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Week 1, July 2022 Mobility News Archive

NEWS

Automotive

  • Hyundai Kia is under investigation by Frankfurt prosecutors due to suspected defeat devices changing vehicle emission levels

  • Hyundai's upgraded Nexo , a hydrogen-powered SUV, to be delayed for its launch from 2H 2023 to 2024 due to fuel cell development issues

  • Hyundai unveiled some images of Ioniq 6

  • Toyota unveiled Urban Cruiser Hyryder SUV, its first hybrid car for India mass market

  • Nissan halts its production in Russia for 6 months from April

  • Tesla delivered 18% fewer EVs in 2Q 2022 than Q1 due to COVID-19 shutdown in China

  • Tesla lays off 200 Autopilot employees and shuts down its San Mateo office

  • Great Wall Motor canceled $1B investment plan in the acquisition of GM's India plant as it failed to get regulatory approvals

  • Ford recalls 2,900 F-150 Lightning e-pickup trucks due to a software issue of low tire pressure warning

  • Siemens to invest $100M+ in Volkswagen's EV charging station business in the US, Electrify America

  • In the US, annually 250K EV chargers to be built with $700M in total investments

  • Volkswagen still plans to let Porsche go public in Q4 2022

  • Volkswagen unveiled concept of ID. AERO, all-electric sedan with 620Km range

(Source: Volkswagen)

  • Audi to invest $19.2M in resuming Parana plant in Brazil after halting production due to components shortage

  • Audi's solar power plant proposal in Puebla, Mexico was rejected by the the gov't

  • Lamborghini to invest €1.8B in hybrid models by 2024 and full-electric models by 2030

  • Stellantis' factories conversion: to run 50% of its Tremery (France) plant, the world's largest diesel engine factory, to electric motor production; to change Termoli (Italy) plant from engine & gearboxes to battery plant

  • Most of automakers showed a decline in the Q2 2022 US vehicle sales yoy: GM by 15%; Toyota by 23%; Hyundai by 23%; Kia by 17%; Mazda by 43%

  • Tevva, a British commercial EV startup, unveiled a hydrogen fuel cell truck with 499km range to be produced in 2023

  • Drako Motors, a San Jose-based EV startup, unveiled a hyper SUV, Drako Dragon

  • Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund talks with Aston Martin to acquire equity

  • Industrial Next, founded by former Tesla's factory and electrical architect leads, raised $12M pre-Series A funding for smart factory solution for automakers

  • Tenet, a startup offering EV payment loan, raised $18M seed funding

Lastmile_Micromobility_Logistics

  • Cruise's robotaxis stopped at an intersection in San Francisco; manually removed from the street

  • Bird's founder stepped down from president after getting a warning from the stock exchange, but staying as CEO

  • Deliveree, a Southeast Asia based logistics booking platform, raised $70M Series C funding

  • Mottu, a Brazil-based motocycle rental service, raised $30M Series B funding

Location_In Vehicle_Technologies

  • Valeo to supply BMW with ADAS controller, sensors and software for parking and maneuvering

  • SpaceX had a permission by the US gov't to use Starlink satellite internet for commercial airplanes, ships and trucks

  • Apple CarPlay to launch a feature of in-car fuel payment in 2H 2022

Battery_Chips_Material

  • Compass Minerals, a US based mining company, to supply LG Energy Solution with 40% of its lithium carbonates and lithium hydroxide production for 7 years from 2025

  • Liontown Resources, an Australian mining company, to supply Ford with annually 150K DMT lithium spodumene concentrate for 5 years

  • Albemarle Corp to build a plant in the US to process 100K tonnes of lithium annually to support EV battery production

  • Britishvolt signed a deal with Posco Chemical for secure supplies of cathode and anode materials for EV battery

  • LG Electronics acquired AppleMango, a South Korea-based EV charger maker

  • Fleetzero, a electric battery maker for ships, raised $15.5M funding

REPORTS & ARTICLES

  • J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study: The 2022 survey result shows that the US car industry had 11% worse than last year in the consumer experience of their new vehicles models. Buick, Dodge and Chevrolet rank highest in their quality. Mass market vehicles show better quality than premium ones. Battery EVs and plug-in hybrid still show more problems than combustion engines. Infotainment systems has the biggest portion of quality issues. ADAS issues are growing. (Full article - J.D. Power)

  • Different views on a flat-rate tax proposal on lithium produced in CA's Salton Sea region: mining companies may exit from there and impact on EV battery production; on the flip side, tax is required for the restoration of environment and community (Full article - Reuters)

More Readings...

  • Behind the scenes of Waymo's worst automated truck crash (TechCrunch)

  • Texas becomes Tesla's new China (Reuters)

  • Waymo, UPS, other pressure Gov. Newsom to allow autonomous trucking in California (TechCrunch)

  • Li Auto makes hay while electric shun shines (Reuters)

  • VW: EV battery output bigger challenge than EU combustion engine ban (Reuters)

  • Brand watch: how energy security concerns are powering surge in EV use (Reuters)

  • Global revenue from car and bike sharing may rise 40% by 2030 (Bloomberg)



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