Will Cameras Replace Mirrors

VOLVO'S FIRST ELECTRIC VEHICLE IS A TWO-MOTOR XC40 SUV

The electric version of the compact crossover will debut on October 16.

Volvo's first electric vehicle, a battery-powered version of the XC40 compact crossover, will make its debut on October 16. The Swedish automaker confirmed the electric XC40's existence and imminent unveiling in an announcement that reveals a few details about what we can expect. Illustrations of the XC40's electric powertrain show that it will offer all-wheel drive using front and rear motors. The body of the electric XC40 appears largely unchanged from gasoline versions, and the battery pack is shaped to fill voids beneath the floor, under the rear seat, and inside the tunnel that runs down the center of the crossover.

True to brand, Volvo says it has put significant effort into the safety engineering of the electrified XC40. Specifically, the company says the XC40 will debut a new driver-assistance-system sensor platform that integrates radar, camera, and ultrasonic technologies to enable increasingly sophisticated functions. Volvo's engineers also redesigned the front and rear crash structures and developed the motor mounts to control how the electric motors behave in a collision. These are common measures when automakers adapt vehicles originally designed around internal-combustion engines for electric powertrains. In the Mercedes-Benz EQC, a tubular front subframe surrounds the electric motor and extends into the transmission tunnel, where an additional mount attaches it to the body. This structure is meant to perform like a combustion engine in a crash, transferring front-impact forces into the body and away from occupants.

Volvo's XC40 will be late to the electric party by the time it goes on sale, but the company says its entire lineup will soon be electrified in some form or another. If all goes according to plan, half of the Volvo lineup will be driven by pure electric powertrains by 2025, while the other half of the range will be hybrids.

The company also recently launched Polestar, a separate brand focused on electrified performance vehicles. The first vehicle from that brand, the Polestar 1, is a 591-hp plug-in-hybrid coupe. It will be followed by the predictably named Polestar 2, which is a pure electric four-door sedan.

Source: Car and Driver

'THEY DON'T NEED US ANYMORE': AUTO WORKERS FEAR ELECTRIC UNREST

Dread over the prospect that plug-in cars—which have fewer parts and require less labor to build—will doom auto jobs helped spark the first United Auto Workers strike against General Motors Co. in over a decade. Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, which are rolling their own battery-powered models to market in the coming years, could face a similar fate if they're unable to quell the UAW's concerns that widespread adoption of EVs endangers the employment of 35,000 union members.

Source: Bloomberg

GORDON MURRAY: ELECTRIC CARS A "STOPGAP" FOR HYDROGEN ALTERNATIVE

The famed car designer...