WCA March 2019

From the Americas

The Arizona Republic reported a pattern of instances over a two-year period in which individuals have attacked cars deployed by the self-driving technology development company Waymo (Mountain View, California). According to the report, people have thrown rocks, slashed tyres and harassed human test drivers inside the cars. One incident involved a Jeep driver running Waymos off the road. Another individual reportedly aimed a handgun at a passing self-driven car. Mr Szymkowski noted that the handgun incident involved a man diagnosed with dementia who said he intended only to scare the test driver. He was quoted further as saying he “hates” the Waymo cars and reminded police officers that an Uber self-driving vehicle killed a pedestrian the previous March. According to the Arizona Republic , Waymo test drivers are trained to handle themselves in these kinds of situations and the company rarely presses charges against assailants. Waymo said in a statement, “Safety is at the core of everything we do, which means that keeping our drivers, our riders and the public safe is our top priority.” But the public apparently will take some persuading. Another reported incident involved an intoxicated man standing in front of a Waymo van to block its route. He described himself as sick and tired of Waymo vehicles cruising through his neighbourhood. Mr Szymkowski reported, “Waymo began routing cars out of that area after the incident.” (“Arizona Tallies 21 Assault Cases Against Waymo Self-Driving Cars.”  An information systems lecturer at Arizona State University, in Tempe, told the Arizona Republic that the aggression is likely directed not at the Waymo cars but at what they represent: the increase in automation and related job losses. Although Waymo has accommodated some of the complaints and stopped sending self-driving cars through various neighbourhoods, it has announced no plans to slow down its testing programme.  According to Mr Szymkowski, Waymo had promised a ride-share service available to the public by the end of 2018. But no such service had been instituted by the New Year. The scooter may be the next player in the electric battery revolution that is reshaping the car industry worldwide “While the US is engrossed in dockless electric scooter sharing, much of the rest of the world, particularly the massive markets of China and India, is moving forward in a totally different way.” The reference, by Quartz , is to the step-through motorcycles known as motor scooters, to differentiate them from their kick-powered cousins. According to this website that describes its array of free publications as

Automotive Volkswagen’s North American e-mobility chief suggests that electric vehicles toll the knell for front-wheel-drive “Ever since British designer and engineer Alec Issigonis developed the original Mini Cooper for 1959, front-wheel-drive vehicles have been consolidating their hegemony on the car market.” Eric C Evarts of Green Car Reports went on to note that Volkswagen was one of the main champions of front-wheel drive (FWD) when, in the 1970s, the German company switched from the rear-wheel-drive Beetle to the front-wheel-drive Golf as its mainstream car. Now, however, it appears that Volkswagen is declaring the FWD era over. As per a 30 th November report in Motor Trend (“Here’s Why Volkswagen Plans to Abandon Front-Wheel-Drive EVs”), cited by Mr Evarts, VW’s head of e-mobility in North America, Matthew Renna, said that electric cars will mark the end of FWD for the company. The occasion was a round-table discussion with journalists at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Mr Evarts pointed out that there is nothing “inherently bad” about a front-wheel-drive electric car. Most electric cars today are FWD; and the advantages for gasoline-powered cars of having the engine over the drive wheels include better space efficiency, lower weight, lower cost and better foul-weather traction. He observed that the relatively small motor in an electric car does not impose a space or cost penalty and it is easy to mount in the front or back or both for all-wheel-drive (AWD). With the AWD powertrain, electric motors enable more direct control of power or brake torque at individual wheels, which can be even more effective for traction than weight on one end of the car or the other. For his part, Mr Renna told the journalists in Los Angeles, with no compelling reason for placing the motor in the front of the car to drive the front wheels, the improved dynamics of rear-wheel-drive favour a rear-drive platform. “If it’s the same efficiency and the same cost,” he said, “dynamics would prevail.” (“Electric Cars Could Spell End of Front-Wheel Drive, VW Exec Says,” 10 th December)  As of now, the sole option for car buyers wanting an electric VW is the e-Golf, an electrified version of the front-wheel-drive Golf hatchback. Future Volkswagen EVs will be rear- or all-wheel-drive, exclusively. A perceived link with automation and job losses may underlie attacks upon Waymo self-driving cars in Arizona “Not everyone is completely in love with Waymo’s self-driving cars zipping around local Arizona roads,” wrote Sean Szymkowski, in The Car Connection (14 th December). In light of information published on 10 th December by a Phoenix-based newspaper and cited by Mr Szymkowski, that may understate the situation.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2019