Electric vehicles

Just ahead of the Paris Auto Show, Daimler officially presented its pure electric Smart ED models.

Crop protection, chemicals and robotics at first appear totally unrelated, yet IDTechEx Research finds that steady improvements in agricultural robotics will, slowly but surely, fundamentally alter the crop protection chemicals business.

Mild hybrid cars at 48V will first hit global markets in a big way in 2017.

Robot vehicles may give the insurance companies and car companies something to do when one robot taxi replaces 20 cars owned by private individuals as we move inexorably to 80% of people living in cities in 2050.

Barclays Equity Research in the UK surprised the car industry by forecasting a sharp drop in car sales when rental vehicles become more popular.

Leo Motors Inc of Korea with the support of government officials of Henan, China, Leo Motors, Inc and Zhong Ji Well Parking System Co Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a joint venture company focused on battery production, electric boat business, and Connected Vehicle business based on Internet of Things platforms.

As detailed in the IDTechEx report, Mild Hybrid 48V Vehicles 2016-2031, this option will become a huge business from 2017 as Ford, Hyundai, Bentley, Volkswagen, Audi, Geely and many others adopt them as the most cost-effective way of meeting 2025 and 2030 carbon dioxide emissions regulations while sharply improving economy - even improving performance in some respects.

Tesla is an eye-catching company active in clean energy applications - not only pure electric cars, but also home battery systems. With its launch of Tesla's Powerwall on April 30, 2015 and every progress update on its Gigafactory's building, Tesla has continue to fuel interest in home battery systems.

In August 2016, China Xinhua News reported that the Transit Elevated Bus has had its first road test in Qinhuangdao City. It consisted of a brake and power consumption test of this electric vehicle that runs on tracks.

It is no surprise that the Tesla - Solar City merger has been approved by investors. Elon Musk will combine his two co-founded companies after paying $2.6bn dollars for SolarCity in an all-stock transaction. The merger will be completed before the end of the year, and save the companies $150 million in costs in the first full year after closing.