On the site this week, we've published a pair of eBooks:
The first takes a look at how the automotive industry is adopting cloud platforms, while the second takes in EV charging infrastructure in the US. We've also taken a look at how EVs are shaking up automotive diagnostics, and - if you haven't already - have our in-depth 2019 Semiconductor industry report available to download for free.
Also catching our eye over the past few days:
Amazon and Rivian deliver
Amazon is leveraging its $440m investment in EV truck maker Rivian by lining up an order for 100,000 electric vans to be delivered beginning 2021.
The firm has said that 10,000 of the trucks will be on the road by 2022, and the full roll out being completed by 2030, the year that Amazon has also committed to switch to 100 percent renewable energy right across its global activities that see it deliver 10 billion items per year.
The order is the largest ever placed for EV vans, and is part of Amazon’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years earlier than outlined in the UN Paris Climate Agreement. The move is part of The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and announced this week. The company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, has called on other firms to join Amazon’s commitment to meet the terms of the Paris deal a decade earlier than stated.
Rivian plans to begin deliveries of its electric pick-up next year, and has received a raft of high-level investments, most notably from Ford who injected $500m into the firm earlier this year.
Daimler announces end of an engine era
According to a report in German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Daimler’s board member for research and development, Markus Schaefer, has confirmed that it’s shifting away from developing a new generation of ICE engines to concentrate on EV powertrains instead.
The firm is in the process of introducing its latest generation of ICEs, but it’s likely that these could be the last Daimler offers, given the shift to electrification in the industry right now. The news from Daimler is similar in strategy to that of VW, which confirmed its last generation of ICEs will go into service by 2026.
Tesla and Audi top safety picks
Off the back of impressive performances in the Euro NCAP crash tests, the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has awarded the 2019 Tesla Model 3 it highest TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating. The Model 3 joins the Audi e-tron, which achieved the top rating from the IIHS earlier this year.
Tesla has also been keeping fans in the loop of its activity at the Nürburgring Nordschleife as the firm chases the 7m42sec time set by Porsche’s new Taycan. As it is Tesla’s first appearance at the German track, they didn’t set a time, but ran a couple of modified and stripped out Model S sedans powered by its forthcoming three-motor Plaid powertrain to gather data.
Based on this, the firm confirmed that the Model S could run a lap as quickly as 7m05sec, which it’s likely to attempt when it returns to the track next month. Game on.