Toyota Motor

Diesel Genset Sales will Collapse

Tightening emissions regulations make diesel cars more expensive to make, so it is only a few years before pure electric cars will be cheaper to make. This was predicted ten years ago by IDTechEx to be around 2022 for small cars and that date is now confirmed by several car manufacturers.

Spiber

Spiber is a biomaterials company based in Japan that is making synthetic spider silk by engineering the bacteria E. coli. The synthetic spider silk fiber is called QMONOS™.

Making driverless cars change lanes more like human drivers do

In the field of self-driving cars, algorithms for controlling lane changes are an important topic of study. But most existing lane-change algorithms have one of two drawbacks: Either they rely on detailed statistical models of the driving environment, which are difficult to assemble and too complex to analyze on the fly; or they're so simple that they can lead to impractically conservative decisions, such as never changing lanes at all.

Self-driving cars for country roads

Uber's recent self-driving car fatality underscores the fact that the technology is still not ready for widespread adoption. One reason is that there aren't many places where self-driving cars can actually drive.

Project will deploy hydrogen fuel cell EVs in Paris, London, Brussels

ZEFER (Zero Emission Fleet vehicles for European Roll-out) will deploy large fleets of 60 hydrogen fuelled vehicles in each of three European capitals (Paris, London and Brussels).

Japan finds vast robot accessible rare earths

Rare earths are vital to modern electronics and electrical engineering. They are relatively non-toxic and more effective compared to alternatives. See the IDTechEx report, "Toxicant Materials and Alternatives in Electronics and Electrical Engineering 2018-2028".

BASF Battery Materials

BASF is arguably the world's largest chemical company. After a successful stint with NiMH batteries, the company is trying to replicate that success with new cathode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Charging conundrum discussed at IDTechEx's EV event in Berlin

The electric vehicle charging infrastructure conundrum will be discussed at Electric Vehicles Everything is Changing, part of the IDTechEx Show!, in Berlin on 11-12 April.

How do Carmakers Deal With Less Cars?

From London to Sydney, one-bedroom apartments with a car space attached are becoming a rarity as planners impose tight controls on the provision of parking in new blocks, slashing costs and gridlock.

Toyota's new $2.8 billion company to develop self-driving software

Toyota will establish a new company in Tokyo in the latter part of this month named "Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development" that will accelerate its efforts in advanced development for automated driving.

BMW

BMW is extremely active when it comes to battery innovation. The company has performed a screening of battery materials to achieve high performance, and is also working on second-life applications.

Electric Vehicles at CES 2018

IDTechEx analysts attended CES 2018. Key themes from automotive companies and suppliers were not only the vehicles themselves, but the increasing intersection between autonomy, connectivity and electrification through partnerships and ambitious technology development roadmaps.

Toyota announces electric vehicle plans

Toyota Motor Corporation announces today its plans toward the popularization of electrified vehicles for the decade 2020-2030.

Panasonic to make batteries for Toyota electric cars

Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation announce an agreement to begin studying the feasibility of a joint automotive prismatic battery business.

Report on the Winton Symposium

IDTechEx analysts Aman Atak and Luke Gear report on their findings at this event.

Toyota unveils third generation humanoid robot T-HR3

Toyota Motor Corporation revealed T-HR3, the company's third generation humanoid robot.

Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories, Inc.

Toyota recently announced being in the final stages of development of a functioning all-solid-state battery for electric vehicles. Energy density is supposed to be 400 Wh/L (300 Wh/kg) at pack level.

Rapid cellphone charging getting closer to reality

Research in lithium-ion batteries has opened up a plethora of possibilities in the development of next-generation batteries. In particular, the metal-air batteries with significantly greater energy density close to that of gasoline per kilogram, has recently been acknowledged and invested by world's leading companies, like IBM.

Highlights from Energy Independent Electric Vehicles (EIEV) Conference

The conference saw attendees and presentations from automotive OEMs through to small innovative start-ups and research groups. Keynote speakers included Toyota, Sono Motors, Hanergy Europe and Project Loon.