car

“The less complex the car, the easier it will be to manufacture and the cheaper it will sell”

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The year 1914 had just begun when Henry Ford dropped the bomb: would share half of the profits achieved in one year among all its workers. The figure, it was expected, would amount to about 10 million dollars at the time. The next day, his factory had collapsed due to the number of people waiting to enter the assembly line. The move was as bold as it was essential for the company. In those years the factories had a serious problem with absenteeism and Henry Ford was very clear about his ideas. He knew that mass production would make the production of his cars cheaper, but he needed a lot of sustained labor. It is what we know as the Fordismfrom which large-scale chain production emerged, with the consequent cost savings. And the more copies of the same product are sold, the cheaper it is because the faster the fixed costs are amortized. That is why Henry Ford did not complicate things in the slightest: “Any customer can have a car painted any color they want as long as it is black.” once said about the Ford T. The phrase was more sly than anything else but it explained well what he wanted to do with his cars. However, Ford left many other phrases related to his method of producing cars that were just as interesting. Some of them, in fact, can be applied today although, curiously, part of the original philosophy of that production process that made the Ford T the first mass car has to be adapted. From Ford T to the future electric car And when it comes to winning the market, Henry Ford was very clear that you had to pay attention to what was important: “the less complex an article is, the easier it will be to manufacture and the cheaper it will be sold”, as stated in the book My life and work of Henry Ford himself. He aim is different, the simplification of the product facilitates simpler production and reduces productive times. Therefore, it can be manufactured faster and cheaper so you can play with the price when selling the product on the street. This is exactly what according to some expertsthey have obtained from China. BYD and Tesla are simplifying their products as much as possible to save on production costs and thus be able to compete against the extremely well-oiled and efficient machinery that is Toyota. The problem for this last company is that This way of working completely rethinks your own quality standards but, above all, it forces you to rethink your entire production system. And an electric car is not manufactured the same as a combustion car. That is why there are consulting companies that have pointed out to Toyota that it is not acting correctly if it simply thinks of both technologies in a very similar way. At Ford they have been thinking about this idea for a long time. The company has acknowledged that Chinese cars have been taken to their facilities to dismantle them and understand what makes them different. Ford’s fascination with vehicles from this Asian country is such that Jim Farley, CEO of the company, He has admitted that he did not want to get off his Xiaomi SU7. To catch up, at Ford they have joined that trend that says that an electric car cannot be produced like a combustion car. With this we will escape from the single line, from the path on which the Fordism but the final goal is the same: reduce production costs. Follow the maxim of making the product the simplest possible object because that, in practice, makes production cheaper and allows you to sell cheaper. They do it by opting for tree manufacturing, which they have called “Ford’s new universal production system for electric cars”. Instead of assembling the car on a single line, Ford has devised another system that is based on three subassemblies that end up joining together almost at the end of the production process when the car should already be very close to leaving the assembly line. Thus, we have three individualized spaces: one for the front of the car, another for the rear and a last one that includes the battery, seats and console. According to the company, the new system allows them to produce their electric vehicles 40% faster at the Louisville Assembly Plant factory where the company has invested almost 2 billion dollars to renew it in depth and remove its “medium-sized electric trucks” from there. That is, electric pick-up and large SUVs that in Europe you would consider large. With this new system, they assure, it’s easier to be efficient in the design of the electronics and the installation of the cables, which represents a saving in weight and, above all, in money that must be invested in wiring. A maxim that we have already seen in other models on the market such as the BMW iX3. According to Ford data, they will need 50% fewer electrical connections, 50% fewer cooling installations and 20% fewer parts. In addition to all this, the plant will have WiFi-7 and a private 5G system for sending data which, according to Ford, will allow them to carry out more exhaustive quality controls at any point in the production process. This means finding any type of defect sooner and remedying it as soon as possible. That is to say, the company’s intention is to reinvent itself for the future but following the premises that its creator already set for them more than 100 years ago. Via | L’Automobile Photo | Wikipedia and Bram Van Oost In Xataka | Ford has been slow to adapt to the electric car, so it is going to start manufacturing batteries for… data centers

Two years ago, Europe did everything possible to stop the Chinese car. Spain has become your best gateway

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“Honorary registration.” That was the note that Pedro Sánchez gave to the Chinese car that he had briefly tested during his visit to the Asian country in September 2024. The statement did not go unnoticed because while Europe tried to stop China’s entry into the European automobile market by all means, Spain distanced itself from this strategy. That declaration, however, had begun to take shape much earlier. In July, Europe had already activated what are known as “compensatory duties” to Chinese cars. It was a temporary measure before it was firmly decided whether to apply it or not duty to the companies, their amount and how they would be carried out. In October, the decision was made definitively and at the end of the month tariffs began to be charged to all Chinese electric cars. The fees that each brand must pay are specific for each of them depending, in the eyes of the European Union, on how many subsidies they have received from the Chinese Government and how much they have collaborated with European investigations. At first, Spain defended the lifting of tariffs against these vehicles, but as the months passed, little by little, its position changed. In April 2024, Chery had announced that it was purchasing the Nissan plant in Barcelona to produce Omoda and Jaecoo cars there. Along the way, Ebro was reborn, At the moment they are Chinese cars although the name is Spanish. The movement could have been key to eroding the Spanish position. The second push came from the Chinese Government: tariffs on Spanish pork. The threat of putting obstacles in a market that Spain dominates paid off. During the September visit, Pedro Sánchez already pointed out that “we need to reconsider our position”in relation to tariffs. And he stressed that “we do not need another war, in this case a trade war,” in words collected by The Country. Spain went from voting in favor of tariffs in 2023 to abstaining in the 2024 vote. A movement that said more about positioning itself against them than about granting with its silence. Two years later, Spain is the preferred gateway for Chinese manufacturers to reach Europe. Spain, land of Chinese cars At the beginning of October 2024, Chery announced a delay in car production in Barcelona. If Spain was missing a message to opt in favor of lifting tariffs on Chinese cars, there it was. Agencies like Reuters They began to point out that the Chinese State was pressuring its manufacturers to withdraw their investments from where the trade barrier against the country had been supported. Europe intended attract investments with tariffs and for months we thought that it could be such a big barrier that China would not be interested in bringing its manufacturing here. But little by little, in a constant trickle, Chinese investments have arrived. And Spain has done business with it. Since 2024, Chery has invested in Spain, taking over a factory that had been almost completely stopped for years. Now the latest news is that Geely and Ford have reached an agreement to produce cars at the Almussafes plant in Valencia. The American company maintained its facilities at half throttle but starting in 2028, up to four different cars should leave through its doors. Along the way, Geely and Renault, which own Horse, decided that the development and production of their combustion engines would leave the Valladolid plant. Stellantis and CATL reached an agreement to build a battery plant in Zaragoza and feed the automobile conglomerate’s small electric cars. As a consequence, Stellantis will also produce Leapmotor cars on Spanish soil. Besides, SAIC has announced an investment in Galicia to produce MG cars there. As is the case with Barcelona, ​​this last plant will nourish the market for cars assembled at destination through kits but will serve to give some life to the industrial environment from the north of Spain. At the same time, Spanish ports have been consolidated as a perfect space to unload Chinese cars in their previous distribution step through Europe. Spain has several advantages over its competitors. We are a powerhouse in car manufacturing. This had the counterpart that with an electric car that requires fewer employees, thousands of layoffs have swept over the Spanish labor market. But we also have a qualified workforce and facilities already built to do this work. This is a value for those companies that are looking for already installed facilities to produce as soon as possible, even if it is through kits. But in addition, we are also a country with more competitive production costs than other countries north of the Pyrenees because our salaries are cheaper but the price of energy is also less expensive. This positions us as a very interesting space. to produce small cars that offer narrower profit margins. And if those were few incentives, Spain is buying many Chinese cars. With a proposal to offer more equipment and technology than rivals for the same price or even less, Chinese cars have gained many followers. So far this year, the MG ZS and the BYD Atto 2 They are already two of the 10 best-selling cars in our country. Last year was a year of consolidation for Omoda and Jaecoo and an opportunity for MG and BYD to continue gaining ground. Without tariffs on cars with combustion engines, five of the 10 best-selling plug-in hybrid cars in Spain are already Chinese. The reception has been so great that Geely is also looking for its own niche. GWM announced a few weeks ago his arrival in Spain. Changan (which is the origin of Mazda electric cars) already operates in our country. Zeekr will try to make a raid in the field of premium electric and plug-in hybrid cars. BYD’s Denza has also recently arrived. In three years, Spain has gone from supporting tariffs on Chinese electric cars to completely embracing its cars. He has done it in a complicated game of balance but the fact is … Read more

Xiaomi has a full-time humanoid robot in its car factory. You’re ready to stop being an intern

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Xiaomi has made its car factory cause a sensation. With the SU7 and YU7 in the market, the company has managed to make people stand in line and pay a fortune to see how these cars are manufactured, something they have achieved thanks to a good marketing strategy and, above all, a futuristic factory with a hook that is difficult to ignore: humanoid robots riding the cars. It was this past March when we learned from Lei Jun, founder and CEO of the company, that they had put a series of humanoid robots to work. “do internships” inside the factories. The tasks of these robots were not at all exciting, as they were dedicated to one thing: putting self-tapping nuts on the floor parts of cars. However, the period of being robo-interns is coming to an end and it has been the CEO himself who has commented that robots have climbed several steps. Specifically, they are almost on the same level of success as their human “companions.” From robo-interns to robo-experts The task they had to do is the most alienating and example of chain work that you can imagine. The system collects the nuts from an automatic supply equipment and deposits them in the indicated place, where the automatic screwing is subsequently carried out. Indeed: the robots were putting nuts… and that’s it. In March, Lei Jun said the robots had achieved a 90.2% success rate in placing nuts during three hours of continuous autonomous operation. This figure indicates the number of correct operations compared to the total attempts made and, in addition, they detailed that they adjusted to a production cycle of 76 seconds. Timing in these factories is crucial, especially when all steps are so automated if the car output goals are to be achieved. Now, although putting on nuts seems simple, they are not like those on an Ikea piece of furniture and there are some things to consider. A key challenge in this process is getting the self-tapping nut to precisely align, center and seat on the locating pin before screwing. Otherwise, the system crashes and the join is incomplete. And this process is complicated by three main factors: Grip variability: The orientation of the nut on the robot gripper changes with each cycle. Design and physical forces– The internal knurling of the nut and the magnetic attraction of the pin make exact adjustment difficult. Operating environment: There are limitations on the working angle and external interference in the assembly area. For the robot it is more complicated than it seems, but now it has been Lei Jun himself who has turned to come to the fore to point out that robots have gone from that success rate of 90.2% to 98%. They are, according to the executive, just one percentage point behind human workers. And most importantly, they are ready to take on more complex tasks. Because thanks to that success, it has been decided that Robots can begin to tackle more complex tasks. Because from tightening nuts, they have moved on to new stations that included tasks such as installing the side panels of the center console, as well as folding and recycling parts. The side panel task is complex because it is a large, flexible, irregularly shaped component that requires multiple pick-and-place cycles in different positions. Xiaomi says this is the first time a humanoid robot has completed prolonged manipulation of such a part on a real automotive production line and estimates the success rate to be over 90%. In four months we will see where that percentage is, but although it is clear that the evolution of the company’s humanoid tobots It is being remarkable, we are talking about robots that are still in the testing phase and in a single workstation. They are taking data and running every possible metric to determine if they are up to par for a productive, full-scale deployment. Human workers can rest easy, at least for a few more months. What I don’t understand is why they have to look like robots taken from the reboot from ‘Robocop’. In Xataka | In the war of humanoid robots, those from the United States dance and those from China work by the piece. It is not a technological issue

Michelin has invented indestructible airless tires. And no, you will not be able to mount them in your car.

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Tires that don’t get punctured… because there is no tube to puncture. That’s what Michelin engineers have in mind and that, in fact, you can now buy. Of course, there is one small (big detail) that you should keep in mind: you cannot mount it on your car. And it’s not because they don’t fit the measurements. tweel. That’s what it’s called Michelin’s airless tire. For years, the company has been researching formulas to put airless tires on the market and the Tweel are the first commercial option that you can buy within the company. Of course, they are tires that are only available for vehicles and machinery with very specific functions. For example, they are available for lawnmowers, skid steers, all-terrain vehicles that are only used in the field, or golf carts. But also for military vehicles. What do you mean without air? Indeed, these Tweel tires consist of two clearly differentiated structures. The first of these is the tread that the company calls a shear beam. It is responsible for rolling on the surface and partially absorbing the irregularities of the terrain. Inside, the tire structure is radialwith plastic elongations that reach inside the tire. These are flexible so the tire can overcome curbs and other elements that clearly deform its interior. However, its technical capabilities allow it to return to the traditional rounded shape once the obstacle has been overcome. And for what? As we say, Michelin has these tires developed to be mounted on vehicles that are not going to step on the asphalt. The idea is that with them you can move over unstable terrain or terrain that presents continuous obstacles without the risk of suffering a puncture. But where it is really interesting, explain the colleagues of Motorpassionis in military applications. First because, as we say, its ability to overcome obstacles is very great but above all because, lacking an air chamber, it cannot receive a shot that leaves an entire armored vehicle out of combat. In fact, this technology is also being studied by the ‘Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center‘, one of the programs that the United States Department of Defense has open. Additionally, brands like Bridgestone either Hankook They have been researching them for years. And my car? At the moment, bringing airless tires to passenger cars is still not working. Michelin presented the Uptis in 2023a prototype tire with which they have been testing but which, for the moment, is far from being able to dress the wheels of our car. Putting a rubber of this type on the market continues to be an enormous challenge. And it is that air is essential to cushion small irregularities of the asphalt, reducing noise in the cabin and increasing comfort. Airless tires for these tasks are still too uncomfortable. But in addition, rolling the tire at high speed generates so much heat that it is also a problem for the materials used. For this reason, at least for now, they are only available for vehicles that circulate at a moderate speed and the bulk of activity is carried out at a very low pace. Photo | Michelin In Xataka | China conquered the European cheap tire market. The EU has just put the brakes on it

Electric car sales in Europe, on a revealing map with a devastating peninsula. Spoiler: it is not the Ibérica

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If tomorrow your car breaks down and you have to buy a new one, the million dollar question is: Would it be a combustion car, a hybrid or an electric car? Obviously, there is also another respectable alternative that makes a lot of sense in the face of a future full of uncertainty and skyrocketing prices: bet on second hand (however, the question remains the same). Saying goodbye to old combustion and welcoming electricity (in any form) is a complex issue where factors such as tax policies, infrastructure and income come into play. The transition to electric has been here for a long time, but it is not advancing in the same way throughout the continent. The map you see below these lines represents the percentage of new electric car registrations in Europe in 2025which includes pure electric and plug-in. Another important consideration: it only collects new cars, not the existing fleet, that is another much more modest story where electric cars currently represent only around 5%. Its creation is the work of The World in Maps, an informative project specialized in cartographies and infographics. To prepare it, use the report Global EV Outlook 2026 from the International Energy Agency (IEA), published in 2026, that is, the world reference report on electric mobility. Electric cars (EV and PHEV) registered in 2025. AIE On the old continent, sales of electric cars (EV + PHEV) increased by 30% last year, above the global trend, which grew by 20% to exceed 20 million units. That is to say, if in the world one in four cars is electric, in Europe it is almost one in three. In fact, Europe has surpassed China as the fastest growing electric car market, with notable increases in Germany, Spain and Italy. But the colorful map suggests a very heterogeneous panorama on the continent and part of the blame lies with state policies: public support for electric vehicles, in the form of direct subsidies, tax incentives and tariff exemptions, has been progressively decreasing in the last decade as sales have increased, although Denmark, Norway and Turkey continue to have the most favorable scenarios due to their strong tax exemptions. A Europe at two speeds Electric Europe is made up of the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, where the highest quotas are concentrated: Norway (97%), Denmark (71%), Sweden (61%) and Iceland (62%). The recipe for success is a high per capita income, strong taxation on fossil fuels, historic exemptions for electricity and a highly developed charging network. Norway takes the cake, where fully electric cars reached a record share of 96% of all car sales in 2025, although from 2026 the tax advantages have been cut. The Europe of fuel comes from the east, with Russia (2%), Bosnia (5%), Romania and Bulgaria (6%) as markets where the electric car has barely penetrated, conditioned by lower purchasing power, scarce charging infrastructure and absence of relevant tax incentives. In fact, Croatia, Greece and much of the Balkans move in similar figures, between 5% and 15%. This ancient Europe lives under the restraint of increasingly strict EU regulations. These data matter because road transport is one of the major sources of emissions of carbon dioxide in Europe and the speed of electrification attacks it directly, stepping on the accelerator towards achieving the EU’s climate objectives. But it also has industrial implications: the automotive sector, a true historical bastion on the continent, is adapting and planning based on demand. The jump to electric also has its economic and geopolitical reading where one country leads the way: China. In Xataka | Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU In Xataka | All the car plants in Europe (including the few battery-electric ones), on a map Cover | The World in maps

If the question is how to prevent our car from being an oven, some German experts believe that we have been making mistakes all our lives.

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Beach in the morning, visit to the beach bar and nap in the rented house. It doesn’t sound bad. You leave the beach bar with your belly full and your soul intoxicated with the sweet feeling of carelessness that invades you when dessert arrives and you say “why wouldn’t I eat that three-scoop ice cream.” But when going to the car, the harsh reality. The sun beats like never before. Touching anything inside the car is risking a trip to the hospital with a second-degree burn, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to lower the temperature inside. “But I put the parasol on”you will say. But… oh, friend. What if you have put it wrong? What if you have done everything backwards? That is what the German experts from the ADAC defend, a kind of German RACE famous for its reliability studies but they put the focus on everything that revolves around our cars. And his last publication is a good example of this. More “fresh” The automobile club ADAC has published an article in which it explains what temperature a car reaches in the sun and what measures we can take to reduce the temperature we will find inside. It must be taken into account that the temperature of the cabin in a car is not only important to avoid burns when touching the steering wheel or gear lever. According to the DGTdriving indoors that exceeds 30 degrees can have effects on our body similar to driving under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, when we get to a car that is parked in the sun, it is important to try to lower the temperature as soon as possible. The best idea is to launch what went viral as “the japanese trick”: open the windows and fan the car with the door itself to move the air inside and try to get it out as soon as possible. If you turn on the air conditioning, you must play with it to throw it at the feet or the ceiling depending on whether or not we are driving and the windows are open or not. But to make the task easier, it is very important to take precautions beforehand. One of them is, of course, the parasol. From the RACC they assure that using the sunshade can reduce the interior temperature of the vehicle by up to 11 degrees. We arrive at our destination, we grab the sunshade in the upper area and make sure that it covers the entire surface of the windshield, we close the car and we leave. Sure? What the ADAC experts say, this is not the best way to act. To do this, they have put five exactly identical Dacia Sandero in the sun and have looked for the best way to ensure that the temperature in the cabin is as low as possible. In his study, the car that was unprotected reached an internal temperature of 53ºC (blessed 53ºC if we compare it with the temperatures that the interior of our car can reach in the sun in Spain) and the lowest temperature had been achieved by covering the car with a tarp that reflects the sun’s rays. Obviously, this option is the least practical due to the size of the tarp that must be moved in the trunk and the inconvenience of putting it on and taking it off. Of course, the 43ºC achieved inside made the difference. The second least useful option was to put a white cloth over the car. In this case, the temperature reached was 50ºC. And here comes the interesting thing because it is the option that we use the most. The experts tried putting the sunshade inside the car, under the windshield, and outside the car, over the windshield. And the result was that putting it on the windshield reduced the temperature by 4ºC compared to putting it under the glass. In fact, putting the sunshade over the windshield left the temperature at 45ºC, very close to the best option. On the contrary, installing the windshield in the traditional way left the interior temperature at 49ºC. “Semi-garage” is Google’s translation of putting a tarp on the car to cover it The truth is that it makes sense. When the sun acts directly on the glass of the car, it heats up and acts as a magnifying glass, so the temperature in the cabin rises even more. Besides, his own glass emits more heat inside when it is hot, which is why it is not entirely advisable to buy a car with a sunroof without a curtain if you live in especially hot climates. In this case, the heat from the glass is projected onto the heads of the passengers. By placing the windshield inside we prevent the rays from directly hitting the glass and, therefore, its capacity to retain heat and raise the temperature further is lower. In that case, what we should do before leaving is to “grab” some ribbons from the parasol when closing the doors so that the parasol does not fly away. Photo | Andrew Bone In Xataka | The best way to use air conditioning in the car: the keys to fighting the heat

The fire in Los Gallardos reminds us of the car trap. Surrounded by 800 degree flames, it is not a shelter but an oven

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The unprecedented tragedy of Los Gallardos and the district of Bédar (Almería), which has left at least eleven fatalitieshas broken all the schemes in Andalusia. It is the deadliest fire of the 21st century in Spain, leaving us with a devastating image of people who have lost their lives inside their own vehicles or a few meters from them when trying to flee down the wrong path. The UME has mobilized 150 troops and, as the hours pass, the tragedy reveals an even more bitter face: the first hypotheses suggest that the deceased could be foreign tourists. People who, in panic and not knowing the labyrinthine relief of the area, tried to escape via alternative routes, losing their orientation until they were cornered. The collapse of the system. To understand why this hell has broken out, we have to analyze this perfect storm. On July 9, 2026, the Andalusian emergency system encountered an unfathomable scenario for three fundamental reasons. Extreme simultaneity: while the flames devoured the east of Almería, at the other end of the community, in Benahavís (Málaga), an urban-forest fire forced the emergency evacuation of some 1,000 people, and with the AP-7 cut off. Having two sources of very high life risk at the same time requires dividing the air and land resources of the INFOCA Plan and the UME. Flash ignition: the origin in Los Gallardos was the fall of a power line near the N-340. The spark fell on a forest mass stressed by the very high temperatures and lack of humidity. The wind did the rest. Treacherous topography: Bédar is an area of ​​irregular relief, full of ravines, boulevards and scattered farmhouses. The fire advanced, devouring the slopes faster than a car could travel on a dirt road. The main road was blocked by smoke, forcing desperate evacuations towards Lubrín. The vision of firefighters: as extinction professionals, there are a warning that professionals have been warning for years, although we ignore when panic takes control: the car is the worst place to take refuge from a forest fire. And based on the European Automobile Commissioner (CEA)road safety specialists warn that you should never try to cross a flame front. The vast majority of fatalities in forest fires occur due to trying to save property, delaying escape or delaying evacuation. For example, Australia maintained a Stay and Defend or Leave Early policy until the devastating Black Saturday fires in 2009, which left 173 dead. It was then that the National Center for Biotechnology Information (PMC) analyzed the causes and determined new action protocols. A Molina-Terrén study of 2019 detailed that when civilians are harmed or killed, it occurs almost exclusively during evacuations that are carried out too late, when smoke already impedes visibility and radiant heat blocks escape routes, or when trying to protect agricultural assets and homes. A recent study reaffirmed this thesis. The oxygen factor. As pointed out by the services of Red Crossan engine needs oxygen to run. When the fire consumes all the oxygen in the environment, the car simply suffocates and stops. According to the firm ISK Fire Survivalwhich designs fireproof protection systems for fire trucks themselves, details how radiant heat is lethal for a standard vehicle without thermal armor: windshields can burst at temperatures above 300 ° C, leaving the passenger compartment exposed. A sixth generation fire consumes all available oxygen and expels carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide. With melted wheels, traction is lost and thick smoke reduces visibility to zero in seconds. And, since the car’s ventilation system is not airtight, it is the toxicity of the air that begins to affect the body. And when the fire corners or the car is already partially trapped, the next few seconds are critical. The order of how to act from then on is capital. Expert advice indicates: Find a clearing and park. Here the important thing is to look for the area with the least possible vegetation, stopping far from trees or dense bushes. If you can park behind a stone wall (from some old construction) or in a dirt clearing, a large open field or a plowed field, the better. Turn off the engine and block the air. That is, close the windows, turn off the air conditioning and activate air recirculation to delay the entry of toxic smoke into the passenger compartment as much as possible. It is also important to flash and turn on emergency lights to be visible. Cover yourself with natural materialsnever with plastics or synthetic fibers. A wool blanket or cotton jacket does not melt or melt as easily, so it will not cause such serious injuries. get on the ground. Literally, lying below the level of the windows, crouched under the seats, protects from the direct radiation that enters through the windows and the smoke that accumulates at the top. Don’t go out. The passage of the flame front lasts between 2 and 5 minutes. The interior of the car can withstand more than a body exposed to the elements, which means that it should only be abandoned if the fire has entered inside. Then the car becomes a trap. Images | EMA Infoca In Xataka | We thought that the worst had already happened in France, but it seems that its problems have only just begun: after the “infernal” heat comes the fire

“When I go from Zaragoza to Barcelona, ​​I go by car”

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This is how forceful this Wednesday was Salvador Galve, dean of the Official College of Industrial Engineers of Aragon and La Rioja and president of the Railway Commission of the Council of Colleges of Industrial Engineers of Spain. And during his appearance at the commission of inquiry into the state of the railway network, Galve admits who prefers the car to the train. Distrust. Galve is one of the country’s leading specialists in railway infrastructure. The fact that he is precisely the one who admits that he avoids the train to avoid the risk of being late for a work meeting portrays, better than any statistic, the mistrust generated today delays and incidents on the AVE. In detail. Galve himself has explained the reason for this custom: “When I go to Barcelona from Zaragoza and have a meeting, I go by car. When I go to Madrid I try to go by train because it usually arrives, but the majority of managers who go from Zaragoza go by car because they don’t know when they are going to arrive,” he declared before the Upper House. According to the expert, this way of acting has become normalized among professionals who need to keep schedules. “We are getting used to” the incidents, he acknowledged, although he also maintains that “it is a fact, we should not tear our clothes.” No security guarantees. Despite this confession, Galve has avoided raising alarm about the security of the system. Asked if the network can be considered reliable despite the failures, has insisted in which zero risk does not exist in any transportation system. “You minimize the risk but you cannot guarantee 100% security,” he continued. What’s behind. Galve’s testimony comes in the midst of an examination of the railway system after the Adamuz derailments (Cordoba) and Gelida (Barcelona). In his appearance, which lasted almost four hours, according to Telemadridthe engineer has pointed out as one of the underlying causes the separation between Adif, infrastructure manager, and Renfe, train operator, decided in Spain in 2005 due to European demand. In his opinion, that division was taken too far. “It makes no sense to separate so much, no country has done it,” he stated. That is why he has demanded the creation of a single technical body that coordinates both companies before the decisions reach the political level of the Ministry of Transport, a figure that he himself has described, according to Diario Córdobaas “a kind of conductor of the railway system, who would make Renfe and Adif sound good and who would not be subject to political ups and downs.” Investment, in the spotlight. Galve has also questioned how the money allocated to the railway is distributed. Asked if Spain invests well in its network, answered directly “no”, according to Diario Córdoba, pointing out that the political weight of each autonomous community determines which lines receive more budget. As an example, he cited the 3.5 billion euros allocated to the new High Speed ​​line between Murcia and Almería, an investment that, in his opinion, could yield more if it were dedicated to reinforcing the existing network in the country. Regarding maintenance, he has warned that the lack of resources is reflected in the constant increase in temporary speed limitations (LTV), a mechanism that line managers activate as a preventive measure when they detect incidents that do not require a total closure. And now what. Galve has asked that the Senate commission request a “proper audit” on the real state of the network, similar to the one commissioned in 2014 after the Angrois accident, to determine with objective data whether the system needs a structural review. The request also coincides with that demanded by the Adamuz Derailment Victims Association, which this Wednesday has claimed to the Ministry of Transport and Adif the immediate paralysis of all railway traffic until the detection of track breaks in real time is guaranteed, as reported by Telemadrid. Galve, however, has qualified that this instant detection technology “does not exist right now” in any railway system. In Xataka | Switzerland installed the first railway solar plant in the world: a year later, it has been such a success that its neighbors are already asking about it

Xiaomi SkyNomad is Xiaomi’s new car brand and will arrive with a gigantic SUV where driving will be secondary

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Today we announce the second product from Xiaomi electrics: Xiaomi SkyNomad. The Xiaomi SU7 and XiaomiYU7 are positioned as “drivers’ cars.” Xiaomi SkyNomad is positioned as a “smart, configurable and spacious SUV.” Different product lines, two responses to two different use needs that we deliver after more than five years developing cars (in relation to the time that the car project has been underway) with this tweetLei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, has given the first details of SkyNomad, Xiaomi’s second brand of electric vehicles of which there are not many confirmed details but of which the horizon is clearing a little. This post is followed by a whole thread of explanations in which Lei Jun gives some keys to what we can expect with this new sub-brand of the company that “will be launched soon in China”. Let’s break down everything we know. SkyNomad, everything we know about the new Xiaomi brand To get an idea of ​​what Xiaomi has on its hands, the first thing we are going to do is review the Twitter thread in which Lei Jun has given the first glimpses of what we can find in these new cars from the Chinese company. And we will cross this information with the rumors that are on the table. In his publications, Lei Jun explains that the car market in China has changed rapidly and that they are now very common “feature-packed six- and seven-seater interiors”. This, added to the concept of “spacious SUV” that the company’s CEO mentions at the beginning of the thread, already gives a clear idea of ​​what we will find. In recent years we have seen how the big Chinese brands have launched their own gigantic six or seven-seater SUVs with abilities as crazy as turning on itself or floating. But these vehicles are designed, above all, to be enjoyed from inside and from the rear seats. BYD with its subbrands Denza and Yangwang They have theirs either in SUV format or in minivan format with huge seats. He Zeekr 9Xhe Aito M9 (which partly copies the image of a Mercedes Maybach) or GWM’s Tank line are good examples. These SUVs, as we say, are focused on and for the rear seat passenger. They are generally cars with huge seats that have their own remote control to control some functions of the car and some of them come equipped with screens and a multimedia environment to work, make a video call or enjoy the trip watching television. “On the road, transport your family, friends, luggage, even pets, with generous space for everyone. Parked, it becomes a workspace, a living room or a family activity area,” says Lei Jun in this tweet which perfectly sums up what these cars have become. They are not cars that are enjoyed driving, they are multipurpose spaces with wheels. And confirm your positioning a little further down: Who is it intended for? For people who need a single car to cover the daily commute, family trips and the ability to occasionally work from the vehicle. It does not define a lifestyle, it is a flexible tool built to adapt to what the day requires. Professionals and parents, not two separate categories. The same person, at different times of the day. Taking all this into account, it is obvious that what Xiaomi wants with SkyNomad is to enter the game of China’s huge electric SUVs. That leaves us with some doubts that have yet to be resolved. In CarNewsChina and other chinese media They assure that these cars will be extended range electric. That is, they will be cars that have a combustion engine (according to rumors, a 1.5 turbocharged as is usually common in this type of Chinese car) to function as an electric generator. It is a type of car that can operate in completely electric mode or as series hybrid. That is, the combustion engine works like an electric generator that burns fuel to fill the battery, but the car is moved by electric motors that are fed by the energy stored there. These cars have the advantage that the combustion engine operates at the optimal rpm to consume the least possible amount of fuel and they maintain an electric touch. Furthermore, in both China and Europe they are classified as electric cars. although deep down they are not. The other big question is where Xiaomi will position itself. Although the concept of a six or seven-seater car designed by and to be enjoyed in the rear seats is only understood in Europe from a luxury point of view, in China this is not entirely the case. And a Yangwang U8 or Hongqui’s proposals are much more expensive than a Li Auto, for comparison. Until now, Xiaomi has been very clear about its positioning: offering more features than anyone else for the least money possible. This is the only way to explainunlike the price of the Porsche Taycan or the Tesla Model S Plaidwhom it leaves behind mechanically. With the Xiaomi YU7, a slightly more luxurious proposal has been sought than with the SU7, but it does not fight in the luxury segment. truly luxury cars. Lei Jun has made it clear that this car arrives with a new platform called Xiaomi Kunlun that will be nourished by other intelligent products of the company and that will become a full part of the company’s ecosystem. It is something that we could already expect seeing the integration that the brand has done with its mobile phones and all types of home devices. through the HyperOS that it has in the two cars that it has already launched on the market. Given the type of positioning that is sought with the car and the emphasis that the brand has been placing on itit is expected that the car, which according to the first test mules is estimated to be 5.3 meters long, will have extensive driving assistance functions to automate much of the trip. Photo | … Read more

This is how China dominates car shipping

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Guangzhou Shipyard International, one of the largest Chinese shipyards, has just delivered its third ship of the same series with capacity for 10,800 vehicles. These are figures that do not clash much with the current panorama, where China exports its new energy vehicles at full speed. But this data also hides one of the most interesting transformations in automotive logistics in recent years. And it explains how China has gone from depending on South Korean and Japanese shipping companies to building itself the ships that today transport its cars around the planet. What has happened? The shipyard we mentioned, a subsidiary of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has delivered its third ship in a series of “megaships” designed to transport 10,800 vehicles on each trip. The first, named Glovis Leader, was delivered last April and was the first in the world to overcome the barrier of 10,000 cars in a single journey, according to they counted in The Maritime Executive. This third ship in the series, whose name we still do not know, was delivered at the end of June and will follow the same fate as its siblings, operating under the umbrella of the South Korean shipping company Hyundai Glovis. In detail. These vessels belong to a very specific category within maritime transport: PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier), that is, ships designed exclusively to load vehicles and not other types of merchandise. They do not carry cranes or containers, since cars They are stored through a rear ramp and they park inside as if it were a parking lot of various heights. In this case, the ship measures 230 meters in length (length) and 40 meters in width (width), and distributes its load over 14 decks, five of which can be elevated to also be able to transport buses, trailers or larger heavy machinery, depending on technical data shared by Baird Maritime. This megaship can be powered by both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and conventional fuel. Why it is important. Until relatively recently, much of the maritime transport of Chinese cars depended on foreign shipping companies, mainly South Korean, Japanese and Norwegian. The problem is that demand has skyrocketed, as China has become in the world’s largest exporter of carsespecially electric vehicles, and there were not enough ships available to take them out of the country. This shortage ended up skyrocketing freight prices, so China decided to correct that dependence by building its own fleet. In just a decade, the average capacity of these ships has grown strongly. If in 2014 a typical ship was around 6,000 or 7,000 vehicles, today Chinese shipyards routinely deliver ships capable of exceeding 10,000. Ships with record numbers. Chinese shipyards have engaged in a race that they have been waging among themselves for years. Before the Glovis Leader and its siblings, the record was held by the Anji Soundness and the Anji Ansheng, two sister ships of 9,500 vehicles operated by Anji Logistics, the logistics subsidiary of automobile giant SAIC Motor. BYD, the largest Chinese manufacturer of electric cars, already has its own fleet of eight ships that allows it to export more than a million vehicles a year, according to data collected by CnEVPost. GSI, the shipyard responsible for this third vessel, has already accumulated more than 40 orders and has completed 26 deliveries, more than 95% of them for foreign customers, which gives an idea of ​​the extent to which the Chinese naval industry has become a supplier to the rest of the world. Between the lines. The Glovis Leader and its sister ships will operate on sea routes connecting South Korea with Southeast Asia, North America and Europe, serving mainly Hyundai and Kia, according to they counted from Baird Maritime. That is to say, although the ships are built in China, they will not transport Chinese cars, but rather South Korean cars. And China not only exports its own vehicles on its own ships, but has also become the reference shipyard to which other automotive powers turn to solve their own capacity problem. And now what. GSI has another eleven more under construction, with deliveries scheduled until 2028, according to they claim from Shippax. And the record for the highest capacity will not last long either, since the Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen has already announced that it will expand four of its Shaper series ships to 11,700 vehicles. Cover image | ShanghaiEye (X) In Xataka | “Incredibly cruel”: this is how Shenzhen taxi drivers define the new law that gives the green light to more robotaxis in the city

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