An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan in 2011, ocean water flooded factories owned byRenesas Electronics Corp.Production at the swamped facilities ground to a halt — a major hit for Renesas, of course, but also a devastating blow to the Japanese car industry, which depended on Renesas for semiconductors. Lacking chips for…
Tag: Toyota
Japan To Phase Out Gasoline-Powered Cars, Bucking Toyota Chief
Japan said it planned to stop the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the mid-2030s, bucking criticism by Toyota’s chief that a hasty shift to electric vehicles could cripple the car industry. From a report: The plan released Friday followed similar moves by the state of California and major European nations, but it has faced resistance from car executives in a…
Volkswagen CEO Says Apple Can Mount Major Challenge With Auto Push
Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said cash-rich technology giants invading the auto industry pose a much bigger challenge for the German manufacturer than traditional rivals like Toyota Motor. From a report: “We look forward to new competitors who will certainly accelerate the change in our industry and bring in new skills,” Diess said in a LinkedIn post when asked…
Are Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles the Future of Autos?
Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared this article from ABC News: What if your electric vehicle could be refueled in less than 5 minutes? No plug, no outlet required. The range anxiety that’s stymied sales of EVs? Forget about it. Three EVs can meet these demands and allay concerns about owning an emissions-free vehicle. There’s just one drawback. You can only find…
Toyota Announces New All-Electric SUV, Says It’s Their ‘First Step’ For Battery-Electric Cars
Toyota announced today that they will be unveiling a new all-electric SUV in the coming months. Electrek reports: The automaker, which has been seen as a lagger when it comes to all-electric vehicles, says that it’s their ‘first step’ for battery-electric vehicles. Toyota has yet to launch an all-electric vehicle outside of China. Toyota announced a new midsize electric SUV today:…
Electric-Car Companies Now Comprise Half the Worth of the World’s 10 Most Valuable Automakers
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Electric-car companies are suddenly worth half of the total market capitalization of the world’s 10 most valuable automakers. That’s because money managers sized up the convergence of government policies and people’s preferences combating climate change and made alternative energy their biggest bet. Much was achieved by Tesla Inc., the Palo Alto maker of…
Uber Sells Its Self-Driving Unit To Aurora
Uber’s self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), is being acquired by its start-up competitor Aurora Innovation, the companies announced Monday. From a report: The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, values ATG at approximately $4 billion. The unit was valued at $7.25 billion in Apr. 2019 when Softbank, Denso and Toyota took a stake. Uber CEO Dara…
AI Is Throwing Battery Development Into Overdrive
Improving batteries has always been hampered by slow experimentation and discovery processes. Machine learning is speeding it up by orders of magnitude. From a report: Inside a lab at Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy, there are a half dozen refrigerator-sized cabinets designed to kill batteries as fast as they can. Each holds around 100 lithium-ion cells secured in trays that…
Will Japan Have Flying Taxis by 2023?
Slashdot reader damitr shared IEEE Spectrum’s look at Japan’s push for flying taxi services: Last year, Spectrum reported on Japan’s public-private initiative to create a new industry around electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and flying cars. Last Friday [August 28th], start-up company SkyDrive Inc. demonstrated the progress made since then when it held a press conference to spotlight its prototype…
Manned Flying Car Successfully Tested for the First Time
The Japanese company SkyDive “has announced the successful test drive of a flying car,” reports CNN: It was the first public demonstration for a flying car in Japanese history. The car, named SD-03, manned with a pilot, took off and circled the field for about four minutes… “We want to realize a society where flying cars are an accessible and convenient…