Important Innovations

  Audi, BMW & Daimler Making Major Hydrogen Pushes                                           Source: BMW Hydrogen SUV Europe Joining Japan, South Korea & China in Development of Green Hydrogen Cars Big German automakers, including BMW and Audi, are betting that hydrogen fuel cell technology is extremely important to the future of driving, along with battery electric cars.  The current global consensus is that electric battery vehicles, your current and future EV, are the primary key to the near term, global automotive future.  But the new twist from top automotive executives is the growing support building around the upcoming emergence of hydrogen powered cars, which are clean, zero emissions and much quicker to re-fuel.  BMW and Audi, in particular, are ramping up their hydrogen vehicle development plans. They know that EVs remain a big part of the nearer zero emissions future and are building a portfolio of EVs. But they are signing on to a longer term strategy that hydrogen

Daimler & China's Geely to Develop Next-G Combustion Engine                                                Source:  2021 Mercedes New Engine for Hybrids German based automotive company Daimler and China's automaker Geely have just announced a partnership to develop a next generation combustion engine for use in hybrid vehicles.  The surprise announcement came as many governments, including the European Union, are tightening regulations on auto emissions.  Daimler says the new engine will be modular and highly efficient.  It will be manufactured in both China and Europe for use in hybrid drivetrains. Daimler Saving Money Daimler sets the bar in global automotive innovation and luxury. Geely is a huge automotive powerhouse.  It owns Volvo, the US based flying car company Terrafugia, Geely Auto, Lotus, Proton and has a 9.69% stake in Daimler.  According to the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, this partnership with Geely will save Daimler $119 million in developing the n

  Partner to Develop Self-Driving Semi Trucks                                                            Source:  Daimler Trucks and Waymo Driverless Big Rigs Daimler and Alphabet/Google Waymo announced today that they are collaborating on the development of self-driving Class 8 semi trucks.  Specifically, they plan on incorporating Waymo's automated system into Daimler's Freightliner Cascadia semi trucks.  These are very big rigs capable of hauling 33,000 pounds. Big Win for Waymo This is a big win for Waymo which has been trying to collaborate with major, established automakers.  Waymo CEO John Krafcik, during a conference call about the deal, said it will take some time to develop the braking, steering and other technologies needed to bring fully self-driving semi trucks to market in high volume.   Highly Competitive Traffic with Tesla Daimler and its competitor PACCAR control more than 70% of the Class 8 semi truck market in the US.  But, the competition is heating up.  In

Daimler and Geely Source:  Daimler Global Tie-Ups To Create New EVs German luxury automaker Daimler and China's electric automaker Geely are exploring ways to deepen their cooperation in the research and development of electric vehicles.  The two companies have formed a China based venture to build electric Smart cars.  They've also joined forces to build a premium ride hailing venture.  And, among their projects, each has invested in Volocopter, a state of the art, electric multirotor helicopter/flying taxi service, based in Germany. Geely Operations and Expansions China-based Geely is a global automotive force.  It owns Volvo, Lotus and Terrafugia, the US based flying car company.  It also owns Lynk & Co. based in Sweden. Geely Chairman Li Shufu says he plans to roll out Lynk & Co. cars in Europe sometime in late 2020.  Lynk & Co. says it offers a new kind of mobility: simple pricing, flexible ownership and car sharing.  The vehicles are electric

Daimler and Volvo's New Fuel Cell Joint Venture Source:  Daimler Toyota's Hydrogen Powered Smart City Volvo and Mercedes' parent company Daimler have announced a joint venture to develop and make hydrogen fuel cell systems for big, heavy duty trucks - the biggest polluters on global highways. Daimler's truck division is spearheading the effort.  Volvo is pouring in $652 million for a 50% stake in the venture.  This new JV is an important look at the future of greener highways. Hydrogen's Advantages Electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells have significant advantages.  They provide much longer range, quick refueling times and emit water, not noxious carbon dioxide pollution.  In Japan, both Toyota and Honda are selling fuel cell Electric Vehicles.  In fact, Toyota, in particular, is betting the future will be driven by hydrogen fuel cells.  At the base of Mount Fuji, Toyota is building a sm

Global Electric Vehicle Wars German Engineering Talent Powers Elon Musk's Move to Europe Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has announced that he's starting operations in Germany to produce electric cars and batteries.  This is a tribute to German automation and engineering prowess.  Musk flew in to the US six planeloads of robots and equipment from Germany, in the past year, to accelerate battery production for his luxury electric sedan Model 3.  Germany's automation talent ended bottlenecks in his Tesla plant in California.  It was so successful it's now powering his battery move to Europe via the new operations in Germany. Direct Global Electric Vehicle Competition By opening operations in Germany, Tesla is in direct competition with many of the world's top luxury brands headquartered in Germany, including Audi, BMW and Mercedes.  All of these iconic brands are developing their own electric vehicle models. Electric Vehicle R&D Is Very Expensiv

New Automotive Frontier that's Looking for New Partners Source:  BMW Blog - Car2Go Car2Go Driving FAS Two global luxury brands are leading the way on new, automotive mobility for drivers.  BMW and Daimler have just announced FAS. It's a 50-50 collaboration of Daimler's Car2Go car sharing business with BMW's DriveNow, ParkNow and e-ChargeNow.  This is a burgeoning space for the automotive industry, a menu of new car sharing, parking and electric car recharging services. These mobility services could prove to be the ultimate and most important on the ground driving services for consumers before the era of flying vehicles takes-off by the mid 2020's. FAS Forward FAS is designed to give customers a wide choice across brands for the new menu of services.  Daimler and BMW are looking for collaborators as well as financial investments in the new venture.  The personal mobility space is just starting to accelerate.  These ventures are more traditional, drive on th

Partnering to Develop Self-Driving Cars Source:  BMW Autonomous Concept Car Accelerating Delivery BMW and Daimler have teamed up to deliver autonomous, self driving cars.  They plan to deliver autonomous cars first to Germany's Autobahn in 2024.  The two automotive giants have signed a long term agreement and will combine 1200 experts from both companies to develop the vehicles.  Their goals are to speed up development and share the very high expense of developing self-driving vehicles. Source:  Mercedes Autonomous Concept Car Level 4 The two companies plan to sell cars equipped with Level 4 self-driving technology.  That means the vehicle can drive on highways and park without any intervention from a human who will sit behind the wheel. Robo Taxis Daimler and BMW are also engaged in discussions to develop robo taxis for urban areas.  A partnership trend is developing in the automotive industry because of the high money investment needed to develop electric and a

Daimler's Semi that's Semi-Autonomous Source:  Daimler's Cascadia Big Semi-Autonomous Semi Truck Daimler has introduced another notable piece of automotive engineering innovation.  A semi-truck that can haul 80,000 pounds that is semi-autonomous  It's great innovation that can make our roads safer.  For an important news blog on it, go to Important Innovations Collection: Semi-Autonomous Semi-Truck : Daimler's Breakthrough:  New Cascadia Source:  Daimler's Cascadia Semi that's Semi-Autonomous Daimler's Freightliner...  It's by my journalist colleague Ed Kane, who is also the author of six books on innovation across industries   amazon.com/author/ekane