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The much anticipated Ford electric pickup truck is close to becoming a reality, as news sources suggest. The Ford Lightning pickup, an all electric version of the manufacturer’s F-150 pickup truck is scheduled to go on sale as early as next summer 2022. The new electric pickup promises impressive numbers as well as a relatively affordable price tag and will compliment Ford’s line of pickup trucks nicely. Expected starting prices will be somewhere around the $40k mark, and may climb to over $90k depending on options. The technology in the new Ford Lightning follows that of many electric vehicles, with a motor driving both sets of axles for combined all wheel drive. Since this pickup is based upon the regular F-150, aluminum body panels will be used to help keep the weight down, however the ladder frame in which the truck sits is reinforced and strengthened to help carry the extra weight of the electric Lightning. The Ford Lightning is expected to weigh close to three tons, thanks to the heavy duty battery that it carries. Unfortunately, the towing ratings for this truck will be mediocre at best, with a maximum towing capacity of 10,000 lbs for the top of the line truck and only 7,000 for the lower-end model. Payload is relatively good, at 2,000 lbs. One of the issues with electrifying pickup trucks is dealing with the vehicle’s weight versus the expected mileage range. Ford promises around 230 miles of range from the standard battery truck and as much as 300 miles for the large battery version. The range while towing is yet to be determined, however will likely be significantly less than the rated range. Nevertheless, fans of Ford and pickups will be closely paying attention to the release of this new truck, which promises good performance, moderate towing capability, and economical operating costs, all while eliminating the need for gasoline fuel to run. -taken from www.sae.org

The heating and air conditioning systems used in vehicles to control the cabin temperature are complex systems. In fact, the systems used to heat and cool require a significant amount of design, and also consume a lot of energy. So much energy, that the driving distance of electric vehicles is frequently reduced when either heating or air conditioning is used in the cabin while driving. A study done by AAA showed that using heating or cooling systems in vehicles while driving can reduce the range of electric vehicles by as much as 41 percent. This significant reduction in range is largely unacceptable to automakers, who have been working to improve the efficiencies of such systems in a multitude of ways. The company Mahle is working on some solutions to this particular issue by adjusting the level of outside air to recirculated air used in heating and cooling processes. Outside air temperatures in the summer time are very high, compared to the air inside the cabin, and cooling the cabin air takes a lot of energy. If the cabin air is recirculated, it takes less energy because the same air is recirculated over and over. Mahle set up a test to determine if the level of recirculation of cabin air in a test Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle could properly condition the cabin air to a comfortable level. The results of the test suggest that a 30 percent level of recirculation to outside air provided enough outside air to keep the cabin air humidity level at an acceptable level, as well as conditioning the cabin air to a comfortable level while minimizing the reduction in vehicle range. Improvements to airflow, including a combination of recirculated air to outside air, was shown to provide the best results, and at the lowest cost system to produce. -article taken from www.sae.org

Bosch is demonstrating a new technology that they are developing for the electric vehicle market. The company is developing a continuously variable transmission for use in electric vehicles. While currently, many electric vehicles are single speed, or in some cases two speed, the continuously variable transmissions allow for essentially infinite speeds. This translates into an increase in efficiency for the electric vehicle and a reduction in the size of traction motor that is necessary while providing maximum torque applications at any wheel speed. Bosch cleverly dubbed its new technology CVT4EV. The transmission is based on current continuously variable transmission styles, with a push belt that connects two adjustable sheaves that change motor and wheel speed depending on load. Electric vehicles are notorious for providing massive acceleration and torque and amazingly, continuously variable transmissions promise even better acceleration while providing better efficiency, all out of smaller motor packages. Another benefit of using a continuously variable transmission would be the flexibility that it offers automakers, in that they could potentially use the same motor and chassis for multiple sized vehicles. From small cars to large trucks, all using the same motor size with different “gear” ratios for the continuously variable transmission, thereby reducing parts counts and complexities. Bosch’s performance testing has shown promising results thus far. During 150 KW testing of the transmission, the increase in acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h was shown to be approximately 3 percent, while acceleration at higher speeds was up to 13 percent higher. Meanwhile, the efficiency gain was approximately 4 percent overall, showing that overall benefits outweighed the complexity of the transmission and drivetrain. Towing capacity and road gradeability were two other factors that benefitted from the use of a continuously variable transmission. While electric vehicles are not currently known for their hauling capabilities, the use of a continuously variable transmission in an electric vehicle drivetrain shows promise to increasing the capability of the vehicle. The system is still in its development stages, however Bosch expects to release pricing of the components soon. -taken from www.sae.org

There’s exciting news on the horizon for fans of the automobile manufacturer Jeep. After many years of speculation, the manufacturer is bringing back the famous Wagoneer namesake as a brand new model for the 2022 model year. The name pays homage to the Wagoneer models that were popular in the 1980’s as a luxury sport utility vehicle that had off-road capabilities. The new model appears to follow the same tradition as the original Wagoneer, providing drivers with a comfortable, luxurious ride while being able to tackle off-road terrain with ease. Much like Land Rover’s Range Rover models, the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be positioned at the top of Jeep’s lineup, and also will almost be a brand within a brand with separate distinctions between itself and that of Jeep’s nameplate. Further, dealers will be partitioned off to sell the Wagoneer brand as a “premium” model with special customer treatment during the buying and servicing process. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be large vehicles, in the same range as Cadillac Escalades and Ford Expeditions. These models are the direct competitors to the Wagoneer, and very similar to these competitors, the structure of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be similar. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be built on a truck frame, very similar to the Stellantis Ram 1500 frame, with a body on top of the frame. This provides more of a truck-like personality, however many adjustments to the Ram’s frame are made in order to provide more of a luxurious feel with dampened chassis dynamics. Powertrains will include Stellantis’ new hybrid drives, as well as large 5.7 and 6.4 liter V-8 engines. Pricing and availability have not been set as of yet, however details indicate that a base, rear-wheel drive version of the Wagoneer will start near $60k and with many options and trim models available, prices for the more luxurious Grand Wagoneer model can top out over the six-figure mark. First deliveries should take place later this year.

There are some exciting new products being developed on the LIDAR front. LIDAR, which stands for “Light Detection and Ranging” is a method in which lasers are shined upon a physical object, and the light that is bounced back to the source of the laser is measured in order to determine the distance from the laser. This is done over and over, many different times and at different angles. The result is a visual map that provides a three dimensional contour of the physical object. What this means in layman’s terms is that LIDAR can be used as a sort of “machine” vision, or vision that can be used by machines to determine their surroundings. Auto manufacturers use LIDAR in vehicles that are currently produced in order to provide the vehicle with a view of its surroundings. The quality and cost of LIDAR systems that are used in automobiles is improving, allowing auto makers to enhance the machine vision of the vehicles in which these LIDAR systems are used. The product development companies Aptiv, Innoviz, LeddarTech, Continental, Valeo and ZF are all working on improving their LIDAR systems for the automotive market. Improvements that are being developed by these companies include better resolution, faster visual tracking, and better accuracy in the images that are created by LIDAR. Apple is also developing LIDAR systems, however for their IPhone. Apple started developing a simple LIDAR system for use in IPhone with the release of the IPhone 12 and IPad Pro tablet. Currently, the LIDAR system in these devices is rather primitive, and can only be used for improving the quality of photos, however there are plans to add other functionalities and some point. The main challenge with achieving widespread adoption of these new LIDAR devices comes down to their cost. Currently automakers are shooting for a goal of $100 per sensor, however current costs for high-quality systems is about ten times as high. Hopefully new developments and scaling of production will help bring the costs down in the future.

The concept of increasing efficiency of electric cars has brought many new technologies to the table. While most electric cars are considered highly efficient, there is always room for improvement, and a company from Toronto Canada has designed a novel multi-speed gearbox for use on electric cars that intends to improve efficiency while remaining inexpensive and not overly complex. The company is called Inmotive, and they have designed an interesting way to transfer power between gears. The concept is very similar to a bicycle derailleur, however the main difference comes in that, while a bicycle derailleur moves a chain back and forth over gears, the gearbox by Inmotive actually moves the gears underneath the chain. The company’s CEO, Paul Bottero, is an avid cyclist, and helped come up with the idea for the moving gears and stationary chain. Bottero indicates that moving a chain over gears would likely not last long in a vehicle application due to the power transfer. However, Inmotive has a gearbox design that uses a set of gears that are pieced together over a series of wedges, shaped similarly to a segmented pie. The gear pieces move back and forth underneath the chain, changing the diameter of the driven wheel in the gearbox, and therefore, changing the gear ratio of the drive. Bottero states that they have done market analyses of vehicles that operate on electric power, and indicates that many electric vehicle drivetrains could benefit from increased efficiency. The main benefit is that an electric motor could be kept at the optimal RPM while the vehicle is moving, and also the low end torque could be increased. This is especially important for heavier trucks that may need low end torque to carry heavy loads. The technology is still currently being developed by Inmotive, but they have incorporated their gearbox into test vehicles and are optimistic to begin production in the next couple of years.

The danger of electric shock to electric vehicles is a concern that has been part of the technology since the beginning of such vehicles. Since these vehicles require power that is produced by electricity, there is a significant concern that the electricity, if handled incorrectly, could cause shocks that would damage the vehicle’s circuitry. While this problem is significant, it is certainly not a new one. In fact, managing electricity and electric shocks is very common and safety systems are put into place to mitigate these issues anywhere that electricity is used. The most common issue with dealing with electric shocks, from a vehicle’s standpoint, it handling unwanted or unexpected surges from damaging the electrical components of a vehicle. In an electric vehicle, sensors, cameras, detectors, and the like are all powered by electricity and have the potential of being damaged by an unexpected electrical surge. The problem with electric autonomous vehicles is that these sensors are used to control the vehicle during driving, and failure of these components could potentially lead to a crash. Therefore, safeguards need to be in place to protect these systems. There are standards, established by the International Standards Organization, or ISO, that outline specific overcurrent or shock resistance for components. These standards are: ISO 7637 and ISO 16750. A robust, easy to reset, system that is capable of circuit protection is a device called a positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) resettable fuse. These fuses protect circuits against over-current conditions and best of all, can be easily reset without needing to replace the fuse. This system is more similar to a circuit breaker in a building than a circuit protected by a fuse, such as those used in passenger vehicles. Vehicle signal transmissions must also be very robust, and even fail-safe. These systems require very precise voltages to ensure fast data transmission. Proper diode arrays designed into the transmission circuitry can ensure electro-static discharge protection, and will ensure that data transmission is not affected by surges in electricity. -taken from www.sae.org

Almost all drivers these days have lived through the frustration of waiting for a traffic signal that seemed to be timed just to stop their vehicle, and once their vehicle was stopped there was no other traffic to be seen. This occurrence is very frustrating for drivers and makes one wonder what the logic was in designing such an inefficient system. What’s more, many useless traffic stops wastes fuel and contributes to climate change through increased emissions while driving. While waiting through a meaningless red light is far from rare, efforts to improve flow through traffic lights has just begun to catch up with the 21st century. Most traffic lights these days are not considered “smart” lights, otherwise known as adaptive traffic control technology. This type of technology determined the length of a traffic light based upon the amount of traffic at an intersection. While these adaptive traffic lights are helpful in controlling traffic congestion, they can still be improved upon with new technology. That’s what RapidFlow and NoTraffic, two startup companies, plan to do with their traffic lights that are able to not only adapt to traffic amounts at intersections, but link intersections together in order to communicate the best traffic patterns possible. New technology includes the ability to distinguish between types of traffic, for one. For example, vehicle traffic versus pedestrian traffic. In some areas, where pedestrian traffic is heavy, it is important to control vehicular traffic to allow walkways to remain safe. In other areas, types of vehicle traffic will determine the intersection traffic light patterns, such as when buses, semis, and other large, gas guzzling vehicles are present. The ability to distinguish between types of traffic will be accomplished by smart sensors at the intersections, and these sensors will use artificial intelligence to make determinations about the best traffic flow. In addition to this, new traffic signals will be linked through the digital “cloud” to communicate with each other, and share traffic related information. The biggest obstacle with all of this new technology will likely be the cost to implement. Many cash-strapped cities will not have the budget to completely overhaul their traffic lights to use this new technology. Hopefully the future will bring the prices down so that it can be implemented in more areas. -taken from www.sae.org

Automotive parts manufacturer Bosch has announced a new color screen that is planned to be used in motorcycle applications in the near future. The color screen is designed to replace a motorcycle’s instrument cluster and has the capability to display many different motorcycle related parameters to a rider during operation. This is the world’s first dedicated instrument panel screen that has been designed specifically for motorcycle use. The screen is 10.25 inches in size and features high-density pixel pitch and full-color on the display. Screens such as this have been implemented in automotive applications for years, and have come in very handy for displaying pertinent information to the driver that is easy to read. In addition, digital displays have proven to be cheaper and easier to produce than mechanical dial-based instrument clusters. The very first OEM application of Bosch’s new display will be BMW’s 2021 R 1250 RT motorcycle. The display will feature information based upon the rider’s custom configuration. Customization of the display is software based, and can be easily linked to Bosch’s smart phone application, called mySPIN. The mySPIN application will allow riders to custom configure what is displayed on the screen while riding. Additional features of BMW’s R 1250 RT motorcycle include a rain, snow, and adverse weather proof compartment for storing a rider’s smart phone while riding, also providing wireless charging to the smart phone while the motorcycle is in operation, or the option to charge wired through a USB port. A survey taken by Bosch indicates that 9 out of 10 motorcycle riders uses their smart phone to plan their ride ahead of time, including the use of map based GPS routes. The Bosch display could potentially allow real-time GPS maps to be displayed to the rider. These types of features allow Bosch’s screen to truly become a small computer-based display that will allow riders to safely observe the functionality of their machine while keeping eyes on the road as much as possible, therefore making riding safer. -taken from www.sae.org

The allure of driverless cars has encompassed the entire nation as videos of somewhat amazing feats are done by these vehicles in everyday situations. Seeing a video on the internet of a vehicle drive itself with no human intervention is truly amazing. Vehicles seem to navigate roadways without hitting pedestrians, and obeying traffic signals and avoiding obstacles with ease. This technology is progressing rapidly, however there are still some very big obstacles to overcome before driverless cars become the reality that one sees in science fiction movies. One of these obstacles is rather rudimentary, or gross, depending on how you look at it. Bug splats from a moving vehicle tend to cover the front of the vehicle as it passes through an environment, and other road debris does almost as good of a job as bug splats at causing the front edges of a vehicle to turn into a mess while driving. Bug splats and road debris are things that driverless cars are susceptible to just as cars piloted by drivers, and the debris has the potential to cover the sensors used by driverless cars, causing the vehicles to lose their driverless functionality as the sensors fail. Therefore, in order to clean the sensors during operation of a driverless car, experts are looking at using little spray nozzles to clean the sensors. Better yet, instead of using spray nozzles, automakers are interested in using ultrasonic cleaners on each sensor to keep it clean. Preliminary results show that ultrasonic cleaners are very promising at keeping the driving sensors clean, and would be superior to spray nozzles, since washer fluid would not be necessary to keep each sensor clean. There are many sensors used in driverless cars, some have 8 to 10 cameras and just as many LIDAR sensors. Therefore, keeping them clean during driving is important. -read www.sae.org for more information.