Toyota | Panasonic | Joint Venture for Battery Production.
Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation have decided to establish the joint venture Prime Planet Energy & Solutions. Toyota holds 51 % of the shares, Panasonic the remaining 49 %. The number of employees will be 5100, including 2400 working at a subsidiary in China. The joint venture will develop competitive and cost-efficient automotive prismatic batteries. In January 2019, the two partners had already agreed to set up a joint venture. The batteries developed in this context will not only be supplied to Toyota, but will be available to all customers.
Battery of the Lexus X300e
© Toyota
Elmos | Cemm Thome | Joining the ISELED Alliance.
Elmos and Cemm Thome have joined the ISELED alliance. Elmos develops, produces and markets semiconductors and sensors, primarily for use in the automotive industry; Cemm Thome is part of Amphenol, one of the largest connector suppliers worldwide, and manufactures products for automotive exterior and interior lighting. Since the alliance was founded, the number of members has grown from 5 to 30. Meanwhile, according to co-founder Inova Semiconductors, the entire value chain is covered to establish ISELED as a standard system solution. Extending the original protocol with the ILaS bus concept is expected to significantly broaden applications. In the future, not only LED elements but also components such as matrix LED lights, sensors and actuators could be controlled via a simple two-wire connection.
The open industrial alliance aims to develop a comprehensive system solution for LED elements, up to peripheral components
© Inova Semiconductors
Daimler Trucks | Initiative for Electric-truck Charging Infrastructure .
The E-Mobility Group of Daimler Trucks & Buses has launched a worldwide initiative to establish a charging infrastructure for battery-electric trucks. The initial focus will be on charging stations that will be installed at the depots of truck customers in the USA and Europe; with the Japanese market to follow next. The initiative is called the eTruck Charging Initiative and provides for a close dialog between the main players, intended to speed up previously lengthy and complex planning and application processes with regard to grid connection. Other approaches, such as the best possible design of the interfaces between charging infrastructure, vehicle and grid, and the possibilities of controlling the grid load will also be addressed.
Daimler plans to build new charging parks for electric commercial vehicles
© Daimler
Pei Tel | Consolidating the Production.
Pei Tel Communications, a company that develops and manufactures communication accessories and connectivity solutions, has relocated all its production activities, which were formerly carried out by its partner company Peiker Acustic based in Friedrichsdorf, to its headquarters in Teltow near Berlin (all Germany). A large number of additional jobs has been created in recent years, in particular in production and logistics, in preparation for the changeover. By bringing its activities together in one place, the company aims to achieve shorter delivery times, faster responses and the possibility of customizing products, even for small production runs. In all, nearly 50 product groups, including handsets, hand microphones, and gooseneck microphones, have been moved, along with 400 individual items and 2000 assemblies.
New jobs were created in production at the Teltow site
© Pei Tel
Maxim | Design Center Opened in Dublin.
Maxim Integrated Products has opened its seventh design center in Europe in Dublin. The site in Ireland will focus on product development and conducting research and development in the field of analog semiconductor design. The company intends to hire a strong team of mixed-signal and analog design engineers and will invest a total of approximately 25 million euros in talent, equipment and building costs for the R&D facility. "With this new facility, we plan to reinvent the way we develop technology and push innovation even further, giving our customers the products they need to succeed," said David Dwelley, Chief Technology Officer at Maxim Integrated.
Maxim CTO David Dwelley, Jason Pearce, Executive Director IC Design and Head of the new facility, Maxim CEO Tunç Doluca, and John Kirwan, Vice President of Global Customer Operations at Maxim Integrated, at the opening of the design center (l.t.r)
© Maxim Integrated
Impulses.
The Mobility Transition
Every year around 25,000 people die and more than 100,000 are injured on Europe's roads. In 90 % of these cases the cause is human error. With their "Vision Zero" project, Volvo and Mercedes are aiming to demonstrate that automated and autonomous driving is an essential means of improving road safety. Thousands of engineers are working on the mobility transition and their ability to innovate is needed now more than ever before. Competitors are becoming partners and cooperation across different industries is leading to the emergence of new business models.
Dr. Johannes Liebl Editor in Charge ATZ | MTZ | ATZelectronics
The digitization of mobility forms part of Germany's Climate Protection Program 2030. An amendment to the country's Passenger Transportation Act is laying the foundations for new digital mobility services. In addition, the aim is to roll out faster broadband and mobile networks and launch projects to develop new mobility concepts.
Hamburg is playing a pioneering role as the organizer of the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) congress in 2021. As part of the port city's HEAT project, a driverless electric bus is in operation on a 2-km test route, as yet without any passengers and at a speed of 15 km/h. In addition, the bus is only able to turn right. Over the next few years, the speed will gradually increase and left turns and passengers will be added. The Climate Protection Program plans to fund similar projects in other German cities. According to the program, "If the energy and mobility transition succeeds on a local scale, then it can succeed on a global scale."
Please note: Due to the danger of infection caused by the coronavirus, we are postponing our Automated Driving 2020 conference; the new date will be announced online at www.atzlive.com.
LG | Cerence | Voice Assistant.
LG Electronics has announced the signing of memorandum of understanding with Cerence Inc., the division spun off from Nuance Communications as an independent automotive software company. The goal of the collaboration is to develop a software solution that integrates LG's webOS In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) system with Cerence AI Reference Kit (ARK), a new and comprehensive voice assistant for the automotive market. Together, the companies aim to create a more convenient user experience through voice commands - allowing drivers and passengers to have more control over vehicle functions, navigation and multimedia content. The partnership will enable efficient management of the resources required to integrate Cerence ARK with webOS Auto. The intention is to provide OEMs and industry-leading vehicle manufacturers with a preconfigured, comprehensive IVI software system that will reduce the time-to-market of new products and provide a special user experience by means of rich content offering.
I.P. Park (l.), President of LG, and Sanjay Dhawan, CEO of Cerence
© LG