News Amazon plans to buy 100,000 Rivian electric vans was the most-read article on just-auto this week, unsurprisingly.
The deal was announced as part of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ sweeping new plan to tackle climate change, announced at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Bezos reportedly said Amazon had committed to meet the goals of the UN’s Paris Agreement 10 years ahead of schedule, plus measure and report the company’s emissions on a regular basis, implement decarbonisation strategies and alter its business strategies to offset remaining emissions. His goal is for 80% of Amazon’s energy use to be renewable by 2024, before transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030. The first electric delivery vans will be on the road by 2021 and Bezos estimated 100,000 vehicles would be deployed by 2024. The move builds on Rivian’s US$700m investment round in February, which was led by Amazon.
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As we noted in our Editor’s Weekly Highlights email to subscribers this week: “As a start-up business – in any industry or sector, it’s always good to get backers that boost your credibility. If a company like Amazon comes in and invests $700m in a financing round that’s going to be welcome. If they then place a very big order for the end-product before you have started making them, even better.”
Staying with electric vehicles, Geely’s Volvo Cars released more details of its first fully electric SUV – the XC40 [my favourite Volvo model which has been steadily updated with both new ICE and PHEV drivetrains since launch]. As you would expect from the Swedish automaker, it claimed that, keeping with tradition, it is also introducing “one of the safest cars on the road, despite a fresh set of challenges presented by the absence of an internal combustion engine. The fully electric XC40 will be one of the safest cars we have ever built.” Volvo said its safety engineers had to completely redesign and reinforce the frontal structure to deal with the absence of an engine, meet their own high safety requirements and help keep occupants as safe as ever.
To help keep passengers safe and the battery intact in the event of a collision, engineers also developed a new and unique safety structure for passengers and battery alike. The battery is protected by a safety cage which consists of a frame of extruded aluminum and has been embedded in the middle of the car’s body structure, creating a built-in crumple zone around the battery. The battery’s placement in the floor of the car also has the benefit of lowering the centre of gravity for better protection against roll overs and the car’s body structure has been reinforced front and rear. The electric powertrain has been integrated into the body structure to achieve a better distribution of collision forces away from the cabin and reduce the strain on occupants.
The battery-powered XC40 also introduces new active safety technology and is the first Volvo equipped with a new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) sensor platform with software developed by Zenuity, the joint venture company owned by Volvo Cars and Veoneer.
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By GlobalDataCan’t wait to get my mitts on this newest EV SUV next year. With Ford et al all now getting very serious about electrification – from 48V mild hybrid to all-electric – and battery EV ranges becoming much longer hence more practical (also making fast-charge capacity essential), we are in for a new product fest. Bring it on.
Events over the last few years suggest Detroit’s Big Three are struggling in certain markets and making strategic decisions to abandon unprofitable territory. Supporting evidence: FCA withdrawing most of the (Mexican made 500) Fiat range from North America (though Jeep apparently continues to thrive globally); GM giving up on Europe (selling Opel/Vauxhall to PSA for tuppence) and India/Africa vehicle sales (India still manufacturing for export, South African ops sold to Isuzu); Ford restructuring European operations (including axing the Belgian factory) and abandoning passenger car sales and associated manufacturing (Naberezhnye Chelny Assembly, St. Petersburg Assembly and Elabuga Engine Plants in Russia all closed) in gloomy-outlook Russia to focus on a restructured JV with local partner Sollers which sells the popular Transit van line.
Now, sadly, it seems Ford will join its crosstown Detroit rival in effectively pulling out of direct investment and involvement in India, much as GM has already done. The General still makes small, GM Korea-designed Chevrolets for export from India but no longer sells cars there. South African commercial vehicle operations have been transferred to Isuzu. This week we learned Ford is now forming an Indian joint venture with local automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (owner of South Korea’s Ssangyong) in a move which reportedly would result in the US automaker ending most of its independent operations in the country.
Media reports last April said Ford and Mahindra had for months been structuring the deal to create a new entity in which Ford would hold a 49% stake while its Indian rival held 51%. Latest word was Ford would transfer most of its automotive assets and employees in India to the new company but would retain an engine plant in Sanand in the western state of Gujarat. Ford would say only it was engaged with Mahindra “to develop avenues of strategic cooperation that help us achieve commercial, manufacturing and business efficiencies”.
Joint ventures really are a thing in the autobiz at the moment – it’s one way to share the huge cost burden electrification commitments have placed on automakers and suppliers – so here’s another: Aptiv and Hyundai Motor Group announced they would form an autonomous driving joint venture.
The companies said the JV would “advance the design, development and commercialisation of SAE Level 4 and 5 autonomous technologies, furthering the partners’ leadership position in the global autonomous driving ecosystem”. The joint venture would begin testing fully driverless systems in 2020 and have a production-ready autonomous driving platform available for robotaxi providers, fleet operators, and automotive manufacturers in 2022. As part of the agreement, Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv will each hold half of the joint venture, valued at US$4bn. Aptiv would contribute its autonomous driving technology, intellectual property, and approximately 700 employees focused on the development of scalable autonomous driving solutions. Hyundai Motor Group affiliates – Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis – would collectively contribute USD1.6bn in cash at closing and USD0.4bn in vehicle engineering services, R&D resources, and access to intellectual property. The new joint venture will be headed by Karl Iagnemma, president, Aptiv Autonomous Mobility and headquartered in Boston, with technology centres across the US and Asia, including Korea. Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv will each appoint an equal number of directors to govern the joint venture.
Here in the UK, the process which kicked the Brexit date down the road like a tin can is now even more uncertain, prompting a Japanese diplomat to issue a thinly veiled warning about future investment – not just automotive – by his country.
On a lighter note, paint shop workers at Ford’s Fiesta plant in Cologne, Germany, now have help – from cobots.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
