Industry

Two analytics companies are joining forces to try to provide a real-time look into electric vehicle battery behavior and increase production speed. The partnership announced Thursday is between PDF Solutions and Voltaiq. PDF Solutions is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and collects data during manufacturing, performs analytics and employs machine learning for semiconductor companies. Voltaiq

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday it is opening a new special investigation into a February fatal crash in California involving a Tesla Model S where an advanced driver assistance system was suspected of having been used. The agency is investigating the crash of a 2014 model year Tesla involving a

ZF Group is rolling out its first pure software product, as the world’s third-largest parts supplier looks to establish itself as a major player in the fast-growing market for automotive software. The product, called CubiX, controls all of a vehicle’s chassis functions, including braking, front- and rear-axle steering, active roll stabilization and electric drive. By

DETROIT — General Motors isn’t promising that Ultra Cruise, its hands-free driving system for city streets, can handle every situation right away. Ultra Cruise, which debuts in 2024 on the Cadillac Celestiq, will tell the driver to take over through roundabouts and other intersections requiring complicated maneuvers, said Jason Ditman, the system’s chief engineer. It

DETROIT — Traditionally, automakers didn’t install anything on a vehicle that they couldn’t charge for. While it might simplify manufacturing somewhat to build each vehicle with the same set of parts, it costs money to install buttons, switches, knobs, sensors, computers and wiring for optional or nonfunctioning equipment. When you build hundreds of thousands of

Lidar maker Luminar Technologies used its first investor day as an opportunity to position itself as more than a company supplying autonomous driving technology to clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Polestar and Daimler Truck Group. At its Orlando, Fla., headquarters last week, Luminar executives explained their rebranded semiconductor business; unveiled a new line of automotive

The founders of Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle company that was shut down last year, are launching a new self-driving business that could specialize in trucking and ride-hailing, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The venture by Bryan Salesky and Pete Rander will be backed by an investment from a company that approached them

Editor’s note: Redwood will soon produce cathode from the recycling program. An earlier version of this story misstated that status of that production. Redwood also clarified that other packs were recycled outside of the California pilot program. Redwood Materials recycled more than 1,000 end-of-life battery packs last year to produce high-quality battery materials through a

AutoNation’s $190 million acquisition in January of mobile service firm RepairSmith has energized the small but growing mobile repair world and highlights how dealerships can remain relevant in a rapidly changing retail environment. At the time of the purchase, AutoNation CEO Mike Manley said buying RepairSmith gives the nation’s largest new-vehicle retailer the ability “to

Private equity investors plowed at least $647.5 million into automotive-related startups in February. Of that, almost 71 percent, or $457.5 million, went to companies working on battery technology, one of the safer bets in the electric vehicle space thanks to the federal government’s industrial policy and incentive programs. While automakers invest billions on EV development

Ford Motor Co. said it is creating a wholly owned subsidiary named Latitude AI to research and develop automated driving technologies. Latitude’s formation underscores the company’s focus on automated technologies that support human drivers in personally owned vehicles. But the company has its roots in self-driving technology: Its 550-person staff will largely be comprised of

When big rigs pull to a highway shoulder, their drivers are required by federal regulations to place three reflective triangles behind the vehicle within 10 minutes of stopping. In a self-driving world, there’s nobody around to perform that task. That’s a problem for companies that intend to deploy driverless trucks, but self-driving tech firms Aurora

Self-driving truck company Embark Technology is shutting down. The company announced its closure Friday in an email from CEO Alex Rodrigues to Embark employees. This is the second recent major failure of autonomous technology company. Argo AI Inc. folded in October after its main backers Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen decided to pull the plug

Mercedes-Benz’s China unit is tapping China’s largest battery maker, CATL, and two major battery material recyclers – GEM Co. and Brunp Recycling Co. — to recycle retired batteries used in electrified vehicles.  The four companies will form a so-called closed-loop battery recycling project, according to a memorandum of understanding signed Monday, GEM and Brunp said

Gotion Inc. hopes to move forward with a $2.4 billion EV battery parts plant in the Big Rapids area, but it has a backup plan that could involve leaving the state if the deal falls apart, said Chuck Thelen, the company’s vice president for North American operations. Since announcing the plant and plans to create

The frontrunners among companies vying to develop and deploy autonomous vehicles face tenuous futures. That’s one key takeaway in a new report issued Tuesday by research and consulting firm Guidehouse Insights. The company’s report assessed and ranked the strategies of leading AV developers. Collectively, it spotlights the difficulty most are navigating in building viable businesses

WASHINGTON — The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association on Wednesday released a U.S. policy framework outlining key priorities for federal AV legislation and regulation. The group’s framework includes several recommendations for Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation to steer federal action and advance the deployment and commercialization of AVs across the U.S. “AVs are testing

TOKYO — When engineers at Toyota recently conducted a teardown study of the Tesla Model Y, it did more than expose key technological secrets of the popular American-made, full-electric crossover. It also tore away a moldering complacency at the Japanese automaker. What laid underneath the Model Y’s sheet metal was a masterfully simplistic vehicle structure