BMW Goes Circular

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No, not the roundel logo. The way it is conceiving and building its vehicles

By Gary S. Vasilash

When people think/talk about environmentally appropriate vehicles, the tendency is to talk about the tailpipe—or the lack thereof.

That is, an electric car (no tailpipe) or a fuel-cell-powered car (which has an exhaust to let the water vapor escape) is seen to be good because it is an electric car or a fuel-cell-powered car. (Trucks and SUVs can be used in place of “car.”)

But what somehow gets overlooked is the fact that there is a heck of a lot more to a motor vehicle than the type of propulsion system that it uses.

There is all of that other “stuff” that goes into making a vehicle.

BMW i Vision Circular (Image: BMW)

Things like the chassis and the body panels. The steering wheel and the seats. The carpet on the floor and the headliner on the ceiling.

And so on.

The production of these things has an effect on the lifecycle emissions of a given vehicle.

Sure, the use of the vehicle has a huge impact on the vehicle’s effect on the environment.

So while it is not exactly a leader in the electric vehicle space, which is leading some people to raise an eyebrow, credit to BMW for introducing a concept vehicle at the IAA Mobility 2021 event (what used to be known as “the Frankfurt show” until it was moved, this year, to Munich) that has an absolute basis in sustainability.

It is called the “BMW I Vision Circular.”

“Vision,” I suppose, because this is something that is for 2040.

“Circular” because the vehicle is entirely developed and built using principles of the circular economy, as in it is built with 100% recycled materials and 100% of those materials can be recycled again.

Even the battery for this electric vehicle, a solid-state battery (of course, although BMW is working on this technology, it is still a ways off for production vehicles, but works quite well in a one-off concept) is designed to be recycled.

While recycled materials have generally thought of as having a premium price, BMW chief Oliver Zipse made an interesting observation: “the current trend in commodity prices clearly shows the financial consequences in store for any industry that is reliant on finite resources.”

Driving Done Remotely

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Imagine being driven in an autonomous vehicle that’s being controlled by someone who is remote

By Gary S. Vasilash

Most companies that are developing autonomous driving technology for vehicles—companies like Waymo and Argo AI and Cruise—are doing so such that the autonomous vehicle is. . .autonomous.

The sensors and the processors and the actuators necessary to making a given vehicle drive without human input are all embedded in said vehicle.

Teleoperation in Berlin. (Image: Vay)

Sure, the vehicle may access the cloud every now and then for an update of some sort (e.g., perhaps for some information regarding location), but otherwise autonomous is as autonomous does.

But then there’s a company out of Berlin named Vay.

Vay’s approach to autonomy is different.

Vay has developed a “teledriving” system.

This means that there is a “teledriver.” Someone who is not in the vehicle but who is in control of the vehicle.

Think of it, perhaps, like an air traffic controller combined with someone who is playing some version of Forza.

Vay co-founder and CEO Thomas von der Ohe: “As our system does not rely on expensive 360-degree lidar sensors, and is therefore comparatively inexpensive, our way of rolling out driverless vehicles will not only enable consumers to experience driverless mobility sooner, but also provide a highly scalable solution that can be integrated into every car.”

It seems that the plan is learn from the teleoperation so that they will be able to roll out autonomous features gradually.

Vay has vehicles operating in Berlin right now, but there are safety drivers on board. The company believes that they will be able to operate fully teledriven next year.

Developing the 2022 Nissan Frontier

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It was a long time coming. Here’s how they delivered

By Gary S. Vasilash

If you go way back in time—to 1959—Nissan (a.k.a., Datsun) introduced its first compact pickup truck in the U.S., the Datsun 220.

Which is to say that the company isn’t a stranger to the segment or the market.

1997 saw the first-generation Nissan Frontier pickup, which was offered as a 1998 model year truck.

The second-generation Frontier, a MY 2005 unit, was introduced in 2004.

And while there have been modifications and improvements over the years, there wasn’t a third-generation Frontier until now, the MY 2022 Frontier.

Third-generation, 2022 Nissan Frontier. (Image: Nissan)

The Frontier is in a segment that has certainly changed during its history. Both GM and Ford had midsize products, which they both removed from the market before re-entering it.

Toyota, with its Tacoma, has just kept at it, year after year, leading the segment in sales.

As this is an important segment for all involved, Melaina Vasko, Vehicle Performance Manager, Nissan Frontier, says that as they developed the 2022 model they were certainly cognizant of the competition, but, at the same time, they were not going to overlook the fact that during its run to date there have been more than four million Frontiers sold in the U.S.

So she and her development team spent time learning from customers, learning what they wanted and thinking about what they could bring them.

One of the things people are absolutely interested in is a truck that can fit into a garage. The Frontier with a short wheelbase is 210.2 inches long; the long-wheelbase version is 224.1 inches. The vehichle is either 73 or 74.7 inches wide (the more rugged trims have brawnier shoulders); the height variations range from 71.6 to 72.9 inches. There are two bed sizes: 59.5 inches for the standard version and a 72.7-inch long bed.

Vasko explains on this edition of “Autoline After Hours” how the 22 Frontier was developed with an eye toward providing capability, drivability, comfort, technology, and style, and how these are addressed with the new vehicle.

She talks to “Autoline’s” John McElroy, Brett Smith of the Center for Automotive Research, and me.

It is notable that this is a vehicle that was a long time coming, longer than most vehicles that you can probably think of.

Consequently, the amount of attention to the execution is certainly something that is different than, say, a model that is turned over every five years.

One of the things that Vasko told her team, one of the things that should be important to anyone in any endeavor, is simply this: “Try.”

When things seemed more than difficult, perhaps teetering on the edge of what might be considered impossibility, they were encouraged to try.

Without trying, they wouldn’t have been able to deliver on the 2022 Frontier.

And you can see the show right here.

Random Audi Item

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We’re not sure why we know about this, either. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Audi has sent out a press release indicating that the ERC Ingolstadt, the professional hockey team for Ingolstadt, spent an afternoon at the Audi Driving Experience Center in Neuburg on the Danube driving Audis.

Hockey players and Audis. (Image: Audi)

First they underwent a safety training regime, then drove things like the R8 and the e-tron GT.

At the end of the session, “the players accepted their new company cars” and had a barbeque.

And now you know something you probably had no interest in, either.

(If you are interested in ERC Ingolstadt: they will start their Deutsche Eishockey Liga season on September 10, when they’ll be facing off against the Bietigheim Steelers.)

New Morgan 3 Wheeler on the Way

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British eccentricity?

By Gary S. Vasilash

The current-generation Morgan 3 Wheeler has been in production since 2011. It is ending production this year. There is a new one on its way.

That, presumably, is camo covering, not the paint for the forthcoming Morgan. (Image: Morgan)

Apparently the Morgan Motor Company has been producing vehicular trikes since 1909.

The founder of the company, HFS Morgan, built one for himself and as people saw him rolling along in the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire, which really are steep hills, not just some charming British appellation,  and other people decided it was something they wanted, as well.

Thus, history.

The company built three-wheelers for its first three decades.

Details are scant about the new one.  There will be a Ford three-cylinder engine powering the new one. The company claims the vehicle has undergone the most rigorous testing regime of any of its vehicles.

It is worth noting, however, that there aren’t a whole lot of Morgans.

There are three vehicles in its lineup: 3 Wheeler, Plus Four and Plus Six. About 850 are built each year.

Bugatti Centodieci in the Wind Tunnel

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When you’re engineering a car to go fast, you don’t want the vehicle to suddenly—literally—take flight

By Gary S. Vasilash

The photo shows the Bugatti Centodieci. It is undergoing wind tunnel testing, determining how the vehicle will behave at high speeds.

Bugatti Centodieci undergoing wind tunnel testing. (Image: Bugatti)

When they begin the testing, they start at a mere 140 km/h (87 mph).

Start at.

Then they dial it up, making adjustments to the adjustable aero bits to make sure that the vehicle is stable when traveling at, say, 300 km/h (186 mph).

Other things the Bugatti engineers need to know about is whether the 1,600 PS (1,578 hp) 8.0-liter W16 engine gets enough air, and whether the brake cooling is sufficient to make sure the binders don’t bake.

You are likely not to be able to see a wind tunnel test. In this case, there is a propeller that is 26-feet in diameter that is powered by a 9,300 PS (9,173 hp) motor.

And you are not likely to see a Bugatti Centodieci.

The car stickers at 8 million euros, or about $9.45-million. (I don’t know about your neighborhood, but the houses cost a fraction of that, so clearly no one is going to be rolling along in a multi-million super sports car.)

What’s more (or less), Bugatti is building 10 Centodiecis.

So the odds of seeing one. . . .

Another Straw on the OEM’s Back

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As if COVID and chip shortages aren’t enough.

By Gary S. Vasilash

According to analysis firm IHS Markit, the automotive OEMs aren’t maintaining the level of loyalty with their customers that they once did.

In fact, the firm’s data show that brand loyalty dropped to a six-year low in June.

Looked at from a year-over-year perspective, the aggregate of April, May and June 2021 has a loyalty rate of 51.6% compared to 54% during the same period in 2020.

However, the type of vehicle that a person picks is something to which loyalty remains strong, reaching 55.5%.

In other words, if you have a Ford pickup truck and were out there in April/May/June for a new vehicle, there is a likelihood that you bought a pickup truck—not necessarily a Ford.

Or as IHS’s Tom Libby, associate director of loyalty and industry analysis, put it, “Households with a pickup in the garage like the concept of a pickup, and therefore will acquire another one.

“But their likelihood of their staying loyal to the brand of their pickup has diminished.”

One of the explanations that IHS has is that because of the chip shortage there are few vehicles on dealer lots. So if the theoretical shopper went out to a local Ford store for a new pickup and failed to discover anything that met their wants/needs, it very well may be that they’d go to a Ram or Chevy store, something that used to be uncharacteristic.

While the chip shortage undoubtedly plays a non-trivial role in this, there is another consideration: some buyers are simply more willing to try things that they may not have a few years ago.

Consider this the Amazon Effect: You put “wiper blades” into its search bar and it brings back some 8,000 results, brands you may have never heard of. So you try something new. It works. Then you search for something else. Again, lots of results. Maybe you’ve always only used Crest, but Colgate is something you’ve heard of, so you try it.

While this is not to say that a pickup truck and a tube of toothpaste are analogous, it is to say that if you can’t get the features you want on that Ford pickup that you can on the Chevy or Ram, there may be more willingness to take the option, especially as those are brands with which you’re familiar.

This doesn’t mean that brand loyalty is something that will disappear.

It is to suggest, however, that this is going to be an even-greater challenge for incumbent companies and challenger brands.

Safer Is Better

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Technologies that are beneficial when you’re behind the wheel or simply a rider

By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the factors of an electric vehicle that is often overlooked—unless you happen to be a first responder—is that when there is an accident and the vehicle needs to be quickly accessed, said vehicle can be “hot”—not (necessarily) a battery fire—but as regards the electrical current that is running through the vehicle.

Device is pyrotechnically actuated to severe the high-voltage line in an EV should there be an accident. (Image: Joyson Safety Systems)

So to address this potential hazard, Joyson Safety Systems developed a pyrotechnic device that is triggered by a vehicle’s ECU in the event of an accident and cuts the electric high voltage connection within a matter of milliseconds.

This is just one of the clever products that has been developed by Joyson. Some of these devices are in use on vehicles right now (e.g., Tesla put that high voltage electric line cutter into vehicles in 2017; the system that monitors whether a driver is paying attention when GM’s Super Cruise is activated is a Joyson development, as well).

So to discuss these and other developments, on this edition of “Autoline After Hours” we are joined by Jason Lisseman, vice president, Global Product Line, Integrated Safety Systems, Joyson Safety Systems. Lisseman talks with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, Bengt Halvorson of Green Car Reports, and me.

One of the more interesting—and unusual, though absolutely useful—developments Lisseman describes is a sensor that detects and classifies the air quality within a vehicle.  As he explains, as there are shared, autonomous vehicles, it may be that whomever was in the vehicle before you was rather, um, fragrant, and so having a sensor that will be able to make a determination that the interior is odiferous and need some attention before other passengers climb in can make a big difference.

In addition, McElroy, Halvorson and I discuss a variety of other issues, including the GM battery problem with the Bolts, public charging issues and much more.

Which you can see right here.

About the British Car Build in July

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Things are not going as planned. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the British automotive trade association, this past July the UK vehicle production number was 53,438.

In July 2020—when the pandemic was still shockingly smacking every economy everywhere—the number of vehicles produced was 85,696.

Which means that production has declined 37.6%.

Now maybe it was just something to do with the month of July.

SMMT points to the shortage of chips. The contact tracing system that is in place in the UK (leading to many people getting alerts on their phones about contact, something called the “pingdemic”), and some companies just shutting down for a break to accommodate supply change changes.

The good news in all of this is that the production numbers year-to-date in 2021 are 18.3% higher than they were in 2020.

That said, it is clear that there are still challenges being faced in the UK auto industry, which, according to the SMMT, accounts for 12.8% of all UK exports and directly employs some 168,00 people.

Which means it is non-trivially important to the overall UK economy.

A Green Car in “Nightshade”

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When a car known for environmentally friendliness wants to have a bad-ass look, too

By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the things that the people at Dodge are absolute masters of is taking their existing vehicles and then rolling out “special editions” of them. Chargers and Challengers keep gaining variants while fundamentally staying what they’ve long been.

But that isn’t the only brand in the game.

2022 Toyota Prius Nightshade edition. (Image: Toyota)

Toyota is offering “Nightshade” special editions. And the latest to get the treatment is the 2022 Prius.

Although one might imagine that a “Nightshade” vehicle would be black, and while there is Midnight Black Metallic paint available, there are two other colors: Super White and Silver Metallic. So two out of three aren’t black.

But there are black headlight accents, mirror caps, door handles, and the shark-fin antenna is also black.

For the FWD model there are black 17-inch alloys, 15-inch alloys for the AWD model. There are black lug nuts.

This is the fourth generation Prius since the hybrid was launched back in 1997.

While it has the reputation of being the synonym of “green,” evidently Toyota hopes that other colors resonate in the market.