Look ma, no hands

Look ma, no hands

 August 19, 2021  

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Happy Thursday! We hope everyone is having a great week and about ready for the weekend. We have a fantastic newsletter this week.

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Test Your Knowledge

When was the first electric vehicle created?

  1. 1922

  2. 1995

  3. 1832

  4. 2008

EV Headlines

Synergy

Norway is taking the lead in electric vehicle sales worldwide, which may give the rest of us a glimpse of what vehicle markets can expect in future trends. In 2020, all-electric cars hit a record 54% market share of Norway’s total new cars sales. Norway is also currently on track to exceed those results in 2021. The best selling-car in Norway? The Tesla Model 3. So popular that it sold out in June and there were no new shipments in July (Norway imports all of its EVs). The good news is that the Tesla Model Y is coming to Norway. Will it top the Model 3 in sales? In other EV News

  • Fort Worth is offering tax abatements and grants that will be capped at $440,000,000 to lure Rivian to TX. To further its incentives, Fort Worth is also offering a 15-year economic development grant to reduce its tax burden by 85%. Tarrant county is also providing incentives through tax abatements. Rivian would receive a 70% tax abatement for the first 10 years which would amount to $35.8 million. Enticing.

  • Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working with Powdermet, Inc., a nanomaterials and advanced materials research and development company, to develop a motor that uses abundant metals versus rare earth metals.

  • Automotive component supplier Brose is presenting a thermal management system that can increase the range of an EV by 15%. The system controls the heat exchange between outside air, the AC system, and other components.

  • The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, launched the Electrified Dealer Program in July, starting its own legislation to support EVs. It encourages dealerships to increase their EV inventory in exchange for free marketing.

  • Ludhiana, a city in India, plans to build 10 EV charging stations under India’s National Clean Air Program.

  • Twin Metals Minnesota, a mine in St. Paul, plans on utilizing EVs for mining for its copper-nickel mine near Ely, Minnesota. Using EVs instead of diesel vehicles will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the mine by 65%.

  • The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory breaks down EV Ownership costs in a new study. Hybrid electric vehicles currently tend to be the lowest-cost powertrain overall. Battery electric vehicles will reach cost parity once battery prices decrease.

  • Calculating charging costs as a new EV owner can be confusing, but is very straightforward once you get the hang of it.

Autonomous News

May Mobility

Brush up on your different Levels of Automation:

Level 0- No automation: This describes most cars in 2021. These may include some assistance, such as backup cameras and collision warnings.

Level 1- Driver Assistance: Cars may have some self-controlling features. Adaptive cruise control with controlled braking and acceleration falls into this category.

Level 2- Partial Automation: The vehicle has an awareness of the environment around it. They also can perform longitude and latitude control.

Level 2+- Advanced Partial Automation: Similar to Level 2, Level 2+ has more complex autonomous performance, such as traffic jam assistance.

Level 3- Conditional Automation: The driver can disengage from the car entirely. Occasionally, drivers may need to step in just in case of a system failure.

Level 4- High Automation: This type of vehicle is a completely driverless car. The vehicle has complex technology to process its environment and handle any driving function.

Level 5- Full Automation: With Level 5, there is no human interference at all. The driver can provide voice commands to tell the car where to go. As of 2021, Level 5 cars are not on the market.

AV Snapshots

  • May Mobility, an innovative autonomous vehicle technology, and shuttle operations company, has announced an on-demand AV shuttle service in Grand Rapids, MI. Part of their Phase 2 plan includes an autonomous Polaris that is wheelchair accessible and a Lexus RX450h.

  • Chinese autonomous driving startup QCraft raises $100 million for the series A+ financing round.

  • Project Endeavor is offering 100 free rides in an autonomous vehicle in Greenwich, U.K to provide the government with AV data. The free rides will be given throughout August.

  • Qualum and its partners like Spoke are proposing a safety standard called VRU2X where AVs can talk to non-AVs. VRU2X will initially target bicycles, motorcycles, and delivery vehicles.

  • Mobileye, a division of Intel, will quietly test a second AV in NYC in September. The company has been testing one AV in New York since June.

  • Ecopia AI, a Toronto leader in digital mapping, is working on high-definition 3D maps of the city to improve AV technology for technology developers.

 

EV & AV Podcasts, Videos & More

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