AD #2382 – VW Breaks Pikes Peak Record, Auto Shows Benefit Small Carmakers, Graphene Used to Heat and Cool Seats
June 25th, 2018 at 11:54am
Runtime: 8:00
0:31 Paris Ride-Sharing Companies in Jeopardy
1:19 Auto Shows Benefit Small Carmakers
1:57 Dana Becomes More Vertically Integrated
2:56 VW Breaks Pikes Peak Record
3:26 Weekend Racing Results
3:57 Ford Turns Train Station into Tech Hub
5:18 Graphene Used to Heat and Cool Seat
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On today’s show…car sharing with electric cars turns out to be a flop in Paris…auto shows are really good for small car companies…and Ford turns one of Detroit’s biggest eyesores into a major destination. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
PARIS RIDE-SHARING COMPANIES IN JEOPARDY
As automakers, tech companies and startups rush to get involved in mobility services, here’s a word of warning. Bike-sharing took off in Paris in 2007 thanks to a company called Velib. A few years later, Autolib launched an electric car sharing company. They seemed to be an instant success. But now both of them are in serious financial trouble. What went wrong? Well, Autolib’s electric car rentals required expensive new charging stations and took a long time to recharge. And Velib faced aggressive competition from cheaper, bike sharers that did not require you to return the bike to a docking station. The city of Paris is currently holding talks regarding the end dates of both programs.
AUTO SHOWS BENEFIT SMALL CAR COs
Auto shows around the world are in trouble, as a growing number of car companies are dropping out of some of them. But a study from Foresight Research suggests that auto shows are really good for smaller car brands, because they get outsized exposure. Foresight says FIAT only sold 35,000 vehicles in the U.S. market last year, but 1.1 million auto show attendees could remember the FIAT display. It says auto shows increased people’s likelihood to consider brands like Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Smart and Mitsubishi.
DANA BECOMES MORE VERTICALLY INTEGRATED
Dana is a traditional supplier that makes axles, but it’s also getting heavily involved in electrification for trucks. It just bought a company called TM4, based in Québec, that makes electric motors, power inverters, and control systems. Dana has developed e-axles, where electric motors are bolted directly to the axle to eliminate drive shafts. By acquiring TM4, Dana will be more vertically integrated, which will cut costs and boost profitability.
Still to come…Ford is converting an iconic, old train station in Detroit, into a hub for its autonomous and electric vehicle development.
VW BREAKS PIKES PEAK RECORD
There’s a new King of the Hill standing atop Pikes Peak. Romain Dumas, driving Volkswagen’s specially built electric race car, smashed the record to the top of the mountain becoming the first driver in 102 years to get up there in under 8 minutes. He posted a time of 7 minutes and 57 seconds. It’s amazing to think that the car, called the I.D. R, was developed and built in just a little over 8 months.
WEEKEND RACING RESULTS
In other racing news Lewis Hamilton dominated the French Grand Prix with his Mercedes, leading the entire race from pole position and taking a 14-point lead in the championship. In IndyCar, Josef Newgarden did pretty much the same thing in his Penske-Chevrolet, winning from pole position at Road America in Elkhart Lake. And in drag racing, Blake Alexander secured his first-ever win in the Top Fuel category at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
FORD TURNS TRAIN STATION INTO TECH HUB
You may have heard that Ford bought an old train station in Detroit that’s been an eyesore in the city for years. It’s going to rehab the station and turn it into a center of development for electric and autonomous cars. Ford decided to let the public take a look inside before it starts the renovation, and it was stunned at how many people came out. Thousands of people showed up, even though visitors had to register ahead of time. The lines were so long people had to wait over two hours to get inside. The station, which opened in 1914, was built with impressive craftsmanship, but suffered from 30 years of neglect and vandalism. Ford says it will take four years of reconstruction before it’s ready to use again. Even in its dilapidated state the building is impressive. A couple of years ago it was the site of a drifting competition and we’ll let you watch that up to the break.
Coming up next, graphene is truly a breakthrough material, and one company is using it to keep passengers comfortable.
GRAPHENE USED TO HEAT AND COOL SEATS
On last week’s Autoline After Hours, our special guest was Chuck Cauchy, the President and CTO of a company called Promethient. And he explained how its Thermavance technology uses graphene to make heating and cooling systems for car seats more effective.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
If you want to learn more about graphene, you can watch that entire discussion right now on our website, Autoline.tv or just look for 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 (18)
June 25th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Ford rescuing the Detroit Train Station. Noble endeavor but is it good for the company and stock holders? Time will give the answer but in my opinion it will not benefit the company or stockholders. Ford’s financials have not been robust and Ford pairing down their vehicle selection, this seems a foolish waste of money. Just because something is old,huge,in a city and ornate doesn’t make it worth saving.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Good on Ford for fixing up the old train station; lots of good architecture being saved (recycled). I can see where that was one heck of a grand building in its time.
I watched the Graphene AAH, and though it sounded very interesting and potentially ground-breaking, if it does catch traction I’m thinking ramp-up will be slow.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:39 pm
Kudos to Ford for saving the old train station!!!!
Not everything should be judged by the corporate quarterly financial profit/loss statement.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:40 pm
Good on Ford for investing in some of Detroit’s history. I was just traveling in the UK and I am always impressed with all the historical buildings and statues they have.
The graphene material sounds really interesting, wondering if it can be used in motorcycle and or snow machine world. Heated or cooled clothing or seats maybe??
June 25th, 2018 at 12:41 pm
@Fred – On the most recent After Hours the panel talked about Ford buying the train station. They said it could be a good way to attract young tech employees, who might not normally consider a traditional automaker. They might feel like they’re helping to recycle an old building with cool architectural elements and would get to work downtown, instead of in Dearborn. Just another thought.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
@Buzzerd – You bet! The Thermavance guy said the first applications will be in the golf car world (I say golf car, not cart, because I recently learned the folks in that industry get super offended if you call them carts) and in motorsports (sounded like quads). They have also shown a concept for clothing as well. But I agree with Chuck (#2), if it does catch on, ramp-up will be slow.
June 25th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
If Fiat sold only 35.000 cars in the USA and more than 1 million people remember their displays at car shows means anything I fail to see it. I’d be impressed if 35,000 people remembered the displays and more than a million bought the car!
June 25th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
I’m a Ford stock holder, and I’m fine with my stock losing a few cents of value, if that is a result of their preserving the train station.
June 25th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
Sean Maybe it will attract tech employees and maybe it won’t. If Ford offers good wages and benefits better than their competitors that will bring the skilled tech employees to the auto industry. At least the tax payer will not have to pay for this project. Detroit needs everything to survive. If it helps to bring the city back to a degree it might be worth it. I don’t see these employees living in the city due to the crime and corruption in Detroit. If it was a facility that would employ hundreds blue collar and city dwellers after the rehab of the building the benefit would be greater.
June 25th, 2018 at 1:47 pm
2019 RDX was a DNF?
June 25th, 2018 at 2:05 pm
The Pikes peak road was only partially hard paved to the top. The rest was gravel, it was completed with hard pavement to the top, oct 1 ,2011. So the VW time up the hill is a new kind of record , not the best since the beginning. When you change the parameters of the race it becomes a new race. The prior records are still more impressive to me. Would be fun to watch the VW on an uneven gravel road…
June 25th, 2018 at 2:37 pm
Hey Sean, don’t forget about several scenes from the first Transformers movie that were shot at the train station (you can see in the first 20 seconds or so here): https://youtu.be/Kq6YGJzEpfk?t=47s
#9 – The main thing hurting Detroit right now is the lack of quality public schools. Government corruption is a total non-issue now. True, portions of the inner city are still slow to regroup, but the central business district is absolutely on fire right now with billions of real-estate and cultural investments starting as far back as 8 years ago and slated to continue for at least another decade. The area that young tech folk would live is the exact area where all the new housing and development is currently taking place.
Detroit is not the bastion of crime, neglect and despair that the global media constantly portrays it to be.
June 25th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
Now, if they could just do something about Detroit winters and the potholes in the streets. Glad to live elsewhere.
June 25th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
new record for pikes peak but as its all paved vs the old loose surface doesn’t quite have the same clout.
June 25th, 2018 at 4:48 pm
The Pikes Peak road has been paved for 6-7 years, so the new record certainly means something. I guess we’ll have to wait a year before anyone can try to beat it. Don’t they only run for time once a year?
June 25th, 2018 at 6:45 pm
The link is to a 2016, Tesla model S going up the hill in 11 minutes. Wonder what the new Tesla roadster will do it in? Perhaps the Tesla truck?
June 25th, 2018 at 6:50 pm
They should run the roadster next year. I suspect it would do really well for a stock car, with the right driver.
June 26th, 2018 at 9:18 am
@2,@3, ++++++ I would like to see more of this building in the future when it is completely restored.