Vehicles for construction, agriculture and mining CAM have become one industry served by giants such as Caterpillar, CNH Industrial, John Deere and Komatsu but also small businesses making the new requirements such as drone systems and weeding and mine survey robots.

The rise of electric vehicles is creating many new material opportunities. One such material class is the die attach material used in power electronics.

Since their accelerated growth began in 2015, 2019 saw two of the top three regions selling electric cars plateau as a short-term transition from 'carrot' to 'stick' unfolds. In China, serious subsidy phase-outs, amid relaxing of internal combustion engine bans (to stimulate overall car sales), are to blame. Similarly, growth in the US has been underpinned by Tesla, whose tax credits were slashed mid-year as quotas were reached.

What does it take to commercialize photonic beam steering?

IDTechEx attended AutoSens 2019, the event took place at the car museum in Brussels. This event is focused on all future vehicle perception technologies, including lidar, radar, and camera. In this article, we summarized key learnings around lidar technologies.

Understanding the future of the Li-ion supply chain requires clarity on the technologies and chemistries that will be used over the coming decade.

Electric vehicles by land, water and air are rapidly arriving and rapidly being misunderstood. Motors last forever? No. We now push motors so hard they wear out, increasing sales.

There is dramatic change in some industries, with leading printed electronics vendors moving quickly to capitalize on the new sought after capabilities. These opportunities will be addressed at the Printed Electronics Europe exhibition and conference in Berlin on 13 - 14 May (register by 23 January to save 40%).

Here come previously impossible devices and structures. The new IDTechEx report, "Smart Material Opportunities in Structural Electronics 2020-2030" analyses and forecasts a remarkable $200 billion materials opportunity by making dumb structures smart.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 23 January 2020 titled Electric Vehicle Motor Manufacturers: Which to Buy, Employ, Avoid.

IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr David Wyatt has recently published a report update "Electric Truck 2020-2030", focusing on electrification in the medium and heavy-duty truck markets, providing a comprehensive set of market forecasts.

IDTechEx has issued the first in-depth report on this called, "Robot Shuttles and Autonomous Buses 2020-2040". Robot shuttles are an important new, reconfigurable form of transportation for goods and people that may even function as mobile offices, workshops, restaurants and more.

Last mile delivery is the most expensive part of the delivery chain, often representing more than 50% of the overall cost. This is mainly because it is the least productive and automated step. As such, many are seeking to bring automation into the last mile.

Few of the giant car makers have shown urgency in transitioning away from the internal combustion engine. What's more, the automotive market is set to decline once again in 2019 whilst electrifying newcomers made huge gains in front of sleeping incumbents' noses. Although a large fraction of this is orders (not deliveries), if OEMs do not wake up now, they never will.

The trend of investment in and acquisition of mobile robotic companies seeking to automate the movement of goods within warehouses, fulfilment centres, and manufacturing facilities is still rising.

In the past decade, progress continues in the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies. IDTechEx forecasts that autonomous car and mobitliy services will become a $2.5 trillion market by 2040.

Automation in the delivery/logistic and warehousing/fulfilment chain is a growing market. A particularly exciting subset of this is the use of mobile robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles for automation of movement-based tasks.

Autonomous driving technologies are disrupting the business models for the traditional auto industry. Latest research from IDTechEx forecasts that autonomous driving technologies will accelerate the arrival of peak car sales, in 2031.

It is happening rapidly now. The startups Sono Motors and Lightyear announced solar family cars available next year. They have solar bodies rather than the useless scrap of solar roof seen on other cars. That means many owners will never plug in. They do not have the acceleration of a Tesla, but Lightyear cheekily points out that its Lightyear One will go 740 km faster than any Tesla because the Tesla would have to stop and plug in.

From consumer electronics to electric vehicles and stationary storage, high power and fast charge capability are key performance metrics for Li-ion batteries. Pure battery electric vehicles can now offer range in excess of 300 miles per charge, but a full recharge can take hours. How can this be improved?