AD #2705 – Hyundai Autonomous Service, Wozniak No Longer Bullish About AVs, BorgWarner Creates Electric Ariel Nomad

This is Autoline Daily reporting on all aspects of the global automotive industry.

UAW STRIKE ENDS WITH LOST PROFITS
That UAW strike against General Motors sure was expensive. Merrill Lynch estimates GM lost 300,000 production vehicles and $3 billion in profits. The Anderson Economic Group estimates that 75,000 supplier workers were laid off. They lost about a month’s worth of wages, which must be financially devastating for them. GM’s suppliers lost hundreds of millions. They’re cutting budgets and delaying capital investments to make up for that. And according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, the communities and states where GM’s plants are located, collectively lost a couple of hundred million dollars in taxes. We here at Autoline are all in favor of autoworkers getting a raise, but there’s got to be a better way to do it than torching the countryside.

CHINESE MODEL 3s WAITING FOR OK TO SELL
The first Tesla’s made in China are Model 3s equipped with Autopilot. They’re priced just over $50,000, which is about $4,000 more than the cheapest model it sold before, but that version did not have Autopilot. While Tesla received certification to build cars in China, it’s still waiting for approval to sell its China-made cars.

DAIMLER TO SELL CARBON NEUTRAL TRUCKS BY 2039
A number of major cities have said they will ban vehicles with internal combustion engines in the future and companies are making changes to meet those demands. Daimler Trucks & Buses says it will only offer vehicles that are CO2-neutral during driving operations by 2039 in Europe, Japan and North America. It also says its European plants will be CO2-neutral by 2022 with all other plants to follow.

WOZNIAK NO LONGER BULLISH ABOUT AUTONOMY
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, used to be a huge proponent of autonomous cars. But Wards reports that the Woz says they will never happen in his lifetime. He says AVs are just too hard to do. But we would point out that autonomous vehicles are already in service. Phoenix, Detroit, Miami, Las Vegas and Singapore are a few of the cities where AVs are already in operation. But they are geo-fenced and operate at low speeds. Woz is right that it’s going to be years before Level 5 AVs are available in dealers’ showrooms. But we think he’ll still be alive when that happens.

HYUNDAI LAUNCHES AUTONOMOUS RIDE-SHARING SERVICE
This just in. Hyundai is launching a free autonomous ride-sharing service, called BotRide, in Irvine, California. It uses Hyundai Kona EVs equipped with hardware and software from a company called Pony.ai. The service sounds quite simple to use. A smartphone app directs users to nearby stops for pick up and drop off and multiple people are able to share the same vehicle. Hyundai says it wants to study consumer behavior in an autonomous ride-sharing environment, learn about ecosystems, where the vehicles travel and optimize the customer experience.

DENSO SHOWS OFF AV TECH IN TOKYO
At the Tokyo Motor Show, Denso is demonstrating some of the AV development its working on. It’s all part of a project called J-quAD DYNAMICS that involves Toyota and four of its keiretsu partners, Denso, Aisin, JTEKT and Advics. The goal is to develop highly reliable autonomous vehicles.

TOYOTA LAUNCHES CAR SHARING SERVICE
Toyota announced the launch of a drive share program called “Toyota Share” which allows dealers to connect their fleet of cars with other dealers. The company also announced its rental car service “Chokunori” using driverless cars. Toyota Share allows dealers and rental agencies to maintain the same model for customers in every city while also maintaining similar rates. Customers will download an app to order and unlock their vehicles. The “Chokunori” rental service is for unmanned vehicles. Toyota Share allows customers to rent for up to 3 days, while those opting for “Chokunori” can practically lease a car for a whole month. Toyota is showing off both of its car sharing and rental programs at the Tokyo Motor Show this week.

BORGWARNER CREATES HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC ARIEL NOMAD
BorgWarner is showing off its EV knowhow in a high-voltage, all-electric demonstration vehicle. It’s a modified Ariel Nomad which is equipped with a number of technologies. It’s rear-wheel drive system features two 250kW electric motors, which drive each wheel. The thermal management system features a pump that pushes coolant through the batteries and inverter that uses air to remove the heat. And thanks to its electric powertrain steering response is improved thanks to torque vectoring, which is able to provide forward motion and regenerative braking. BorgWarner chose an Ariel Nomad to modify because its open-air design made it easier to install and remove components. It was also much faster to put together. It only took six months to build its demonstration vehicle, while a traditional car would have taken a year or two to develop.

And that brings us to the end of today’s report. Thanks for watching.