Research

Innovative Four-Passenger Electric Car Delivery in Fourth Quarter 2008

August 8, 2008, TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) covering the use of MMC's zero-emissions i MiEV electric vehicle for research and demonstration purposes.

Mitsubishi i MiEV Electric Car

2008-08-11 -- Dr. Larry Burns, GM Vice President Research & Development and Strategic Planning, today (12 August) met with scientists at Melbourne’s Bionic Ear Institute to pay tribute to the innovators who helped him to hear again.

Dr. Burns, who is a cochlear implant user, met with Professor Graeme Clark, who led the team which invented the device, and Professor Rob Shepherd, Director of the Bionic Ear Institute.

Dr. Burns is the man behind GM’s worldwide ‘reinvention’ of the automobile around advanced propulsion, electronics, telematics, and materials technologies - including the Chevrolet Volt electric car.

Lotus conducts research study into engine efficiency when utilising sustainable second and third generation bio fuels

August 12, 2008 -- Lotus Engineering, the world renowned automotive consultancy division of Lotus announces a collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and Jaguar Cars Ltd to develop an engine which maximises fuel efficiency when running on renewable fuels. The OMNIVORE concept will employ novel engine architecture to achieve a high thermal efficiency when fuelled on any alcohols or gasoline.

PITTSBURGH, June 19, 2008 — General Motors Corp. (GM) and Carnegie Mellon University today announced a new Collaborative Research Lab (CRL) and a renewed commitment to work jointly on technologies that will accelerate the emerging field of autonomous driving — a family of electronics and software technologies that could influence the way drivers and their vehicles interact in the future.

The GM-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab is being established under the terms of a five-year, $5 million agreement. The lab will operate as an extension of GM's Global Research & Development network and will be located at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Faculty from the university’s School of Computer Science and College of Engineering will participate.

DEARBORN, Mich., June 11, 2008 – Ford Motor Company announced today that it is working with researchers, academia, and public and private companies to develop long-term strategies to confront growing transportation and personal mobility challenges in large and increasingly congested metropolitan areas.

Highlights:
* By 2015, about two-thirds of the world will be living in urban areas, which will exacerbate traffic congestion and present major challenges to basic transportation and personal mobility.
* “Ford Urban Mobility Networks” is a pilot program that is exploring how to coordinate a variety of transportation options and provide vital real-time information to individuals living in densely populated urban centers.

May 20, 2008 -- The DOE Hydrogen Program has released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in support of the H-Prize (Section 654 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007). Through the H-Prize, DOE will competitively award cash prizes to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of hydrogen energy technologies.

Tata has expressed interest in participating Pininfarina’s planned capital increase

Turin, April 24, 2008 – Pininfarina intends to establish a Research, Design and Engineering Centre in Pune, India within the end of 2008. Pininfarina and Tata have signed a Letter of Intent wherein Tata will support this Centre in India with contracts and participate with a minority interest. Pininfarina will be the majority shareholder with management responsibility.

Press Opportunity to Drive Michigan Tech Vehicle

2008-04-11 -- General Motors (GM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will offer a ride-and-drive of the Michigan Technical University vehicle from the collegiate engineering competition Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, at GM's world headquarters at the Renaissance Center. Members of the MTU team will be available for interviews to discuss the program.

The press ride-and-drive will be held Tuesday, April 15, 2008 from 6 to 10 a.m.

Tokyo, April 10, 2008 — Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Daihatsu) and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI) announced today that they have agreed to expand their cooperative ties with new arrangements related to research and development and product supply.

Specifically, the three companies — aiming to strengthen their competitiveness by achieving mutual synergies through the apt application of each company's technological know-how — decided that:

1. TMC and FHI are to jointly develop a compact rear-wheel-drive sports car that will be marketed by both TMC and FHI.
2. TMC is to provide FHI with a compact car on an original-equipment-manufacturing (OEM) basis.

Feb. 22, 2008 -- Lotus Engineering, the world renowned automotive consultancy division of Lotus, has created a new research and development group solely for electric and hybrid vehicles. The formation of this group recognises the increasing global importance of hybrid and electric vehicles, and the increasing amount of consultancy project work in this area that is being undertaken by Lotus Engineering.