+++ In the age of downsizing, ASTON MARTIN dares to be different. Although the DBS 770 Ultimate introduced this year indicates the venerable V12 is not long for this world, it would seem the 12-cylinder engine is not being retired after all. The DBS successor will keep the big old internal combustion engine during its transition from a grand tourer to a fully fledged supercar. Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichman told that the DBS replacement will be a “completely different” car. It’s too early to talk about specs but we’ll remind you the 770 Ultimate Coupe and Volante models had a twin-turbo 5.2-litre with 770 hp and 900 Nm. The new DBS won’t ride solo in the V12 supercar segment considering the Ferrari 812 Superfast replacement is also expected to retain all cylinders. Back in May 2021, the house of Maranello said its naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 would be upgraded beyond the 830 hp offered by the 812 Competizione. +++
+++ A new HYUNDAI ‘N’ hot hatchback could be just around the corner, following in the footsteps of the brilliant new Ioniq 5 N. Executive technical advisor for Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), Albert Biermann, says the company will launch a follow-up to the 5 N, but there are challenges to overcome before the project is deemed viable. “That small N-car EV is something we have to do”, Biermann told. “Otherwise, we leave our customers in the dark. We have to come down with something smaller and more affordable”. But Biermann, who retired as Head of R&D almost 2 years ago to take up an advisory role within the Group, is aware what a tough task the team has ahead of them, thanks largely to the positive reviews that its range of combustion-engined hot hatchbacks have earned. “It is not an easy game”, he told. “We put the reference point really high”. To maintain the standards set by the likes of the i20 N, i30 N, Kona N and now the Ioniq 5 N, there are certain aspects of the development process that Hyundai’s engineers will not compromise on. Biermann told us the maker’s uprated 800-volt architecture is essential for any future N product, for example. “If it’s an N car, you want to go on the track, even for 15 or 20 minutes. If you go 400 volt electrics, you double the current, 4 times the heat dissipation. The efficiency is bad. If you think of an i30-kind of car, 400 volt is not appropriate”, he said. Battery capacity is another cause for concern. The smaller batteries that are often fitted to cheaper models wouldn’t provide suitable range to allow for lengthy track sessions; nor would they have the necessary cooling to provide peak performance for extended periods of time, for example on a track day. Yet Biermann is conscious that at this moment in time, it’s difficult to justify such a complex set-up on a small car: “Maybe in the B-segment you cannot afford to switch only the N car to an 800 volt system”, he said, suggesting that if the N department was to use this tech, other Hyundai and Kia small cars would need to adopt it first. Further to this, Biermann told us that the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 are the smallest cars designed to sit on the existing Global Modular Platform (GMP). This would hint at any future baby N using the maker’s forthcoming Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) instead, which will cater for both 400 and 800 volt models in a variety of segments. As mentioned, it’s not entirely clear at this point what form the smaller N-car would take, nor what it might be called. “We have to come up with something in the B or C segment”, Biermann told. “There have been many discussions. At this point nothing is decided. I keep applying the pressure. What is the solution; how much money can we spend? If we go to B-segment, how can we find acceptable track time?” Given the Ioniq 5 sits at the upper end of the compact hatchback segment, it’s likely the new entry-level N car would try to cover off 2 classes (possibly 3), acting as a replacement not only for the i20 N and i30 N, but also the family-friendly Kona N crossover. It’s thought the new model will retain a hatchback shape for better outright performance, but perhaps with a sleeker, more dynamic look than the blocky Ioniq 5. However, given the new IMA platform’s flexibility, anything is possible. Biermann admits there is “a job to do”, and while he wouldn’t reveal any further details at this time, he did say any future small car would bring the sub-brand “closer to where it was before”. +++
+++ The HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP has completed its new innovation center in Singapore, a cutting-edge research and manufacturing facility dedicated to demonstrating human-centric future mobility, the carmaker said. Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS) will serve as a test bed for the group’s smart mobility solutions. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, so the carmaker can conduct research to optimize its manufacturing processes, according to Hyundai. The HMGICS commenced operations early this year and can manufacture more than 30.000 electric vehicles (EVs) each year. For now, it manufactures Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and autonomous robotaxis. “Singapore and the Hyundai Motor Group share innovative DNA in common in that both pursue challenges for a better future”, executive chairman Chung Euisun said in a celebratory speech. “Coupled with that spirit, Hyundai aims to achieve innovation with human-centric new technologies. I am sure HMGICS can create innovative mobility solutions that will bring positive changes to human beings”. The company equipped the facility with fifth-generation (5G) network systems for rapid data transmission and analysis. It also set up what it called a mega-factory used to simulate and control manufacturing processes in a 3D virtual space. The group broke ground on the facility in May 2020 in Jurong Innovation District, a smart manufacturing hub in the city-state that is transforming into a high-tech industrial complex for driving digital transformation in manufacturing sectors. Hyundai Motor Group also identified it as the best place to drive its group-wide vision for smart urban mobility. Singapore deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong and a group of executives from Hyundai and the Korean government celebrated the opening of HMGICS. HMGICS is located in an urban area, so it can respond swiftly to the rapidly changing needs of its customers, according to the carmaker. One key feature is that the facility is capable of dealing flexibly with any changes due to market demands, as it boasts a human-centric manufacturing system powered by the aforementioned advanced technologies. Hyundai Motor Group plans to develop its smart manufacturing platform there, and then apply it to the group’s key manufacturing facilities in Korea and the United States, with a view to maximizing its manufacturing efficiency. “HMGICS will become a smart urban mobility hub that connects city infrastructure, mobility and even human beings”, said Jung Hong-bum, head of HMGICS. “The facility will also present a new standard for the next manufacturing system that converges not just information and communication technology and AI but even robotics”. HMGICS and Hyundai’s new EV factory in Ulsan, which will start operation in 2026, will be positioned as the 2 mainstream innovation facilities for the carmaker to lead the electrified mobility era for the next 5 decades, the company said. +++
+++ NISSAN will build the next-generation versions of the hugely popular Qashqai and Juke alongside the next Leaf at its factory in Sunderland, thanks to fresh investment of up to 2,3 billion euro by the firm and its partners, meaning all 3 models produced at the site will become fully electric. The Qashqai and Juke have previously only been offered with combustion-engined powertrains, but their successors will be electric cars. Both will also gain bold new styling, drawing heavily on the Hyper Urban and Hyper Punk concept cars shown at the Tokyo motor show recently. The investment will include up to 1,3 billion euro by Nissan in its UK operations, with the rest provided by partners such as battery partner Envision AESC. Nissan has been clear that the 2.3 billion euro figure doesn’t include UK government investment but comes purely from the firm ands its partners, although it is in talks with government officials over further support for the plant, which could take the form of financial incentives. The new plans for Sunderland build on the 2021 launch of the EV36Zero hub at the facility, which will now encompass the production of 3 electric vehicles, and will now include 3 battery gigafactories, the third of which is planned to be built in the International Manufacturing Plant next to the site and will be “more or less” the same size as the one under construction. The Sunderland site is currently home to production of the current petrol-engined Qashqai and Juke models, along with the second-generation Leaf. Nissan had previously announced one electric car (a sleek new crossover that is now confirmed as the Leaf successor) would be built in Sunderland. The investment in the original phase of the scheme amounted to 1,15 billion euro, including 500 million euro from Nissan. The company said that the next investment by itself and its partners will be worth up to 2,3 billion euro, meaning the move to convert the plant fully to EV production will represent a 3,45 billion euro investment. Nissan boss Makato Uchida said that “exciting, electric vehicles are at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon-neutrality”. He added: “The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain’s biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our UK team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future for Nissan in Europe”. The substantial investment in the UK automotive industry has been welcomed by the government. Prime minister Rishi Sunak called it “a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s automotive industry, which already contributes a massive 71 billion pound a year to our economy”. He added: “This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing”. Notably, around 80% of the cars built in Sunderland are exported abroad. In confirming it would build replacements for the Qashqai and Juke crossovers in Sunderland, Nissan has now given the first hints about their styling. The two models will be “inspired” by the Hyper Urban and Hyper Punk concepts that were revealed at the Tokyo motor show recently. The Hyper Punk, which previews the Juke, features a bold design that makes extensive use of origami-inspired “multifaceted and polygonal surfaces”. The Hyper Urban, described by Nissan as having a “sleek and modern aesthetic”, serves as a preview of the next Qashqai. The 2 concepts show that Nissan will build on the edgy styling of both the current Juke and Qashqai. As previously revealed, the Leaf successor will be based on the 2021 Chill-Out Concept, and will represent a major shift from its popular predecessor, taking the form of a sleek crossover. Nissan has previously revealed that the Leaf successor is due to go into production in 2026. The Leaf replacement has previously been confirmed to arrive in 2026 and Nissan has committed to stop selling ICE cars in Europe by 2030; 5 years ahead of the current date required to do so by the European Union. No technical details have been released yet, but both will use Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance EV platforms. The Juke and Qashqai will sit on the CMF-EV platform, used by the larger Nissan Ariya and the Renault Mégane Electric. The Sunderland plant will focus on the CMF-EV platform, with production of the new Nissan Micra EV (which will use the smaller CMF-B EV architecture) set to take place alongside the new Renault 4 and Renault 5 at a Renault plant in France. The current Qashqai was launched in 2021 and was Britain’s best-selling car last year. It has accounted for around a fifth of all cars manufactured in the UK since 2007, and is widely credited with sparking the craze for SUVs. Meanwhile, the popular Juke has been on sale since 2019. Nissan’s Sunderland plant currently has 2 production lines: one for the Juke and Qashqai and one for the Qashqai and Leaf. The original EV36Zero plan that launched in 2021 featured funding from Nissan, battery production partner Envision AESC and Sunderland City Council. As well as the upgrades to the Nissan plant, the deal included a new Envision AESC battery gigafactory that will open with a capacity of 11 GWh but could grow to an eventual annual capacity of 30 GWh; enough to power around 100.000 EVs each year. That will sit alongside the existing 1.9 GWh gigafactory, which will also be upgraded under the plan. The new gigafactory is also set to be built by Envision AESC, which is owned by Chinese firm Envision. Nissan officials said that the third facility would need to be around the same size as the second one to give the plant the battery capacity it requires. The factory produced around 238.000 cars last year. Envision AESC chairman Lei Zhang said that “in order to meet increasing battery demand from Nissan”, the firm had “embarked on a strategic feasibility study focused on the potential expansion of our gigafactory operations in Sunderland”. Zhang added that the project was “a testament to AESC’s commitment to fostering innovation and propelling sustainable automotive solutions in the UK”. Nissan noted that both vehicle and battery manufacturing will be powered by the EV36Zero Microgrid, which incorporates wind and solar farms at the site to provide 100% renewable electricity. That includes a new 20MW solar farm. That’s key to the investment, with the firm noting that the future energy requirements exceed the capacity is has from the national grid. In total, the overall investment in the 2 new models, the third gigafactory and other infrastructure projects will be worth around 2,3 billion euro, according to Nissan, indicating significant investment from other partners in the project. Nissan has also confirmed 17 million euro of UK government funding for a 35 million euro collaborative project that it will lead. That is designed to strengthen the zero-emissions expertise at the Nissan Technical Centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. It isn’t clear if the UK government has invested directly in Nissan’s Sunderland plant or whether it has offered other financial incentives. The government has used the announcement to launch a new Investment Zone for north-east England that will focus on advanced manufacturing and green industries. Announcing that deal, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Nissan has a proud history in car manufacturing in Sunderland, and their continued commitment to the UK shows how our support for business is getting results, helping create thousands of jobs and solidifying Britain’s place as the world’s eighth-largest manufacturer”. Nissan currently has around 7.000 employees in the United Kingdom and claims to support around 30.000 jobs in the wider UK supply chain. +++
+++ For more than 4 decades (off and on) automotive enthusiasts around the world have relished following the adventures of the crew of Britain’s BBC series TOPGEAR , so this week’s announcement that the series is “resting for the foreseeable future” is surely a blow to millions of fans. It is not, however, unexpected. During filming an episode last December, host Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, the former England cricket captain turned broadcaster, was badly injured following a bad crash at a track near London. The show has been off the air since the accident. The recent BBC statement said that it has “decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future”, citing “exceptional circumstances … we know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do”. The BBC apologized to the presenter after the 2022 accident, and reached a financial settlement with him of reportedly £9 million (almost 11 million euro). Flintoff has been seen in public with facial injuries, while his legal team said that he was still recovering from “life-altering injuries”. Flintoff’s is the not first severe accident to have affected the health of a Top Gear cast member. Richard Hammond, who presented the series alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May in the 2000s and early 2010s, was severely injured in 2006 when a dragster he was driving spun while traveling at 460 km/h. He spent weeks in a coma. May, meanwhile, has criticized the “car show-erati” who have called for him and his fellow former co-presenters to be reinstated on the hit motoring show since Flintoff’s crash. Speaking to the BBC after the announcement, May took a shot at “partisan fans”, the ‘“car show-erati” who suggested that he return to the show. “I was just thinking, ‘The bloke has hurt himself very badly in a life-changing way, and you could perhaps not use it as an opportunity to be partisan’ ”, said May. “You could perhaps say, ‘Rotten bit of luck, get well soon’ ”. +++
+++Electric vehicle sales are expected to hit a record 9% of all passenger vehicles in the UNITED STATES this year, according to Atlas Public Policy. That will be up from 7.3% of new car sales in 2022. It will be the first time more than 1 million EVs are sold in the U.S. in one calendar year, probably reaching between 1.3 million and 1.4 million cars, the research firm predicts. Although the numbers show significant progress for electrification, the nation is lagging behind countries like China, Germany and Norway. EVs reached 33% of sales in China, 35% in Germany and 90% in Norway for the first 6 months of 2023. These figures include both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs. In those countries, ambitious government zero-emissions targets, vehicle tax incentives and subsidies, and affordable options play a role in a consumer’s decision to adopt a plug-in vehicle. Several factors helped boost American EV adoption this year, but in a word, prices have gone down. Tesla, the current EV market leader, dropped the prices for its popular vehicles multiple times throughout the year. This forced other automakers to try to keep up. Car companies are also now offering greater incentives on their electric models and dealers are discounting more deeply as EV supply builds up at dealerships. The Inflation Reduction Act, which increased tax credits for qualifying new and used EV purchases, also helped bring EV costs down for buyers, by $3,750 or $7,500, depending on certain requirements. Electric car battery costs are also falling as critical battery materials like lithium get less expensive, making the vehicles increasingly affordable, too. But even as U.S. EV market share grows steadily, hurdles still stand in the way for some car buyers considering electric. Early EV buyers were largely higher-income, willing to try unfamiliar technology, and more likely to be able to charge their electric vehicles at home. The auto industry needs to address disparities with these factors as it targets the next wave of EV shoppers. For many consumers, unreliable and inaccessible public charging infrastructure, as well as the increased upfront cost of going electric, remain barriers. Last month, new EVs still cost on average $3.826 more than the average new car, going for $51.762 versus $47.936. To combat some infrastructure challenges, several major automakers have signed on to Tesla’s charging technology. Tesla has long used the North American Charging Standard for its EV plugs, and it has also had the strongest public charging network. The rest of the industry has largely operated on one called CCS, or the Combined Charging System. Incorporating Tesla’s tech will give non-Tesla EV drivers more opportunity to charge elsewhere, and alleviate charging concerns. But those changes won’t start to kick in until next year and 2025. The industry is also grappling with concerns over an EV market slowdown. Some automakers, including Ford and General Motors, are scaling back on their electrification targets. But at the same time, many non-domestic car companies are amping up their plans. Consumers can expect Chinese EV-makers such as BYD to find their way to the U.S. market in the coming years. Several U.S. states have set target dates by which they expect vehicle sales to be majority zero-emissions. California and Washington have mandated that 100% of new vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035, while New Jersey will ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by that same year. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN said on Friday it will develop a new platform for entry-level electric vehicles in China and use more local components to lower costs, as the German company seeks to regain lost ground in the world’s biggest auto market. The new architecture, known as the A Main Platform, will be made specifically to Chinese consumer tastes with regards to the battery, electric drive and electric motor, China chief Ralf Brandstätter told reporters during a visit to its new EV development and procurement centre in the central city of Hefei. Chinese new car buyers are younger, tech savvy and like a immersive digital experience from their cars, he added. Derived from the so-called modular electric drive matrix (MEB), Volkswagen’s existing electric-only platform in use since 2019, it will primarily use Chinese suppliers and should be ready for market in 2026, a third faster than previous platform development times, he added. The company has said it plans to introduce 10 more EV models globally by 2026 and speed up its time to market for new models from four years to closer to the 2.5-year average for its Chinese counterparts. China was a very “price-sensitive” market and Volkswagen needed to optimize costs, Brandstätter said. “When EV volume goes up, it’s important that we are profitable to be sustainable. Therefore we drive the technologies, the speed and cost efficiency”. Ludger Lührmann, chief technology officer of the Hefei centre that is called Volkswagen Group China Technology Company (VCTC) and is developing the platform, said for example that the company was able to lower the price of its dashboard displays by 37% after switching to a Chinese supplier from a global one. Volkswagen ceded its title as the best-selling car brand in China to BYD late last year, due to intense competition with local EV makers and its heavy reliance on gasoline vehicles whose sales have been declining in the country. Its top-selling EV, the ID.3, ranked 22nd among EV models by sales in China this year after big discounts boosted its monthly sales to around 10.000 during July to October from an average of 2.200 per month last year, according to industry data. Volkswagen is pushing to expand its product range in China to attract customers in the entry- and mid-level segment of EVs in particular, with its current offering priced above that of many Chinese electric-only rivals. It plans to develop 4 models priced between 140.000 yuan ($19.400) and 170.000 yuan on the new platform to compete with rivals in a segment dominated by gasoline cars currently, Brandstätter said. The cars would be produced by Volkswagen’s joint ventures with SAIC and FAW, he added. Volkswagen invested around 1 billion euros to build VCTC, which it says is crucial to its ‘China for China strategy’ and will eventually employ over 2.000 people. The centre’s operations include coordinating procurement to involve suppliers early on, and linking up the development projects of Volkswagen’s 3 joint ventures in China with SAIC, FAW and JAC Motors. The centre meant that “time-consuming coordination across time zones with developers in Germany is no longer necessary”, Brandstätter said. “We will increase the efficiency of our development processes and be able to shorten the time it takes to bring products to Chinese customers by 30%, while ensuring we are catering to their specific needs”. Volkswagen in July struck a deal with Chinese EV maker Xpeng to boost its EV line up. It has 2 new models under development as part of that partnership that will target mid-level consumers and be produced on an older generation Xpeng platform. Those models are set to be rolled out from 2026. +++
