Industry News
Electric Revolution Skills Hub Conference hailed a success; highlights electrification talent shortage in the UK
More than 200 delegates gathered in Birmingham, UK, last week to attend the first Electric Revolution Skills Hub (ERS Hub) Conference, which was held on March 27 and 28 at the ICC. It was underlined during the event that hundreds of thousands of new skilled jobs will need to be created over the next two years if the UK is going to transition to zero-emission vehicles and become a hotbed for the production and development of power electronics, machines and drives.
MobileDrive adopts Siemens digital twin technology to test autonomous drive system
MobileDrive has used the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio and digital twin tech in its ADAS development. According to Siemens Digital Industries Software, its technology enabled MobileDrive to reduce the effort needed for hardware-in-the-loop testing and vehicle analysis, reliably develop software before any physical prototypes were built and, more generally, enabled it to expedite the progress of its autonomous drive systems development.
MobileDrive used a model-based framework to develop the algorithms and software controls for ADAS applications including lane-keeping assistance, emergency lane keeping, lane-following control, auto lane change, emergency steering assistance and autonomous emergency steering.
Rivus to undertake operational trials of First Hydrogen’s debut CV model
Trials of First Hydrogen’s new showpiece are to commence with fleet management company Rivus, which manages around 120,000 vehicles. The trials will be beneficial for both parties for a multitude of reasons, including for future engineering and technology development.
The tie-up will begin with a driver training day held by First Hydrogen and AVL at Horiba MIRA. Rivus will then test one of First Hydrogen’s LCVs for a month in the Birmingham and Sheffield areas of the UK.
BMW i5 undergoes last leg of winter testing in Arjeplog, Sweden
According to BMW, it made perfect sense to finalize the testing of the i5’s winter dynamics where the story began: in Arjeplog, Sweden. The testing regime on snow and ice took around a year from initial test runs to the final stages of fine-tuning. During that time, a raft of other evaluations have been conducted in various regions and conditions. The EV has also been scrutinized on country roads, motorways and test tracks.
In February 2022, BMW also undertook a road trip from Munich to the BMW test center in Arjeplog.
WEVC and Etrux in EV development tie-up; first lightweight CV prototype to be revealed
Watt Electric Vehicle Company (WEVC) and Etrux are to jointly build lightweight electric commercial vehicles, with Etrux adapting WEVC’s passenger and commercial EV skateboard (PACES) platform into various new products.
Etrux CEO Gerard Galvin commented, “The eCV1 prototype is really exciting as it gives us the freedom to create vehicles that meet our customers’ needs more than ever before. With this platform, which has been designed to be electric from the ground up, we don’t have to work around the compromises that the industry traditionally faces, especially with electric vans derived from diesel bodies.”
Northern Irish company Etrux will showcase an engineering prototype at the CV Show on April 18-20 in the UK.
Apollo Tyres uses enhanced virtual prototyping to reduce test time and environmental impact
A virtual prototyping and simulation platform has been used by Apollo to develop the new Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV all-season tire, with the simulation platform enabling the tire maker to significantly reduce time-to-market, the tire’s impact on the environment and development costs.
By using virtual prototyping, Apollo ensured the Quatrac Pro EV benefitted from the fastest development cycle of any Vredestein tire to date. Over the years, Apollo’s in-house simulation and prototyping platform has undergone a multitude of revisions to ensure it can improve efficiency within the company’s design and testing stages, helping the tire maker achieve its performance targets.
Toyota prepares for automated driving through further development of THUMS crash test simulation software
By advancing its Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) software program, Toyota aims to use computer simulation to better understand and analyze injuries sustained during vehicle crashes. The OEM’s latest development includes occupant posture change when automated driving systems are being used.
Version 7 of THUMS also features enhanced human body models, with key body parts – like the pelvis, abdominal organs, spine and ribs – benefitting from additional accuracy. The OEM’s program is now more capable of predicting the impact on human bones, organs and muscles when occupants are in a reclined position, in addition to how people change their positions or brace muscles when maneuvering a vehicle during an emergency or when safety systems are deployed.
VIDEO: Ford Mustang GT3 begins testing at Sebring
President and chief executive officer of Ford, Jim Farley, has tweeted video footage of the OEM’s new Ford Mustang GT3 conducting test laps around the Sebring circuit in the USA.
The car, which has been developed by Ford Performance in collaboration with Multimatic Motorsports, is based on the seventh-generation Mustang and is powered by a 5.0-liter Coyote-based V8 engine developed by M-Sport in the UK.
The planned testing program is scheduled to last for three days, and despite Ford not releasing any new details of who might be the driver for the test, the OEM did, however, mention in a release back in 2022 that Joey Hand – one of the winning drivers in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro class in the Ford GT – will be one of the drivers for the new Mustang GT3 program.