Runtime: 6:51
0:29 Trump Threatens Import Tax on European Cars
1:00 Gender Wage Gap at Uber
2:06 Mazda Says Rotary Engine Is Returning
2:52 Mahindra Reveals Jeep Inspired SUV
3:41 Mercedes Shares Electric Bus Details
4:42 Steer-By-Wire from Nexteer
5:45 Porsche Interested in Passenger Drones
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On today’s show…President Trump threatens European automakers with import tariffs…men make more money than women driving for Uber, we’ll tell you why…and Porsche throws its hat into the ring to develop passenger drones. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.
TRUMP THREATENS IMPORT TAX ON EUROPEAN CARS
Last week, President Trump announced a plan to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Analysts predict this will increase material costs for automakers and the price of vehicles. And if the EU retaliates against those tariffs, Trump says he’ll increase the tax on European car imports. German carmakers are worried about a trade war breaking out and say it needs to be avoided. Trump’s threat is already hurting their stock price, with BMW and Daimler’s shares dropping on Monday.
GENDER WAGE GAP AT UBER
Men who are Uber drivers make about 7% more income than women, says a new study from Stanford University titled “The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy.” The reason men make more money with Uber is that they drive more hours and tend to drive in areas that are more lucrative. Second, because they drive more, they have more experience. And third, they drive faster, so they deliver more rides in any given time frame. While there is a lot of controversy on the gender gap in wages, this study says there are certain areas where there will be discrepancies, even if there is no discrimination against women.
Mazda is at it again. It says the rotary engine is perfect to be used as a range extender. We’ll give you the details right after this.
MAZDA SAYS ROTARY ENGINE IS RETURNING
News of another Mazda rotary engine never seems to go away and here’s the latest that’s swirling around the internet. The automaker’s European VP of sales and customer service told a news outlet from the Netherlands that a hybrid Mazda with a rotary engine as a range extender is coming next year. He said the engine will only have one rotor and will sit horizontally in the car, which will be based on an upcoming modular small car platform and could be the size of the Mazda3 or even be a crossover. Aside from emissions, the one thing holding back the rotary engine is cost. Even though it has fewer moving parts, a rotary engine requires a lot of very precise machining work.
MAHINDRA REVEALS JEEP INSPIRED SUV
Did you know that Indian automaker Mahindra has been producing off-road vehicles under license from Willy’s since the 1940’s? And now it’s going to starting selling what is essentially a Jeep CJ in North America. The Mahindra ROXOR is a body-on-frame vehicle with steel body panels and a 4-cylinder diesel with a 5-speed manual transmission. But it’s not street legal. It’s only rated for off-road driving and limited to 45 miles-per-hour. The ROXOR will be built in Michigan and Mahindra set up a new powersports dealer network to sell them. Pricing starts at $15,500. Maybe that license from Willy’s explains why they can get away with this thing looking like a copy of the original Jeep.
MERCEDES SHARES ELECTRIC BUS DETAILS
Mercedes is sharing more information about its Citaro electric bus. It’s powered by lithium-ion battery packs up to 243 kWh, which are split into different modules. The standard bus has four battery modules in the rear and two on the roof. An additional two or four modules can be added to the roof if needed. The company says it has a range of 150 kilometers in the summer or about 93 miles. The all-electric Citaro makes its world premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in September.
Lots of people scoff at the idea of autonomous passenger drones, but coming up next, we’ll tell you why Porsche thinks they’re a good idea.
STEER-BY-WIRE FROM NEXTEER
We continue to show you the technology coming out of the supplier industry, and the latest development that caught our eye is the steer-by-wire system from Nexteer. There is no steering column with this system, only an electronic connection. Getting rid of the column provides packaging and safety benefits such as automated emergency steering. It also allows the steering wheel to easily retract up against the instrument panel for Level 4 autonomous driving. You can choose to have the steering wheel turn as it maneuvers in Level 4 driving or keep it motionless, what Nexteer calls Quiet Wheel. It also provides dynamic variable steering ratio, where the ratio changes depending on whether you’re driving out on the open road or in a parking lot. Nexteer says the biggest challenge was calibrating the steering feel, to provide the proper feedback depending on whether you’re on dry pavement, on rainy roads or on snow. But the company says it’s pleased with the results. You can choose the feel you want or let the system do it automatically.
PORSCHE INTERESTED IN PASSENGER DRONES
The race to develop passenger drones just got a lot more interesting. Detlev von Platen, the head of sales for Porsche, says the automaker is interested in developing passenger drones. Porsche is not the only automaker interested in doing this. Daimler already invested in a German drone company called Volocopter. The Chinese automaker Geely bought the American company Terrafugia. And Ital Design, which is owned by Volkswagen, is partnering with Airbus to develop a passenger drone it calls Pop.Up. These drones will be autonomous, so you don’t need a pilot’s license to ride in one. They are expected to become quite commonplace over the next decade. If you’d like to learn more, check out the Autoline This Week we did on them, show number 2129.
And that brings us to the end of today’s show, thanks for watching.
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John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.