AD #2729 – China Pushes EV Target Higher, Jaguar F-TYPE Gets Refreshed, New Fuel Injector Cleans Up Diesels

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

UAW MAKES MORE REFORMS
In the wake of its corruption scandal, the UAW has made a number of ethics reforms, but as we reported yesterday, the Justice Department was not impressed. Now the UAW is coming out saying it will implement stringent changes to its financial procedures and processes, which it hopes will result in greater oversight of all expenditures and financial transactions. All these reforms the UAW is making is to avoid a possible takeover by the U.S. government.

SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET SET TO EXPLODE
Cars are being loaded with more and more technology, so it’s not surprising to learn that the market for semiconductors is set to explode over the coming decades. According to a report from KPMG, the automotive semiconductor market is estimated to be worth $40 billion currently, however by 2040 the market is expected to explode to as much as $200 billion. But this projection only includes semiconductors in the vehicle, it doesn’t take into account other automotive applications like EV chargers, infrastructure and the cloud, which means the semiconductor market could be worth even more.

NISSAN WANTS TO RE-EVALUATE ALLIANCE
Yesterday was Nissan’s new CEO Makoto Uchida’s first day on the job and he had some interesting things to say. He said that Nissan would not focus on a possible merger with Renault in the short term, instead looking to repair profitability. And goes on to say things like, “The alliance has to benefit each of its partners…” and “We need to re-evaluate what has worked and what hasn’t worked in the alliance…” Translation: when the company is more stable we want to re-work the alliance because we don’t like the way it’s currently set up. Renault essentially saved Nissan from bankruptcy in 1999 and owns a little over 43% of Nissan’s stock with voting rights on Nissan’s board, while Nissan owns 15% of Renault with no voting rights.

IVECO & NIKOLA TO OFFER EV & FC SEMI
Commercial vehicle maker Iveco and commercial vehicle startup Nikola unveiled their first electric truck. Called the Nikola Tre, it will be offered in pure electric and fuel cell versions and have a range of up to 600 miles. The electric version will be available in 2021 in Europe, while the fuel cell model will launch two years later. Back in September, CNH Industrial, the parent company of Iveco, took a $250 million stake in Nikola and this truck is the first thing to come from that partnership.

CHINA PUSHES EV TARGET HIGHER
China raised the target for the number of electrified vehicles it wants out on its roads. By 2025, 25% of all new car sales have to be all-electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cells. That is up from a 20% target set two years ago but it could be a tough goal to hit. Currently, electrified vehicles only account for 5% of new car sales in China. And earlier this year, the government cut subsidies for EVs because it feared the incentives were creating a bubble. Because of that EV sales have dropped for four months in a row. But this new target shows China is serious about boosting EV sales to help reduce pollution and its reliance on foreign oil.

DAIMLER & GEELY LAUNCH LUXURY RIDE-HAILING SERVICE
And speaking of China, Daimler and Geely launched a ride-hailing joint venture called StarRides which starts in Hangzhou this month. The service will initially have 100 vehicles in its fleet, including the Mercedes S-Class, E-Class and V-Class. StarRides will expand to more cities in China next year.

JAGUAR F-TYPE UPDATES
Jaguar has updated its two-seater F-TYPE. The big change styling wise are the headlights. They’re more level, rather than angling downward from the fender, which allowed Jaguar to design a new clamshell hood. You may also notice a larger grille and that the rear taillights have thinned out. A new supercharged V8 is available that makes over 440 horsepower and can be matched to rear- or all-wheel drive. The F-TYPE R gets a nearly 570 horsepower supercharged V8, which helps return a 3.5 second 0 to 60 time as well as getting new springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and rear knuckles. The interior sees a new 12.3 inch reconfigurable instrument cluster. The new F-TYPE can be ordered now and has a starting price of 54,000 pounds or a little over $70,000.

DAIMLER TEAMS WITH ROLLS ON FUEL CELL SYSTEMS
Here’s an interesting partnership. Daimler is teaming up with Rolls-Royce Power Systems to develop stationary fuel cell systems. They’ll be based off of Daimler’s automotive fuel cell and be used for emergency power supply at places like data centers, which can use up a lot of energy. By using an existing fuel cell system, they’ll save money on development cost and it could be a way for Daimler to add scale to its fuel cell operations.

NEW INJECTOR CLEANS UP DIESELS
In order to meet emission standards with diesel powered cars, automakers began equipping them with exhaust-gas after treatment systems. While they get the job done, the devices add cost and they require fluid fill-ups throughout the year. But now researchers at the Sandia National Lab’s Combustion Research Facility have developed a new fuel injector that can eliminate soot without an exhaust treatment device. It’s a ducted fuel injector that features four to six small tubes or ducts, that direct the air-fuel mixture from the injector to the points of ignition. Sandia researchers say it eliminates 50 to 100% of the soot generated by diesels. It also helps reduce nitrous oxide emissions. The ducted fuel injector is a low-cost solution that can even be retrofitted into older diesel engines. Not only can this be used in passenger vehicles, it can be used in diesel engines that power ships and trains. Sandia says its working with Ford and another manufacturer of off-road equipment to help make the technology a reality.

SAE FINDS PEOPLE MORE ACCEPTING OF AVs AFTER TEST RIDES
When it comes to self-driving cars, the public is very leery about them and don’t trust the vehicles, however most people haven’t been in an autonomous vehicle. That’s why the SAE hosted several events throughout the country to allow the public to experience a self-driving car. And data from the events showed enthusiasm for AVs from the nearly 1,400 participants. 82% were initially excited for self-driving cars and 10% reported higher enthusiasm post-ride. 76% said the experience in a self-driving car is similar to or better than one driven by a human and 37% think they will be safer. While automakers and suppliers are making improvements with self-driving technology, it’ll never catch on if it doesn’t earn public acceptance.

And be sure to join us for Autoline After Hours this Thursday. Our special guest will be Ernie Brink, who is back to share an update on his improvements to the rotary engine. Ernie is a backyard mechanic, but he believes he’s uncovered the Achilles Heel of the rotary and can make it extremely more efficient. That’s this Thursday at 3PM eastern time on our website, Autoline.tv.

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