-
BMW seeks to be ‘coolest’ ride-hailing firm with autonomous car – BMW will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year as it seeks to keep up with ride-hailing firms like Uber [UBER.UL], which have spent billions on pay-per-use personal transport. The German carmaker will have about 40 vehicles with self-driving functions in Munich’s inner city and then expand the project to other cities, BMW executives said on Friday.
-
California-based electric car maker Lucid will build its 1,000-horsepower car in Arizona -Electric car company Lucid Motors was all about its home state of California at the Los Angeles Auto Show a couple of weeks ago. “We’re a California car company and it’s a fresh California spirit,” said Peter Rawlinson, chief technology officer at Lucid Motors, as he showed off a new luxury 1,000-horsepower electric car at the show.
- EPA: Gas-mileage rules should stay – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it has determined that automakers can meet fuel economy and emissions standards currently in place through 2025 even though they will get stricter in the coming years and the industry mounted a major lobbying effort aimed at relaxing those standards.
- Toyota Motors Is Accelerating Its Electric Vehicles Strategy – While electric vehicles (EVs) and self-driving cars are being touted as the future of the automotive industry and several players are looking to increase their fleet of EVs, Toyota Motors is likely to start mass production of its electric vehicles by 2020. The company is forming an “in house venture company” which will solely focus on EVs. While Toyota has been introducing environment-friendly vehicles in the form of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), the company believes that, in view of the rapid strengthening of regulations around increasing the use of zero emission vehicles, the need to have a product line up which can respond to these regulatory changes is essential.