+++ While regulations surrounding emission standards often focus on tailpipe emissions, BRAKES and tires actually contribute 32 percent of driving-related particulate emissions. Half of that comes from brake dust alone. Bosch revealed its answer to a cleaner brake disc called the iDisc. Bosch says the iDisc offers numerous benefits over traditional cast-iron brake discs. Foremost, the iDisc’s construction consists of a tungsten-carbide coating after the disc’s friction rings are mechanically, thermally, and galvanically treated. The special process creates a more durable disc and one that produces 90 percent less brake dust for cleaner air. Bosch said the iDisc is roughly three times more expensive than a standard cast iron disc, but it’s also three times less expensive than a ceramic brake disc. And the iDisc doesn’t sacrifice performance when compared to a ceramic brake disc. Bosch claims the brake fade performance of its iDisc mimics ceramic brakes and little deceleration wear occurs over time. Depending on the carbide coating’s strength, the company said the iDisc will last twice as long as a conventional disc. The iDisc is also resistant to corrosion, which offers a major advantage for electric cars and regenerative braking systems. Bosch didn’t provide specifics but said it will begin production of the iDisc for an unnamed automotive manufacturer this month. We happen to know that manufacturer is Porsche and the brakes will be offered on the new Cayenne. Porsche calls them Porsche Surface Coated Brakes (PSCB) and says the tungsten-carbide mixture is essentially burned onto the surface using a high-velocity oxygen fuel, creating a hardened surface that is 100 microns thick. While thin, this is the usable surface of the rotors, and Porsche says it is good for 30 percent to twice as much wear, depending on driving style. Porsche charges 3,800 euro for its PSCB brakes compared to almost 10,000 euro for its carbon ceramics on the Cayenne. While price may be an issue for the technology at first, the company expects economies of scale will help make the iDisc a go-to option for future cars. +++
+++ The new JAGUAR F-Pace SVR has been spied testing outside the Nurburgring, where the hot crossover will be put through its paces. At the front, the Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) tuned SUV has a revised front fascia with a new grille and porous covers hiding enlarged air intakes. There’s also a bunch of tape on the bonnet, beneath which hides a pair of vents. Along the sides, tape and another piece of breathable camouflage seemingly serve to hide an enlarged set of side vents. The new F-Pace should also be fitted with new alloy wheels, lowered suspension, wide road-going tyres, and an upgraded braking package. At the rear, the 4 large exhaust tips flank a diffuser-style element at the bottom of the rear bumper. Under the bonnet, we expect to see a version of Jaguar Land Rover’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine. Although we don’t know how much power and torque this crossover will pack, the F-Type SVR has 575 hp and 700 Nm to its name. Like the lithe 2-door, the F-Pace SVR will likely pair its high performance engine with an 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. Launch timing for the hot new Jaguar SUV is uncertain, although if the company wants to gain maximum exposure for the car, a second-tier motor show, like New York, would a good bet. +++
+++ LINCOLN will drop the confusing three-letter series of names present on most of its models, Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s chief marketing officer and group vice president for the Lincoln brand, told. The 2019 Nautilus, formerly the MKX, is the first to ditch the panned naming structure. And with this information in hand, what could Lincoln’s other trademarked name, Corsair, reveal? “We will be naming all of our vehicles moving forward”, Galhotra told ahead of the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show. “People just connect at a much more emotional level with the vehicle when it has a real name”. The 2019 Nautilus gives an indication of the theme those real names will follow, Galhotra says. “We’re looking at the Lincoln brand as a family of vehicles and therefore a family of names, with a theme of journeys and a theme of explorers”, Galhotra said. “Navigator obviously is navigator, Continental fits in that same theme. The root of the word ‘nautilus’ comes from ‘nautis,’ the Latin for ‘sailor.’ So Nautilus also plays into that theme”. But where Nautilus fits in with Lincoln’s new naming strategy, it doesn’t necessarily fit into the brand’s history. There’s never been a Lincoln Nautilus before, but the brand chose it despite a raft of great (and occasionally tarnished) names to draw on, Zephyr being the most prominent (and most heavily tarnished). There’s also Aviator, which appeared on a sub-Navigator, Explorer-based model in the early 2000s. Galhotra hasn’t ruled out drawing on those historical names, although he said the company won’t draw on its history just for the sake of it. “Lincoln has a lot of really interesting names in its history”, Galhotra said. “And if some of those fit in our future products, absolutely. If they don’t, we’re not necessarily going to look at history just to find those names. But we have some great names in our history”. So where does that leave Lincoln? Despite the baggage, Zephyr is a legendary name for the brand that harkens back to its pre-war heyday, while Aviator seems like a natural fit for the company’s new naming scheme. It’s also worth pointing out that Lincoln trademarked the name ‘Corsair’ a month before it reserved the rights to ‘Nautilus’. Automakers trademark names all the time, but the fact that Lincoln nabbed 2 vehicle names in 1 month and has already used one of them, combined with the fact that we now know the company will begin phasing out alphanumeric names makes it seem like a Lincoln Corsair could be right around the corner. Which vehicle Lincoln could attach that name to is another question, though. Ford just refreshed the MKC without changing its name, while a new Fusion/MKZ is due in 2019. But ‘Corsair’ is more aggressive than either of those vehicles (it’s basically a polite name for a pirate or pirate ship), and somehow doesn’t feel right on such mainstream offerings. That has me thinking Lincoln could have something more sporting in the pipeline, although that’s purely speculation on our part. At the very least, Lincoln’s decision is hopefully the start of a larger move in the auto industry, away from meaningless bundles of numbers and letters and onto names that actually mean something. I’m looking forward to it. +++
+++ India’s MAHINDRA , known as a manufacturer of tractors, trucks and SUVs, has opened its first manufacturing plant in the United States. Located in Detroit, Michigan, the plant will initially manufacture an off-road vehicle called the Roxor Off-Road. The first examples are due in 2018 and are to be sold exclusively in India. However, sales in other markets including the U.S. are planned. Mahindra hasn’t said much about the vehicle, only that it will be a compact model for “off-highway” use. This suggests that it won’t be your typical soccer mom chariot. The Roxor Off-Road will feature a steel body atop a ladder frame chassis. There will be 2 versions: a commercial version ideal for the farming and mining industries and a lifestyle version targeting off-roading enthusiasts. The new plant is in addition to a warehouse and logistics center as well as a prototype center owned and operated by Mahindra in the U.S. The Indian firm currently employs 250 locally but plans to add 400 new jobs and additional investment of $600 million through 2020. “This building opening represents our company’s growing presence in North America and locally in the Metro Detroit area where we have tripled our workforce during the past 18 months”, Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra said in a statement. “We are committed to growing the Mahindra brand in North America and Michigan”. +++
+++ Lutz Meschke, head of finance and IT at PORSCHE , has outlined the brand’s strategy for autonomous vehicles, driver assistance and other technologies. In an interview published on the company’s corporate website, Meschke said “digitalisation and autonomous driving should be seen not as a threat but as a tremendous opportunity” for the sports car brand. This is particularly true for automated parking and semi-autonomous traffic jam assistance, which “will soon be ‘must haves’ ”, especially for more family-oriented vehicles, such as the Cayenne, Macan, Panamera and the upcoming all-electric Mission E. For sports car models Porsche could one day offer a “Mark Webber function”, where the car will drive itself autonomously around a race track like the Nurburgring, following the same braking, acceleration and steering inputs as the Australian driver would. This feature could show the owner how to approach the course on a demonstration lap, and teach or prompts them when they’re behind the wheel. Naturally, the system wouldn’t be limited to laps from Webber if it eventuates; given Porsche has relationships with the likes of Walter Rohrl, it would be a waste not to include a few different options. Meschke is enthusiastic about driver assistance technology, but says Porsche will be “one of the last automobiles with a steering wheel”, and “driving yourself will hopefully remain the most important thing at Porsche for a very long time”. Although the company has thus far prioritised traditional vehicle development, it is now investing heavily in technology and services, not just to keep up with the automotive ‘Joneses’, but also to increase profits. This will be driven primarily through new over-the-air services, such as in-car purchasing of track insurance, which is already offered in some models. In the future, for example, Porsche could offer paid downloadable upgrades that could add new features, such as dynamic headlight functionality, or a few extra kilowatts for a track day. +++
+++ 4 million miles down, unlimited potential to go. Waymo’s fleet of SELF DRIVING cars has officially reached the 4 million mile mark in about 8 years of total operation. And in the coming months, the company will launch a self-driving taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, for the public to use. The pace of those self-driving miles has accelerated, and that has led to the first self-driving taxi service. The first 1 million miles logged took 18 months; it took just 6 months to reach the last million. Waymo said it would take the average American driver 300 years to drive the same distance its self-driving fleet has covered since 2009. And for every mile, Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary collects precious data needed to roll out self-driving cars to the public. Recently, Waymo announced its self-driving cars no longer feature a human backup driver at all. At launch, Waymo’s taxi service will place an employee in the back seat to monitor the car’s behavior, but eventually, the company will remove the human eyes altogether. Riders will use a button to halt the car’s operation if anything goes awry. The company has tested its self-driving cars in 23 U.S. cities thus far, but the real tests will be in the Midwest and East Coast regions. Right now, the four million real-world miles have mostly covered dry climates. Snow, freezing temperatures, and ice will provide new challenges for self-driving cars. In addition to the 4 million miles collectively driven, Waymo said its fleet has racked up 2.5 billion simulated miles in the past year alone to expose 25,000 virtual cars and its self-driving technology to instances previously encountered on public roads. The virtual cars also re-drive the miles the actual cars have already driven to accelerate the pace of learning. +++
+++ TESLA has made the biggest progress as the most credible electric-vehicle brand at the expense of all other established car brands, except Mercedes, according to a survey by UBS Research. That lead, however, will spur other premium car makers to launch competitive electric vehicles, increasing the pressure on Tesla, the analysts said. Existing premium brands are still preferred over Tesla, and Tesla’s lack of a dense dealer network could put it at a disadvantage, they said. UBS surveyed about 10,000 people in the 6 largest car markets (China, Germany, Japan, Korea, the U.K, and the U.S.), finding growing consumer interest in electric cars and dwindling interest in diesel-powered cars. The survey’s findings led UBS to increase its forecast of global electric-vehicle sales to 16.5 million by 2025, from a previous estimate of 14.2 million. They also predicted higher demand in China and higher 2017 sales for electric vehicles in several markets. “Our new forecasts imply 16 percent EV sales penetration in 2025, or almost every sixth car sold globally. We expect every third car sold in Europe to be electric by then”, the analysts said. “We believe the market is increasingly buying into our thesis that the shift to electric cars will come faster and in a more pronounced way, fueled by the diesel demise in Europe, battery technology advancements and regulation in China and Europe”, they said. Reasons not to buy an electric vehicle are becoming less relevant in key markets, they said. A high purchase price is the No. 1 reason for not going electric, but that is likely to become less relevant as electric-vehicle powertrain costs come down faster than expected, thanks to more efficient battery chemistries and simplified electronics, the analysts said. Moreover, 1 in 4 consumers interested in buying an electric vehicle is ready to pay a premium, they said. Tesla shares have gained 49 percent this year, compared with 17 percent gains for the S&P 500 index. The stock is down nearly 8 percent in the last 3 months, however, lagging behind the benchmark, which has gained 7 percent. +++