EKA reported that his immediate task is optimising the company’s manufacturing facilities by installing automation machinery and industry 4.0 technology to boost production capacities and efficiencies.

The automotive components supplier was acquired by private equity firm Apollo on 17 November for approximately USD7.1bn in cash.

Its sites in Michigan and Germany will now be able to accommodate original equipment manufacturers looking to test internal combustion engines running on hydrogen fuel.

ZF states that upgrading to 5G will ensure that demands for seamless connectivity and large data transfers between vehicles and other nodes in the network are met at its test track.

The company has announced it has successfully delivered 864 Mercedes-Benz buses to Lisbon, one of the largest orders in the company’s history, with the first batch of 111 deliveries shipped in 2021.

The two companies will build a joint research facility in Germany, and ZF will invest in a new semiconductor fab planned for the state of Saarland in southwestern Germany.

Developed in Turin, the 69 kWh NMC (Lithium-Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt-Oxide) modular battery packs have been specially designed for LCVs, minibuses and buses.

The draft proposals would allow weight limit increases of two tonnes for zero-emission vehicles and up to one tonne for “alternatively fuelled” vehicles - allowing for the heavier powertrains in these vehicle types.

UK bus and coach operator, Stagecoach, tested the first autonomous bus (Alexander Dennis Enviro200AV) to carry passengers over the Forth Road Bridge, near Edinburgh, as part of the CAVForth project.

According to the terms of the supply and purchase agreement between the two companies, Microvast will provide ‘MV-C Gen 4’ battery packs to REE for its CV platform for weight classes 1 to 6.

Powertrain testing company, Greenmot, will handle the electrification of the 49 Iveco Crossway buses, which will see Forsee supply battery systems from its ZEN SLIM range made up of 11, 16 and 21 kWh modules with charging infrastructure provided by Comeca.

In conditions of poor visibility, human drivers often struggle to safely navigate their vehicles, and AI drivers have even greater difficulties. This month, T&BB spoke to CEO and co-founder of Sensible 4, Harri Santamala, about the company and its product, DAWN – an autonomous driving technology specifically designed to deal with all weathers and all visibility conditions.