GM Partners with RedHat, 100 miles in 5 minutes charge... - Weekly Round Up
1 GM Partners with RedHat
GM announced they have partnered with RedHat, an open source software provider as part of its Ultifi platform.
What is Ultifi?
Ultifi is an end-to-end software platform designed to unlock customer experiences. Ultifi build’s on the existing Vehicle Intelligence Platform and provides services like over-the-air capability, apps and services and other cloud based services to customers. They noted in their press release last year, that they could extend this to potential V2X and ADAS services. Possibly RedHat is a key component to enable that level of connectivity to its vehicles.
One key part of the partnership is cybersecurity and safety aspects. This is a common strategy among OEMs to bring in a SW partner to build an end-to-end platform that meets regulation demands. And, RedHat’s In vehicle operating system launched a continuous certification approach last year. This also low-key means that GM has committed to a Linux-based platform, as it is what RedHat is primarily doing business around.
2 100 miles of charging in 5 minutes
StoreDot is an Isreal-based manufacturer of extreme fast charging battery technology. They demonstrated their pouch cell and charging technology at the EcoMotion Week held in Israel.
10x improvement
100 miles of charging in 5 minutes is a improvement on a scale that we have not seen before. Similar to how Moore’s law predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would increase exponentially, the advancements of battery charging technology followed a curve much like that. On their website, they have committed to a solid-to-solid interface cell, as opposed to the current hybrid-solid approach.
They mention their AI infrastructure and how they use all the data to further optimize the technology they are building. They have over 100 patents in their name in categories including core cell technology, battery processing and applications and ecosystem enablement. They have partnerships with Daimler, Volvo, BP etc.
StoreDot definitely has all the key pieces in place for a hard tech startup and will be interesting to follow the story of StoreDot in the coming years.
3 Teasers for small EVs from 3 different brands
Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra teased sketches of their EV vehicles set to be unveiled in the coming years. What makes this interesting is that, the brands have begun to synchronize their product lines. Of course, they have been doing this for years, but now the effect of the year long collaboration ad synergy-building is showing an effect. All these vehicles will be built upon the same simplified front-wheel drive version.
With every automotive conglomerate, this is one of their main goals. To join with other brands, do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
4 Tesla’s Android Auto/Apple Carplay Hack
Tesla is known to have many built-in features, but Apple Carplay and Android Auto (AA/AP) have not found its way yet. These are technologies that allow a user to connect their Apple or Android phone, and then mirror their devices on to the displays of the infotainment systems in the vehicle.
These features do bring quite an overhead to the OEM, as it requires stringent adherence to standards from both Apple and Google followed by multiple rounds of certification process to be able to produce and sell AA/AP enabled vehicles. Leaving out these features does mean additional bandwidth both in terms of time and resources.
The Tesla Android Project by Gapinski, achieves a work around to enable Android Auto in Tesla. The project involves raspberry pi’s connected to the vehicle together with add-on cards for HDMI and LTE. After setting up all the hardware and the software setup process, you should be able to view your android auto screen on the built-in web browser of the Tesla.
5 McKinsey Report Summary: Growth Opportunity in Battery Manufacturing Equipment
Key Takeaways
- Demand for EVs are increasing in the Europe
- Most of the machines and equipment that you need for battery manufacturing comes from China, Japan and South Korea. A shortage of these equipment is quite imminent. Existing facilities are running at 95% capacity. And prioritizing bigger customers. This means that smaller EV startup will have a much harder time to get deliveries from their suppliers.
- Manufacturers are building more and more EV and battery plants in the western half of the world, to reduce dependency on Asian counterparts. But key aspects like this and the origin of certain minerals are still very East-heavy.
- The bottom-line is that there is an opportunity for companies in the wester side to fill. Either companies that are starting out small, building knowledge, later to be acquired by large OEMs. Or the OEMs itself building their own facility from the ground up.