This exclusive new report from ABOUT Automotive updates and extends their first analysis of this sector, which was published in 2005. This new research looks at the ways in which the market for passive entry and other related technologies have developed. In particular, the report looks at the development of smart keys and additional features which the car companies have added to door latches and locking systems including power release, power close and developments in keyless entry. The report also identifies the main suppliers in this market, analyses their product offerings and strategies ─ as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Market shares throughout the markets of Europe, North America and Japan are also provided.
This ground-breaking new report from ABOUT Automotive assesses to what extent the automotive industry has started to clean up its act, and reduce its environmental impact. The report tackles two clear problems; the damage we are causing to the planet (climate change), and the fact that we, as a society, are dependent on a finite resource (peak oil). The report also assesses the industry’s response to the answer to these two problems – a reduction in energy use and a switch to sustainable renewable energy sources. Central to this new research is the exclusive “Green ranking.” The 12 leading vehicle manufacturers are individually assessed, and ranked according to a variety of criteria – using examples of best practice as benchmarks. The vehicle manufacturers covered are: • BMW • Daimler • Fiat • Ford • GM • Honda • Hyundai • Nissan • PSA • Renault • Toyota • Volkswagen The activities, attitudes and strategies of the 12 vehicle manufacturers are also charted.
With an ever greater value placed on safety by consumers, vehicle manufacturers around the world are rushing to develop new and innovative safety systems. The average safety content per vehicle has risen 17% since 2004 to around $270 per car in 2012. And this figure is set to grow, both in the established markets of North America, Western Europe and Japan, as well as the developing markets such as China and Brazil. But although the prospects look good for the major suppliers of conventional and advanced occupant safety systems, increasing unit growth will be partly offset by strong pricing pressure from vehicle manufacturers. Brand new research on automotive vehicle occupant restraint systems The 2012 edition of this report reviews the key market drivers for vehicle occupant restraint systems, extending and updating the analysis originally published in 2004, as well as reviewing the trends in the intervening eight years.
Based on extensive research conducted throughout 2011 by ABOUT Automotive, including many senior-level interviews at the major sector companies, this first edition study provides fresh, unbiased insight in a number of areas, including: • The market for EV/hybrid batteries and battery material suppliers, determining the trends and topical issues, as well as providing valuable market sector data; • The main manufacturers in both the battery and battery material supplier sectors; • Vehicle manufacturer strategy analysis of the major players involved with EV/hybrid batteries; and • A statistical appendix including model-level sales data for EV/hybrid vehicles. The report also includes an authoritative analysis of the following leading vehicle manufacturer strategies: • Toyota • Honda • Mitsubishi • Nissan • Suzuki, Mazda and other Japanese manufacturers • Japanese bus and truck manufacturers • North American OEMs • European OEMs • Asia OEMs
This exclusive report produced by ABOUT Automotive concentrates on three of the most important areas within the automotive chassis sector: • Braking components, modules and systems • Suspension and damping systems • Steering systems It addresses the critical issues facing the automotive chassis sector, and is broken down into eight major sections: • Key market drivers • Braking components, modules and systems • Suspension and damping systems • Steering systems • Chassis sector supplier profiles • OEM system technology trends • OEM modular sourcing trends • Technology roadmap This includes mainstream, mass-market technology, as well as innovative and advanced technology where appropriate in each product area. The report also analyses the approach of each supplier to the market, including its role within the emergence of innovative technologies. Likewise, the research provides an analysis of the technology and sourcing trends apparent among the major global carmakers.
This report looks closely at global trends in light electric vehicles’ (LEVs) technology, manufacture and market drivers such as legislation and the fact that several Chinese cities are banning or severely restricting LEVs. In the last few years, nearly every nation has bought ebikes from China, and in some cases, the volumes are now significant. Sales will reach 130 million yearly before 2025, making it one of the world's largest industries. The report encompasses over 70 brands, and gives forecasts of sales numbers, unit prices and total market value for 2013-2023. A significant percentage of ebikes sold are scooters in that they have the driver's feet rest on a platform - they are not straddled by the driver. Today, the LEV industry is dominated by large bicycle companies, due to their access to distribution. In the future, these companies will face major competition, and may be pushed aside by car, motorcycle, and car parts companies.
This is the world's first report forecasting the global market for electric buses and taxis both hybrid and pure electric. It separately forecasts the market in the most important area, China, and it takes a detailed look at technologies present and future with a blunt assessment of reasons for failure and threats for the future. The market for electric buses and taxis will multiply over 8 times in the next decade, approaching $60 billion not long after that. China will become by far the largest market for both electric buses and electric taxis within the decade. This report looks at the statistics and trends for conventional buses and taxis, the government incentives, paybacks and new technologies with detailed tables and figures to summarize the situation, so the reader can understand the situation with ease.
E-cars are oversupplied and changing in all respects but in this frenzy of birth and death the future is being created with hybrid cars rapidly gaining market share. The sales of pure electric cars are likely to take off in the second half of the coming decade as certain technical and cost challenges are resolved. Toyota and Tesla have hugely benefitted from correct market positioning. Yet, Toyota is now betting strongly on fuel- cell hybrids, and Tesla on mainstream pure electric cars. A vicious shakeout of car and battery manufacturers has commenced with the winners expecting a handsome pay-off. IDTechEx finds that the global sales of hybrid and pure electric cars will triple to $178.9 billion in 2024 as they are transformed. For example, components are becoming integrated; the range extender, as an optional extra, breaks down the difference between pure electric and hybrid. Car manufacturers vertically integrate and collaborate, competing with their suppliers.
This master report summarizing and forecasting every sector of the EV industry remains unique. It adds new sectors as they become substantial, the latest being car-like micro-EVs homologated as quadricycles in Europe. Many profitable niches are emerging just as the largest major sectors are changing in importance; the industrial and commercial sector is now bigger and much more profitable than e-cars, and is set to remain so for at least eight more years. All components are changing with supercapacitors sometimes replacing or partly replacing batteries and also new types of battery, energy harvesting, power electronics and structure powering growth. Disruptive change is now the norm and the fruits of all this are truly spectacular; including such things as the Marian fast- surface boat that acts as a submarine when necessary, the fixed-wing plane that will stay aloft for five years on sunshine and the flying jet ski.
In "The Impact of Additive Manufacturing in Automotive Applications", a professor from Kettering University explains why additive manufacturing will be a game changer for car makers, and how process control is one of the biggest challenges ahead. An engineer at Local Motors in Arizona shows how the company builds its cars using a large-scale 3D printer, including how a variety of materials is being evaluated for optimal performance in this type of application. The episode highlights: • The expected positive impact of AM on smaller car makers and suppliers • The key difference between small 3D printers and large-scale ones • The need to find the best possible material combination so vehicles that are #D-printed are as safe as traditional ones
The three major challenges in the power electronics in hybrid and electric vehicles are: System cost, power density and reliability. High temperature power device and packaging technologies increases the power density and reliability while reducing system cost. Advanced Silicon devices with synthesized high-temperature packaging technologies can achieve junction temperature as high as 200C (compared to the present limitation of 150C) eliminating the need for a low-temperature radiator and therefore these devices reduces the system cost. The silicon area needed for a power inverter with high junction temperature capability can be reduced by more than 50 - 75% thereby significantly reducing the packaging space and power device and package cost. Smaller packaging space is highly desired since multiple vehicle platforms can share the same design and therefore reducing the cost further due to economies of scale.
Virtual testing is a method that simulates lab testing using multi-body dynamic analysis software. The main advantages of this approach include that the design can be evaluated before a prototype is available and virtual testing results can be easily validated by subsequent physical testing. The disadvantage is that accurate specimen models are sometimes hard to obtain since nonlinear components such as tires, bushings, dampers, and engine mounts are hard to model. Therefore, virtual testing accuracy varies significantly. The typical virtual rigs include tire and spindle coupled test rigs for full vehicle tests and multi axis shaker tables for component tests. Hybrid simulation combines physical and virtual components, inputs and constraints to create a composite simulation system. Hybrid simulation enables the hard to model components to be tested in the lab.
Given the fast changing market demands, the growing complexity of features, the shorter time to market, and the design/development constraints, the need for efficient and effective verification and validation methods are becoming critical for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. One such example is fault-tree analysis. While fault-tree analysis is an important hazard analysis/verification activity, the current process of translating design details (e.g., system level and software level) is manual. Current experience indicates that fault tree analysis involves both creative deductive thinking and more mechanical steps, which typically involve instantiating gates and events in fault trees following fixed patterns. Specifically for software fault tree analysis, a number of the development steps typically involve instantiating fixed patterns of gates and events based upon the structure of the code. In this work, we investigate a methodology to translate software programs to fault trees.
These advanced checks have resulted in development of many new diagnostic monitors, of varying types, and a whole new internal software infrastructure to handle tracking, reporting, and self-verification of OBD related items. Due to this amplified complexity and the consequences surrounding a shortfall in meeting regulatory requirements, efficient and thorough validation of the OBD system in the powertrain control software is critical. Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation provides the environment in which the needed efficiency and thoroughness for validating the OBD system can be achieved. A HIL simulation environment consisting of engine, aftertreatment, and basic vehicle models can be employed, providing the ability for software developers, calibration engineers, OBD experts, and test engineers to examine and validate both facets of OBD software: diagnostic monitors and diagnostic infrastructure (i.e., fault memory management).
Vehicle electrification is shaping the future of automotive mobility in terms of automotive power and propulsion. The market for New Energy Vehicles (HEV/PHEV/REEV/EV) as well as clean vehicle technologies is expected to grow steadily driven by government regulations mandating increased fuel economy and lower emissions. The fastest growth in this market will be in Asia Pacific, most notably China. The Chinese government has made its intentions clear on how important it considers the development and consumer purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles. The mandate is that by year 2012, vehicle manufacturers produce at least 500,000 units (or 5%) per year of their total output as hybrid and/or electric. All Chinese vehicle manufacturers must have at least one HEV or EV model in the market by the same year. Thus far China has invested over US$3.5 billion to stimulate the production of NEVs and the necessary infrastructure to support them.
Trans Tech recently debuted the all-electric eTrans school bus providing a total zero emission school bus. The presentation will demonstrate Smith Electric Vehicles and their history with electric vehicles. The presentation will help ensure that everybody has an idea of what the electric school bus will do and to dispel any rumors about the vehicle. Presenter Brian S. Barrington, Trans Tech. Bus
ECOtality North America, in partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Nissan North America, General Motors, and over 40 government, electric utility, and private organizations, has launched a large-scale demonstration of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This demonstration, called The EV Project, will deploy more than 15,000 level 2 and DC fast chargers in private residence, commercial, and public locations in seven market areas in Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, and Washington, D.C. The EV Project will also include a total of 5,700 Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicles and 2,600 Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicles, operated by consumers and fleets in each of the market areas. This demonstration, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy�s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Program, represents the largest ever deployment of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
With nearly 220,000 vehicles, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the largest non-military vehicle fleet in the world. This fleet requires over a billion dollars of fuel annually, and this figure does not include contracted vehicles. As a part of the business strategy, the USPS has embraced and invested in alternative fueled vehicles since 1899, when the first recorded use of an electric vehicle for USPS service was performed as a technology evaluation in Cleveland, OH. As part of a technology evaluation of advanced vehicle systems, the USPS has partnered with the DOE?s Vehicle Technology Program (VTP) to benchmark and quantify the capabilities of five vehicles in meeting specific Urban Route Delivery requirements, both with dynamometer and in-service testing. The all electric vehicle conversions have been developed by established electric vehicle systems manufacturers representing various perspectives on meeting the vehicle specific operation objectives.
With the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt, the Electrification of the Automobile begins in earnest, by offering a car that runs off of grid energy that has mass market appeal. The Volt offers a vehicle which is driven primarily by electricity under ?real world? driving conditions, while not presenting the driver with inconvenient choices about range and recharge time, or the disconcerting experience of a real possibility of becoming stranded. The Voltec powertrain arrangement enables the Volt to be an Extended Range Electric Vehicle, or E-REV and gives full performance utilizing only electrical energy from the grid for most driving, and a seamless transition to gasoline energy for longer and less frequent trips to maintain full vehicle utility. General Motors and its suppliers has had to the lead developments of fundamental component technologies that were not addressed by earlier, more simple hybridization work.