Nissan and energy giant EDF Group have reached a deal to work together to develop smart charging technology for electric vehicles – including systems that could allow Leaf and e-NV200 van owners to earn discounts on their electricity bills. The two firms already co-operate on a number of EV systems, but have expanded their collaboration with a focus on smart charging systems in the UK, France, Belgium and Italy. In particular, the agreement will focus on ‘vehicle to grid’ (V2G) systems, which allow the energy stored in a car battery that is plugged into a home charger to be ‘sold’ back to a supplier when needed. Nissan will focus on developing technology that will work with the electric Leaf and e-NV200, with EDF leading the development of V2G charging systems and services. The technology is likely to be particularly relevant to businesses, which could have large fleets of electric vehicles plugged in outside work hours without being used. Such a fleet could offer a significant amount of energy storage capacity, which a supplier such as EDF could pay to use in order to balance supply elsewhere. Francisco Carranza, the boss of Nissan Energy in Europe, said the deal was “another sign that our vision of an electric ecosystem is becoming a reality.” He added that a V2G solution would be “a logical next step” for Nissan EV owners to manage their energy supply and open “new revenue
Origin: Nissan and EDF to expand smart charging partnership
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China’s BAIC takes 5-per-cent stake in Daimler to boost partnership
The Mercedes-Benz Circle of Excellence holds events for members and offers preferred status at elite hotels. One of Germanys most storied industrial icons just became more Chinese.Daimler AGs Chinese partner, state-backed Beijing Automotive Group Co., is buying a 5-per-cent stake in the Mercedes-Benz maker, cementing a more than decade-long alliance of the auto manufacturers.Together with Daimlers top shareholder Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.s billionaire owner Li Shufu the transaction would take Chinese ownership in the worlds biggest luxury-car maker to almost 15 per cent.This step reinforces our successful partnership and is a signal of trust in the strategy and future potential of our company, Daimler Chief Executive Officer Ola Kallenius said.BAICs investment another sign of the fast-changing global car industry with deepening partnerships and deals with rivals. Margins at the core Mercedes-Benz cars division are expected to fall as low as 3 per cent this year, trailing typically lower-returning mass-market carmakers.About half of the stake being taken by BAIC, which is backed by Beijings municipal government, is via rights to acquire shares and the remainder via financial instruments, according to a statement. The 5-per-cent holding has a market value of about 2.5 billion euros (US$2.8 billion) as of Monday close.Another Chinese shareholder at one of Germanys automotive giants could stir concerns about influence in the country, while carmakers already battle a trade war that has left global shipments of cars at the mercy of tit-for-tat tariff measures. China and the U.S. are the two largest markets for Mercedes-Benz. BAICs transaction also raises the question of whether Daimler and BAIC may reorganize their joint venture in China after restrictions for foreign investors in the worlds largest auto market eased.For its part, BAIC views the purchase as a natural evolution of its relationship with Daimler.It has been our intention to strengthen our alliance with Daimler through an investment, said Heyi Xu, chairman of BAIC. This step reinforces our alignment with, and strong support for, Daimlers management and strategy.Daimler is exploring additional cooperation projects with Geely, former CEO Dieter Zetsche said at the companys annual general meeting in May and sought to allay concerns about potential conflicts with BAIC. His successor Kallenius said in January hes open to talk about more collaboration with industry peers and technology firms to share surging development cost.Since 2003, BAIC and Daimler have set up a number of cooperations in China, including the joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Company that produces premium cars in the country, as well as separate entities that make vans and trucks. Daimler has held a 9.6-per-cent stake in the BAICs Hong Kong-listed unit, BAIC Motor Corp., since
Origin: China’s BAIC takes 5-per-cent stake in Daimler to boost partnership
VW will invest US$2.6 billion in Ford’s self-driving arm, deepening partnership
(From L-R) Jim Hackett, president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company, Bryan Salesky, chief executive officer and co-founder of Argo AI LLC and Herbert Diess, chief executive officer, Volkswagen Group, pose for a picture ahead of a press conference July 12, 2019 in New York City.Johannes Eisele / Getty Volkswagen and Ford will cooperate on electric and self-driving car technology, sharing costs on a global scale to take a major step forward in the industrys disruptive transformation.VW will invest US$2.6 billion in Fords autonomous-car partner Argo AI in a deal that values the operation at more than US$7 billion, the two manufacturers said Friday in a joint statement in New York.This includes US$1 billion in funding and VW contributing its Audi US$1.6-billion Autonomous Intelligent Driving unit.While Ford and Volkswagen remain independent and fiercely competitive in the marketplace, teaming up and working with Argo AI on this important technology allows us to deliver unmatched capability, scale and geographic reach, Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett said.Unprecedented shifts facing the auto industry are forcing players to consider new partnerships and potential consolidation. VW, the worlds top automaker, offers the industrys most ambitious roll-out of electric models, while Ford, also in the top 10, is developing advanced self-driving technology with Argo.For VW, the Argo investment offers an opportunity to potentially catch up with Alphabet Inc.s Waymo, and General Motorss Cruise unit. Road tests and accumulating huge amounts of data are critical for the further development of self-driving cars, and few apart from Waymo are equipped to do it alone.It took a while to get this deal done, but its because we actually sorted out a lot of the hard problems, Bryan Salesky, Argo AIs co-founder and CEO, said in an interview. We have a clear line of sight to production, vehicle supply and we have clear line of sight to where we want to go to market and how. Besides sharing costs for the development of self-driving cars, Ford will use VWs electric-car underpinnings to form the backbone of the most aggressive rollout of electric cars in the industry, with Volkswagen spending some 30 billion euros (US$34 billion). Adding more vehicles to production lines would help gain scale and save costs, and offer Ford a platform to better comply with tougher rules on carbon-dioxide emissions in Europe.Ford will build at least one mass-market battery car in Europe starting in 2023 and deliver more than 600,000 European vehicles based on VWs platform, dubbed MEB, over six years. A second electric model for Europe is under discussion.Teaming up with its U.S. peer is one of the key initiatives of VW Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess to overhaul the German industrial giant. Both sides reiterated on Friday the tie-up does not include entering equity ties between Ford and
Origin: VW will invest US$2.6 billion in Ford’s self-driving arm, deepening partnership
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