Video Game Technology Is Rescuing EV Software | 13 Oct 2020

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On today’s podcast:

• Ford reveals European charging partners
• Tesla to release ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’
• TEsla Arrives In India
• Arrival ‘Microfactory’ In South Carolina
• GMC’s Hummer EV To Use Epic’s Unreal Engine
• Mercedes-Benz EQC 4x4² concept
• Dacia Spring EV Teased Again Ahead Of October 15 Debut
• 2020: The Year Of SPACs
• Electrify America add 36 charging stations in Illinois and Michigan
• Hyundai begins building electric vehicle hub in Singapore

 

Show #906

 

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Tuesday 13th October. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

 

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FORD REVEALS EUROPEAN CHARGING PARTNERS

Ford today announced partnerships for Ford Connected Wallbox installation services with six companies covering 14 markets across Europe. Owners can remotely monitor and control the Ford Connected Wallbox from their smartphone using the FordPass smartphone app, 3 enabling them to check on current charge, energy used, and even remotely enable family or friends to use the charger The company also recently announced Mustang Mach-E customers placing an order this year and into 2021 will receive five years of free access 1 to the leading FordPass Charging Network, and one year of free access 1 to the IONITY fast-charging network.  Delivered in partnership with NewMotion, the FordPass Charging Network is the largest network of public charging stations in the region. Customers will be able to use the FordPass app to effortlessly locate, navigate to, pay for and monitor charging at locations across 21 countries – initiating and paying for services from a single account. Charging with up to 150 kW at an IONITY station, Mustang Mach-E in extended-range battery, rear-wheel drive configuration is estimated to add an average of 119 km (73 miles) driving range within approximately 10 minutes of charging. Mustang Mach-E has a targeted WLTP pure-electric driving range of up to 610 km (379 miles), 7 and will be in European dealerships from early next year.

 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2020/10/09/Go-Electric-Hamburg.html

 

TESLA TO RELEASE ‘FULL SELF-DRIVING BETA’

"Tesla is going to release its ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers who are “expert and careful drivers” next week, says CEO Elon Musk. He has been teasing the new core change to Autopilot, which should be able to interpret its environment in 4D instead of 2D after the update, and should result in a rapid improvement in performance and new features being released quicker." reports Electrek: "Now the CEO took to Twitter to announce that the limited “private beta” release would happen next week and instead of referring to it as the launch of the Autopilot rewrite, he started referring to it as “limited FSD beta”: “Limited FSD beta releasing on Tuesday next week, as promised. This will, at first, be limited to a small number of people who are expert & careful drivers.”. The CEO didn’t elaborate further on the upcoming software update, which is not expected to be released to the broader fleet until December."

 

https://electrek.co/2020/10/12/tesla-release-full-self-driving-beta-customers-next-week/

 

TESLA ARRIVES IN INDIA

"Elon Musk recently confirmed that his electric vehicle manufacturing company will enter the Indian market soon, possibly by next year. While there is little information about Tesla’s business plans for India, Tesla fans cannot seem to wait to see a Model 3 or Model Y on the streets." says Hindustan Times: "Tesla's entry could come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasingly becoming focussed on promoting the use and manufacture of electric vehicles. However, Musk did not explain what Tesla’s business plan would be in India, given that the EV culture and infrastructure to support is still at a very nascent stage in the country when compared to US, European or even some of the Asian markets. Tesla's entry into India, if it does take place, does not automatically mean opening of showrooms and selling of cars."

 

https://auto.hindustantimes.com/

 

ARRIVAL ‘MICROFACTORY’ IN SOUTH CAROLINA

"Arrival, a U.K.-based electric vehicle startup backed by Hyundai and Kia that’s preparing to make electric delivery trucks for UPS, is building a small-scale “microfactory” in South Carolina that will be able to make as many as 1,000 battery-powered buses per year.  its flat, skateboard chassis is put together from extruded aluminum components, body panels are joined with aerospace-style adhesives and coloring is done by dying the composite material or wrapping a vehicle." according to Forbes: "The microfactory is the company’s first in the U.S. and “is the beginning of a paradigm shift in the EV space,” said Mike Abelson, Arrival’s North American CEO, a former General Motors GM +0.2% executive overseeing the automaker’s electric vehicle strategy. The company is investing just $46 million to set up its first U.S. production facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and will employ 240 workers when it opens late next year.  The company’s microfactory concept is also intended to make the manufacturing process as inexpensive as possible. Rather than requiring hundreds of acres of land and a purpose-built structure, the company says it can set up and equip a microfactory in a conventional warehouse space in about six months."

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/10/12/electric-truck-startup-arrival-putting-46-million-microfactory-in-south-carolina/#da41a7c443f1

 

GMC’S HUMMER EV TO USE EPIC’S UNREAL ENGINE

 

"Fortnite creator Epic Games is partnering with carmakers, starting with General Motors, to use its Unreal Engine game development platform to build in-car software in what Epic is calling its “human-machine interface” (HMI) initiative. The first car to use Unreal Engine, which is the primary software toolset with which developers make Fortnite and countless other big-budget video games, will be GMC’s upcoming Hummer EV, set to be unveiled on October 20th." writes The Verge: "The logic is simple: modern cars are primarily designed using software, and assembled cars carry scores of onboard computers and rely on touchscreens and digital interfaces to power infotainment centers and other sources of information displayed to drivers. And Unreal Engine is a great platform for building software, which Epic thinks makes it a great platform for building the software that goes into cars."

 

Epic says: "When you sit in the driver’s seat of a modern car today, the way you interact with the vehicle is different from a few years ago. Buttons and screens dominate the dashboard, steering wheel, and instrument pane, providing features that may be new to you. Electrification is at the root of many of these advances, with digital hardware such as cameras, sensors, and displays, combined with cutting-edge technology like Unreal Engine, forming a framework on which to build new experiences. At Epic Games, we’ve long been interested in the way the requirements for HMI development overlap with those of game development. Much of the functionality required to create HMI systems has been available in Unreal Engine for some time. Unreal Engine provides best-in-class visuals for production HMI, with car paint materials and reflections that bring the highest quality real-time graphics to the vehicle. A comprehensive set of visual effects features that have been hardened by game development give automotive designers a robust set of tools to express creativity in their HMI designs.”

 

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/7/21506572/epic-games-unreal-engine-general-motors-gmc-hummer-ev-human-machine-interface

 

MERCEDES-BENZ EQC 4X4² CONCEPT

"Mercedes-Benz has revealed the latest in its growing line of hardcore four-wheel-drive prototypes, the EQC 4x4² - a one-off conceived to explore the ultimate off-road capability of the German car maker’s first dedicated electric model." says Autocar: " it receives heavily reworked suspension with multi-link portal axles that serve to site the wheels much lower than the axle hubs for vastly increased ground clearance.  ground clearance has increased by 153mm over the standard EQC, at 293mm, which gives Mercedes-Benz’s latest four-wheel-drive prototype 58mm more clearance than the standard G-Class."

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/first-drive-mercedes-benz-eqc-4x4%C2%B2-concept

 

DACIA SPRING EV TEASED AGAIN AHEAD OF OCTOBER 15 DEBUT

" the Dacia premiere, which we all know is the production version of the Spring concept EV. Essentially an updated and rebadged iteration of China’s Renault City K-ZE, the Dacia Spring promises to make electric mobility accessible to all and is said to offer a driving range of more than 124 miles (200 km) based on the WLTP test procedure. Renault also says the Dacia Spring will become available in the first half of 2021 as Europe’s most affordable EV. Interestingly, Dacia’s first EV won’t be available in the UK." says Carscoops

 

https://www.carscoops.com/2020/10/renault-electric-hatchback-concept-production-dacia-spring-ev-teased-again-ahead-of-october-15-debut/

 

2020: THE YEAR OF SPACS

"Romeo Systems Inc., which makes lithium-ion battery modules and packs for commercial electric vehicles, is the latest vehicle electrification technology company to pursue public ownership through a reverse merger." says FreightWaves: "Romeo, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Vernon, California, announced a definitive agreement Monday with RMG Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: RMG), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), to combine businesses. Romeo Power’s pro forma valuation would be $1.33 billion.  The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 21 that Nikola was testing Romeo batteries for use in the Nikola Tre.   Also on Monday, executives of Hyliion Holdings Co. (NYSE: HYLN) rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It celebrated the Sept. 28 completion of its reverse merger with Tortoise Acquisition Corp., a SPAC that raised $560 million for the startup electric driveline maker. Switchback Energy Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: SBE) began the SPAC process with charging station developer ChargePoint Inc. on Sept. 24. That deal would value ChargePoint at $2.4 billion. ChargePoint, which has 115,000 charging stations, would get $542 million when the reverse merger closes."

 

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/blank-check-companies-target-battery-and-charging-suppliers

 

ELECTRIFY AMERICA INSTALLING 36 ULTRA-FAST EV CHARGING STATIONS AT MEIJER STORES IN ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN

"Electrify America, the largest open DC fast-charging network in the US, is collaborating with Midwestern retailer Meijer to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at nine of its stores across Illinois and Michigan." says Green Car Congress: "The stations will offer a total of 36 ultra-fast public EV chargers, increasing the availability of public charging options in the greater Chicago area and throughout the state of Michigan."

 

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/10/20201011-ea.html

 

HYUNDAI BEGINS BUILDING ELECTRIC VEHICLE HUB IN SINGAPORE

"South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co 005380.KS started construction on a research and development centre in Singapore on Tuesday that will house a small-scale electric vehicle production facility."according to Reuters: "Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the facility may produce up to 30,000 electric vehicles (EVs) annually by 2025 and represents an investment of S$400 million ($295 million). A Hyundai spokeswoman confirmed the 30,000 unit target but said that the exact capacity was yet to be determined. The facility is due for completion by end 2022, the firm said in a statement."

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-hyundai-singapore-idUKKBN26Y0HW

 

 

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