LIGHTYEAR a Dutch startup introduces energy positive solar car! Yes Energy Positive

Energy Positive means the car produces more energy than it consumes

The company is founded by alumni of Solar Team Eindhoven which built Stella and Stella Lux to participate in Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

“The Lightyear One is a statement to show that electric cars are ready for every corner of the planet”, Lex Hoefsloot clarifies. “It is the first step in our mission to make electric cars available for everyone”. Since the car does not require any charging points, it is especially well suited for area’s where the adoption of electric cars is held back by the lack of charging points. The attractively shaped four-wheel drive sedan will even handle rough terrain, so you can take it almost anywhere.

The company’s mission is to help the world in faster adoption of electric vehicles by eliminating the limitations of adoption of electric vehicles. The limitations they are trying to address are

1. Availability of charging stations
2. Faster recharging of the car
3. Range on one complete charge

Lightyear is trying to address these issues by developing a car that continuously charges itself using solar power and doesn’t require external power source for months to refuel it. The car is designed to be very light, aerodynamic and so efficient that it is energy positive!

The Car

The first vehicle, the Lightyear One, is an electric four-wheel drive car that can handle rough terrain and has a battery range of 800 kilometers, charged by the sun. Production of the car together with industry partners will start from 2019 onwards. Of this first version, a limited number of models will be produced. Pricing starts at 119,000 Euro excluding tax; reservations start today.

“You can think of the Lightyear One as being as an electric car redesigned from the ground up to combine the best of solar cars and electric cars.”, says Lex Hoefsloot, CEO of Lightyear. “It’s a revolutionary step forward in electric mobility because we are able to combine a great look with extreme efficiency. This first model makes science fiction become reality: cars powered using just the sun”. At night or on a cloudy day the Lightyear One can drive up to 800 kilometers on a fully charged battery, depending on your battery configuration.

In sunny climates, Lightyear One is able to drive for months without charging

The integrated solar cells on the roof of the car will generate enough power to recharge the battery during the day and will render charging virtually unnecessary. In sunny climates, like most parts of the US and the south of Europe, the car can drive for months without charging. For very long trips an overnight-charge using an ordinary power socket will suffice – no need for electric car charging infrastructure.

Media Contacts:

Company Name: Lightyear
Full Name: Tessie Hartjes
Phone: +31 612 849 937
Email Address: tessie.hartjes@lightyear.one
Website: www.lightyear.one

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Source & reference links

1. Press Release Jet
2. Lightyear
3. World Solar Challenge
4. Solar Team Eindhovan

GM Fleet and MapAnything partnered to improve fleet productivity

MapAnything Live will combine OnStar connectivity and real-time Salesforce data to automate key business processes for GM Fleet customers.

Detroit — General Motors Fleet’s customers can spend more time interfacing with clients thanks to a strategic agreement with MapAnything, Inc., the “Where” Company and leader in geo-productivity and intelligence for business.

MapAnything, a Salesforce Ventures Portfolio company, has launched MapAnything Live to GM Fleet customers – a new connectivity solution that combines telematics fleet management and customer relationship management (CRM) software to streamline routes and automate critical business processes. The solution is available by subscription, and is powered through GM’s OnStar embedded hardware.

“In-vehicle 4G LTE is fueling double-digit annual growth in the multi-billion dollar market for fleet management software, and it’s helping Chevrolet and OnStar win new business. We are expanding our relationships with technology companies because customer interest is so high,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president, GM Fleet. “The reasons are simple and compelling. Inside the data streams are the critical insights fleet managers need to help their drivers stay safe and productive, and their operating costs as low as possible.”

Nearly a third of sales managers estimate their representatives spend less than half their time actively selling, due to time lost to scheduling and commuting to customer meetings, according to data from a survey conducted by MapAnything and Selling Power.

MapAnything Live, powered by OnStar, aims to increase active selling and/or service time for sales representatives, field service and delivery drivers by helping fleet managers optimize fleet and field team productivity through:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Automate key business processes including work order creation, case status changes and invoice creation based on the vehicle’s proximity to a customer.
• Enable geo-productivity intelligent routing and scheduling based on Salesforce and telematics data.

Telematics

• Track vehicle use and diagnostics such as vehicle location, idle time, fuel tank capacity, speed, ignition state, hard braking/acceleration and more.
• Optimize routes based on traffic, time of day, business priorities, etc.

“By coupling our geo-productivity expertise with General Motors’ extensive fleet scale and vehicle connectivity, we’re bringing our solutions to even more businesses,” said MapAnything CEO John Stewart. “Using MapAnything Live, they’ll be able to harness their fleet location within CRM to unlock new levels of efficiency.”

MapAnything Live is another example of how GM Fleet has the most comprehensive offering of fleet connectivity services in the industry. Last month, GM Fleet announced an AT&T connected car data plan for business customers that includes data pooling, unlimited data and corporate billing. For more information on GM Fleet’s full portfolio of vehicle connectivity and telematics offerings, please visit GMFleet.com/ConnectedServices.

This strategy agreement comes on the heels of MapAnything’s $33.1 million dollar funding round in February, as well as a strategic partnership and full integration with ServiceNow, announced in May. MapAnything also recently released a suite of new geo-productivity products, including MapAnything Guide, which allows companies to manage scheduled visits for sales or field service personnel. To learn more about how geo-productivity applications can improve your business, visit www.mapanything.com.

About General Motors

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

About OnStar

Launched in 1996, OnStar is a wholly owned subsidiary of GM Holdings LLC (“GM”) and offers emergency, security, navigation, connections and vehicle manager services in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Opel and Vauxhall models. Totaling more than 12 million customers in North America, Europe, China and South America, OnStar offers a range of standard, subscription and a la carte services such as Advanced Diagnostics, Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, OnStar Smart Driver, 4G LTE Wi-Fi and the AtYourService marketplace. For more information about OnStar services and features, visit www.onstar.com.

About MapAnything

Combine today’s global economy with a mobile workforce, and you get a lot of moving parts. CRM alone can’t help you answer the critical business questions: Where is my business? Where do I need to go? Founded in 2009, MapAnything is an innovator and pioneer in Geo-Productivity Software. With more than 1,800 customers globally, ranging from Large Enterprises to Small Business, we believe that “Where Matters.”

MapAnything is a Salesforce Gold App Innovation Partner, and a ServiceNow Technology Partner. They have received Ventana Research’s 2016 Technology Innovation Award for Location Analytics and been named a Customer’s Choice – Highly Reviewed App by users of Salesforce. To learn more, visit www.mapanything.com.

Via: MapAnything

Drive.ai raises $50 million in new funding

SAN FRANCISCO — Self-driving startup Drive.ai said on Tuesday it raised $50 million in a second round of funding as the Silicon Valley company prepared to deploy its technology in pilot vehicles later this year.

The company, one of a handful of startups building fully autonomous systems for cars, also said it had added to its board Andrew Ng, a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence industry.

Ng formerly led AI projects at Baidu and Alphabet’s Google. Ng is the husband of Drive.ai’s co-founder and president Carol Reiley, a roboticist.

The latest round of funding — led by New Enterprise Associates, Inc., GGV Capital and existing investor China-based Northern Light Venture Capital — came as investor interest in autonomous vehicles continued to intensify.

Drive.ai is aiming to build an after-market software kit powered by artificial intelligence to turn traditional vehicles operated by businesses into self-driving models.

The company said existing business fleets would deploy its kits in pilot tests by year-end.

Drive.ai plans to distinguish itself through the team’s expertise in robotics and deep learning, a subset of AI in which massive amounts of data are fed into systems until they can “think” for themselves.

Drive.ai, which received $12 million in an initial funding round last year, also named to its board the head of Asia for New Enterprise Associates, Carmen Chang.

Reblogged from Automotive News

 

Clutcheal: A Pune based startup working to address the trust issues in bike service sector

Clutcheal is an On Demand Service solution based company which offers online two wheeler servicing at customer’s doorstep. The idea is to eradicate all kinds of hassles when it comes to automobile servicing. Hassles being customer’s dissatisfaction includes: Installation of deceptive parts, questionable charges, theft of original parts, false promises, misleading suggestions, delay in delivery timings and many more.

Genuine, Transparent, Better and Timely two wheeler servicing has become the prominent need of the hour. In today’s fast pace and rapid moving environment, where people do not have sufficient time to get things done, Clutcheal is bringing transformative change in servicing marketplace as bike repairing has become integral necessity of the generations. Revolutionizing the automotive industry, Clutcheal simplifies all your vehicle worries by bringing new solutions at a single online platform. They provide vehicle checkup, bike servicing, proper maintenance and breakdown assistance.

Clutcheal says that their core pillars/principle are Trust, Transparency & Time. And their motto is to maximize customer’s trust and minimize customer’s pains.

 

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Nowadays it became a common practice at almost all the bike & car service centers to cheat on the customer. Many service center insiders admitted to me about the cheating that happens at the service centers.

I have seen a person who used to have a Royal Enfield, he befriended with the service center executive and swapped the faulty parts of his bike with properly working parts from other’s bikes at the service center. By the time the owner of the other bike realizes that the parts of his bike were swapped with faulty parts from another bike it’s already late.

Once it happened to me, I got a first generation Honda Activa which I gave for service at Castrol Bike Zone, the service adviser told me that there are many parts that need be replaced and I asked him to replace the necessary parts. He gave an estimate of around five thousand rupees and said that this is the ballpark figure and actual cost of service may vary. I said okay but was shocked to see the final bill to be around ten thousand rupees, the service center manager said that after opening the engine they realized that there were many parts that need to be replaced and so they replaced them. I asked him if the parts were really replaced or not, he assured me by showing to me some old replaced parts.He also assured to me that if I get any issues I can come back at anytime and get them solved. I was skeptic about the service but upon the manager’s assurance paid the bill and left the service center.

Within few weeks the Activa started showing up its issues. So I went to Castrol Bike Zone and to my dismay,  found that the service center was wound up. Then I took the Activa to the neighborhood mechanic and asked him to check what is the problem. Then after proper examination came another shocker, the parts were not replaced with new ones! But it’s already too late, I don’t want trace down the service center manager and all the other persons involved in this and loose time & money  anymore.

There were numerous other cases of cheating that I have seen or came across. The list is endless.

Even the authorized service centers are no exception. Cheating became a norm. A trusty is service is a tough ask & rare find.

Let’s hope Clutcheal addresses all the Trust and Transparency issues successfully

Ford invests in Argo AI, An artificial intelligence startup,In drive for autonomous vehicle leadership

San Francisco, Feb. 10, 2017 – Ford Motor Company today announces it is investing $1 billion during the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company, to develop a virtual driver system for the automaker’s autonomous vehicle coming in 2021 – and for potential license to other companies.

Founded by former Google and Uber leaders, Argo AI is bringing together some of the most experienced roboticists and engineers working in autonomy from inside and outside of Ford. The team of experts in robotics and artificial intelligence is led by Argo AI founders Bryan Salesky, company CEO, and Peter Rander, company COO. Both are alumni of Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center and former leaders on the self-driving car teams of Google and Uber, respectively.

“The next decade will be defined by the automation of the automobile, and autonomous vehicles will have as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did 100 years ago,” said Ford President and CEO Mark Fields. “As Ford expands to be an auto and a mobility company, we believe that investing in Argo AI will create significant value for our shareholders by strengthening Ford’s leadership in bringing self-driving vehicles to market in the near term and by creating technology that could be licensed to others in the future.”

The current team developing Ford’s virtual driver system – the machine-learning software that acts as the brain of autonomous vehicles – will be combined with the robotics talent and expertise of Argo AI. This innovative partnership will work to deliver the virtual driver system for Ford’s SAE level 4 self-driving vehicles.

Ford will continue to lead on development of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle hardware platform, as well as on systems integration, manufacturing, exterior and interior design, and regulatory policy management.

Argo AI will join forces with Ford’s autonomous vehicle software development effort to strengthen the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. Argo AI’s agility and Ford’s scale uniquely combine the benefits of a technology startup with the experience and discipline of the automaker’s industry-leading autonomous vehicle development program.

“We are at an inflection point in using artificial intelligence in a wide range of applications, and the successful deployment of self-driving cars will fundamentally change how people and goods move,” said Salesky. “We are energized by Ford’s commitment and vision for the future of mobility, and we believe this partnership will enable self-driving cars to be commercialized and deployed at scale to extend affordable mobility to all.”

The collaboration supports Ford’s intent to have a fully autonomous, SAE level 4-capable vehicle for commercial application in mobility services in 2021.

“Working together with Argo AI gives Ford a distinct competitive advantage at the intersection of the automotive and technology industries,” said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, Global Product Development, and chief technical officer. “This open collaboration is unlike any other partnership – allowing us to benefit from combining the speed of a startup with Ford’s strengths in scaling technology, systems integration and vehicle design.”

Also complementing the relationship will be Ford Smart Mobility LLC, which will lead on the commercialization strategy for Ford’s self-driving vehicles. This includes choices for using autonomous vehicles to move goods and people, such as ride sharing, ride hailing or package delivery fleets.

Ford will be the majority stakeholder in Argo AI. Importantly, Argo AI has been structured to operate with substantial independence. Its employees will have significant equity participation in the company, enabling them to share in its success. Argo AI’s board will have five members: Nair; John Casesa, Ford group vice president, Global Strategy; Salesky; Rander; and an independent director.

The $1 billion investment in Argo AI will be made over five years and is consistent with the autonomous vehicle capital allocation plan shared last September as part of Ford Investor Day.

By the end of this year, Argo AI expects to have more than 200 team members, based in the company’s Pittsburgh headquarters and at major sites in Southeastern Michigan and the Bay Area of California.

Argo AI’s initial focus will be to support Ford’s autonomous vehicle development and production. In the future, Argo AI could license its technology to other companies and sectors looking for autonomous capability.

Also Read: Ford & Toyota join hands to establish ‘Smart Device Link’ Consortium; To accelerate industry driven standards for In-Vehicle Apps Ford survey concludes that consumers are embracing new technologies in transportation services

Via: The Ford Motor Company-Mediacenter

Porsche joins “Startup Autobahn” platform

Next step in the digital campaign: Porsche has become the latest partner of the Startup Autobahn innovation platform in Stuttgart, where newly established companies from around the world are developing ideas for the mobility of the future.

The platform focuses on developing technologies right up to project maturity. Porsche is supporting the company founders by providing an experienced team of mentors. “This gives our culture of innovation an extra boost”, says Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche. “Digitalization, electrification and connectivity are revolutionizing the automotive industry. We see this as an opportunity, and we want to make the most of it. These top talents from the international start-up scene give us external inspiration that accelerates the progress we are making. To make this happen, we provide the start-ups with an environment in which they can reach their full potential and focus on their work. As one of the world’s leading automotive and high-tech regions, Stuttgart is an ideal place for this project”.

Under the motto “The spirit of Silicon Valley. In the hub of mobility engineering”, Porsche will collaborate will other corporate partners Daimler, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, ZF Friedrichshafen, BASF and Murata in the Startup Autobahn innovation platform. The ultimate goal is to develop Stuttgart as a technology hub. The project was launched in 2016 by the American accelerator Plug and Play, together with Daimler, the University of Stuttgart and Arena2036. Plug and Play is one of the largest tech-focused investors and venture capitals in Silicon Valley, Berlin, Spain, Singapore and Brazil. Since 2006, the accelerator has supported more than 2,000 start-ups and has a global network of around 300 corporate partners. Every year, Plug and Play organizes about 400 events around the world to bring start-ups and investors together. It also acts as an investor itself.

Rigorous selection process culminates in “Expo Day”

Applicants have to go through a rigorous selection process. After an initial pre-selection, the first major hurdle is the “Selection Day”. If an applicant submits an idea that wins over the jury, they will receive special coaching sessions from mentors and partner companies over a period of three months, including focus weeks and monthly network meetings. The start-ups are able to use the co-working space and hardware lab at Arena2036 during this time. They are also given access to Plug and Play’s global network. The name “Arena” stands for “Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles”; in 2036, the automobile will be 150 years old. The extensive, high-tech workshop houses technology worth millions, including tools, production machinery, 3D printers, robots and software for prototype construction and small-scale series production.

The service includes contact with the spheres of business, research and politics, as well as with investors, potential customers and mentors. The development process is supported by a range of additional services, from legal and tax advice to professional help in financial planning and project management. The aim of this process is for the applicants to inspire potential investors at the final “Expo Day”. The type of start-up funding provided is based on the company’s degree of maturity. It is possible that funding may involve taking shares in the company or reaching individual agreements. Out of the 300 applicants in the first wave, 13 made it through to the final on February 9 in Stuttgart. Around 1,000 guests were also in attendance.

The Startup Autobahn Expo Day in Stuttgart :

Startup Autobahn focuses on finding and supporting “hard tech start-ups” that offer intelligent solutions at the interface between hardware and software. A start-up community from Germany and Canada presented solutions in the field of machine learning. One start-up in Tel Aviv has developed a form of glass projection technology that turns car windscreens into advertising space. The finalists also included the Cologne-based founders of Evopark. This start-up has created an app that shows drivers which car parks have spaces available, and then guides them to the space. The electronic parking ticket removes the need for paper tickets, and drivers receive a bill at the end of the month.

Turning visions into reality

Porsche holds a stake in Evopark through the new Porsche Digital GmbH, which represents the interface between Porsche and innovators worldwide. It identifies and enhances digital customer experiences, products, business areas and processes. The Porsche subsidiary tests and implements new value creation models and innovative product offerings in close cooperation with all company departments.

The Digital Lab in Berlin represents another step that Porsche has made towards digital transformation. Its purpose is to identify and test innovative information technology solutions. Several teams focus on the question of how Porsche can take innovations from the fields of big data and machine learning, micro services and cloud technologies, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, and turn them into practical commercial solutions at Porsche.

Startup Autobahn is a continuation of the innovation campaign at Porsche. “It’s the fantastic ideas, the network and the partnerships that are the lifeblood of this competition”, says Oliver Blume. “We bring together forward-thinking technologies and innovative business models. The pilot projects give rise to prototypes for use in specific applications. The goal of our campaign is to develop Porsche into a leading provider of digital mobility solutions in the premium automotive segment”.

Automotive Startups: Accelerator program for startups working on future of mobility Daimler is establishing STARTUP AUTOBAHN, the new startup ecosystem in Stuttgart. “In contrast to Silicon Valley with its software focus, with STARTUP AUTOBAHN both software and, above all, hardware-oriented projects are to be in the foreground. We are warmly welcoming international as well as local startups”, says Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management at Daimler AG and responsible for Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “Whether it’s the USA, China, India or Germany…read more

About Startup Autbahn

Startup Autobahn is the ultimate innovation platform that unites global startups with the unrivaled tech expertise of Silicon Valley and the best of German engineering. Autobahn means controlled access highway  system in Germany. Autobahns have no mandated speed limit.

About Plug and Play Tech Center

The Plug and Play Tech Center has over 20 locations in Silicon Valley, Germany, Spain, Singapore, China and Brazil, making it one of the biggest and most experienced accelerator operators. Having looked after more than 2000 startups since it was founded ten years ago, Plug and Play has grown with a technical focus and venture capitals to become the world’s largest global accelerator. Plug and Play organizes over 365 events all over the world every year in order to network startups and investors and operates also as an investor.

Link: http://plugandplaytechcenter.com

About ARENA2036

The highly technologised ARENA2036 with its area of 10,000 m² as a research campus is a new form of cooperation in which renowned partners from science and industry research innovative subject areas related to automotive production of the future under the same roof as the startups. A unique high-tech centre is being created in the heart of the economic region of Baden-Württemberg. The name “ARENA2036” stands for “Active Research Environment for the Next Generation of Automobiles”. By the year 2036, the 150th anniversary of the car, the stated aims are to be implemented at the ARENA2036 research campus, thus paving the way for the automotive engineering of the future.

Link: http://www.arena2036.de/de

Via: The Porsche Newsroom

INFINITI opens Smart Mobility Lab in Singapore

• INFINITI and Nest launch a pioneering new startup program for entrepreneurs
• Startup companies from around the world can apply now here
• Builds on successful Accelerator programs in Hong Kong for Smart Cities & Internet of Things startups

HONG KONG – INFINITI Motor Company, Ltd. and Nest, a leading venture capital firm and innovation partner, have announced the launch of “INFINITI LAB, Smart Mobility” in Singapore, a unique program created to give founders the opportunity to achieve validation of their business over the course of eight weeks. Applications are open until February 12, 2017 and the program will culminate in June 2017.

INFINITI LAB, Smart Mobility has a defined objective: give high-potential startups in mobility and connectivity intensive training and mentoring, so they can pitch a viable business-use case to INFINITI’s senior decision makers and key innovation stakeholders from across the Renault-Nissan Alliance. The eight-week program is aimed at startups that have advanced from the idea stage and are ready to gain validation in a commercial setting. INFINITI calls this an Ignition program, a stage beyond the traditional Accelerator format.

“This program is a key part of INFINITI’s initiative to promote entrepreneurial spirit in the business community,” said Roland Krueger, president of INFINITI Motor Company. “Automobiles play an important role in future intelligent cities. Technologies of connectivity will enable vehicles to communicate with each other and with city infrastructures. This will significantly enhance the driving experience, and INFINITI is committed to leading the development in this area.”

“INFINITI LAB, Smart Mobility” is part of INFINITI’s ongoing commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship – with course content designed specifically to prepare early-stage companies in the fields of smart mobility and connected technology for corporate integration.

Up to eight startups will be selected by an experienced panel before being invited to Singapore from April to June 2017 to join the first-of-its-kind initiative. Each founder will receive dedicated mentorship and guidance from industry experts at INFINITI and Nest, tailored to help refine their business models and prepare them to pitch for a proof of concept (POC) project with INFINITI by the end of the eight weeks. There will also be an investor Demo Day to give the startups the opportunity to pitch to investors with the aim of securing further funding and new business opportunities.

The program is strategically located in Singapore, one of the world’s most progressive nations in regard to its commitment to building a fully smart, connected and sustainable city. The startups, which will be selected from local and international applications, will be intrinsically linked to the Singaporean innovation ecosystem for the duration of the program and benefit from the wealth of opportunities available through the alignment with the Government’s Smart Nation initiative.

INFINITI LAB – Mobile LAB + Jason Hoskings, Red Garage Ventures
Infiniti’s Dane Fisher drives with entrepreneur Jason Hoskings in this episode of Mobile LAB. From being a startup CEO to being the Founding Director of Red Garage Ventures (part of the Coca-Cola’s Founders Platform), Jason shares with Dane his insights on where his journey is taking him.

INFINITI has chosen to once again work with innovation partner Nest following two successful accelerator programs in Hong Kong. INFINITI also plans to expand entrepreneurial initiatives to other cities during 2017.

“This program could be transformational for early-stage companies who need commercial validation of their product,” said Nest CEO, Lawrence Morgan. “Startups need the opportunity to test their products and theories, and this program is highly focused on giving founders a clear path to POC so they can quickly gain traction and scale.”

For more information about the program and other entrepreneurial initiatives from INFINITI LAB, please visit https://www.infiniti-singapore.com/infiniti-lab.html

Applications open today and the deadline for submissions is February 12, 2017.

About INFINITI
INFINITI Motor Company Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with sales operations in over 50 countries. The INFINITI brand was launched in 1989. Its range of premium automobiles is currently built in manufacturing facilities in Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and China.  INFINITI plans to also expand manufacturing into Mexico by 2017.

INFINITI design studios are located in Atsugi-Shi near Yokohama, London, San Diego and Beijing.

INFINITI is in the middle of a major product offensive.  The brand has been widely acclaimed for its daring design and innovative driver-assistance technologies.

From the 2016 season, INFINITI is a technical partner of the Renault Sport Formula One team, contributing its expertise in hybrid performance.

More information about INFINITI and its industry leading technologies can be found at www.infiniti.com. You can also follow INFINITI on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and see all our latest videos on YouTube.

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 Via: Nissan Global Newsroom

India’s first 100% electric vehicle fleet cab service: Lithium Urban Technologies

Lithium Urban Technologies calls itself the company which delivers tomorrow’s transport transportation today(their tagline “TOMORROW’S TRANSPORTATION. TODAY.) and that might sound like an audacious claim from an Indian cab service provider that too from a startup. But that is true, it is the only company in India to have 100% electric fleet, it is the first zero emission transport service provider of India.

Lithium Urban Technologies Pvt Ltd is founded in October 2014 by Sanjay Krishan in Bengaluru. The company initially started off with 10 Mahindra e2o’s  and now they have a fleet of 200 plus electric vehicles and several hundred more are in pipeline. They started their operations initially in Bengaluru and now they are planning to enter North Central Region(NCR) of India. Despite many oddities the company is successfully marching ahead into new regions and new segments.

Lithium Urban Technologies Co-Founder Sanjay Akhileswaran Krishnan. Image source: link

Why Electric Vehicles? Simple, the founders are feeling responsible for the the environment and are daring enough to do something good.

Is it Commercially Viable? Looking at the oddities the answer must be a big no, but the company is proving that it is possible to strike balance between commercial viability and environmental friendliness.In general, addressing one negates the other and growing while balancing both(profitability & environmental friendliness) is a commendable job.

What are the oddities before the company? 

• Lack of Charging Infrastructure: Charging stations to electric vehicles are like petrol bunks to IC engine cars. In America there are very few charging stations compared to the number of gas stations, let alone India the number is minuscule.
• Lack of uninterrupted power supply: If somehow the company manages to find or establish charging stations, then there is this problem of getting 24*7 power supply let alone quality supply. Getting quality power without interruptions throughout the year throughout the country is a tough ask in India.
• Lack of Proper Electric Vehicles: The only electric vehicle available for purchase in India is Mahindra e2o(at the time founding Lithium Urban) which in many aspects is inferior to its conventional counterparts. Aspects like cramped interiors, rear seats access and range per charge are a few to say.

Mahindra e2o

e20 from Lithium Urban’s fleet

• Battery Life and Replacement Costs: Battery pack to electric vehicles is like a fuel tank to IC engine cars. Let me use an analogy to help you understand the problems associated with battery packs. Imagine if your car’s fuel tank decreases in size over time & it cannot hold same amount of fuel as it does in the initial days and also it cannot take fuel at higher inflow rates so you have to slowly pump the fuel or it will spill off. And you have replace the fuel tank a couple of times before you replace the car itself. That is how it is with Electric Cars & Battery Packs. Though this a problem now, in the future this might not be a problem as the batteries are constantly improving and also battery costs are constantly falling.
• Establishment Costs: Apart from the real estate costs,telemetry platform costs and other costs, the major capital requirement for any cab service provider is capital to purchase the fleet. In case of electric vehicle fleet the cost is multiple times higher than that of the conventional fleet. Mahindra e20 base variant on-road price in Bengaluru is INR 7.10 lakh and Tata Nano base variant on-road price in Bengaluru is INR 2.32 lakh. (*According to Cardekho and Tata Motors websites respectively ** Mahindra e20 is now discontinued and replaced with Mahindra e20 Plus)
• And many more challenges like customer perception towards electric vehicles, safety(possibility of battery explosions),…etc are to be addressed by the company.

Lithium Urban Technologies despite all these challenges is managing to succeed and move forward. And apart from these inherent challenges associated with electric vehicles there are challenges like competition from established players and biggies national & international like Ola and Uber etc.

How the company is overcoming all these difficulties and progressing? The answer is simple, to start with, they chose a sub segment which they can serve despite their limitations. And as the numbers rise they will explore new segments and new geographies.

Lithium Urban’s website’s landing page

What is the segment and city that they chose to start their operations? The segment is Corporate Employees Transport and the city is Bengaluru/Bangalore. The company found out that catering to corporate customers can solve many of their hurdles at once. Well, but why & how choosing corporates as their clients can help them. And what is the business model adopted.

• Lithium is counting on the corporate companies to recharge their cars as the companies will already have the required infrastructure to supply uninterrupted & quality power. Lithium establishes a charging station at the premises of a company that signs up with them for their transportation services.

  

  Lithium’s charging station at a company’s premises

• The corporates have to pay Lithium on per-car-per-month basis irrespective of the miles driven. And the companies(clients) have to bear the electricity bills.
• As the routes are fixed, timings are known and passengers are known, predictability is more and the complexities involved are less compared to that of their counterparts.
• Coming to financial hurdles, apart from the founding members own investments, Lithium got backing from Robin Chase and Ramachandran. Ramachandran is chairman at InKlude Labs and former head of Morgan Stanley India. Robin Chase is a transportation entrepreneur and co-founder of ZipCar. Both the investors are happy and optimistic about Lithium Urban.

Companies saw partnering with Lithium Urban Technologies as a tool to reduce their carbon footprint and as a part of their social responsibility. Soon, Lithium roped in Tesco Plc as their first client. And other companies followed the suit. Companies like Accenture, Adobe Systems and VMware are few of their clients. VMware is one of their biggest clients.

Where Next and What Next? Lithium is planning to operate pan India. As most of their corporate clients have offices at more than one city and have thousands of employees at each city, Lithium is planning to extend the services to their existing clients at their other locations. This includes cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad etc.

As they spread across various  cities and scale up, they will start catering to non corporate clients i.e., to public. Until then they will concentrate only on corporate clients.

Coming to the what next question, The future of urban public transportation will be driven by four key tenets: clean, distributed, shared and connected, according to Krishnan. Keeping that in mind, he wants Lithium to eventually engage across the electric mobility value chain.

Image source: link

Sanjay Krishnan plans to collaborate with more OEMs to introduce different new form factors (vehicles) for freight, mass transit and consumer transport by April 2017, and wants the company to expand its fleet to 6,000 vehicles in four years.To do all that and more, the company, which has raised $1.3 million of equity and $1.3 million of debt, is looking to raise $6-7 million.

In addition to Ramachandran and Chase, Lithium counts KPIT promoters’ group, Kewal Nohria, Cognizant’s Lakshmi Narayanan, H.V. (Prasad) Subramaniam and Subrata Ghosh as its angel investors.

And another member to back Lithium Urban Technologies is none other than the man who gave India its first electric car Reva, Chetan Maini. Maini is also very optimistic about Lithium.

“When I started Reva, it was way ahead of its time. What is happening today is a host of factors coming together” such as better technology, awareness of electric cars and a more favourable policy stance from global lawmakers, he said.

“The long-term vision is to move into several different product platforms,” said Maini, who is a co-promoter, board member and investor of Lithium.

While Lithium is currently focused on corporate transport in India, Maini expects a future where it could dabble in other mobility areas such as goods transport and “first-mile/last-mile” delivery, and think beyond India.

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Reference links and source links:

1. Company Profile
2. Sanjay Krishnan
3. Company Website
4. The Better India
5. PluginIndia
6. LiveMint
7. Company Profile @ Zauba Corp

 

Current Openings at Jugnoo Autos

Jugnoo is a hyperlocal on-demand multi-service provider based out of Chandigarh, which employs auto rickshaws as its logistic partners. It provides on-demand transportation and logistics services across 38 cities in India via their mobile application which can be downloaded on Android, iOS and Windows based phones. The service was started in Chandigarh in October, 2014 by Samar Singla along with Chinmay Agarwal, both alumni of IIT-Delhi.

Current Openings:

1. Manager Operations – Jodhpur
2. Assistant Manager – Surat
3. Product Manager – Chandigarh
4. UI/UX Designer – Chandigarh
5. Public Relations Executive – Chandigarh
6. Senior Marketing Manager – Chandigarh
7. Legal Manager – Chandigarh
8. Company Secretary Intern – Chandigarh
9. HR Manager – Chandigarh
10. QA Engineer – Chandigarh
11. Technical Intern – Chandigarh
12. Front End Developer – Chandigarh
13. Back End Developer – Chandigarh
14. iOS Engineer – Chandigarh

Visit jugnoo.in for more.

India’s first electric reverse trike: Orxa Energies Mantis

Reverse Trikes are three wheeled vehicles with two wheels in the front and one in the rear. This design is used in the modern three wheeled vehicles due to its increased stability & fun factor compared to single front wheel designs.

Orxa Energies Mantis

Orxa Energies is founded by Prajwal Sabnis and Vinayak Bhat in August 2015 and their first product is Mantis. The company is based out of Bangalore. They are currently in proof of concept stage and therefore exact details about the battery capacity and motor specifications of production vehicle are not known yet. Meanwhile, enjoy the prototype and explainer videos:

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ATX 8080 Electric Scooter from Austin Electric Powersports

KTM E-Speed Electric Scooter Revealed 2016 — save the environment!!!

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My thoughts about hardware startups:

I always used to wonder why there were very few hardware startups in India compared to the number of software startups. It can be because of various reasons, few reasons that occurred to me are:

1. Capital: Hardware startups require more seed capital compared to software startups.
2. Availability of People: There are many engineers who are interested to work on software startups whereas in case of hardware startups the number is comparatively very low.
3. Availability & Accessibility of required resources: For software startups, resources like computer, internet & programming languages(like java, c, c++ …etc ) are easily available & accessible over internet or at college labs. For hardware startups, resources like machines, materials & software(like CAD, CAM & FEA …etc) are comparatively less available & accessible and are costlier to access.
4. Traction: Gaining traction for hardware startups is tougher compared to software startups.
5. Distribution: Software products and services can be easily distributed to the end user through internet whereas the hardware  startups require physical infrastructure to distribute their products and services.

And there can be many other reasons.

Let me know your thoughts about hardware startups in the comments section below.