On today’s show…Denso places a billion dollar bet on electric cars…GM releases pictures for its fuel cell concept truck…and Mazda reveals more details on its HCCI engine. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show dedicated to those who support the automotive industry.
AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING ENDS IN AUSTRALIA
It’s the end of an era. Automakers are closing down all their assembly operations in Australia this month. Ford did it last year. Toyota did it last week. And General Motors does it next week. Automakers began manufacturing cars in Australia 90 years ago. Steep tariffs made it almost impossible to import cars and that protected them. But a couple of decades ago the Australian government started chipping away at those tariffs and imports began to soar. Here’s another issue. Australia is a country the size of the lower 48 United States, with the population of Illinois and Ohio, about 24 million people. It just does not have the scale necessary to support automotive manufacturing. GM and Ford will continue to design and engineer cars in Australia, but we here at Autoline salute what was a vibrant part of the automotive industry for nearly a century.
GM’S MODULAR FUEL CELL TRUCK
Last week we told you how General Motors showed reporters a number of electric concept cars but did not provide, nor allowed anyone to take any pictures. Well, now GM is releasing photos and details on the SURUS, or Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure. It’s a scalable, modular structure for a family of commercial and military vehicles. Powered by a fuel cell, it can provide plenty of electric power to run stationary equipment, and even provide drinking water from its exhaust. It features four-wheel steering, and a 400 mile range. The idea is to use a common chassis with different truck modules mounted on top of it, similar to the concept vehicle that GM showed in 2002. It was officially named the Autonomy, but everyone called it the skateboard.
HURRICANES TO BOOST CAR SALES
U.S. car sales were surprisingly strong in September. And that trend could continue due to the damage caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. According to Cox Automotive, about 600,000 vehicles will get scrapped and by November, around 400,000 of them will get replaced. So that means car sales could be stronger than expected over the next couple of months.
Coming up next, a company in Seattle proposes a time path to devote highways exclusively to autonomous cars.
DENSO PLACES $1 BILLION BET ON EVs
It’s not unusual to hear automakers announce that they’re going to spend billions developing electric cars. But it is unusual to hear of supplier companies spending that kind of money. Japanese supplier Denso just announced it’s investing $1 billion at its factory in Maryville, Tennessee, which will make it its primary manufacturing center in North America. The investment, which should create 1,000 new jobs, will go towards the production of safety, connectivity, and electrification products for hybrid and electric vehicles. And that is a huge vote of confidence that the market for electric cars is going to be a big one.
PROPOSAL TO DEVOTE I-5 TO AVs
As we approach the day when autonomous cars become commonplace on highways, a group in Seattle is proposing a pathway to get there. The Madrona Venture Group proposes that Interstate 5 between Seattle and Vancouver should immediately allow autonomous cars to use the HOV lanes. By 2025 it wants a dedicated lane for autonomous vehicles going in each direction. By 2030 it wants only one lane for non-autonomous cars, with the rest for AVs. And by 2040 it wants the freeway dedicated to autonomous cars during peak travel times. Who knows if this plan will be adopted, but it shows the kind of road map to autonomy that we’re probably going to start hearing a lot more about.
Coming up next, we’ve got details on how Mazda developed a breakthrough with the internal combustion engine.
MORE DETAILS ON MAZDA’S HCCI ENGINE
Back in August, Mazda revealed it developed a breakthrough with HCCI technology. But instead of being a pure HCCI engine, Mazda equipped it with what it calls Spark Controlled Compression Ignition. On last week’s Autoline After Hours we were joined by Robert Davis from Mazda North America and he explained how that spark works within the engine.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
For more about Skyactiv-X technology and Mazda in general, you can watch that entire show right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.
But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (14)
October 9th, 2017 at 12:16 pm
Is it really HCCI of a spark is evolved?
October 9th, 2017 at 12:23 pm
It’s sad that all car production is ending in Australia, but it is certainly understandable, with a total annual market of a little over a million vehicles. I’m sure it didn’t help GM and Ford, that their last Aussie cars were big vehicles which would have little export interest, in RHD markets.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Seattle has a great idea in theory. However I cant see the tax payers supporting the costs associated with designated AV lanes. Integration will be a struggle no doubt as the ideal situation would be to just completely switch over to AV’s. The in-between time of having both manually driven and automated cars together on the road will be the challenge.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:42 pm
By the time we get to 2040, most likely freeways will be left to those who cannot afford personal flyte mobility products.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Being in the industry, I have a hard time believing the sales uptick in September was driven by hurricane related sales. Not all of the estimated 400,000 flood damaged vehicles are going to be replaced by a new one. I don’t see the family with a 2006 Tahoe moving into a brand new one. A used replacement yes, but not a new one.
Also were the manufacturers whose new inventory was totaled due to flood damage allowed to count these in the sales total? Even if they were, this might only add 25-35,000 to the totals based on the dealer density in the area.
I agree with Lambo2015 on the Autonomous Lanes. Why do they need their own? With the HOV system, it’s an enticement to car pool to reduce the number of cars on the road, reducing congestion. I don’t see how autonomous cars will reduce congestion.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:30 pm
I’m hoping the value of used cars increases about a month from now. I ordered a new Mini, to replace my 2010, which I will be wanting to sell or trade, probably in November.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:04 pm
Australia.
Could they not export cars to Asia.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:27 pm
#7 They could export them to Japan, India, and a few other places, but most RHD markets don’t want many big cars with big engines, like were being made in Australia. Most of the Australian cars were made only in RHD versions.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:23 pm
will be believer in mazda skyactive x part time hcci, if and when and only if and when mazda 6 can exceed toyota camry fuel economy of 29 city and 41 hwy. new accord failed. hopefully mazda 6 wont. cant believe none of the manufacturers arent developing nautilus true hcci engine tech no spark plugs required.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:24 pm
#5 – autonomous vehicles with V2V communication will be able to drive closer to each other and completely eliminate the back to back ´snaking´ effect which is what mainly causes traffic jams.
#3 – Yes dedicating lanes to autonomous vehicles will make non AV lanes worse. At the same time we see something analogous to this happen all around – some of the world´s most congested cities have been reducing car lanes to open bicycle lanes in hope the effort, expense and headache will eventually improve transit overall.
October 9th, 2017 at 4:53 pm
#10 Bike lanes are great if your down south or in California. Not too many folks in the Midwest wanting to pedal to work in -6 degree weather.
October 9th, 2017 at 9:46 pm
#11- I wouldn’t personally want to bike in any US metro area, distances are too great (yes maybe San Fran or NYC). I was referring to densely populated cities such as London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Amsterdam, Santiago. Not sure if lane reassignments are common in Asia but wouldn’t be surprised.
I do have two friends in Cincinnati who bike to work even during winter. You won’t see many doing that here in Miami, drivers are too nutty.
October 10th, 2017 at 8:43 am
It is really popular to bike in L.A. and even more so in San Fran. Was a learning experience to deal with all the bike traffic.
Most everyday is a sunny day so the chance of showing up to work all wet is minimal. All the busses had bike carriers. Just don’t see anything open to the weather taking hold like it can out west.
October 11th, 2017 at 10:39 am
Didn’t Mazda initially say it’s HCCI engine would not have any spark plug? Maybe what was considered a breakthrough is not really so great. Time will tell.