Suzuki Motor, Subaru, Daihatsu, Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor announced this morning an agreement to jointly develop technical specifications for next-generation vehicle communications devices. The Japanese companies – led and dominated by Toyota – said they want “to promote the common use of communications systems, by using connected services to link automobiles and society with the aim of creating new appeal, value and services, to be standardized for early provision of safer and more convenient connected services.”
Within the field of CASE (connected, autonomous/automated, shared, and electric), which is bringing about major alterations in the auto industry, advances are being made in the connected domain. These include the communications and data aspects of technology and business such as cloud services, IoT, big data, and AI. These are the basic functions of the connected car. Regulators thus far appear to be oblivious to the anti-trust and monopoly or cartel implications of such consolidations and their possible negative effects on customer pricing. The industry views connected cars as a major new source of revenue. Therefore, more is better. Continue reading →
In a clear victory for the Biden Administration over the do-nothing party of nothings, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released the advance estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) for Q1 of 2021. It’s good news for auto industry workers.
Solid Power – More Money from BMW, Ford, Volta Energy Technologies for Solid-State EV Batteries
Promising, but mass-producible?
Solid Power, a maker of all solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, today announced a $130 million Series B investment round by the BMW Group, Ford Motor Company and Volta Energy Technologies. Ford and BMW Group enlarged existing development agreements with Solid Power to buy all solid-state batteries for future electric vehicles. Ford and the BMW Group are now equal equity owners. Representatives from each company will join Solid Power’s board.
Of the three companies in the new agreement, BMW Group is the clear leader in electrification. Its Neue Klasse presented in March said this new generation of vehicles, due by the middle of this decade, will be “uncompromisingly electric, digital, circular – and clearly focused on all-electric drivetrains.” As auto industry observers well know, the road from test labs, to concepts, to prototypes, to successful mass production of a vehicle is littered with road kills of technological promises. (All-Electric BMW i4 Shown, Q1 Financial Results of BMW Exceed Market Expectations) Continue reading →