I contributed an article to CIOStory about automotive network security
Automotive Network Security
By Sam Abuelsamid, Senior Research Analyst,Navigant Research (Automotive Network Security) Over the last four decades, the automobile has follo…
Good luck getting a combined 40 mpg in the real world with any other current American car without a hybrid powertrain.
In the early-1980s, General Motors almost single-handedly poisoned the American market for diesel-engined passenger cars for more than a generation. Aside from the most hardcore Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz fans, most American drivers were so put off by the failures of the Oldsmobile diesel V8 that they wouldn’t even consider a diesel in anything but a heavy-duty truck for nearly three decades. Thus it was fitting that GM should be the first Detroit-based automaker to reintroduce a diesel-powered car with the 2013 debut of the Chevrolet Cruze diesel.
Five years ago this month, I accompanied David Kiley out to Bob Lutz's farm to film the exit interview that David was conducting for +Popular Mechanics. As Lutz prepared to retire for the final time +General Motors, he shared some thoughts on some of the people he worked with and came to know during the course of his career. Given, this weekend's news about Ferdinand Piech's departure from the Volkswagen AG supervisory board, I thought I'd share one of the clips that didn't make it into the final cut.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a5791/bob-lutz-exit-interview/
A 50 year career is over
At the time, it seemed like an interesting concept but they were proceeding with some dubious product ideas. I'm frankly surprised the company lasted as long as it did.
In February of this year, the staff of the New York startup Quirky gathered at the company’s headquarters on the West Side of Manhattan. Hundreds of community members also tuned in to a live stream…
However, the long-term survival of the company may well depend more on pivoting into being an energy storage company rather than an automaker.
Since Sunday’s announcement in Shanghai of the Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid, there has been some interesting discussion and speculation about how far the car will go on a full charge of its battery and what sort of energy efficiency it will achieve. Cadillac and GM officials have declined to get specific about technical details beyond the limited information in the U.S. press release. However, the release on GM’s Chinese media site lists 37 miles. Let’s take a look at where the EPA estimate will likely end up.
Details on the new +Cadillac PHEV are limited but the battery has the same cell count and capacity as the second generation +Chevrolet Volt so I do a bit of speculating.
As we saw so clearly at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, any brand that wants to stay competitive in the premium vehicle segments needs to aggressively adopt electrified powertrains. At the Shanghai Motor Show today, Cadillac joined the crowd that already includes Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. GM’s top brand already revealed the full-size CT6 luxury sedan with conventional gasoline powertrains a few weeks ago at its new hometown show in New York. In China, Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen is highlighting a new plug-in hybrid powertrain that will in all likelihood find a home throughout most of the brand’s lineup.
Volkswagen Chairman Piech resigns after failing to oust CEO