Nippon Steel is suing Toyota for violating its electromagnetic1 steel sheet patent. Toyota in a characteristically Japanese reply said today “that such matters should be discussed between material manufacturers, and we have learned of this lawsuit with great regret.”
The conflict arises from Baoshan Iron & Steel, based in Shanghai, China, and a subsidiary of state-owned China Baowu Steel Group. It is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Toyota uses Baoshan steel sheet. It comes at a time when the Biden Administration is wrestling with US trade policy with China. The former administration started a trade war that cost US jobs, damaged the agricultural sector, and was a disaster for the US auto industry in China, the world’s largest vehicle market. It is also involved in a dispute about whether proposed lavish EV buyer tax credits should apply to imported and non-union made electric vehicles. Continue reading









Stellantis on SAE Level 3 Public Road Autonomous Driving
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Stellantis has made known its contributions to the L3Pilot automated driving project at the L3Pilot final event in Hamburg, Germany, in conjunction with ITS World Congress. The four-year project is critical to automated driving data collection and validation in order to perform extensive tests of SAE Level 3 autonomy technology functions.
At SAE Level 3, the driver does not need to monitor the driving circumstances constantly but must take back control when the system requests. L3Pilot, the flagship research and innovation project in Europe, is arguably one of the most important for the future of automated driving since it is focused on testing and evaluating the technology as a safe and efficient means of transportation in real traffic conditions. It also assessed technical aspects, driving behavior, user acceptance and impact on traffic and safety. Continue reading →