ford

The Ford Mustang reveals electric car with stunning acceleration

June 28, 2020 by TechNet

Ford unveiled a fully electric Mustang with over 900 horsepower at a car show in Las Vegas Wednesday. It’s not for sale, but the customized Mustang is intended to gauge interest in a high-performance electric car, Ford said.

Later this month Ford (F) will unveil a “Mustang inspired” electric SUV that customers will be able to buy. The SUV, however, will likely be far less powerful than this show car, which Ford is calling the Mustang Lithium.
Ford didn’t provide any exact performance figures for the Mustang Lithium, but described the car’s acceleration as “stunning.”

Created together with the automotive parts supplier Webasto, the Mustang Lithium has a six-speed manual transmission. That’s unusual in an electric car because, unlike gasoline and diesel-powered cars, electric cars don’t actually require a transmission with more than one speed. The transmission in the Mustang Lithium is a special heavy-duty transmission engineered to handle the 1,000 foot-pounds of torque, or pulling power, put out by the car’s electric motor.

The Mustang Lithium is powered by an 800-volt power system, more than double the power of most electric cars on the road today, according to Ford. The driver can select from four driving modes, including Sport, Track and Beast. The fourth is a Valet mode for when you have to hand someone else the key.
The Mustang Lithium was also created as a way to test heat management systems in an electric car, according to Ford. Electric car batteries and motors tend to heat up under hard use, such as racing.

The hood of the car has two small clear polycarbonate panels to allow a view of the battery pack and electric motor underneath..
The electric Mustang was unveiled at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, an industry trade show for companies that make add-on parts for cars and trucks. Major automakers frequently unveil customized show cars at the event. At last year’s SEMA show, General Motors (GM) unveiled a 700-horsepower electric Camaro.
Besides the upcoming SUV, Ford is also developing an all-electric version of the F-150 pickup. In order to have the greatest impact, Ford is starting its electric vehicle rollout with models tied to its most famous brands, Mustang and F-150, Ford executives have said.

2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO RWD

January 5, 2020 by TechNet

2020 Lamborghini Huracan Evo Rear Wheel Drive promises lots of oversteer Less weight, less cost, more fluid handling.

The debut of the Lamborghini Huracán EVO Rear-Wheel Drive can be seen as a propitious start to the Gregorian New Year, or a starburst finale for the Chinese Year of the Rat – either take works. Coming 12 months after the reveal of its all-wheel-drive sibling, and true to its label, the Huracán EVO RWD sends all of its firepower to the rear wheels. That means 610 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, spun from a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10, turning a set of 19-inch Kari wheels on Pirelli P Zeros. Lamborghini says putting the front axle on vacation lets the coupe “deliver the most emotive, fun-to-drive experience in both dry and wet conditions, and even snow.” If our last experience with an RWD Huracán holds true, the driving experience – albeit a touch slower at the limit than the four-wheel version – is more fluid in every phase of handling that involves a crook in the road.

Jettisoning mechanicals to drive the front wheels saves 73 pounds, the Huracán EVO RWD coming in at 3,062 pounds dry. The dash to 62 miles per hour takes 3.3 seconds, 0.4 seconds adrift of the EVO AWD, but the top speed holds steady at 203 mph. Engineers reprogrammed the Performance Traction Control System (P-TCS) for the new power delivery in all three driving modes; “Strada” minimizes slippage for everyday piloting, “Sport” opens up slip angles and drifting potential, “Corsa” balances slip and traction for ideal, kerb-kissing corner exits. When the driver’s right foot demands more performance than the tires can provide, the P-TCS is calibrated for smooth cuts to and restoration of torque delivery

Designers differentiated the rear-driver from the all-wheel driver with a new, more conservative front fascia with three polygonal intakes above a new front splitter. In back, there’s a new diffuser design under the high-gloss black bumper.

Deliveries begin in spring this year, the starting price in the U.S. $208,571, compared to $261,274 for the all-wheel drive coupe.

Lower cost offer from Bosch for self-driving cars

January 5, 2020 by TechNet

German automotive supplier Bosch said Thursday it has developed a sensor that lets cars “see” a three-dimensional view of the road, aiming to lower the cost of technology that could speed the development of self-driving vehicles.

Privately-held Bosch said the internally-developed lidar sensor, which it will show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, will cover both long and close ranges on highways and in the city and will work in conjunction with the company’s camera and radar technologies.

Lidar technology, which uses light-based sensors to generate a three-dimensional view of the road, remains a relatively young technology that is still in flux. In its current form, it is too expensive for mass market use, but if a cheaper lidar sensor were widely adopted, it could provide more depth data that would allow self-driving cars to detect the distance to other road users like pedestrians.

While numerous start-ups are working on lidar, the involvement of large and trusted suppliers like Bosch could help speed adoption of the technology.

“Bosch is making automated driving a viable possibility in the first place,” Bosch management board member Harald Kroeger said in a statement.

Initially using bulky spinning devices placed on the roof of cars, lidar developers have transitioned to more compact solid-state devices that can be mounted on other parts of a car, such as near the headlights. These now sell for less than $10,000 in limited quantities, but analysts say they must sell for as little as $200 in mass production to become commercially viable.

Bosch did not provide a timeline, pricing or technology details for its lidar, but a spokesman said the company is working on making the sensors “production ready” and the focus will be on “affordable mass market” technology.

The spokesman declined to say whether Bosch already had auto customers for the sensor.

The development of self-driving cars has hit a speed bump as costs and regulatory concerns cause automakers and tech companies to rethink their plans.

Lidar is currently used by companies including General Motors, Ford and Alphabet’s Google’s parent company Waymo. Apple also is evaluating the technology.

Others are less enthusiastic about adopting lidar, citing a high cost and limited capabilities – including Tesla and Nissan.

Last April, Musk called lidar “a fool’s errand” that was too costly and said anyone relying on the technology was “doomed.” Tesla vehicles rely on cameras and radars as their vision system for self-driving.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in lidar start-ups over the last few years.

Other major suppliers developing the technology include Valeo, Aptiv, and Continental. Last July, Valeo said it had won 500 million euros worth of orders for its lidar sensor products.

New Ford investing to build EVs

March 22, 2019 by TechNet

Ford investing $850 million to build electric vehicle EVs in Michigan to
add more production capacity at a second U.S. factory for its next-generation battery-electric vehicle program.

Ford Motor Company said that it would more than double its investment in the production of electric vehicles, promising to spend $850 million on the technology by 2022. The auto giant will roll out 16 fully electric cars within five years, the first of which would arrive in 2020.

To boost its electric vehicle EV production, Ford is investing $850 million in its Flat Rock, Michigan, assembly plant. It hopes to make the plant the home of its EV production. To do so, the company will also hire 900 employees incrementally through 2023. This investment is part of Ford’s $11.1 billion commitment to electric vehicles, and it includes funding to build Ford’s next-generation Mustang in Michigan.

“We’ve taken a fresh look at the growth rates of electrified vehicles and know we need to protect additional production capacity given our accelerated plans for fully electric vehicles,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of global operations, in a press release. The company previously announced it’s moving away from car production and simultaneously going electric. Ford is working on both a hybrid and an electric F-series, and it has partnered with VW on electric commercial vans and pickups.

In addition to its EV plans, Ford also announced it will complete its first autonomous vehicles in southeast Michigan–they’ll be available in 2021. In the meantime, the company says, it has an all-electric performance SUV coming from its Cuautitlan, Mexico, plant in 2020. It will also build its next-gen North American Transit Connect — a small van — in Mexico beginning in 2021. Ford recently announced plans to exit the heavy truck business in Brazil, and it’s working to “improve results” in Europe and China. With all these planned changes coming to Ford’s business in the next few years, it won’t be long before it barely resembles the car company as we’ve known it over the last decade.