Industry Spotlight Posts
The latest automotive industry analysis from veteran commentator and former engineer, Peter Els
We take a look at proposed electric vehicle R&D budgets, sales forecasts and government incentives to analyze the impact on progress Covid-19 may cause
Column: Could the impact of the coronavirus be as disruptive and transformative as CASE?
Published: 2020-03-16
Published: 2020-03-16
Much like Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric vehicles, coronavirus is catalyzing disruptive thinking, and is likely to change the way the automotive industry does business
2020 should be the year that EV sales really start to take off. But are consumers ready to switch to electric vehicles? And do they actually want to drive with electric power alone? We take a look
Column: Could these events that made headlines in 2019 change the course of history?
Published: 2020-01-08
Published: 2020-01-08
Heading into 2020, we take a look at the big stories of last year, and how they’re likely to influence the narrative of not just the coming year, but the next decade, too
Autopilot, Super Cruise, Traffic Jam Assist – is the auto industry’s use of ambiguous marketing jargon, rather than accurate description, setting it up for failure?
The Worldwide harmonized Light vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) was supposed to help the car industry clean up its act. The reality may not match the ambition
Exploring the future of car lighting, inside and out, once autonomous vehicles become widely adopted. How will cars communicate with pedestrians when they don't have a driver? And how will interior lighting evolve? Find out here...
In just a few short years, artificial intelligence has jumped from sci-fi future to fundamental technology upon which to build an entirely new generation of products and services used in the automotive industry. We take a look at how AI is shaking the industry to its core.
Examining the balance of global lithium-ion battery supply and increased demand from carmakers now the electric vehicle is becoming the must-have consumer device
Cost engineering in the disruptive era of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric mobility
Published: 2019-06-05
Published: 2019-06-05
We examine how cost engineering has evolved into a discipline vital for continued profitability and survival of manufacturers as the automotive industry transitions to provide Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric vehicles.
As self-driving vehicles evolve, the demand for cost-effective model-based systems engineering is set to become the norm in most E/E systems. Here we explore the benefits of model-based systems and how they can become both a time and money saver.
BMW Group and Daimler AG recently announced they would invest more than €1 billion ($1.13 billion) to form a joint venture offering customers a single source for sustainable urban mobility service solutions. But what's in it for both players? Data, data and more precious data...
The key to unlocking electrification lies in electrical energy storage, which is both complicated and expensive. So complicated in fact that it has kept scientists busy for over 150 years. And after all this time, only two viable electrical energy storage systems have found their way into commercial use - the lead-acid battery and lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery. So what's next?
The past two decades have probably been the most innovative years in the history of the automotive industry. The speed at which the spotlight has moved from downsized IC engines to PHEVs and onto full EVs and fully se...
The motor industry is on the brink of a technological and social revolution that will fundamentally alter the way it does business. The scale, scope and complexity of the revolution will be unlike anything humankind h...
After more than a century, is the ultimate HMI set to disappear from the motor car?
Published: 2016-06-27
Published: 2016-06-27
No doubt our forefathers never saw the tiller as one of the first Human Machine Interfaces, so when they ditched this maritime relic for a circular steering wheel it was surely only seen as a technical improve...
In a strange twist of fate two recent GM suitors, Google and FCA, find themselves in a highly publicized marriage of convenience. But why would these two end up as bedfellows in the race for the first series-productio...
After centuries of building motor vehicles one would have thought that process controls and procedures would have developed to the point where recalls, and in particular safety r...
In 2013 when Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek hacked a Prius, many casual observers saw this as an extreme party trick: A mere two years later these same people watched in horror as several OEM’s were f...
Since the latter half of the 19th Century, the technology of choice to propel the motor car has been the reciprocating piston, spark-ignition Otto-cycle engine, followed by the compression-ignition diesel. After more than a century of...
