’t even need a lunch break. This cutting-edge robotic trio are tasked with helping Ford test driver assist systems, like Enhanced Pre-Collision Assist1 with Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)1, LaneKeeping System with road edge detection1, Evasive Steer Assist1, Reverse Brake Assist1 and more. Each robot plays a crucial part in driver assist technology testing; Rosie is a Guided Soft Target (GST) vehicle, Ray is a Vulnerable Road User (VRU), and Roberto is an in-car driving robot. The robots ensure Next-Gen Ranger and Everest’s Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS)1 can handle a multitude of scenarios involving other road users, including vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. Ford ADAS engineers used to rely on towed soft targets to test and tune systems like Enhanced Pre-Collision Assist1 with Enhanced Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)1 but driver error and even weather conditions could cause inconsistencies in tests and stretch out testing programs. Ford’s three robots ensure a broader range of DAT tests can be replicated with perfect precision at day or night. Rosie and Ray robots have the ability to be precisely synchronised with a test vehicle, whether it’s being operated by a robot driver (Roberto) or a human, allowing for complex ADAS1 scenarios to be created. When fitted with a full-sized soft target, Rosie (the GST robot) carries the same radar signature as a real car. This allows the ADAS to perform a variety of real-world tests to ensure systems like Enhanced Pre-Collision Assist1 with Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)1 work correctly. To ensure accurate coordination with Rosie and Ray, Ford’s in-car driving robot Roberto, equipped with sophisticated motion control technologies, is fitted to the test vehicle to control the steering, brakes, and accelerator. For additional safety on-site, an engineer remains in the driver’s seat to take control of the test vehicle if needed, while another engineer keeps a watchful eye on either Ray or Rosie and can take manual control if required. Similarly, Ray, the Vulnerable Road User with Launch Pad, allows the team to test for a variety of pedestrian, children and cyclist scenarios at both day and night. These robots are the same as those used by colleagues in other markets, which means that Ford can share data, scenarios and perform tests in Australia to support teams in Europe and America to ensure driver assist technologies meet Ford’s test criteria but also global NCAP protocols.