Google launched a new “Data safety section” in its Google Play Store on Monday for app developers, building on a pledge the company made in May to increase transparency around how apps hosted on its platforms utilize user data. A video released along with the announcement shows this information will be prominently featured in a set of bullet points when users click on an app to install or update it, though it won’t be publicly available until next year.
As the company explained in a blog post, the hope is that this gives developers extra time to familiarize themselves with the new guidance and requirements that are coming with this change, including information they need to provide to Google. By April 2022, developers will need to submit data safety forms to accompany any products they offer in the Google Play Store. This will include the type of data (such as location or contacts) an app collects, how that is used by the app (such as to personalize the experience or for the app’s basic functionality), and how this data is shared with outside sources. Apps will also have to offer a privacy policy that outlines what they do with sensitive user data. Developers that fail to provide all of this information before the April deadline could face “enforcement actions” like submissions or updates getting rejected by the Store, the blog stated.
Google’s plans to enhance app privacy have followed in the footsteps of Apple, which released privacy labels for all of the products in its App Stores in late 2020. These labels, which tell users what apps do with their information, sort the data collected into three categories: data used to track you, data linked to you, and data not linked to you. Apple also requires privacy policies for all apps available in its store, which further disclose data collection and comply with the App Store Review Guidelines and any applicable legal requirements.
Though the two tech companies’ policies certainly share similarities, TechCrunch found that there are some notable differences in Google’s proposed approach. For starters, Google isn’t issuing set labels but rather creating a “data safety summary” for developers to explain their data and security practices. They’re also offering the option for apps to get this information independently vetted, which addresses the issue of false reporting that the Apple App Store struggled with after releasing its label feature. A January analysis from the Washington Post found that more than a dozen apps had labels that were “misleading or flat-out inaccurate,” pointing out that Apple needed to work on vetting developer claims.
Of course, the efficacy of Google’s approach won’t be clear for months to come—according to the blog post, users won’t even begin seeing the “Data safety section” until February 2022. In the meantime, the company has released a series of tools to help app developers make the most of this window before the section’s official launch, including a support page, a guide for identifying these practices in their apps, and a Google Play Academy course for completing the requested data safety forms.
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To the surprise of no one, a new study completed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirmed brighter headlights help reduce vehicle collisions.
In 2016, Audi’s new laser headlamps were brighter than conventional lights so the maker adjusted the lights to shine low and wide.
The organization noted the number of nighttime vehicle accidents are nearly 20% lower for vehicles with headlights earning a “good” rating in IIHS evaluation, compared with those with “poor” rated headlights. Vehicles IIHS rates as having “acceptable” or “marginal” headlights crash rates are 10% to 15% lower than for those with poor ratings.
“Driving at night is three times as risky as driving during the day,” said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Matthew Brumbelow, who conducted the study. “This is the first study to document how much headlights that provide better illumination can help.”
An evolving light
Until recently, there was little need to evaluate headlights, as all cars used sealed beam headlights, a technology that became an industry standard by the 1940s. Like the lights in your home, sealed-beam and halogen headlights are incandescent. They use electricity to heat a bulb’s filament, which in turn produces light.
The addition of halogen gas in the 1960s allowed the headlight’s tungsten filament to generate a brighter light that lasted longer. In 1983, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard was revised, allowing for all composite headlight assemblies to have replacement bulbs. Yet overall, headlights had changed little since electric headlights first appeared on cars in 1898.
That changed with the introduction of high-intensity discharge headlights, or HIDs. These are arc lamps, much like a neon sign, which produce light by the sparking an electrical arc between two conducting electrodes inside the bulb. Far more efficient than halogen lamps, they not only produce more light, but also use less energy and last far longer.
Then, in 2004, the first LED headlights appear on the Audi A8. An LED a semiconductor that emits light when a current is passed through it, using far less energy than other types of bulbs. This led to the creation of LED Matrix headlights, which uses LEDs, sensors and cameras to light the road depending on road conditions. Now, automakers are starting to employ laser lighting, affording 1.25 miles of visibility.
Testing counteracts an outdated federal standard
Given evolving lighting technology, IIHS began evaluating headlight effectiveness in 2016 to counteract the federal government’s outdate lighting standard, one that considered all headlight types equal. The problem is, they’re not. Five years later, IIHS has rated approximately 1,000 different headlights, bestowing them with the same good, acceptable, marginal and poor ratings used for the crash test evaluations.
The IIHS’s new study shows that good-rated reduces driver injuries in crashes by 29% and the rates of tow-away crashes and pedestrian crashes by about 25%.
“Better scores in our headlight tests translate into safer nighttime driving on the road,” said IIHS’s Brumbelow.
Despite the changes in headlight technology, the Federal standard for automotive lighting hasn’t changed significantly since 1968. What’s worse, the standard specifies minimum and maximum brightness for headlights without taking into account how well it is installed. The standard also lacks any regulations for newer technology, such as curve-adaptive headlights.
To address such failings, the IIHS’s evaluation of vehicle lighting are done while driven on a test track. Performance varies considerably; current low beam headlights illuminate anywhere from 125 feet to 460 feet. That’s a difference of as much as 6 seconds when driving at 50 mph. The tests have compelled OEMs to improve the quality of their lighting, IIHS says.
“Our awards have been a huge motivator for automakers to improve their headlights,” Brumbelow says. “Now, with our new study, we have confirmation that these improvements are saving lives.”
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When the Mercedes-Benz EQS rolls into showrooms later this month it will become the luxury brand’s first all-electric vehicle targeting the U.S. market. But it certainly won’t be the last. If anything, Mercedes plans to roll out a broad line-up of battery-powered products, from the little EQB crossover to an all-electric version of the big G-Class SUV.
Mercedes-Benz Cars CEO Ola Källenius is leading the company through one of its biggest transitions in its history. He talks with TDB.
Until a few years ago, Mercedes put its primary focus on diesel, but it changed direction in the wake of an embarrassing emissions scandal — and in the face of increasingly stringent global emissions standards. By 2025, the goal is to have plug-in hybrid and all-electric models account for 50% of the company’s worldwide sales. By 2030, CEO Ola Källenius announced in July, the target is 100% BEVs “where market conditions allow.”
The Swedish-born executive — the first non-German to helm Mercedes since it was founded — is a true believer in electrification, as he made clear during a virtual interview with TheDetroitBureau.com and a handful of other journalists.
TheDetroitBureau: From your perspective, how has the (industry’s) approach to electrification changed? It appears things are ramping up at a faster and faster pace. Why is that happening?
Källenius: If we look back in history, when one technology replaced another … for the longest time, it seems like nothing is happening. Then, it happens all at once and the whole market flips. It goes very fast. If you miss that point that can be very unfortunate for your business with the development cycles we have in the auto industry. From the first stroke of a pen to have the first vehicles from a completely new architecture (is) usually a four- or five-year process. So, we are now upping the bet.
TDB: But why such a big investment?
Källenius: I’m ever so slightly biased but I think the EQS is a phenomenal vehicle and can imagine what the electric car will look like 10 years from now. I think there’s optimism in terms of the technology, with better energy density on the battery side. Cost are scaling (down) and we’re pushing to an inflection point where the new technology will be superior to what we have now.
Källenius with an assortment of new and upcoming EVs and PHEVs.
Drivers of change and acceptance
TDB: Is the shift being driven by new regulations?
Källenius: Partly, it is regulatory driven, but it’s through one common purpose we have as mankind, to solve the CO2 problem. It’s not going to go away. Climate change is real and the Paris Agreement is the right thing to do. It’s a Herculean task for humanity, a complete paradigm shift over to new energy sources. A company like Mercedes, in the luxury car (market), can be on the forefront of such a shift.
TDB: What is the key obstacle to consumer acceptance? Is it the lack of a solid charging infrastructure?
Källenius: Something that could make this happen a little faster or a little slower is the infrastructure. People aren’t going to (drive) less. In fact, we believe people are going to (drive) much more 10 years from now. So, here, industry and government need to work hand-in-hand to put in (a charging) infrastructure. The quicker that happens, the quicker the shift. In markets that don’t do this, it will be an obstacle that makes the transition to EVs go slower.
TDB: It certainly appears investors want automakers to shift to electric.
Källenius: Every conversation that we have with investors, even rating institutes like Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s, the financial markets have made up their minds. It’s going to be increasingly difficult to find capital to invest in (internal combustion) technology, and everybody is betting on the new technology so in a way the market economy and allocation of capital is pushing this forward.
The EQS is leading Mercedes move into the all-electric future, signifying the company’s commitment to that path.
New set of competitors
TDB: Not only do you have to compete with legacy automakers but you have to now start competing with this wave of EV startups, what’s the unique challenge there when it comes to competing with nascent EV makers? How do you compete with them?
Källenius: It’s natural that new players look at a market and enter and so the competitive intensity in this decade will likely be higher than what we have experienced in the past. We are taking the usual suspects seriously, as well as the new kids on the block. You cannot run around like a headless chicken chasing this that or the other company, you’ve got to know who you are. In this situation you cannot rest on your laurels, you have to look forward. So, what we need to do is to double down on technology, primarily electric drive and software and the connected vehicle and autonomous driving. But, at the same time, (we must) deliver what everybody expects from a Mercedes, you know this sublime ride and drive the equation to detail this superior aesthetic quality. If we hit the spot (and) deliver on both innovation and the luxury aspects of the Mercedes brand, that’s how we think we can win the competition.
TDB: You have been a powerhouse in the all-electric Formula-E series. What are your future plans?
Källenius: We won the championship this year and we’re going to have one more season, but beyond that season, we’re focusing everything on Formula One. We’re going to turn to synthetic fuels so we can run the whole race carbon neutral. I’ve been to a few Formula E races myself and enjoyed it as a racing fan, but if you would take one of those cars and go to Spa, you would maybe do a lap and a half and then it would be over. So for those who are, you know, hardcore racing fans at heart, you can’t replace (traditional racing cars with electric).
The new EQE is the battery-powered alternative to the marque’s classic E-Class sedan.
TDB: Can you talk about the role of electrification in motor sports?
Källenius: I actually had the privilege back in 2008 to develop the very first performance hybrid for Formula One. And now we are (more than) 10 years later, and you can’t win the world championship, unless you have the best performance hybrid system. And what we’re now launching in the AMG GT is the first road version of that technology. It will be on many of the AMG cars that we’re going to launch in the next two to three years. Formula One is the most sophisticated high performance Lab in the world.
TDB: This raises the subject of EV performance. It appears that one of the things drawing people to EVs is the great performance they offer.
Källenius: The great thing about an electric motor is that the torque is instantly available, and you have a lot of torque. So, at a red light, we all feel like we’re driving an AMG GT, right. You have this instant punch. Maybe you saw that we bought the UK company, Yasa, that is developing an electric motor with an absolutely phenomenal power-to-weight ratio. So there will be there will be a performance dimension beyond just being quick at the red light.
Advanced technology pros and cons
TDB: You’ve introduced the Hyperscreen in the EQS (which covers virtually the entire instrument panel with video screens). Do you think they’ll ever be a move back towards more simplification for an older demographic that can’t take advantage of most of what it can do?
Källenius said the the future of vehicles is going to look a lot more like the Hyperscreen than with knobs and buttons.
Källenius: I read an article the other day in a Swedish supercar magazine and the chief editor wrote an article where he says I hate screens. Give me the knobs back, the buttons and the knobs. But I’m afraid that’s probably not going to happen. And it’s not specifically tied to the electric car and we’re not doing some different level of digitization in our combustion based vehicles and our electric vehicles, per se. We need to make (technology) more intuitive and easy to use, but we’re not going back and put 50 different knobs and buttons in the car. I just don’t see that.
TDB: Who is the most difficult person to convince (about) electrification?
Källenius: People that buy a G Wagen, an S-Class, or maybe an E … they usually are technology and innovation-minded, and also appreciate luxury aesthetics. They are naturally going to drift to whatever is the next level technology. I think there is some skepticism, but I think it will recede.
TDB: What are you going to do about recyclability of materials?
Källenius: Next to the challenge of CO2 for us, as an industry, is the circular economy, what we call resource preservation. It’s hugely important. Our vehicles, already today, are 95% recyclable. That doesn’t mean we already use 95% of the material. But we put in in our books to raise the amount for every new vehicle, and for beyond the usual candidates like steel. Recycling has to get into the polymers and other things inside the battery cells, no doubt about it.
TDB: One last question. You have the new EQS sedan, but you’ll also have an EQS SUV next year. And the same with the EQE. Won’t that create some branding confusion?
Källenius: Yeah. There are probably PhD thesis documents in marketing talking about nomenclature on the part of Mercedes. When I was in marketing and sales we said let’s clean this up once and for all, and we thought we did. Could we have done a GL QS or something like that (instead of EQS SUV)? We thought it was so obvious when you see the vehicle, you know whether you’re buying an SUV or a sedan. But maybe we didn’t succeed.
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In the race to put self-driving vehicles on the road, General Motors may be ready to take the lead with the new Ultra Cruise system it plans to put on the road by 2023.
GM is currently rolling out its original Super Cruise system on a wide range of products, including Chevy and GMC models, as well as those from Cadillac.
The new system will increase by tenfold the number of miles of roads GM’s Super Cruise system can operate on – and where the current system only can operate on limited-access roadways, Ultra Cruise will cover “every road including city streets, subdivision streets and paved rural roads, in addition to highways,” GM said in a statement announcing the new technology. At launch, Ultra Cruise will operate on 2 million miles of roads, said GM, with a goal of increasing that to 3.4 million.
With Ultra Cruise, GM seems positioned to leapfrog Tesla, the EV automaker that marketed the first “self-driving” system, Autopilot. Despite releasing a new update it refers to as “Full Self-Driving,” Tesla’s technology still requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.
“Ultra Cruise is not just a game changer in terms of what it enables − a door-to-door hands-free driving experience − but a technological one as well,” said Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain.
The race for autonomy
The auto industry is in a race to develop autonomous vehicle technology – with the eventual goal of having vehicles operate without the assistance of a human driver. GM’s San Francisco-based Cruise subsidiary recently won approval from the State of California to test prototype vehicles that don’t even have a steering wheel or other driver controls. But most experts believe that it will be late in the decade before such systems are ready for widespread use.
(Click to expand.)
In the meantime, the focus is on more limited systems that can reduce the role of the driver – though a motorist would still need to be ready to take control in an emergency, or if the vehicle were to travel outside a “geofenced” area.
A number of manufacturers are developing these systems – known in industry parlance as “Level 2 autonomy.” Tesla was first to market with the original Autopilot, GM following with Super Cruise which it is now rolling out on a wide range of vehicle lines.
Both have significant limitations and make various trade-offs. Tesla has dubbed the latest version of Autopilot “Full Self-Driving,” and many owners have been using the system hands-free. Some have been recorded going so far as to jump into the back seat while the vehicle is moving. But the automaker actually stresses that motorists need to maintain at least a loose grip on the wheel.
Tesla v GM
GM claims drivers actually can take hands off the wheel using Super Cruise. But the system is restricted to about 200,000 miles of U.S. and Canadian roads. And the GM system uses a camera to ensure that the driver remains alert and in position to take over quickly, if necessary.
A digital simulation of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system.
Tesla has, until recently, not monitored the driver. But it plans to do so after coming under fire for the lax way in which many drivers use Super Cruise. In fact,the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting a probe of Autopilotin the wake of several dozen crashes, a number of those involving Tesla vehicles impacting stationary emergency vehicles.
“The way Tesla is doing it, there always will be error problems,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal auto analyst with Guidehouse Insights.
Tesla relies on the data gathered by a network of cameras to operate Autopilot. GM, on the other hand, uses radar, as well as ultra high-definition street maps, with Super Cruise. And the Ultra Cruise system will add LIDAR, a 3D laser technology.
“This is a more robust solution,” said Abuelsamid. “They’ve taken a safer approach (even as they) expand tenfold the number of roads they can use Ultra Cruise on.”
No rollout roadmap – yet
The GM system will be able to recognize street signs and traffic signals, as well as pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. And it will be able to handle pretty much any sort of situation that a human driver would normally be required to negotiate, according to GM.
Motorists pay additional fees for vehicles equipped with the basic Super Cruise hardware and GM recently announced that it will charge a monthly usage fee, as well. Tesla, Ford and other manufacturers are adopting similar pricing models.
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Towards the beginning of the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, a stuntman pulls off a breathtaking jump on a motorcycle. A rider, ostensibly the film’s protagonist, races up a steep ramp in Matera, Italy, then soars over a wall.
The 25th Bond film debuts on Friday, Oct. 8, and viewers can expect the typical excitement—car chases, explosions, gun battles, and the like. Popular Science caught up with the film’s special effects and action vehicles supervisor, Chris Corbould, to learn more about how they put some of those sequences together. There are no spoilers ahead; all the stunts referenced are visible in the film’s trailers, one of which is embedded below.
Here’s what we know about that motorcycle jump, and other awe-inspiring moments from this fifth and final installment in the Craig-as-Bond franchise; we also look back at one classic car scene from a 70s-era Bond film.
The motorcycle jump
The jump in Matera, Italy, features a stuntman named Paul Edmondson riding a Triumph Scrambler motorcycle. “That was absolutely done for real,” Corbould says. “Lee Morrison, the stunt coordinator in the film, has a big background in motorcycles.”
“Cary [Joji Fukunaga, the director] wanted one great bike stunt in that beautiful city, and that’s what Lee came up with,” he says. “I’ll never forget, when we did that on the day, there was a massive round of applause.”
“There was no trickery there—he just went up it and jumped it,” he adds.
Viewers interested in the jump can also check out Being James Bond, a documentary about Daniel Craig’s work in the Bond films; at about the 39-minute mark, there’s a brief clip of what appears to be the tail end of that stunt, with the rider wearing a helmet. Both Autoweek and MotorBiscuit have more details, and here’s some behind-the-scenes footage.
The donuts
In another moment towards the beginning of the film, Bond is behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DB5, and there’s a scene in which the car spins in circles, spraying bullets from guns protruding from the front of it. “Daniel [Craig] actually did that donut in the square,” Corbould says, “where it was spinning around and firing the guns at the walls.”
Corbould explains that the film involved a second unit, or the “action unit,” which filmed shots first, and then the actors arrived. “We shot the donut and DB5 shooting up the walls with stunt drivers,” he says, “and then when Daniel came out, he did another shot as well, so they could get shots with his face in it.” Autoweek also has more on those donuts, explaining that the scene involved modifying the stunt vehicle so that its front left wheel wouldn’t spin, thanks to a handbrake.
For the actual vehicles, the filmmakers relied on 10 physical versions of the DB5. Two of the vehicles were “pristine,” Corbould says, which they used for “whenever Daniel was getting in and out, [or] pulling away.” Meanwhile, eight additional vehicles played various roles. “Some were kitted out with gadgets; some were full stunt cars, with full rally roll cages in; they each had a job to do,” Corbould says.
“You have to have multiples of each,” he says, “because if one gadget car clips the curb during the sequence, and bends an axle, you can’t have 600 people waiting around while we mend it, so you just pull that one out, and pull another one in.”
Those eight cars were Aston-Martin-built replicas, and by “gadget car,” Corbould means a vehicle that deploys gadgets, such as those machine guns in the front. Car and Driver notes that the guns “malfunctioned” back in 2019—the barrels didn’t spin as they were supposed to—when they were on set observing.
Bond films, of course, have a long history of action sequences. Back in early 1970s, for example, TheMan with the Golden Gun involved a car’s crazy twisting jump over a river, which, as a company called Altair points out, wouldn’t have worked if the vehicle hadn’t been adjusted in a very specific way to include a type of fifth wheel to keep it on track for the stunt.
The seaplane
Finally, in another scene, a seaplane flies away from a fishing boat, towards the camera, as the vessel explodes in the background. “That was a real shot—that was a real trawler, and a real plane,” Corbould says. “It was all perfectly lined up from a helicopter shot.”
“We did it twice,” he adds. “The first time the framing wasn’t quite right, but the second time we absolutely nailed it.”
As for that fishing vessel, it didn’t actually explode. “We made it look like it was blowing up,” Corbould says.
Daimler is getting cozy with Chrysler again, or at least the American side of Stellantis, so they can tackle battery development and production. Those in the know will recall that Chrysler has been passed around more than a bottle of booze at a middle school party. But its long history of partnerships also kept it in business and resulted in some of its better products.
Before the Amero-French merger that resulted in Stellantis, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was an Italian-American company with facilities dotted around North America. Prior to that, it was known as DaimlerChrysler – resulting in the LX Platform, Pentastar V6, and a wider variety of Jeep Wranglers. Now, Chrysler’s alienated German wife has shown up on the doorstep with a wad of cash and news that she’ll be investing it into the new battery business.
Daimler has purchased a 33 percent stake of Automotive Cells Company (AAC), which was established and uncreatively named by Stellantis and TotalEnergies, in a bid to ensure Europe parent isn’t left behind in the electric revolution.
“Mercedes-Benz pursues a very ambitious transformation plan and this investment marks a strategic milestone on our path to CO2 neutrality. Together with ACC, we will develop and efficiently produce battery cells and modules in Europe – tailor-made to the specific Mercedes-Benz requirements,” Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, explained. “This new partnership allows us to secure supply, to take advantage of economies of scale, and to provide our customers with superior battery technology. On top of that we can help to ensure that Europe remains at the heart of the auto industry – even in an electric era: With Mercedes-Benz as a new partner, ACC aims to more than double capacity at its European sites to support Europe’s industrial competitiveness in the design and manufacturing of battery cells.”
From Daimler:
The entire ACC project will require an investment volume of more than seven billion euros – in a combination of equity, debt and subsidies – to reach a capacity of at least 120 Gigawatt hours in Europe by the end of the decade. Mercedes-Benz will invest a mid-three-digit-million euros amount next year. In total, the investments are expected to remain below one billion Euros. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including agreement on definitive documentation and regulatory approvals.
The German automaker would like to scale up the development and production of next-generation battery cells and modules so it can keep its promise of being an all-electric company by 2030. However, it said it needs a total battery production capacity of more than 200 Gigawatt hours by that time, requiring it to build at least eight facilities and engage in numerous partnerships.
Following Daimler’s formal investment, the company will have an even 33 percent equity stake in ACC – giving it two of the six Supervisory Board seats and equal footing with Total and Stellantis. It’s expected that hardware will begin manifesting within the next couple of years and be shared among the three companies. For now, Daimler will be providing its “technical and production know-how” to help spur development. But more direct involvement is anticipated when the automaker finishes its Drive Systems Campus finishes construction in 2023, with additional European facilities to be considered later.
[Image: Pixfly/Shutterstock]
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As far as Corey Williams is concerned, we’re walking on “hallowed ground.”
Model A sedans roll down the line at the old Rouge Assembly Plant, one of the first factories with a moving assembly line.
A year ago, there was nothing but a dusty parking lot where Ford Motor Co.’s new Electric Vehicle Center now stands. But dig deeper into the past and you realize this was the site of the original Ford Rouge Assembly Plant where generations of blue-collar workers built everything from Model A sedans to Mustangs to F-Series pickups — as well as armor, engines and tanks as part of the “Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II.
Starting next spring, this new factory will begin building the new Ford F-150 Lightning, the all-electric pickup truck has so far garnered over 150,000 advance reservations since it was unveiled in May. That’s part of a $30 billion electrification plan Detroit’s second-largest automaker has in play.
Rolling out the first battery-powered version of Ford’s iconic pickup — the nation’s top-selling truck for 44 years — might be significant enough on its own. But the new Electric Vehicle Center is also functioning as a research lab that could radically change the way cars and trucks are built all over the world.
“This is hallowed ground. This is history,” said Williams, the plant manager. “This is where we are going from the past to the future.”
Where’s the assembly line?
Automated Guided Vehicles, or AGVs, replace the moving assembly line at the Electric Vehicle Center.
Take a tour of the center, which is slowly launching early prototype production, and you can’t help but notice something missing. The moving assembly line that was originally introduced by company founder Henry Ford 108 years ago is gone. The assembly line is a fixture at all but the lowest-volume plants building cars virtually by hand — and slowly, very slowly.
That’s not the case here. With the $250 million expansion Ford announced on Thursday, the Electric Vehicle Center will be capable of producing as many as 80,000 Lightnings annually. That’s not quite as fast as the plant next door where traditional, gas and diesel trucks or built, but quickly enough that this is a radical departure.
Instead of a fixed line, partially assembled pickups are loaded onto AGVs, or Automated Guided Vehicles. These are, essentially, robotic pallets that creep along the shop floor, guided by thin magnetic ribbons carved into the concrete. Sonar sensors help make sure they don’t collide with one another or with the hundreds of workers who’ll soon populate the plant.
It’s not the first time AGVs have shown up in factories. General Motors started using them in the 1980s, primarily to deliver parts to workstations along the line. This is the first time they’ve been put to use in such a high-volume operation completely abandoning Henry Ford’s movable assembly line.
Getting workers plugged in
An F-150 Lightning body is “married” to a chassis containing its electric drive system.
A major change, yes, but as far as Williams is concerned, one of the real hallmarks of the Center is the way workers become active, intelligent parts of the production process. Reaching their post, they log in at one of three tablet-style screens and can check on what happened during earlier shifts, then report in during their own.
Among other things, that will help Ford track and quickly resolve problems, explains Christopher Skaggs, who oversees Ford’s EV planning and implementation.
The AGVs not only move vehicles from workstation to workstation but they recognize the operators at each point, rising or lowering to maximize ergonomics, reducing stress and strains.
As is today’s norm, even in traditional assembly plants, there’s a high dependence on robots, including Transformer-sized beasts that can weld, glue and handle jobs like mounting windshields.
Robots and cobots
Cobots — “collaborative robots” — check out a partially assembled Lightning
The center also introduces what Ford has dubbed “cobots,” or collaborative robots. Rather than being isolated and fenced off, they operate right alongside human workers. They can do tasks like sanding or, in this case, help their flesh-and-blood colleagues examine bodies for minor dings or damage using artificial vision.
The production process isn’t entirely unique. It still proceeds one workstation at a time and, as Lightning bodies follow their serpentine path they’re eventually snagged by an overhead conveyor, carried to the point where they are “married” to the chassis that contains each Lightning’s battery pack, motors and other drivetrain components, as well as wheels and suspension.
As the final assembly tasks are completed, the now operative electric pickups enter a series of inspection stations. One uses a massive robotic arm to press down on each Lightning’s cargo bed. Sensors built into the truck are designed to tell the driver how much weight it’s carrying. The test confirms that system is accurate to within a percent or so, explains manufacturing manager Liza Currie.
One last look
A final check for dings or paint problems and the F-150 Lightning is ready to go — though this is just a prototype to be used for testing.
Finally, each truck will roll into a blindingly bright booth featuring dozens of carefully positioned lights. Human and robotic vision work together to ensure some exterior flaw — a ding, perhaps, or a chip in the paint — doesn’t get passed on to a consumer without being repaired.
As he surveys the new plant, Williams said he’s confident, “We’ve incorporated the latest and the greatest.”
Many of the new features will reappear in other Ford plants. But Williams hesitates when directly asked whether the conventional F-150 plant next door will switch to AGVs, abandoning it fixed line, when the truck goes through a makeover around 2025. That’s for higher-ups to decide, he defers, but it’s clear he sees the Electric Vehicle Center as the high profile test for a radical new system that could replace what Ford Motor Co.’s namesake gave to the manufacturing world a century ago.
“I believe what you’re seeing here,” Williams said, “is the beginning” of a massive transformation in the manufacturing process.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium is a true competitor for the Tesla Model Y.
Much of the talk about electric vehicles lately focuses on the wave of EVs coming in the next 12 to 18 months; however, until then the latest round of electric vehicle registrations shows Tesla’s still king of the EV world, well, at least in the U.S.
According to Experian, which tracks new vehicle registrations in the U.S., sales of electric vehicles are up through the first six months of the year — and up big. There were 255,393 EVs registrations during the time period, equating to an increase of 133% compared to the same period last year. Automotive News first released the registration numbers.
A look at the top 10 EVs registered shows some new names, most notably the Ford Mustang Mach-E. The automaker’s first long-range EV debuted with a splash last fall and, according some analysts, has taken away as much as 10% of Tesla’s sales.
The only electric vehicle that outsells the Tesla Model 3 in the U.S. is the Model Y.
However, the lofty sales number doesn’t appear to be so much Ford conquesting from Tesla, although some of that is happening, the entire market is up, meaning there is plenty to go arounds. In fact, the Tesla Model Y, the vehicle the Mach-E most directly competes with, was up five-fold through July, logging 93,708 registrations.
The reports of my demise …
As the number of options for buyers interested in electric vehicles has grown — slowly — in the last 12 to 18 months, so has the number of predictions about when Tesla will be surpassed as the leading seller of battery-electric vehicles.
If the latest top 10 list of EV registrations is any indication, it’s going to be awhile. Here is the top 10 list of EV registrations in the U.S., according to Experian:
Despite its current recall, the Chevrolet Bolt was the third-best-selling EV in the U.S. through July.
Tesla Model Y: 93,708 units
Tesla Model 3: 68,448 units
Chevy Bolt EV: 21,898 units
Ford Mustang Mach-E: 13,950 units
Nissan Leaf: 9,445 units
VW ID.4: 8,404 units
Porsche Taycan: 6,071 units
Hyundai Kona EV: 6,069 units
Audi e-tron: 5,473 units
Kia Niro EV: 4,091 units
Some of the non-Tesla vehicles have seen substantial sales gains in 2021, including the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, which is currently the subject of a massive recall due to battery manufacturing problem that has been pinpointed as the cause of more than 10 vehicle fires.
The company’s recalled all of them and shut down the Orion, Michigan plant that produces them as it works with its supplier, South Korea’s LG Chem, to fix the problem. Despite all this, its sales were up 138% during the timeframe, according to InsideEVs.com.
The Launch Edition of the Rivian R1T will begin production and deliveries later this month.
However, the dominance of Tesla is still strong. It holds the top two spots on the list, accounting for 162,156 units. This is more than two times the rest of the top 10 at 75,401 vehicles. What vehicles occupy the No. 11 and No. 12 spots? The Model S and Model X, respectively.
Overall, the company gives new meaning to the term “California King” as it accounts for more than two-thirds of all EVs sold in the U.S. right now.
Change is inevitable
While Tesla enjoys a substantial lead, it seems it’s only a matter of time when the rest of the world begins flooding the U.S. market with new electric options — and that time essentially starts, well, now.
Starting with newbie Rivian and its Launch Edition R1T electric pickup which will begin deliveries later this month, at least 27 brands accounting for nearly 50 distinct vehicles, which TheDetroitBureau.com chronicled in two part story you can read by clicking here for Part I and here for Part II, are scheduled arrive in the U.S. between now and the end of next year.
Tesla’s not twiddling its thumbs, waiting for the wave to come crashing down on it, expanding its production base in the U.S. with Giga Austin, its massive new plant expected to come online by the end of this year or early next to produce even more of the Model 3 while prepping to for the Cybertruck and possibly a less expensive vehicle in the $25,000 range.
Tesla made its splash into the car world with the first Tesla Roadsters more than a decade ago, and now deliveries of the second-generation of the 2+2-seater are likely going to be pushed back to 2023.
CEO Elon Musk said the second-generation Roadster, when it comes out, will be the best sports car in the world.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed the new timeline via Twitter when asked about details of the Roadster, which was supposed to get a push toward production once the Model S Plaid hit the market.
“2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship,” he tweeted. “Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.”
Musk suggested earlier this year the already once-delayed 2+2-seater — it was originally slated to arrive last year — would arrive at the end of next summer. However, it appears the chip issue, which is expected to continue into next year, sunk the 2022 timeline.
Revised arrival time
Delayed due dates are nothing new to Musk, who’s cracked several jokes about missing his “overly ambitious” deadlines before. The Semi and the Cybertruck have also been pushed back at least once each, with some observers now expecting the latter to not arrive until 2023, though the official word, according to the configurator, is that it will arrive in 2022.
Part of the issue is that demand for the Model Y and Model 3 — Tesla’s best sellers — require the resources that could be used to bring the others to the market. Ensuring there is cash going into the corporate coffers is what makes the other vehicles possible, Musk has also noted in the past.
Tesla’s also not alone when it comes to supplier issues these days with GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and more all forced to shut down plants due to the shortage of chips.
In June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hailed the new Model S Plaid as the fastest and safest car built today.
Happy campers once it arrives
Despite the delay, the Roadster — which at one point Musk said would use rockets borrowed from SpaceX — will be the fastest production car on the road, or so Musk claimed when he revealed the next-gen model.
“The new Tesla Roadster will be the fastest production car ever made. Period,” the South African-born entrepreneur declared in November 2017. “The purpose of this is to give a hardcore smackdown to the gasoline car.”
The title will remain in-house, at least of nothing changes. The Tesla Model S Plaid currently gets there in 1.99 seconds. The Roadster, Musk said, will do it in 1.9 seconds — unless the rockets come into play. He said at the time it will race from 0 to 100 mph in just 4.2 seconds, and top out at more than 250 mph.
Just as importantly, the $200K model will do all of that while getting more than 620 miles on a single charge — the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Tesla Inc.’s list of problems just got a little longer: another Autopilot-related crash. A Model 3 reportedly using the semi-autonomous technology hit a police car parked on the side of the road while engaged in a traffic stop.
A Tesla Model 3 with Autopilot reportedly engaged crashed into a parked police cruiser in Florida on Aug. 28.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently opened an investigation of 11 incidents in which Tesla vehicles allegedly with the Autopilot engaged crashed into emergency response vehicles parked on the side of the road. These events happened while the responders were performing their duties.
The latest incident occurred in Florida where a Model 3 using the technology collided with a Florida Highway Patrol car, according to the Associated Press. The incident happened on an interstate in Orlando while the officer was out of his vehicle attempting to help with a disabled vehicle.
The police officer was not hurt, however, the drivers of the other vehicles sustained minor injuries, according to the report.
The Florida crash over the weekend is the 12th incident involving an emergency vehicle parked on the side of the road.
“Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones,” NHTSA said in a document prepared by the Office of Defects Investigation.
“The involved subject vehicles were all confirmed to have been engaged in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control during the approach to the crashes.”
Autopilot uses on a mix of sensor devices, microprocessors and software. It was first introduced in mid-2014 and has been updated since then. The technology is designed to help keep vehicles like the Tesla Models S, X, 3 and Y in their lane, keep the vehicle safely spaced in traffic and avoid collisions.
Plenty of critics
The first crash involving Autopilot that garnered national attending happened in Florida in 2016. Former Navy SEAL Joshua Brown’s Model S collided with the side of semi-truck trailer, killing him in the process.
NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board both concluded that former SEAL Joshua Brown was watching a video device, rather than paying attention to the road, when his car struck a truck broadside. Regulators also determined that Autopilot failed to recognize the truck against the backdrop of a bright sky.
Tesla’s Autopilot played a role in the collision with this fire truck parked on I-405 in California earlier.
Since then, safety organizations and some politicians have criticized the technology, claiming the name alone suggests it’s capable of driving the vehicle without any assistance. CEO Elon Musk maintains the technology helps make the roads safer and the company goes to great lengths to tell drivers they must remain alert when behind the wheel, even when Autopilot is engaged.
Emergency responders at risk
In at least some of the 11 crashes NHTSA is looking at, Tesla vehicles believed to have been operating in Autopilot struck stationary vehicles operated by emergency responders.
Radar and even camera sensors can have problems recognizing stationary obstacles, several experts told TheDetroitBureau.com. Such situations are even more complex when cones or emergency vehicles are involved, Duke University engineering professor Mary Cummings told the Wall Street Journal.
The problem is each emergency situation presents a different visual target that systems like Autopilot may not have been trained to recognize. “This is why emergency situations are so problematic,” Cummings said. “The visual presentation is never the same.”
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