HOLLAND – The New York City-based private equity firm Crestview Partners announced the sale of Holland-based JR Automation Technologies LLC for $1.425 billion in cash to Hitachi, Ltd. Established in 1980, JR designs, builds, and programs advanced automation systems for the automotive, aerospace, e-commerce and life science industries. It has more than 2,000 employees. Crestview
ANN ARBOR—The benefits of self-driving cars will likely induce vehicle owners to drive more, and those extra miles could partially or completely offset the potential energy-saving benefits that automation may provide, according to a new University of Michigan study. In the coming years, self-driving cars are expected to yield significant improvements in safety, traffic flow
ROYAL OAK - RJ King, Editor of DBusiness, will moderate the electric vehicle track at IoT Tech Connect April 29 at the Michigan Science Center. He discusses his thoughts on where electric vehicle development is now and his panelists - Daron Gifford, Partner, Plante Moran Robert Bollinger, CEO, Bollinger Motors Shodit Mere, CEO, Bedestrian. RJ
SOUTHFIELD - DENSO announced it will invest approximately $1.6 billion over the next three years – from FY2018 to late FY2020 – to support development of electrified automotive products, systems and technologies. To achieve its long-term business goal to create and inspire new value for the future of mobility, DENSO is focused on increasing its performance
DETROIT - Ford CEO Jim Hackett scaled back hopes about the company's plans for self-driving cars this week, admitting that the first vehicles will have limits. "We overestimated the arrival of autonomous vehicles," said Hackett, who once headed the company's autonomous vehicle division, at a Detroit Economic Club event on Tuesday. While Ford still plans on launching
ANN ARBOR—As researchers work toward next-generation electric vehicles, they may be hitting their heads on the ceiling of what lithium ion batteries can deliver. Meanwhile, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan are pushing the performance of a competing electric vehicle technology—hydrogen fuel cells—to new heights. A hydrogen fuel cell is a zero-harmful-emissions
ANN ARBOR—In the 1960s animated sitcom The Jetsons, George Jetson commutes to work in his family-size flying car, which miraculously transforms into a briefcase at the end of the trip. A new study of the environmental sustainability impacts of flying cars, formally known as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or VTOLs, finds that they
SAN JOSE, Ca. - Electric carmakers have long been clamoring for a battery breakthrough that will improve the range of their vehicles while also extending their lifespans. Innolith, a Swiss startup, says its new high-density lithium-ion batteries can do just that. The company claims to have made the world’s first 1,000 Wh/kg rechargeable battery. (Watt-hours
YPSILANTI—The American Society of Mechanical Engineers will sponsor “Electric/Self-Drive Vehicle Technology In Action” Tuesday, May 7 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the American Center for Mobility, 2701 Airport Drive in Ypsilanti. The event will be held inside Hangar 1 at ACM, 801 Kirk Profit Drive. Signs will guide visitors from the site entrance to
SAN FRANCISCO - There has long been a debate about Apple’s secretive automotive project being only about a self-driving system for vehicles rather than a full electric autonomous vehicle. It now looks clear that the latter is the case as Apple hires Tesla’s head of electric powertrains. Earlier this month, we reported on Tesla losing its
