Trade News

WASHINGTON — A coalition of consumer safety groups and automotive experts is once again urging automakers, regulators and other stakeholders to adopt standard terms for advanced driver-assistance systems.

AAA, Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, the National Safety Council, Partners for Automated Vehicle Education and SAE International on Tuesday released a set of updated and expanded terms for driver-assist features that they say will reduce driver confusion as the technologies become more common.

The group started the effort in 2019 with an initial list of standardized names that was endorsed by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2020 during the Trump administration.

"ADAS features have become increasingly prevalent in new vehicles and have the potential to reduce traffic crashes and save thousands of lives each year," the group said in a statement. "However, the terminology used by automakers to describe ADAS features varies widely, which can confuse…

Sono Motors has debuted the production design of its Sion, a battery-electric crossover that uses solar cells to generate electricity and extend range.

The Munich-based startup, which trades on the Nasdaq under SEV, pitches the Sion as "the world's first affordable solar electric vehicle."

At a Munich event Monday, Sono also unveiled a solar kit for diesel buses that transit services can use to supply power to subsystems such as HVAC and reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

But in the Sion, solar will help refill the batteries that power propulsion. The vehicle features 456 solar half-cells that generate enough energy to add about 70 to 150 miles per week to the range, depending on weather and driving conditions. It's enough solar power to "enable self-sufficiency on short journeys," the company said. The Sion's 54-kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate battery has an estimated range of 189 miles.

Selling point of solar

Supplementing the v…

WASHINGTON — U.S. auto safety regulators have opened five separate safety probes into nearly 1.9 million vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis, according to documents released Tuesday.

The largest of the probes covers an estimated 1.3 million Jeep Cherokees from the 2014-20 model years. Water may leak into those vehicles and cause the electronic parking brake to activate and stop the vehicle while in motion.

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it had received 80 complaints about the issue and opened the preliminary evaluation to "assess the scope, frequency and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect."

Separately, the agency is investigating 2016 Dodge Journey and Jeep Compass and Patriot vehicles after receiving 127 complaints alleging crankshaft or camshaft sensor failures that may cause the engine to stall while driving.

FCA US, now Stellantis, recalled certain Journey, Compass and Patriot ve…

Volkswagen of America said it has started salable local production of the brand's ID4 battery-electric compact crossover at its assembly complex in Chattanooga, and it expects to produce up to 7,000 vehicles per month there by the fourth quarter.

The German automaker, which has been doing pilot builds of the ID4 at the plant for much of this year, said Tuesday it would begin making customer deliveries "as early as October" while it ramps up further.

The local production, paid for by an $800 million investment in the plant, represents a threefold or fourfold increase in ID4 availability for VW dealers in the U.S., compared with current versions, which are imported from Germany, VW executives have said.

Through the second quarter of this year, VW sold 4,415 ID4s in the U.S. — all imported — down 29 percent compared with the period of March-June 2021. The ID4 went on sale in March 2021.

"We're just starting to write a new chapter for Volkswagen …

A look at what led to Herbert Diess’ ouster as VW CEO. GM could have as many as 30 EV models on sale in the U.S. by 2026. Telsa gets a second subpoena over CEO Elon Musk’s tweets. And Cornell University labor expert Arthur Wheaton previews this week's UAW constitutional convention.

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Energy Department on Monday plans to announce it intends to loan a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution $2.5 billion to help finance construction of new lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plants, officials told Reuters.

The conditional commitment for the loan to Ultium Cells LLC for facilities in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan is expected to close in the coming months and comes from the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program, which has not funded a new loan since 2010.

The program previously provided loans to Tesla Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co.

This would be the Energy Department's first loan for a battery cell manufacturing project under the vehicle program.

President Joe Biden has set a goal of 50 percent of U.S. auto production by 2030 being electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.

"We have to have vehicle manufacturing capacity but also battery man…

Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla Inc. executive JB Straubel, said on Monday it plans to spend $3.5 billion on a battery-materials factory in northwest Nevada.

The auto industry has been ramping up production of electric vehicles to meet a demand surge, driving up orders for batteries and raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, etc.

Five-year-old Redwood Materials is ramping up production of anode and cathode components to 100 gigawatt-hours by 2025, enough to supply batteries for 1 million EVs a year, then to 500 GWh by 2030, enough to supply 5 million EVs a year or more.

Redwood Materials, whose partners include automaker Ford Motor Co. and EV battery maker Panasonic Holdings Corp., is building a closed-loop battery ecosystem aimed at lowering EV costs by cutting dependence on imported materials, while also reducing the environmental impact.

The Nevada plant, under construction outside Reno, is expected to be one of the first U.S. facili…

SHENZHEN -- The Chinese city of Shenzhen told 100 major companies including EV giant BYD and iPhone maker Foxconn to set up "closed-loop" systems as it battles COVID-19, according to a document attributed to the local government circulating online on Monday.

While Reuters could not independently verify the document, a notice at a Shenzhen office of oil giant CNOOC seen by Reuters said that the building would be closed for seven days until July 31, with staff to work from home and continue with daily COVID testing.

A CNOOC spokesperson did not have an immediate comment.

The Shenzhen government did not respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan-based Foxconn said that operations at its Shenzhen facilities were "normal" and that it would follow government guidelines to ensure safe production.

The order attributed to Shenzhen's department for industry and information said that major companies, including BYD Co., Huawei Technologies Co., and ZTE C…