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Uber, Rivian, JetBlue, Cabify, and Boom Supersonic sign The Climate Pledge
During the Web Summit 2020, Amazon and Global Optimism announced that Boom Supersonic, Cabify, JetBlue, Rivian, and Uber have joined The Climate Pledge, a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040—a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement’s goal of 2050. “By signing The Climate Pledge, companies around the world are making a bold commitment to help protect our planet from the devastating impacts of climate change,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO. He added that the transportation sector plays a critical role in accelerating our carbon reduction goals. New signatories are implementing real, science-based, high-impact changes to their businesses, including deploying renewable energy, investing in sustainable buildings, and mobilizing supply chains to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. So far, 18 companies who have signed The Climate Pledge, cofounded in 2019 by Amazon and Global Optimism as a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early. The other organizations are Amazon, Best Buy, Henkel, Infosys, McKinstry, Mercedes-Benz, Oak View Group, Real Betis, Reckitt Benckiser, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Signify, and Verizon. For more information, visit www.theclimatepledge.com.
Einride next-gen Pod powered by Nvidia for high-speed autonomous operations
Autonomous and electric commercial vehicle pioneer Einride announced today that its next-generation Pods will use the Nvidia Drive AGX Orin autonomous vehicle computing platform to handle high-speed, unmanned operations. “To capture and account for the diversity in a myriad of operational scenarios, and to develop the redundancy necessary to improve functionality, we need the most advanced processors possible, and that’s where Nvidia Orin comes in,” said Pär Degerman, CTO of Einride. The Pod is a first-of-its-kind vehicle enabling heavy freight operation that is completely unmanned and 100% electric, for more sustainable and cost-effective commercial-vehicle transport. The next-generation Pod takes AET (autonomous electric transport) functionality from fenced area operation (AET 1) to backroads/rural (AET 3) and freeways/highway (AET 4), meeting a sizable portion of global transport needs. The capability is enabled by the Nvidia Drive AGX platform and its Orin SoC (system-on-a-chip), which consists of 17 billion transistors featuring Nvidia’s next-generation GPU architecture, Arm Hercules-AE CPU cores, new deep learning accelerators, and other AV processors—and 200 trillion operations per second (TOPS). “Our Orin SoC is born out of the data center—delivering the massive compute capability necessary to enable Einride to bring to market transport solutions that can safely increase productivity and improve utilization,” said Danny Shapiro, Senior Director of Automotive, Nvidia. “Nvidia AI technology has been instrumental to our development thus far, and we are excited to take the next step together to scale our functionality and the availability of the next-generation Pod worldwide,” said Robert Falck, CEO and Founder of Einride. For more info on the Einride Pods, visit https://www.einride.tech/.
Luminar goes public with Gores Metropoulos combination
Luminar Technologies, Inc., a leader in automotive LiDAR hardware and software technology, and Gores Metropoulos, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by affiliates of The Gores Group, LLC, and Metropoulos and Co., have completed their business combination. The combined company will retain the Luminar Technologies, Inc. name and commenced Nasdaq trading as LAZR on December 3. The listing was the culmination of several landmark achievements in 2020, including the introduction of Luminar’s Iris LiDAR and software products for series production across three industry verticals: consumer vehicles, trucking, and robotaxis. Earlier this year, Luminar signed the industry’s first production deal for autonomous consumer vehicles with Volvo Cars, while also recently striking deals with Daimler Truck AG and Intel’s Mobileye. Luminar now expects to accelerate commercial growth across its over 50 commercial partners while further expanding its autonomous software and Proactive safety ADAS solutions. Luminar’s Iris is designed into vehicle models planned to commence series production starting in 2022, initially on Volvo Cars’ SPA 2 consumer vehicle platform. “Over the past few years, we’ve made the transition from a technology development startup to now a global provider of autonomous systems to many of the world’s largest OEMs and commercial trucking players to power their autonomous future in production,” said Austin Russell, Founder and CEO of Luminar. “As a public company, Luminar will now have the platform to fully execute against its vision, further accelerate its commercial programs and expand its already dominant market leadership,” said Alec Gores, CEO of Gores Metropoulos.
Faraday Future partners with MIVOLT on fully submerged battery cooling
Faraday Future (FF), which now bills itself a California-based global shared intelligent mobility ecosystem company, announced that it is partnering with M&I Materials Ltd.’s MIVOLT on a fully submerged battery cooling system for the FF 91 luxury EV. MIVOLT will provide FF with advanced dielectric coolant materials that will support FF’s existing patented liquid cell submerged onboard cooling system, which includes a self-contained and fail-safe architecture battery pack design. FF’s battery pack is a key system of its Variable Platform Architecture (VPA) that supports vehicle capabilities such as ranges up to 378 mi (608 km), acceleration times as low as 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 2.39 s, and a fast charge at a rate of 500 mi (804 km) of range per hour. After exploring many cooling methods as VPA was designed, the FF team came up with a unique fully submerged system it patented in 2015. Battery cells perform their best near room temperature, but as they release or store energy, they tend to get hot, so the cooling scheme becomes a crucial part to ensure top performance during the useful life of the vehicle. The pack used in the FF 91 incorporates an innovative coolant flow design enabling each cell to be individually cooled. According to FF’s production launch plan, FF 91 will kick off production about nine months following the closing of a successful round of funding. The newly announced FF 81 EV and development preparation for future models and next generation core technologies will follow. To view more on the EV battery technology using submerged cooling, visit https://youtu.be/sA7U_o19xtk.
Trimble and SiriusXM partner on more cost-effective, precise vehicle positioning
Trimble and Sirius XM Connected Vehicles Services Inc., a subsidiary of Sirius XM Holdings Inc., have announced that Trimble RTX GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) corrections are being transmitted through the SiriusXM satellite radio network. As a result, new cars sold in the U.S. and Canada equipped with SiriusXM’s Gen8 satellite chipset will be able to receive corrections enabling high-accuracy positioning—a key component of autonomous driving, advanced driving assistance systems, and vehicle-to-everything applications. Since SiriusXM hardware is installed in most new vehicles, automotive OEMs can avoid the cost of additional hardware to receive GNSS positioning corrections. Trimble says RTX was the first precise-positioning solution adopted for production use in passenger vehicles. It is a critical component of General Motors’ Super Cruise system—the first hands-free highway driving assistance system. The RTX Auto software library is Automotive Safety Integrity Level B certified and developed using the Automotive SPICE process maturity framework of ISO 15504. The RTX network operation is certified according to ISO 20000 standards for safety-critical applications. “Trimble and SiriusXM are helping to accelerate the adoption of real-time positioning in connected vehicles, ultimately supporting safety-critical V2X applications,” said Patricia Boothe, Senior Vice President of Trimble’s Autonomy Sector.
Volvo Trucks introduces VNR electric truck
Volvo Trucks North America has announced the commercial introduction and sales start of Class 8 VNR Electric truck with a scheduled production start of early 2021. “Volvo Trucks believes and invests in sustainable electromobility,” said Peter Voorhoeve, President of Volvo Trucks North America. “Our deep understanding of the transportation ecosystem—the technology, infrastructure and applications in the trucking industry—have enabled us to deliver a solution that is both advanced yet easy to own and operate.” The truck is designed for applications and driving cycles with local and regional distribution ranges, including food and beverage and pickup and delivery routes. Its 264-kW·h lithium-ion batteries, which charge to 80% within 70 min, have an operating range of up to 150 mi (241 km). Advanced battery chemistries deliver increased power at reduced costs, while self-learning controls optimize energy usage. Regenerative braking can increase range by returning up to 15% of the energy back into the battery. The truck’s electric drivetrain is a Volvo proprietary solution rated at 455 hp (339 kW) and 4051 lb·ft (5490 N·m) and driving through a two-speed Volvo I-Shift transmission. Models are offered in three configurations: single-axle straight truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 33,200 lb, and two tractor configurations—4×2, 66,000-lb GCWR and 6×2, 82,000-lb GCWR. To watch the truck in action, visit https://bit.ly/2JOQ9gY.
