AD #2372 – Porsche Mission E Now the Taycan, AxleTech Develops New E-Axle, UAW Facing Tumultuous Convention

On today’s show…Porsche comes up with a clunky name for the Mission E…the UAW could have a raucous convention on its hands…and hub motors for electric cars from China could revolutionize automotive design. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

UAW FACING TUMULTUOUS CONVENTION
Delegates from the UAW are meeting in Detroit this week to select new officers to run the union, and it could be a tumultuous convention. A cloud of corruption hangs over the union, with several union officials convicted of embezzling money from training centers, and others under investigation. Some FCA workers feel that the UAW was bought off by the company and that their contract is not as good as it should have been. There is also a strong contingent of Trump supporters in the union who do not like the political position of the UAW, which exclusively supports the Democrats. But Dennis Williams, the outgoing president of the UAW, recently praised Trump’s tough talk on raising tariffs on imported cars. And we’ve never seen that before, a UAW president praising the policies of a Republican president.

THEY NAMED IT WHAT?
When Porsche unveiled the concept version of its electric vehicle, they called it the Mission E; not a bad name. But when the production version debuts it will be named the Taycan. Some wag already nicknamed it the TinCan. Porsche says that Taycan means a lively, young horse, which is a reference to its logo. The Taycan will have over 600 horsepower and 300-mile range, and will go on sale near the end of 2019.

WEEKEND RACING RESULTS
In racing news over the weekend, Sebastian Vettel dominated the Canadian Grand Prix in his Ferrari and also took the lead in the driver’s championship by one point. But the race was a bit of a snooze fest in that the top three finished exactly as they qualified. Meanwhile, the IndyCar race at the Texas Motor Speedway was an action-packed spectacle that saw Scott Dixon take his Honda powered car to first place and move into the championship lead. Dixon now has the third most wins in IndyCar racing, behind only A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. And Clint Bowyer won the rain-shortened NASCAR race at the Michigan International Speedway in his Ford Fusion. In fact, the Stewart-Haas team took the top three positions in Fords.   

Still to come…a look at a new e-axle for military and commercial vehicles.

AXLETECH DEVELOPS NEW E-AXLE
The supplier company AxleTech just introduced an e-axle concept for heavy-duty trucks. It bolts electric motors directly to the axle, which eliminates the need for an engine and gearboxes. It can be used with full battery electric vehicles, fuel-cell range extender vehicles or ICE range extender vehicles. It’s for vehicles with a gross combination weight rating of up to 58,000 pounds. The axle was also designed for military vehicles and has the ability to provide improved stealth characteristics, lower heat signatures, and improved fuel savings to logistics vehicles, tactical vehicles, and armored personnel carriers.

NEW HUB MOTOR READY FOR MASS PRODUCTION
And speaking of electric propulsion, hub motors could revolutionize the way cars are designed. Hub motors are electric motors mounted in the hub of the wheels on a vehicle. If the batteries or fuel cell is mounted in the floor of a vehicle, it frees up tremendous space for the interior. Elaphe is the name of a Slovenian company which claims to be the global leader of hub motors. It’s showing its latest system in a BMW X6 and says it’s ready for mass production. Each motor is mounted between the rim and the brakes and can produce up to 100 kW. To put that in perspective a little, the Chevy Bolt EV has one 150 kW electric motor. In-wheel electric motors also get rid of friction losses in the driveline. Theoretically, hub motors could even eliminate the steering and brakes.

HONDA LOOKS BACK IN TIME WITH RETRO MOTORCYCLES
Honda is coming out with a couple of retro-styled motorcycles: the Monkey and the Super Cub C125. The Monkey, which harkens back to the early 1960’s, has a 125cc, single-cylinder, four stroke engine, available ABS, and will start at $3,999. The Super Cub C125, which looks like the bike that launched Honda in the American market in the late 1950’s, has a 125cc, air cooled, single-cylinder engine with fuel injection, standard ABS, and will start at $3,599.

Coming up next, GM explains how it was able to make the steering in the Super Cruise so smooth.

GM’S SMOOTH STEERING SUPER CRUISE SYSTEM
We recently got to test out Cadillac’s semi-autonomous Super Cruise system in the CT6. One of the things that impressed us, was how smooth the steering is. Similar systems from other brands tend to be a bit herky-jerky. On last week’s Autoline After Hours, we were joined by Jason Ditman, the Chief Engineer of the Super Cruise, and he explained how they achieved its smooth steering.

(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

Be sure to join us this Thursday for Autoline After Hours when we’ll take a deep dive into an electric Ford Transit developed by a company called Lighting Systems.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.