Matthew Taylor

MAJOR CAR BRAND PAUSES PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE Government Minsters aren't the best people to advise on technology change Those who specialise in product design have to look at all of the factors involved in product acceptability including usability and acceptability in the market place Despite repeated warnings that the BEV is not a universally acceptable replace for the ICE power train, governments press ahead Vehicle manufacturers and product specialists are being ignored so Europe and the UK dig an ever deeper hole for ourselves. This will cost us dearly There's a say that goes like this: - 'When in a hole, stop digging' #BEV #Cars #Energy #Fuels #environment #ICE #hydrogen #EFuels

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Jaguar reinvention Mk 4 coming up Will this one work? The first attempt (that I remember) was the very retro "-Type" early Ford era 1996-2001. The lineup went from 2 to 4 models but all were an unmitigated failure. Bad design and donor platforms got the blame. Ford had another go in the late noughties going back to 3 models (XF etc) with much more contemporary design (thanks Callum!) and homegrown platforms. But poor pricing / positioning remained problematic, and XF actually lost more money than X-Type (that was a closely held secret, even internally!). Old hat technology & lack of SUV's got the blame. Tata then had a go in the 2010's boosting the lineup to 7 models adding 3 SUVs to reinvented sedans with brand new platforms. But the strategy was an unimaginative "like the germans only better". (This was the height of the Speth era JLR hubris). Net result - even bigger losses The 4th attempt is very different to what went before... Will it work? I don't know! What do you think? Can Jaguar rise again? Should Jaguar rise again? What do you think went wrong before, and will this version fix it?

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The UK automotive industry is already complaining about the penalties for not selling enough EVs to reluctant consumers, but I wonder whether the forthcoming HGV mandate will risk further damaging the UK Automotive Industry. The forthcoming mandate for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) to transition to zero-emission technologies presents significant challenges and risks for the UK automotive industry, echoing the issues currently faced by the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Stellantis has already raised concerns about the impact of the UK's regulatory approach on its EV production plans. Without adequate government support and incentives, Stellantis has warned that it may halt EV production in the UK, which could lead to job losses and reduced consumer choices. This situation is compounded by post-Brexit trade rules, which require a high percentage of EV components to originate from the UK or EU, making UK-based production uncompetitive. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires 70% of Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) to be zero-emission by 2030, and all new cars and vans to be zero-emission by 2035, is ambitious. Currently, only 6% of new LGVs sold are zero-emission, highlighting the scale of the challenge. The same ambitious targets are set for HGVs, with a ban on new diesel HGVs by 2040. However, as of now, only 5% of new HGVs sold are zero-emission, predominantly battery-electric. The automotive industry, including major players like Ford and Stellantis, supports the government's zero-emission goals but stresses the need for more robust infrastructure and regulatory clarity. The transition for HGVs is particularly complex due to the varied use cases and the lack of a dominant zero-emission technology. The government's recent initiatives, such as the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund and the development of new charging infrastructure, are steps in the right direction. However, industry leaders argue that without substantial incentives and support, the mandated targets may lead to significant disruptions. A balanced approach that combines regulation with strong incentives is crucial to ensuring the industry's sustainability and growth. The UK government must provide the necessary support to keep the automotive and HGV sectors competitive and thriving in the face of global competition and the shift towards electrification. https://lnkd.in/eNPhwPh7 #AutomotiveIndustry #ZeroEmissionVehicles #HGVs #UKGovernment #Stellantis #EVMandate #SustainableGrowth

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September saw plugin EVs take 29.4% share of the #UK auto market, up from 23.4% year on year. Both BEVs and PHEVs grew volume YoY, by 24% and 32% respectively. Overall auto volume was 275,239 units, up 1% YoY, but still far below pre-2020 seasonal norms (350,000+). #Tesla was the leading BEV brand in September. September’s sales tally saw combined plugin EVs take 29.4% share of the UK auto market, with full electrics (BEVs) taking 20.5%, and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) taking 8.9%. These compare with YoY shares of 23.4% combined, 16.6% #BEV and 6.8% #PHEV. Against broader auto volumes which were barely flat YoY, both BEVs and PHEVs grew volume at a healthy clip. BEVs grew 24.4% to a new record high of 56,387 units, whilst PHEVs grew 32.1% to 24,468 units. Meanwhile, HEVs were essentially flat YoY, diesels saw a 7% volume decline, and petrol-only vehicles lost substantial volume of 9.3%, dropping share from 55.7% to 50.1% YoY. Best Selling BEV Brands Tesla was yet again the best selling BEV brand in September, with the Model Y leading with 5,799 units, enough to put it in joint 4th place in the overall auto market. Year to date, the Model Y is the 9th best selling automobile overall (and by far the best selling BEV), with 23,485 units registered. #Volkswagen took a surprise 2nd place in the September BEV rankings, a much stronger performance than typical (the brand is only in the 6th spot year to date). #BMW, conversely, slipped back to the 12th spot, despite being 2nd in the year-to-date rankings. In both cases, these volume swings are likely more to do with irregular shipments of right–hand-drive units arriving in the UK than fundamental changes in demand. #Mercedes took the third spot in September, unchanged from its position in August. We don’t have enough resolution in UK BEV model sales data to definitively identify every newly launching model, but can identify a few. The most significant debuts in volume terms are the new #Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, which registered 93 units and 744 units in September, respectively. Polestar looks like it may have a big hit on its hands with the 4. These are remarkable launch volumes for a vehicle which starts from £59,995. Let’s see what the sustainable volume is going forwards. The new #Porsche Macan sold its first ~113 units into the UK in September, and will surely grow from here, with the UK market having outsized weighting for the Porsche brand (the Taycan sold 288 UK units in September). The #MG Cyberster Roadster made its first UK customer deliveries in September, with a healthy 70 units registered — very strong for a vehicle like this, in not-the-most-practical segment. The new MG is the only open-top BEV two-seat sports car on the market. 

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British commercial vehicle production output growth continues with the best Q1 figures since 2008. Figures also show British car production did fall in March, as manufacturers gear up to make new models, but rounded off Q1 with overall volumes still up 1.1%: https://lnkd.in/e95-H6FB #UKmfg #Manufacturing #Production #Automotive #CommercialVehicles

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Morris Garage has introduced Battery as a Service (BaaS), levelling the playing field between electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of ownership costs. Highlights of BaaS: * Lower Upfront Costs: By reducing the initial investment for personal vehicles, consumers can free up cash to invest elsewhere, creating a win-win situation. * Lifetime Warranty: BaaS includes a lifetime warranty for the battery, covering unlimited kilometers, addressing concerns about battery issues and degradation. * Cost Efficiency: While a conventional ICE vehicle achieving 20 km/l incurs a cost of Rs 5.10 per kilometer, BaaS reduces that to just Rs 3.50 per kilometer.

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🚗🔌 What’s Going On with London's Congestion Charge? 🔋❗ I was surprised but I wasn't at the same time to hear the recent announcement that London will extend the £15-a-day congestion charge (£15 a Day!!! Come on) to all zero-emission vehicles, including electric vehicles (EVs), starting from Christmas Day 2025. This decision has brought a lot criticism and got me thinking – are we taking away all incentives for people to go electric while simultaneously pushing for an EV transition? (I mean yes there are loads of reason to go EV but for some people they need a little extra push). For years, the shift towards EVs has been encouraged as a key strategy to combat air pollution and reduce carbon emissions. Incentives, such as exemptions from congestion charges, have played a significant role in making this transition attractive for many Londoners. However, this new policy seems to contradict the goal of promoting greener transportation. Am I missing something here? (Happy to be wrong but its getting silly) Is there a deeper strategy behind this move that justifies the removal of these incentives? Or is this a step backward in our efforts to encourage sustainable travel? I'm genuinely interested in hearing different perspectives on this. Let's discuss! Are we heading in the right direction with this new policy? 🤔💬 #EVs #SustainableTransport #LondonCongestionCharge #CleanAir #EnvironmentalPolicy #ElectricVehicles #SadiqKhan

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Brilliant British design and automotive innovation or simply bonkers? A load of weird materials and form over function? Destined to be the final nail in the Jaguar coffin or another example of Jaguar brilliance, saving it from obscurity once again? We'll only know once they start trying to sell it but ngl, it's starting to grow on me.... #branding #advertising #creativity #marketing #design https://lnkd.in/gntFFhNi

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Automotive sector can be driver behind turbocharged UK industrial and economic growth, says SMMT chief The Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) has said the automotive sector can be the driver behind turbocharged UK industrial and economic growth. In his latest CEO update on Friday, Mike Hawes said: This week’s long-awaited announcement of an industrial strategy, with government’s Invest 2035 green paper, presents a fresh opportunity to turbocharge UK industrial and economic growth. Automotive can be the driver of this and, as SMMT set out in our Vision 2035 report, with the right conditions has the potential to deliver an economic boost worth more than £50bn during the next decade. https://lnkd.in/ecE__aPF

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We are days from the General Election and it feels a lot like the Labour Party (UK) is going to win. I was impressed they have an Automotive Plan and decided to have a read. Some clear pledges and to save you time to read it all here are some highlights: 1. Labour will set binding targets for chargers on the Government, with responsibility delegated to regional and local levels 2. Labour will release and redirect existing chargepoint funding - including the unreleased £950m RCF, prioritising areas with unreliable charging 3. Labour plans to 'turbocharge' planning decisions by removing unnecessary planning barriers – “the chargepoint rollout could be accelerated if rapid chargers were not subject to height restrictions” 4. Labour plans to remove barriers to grid expansion These are the matters we have been saying need addressing and if they can deliver on these pledges it will have an impact on the UK EV Charging Networks. https://lnkd.in/guVhnD9g  

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This week's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Transport News Brief lead comment, UK commercial vehicle manufacturing in September bounceback Today, SMMT has published the UK’s latest commercial vehicle manufacturing figures with 14,643 units leaving production lines in September – year on year growth of more than a quarter (25.9%), driven by exports as more than six in 10 (63.3%) British-built CVs headed abroad. It’s great news which comes with fresh trade data analysis from SMMT, showing the automotive sector remains the UK’s largest exporter of manufactured products in the first half of 2024, thanks to high demand for British-built vehicles. Indeed, so far this year we have seen the biggest volume of CV production since 2008, driven by overseas demand. Also within the last seven days, government announced its latest green paper, Invest 2035: UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, aiming to deliver certainty and stability for business investment in high growth sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, where the commercial vehicle sector has a huge role to play. There continues to be big global investment in new CV models with electric and hydrogen vans, pickups, taxis, buses and trucks, and even more of these can be made in the UK, but we must ensure we grow UK competitiveness, to ensure we attract the investment on offer. I was also very pleased that bus manufacturing has been a recent focus for government, with the announcement of the new UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. In addition to the UK’s eight minibus, bus and coach manufacturers, we have many businesses in the wider supply chain which provides thousands of jobs. A holistic plan can bring the growth to the bus sector which government wants, and which has long been needed. The UK already has the strength of being the biggest market in Europe for new zero emission bus registrations, which is crucial because vehicle manufacturers often prefer to locate near to their largest markets. We can’t rely on that alone though, so we need to increase manufacturing competitiveness here by supplying more affordable energy for our factories, by upskilling our country to become a futureproofed workforce, and by having strong trade relationships, such as with the EU where so many of our commercial vehicles are exported. Finally, SMMT has partnered with Autocar to launch a new event, Drivers of Change, which will celebrate the automotive sector as a place that welcomes everybody. People from across the industry can enter nine categories – including PR, marketing, manufacturing, operations, purchasing, retail, sales, and vehicle development – and the deadline for entries has been extended to Friday 1 November. So, get writing your submission now to be one of the winners announced at the awards celebration, being held at SMMT on 6 February next year. More info here: https://lnkd.in/erXmzPg4

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It's time for delivery 🚚📨⚡ Following on from last weeks post to continue to explain the EV ecosystem, this week it's about getting the power to the vehicle. So now we've generated the power, how do we get it to the vehicles? 🤔 Putting aside the obvious answer of via a charge point, there are different ways to distribute the power, via your home, a public charger, from a battery storage facility, a micro grid and so on. 🔋🏠🔌 But also the vehicle can contribute back too if necessary, via bi-directional charging, this is referred to as V2G (Vehicle to Grid). Here's an image below that explains it a bit better 👇 #eMobility #electricvehiclecharging #power #v2g #g2v

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Brake design by market – Emergency service vehicles Last year I wrote a number of posts relating to brake systems for specific markets. Continuing this theme, I thought I’d share some thoughts on brake design for vehicles used by emergency services. Fire & rescue, police and ambulance service vehicles can be extremely demanding upon the foundation brakes. Vehicles are often modified. They may be heavier due to armouring and/or load carrying or have increased performance. What is the best design of caliper and disc for an Emergency Services Vehicle? Below are a few key points: 1, Fade resistance – Response vehicles will need their brake systems to be capable of repeated use from relatively high speeds at loaded weights. They are often required to pass specific test requirements. In the UK, police vehicles need to pass the 30 stop NAPFM (National Association of Police Fleet Managers) test. Discs may need increased thermal mass and pads have more surface area to comply. 2, High strength components – Response vehicles’ brake systems are regularly put under extreme loads. Very few other vehicles will see a cold set of brakes carry out a high deceleration event whilst hitting high kerbs. Added to this, some drivers will regularly apply the park brake dynamically.   Correctly rated wheels and tyres may limit the space available. A cast iron housing will give more strength and stiffness than aluminium for a given space envelope. Iron also has a longer fatigue life, especially when hot. An opposed piston caliper is the ideal choice to give increased stiffness. 3, Reliability and High mileage – These are working vehicles. While some will see very low milage, for others it will be high. Pad materials need to be chosen for both high performance and low wear. Iron calipers can start to look rusty during use, but the working parts are internal and protected. Aluminium calipers tend to still have steel components fitted, this can create an electrolytic cell that could cause the aluminium caliper to show failures due to corrosion earlier than you would see in iron. Also, you do not want an ambulance off the road due to a brake quality issue. 4, Styling – Police vehicles are sometimes covert. A painted caliper can highlight that the vehicle is unusual and make it a target. Therefore, the caliper should look as much like an OE caliper as possible. As the original caliper will probably have been zinc plated, so should its replacement. 6, Tamper-proof – Many performance upgrade brake kits have external bridge pipes and bleed screws on the outboard half of the caliper. It is quick and easy to loosen these with a spanner or pliers so that they leak, causing brake failure. Calipers should only have bleed screws on the inboard half and fluid transferred to the outboard half inside the housing. External bridge pipes are also easily damaged when driving off-road.

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🚗💡 Big Changes in Liability - May 2024 Automated Vehicles Act! Drivers will no longer be held liable if their self-driving car crashes while the system is in control. Instead, the responsibility shifts to the vehicle manufacturer. Yousif Al-Ani, Principal ADAS engineer at Thatcham Research, highlights the importance of open access to data post-collision, ensuring we know who was really in charge at the time. This will be critical in determining liability and ensuring trust in autonomous technology. This law sets the UK up to potentially lead the global autonomous vehicle market. It's a major win for safety, innovation, and our economy; and also challenges manufacturers to meet some of the highest standards in the world, which could drive both innovation and increased scrutiny. What do you think about this shift in liability and its impact on the future of AVs and the automotive industry? #AutonomousVehicles #AutonomousDriving #UKLegislation #AutomotiveInnovation #FutureOfTransport #TechLeadership

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An analysis by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) highlights “a postcode lottery for EV skills” across the UK, the Institute says. The IMI’s latest EV TechSafe certification data shows that 58,800 technicians are now qualified to work on electric vehicles, representing 24 per cent of the UK automotive workforce. Based on the forecast increase in EVs on UK roads, the IMI is currently predicting a shortfall of 3,000 technicians by 2031. The gap is expected to reach 16,000 by 2035. https://lnkd.in/eQVajuMf

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This week's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Transport News Brief lead comment, Data shows robust UK commercial vehicle output at half year point New data on commercial vehicle production in the first six months of 2024 show some normalisation following UK manufacturers’ rapid post-pandemic recovery last year, with more than 11,500 vans, trucks, taxis, buses and coaches leaving Britain’s factories since January. With volumes just -2.9% below a really strong performance during the same period in 2023, the sector is in good health. Indeed, 2024 to date is a third above the sector’s pre-pandemic five-year output average. This positive position has been forged thanks to long-term OEM investment in and global demand for the high quality products being made here. More than two thirds of all UK-built products have been exported so far this year and, given plants are set to ramp up zero emission vehicle output in 2025 amid rising demand in our major markets, our industry is futureproofing for greener growth. The latest independent industry outlook brings cause for us to be optimistic, with light CV production expected to grow to 110,000 units this year and then above 130,000 in 2030 given the right economic and trading conditions. Positively, just as manufacturers are investing in decarbonisation, new political leaders are providing bus operators in particular with encouragement to place orders. Hot on the heels of the UK’s proposed Better Buses Bill, Scottish First Minister John Swinney announced government backing for an innovative bus and coach consortium, along with nationwide charging network – not just for buses and coaches but heavy goods vehicles too. The investment comes under the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund but underlines the potential for shared infrastructure solutions involving all heavy vehicles, given their power and size requirements are not too dissimilar. As SMMT’s two recent papers on bus and truck decarbonisation show, growing green uptake requires joined-up, long-term plans for a national electric charging and hydrogen fuelling network, supporting all heavy vehicles at en-route locations, depots and shared hubs. When political support is suitably ambitious, the commercial vehicle industry is ready to deliver. Bus decarbonisation paper: https://lnkd.in/g9-Ydcbx HGV Decarbonisation paper: https://lnkd.in/eYQbKwyX

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This Autocar piece offers a teachable moment to explain the benefit of a driver monitoring system #DMS fully integrated with automatic emergency braking #AEB and lane departure warning #LDW #safety systems seen in most new cars. As per the article: "As I neared a T-junction, a car approached, clearly preparing, and able, to stop at the ‘give way’ line. I was doing 20-25mph, in a Kia EV9, in my lane. There was no impending drama; it was the kind of scenario you find in any town, on any day. Until, that is, my car perceived a threat and automatically emergency braked me to a standstill." AEB slamming on the brakes and bringing a vehicle to a stop for no reason is a backwards step for safety and a serious crash risk for following vehicles and users such as scooter riders and bicyclists. As the article explains, this also erodes driver trust in safety systems themselves. Now consider adding DMS which sees and understands human behavior and provides signals for not only head pose and eye gaze, but also driver attention state, engagement level and cognitive distraction. This is a DMS measuring situational awareness: If awareness is high, the sensitivity of the AEB and LDW systems can be turned down; if it is low, sensitivity can be turned up. The key benefit? Performance of AEB and LDW can be dynamically matched with the state of the driver, leading to context sensitive alerts and interventions. If the driver is paying attention, the safety systems hold back and let them get on with it, not beep, chime, or brake. No automaker currently integrates high-performance DMS with AEB and LDW, but this is the next advance in vehicle safety. The cost difference between cheap DMS which infuriates customers with annoying alerts, and high-performance DMS which builds trust in the safety systems, is about five bucks per car. But as results from IIHS show, many OEMs have preferred cheap and poorly performing DMS which creates the outcomes as described in the Kia EV9. The auto industry is witnessing a technological revolution of massively powerful processors enabling the software-defined vehicle. Automakers that succeed in the years ahead will be those which appreciate that vehicle technology has to work with and for people. That begins with systems which see and understand human behavior: This is the primary role of high-performance DMS. The latest edition of Semicast's report "#ADAS & Automotive Vision-based Driver Monitoring Systems" is published. Significant segmentation of the DMS/OMS market is provided. This is summarized as follows: - by movement detection into "Owl-only" and "Owl & Lizard" detection - by feature set - by processor type - by CMOS image sensor location - by CMOS image sensor resolution - by driver and occupant monitoring - by front-seat and whole-cabin monitoring Message me for a copy of the sales brochure for the study. My inbox is open. https://lnkd.in/eAGQFT8T

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