Automotive

Grid

DiL system cuts physical testing

Horiba MIRA has opened a driving simulator centre in the UK with driver-in-the-loop technology (writes Nick Flaherty). The £4 million centre aims to help established car designers, start-up vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers to develop new vehicles.

Web exclusive

First Frauscher/Porsche eFantom ready for launch

Porsche and Frauscher Shipyard have presented the first production model of their electric 850 Fantom Air. Equipped with powertrain technology from the forthcoming all-electric Porsche Macan, it uses components of the Premium Platform Electric on which the Macan is based. This includes a permanently excited synchronous electric motor, whose peak power for the eFantom has been limited to 400 kW, and the associated power electronics.

Web exclusive

Comau announces automated production system for NIO e-drive systems

Comau has implemented a turnkey solution to automate the manufacturing of NIO’s next-generation e-drive systems. The company says it ensures fast and reliable co-line production for the EV manufacturer’s third-gen induction and permanent magnet...

Web exclusive

Bentley unveils recreation of the Blower by The Little Car Company

Bentley Motors and The Little Car Company has unveiled a road-legal, 85 per cent scale recreation of the most famous Bentley in the world. ‘Blower Jnr’, a recreation of the 1929 4½-litre Supercharged Team Car No. 2 in Bentley’s Heritage Collection, is the first road-legal car from The Little Car Company and the most sophisticated city car ever built.

Grid

Tool chain for ZEVonUDS standard

Vector Informatik has developed a tool chain for the emerging ZEVonUDS standard for onboard diagnostics (OBD) in EVs (writes Nick Flaherty). The standard, SAE J1979-3, details how OBD data is read from vehicles using an external diagnostics device called a scan tool. This can be used to monitor functions in ECUs that have an influence on vehicle efficiency, and the monitoring functions must be available whether emissions are caused directly by an IC engine or indirectly by generating electricity to charge a traction battery in the vehicle.

Web exclusive

Magna launches modular e-decoupling unit for battery EVs

Magna has announced the start of production of a modular e-decoupling unit to support multiple battery EV programmes for a German premium OEM. The unit is an electromechanical device that disconnects an EV’s...

Web exclusive

Head of Bosch Mobility Solutions talks EV tech

Arun Srinivasan, head of Bosch Mobility Solutions in the UK, says that, as a Tier 1 automotive supplier, the company is well-placed to assess which technologies in which sectors are best placed to reduce the environmental impact of road transport, particularly by eliminating tailpipe emissions (writes Peter Donaldson).

Web exclusive

Dürr announces new approach to paint shop energy efficiency

Dürr says its EcoQPower system uses energy flows in a completely new way to make automotive paint shop operations as energy-efficient as possible, by allowing plant operators to move towards electrification.

Web exclusive

ZF presents ‘ultra-compact’ e-drive for passenger cars

ZF has unveiled its electric concept vehicle, the EVbeat, in which the components of an e-driveline have been optimised and combined into a holistic system. These include an ultra-compact 74 kg driveline with a torque density of 70 Nm/kg, holistic thermal management and cloud-networked driveline software. At temperatures around freezing point, the range in real-world operation...

Digest

Clipper Automotive Clipper Cab

This e-taxi, converted from the iconic London black cab, is set for real-world trials. Peter Donaldson explains how it’s being developed The urban jungle is a natural environment for battery EVs, as they can take advantage of its stop-start traffic to recover energy through regenerative braking...