+++ AUDI is apparently considering solid-state batteries for a future all-electric supercar. Fellow Volkswagen Group brand Porsche has decided to use traditional lithium-ion batteries for the Mission E. The battery module has been refined for use in a sports car, with a particularly high series voltage, however Porsche is positioning the car more in the Panamera realm than the 911 in terms of track performance. Audi’s global head of product and technology communications, Peter Oberndorfer, suggested current lithium-ion batteries are not yet ideally suited for extreme all-electric supercars. “We consider everything at the moment but I personally believe we need a little bit more battery development”, he said. “Because if you go very fast you need a lot of battery and don’t want to spend three days going from the Nurburgring to Munich or the other way around”. The company is looking at solid-state batteries as a potential solution, potentially delivering high power and energy density with much faster recharge times. “Our development boss Peter Mertens is speaking of solid-state batteries, which are still a few years away, but I think it would be an advantage if it will be developed, so that batteries are getting lighter and need less space”, Oberndorfer added. Audi is not alone in pursuing solid-state batteries. The technology has attracted interest from established players such as Toyota and Honda to prospective newcomers like Dyson. To date, however, none has demonstrated production viability. Until that happens, automakers appear to be signing more supply contracts for lithium-ion cells to power the first wave of EVs in the near term. +++
+++ BMW is pulling out all the stops to ensure the new 3 Series, which goes under the internal codename G20, possesses the stylistic appeal, performance credentials, dynamic ability and overall technical prowess it needs to claw back the gains made by its keenest executive class rivals, most notably the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which officials have described as the clear benchmark. Prototype saloon versions of the new 3 Series spied testing on the roads around BMW’s engineering headquarters in Munich recently indicate it will continue the company’s tradition of evolutionary design change, with an appearance that leans heavily on that of the larger 5 Series, as well as influence from the X2. The car has a more naturally sporting stance to mirror the changes beneath. Credit for the design of the new model rests with former BMW brand design boss, Karim Habib, who moved to Infiniti last year. As the first 3 Series model to be fully honed in BMW’s Munich-based wind tunnel, the G20 is also claimed to match the aerodynamic efficiency of the 5 Series. The most slippery body style is said to have a drag co-efficient of 0.22. The new 3 Series has grown in most key dimensions. Nothing is official, but Munich insiders suggest overall length is up by 60 mm to around 4.703 mm. Some 20 mm of this is said to be concentrated within a lengthened wheelbase, which has increased to almost 2.830 mm, up from 2.810 mm. By comparison, the current C-Class is 4.696 mm in length and has a 2.840 mm wheelbase. The new 3 Series is based on BMW’s latest CLAR (cluster architecture) platform, as used by all recent BMW models, and features a longitudinally mounted engine. In keeping with developments already seen on the larger 5 Series, it benefits from a range of weight-saving initiatives, including the greater use of hot-formed high-strength steel within the main body structure, to cut the already highly competitive kerbweight of today’s 6th-generation model by up to 50 kg, despite the larger dimensions. The volume of 3 Series sales rules out the use of carbonfibre, so there’ll be no Carbon Core structural developments like those seen on the headlining 7 Series. However, BMW’s body construction specialists suggest the G20 will feature a much larger number of cast aluminium components and a greater percentage of magnesium in load-bearing areas. All told, the weight-saving developments are expected to give the lightest variant in the range, the 3-cylinder 318i, a kerb weight of about 1.425 kg. Together with the reduction in weight, the CLAR platform is also claimed to bring an improvement in structural rigidity that, in a move similar to that undertaken with the 5 Series, forms the basis for a change in philosophy for the chassis tuning. Recognising a growing customer desire for additional ride comfort, BMW is looking to provide standard versions of the new 3 Series with more compliant properties, in a move aimed at matching the smoothness of its key rival, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Expected developments include the adoption of rear air springs on more upmarket models. However, BMW is thought to have ruled out the active four-wheel steering system (that countersteers the rear wheels at lower speeds and parallel steers them at higher speeds in the name of agility), even though the 5 Series is equipped with it. In a continuation of the Efficient Dynamics program that has seen successive reductions in consumption and emissions across the 3 Series line-up over recent years, BMW plans to bring a series of upgrades to the petrol engine line-up of the new model. BMW officials confirm an extension of the strategy in use today, with both 3 and 4-cylinder units serving volume-selling 316i, 318i, 320i and 330i models in combination with either standard rear-wheel drive and optional xDrive four-wheel drive on selected variants. Positioned above them will be a 6-cylinder engine offered in both a standard, rear-wheel drive 340i and the aforementioned M340i M Performance guises. BMW has begun to successively upgrade the petrol engines in each of its various model lines, with the recently revealed 2 Series Active Tourer facelift being the most recent model to bear the tweaks. Measures such as a new injection system, a particulate filter to lower NOx levels, a revised belt drive system and more efficient cooling measures are claimed to bring moderate increases in power and torque. Together with the reduction in kerbweight promised by the new CLAR underpinnings, the reworked petrol units are also said to offer consumption and emission savings of up to 5 % across the model line-up. Unclear at this stage are BMW’s plans to introduce water injection as part of the raft of revisions. First introduced on the 6-cylinder unit used by the M4 GTS, the water injection system brings proven performance and efficiency gains. However, it also requires the addition of a water tank close to the engine, which in turn complicates packaging. +++
+++ JAGUAR is working at top speed on an all-new 120,000 euro-plus J-Pace SUV for 2021, designed to beat the Porsche Cayenne at its own game. A global trademark filing for the J-Pace moniker suggests that the model is edging closer to production. The Range Rover-rivalling SUV will have a brand-new shape inspired by Jaguar design director Ian Callum and an obvious on-road bias, but it will draw on the Range Rover for much of its running gear. It will be the brand’s 4th eye-grabbing entry into the gigantic global SUV market in just 5 years. Jaguar stands on the edge of a highly profitable, much higher-volume future, based on rapidly rising sales of an SUV family that started with the F-Pace just 2 years ago and will probably account for twothirds of its total sales in the early 2020s. Also prominent in this progress will be a quick increase in the number of electrified Jaguars (both hybrids and full EVs) some of which will draw on the hardware, software and design influences of the revolutionary I-Pace, just launched. The company, which promises at least one electrified version of every model by 2020, will keep its mix of performance-oriented saloons, SUVs and sports cars while accepting that burgeoning world demandfor soft-roaders is its real passport to higher sales and big profits. The success of the F-Pace and the embryo success of the smaller, more affordable E-Pace are the main reasons for current improvements. However, company bosses are well aware that they need to continue producing upper- end models like the J-Pace to reinforce Jaguar’s image as the home of substantial, luxurious performance cars. Key models of the near to medium future are next year’s all-electric XJ limousine (which is being launched at that time to mark the 50th anniversary of Sir William Lyons’ seminal XJ original) and the bigger, super-luxury J-Pace. Jaguar’s volumes, decimated in the financial crash of 2008-2009, have been rebuilt rather laboriously to around 150,000-160,000 cars a year, while bullish Land Rover and Range Rover sales have lifted total Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) volume beyond 600,000. Although that total is impressive in some ways, Tata-JLR bosses at one time planned to reach 800,000 sales by now and still have their eyes on an annual group total exceeding one million. +++
+++ NISSAN and its French automaking partner Renault SA are considering a range of options, including a more balanced equity structure, to ensure their alliance survives beyond its current leadership, the Japanese company said. Speculation about the alliance’s future, including a possible merger, has been brewing since the 2 companies were discussing plans for a closer tie-up in which Nissan could acquire the bulk of the French state’s 15 % holding in Renault. The partnership, which also includes Mitsubishi, was the world’s top-selling passenger vehicle maker in 2017, but as the global auto industry consolidates, the group is looking to strengthen its alliance before chairman Carlos Ghosn retires in the coming years after overseeing the partnership for nearly 20 years. “This could take many different shapes”, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters at a results briefing, adding a change in equity structure to create a more equal balance between the 2 companies was one of the options being studied. “We need to ensure that the alliance can operate as it does now, preserving the autonomy of each company while maximizing efficiencies, in its future generations”. While all options were on the table, Saikawa said media reports that Nissan and Renault were discussing a “full merger” were “absolutely untrue”. Ghosn has said a merger is a potential option, though not necessarily a goal. Renault holds 43.4 % of Nissan but agreed to limit formal control of its larger partner in a 2015 shareholder pact that defused a boardroom standoff with the French government. Nissan currently owns a 34 % controlling stake in Mitsubishi and 15 % of Renault, but no voting rights. Nissan is forecasting a third straight year of lower operating profit on expectations a stronger yen and higher raw material prices will outweigh a rise in global vehicle sales to a record high. Japan’s second-biggest automaker expects operating profit to fall 6 % to 540 billion yen ($4.9 billion) in the year to March 2019, based on an assumption the yen will trade around 105 against the U.S. dollar during the year, from around 111 yen in the year just ended. Currency swings will result in a 135 billion yen hit to annual operating profit, pushing earnings to their lowest since the year ended March 2014 and underperforming analyst forecasts. Operating profit fell 22.6 % to 574.8 billion yen in the year ended March 2018, weighed by costs from a domestic compliance scandal, weakness in North America, a key market, and higher materials costs. Nissan expects a 2.7 % rise in global sales to 5.93 million vehicles in the current year, its highest ever, as an expected 11.5 % increase in Chinese sales outweighs a forecast 2.7 % drop in the United States, which would also see China become Nissan’s biggest market again. Nissan has seen U.S. sales slide 6.5 % so far in 2018, partly due to sluggish demand for its high-volume Altima sedan, a revamped model of which will be released later this year. Price discounts for the Altima, the popular Rogue (X-Trail) and other models were a big factor in the 30.5 % drop in Nissan’s North American operating profit in the year just ended. The automaker has roughly doubled car sales in the region since 2010, in line with a target to corner around a 10 % share of the U.S. vehicle market. But achieving that has come at the cost of hefty discounting in the region, and Nissan has said it now plans to focus on improving profitability in North America, while also expanding sales in China, the world’s biggest car market. +++
+++ The next all-new PORSCHE 911, set to be unveiled in 2019, will be the first-ever production version to get hybrid power. And the shock news is: there could be 2 new 911 plug-in hybrids on the way: one to sit in the middle of the range as an alternative to the regular Carrera model, and then another positioned at the top of the range, potentially alongside the flagship 911 Turbo. There’s a passionate debate in play among Porsche engineers and decision-makers surrounding the creation of a top-flight 911 hybrid. The iconic sports car is a precious commodity to Porsche, so comes under the biggest scrutiny of all in terms of future development. Yet the inevitable move towards hybrid and full-electric models is already well under way at the company, hence the debate over what to do with and which powertrains to offer in the next 911. What’s certain is that the basic platform for the car has already been “fully developed to accept a hybrid powertrain”, according to my source. In basic form that powertrain will be similar in principle to the 4-wheel-drive, 3.0-litre turbo, 136 hp electric propulsion system launched recently in the Cayenne E-Hybrid, which in V6 form produces a combined 462 bhp and 700 Nm. But in the flat-6 911 the powertrain will be tuned to produce more sporting responses and sounds. It will be linked to a dual-clutch PDK gearbox. Expect a 0-100 km/h sprint time of less than 4 seconds from the basic 911 hybrid, with a maximum speed of more than 290 km/h, as well as CO2 emissions of less than 80 g/km. Crucially, a hybrid powertrain will also add at least 250 kg to the kerbweight of the next 911 compared with petrol-only equivalents, but Porsche insiders say the lessons learned from the 918 Spyder and Cayenne E-Hybrid projects will help them maintain the 911’s agility. In certain dynamic respects hybrid power can be used as a plus, say the firm’s hybrid engineers, with four-wheel-drive e-power adding not just traction but also handling flexibility to the 911 recipe. But it’s the potential for Porsche to add a second, more powerful hybrid 911, to sit alongside the Turbo and Turbo S right at the top of the range, that’s causing the most consternation behind closed doors, my sources claim. The brand’s move towards hybrids and fully electric cars in future is now in full swing, with the Mission E saloon and entrance to Formula E also confirmed. So a range of hybrid-powered 911s at various price and performance levels would fit the mission statement, even if some fans of the traditional 911 might not approve. To appease them, the GT3, GT3 RS and GT2 RS models will remain firmly in the development programme, and will stay resolutely petrol-powered for many years, according to my source. By 2025 Porsche anticipates its global sales will be 25 % full EV, 25 % hybrid and 50 % conventional power. But sales of the latest Panamera have been 75 % hybrid in some countries, so Porsche has the flexibility to easily alter those percentages, my source claims, if and when the tide continues to turn in favour of EVs and hybrids. +++
+++ A pair of consumer advocacy groups say TESLA ’s promotional claims about the safety and capability of its Autopilot driver-assistance technologies are deceptive and want the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate. “2 Americans are dead and one is injured as a result of Tesla deceiving and misleading consumers into believing that the Autopilot feature of its vehicles is safer and more capable than it actually is”, the Center for Auto Safety and Consumer Watchdog wrote in a letter to FTC chairman Joseph Simons. The groups say that Tesla’s Autopilot marketing statements as well as those made by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk have made it “reasonable for Tesla owners to believe, and act on that belief, that a Tesla with Autopilot is an autonomous vehicle capable of self-driving”, the groups wrote. Tesla owners’ manuals contain several disclaimers about Autopilot’s limitations and drivers are reminded that they responsible for maintaining control of the car each time they use the system. Its Autopilot website also says it is unknown when each of the self-driving functions described on the page will be available to drivers due to software validation and regulatory approvals needed, according to the company. “The feedback that we get from our customers shows that they have a very clear understanding of what Autopilot is, how to properly use it, and what features it consists of”, a Tesla spokeswoman said in an email. An FTC spokesman declined to say if the agency would investigate but said the agency takes all such correspondence seriously. Tesla markets the driver-assist features such as adaptive cruise control, automated steering capability and others under the Autopilot name. Tesla stresses that drivers must keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times while using Autopilot. The advocacy groups say Tesla’s promotions of Autopilot suggest otherwise and are deceptive. Among the examples cited in the letter is Tesla’s Autopilot website, which proclaims Tesla vehicles have “full self-driving hardware” and contains a video posted that when played begins with text reading “the person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself”. A Tesla driver in Utah crashed while using Autopilot and looking at her phone earlier this month. 2 fatal crashes while drivers used the system have also occurred, one in California in March and a 2016 crash in Florida. In a report on the Florida crash issued last year, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said the system gave drivers too much leeway to activate the automation in conditions where it might be unsafe. +++
+++ The often-hyped, long-rumored Apple car will be a Euro-bred VOLKSWAGEN van, according to a recent report. Apple shelved its grandiose plans to build an autonomous car from scratch and started looking for a partner with a turn-key product and manufacturing expertise. Volkswagen has allegedly agreed to supply Apple with its Transporter van for the self-driving shuttle conversion. Neither company has commented on the report. What happens next is up in the air. Sources familiar with the plans told the project is running far behind schedule. They also added the project “lacks a clear plan beyond the vans, including any near-term commercial coals”. For now, it sounds like the autonomous vans will merely ferry passengers between Apple’s 2 campuses in Silicon Valley. The Transporter, a descendant of the original Volkswagen Bus and the more recent Eurovan, is a common sight around Europe, where it’s used both as a work van and as a people-carrier. It’s not sold in the United States, though. Apple will work with Volkswagen-owned Italdesign to make several changes to the van, including installing a redesigned dashboard and Apple-specific seats. The conversion also involve ditching the internal combustion engine and replacing it with an electric drivetrain. The swap will be easier said than done because the Transporter wasn’t designed with a large battery pack in mind. Apple and Italdesign originally planned to deliver the first van by the end of 2018, but they won’t meet that deadline, which suggests we might not see the final product until 2019. Look for an official announcement in the coming months. The insiders shed valuable insight into what’s happened at Apple since it launched project Titan. It originally aimed to create the automotive equivalent of the iPhone, a disruptive product that would revolutionize transportation all around the world. It envisioned an electric, autonomous Apple-branded car and even built several design mock-ups. Officials wanted to manufacture the model in an all-new Apple factory located somewhere in the south of the United States. It all looked promising on paper, but Apple quickly found out building a car is exponentially harder than building a phone, even with billions in cash. It began seeking a partner to manufacture the car, and later asked for components like the chassis and the wheels. No one answered the call, for better or worse. That’s when it took the markedly simpler route of retrofitting existing cars with its technology. Volkswagen wasn’t Apple’s first choice. Officials held talks with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, McLaren, and Chinese auto-maker BYD but it never found common ground. Each time, Apple proved reticent to give its automotive partner control over data and design. +++