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Category: Automotive

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Auto and Car news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Parent Car Companies That Own Most Car Brands

    Parent Car Companies That Own Most Car Brands

    For instance, automakers shrink to become more profitable and efficient, historic names like Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac are fading from history. Names like Chrysler, Jaguar, and Volvo are looking for new parent companies outside their home countries. And new companies have sprung up, like Rivian and Tesla.

    Everywhere you look, a seemingly independent company is owned by someone else. Many liked car companies are owned by someone else.

    Car Brand Guide

    List of some car brands and their proprietors:

    1. Acura by Honda Motor Company
    2. Alfa Romeo by Stellantis
    3. Audi by Volkswagen Group
    4. BMW by BMW Group
    5. Bentley by Volkswagen Group
    6. Buick by General Motors
    7. Cadillac by General Motors
    8. Chevrolet by General Motors
    9. Chrysler by Stellantis
    10. Dodge by Stellantis
    11. Fiat by Stellantis
    12. Ford by Ford Motor Co.
    13. GMC by General Motors
    14. Genesis by Hyundai Motor Group
    15. Honda by Honda Motor Co.
    16. Hyundai by Hyundai Motor Group
    17. Infiniti by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
    18. Jaguar by Tata Motors
    19. Jeep by Stellantis
    20. Kia by Hyundai Motor Group
    21. Land Rover by Tata Motors
    22. Lexus by Toyota Motor Corp.
    23. Lincoln by Ford Motor Co.
    24. Lotus by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
    25. Lucid by Lucid Motors
    26. Maserati by Stellantis
    27. Mazda by Mazda Motor Corp.
    28. Mercedes-Benz by Daimler AG
    29. Mercury by Ford Motor Co.
    30. Mini by BMW Group
    31. Mitsubishi and Nissan by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
    32. Polestar by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group
    33. Pontiac by General Motors
    34. Porsche by Volkswagen Group
    35. Ram by Stellantis
    36. Rivian by Rivian Automotive
    37. Rolls-Royce by BMW Group
    38. Saab owned by Saab AB
    39. Saturn by General Motors
    40. Scion by Toyota Motor Corp.
    41. Smart by Daimler AG
    42. Subaru by Subaru Corp.
    43. Suzuki by Suzuki Motor Corp.
    44. Tesla by Tesla Inc.
    45. Toyota by Toyota Motor Corp.
    46. Volkswagen by Volkswagen AG.
    47. Volvo by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

    Know About Car Brands and their Owners

    BMW

    • Mini Cooper is owned and manufactured by the German luxury car company BMW.
    • The BMW Group has a simple structure, and it owns- BMW, BMW Motorrad, Mini, and Rolls-Royce.

    Volkswagen Group

    • Volkswagen Group, the German car giant, owns many famous car brands.
    • The Volkswagen Group sensibly chooses its car brands as they own some of the best and most recognized car brands globally.
    • It owns- Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, SEAT,Bentley, Lamborghini, Skoda, Bugatti, MAN, Scania, and Ducati

    Daimler AG

    • Daimlerwas founded in 1899, merged with Benz etCie in 1926 to become the name we know today as DaimlerBenz AG.
    • The famous Mercedes brand has been around since 1900.
    • Daimler AG now controls: Mercedes-Benz, Western Star,  Smart Freightliner, Fuso, Bharat Benz, Setra, and Thomas Built

    General Motors Company

    • William C Durant founded General Motors in 1908, who then owned Buick.
    • It was later acquired from other automakers such as Cadillac and Oldsmobile.
    • This brand used to own many popular models in the US before going bankrupt in 2009, forcing famous brands such as Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile to close.
    • General Motors at present is controlling: Aubobaoijun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, OpelJiefang, and Wuling.

    Hyundai Motor Company

    • In 1947, Hyundai started as a construction company that quickly grew and entered the auto industry in 1967.
    • They first started building a licensed and economical version of the Ford Cortina
    • Hyundai Motor Company, at this time, owns Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia.

    Honda Motor Company

    • Honda Motor Company was established in 1948 by Takeo Fujisawa and Soichiro Honda.
    • In 1963, the company entered the automotive industry officially with an S500 sports car and T360 pickup truck.
    • Honda Motor Company’s headquarter is situated in Tokyo, Japan.
    • The brand currently owns Honda Powersports, Acura and Honda.

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA)

    • As Italy’s largest automaker, there’s no contradicting that Fiat has an incredible variety of brands.
    • The Italian automaker can be proud of its offspring with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Chrysler, and Lancia among its subsidiaries.

    The Solo Wanderers

    While many companies control other vehicle brands in the automotive sector, some prefer to remain independent and isolated. Among those vehicles are:

    • Suzuki and Mazda mainly flying alone;
    • And Mitsubishi is a singleton.

    It becomes simpler for potential car buyers to see which brands and companies they can trust by knowing the car brands and their parent companies based on their previous knowledge of their vehicles.

  • Goodyear Introduces ElectricDrive GT EV First Tyres For Tesla Model Y

    Goodyear Introduces ElectricDrive GT EV First Tyres For Tesla Model Y

    Goodyear has introduced a new set of tires called the ElectricDrive GT which is the first replacement tires for the North American market, designed specifically for EVs particularly for the Model Y. The ElectricDrive GT is a high-performance, all-season tire which has been designed to last long and provide ride quality that one expects with EVs.

    Goodyear is one of the oldest tire companies in the world founded in 1898 just 12 years after the first automobile was invented.  So it does know a lot about tires and it is appropriate that it is one of the first to come up with replacement tires for EVs which are heavier, faster, and have instant torque. This is a huge difference from cars based on the internal combustion engine.

    According to Goodyear, this is the first replacement tire of its kind of EVs in the North American market by a US-based manufacturer.

    “Products that anticipate the mobility needs of consumers are central to Goodyear’s focus on innovation excellence. Electric vehicles present a very specific set of requirements for load, torque, noise, range, rolling resistance, and overall performance. We’re proud to deliver leading technologies to serve the evolving EV landscape,” said David Reese, Vice President, product development, Goodyear Americas.

    The tires leverage Goodyear’s sound-comfort technology which actively rides as a bull in sound batterie to reduce road noise for passengers. The tyre also gets an asymmetric tread pattern and has a specialized tread compound that provides enhanced traction despite the terrain and the driving conditions.

    It also gets a 64,374 km tread life and has a limited warranty with a W speed rating of 270 kmph which is basically not achieved by any car outside of the Bugatti Chiron or the McLaren F1. Goodyear states that the ElectricDrive GT will come only in the 255/45R19 104W XL, but it will expand the product line in 2022.

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  • Ducati MotoE Electric Race Bike Unveiled

    Ducati MotoE Electric Race Bike Unveiled

    Ducati has taken the wraps off its new MotoE project earlier than expected revealing the new V21L electric race bike at the Misano World Circuit. The electric race machine will power the grid in the MotoE World Cup starting in 2023. Ducati announced its intent to be the supplier for the series earlier this year and this marks the Italian motorcycle maker’s foray into the electric vehicle space. The Ducati V21L gets the basic shape of the Italian bike maker quite similar to the concept sketch. It features a double-sided swingarm with an under-braced design and progressive shock linkage.

    The tail is a self-supporting cabin fibre unit with a solo seat. You can also see a small oil-cooler at the bottom of the bike’s front with a tapped radiator above it. Power and performance figures have not been revealed, so we will have to wait a bit to know more about how to battery management system works on the race machine. Other cycle parts though do look familiar with the Ducati V21L getting Ohlins suspension and Brembo brakes. The wheels come from Marchesini.

    Speaking at the unveil, Roberto Canè, Ducati eMobility Director said, “We are experiencing a truly extraordinary moment. I find it hard to believe it is a reality and still not a dream! The first electric Ducati on the track is exceptional not only for its uniqueness but also for the type of undertaking: challenging both for its performance objectives and for its extremely short timescales. Precisely for this reason, the work of the whole team dedicated to the project has been incredible and today’s result repays us for the efforts made in recent months. We are certainly not finished yet; indeed, we know that the road ahead is still very long, but in the meantime, we have laid a first important ‘brick’.”

    Michele Pirro, Ducati test rider: “Testing the MotoE prototype on the circuit was a great thrill because it marks the beginning of an important chapter in Ducati history. The bike is light and already has a good balance. Furthermore, the throttle connection in the first opening phase and the ergonomics are very similar to those of a MotoGP bike. If it weren’t for the silence and for the fact that in this test, we decided to limit the power output to just 70 per cent of performance, I could easily have imagined that I was riding my bike.”

    The new Ducati V21L electric race bike will take over from the Energica Ego Corsa race bike that powers the grid currently. It will be interesting to see how much of a step up is the new bike in terms of performance.

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  • Ferrari Plans New Leadership Structure, Three Top Manages To Leave

    Ferrari Plans New Leadership Structure, Three Top Manages To Leave

    Luxury sports car maker Ferrari announced plans on Monday to shake up its leadership structure, in one of new boss Benedetto Vigna’s first major moves, and said three top managers will leave the company. Those who have decided to leave include Chief Technology Officer Michael Leiters, the carmaker said. The planned reorganization, to be unveiled in detail on Jan. 10, was consistent with Ferrari’s “strategic goals of exclusivity, excellence and sustainability”, it said.

    Vigna, an industry veteran, took the CEO role at the beginning of September with a task to drive Ferrari into the new era of electrification.

    The new management structure will “further foster innovation, optimize processes and increase collaboration both internally and with partners”, the carmaker said.

    Leiters, a German national who joined Ferrari in 2014, has helped develop Ferrari’s recent most successful models, including the 2019’s SF90 Stradale and this year’s 296 GTB, the house’s first two hybrid electric cars.

    Other top managers leaving the company are Chief Manufacturing Officer Vincenzo Regazzoni and Chief Brand Diversification Officer Nicola Boari, who oversaw Ferrari’s push into luxury, with the unveiling in June of its first in-house fashion collection.

    Key figures in the new organizational framework have been already identified through internal promotions and new hires, and will join the company starting from next month, Ferrari said.

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  • Delhi To Deregister Diesel Vehicles Completing 10 Years On January 1, 2022

    Delhi To Deregister Diesel Vehicles Completing 10 Years On January 1, 2022

    The Delhi government has announced that it will deregister all diesel vehicles that will complete 10 years on January 1, 2022. Owners of said vehicles will be given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) which will allow them to re-register the vehicle in other places. The Delhi government has taken this decision in compliance with the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directions relating to restrictions on registration and plying of 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in the city. While owners of petrol cars that have completed 15 years will get the NOC from the transport department, the same will not be issued for diesel vehicles that have completed 15 years or more on the date of applying for it.

    An order issued by the transport department said, “the department will deregister all such diesel vehicles in Delhi on January 1, 2022, which have completed or would be completing 10 years on that date”. The department has been deregistering vehicles that have completed their lifespan. Owners of diesel vehicles, which are 10 years old, and petrol vehicles, which are 15 years old, can get the NOC for any place in the country. However, it is subject to the condition that NOC will not be issued for the places which are identified by states as restricted areas for re-registration. To facilitate this, the NGT had directed states to identify areas where the dispersion of air is higher and vehicular density is less.

    Interestingly, the transport department has said that owners will also have the option to convert their 10-year-old diesel or 15-year-old petrol vehicles to electric vehicles in case they want to continue using them in Delhi. Of course, this means the vehicles will need to be retrofitted with impaneled electric kits via agencies approved by the department. The empanelment process for electric kits is under process.

    For vehicle owners with diesel vehicles that are older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, scrapping is the only option. Transport department and traffic police teams are impounding such vehicles and sending them for scrapping by authorized vendors.

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  • 2022 MINI Cooper S Electric Images Leaked

    2022 MINI Cooper S Electric Images Leaked

    The MINI Cooper has always been loved for its quirky design and the upcoming MINI Cooper S electric retains that character. Well! At least that’s what the latest leaked images from China suggest. These images have been doing rounds on the internet for the last couple of days and besides the white MINI EV, you can also see the prototype test mule wrapped in camouflage.

    The Cooper S is finished in green and the traditional dual exhaust tips mounted in the middle, quite obviously, have been ditched. The white body fiber on the radiator grille area leaves us in no doubt of it being a MINI and the face is quite familiar sporting the big and round circles of the headlights, but the lower lights have been removed to give the bumper a simplified look. Well, the face still doesn’t look alien to us, but it’s the rear that has completely surprised us.

    The rear end looks much wider and the taillights get a completely new shape. A thick black bar runs the entire width of the tailgate and incorporates the ‘Cooper S’ lettering. If that’s not camouflage, the Mini logo has a dark look at both the front and rear of the prototype. The vehicle appears to have the full production body and lights since it even boasts a rear-view camera hanging from underneath that bar.

    The cabin of the new MINI Cooper S electric looks even more futuristic and simplified. It digital instrument cluster has been given a miss, but it does get a head-up display. Taking cente stage is the big circular touchscreen. It does get a few conventional controls mounted below the air vents to provide quick access to the climate settings.

    The company has already started accepting pre-bookings for the model for a token amount of ₹ 1 lakh. Going by the global-spec model, the MINI Cooper SE packs an electric motor that develops 181 bhp and 270 Nm of peak torque. Power comes from the 32.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack with a range of 270 km on a single charge. The electric hatchback can sprint from 0-100 kmph in 7.3 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 150 kmph. Compared to the petrol model, the electric version is about 145 kg heavier.

  • Bentley’s New Engineering Test Centre In Crewe Begins Operations

    Bentley’s New Engineering Test Centre In Crewe Begins Operations

    Bentley Motors announced that its new, state-of-the-art Engineering Test Centre has commenced operations after receiving official approval from Britain’s Vehicle Certification Agency. Based at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, England, this latest investment follows the recent recertification by the Carbon Trust marking three years as a carbon-neutral site.

    The independent authority certification represents another major step forward in the company’s drive towards electrification, a key pillar in Bentley’s Beyond100 strategy to become the world’s most sustainable, luxury automotive manufacturer. Crucially, the 12.5 million pounds center will allow Bentley to carry out the latest WLTP fuel consumption and efficiency test procedures more swiftly in-house.

    The two-story, 4,600 square meters facility was completed on schedule and will begin testing immediately, building up operations to meet all global emission standards by the middle of 2022. The new structure includes 773 square meters of office space, as well as 1,550 square meters created for the installation of a climate-controlled chassis dynamometer.

    This highly-advanced rolling road allows engineers to simulate different gradients of hill, measuring exhaust emissions from combustion engine cars, or electrical energy consumption from hybrid and future electric models. The ‘real world’ simulations can also be completed across a range of temperatures, from -20 degrees Celsius to +50 degrees Celsius

    Bentley’s Technical Conformity department, responsible for the compliance of all Bentley products, will be based at the new center. There will also be a dedicated laboratory to run Real Driving Emissions (RDE) using the latest, state-of-the-art portable emissions measurement systems. In total, the new facility will house 100 Bentley colleagues.

    Dr. Matthias Rabe, Member of the Board for Engineering, said, “The center will also allow Bentley to meet increased demand from customers for our luxury, hand-built vehicles, including the performance-orientated Flying Spur, the Continental GT, and new Bentayga.”

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  • Volvo Cars And Northvolt To Open Joint R&D Centre For Battery Development In Gothenberg

    Volvo Cars And Northvolt To Open Joint R&D Centre For Battery Development In Gothenberg

    Volvo Cars and Northvolt will open a joint research and development (R&D) center in Gothenburg as part of a SEK 30 billion investment in battery development and manufacturing. The R&D center, which will become operational in 2022, will create a few hundred jobs in Gothenburg. Following the partnership announced by both companies earlier this year, Volvo Cars and Northvolt have now signed a binding agreement this week to create a joint venture for the development and sustainable production of batteries for the next generation of pure electric Volvo cars.

    The establishment of the new R&D center in Gothenburg will be followed by the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Europe. It will produce next-generation state-of-the-art battery cells, specifically developed for use in next-generation pure electric Volvo and Polestar cars. The exact location of the plant is expected to be confirmed in early 2022.

    The R&D center will be in close proximity to Volvo Cars’ own R&D operations and to Northvolt’s existing innovation campus, Northvolt Labs, in Sweden, ensuring synergies and efficiencies as it develops battery technologies.

    The partnership will focus on developing tailor-made batteries that give Volvo drivers what they want, such as range and quick charging times. Volvo Cars is working with Northvolt to create a true end-to-end system for batteries, whereby it develops and builds the batteries itself.

    As for their joint battery plant, Volvo Cars and Northvolt are in the final phase of a selection process to find a suitable location in Europe. The plant will have a potential annual capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours (GWh), which would supply batteries for approximately half a million cars per year. It will start construction in 2023, with large-scale production in 2026, and is expected to employ up to 3,000 people.

    Alongside battery supply agreements, the partnership with Northvolt secures the European battery cell needs that are part of Volvo Cars’ ambitious electrification plans. It aims to sell 50 per cent pure electric cars by the middle of this decade, and by 2030 it aims to sell only fully electric cars.

    The partnership with Northvolt is key to Volvo Cars’ ambition to become a leader in the premium electric car segment and sell only pure electric vehicles by 2030. It also represents an important step in strengthening Volvo Cars’ own development capabilities.

  • November auto sales rise to year high as government halves registration fee

    November auto sales rise to year high as government halves registration fee

    November saw the highest monthly auto sales this year of 38,656 units as a discount in registration fees sent buyers scrambling to dealers’.

    The figure represented a 30 percent rise from October and a 6 percent increase year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.

    The government cut registration fees for locally produced cars by 50 percent for six months starting December 1.

    November was the third month in a row in which auto sales rose after five months of declines between April and August as the fourth wave of Covid-19 hit sales.

    In the first 11 months of this year, 257,390 units were sold, a 3 percent rise.

    Thaco, an assembler of Mazda and Peugeot led with 88,967 units, up 5 percent, followed by Toyota with 55,109 units, down 7 percent, and Mitsubishi, Ford, and Honda made up the top five.

    Last year sales fell by 8 percent to 296,634 units as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the economy, people’s incomes, and discretionary spending.

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  • U.S. Safety Agency Discussing Tesla Camera Replacements

    U.S. Safety Agency Discussing Tesla Camera Replacements

    The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it is discussing with Tesla its decision to replace cameras in some U.S. vehicles. CNBC reported on Monday Tesla was replacing front fender cameras in several hundred Model S, X, and 3 vehicles due to faulty circuit boards inside but had not issued a recall. NHTSA said it is “monitoring all data sources” including consumer complaints, and also urged “the public to let NHTSA know if they think their vehicle may have a safety defect that isn’t part of a current recall.”

    U.S. law “prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety,” the agency said, adding it has “robust enforcement tools to protect the public, to investigate potential safety issues, and act when we find evidence of non-compliance or an unreasonable risk to safety.”

    Consumer groups said the regulator needs to look into whether Tesla should have recalled the defective parts.

    A malfunction of front fender cameras would likely create a safety risk, says David Friedman, a former acting administration at NHTSA and now Vice President at Consumer Reports.

    “Reports of a service campaign repair to malfunctioning front-end cameras that are critical to Tesla’s driver assistance suite is important enough to the safety of the vehicle to merit exploration by NHTSA,” said Jason K. Levine, executive director at Center for Auto Safety.

    “The reality is that the auto industry has a long history of choosing to conduct service campaigns instead of recalls, but it is too early to say whether that’s the case here.”

    A malfunction of front fender cameras, safety systems used for blind-spot monitoring, would likely create a safety risk, said David Friedman, a former acting administration at NHTSA and now Vice President at Consumer Reports.

    “If people are losing reliable access to blind spot images, or the effectiveness of autopilot or automatic emergency braking is being hampered, the malfunction would seem to pose an unreasonable risk,” he said.

    Tesla was not immediately available for comment.

  • Simple Energy To Build World’s Largest EV Two-Wheeler Factory

    Simple Energy To Build World’s Largest EV Two-Wheeler Factory

    Simple Energy, an electric vehicle start-up based in Bengaluru, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government for an investment of ₹ 2,500 crore for constructing the largest electric two-wheeler plant in Dharmapuri. In Phase 1 of the company’s manufacturing operations, the first plant, with an area of 2,00,000 square feet, is being constructed near Shoolagiiri (Hosur) and has an annual production capacity of upto 1 million (10 lakh) units. This first plant will be operational by early 2022, the company said in a statement. This first plant will produce the Simple One electric scooter and begin deliveries.

    Upon successfully completing its signing agreement with The Tamil Nadu Government, Suhas Rajkumar, Founder and CEO of Simple Energy, said “Tamil Nadu gave us the confidence in creating the EV ecosystem which can be sustainable in achieving our long-term goals. With the MoU, we commit to leading the Indian electric two-wheeler market in India by setting up a resourceful ecosystem that will help the country’s vision to lower carbon footprints at a faster pace. Simple Energy will thus redefine electric mobility in India.”

    According to the terms of the Mo signed with the Tamil Nadu state government, the company will make an initial investment of ₹ 1,000 crore to build its second plant (as part of Phase 2) in 600 acres of land. The second factory is slated to be opened by 2023. Simple Energy intends to build an EV ecosystem in the state, and the second factory will also have a future-ready R&D centre, world-class testing facility, as well as a vendor park n accordance with the Build In India initiative.

    The manufacturing facilities will not just be for the Indian market, but also for exports, the company said in a statement. According to the company, Simple Energy aims at reducing dependence on imports, and increasing focus on localization of parts. Once completed, the Simple Energy facility spread out over 600 acres is expected to be bigger than Ola Electric’s Futurefactory, which is spread out in an area of 500 acres.

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  • Infiniti Teases Electric Concepts, Commits To Being EV First By 2030

    Infiniti Teases Electric Concepts, Commits To Being EV First By 2030

    Infiniti has joined the pantheon of US-based automakers which have pledged to transition mostly to electric powertrains by 2030. In its video, Infiniti also hinted that it will be also be leveraging hybrid powertrains, “we will not let the size of our battery alone define us, but rather, empower customers to choose the power source that fits their lifestyle,” said the company in its video.

    In the video, Infiniti shows off three unnamed vehicles, one of which is a crossover, though it is not known that these cars have some flow over with Nissan’s out concept vehicles. Of course, Infiniti is owned by Nissan, which has for years pushed electric cars along with Renault.

    The concept cars shown off are low-slung and even have a tachometer which means these are likely hybrid cars. Infiniti now joins the likes of many muscle and sports car brands that have pushed electric and hybrid powertrains. Recently, we have heard from the likes of Dodge which has also hinted that it will be going all-electric and will be retiring its iconic hellcat motors.

  • Arrival Building Battery Plant In North America

    Arrival Building Battery Plant In North America

    EV startup Arrival which has also a partnership with Uber has announced that it is building a high capacity and high voltage battery plant in North Carolina in the US. The battery plant will deliver 350k modules a year and will cost an investment of $11.5 million that will add 150 jobs in the city.

    Arrival has been a specialist for EVs and electric buses and is one of the few EV startups which has designed its own components and software stack alongside assembly techniques. It even has its own automated driving system as well as proprietary battery modules and this latest announcement is part of achieving scale with its own technology.

    Aside from the battery plant, it also has a facility that produces the Arrival Bus. “By bringing the assembly of our proprietary High Voltage Battery Modules in-house, we’re striving to be as vertically integrated as possible. This will enable us to have even greater control over the functionality and cost of our products and pass those cost savings on to the customer while also working toward our goal of zero waste production. We’re excited to add another facility in Charlotte, as we prepare to open our new North American headquarters building just down the road and continue to work in tandem with the city to develop solutions for their electrification and sustainability goals. This is a big milestone for Arrival as we ramp up operations in the region in advance of production starting in Rock Hill in Q2 next year,” said Mike Ableson, its CEO.

    The assembly plant is a follow-up to the news of Arrival outlining an agreement with Li-Cycle which is one of the leading lithium-ion battery recyclers in North America. This partnership will help Arrival create a virtuous cycle of battery supply chain for both Europe and the US.

    The city of Charlotte in North Carolina is also working to ensure all car fleets and facilities are fueled by zero-carbon sources by 2030 which makes it a hotbed for EV startups. Arrival is working with the city for this project.

  • Elon Musk Says Tesla Bot Can Solve Labour Shortage, But Has No Timeline

    Elon Musk Says Tesla Bot Can Solve Labour Shortage, But Has No Timeline

    Elon Musk is at it again and this time around he has said something that will ruffle many feathers considering technologies like AI and automation are displacing many regular jobs. He has claimed that the Tesla Bot which was unveiled earlier this year can solve the labour shortage problem. The Tesla Bot which was showcased earlier this year will allegedly pack in artificial intelligence capabilities aimed at completing general-purpose repetitive tasks.

    Tesla has already started hiring for this Bot and at the Wall Street Journal Conference this year, he revealed, technologies that Tesla has developed for the sake of its self-driving capability is now being adapted to this bot.

    “With the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, I think we are creating the most advanced practical AI for navigating the real-world and you can also think of Tesla as the world’s biggest robot company – or semi-sentient robot company. The car is like a robot on 4-wheels. We can probably take that same technology and put in a humanoid robot – and have that robot be useful. Essentially, to have the humanoid part, we need to develop some custom actuators and sensors – and essentially use the Tesla Full Self-Driving and Autopilot or generally speaking real-world navigation AI in the humanoid robot,” said the world’s richest man.

    He added, ” I think this can be quite profound. I don’t know exactly when we can get this right but we will get it right.”

    Musk believes this could be a real solution to the labor shortage issue. Already in many countries, population growth is declining – Japan and China being at the forefront and even in India, the growth of the population has slowed down.

    “It has the potential to be a general substitute for human labor over time. The foundation of the economy is labor. Capital equipment is essentially distilled labour. I asked a friend of mine what should we optimize for and he said “gross profit per employee” – fully considered so you got to include the supply chain in that. The fundamental constraint is labor. There are not enough people. I can’t emphasize this enough. There are not enough people. I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low and rapidly declining birth rate,” he said.

    Many robotics and artificial intelligence experts have shown a sense of skepticism towards Tesla’s Bot project considering robotics leaders like Boston Dynamics haven’t managed to commercialize their technology which has been in development for years.

  • eBikeGo To Manufacture Muvi Electric Scooter In India

    eBikeGo To Manufacture Muvi Electric Scooter In India

    eBikeGo, one of India’s largest electric two-wheeler mobility platforms has acquired the product license rights to manufacture the Muvi brand of electric vehicles of Spanish automotive company Torrot in India. The Muvi electric scooter will be manufactured in India, to be sold in India as well as across the world. eBikeGo intends to capture 5 percent of the worldwide two-wheeled electric vehicles market with its manufacturing, the company said in a statement. With Muvi, eBikeGo is optimistic about influencing the adoption of EVs in India.

    Muvi is an IoT and AI-enabled electric scooter with well-connected features and can be easily controlled and monitored via a smartphone. It has a switching battery, allowing consumers to use swapping stations. Designed in Europe, Muvi is accepted by 14 e-commerce and shared mobility companies.

    “We are extremely happy to have acquired the license of manufacturing Muvi, one of the leading electric vehicles from renowned international automotive company Torrot in India. Muvi, being a technologically advanced vehicle and already operating in 12 countries, does not require any homologation to supply in these markets, opening ways for global presence,” said Dr. Irfan Khan, Founder & CEO of eBikeGo.

    The Muvi electric two-wheeler is lightweight, weighing only 83 kg. It has a power of 4.1 CV (3 kW) which is equivalent to 125 cc. The Muvi electric scooter can go up to 100 km on a single charge in Eco mode, and has a top speed of 60 kmph.