China Automobile Industry, Technology (NEV, Driverless, etc): News & Images

[TaiShang]

baidu made the right choice to open their self-driving tech. now their apollo is becoming more and more like android of autonomous vehicles. google didn't see that coming

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Hyundai Motor agrees partnership with AI startup and signs deal with Baidu on driverless tech

June 29, 2018 by David Edwards

Hyundai Motor has agreed a new partnership with Chinese startup DeepGlint, which provides artificial intelligence products and solutions for the security and transportation market

https://roboticsandautomationnews.c...gns-deal-with-baidu-on-driverless-tech/17921/
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Ford, Baidu Tie-Up to Put AI on the Road

Jun 28, 2018 09:42 PM

Baidu Inc. has struck a deal with Ford Motor Co. under which the second-largest U.S. carmaker will incorporate the search engine company’s artificial intelligence (AI) solutions into its Chinese vehicles.

Ford and Baidu will jointly explore cooperation across a variety of domains, including connectivity and digital services, AI, and digital marketing, according to a joint statement released Wednesday.

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2018-06-28/ford-baidu-tie-up-to-put-ai-on-the-road-101287166.html
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Honda joins Baidu's autonomous driving alliance

TOKYO -- Honda Motor is joining a consortium led by Chinese tech giant Baidu aimed at advancing autonomous driving technology, hoping to carve out a share as China races to become the world’s largest market for self-driving vehicles.

The "Apollo Plan," launched in July 2017 by the internet service company, receives state funding as a critical national AI project. Road testing of commercial vehicles will start this year, with passenger vehicle test runs slated to begin next year.

Honda is the first Japanese automaker to join the initiative, which counts Ford Motor and Daimler, as well as U.S. technology companies Nvidia and Intel, among its roughly 100 members. From Japan, consumer electronics maker Pioneer and semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics are also taking part.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Honda-joins-Baidu-s-autonomous-driving-alliance
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BMW to join board of Baidu's autonomous driving platform Apollo

July 10, 2018 / 5:36 PM / Updated 5 hours ago

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - BMW signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with tech giant Baidu to join its autonomous driving platform Apollo as a board member, BMW said on Tuesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...na-as-trade-war-hits-car-makers-idUSKBN1JZ1AK
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Suning Logistics Signs Strategic Partnership with Baidu Apollo to Accelerate Self-Driving Technology

NANJING, China, July 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Suning Logistics, a subsidiary of Suning Holdings group, today revealed it has signed a strategic partnership with Baidu Apollo to accelerate the commercial application of self-driving technology which could see the mass production of unmanned delivery vehicles as early as 2020.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...lerate-self-driving-technology-300678305.html
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Valeo Joins Baidu's Apollo Autonomous Driving Platform
Jul 05, 2018 1:47 PM PT

Valeo today announced Wednesday that it has entered into strategic cooperation with Apollo, the open autonomous driving platform created by Baidu, China's largest Internet search provider.

http://www.futurecar.com/2440/Valeo-Joins-Baidus-Apollo-Autonomous-Driving-Platform
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Baidu enters Japan's self-driving bus market with SoftBank

July 03, 2018 18:01 JST

BEIJING -- Chinese internet search leader Baidu is tying up with SB Drive, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, to enter Japan's autonomous vehicle market.

Baidu's Apollo project to develop a platform for autonomous vehicles includes Ford, Honda Motor and approximately other 100 global companies as partners. Its alliance with SB Drive will involve use of the Japanese company's operations management system among other technologies.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Bu...Japan-s-self-driving-bus-market-with-SoftBank
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No wonder the US is scared hell of Made in China 2025.

They are losing monopolies.

With the end of monopolies, the facade of free trade is down, as well.

Yet, the US is not the only place rest of the world can make money.

***

China invests 240 million euros to build Germany’s largest lithium battery plant

(People's Daily Online) 17:27, July 10, 2018

A Chinese enterprise signed an agreement with the Thuringian State government of Germany on July 9 to invest 240 million euros (about $282 million) to build the country’s largest lithium battery production plant, China News reported.

According to the agreement, the Chinese vehicle battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) will invest and develop a battery production base as well as an intelligent manufacturing technology research and development center in the state.

The production base will mainly deal with research and development production of lithium batteries. It is set to begin operation in 2021 and achieve a capacity of 14 GWh in 2022, which is expected to offer around 600 local jobs. The base will provide ancillary products for world-renowned automobile enterprises including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Jaguar Land Rover.

Zeng Yuqun, president of CATL, disclosed that the enterprise hopes to bring world-leading power battery technologies to Germany, to better meet the demand of European customers.

CATL’s investment is one of the most important to the state over the past decade. It has great significance not only for CATL itself, but also for the state and the new energy automobile industry of Europe, noted Thuringian Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee.

“We are glad that CATL chose Germany as its investment destination,” said Robert Hermann, CEO of Germany Trade & Invest, adding that Germany has been vigorously promoting development of electric vehicles recently.

CATL’s investment in Germany will not only bring it closer to European electric vehicle manufacturers, but also make it accessible to local superior employees and world-class infrastructure of the country, the CEO noted.

CATL, founded in 2011, focuses on R&D, manufacturing and selling of power batteries and energy storage systems. In 2017, it occupied 17 percent of global power battery market shares, ranking it first in the world. The enterprise has now set up branches in many countries, including Germany, France, the United States, Canada and Japan.

 

[Hu Yao]

You will get what you paid. If you wanna cost no more than half of the price of a Parado, don't expect too much.

Wanna a better car? you can look in to ES8 and so on.

 

[TaiShang]

Geely Expects Net Profit to Rise 50% for the First Half of 2018

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. said it expects its net profit to rise 50% to 6.51 billion yuan ($972 million) for the six months ended 30 June.

The increase was largely due to the strength in overall sales volume and the improvement in “product mix” during the period, China’s largest private automaker said in a statement on Wednesday.

https://k.caixinglobal.com/#anchor1531363860000

Geely Expects Net Profit to Rise 50% for the First Half of 2018

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. said it expects its net profit to rise 50% to 6.51 billion yuan ($972 million) for the six months ended 30 June.

The increase was largely due to the strength in overall sales volume and the improvement in “product mix” during the period, China’s largest private automaker said in a statement on Wednesday.

https://k.caixinglobal.com/#anchor1531363860000

 

[JSCh]

Call it car, call it aircraft, but Transition is in the wings
July 21, 2018 by Nancy Owano, Tech Xplore

Credit: Terrafugia​

The first flying car? Yes, we agree. The kind of image we associate with an animated movie or new video game.

Unless you go on a vendor's website and you discover this is for real, and stay tuned for next year. The name of the company is Woburn, Massachusetts-based Terrafugia and they're saying, get ready for next year when the first cars swing into production mode—that is, the first production models will go on sale in 2019.

This what the company stated: "Terrafugia, Inc. announced new features in the Transition production vehicle, a two-seat auto and aircraft, including updates to the interior, safety systems, motor, and flight instrumentation. The latest features and systems will be incorporated and verified in the next test vehicles. The first production vehicles will come to market in 2019."

The Terrafugia CEO is Chris Jaran. He said in a Bloomberg interviewearlier this year that the product has wings that fold up; you park it in your garage, and when you are ready to get moving, you drive it to your nearby airport, unfold the wings, and in less than a minute take off to wherever you want to go.

If you want to call it car or aircraft, either way, it is a two-seater. And if you want to call the flying car by its official name, it is Transition.

News and Features Editor @ Roadshow, Kyle Hyatt, weighed in. "The Terrafugia Transition is a combination hybrid-electric road vehicle and pusher-style propeller-driven aircraft. It definitely looks more aircraft than car."

Now, if you want a description of which target users are likely to buy one, don't ask Hyatt because he would not know where to begin. "Like most two-in-one designs, it doesn't seem like it's particularly great at either flying or driving," he said, and "it's hard to imagine who the buyer for this would actually be."

Meanwhile, one might look for these features: The motor's hybrid mode involves an internal combustion engine and a LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate chemistry) battery. The throttle incorporates a boost feature for a brief burst of extra power while flying.

As Jon Fingas in Engadget interpreted this, "the Transition now drives in hybrid mode with a combination of a conventional gas-powered motor and a safer-than-usual lithium-ion phosphate battery."

In the air, the Transition will have a cruise range of 400 miles. The top speeds are up to 100 miles per hour. The Transition on the ground will move at highway speeds.

CEO Jaran said in the Bloomberg interview that because they are a flying car they have to meet the regulations of the National Highway safety group as well as the FAA. He said they built in the safety aspects and safety represents quite a list because they have to satisfy safety items for both types of transport—air bags, seat belts, parachute.

Terrafugia is partnering with suppliers for avionics and parachutes. Dynon is providing the EFIS (Electrical Flight Information Systems) and BRS is providing a parachute system.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, described as a global automotive group. ZGH is described on its website as a pioneer in the Chinese and global automotive industry.

"In line with our commitment to innovation and new mobility solutions, we acquired American flying car company, Terrafugia which plans to launch the world's first commercially available flying passenger vehicle in 2019 and the first Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) flying car in 2023."



Call it car, call it aircraft, but Transition is in the wings | Tech Xplore

 

[JSCh]

Hozon Kicks Off Mass Production With First All-Electric Neta N01
WU ZIYE
DATE: MON, 07/30/2018 - 11:06 / SOURCE:YICAI

Hozon Kicks Off Mass Production With First All-Electric Neta N01​

(Yicai Global) July 30 -- Chinese startup Hozon New Energy Automobile rolled out its first electric vehicle ready for mass production.

Hozon revealed its first Neta N01 at a factory in Tongxiang, the Zhejiang-based electric car firm said in a statement. The sales are expected to start by the third quarter this year.

Hozon's goal is to sell more than 100,000 cars in total by 2020 and strive to rank among the top ten new energy vehicle manufacturers and among the top three new auto firms in China, company President Zhang Yong told Yicai Global.

Rivals in the Hot NEV Market

This year marks a milestone for China’s online order-based car startups as Qiantu Motor, Xiaopeng Motors, as well as Nio who all have begun to mass-produce their first models. Two other competitors, Byton and Singulato Motors, are still gathering their forces to produce en masse.

Hozon’s second and third models will enter the market by the end of 2019 and by 2020, Zhang said. The cars that the firm will roll out in the next three years will be able to stretch up to 600 kilometers on one charge and the power consumption for 100 km will be as low as 10 kilowatt-hours. Neta N01 can go over 300 kilometers on one load according to the New European Driving Cycle test and recharges up to 80 percent within 30 minutes.

Hozon has received over 54,000 supply orders for Neta N01, while 42 percent of these orders are for corporate clients and the rest is for individual consumers.

Targeting Wealthy Youth

The target groups range from well-off urban populations, including migrants, who value freshness and new user experiences, as well as youth in small towns who are upgrading their consumption habits, Zhang said. The prices start below CNY200,000 (USD29,400).

Hozon's Tongxiang factory was completed this May, with a planned annual capacity of 80,000 vehicles through an investment of CNY1,2 million (USD170,000) during the first phase.

Hozon has an independent production license, which is a major advantage in comparison to rivals who mostly rely on manufacturing through contracting. Whether the firm will become successful, the market will be the final judge, Luo Lei, deputy head of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told Yicai Global.

Consumer response will be the top priority following the debut of a new car, Luo said, adding that for instance Tesla gained more popularity after the deliveries kicked off.

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese car maker FAW to unveil new Hongqi SUV models

Xinhua | Updated: 2018-07-31

The E-HS3, the first Hongqi electric SUV from Chinese automaker FAW Group, is on a display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, April 26, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

CHANGCHUN - Chinese automaker FAW Group is set to unveil two new Hongqi SUV models to target private buyers, the group said Tuesday.

The two luxury SUV models Hongqi HS7 and HS5 are scheduled to debut in 2019. Meanwhile, the company's first Hongqi electric SUV, unveiled at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition this year, is also scheduled to hit the market in 2019.

The first Hongqi, or Red Flag, car was made in 1958. Hongqi is one of China's iconic sedan brands and has been used as the vehicle for parades at national celebrations.

Established in 1953 in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, FAW was the first automaker in China.

 

[JSCh]

Are diesel’s days numbered? A view from a trip to BYD’s electric bus factory
Buses emit a lot of carbon dioxide, but BYD is making our fleets cleaner.

MEGAN GEUSS - 8/14/2018, 10:10 PM

Enlarge / The lines of sight in the BYD factory are all like this: a row of buses stretching to the horizon.
Megan Geuss

LANCASTER, CALIF.—One single diesel transit bus consumes the equivalent of 10,440 gallons of gasoline a year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Replacing that diesel-burning transit bus with an electric bus has some obvious benefits. Electric buses improve local air quality, because the particulates that come from burning diesel don't exist. And, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, an electric bus runs cleaner than a diesel bus no matter where you plug it in on the US grid, even if you're plugging into a grid fed by fossil fuels.

In the desert north of Los Angeles, a Chinese company called BYD (short for "Build Your Dreams") is banking on transit managers realizing this. BYD offered Ars a tour of its Lancaster facility in July, and we found a bustling factory floor filled with 900 workers who were building, welding, shaping, and painting about 90 buses in various stages of completion. The company's workforce, recently unionized, is expected to grow to 1,200 in the near future.

So far, BYD has put more than 250 electric buses on US roads, and, as of mid-July, the company had more than 400 orders in the pipeline. That's a significant number of buses in this nascent industry: last December, Reuters estimated that only 300 public buses on US roads were electric. Of course, BYD's numbers include publicly and privately owned electric buses, while Reuters' statistic only tallies public buses. Still, the numbers show just how aggressively the electric bus industry is growing, considering the size of the market just six months ago.

BYD isn't the only company making electric buses for North America: companies like Proterra and New Flyer Industries have also been churning out their fair share of battery-operated vehicles. As cities, counties, companies, and colleges try to move away from diesel, factories like BYD's stand to grow quickly.

----> Are diesel’s days numbered? A view from a trip to BYD’s electric bus factory | Ars Technica

 

[JSCh]

Geely, Proton to set up joint venture for expanding global market
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-19 02:06:48|Editor: yan


HANGZHOU, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Malaysian car manufacturer Proton on Saturday agreed to establish a joint venture to deepen their cooperation in new energy vehicles and promote Proton cars in global market.

Geely and Proton will each hold a 50 percent stake in the joint venture. The new company will have a comprehensive system for motor vehicle developing, purchasing and producing.

Detail of the agreement, such as market development plan, car models and plant location, still needs further negotiations.

While Geely is willing to help Proton with innovation and market expansion, it is also expecting to tap the Southeast Asian market through this cooperation, according to Yang Xueliang, spokesperson for Geely.

Last year, Geely acquired 49.9 percent of Proton from Malaysia's leading conglomerate DRB-HICOM that owns 100 percent of Proton.

 

[Jlaw]

Geely, Proton to set up joint venture for expanding global market
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-19 02:06:48|Editor: yan


HANGZHOU, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Malaysian car manufacturer Proton on Saturday agreed to establish a joint venture to deepen their cooperation in new energy vehicles and promote Proton cars in global market.

Geely and Proton will each hold a 50 percent stake in the joint venture. The new company will have a comprehensive system for motor vehicle developing, purchasing and producing.

Detail of the agreement, such as market development plan, car models and plant location, still needs further negotiations.

While Geely is willing to help Proton with innovation and market expansion, it is also expecting to tap the Southeast Asian market through this cooperation, according to Yang Xueliang, spokesperson for Geely.

Last year, Geely acquired 49.9 percent of Proton from Malaysia's leading conglomerate DRB-HICOM that owns 100 percent of Proton.

Proton, an endless vacuum that sucks money into Oblivion.

 

[JSCh]

Japan, China join forces to standardize EV quick chargers：The Asahi Shimbun
By SATOSHI KIMURA/ Staff Writer
August 23, 2018 at 15:25 JST

Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf electric vehicle is recharged at an event in 2017. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)​

Industry groups from Japan and China are teaming up to standardize next-generation quick chargers for electric vehicles (EVs), which are expected to become the global norm.

Japan's CHAdeMO Association said Aug. 22 that it will develop the standards with the China Electricity Council and aims to put them into practical use by 2020. The two groups will sign an agreement in Beijing on Aug. 28.

Japan and China together control more than 95 percent of the global market for ultra-fast chargers.

If China, the world's largest EV market, adopts the same standards as Japan, Japanese automakers will be able to cut costs on developing quick chargers.

It will also become easier for Japanese makers of charging equipment to break into the Chinese market.

The CHAdeMO Association and the China Electricity Council plan to develop the unified standards for an electricity output of more than 500 kilowatts, 10 times more than the current output under the Japanese standards, called CHAdeMO.

Once the next-generation standards are commercialized, a single device will be able to simultaneously quick-charge several electric vehicles.

In addition, the time required for charging will be slashed from the current 30 minutes or so if the performance of onboard batteries improves.

A three-way competition has been developing over the fast charging standards among China's GB/T, CHAdeMO, and the Combined Charging System (Combo), promoted by the United States and Europe.

As of April 2018, GB/T led the market with 220,000 chargers installed, followed by 18,000 units for CHAdeMO and 7,000 units for Combo.

Japan has provided basic technologies for GB/T, which has much in common with CHAdeMO.

 

[JSCh]

AUGUST 24, 2018 / 12:38 PM / UPDATED 35 MINUTES AGO
Waymo sets up subsidiary in Shanghai as Google plans China push
Reuters Staff

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) self-driving unit Waymo has set up a subsidiary in Shanghai, according to a business registration filing, the latest sign that the U.S. internet giant is attempting to make new inroads into China.

Waymo established a wholly-owned company called Huimo Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co on May 22 in Shanghai’s free trade zone with registered capital of 3.5 million yuan ($509,165), according to China’s National Enterprise Information Publicity System.

Its scope includes business and logistics consultancy as well as services related to the design and testing of self-driving car parts, said the document, which also listed the firm’s legal representative as Kevin Bradley Vosen.

Waymo on Friday confirmed that it had set up a legal entity in China several months ago and has people working there.

Alphabet Inc’s Google, which quit China’s search engine market in 2010, has been actively seeking ways to re-enter the sector in the country where many of its products are blocked by regulators.

In August, Reuters reported that the company plans to launch a version of its search engine in China that will block some websites and search terms. Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has told staff that development is in an early stage.

Google has also joined an investment in Chinese live-stream mobile game platform Chushou and launched an artificial intelligence game on Tencent Holdings Ltd’s (0700.HK) social media app WeChat.

Waymo’s move also comes as China makes a major push into autonomous smart vehicles to keep pace with the United States in a global race to develop self-driving vehicles.

Earlier this year, Beijing issued licenses to automakers allowing self-driving vehicles to be road-tested in Shanghai, including Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (600104.SS) and electric vehicle start-up NIO.

($1 = 6.8740 Chinese yuan)

Reporting by Yilei Sun in BEIJING and Brenda Goh in SHANGHAI; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar


Waymo sets up subsidiary in Shanghai as Google plans China push | Reuters

 

[TaiShang]

Industry groups from Japan and China are teaming up to standardize next-generation quick chargers for electric vehicles (EVs), which are expected to become the global norm.

If China and Japan teams up, it indeed becomes the global norm.

Great cooperation.

 

[JSCh]

China's green push! The bus runs on hydrogen and emits only water
New China TV
Published on Aug 26, 2018

Two hydrogen-powered buses have hit the road in Central China's Zhengzhou. The vehicle emits nothing but water vapor. Watch to find out more.

 

[JSCh]

China's Biggest Drink Maker Wahaha to Develop Electric Cars
LIAO SHUMIN
DATE: MON, 09/10/2018 - 12:24 / SOURCE:YICAI

A unit of China's largest beverage firm Hangzhou Wahaha Group will tap the red-hot new energy vehicle sector.​

(Yicai Global) Sept.10 -- A unit of China's largest beverage firm Hangzhou Wahaha Group will tap the red-hot new energy vehicle sector.

Zhejiang Wahaha Chuangye Investment has set up a new subsidiary called Zhejiang Deqing Wahaha Technology Innovation Center whose business scope involves NEV manufacturing, the national corporate register shows. The new company is located in the Moganshan National High-tech Zone in the parent's eastern home province, with a registered capital of CNY50 million (USD7.3 million).

The company’s line of business covers energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies related to new energy vehicles and smart cars, as well as new-generation information, sensors, advanced equipment manufacturing, and new materials. The firm will also explore the fields of bioengineering, biopharmaceuticals, and development of medical apparatus.

Ample government subsidies have accelerated the development of China's NEV manufacturing market to become the world's largest while making these environmentally cleaner options more affordable for buyers. In the past two years, a large number of startups such as NIO and Xpeng Motors, as well as home equipment makers including Gree Electric Appliances and TV maker Skyworth Group, and even real estate developers such as Evergrande Group and Wanda Group are embarking on the electric car business to find new sources of profit.

 

[Beast]

China's green push! The bus runs on hydrogen and emits only water
New China TV
Published on Aug 26, 2018

Two hydrogen-powered buses have hit the road in Central China's Zhengzhou. The vehicle emits nothing but water vapor. Watch to find out more.

Hydrogen propulsion will not succeed. As technology advances. Battery capacity will increase, charging time will decrease. While electric charging point can be cheaply build upon electric grid.

These cannot be say for hydrogen which need to build dedicated station like kiosk petrol station which no government willing to invest