Last year I wrote an article about 48 volt batteries and that Audi had started to fit them to their SQ7 model. Batteries like other automotive technologies were stuck in a time warp for decades and recent developments have meant that the humble battery has been given some steroids to cope with the ever power-hungry systems on cars. Mercedes-Benz has announced they will use a … [Read more...]
Paying For a Vehicle Using a Subscription Service
I read with interest an article a month or so ago that described how BMW and Mercedes-Benz were going to test subscription services in several countries. My interest comes from my background in the technology industry that has used subscription based licensing for nearly 20 years. Basically a subscription service means two things: For the consumer, they pay one figure … [Read more...]
An Update on Nokia Maps, Now Called Here
A few years ago, a consortium of German auto makers acquired the Nokia Maps business to help embed the system into their cars and to manage their relationships with Apple and Google. Nokia had bought a company called Navteq back in 2007. Navteq was a mapping company that used first hand knowledge of terrain rather than official Government sourced maps unlike many of their … [Read more...]
Space Frame Chassis
A while back I described the use of the monocoque to produce a very strong but heavy chassis that probably 90% of the world's mass produced cars use. As a follow on, I’ll talk about the space frame chassis that really took off after World War 2, however like many technologies had it’s birth closer to the start of the industry. A space frame is a truss – multi interconnecting … [Read more...]
Max Hoffman
I enjoy reading classic car magazines from Europe and the US and one name seems to appear in every edition - Maximilian Hoffman! Who was he and why was he such an important figure in the automotive industry? By the way don’t confuse him with his namesake who was a World War 1 military strategist who helped defeat Russian advances in 1917 - a pivotal reason for the Russian … [Read more...]