
FutureCar Staff
Articles
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Volkswagen Breaks Ground on the First of Six European Battery Cell Factories as Part of a $20 Billion Investment
Aug 13, 2022 12:45 PM WSTVolkswagen is bundling its global EV battery business into a newly formed company named PowerCo as past of a $20 billion investment. The new company will be tasked with managing the entire value chain of the automaker's battery business, including sourcing raw materials and battery recycling. On Thursday, Volkswagen and PowerCo held a groundbreaking ceremony for the first of six new EV battery plants planned for Europe.
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Hyundai's 2022 IONIQ 5 Electric SUV Awarded an IIHS 'Top Safety Plus' Rating
Aug 06, 2022 9:30 AM WSTThe futuristic-looking IONIQ 5 electric SUV from Hyundai Motor Co has received an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 2022 Top Safety Pick Plus (TSP+) designation. The IIHS tests evaluate two important aspects of safety, including crashworthiness, which is how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash. Safety is important for car buyers and the IIHS rating can help boost sales.
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Tesla Shutters its San Mateo, CA Office, Lays Off Roughly 200 Autopilot Staff Without Notice
Aug 05, 2022 8:30 AM WSTTesla shuttered its Silicon Valley office in San Mateo, California this week and laid off roughly 200 employees out of 275 that were primarily working on Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistant system. Tesla’s cost cutting moves come as the company, along with other automakers, deals with rising inflation, chip shortages and supply chain disruptions, which have resulted in production slowdowns and delayed vehicle deliveries.
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The NIO ET7 Will Come Standard With an Advanced Dolby Atmos-Powered Sound System Co-Developed With Audio Pioneer Dirac
Jul 29, 2022 1:00 PM WSTThe new The ET7 sedan from Tesla rival NIO is the world’s first vehicle to come with an immersive Dolby Atmos sound system developed in collaboration with Swedish digital audio pioneer Dirac and Dolby Laboratories. Dirac is a developer of audio optimization algorithms that improve sound quality. The company’s digital signal processing (DSP) can help automakers overcome acoustic challenges of designing vehicle audio systems.
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Audi Hits EV Startup NIO With a Trademark Lawsuit Over its Vehicle Naming
Jul 23, 2022 10:30 AM WSTChina’s electric vehicle startup NIO Inc, which is expanding to Europe including Germany, was named in a lawsuit filed from German carmaker Audi over the naming of its electric SUVs. NIO currently offers a seven-passenger SUV named the ES8, as well as a mid-size model named the ES6. Audi says the two NIO models infringe on its trademark for its performance models designations, the S6 and S8.
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EV Startup VinFast is Offering 3 Years of Free EV Charging and Advanced Driver Assist System for Customers That Reserve a Vehicle Through Sept 30
Jul 22, 2022 11:55 AM WSTElectric vehicle startup VinFast announced on Wednesday that all customers reserving the company's VF 8 or VF 9 SUVs between now and September 30 will receive complimentary charging for three years and a one-year VinFast Smart Driving package, which includes Level 2+ ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and a “Smart Services” suite.
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Ford Motor Co is Recalling 2.9 Million Vehicle That Could ‘Roll Away’ After the Transmission is Shifted Into Park
Jul 22, 2022 10:35 AM WSTFord Motor Co is recalling 2.9 million vehicles that could roll away while in park due to worn or detached shift bushing. The problem is related to where the bushing attaches the shift cable to the transmission, which may degrade or come loose. The problem can also lead to a no-start condition since the ignition is disabled if the vehicle is in drive and the indicator shows it in the park position.
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Ford Issues ‘Stop Sale’ of the Electric Mustang Mach-E Over Possible Loss of Propulsion While Driving
Jul 21, 2022 1:15 PM WSTOn Tuesday, Ford Motor Co issued a “stop sale” for its electric Mach-E SUV to address possible safety problems that could lead to the vehicle to become “immobile”. The problem involves the potential overheating of the vehicle’s high voltage battery main contactors, which is an electrically controlled switch. The issue can lead to a malfunction where the vehicle may not start, or immediately lose propulsion power while in motion.
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Tesla Rival NIO Plans to Produce its Own EV Battery Packs to Improve Profitability
Jul 17, 2022 12:00 PM WSTElectric vehicle startup NIO Inc, which is emerging as one of Tesla’s biggest competitors in China, plans to produce its own electric vehicle batteries as a way to boost profitability and competitiveness in the growing EV segment. NIO’s plans to produce its own batteries were shared by company Chairman William Li on a call with analysts on Thursday.
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China Added 963,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Piles Since January in its Push to Lead the World in EV Sales
Jul 17, 2022 9:30 AM WSTChina continues to build out its electric vehicle charging infrastructure at a rapid pace. Since the start of the year, around 963,000 charging piles were newly built in the country, including 272,000 public EV charging piles and 691,000 private chargers. It's a 409.5% YoY increase in the number of EV chargers installed in the country.