CORONA CRISIS
The extended factory shutdown in
China is costing automakers big time
as the government grapples with the
worsening coronavirus outbreak.
Automotive research firm IHS Markit
forecasting automakers will lose about
1.7 million units of vehicle production
in the first quarter as local Chinese
governments keep plants closed to
keep the new virus from spreading.
Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZoGo,
which advises automakers doing
business in China, described the
coronavirus as “unprecedented in so
many ways.”
The New Zealand Motor Industry
Association - representing new
car importers - said the proposed
development of the country’s first
nationwide hydrogen refuelling
network would provide an important
step towards a low emissions
transport sector.
Chief executive David Crawford said
this was “an exciting prospect and
New Zealand has a lot of scope to
produce clean hydrogen”.
“We need to reduce emissions from
our vehicle fleet and hydrogen can
play an important role.”
Dunne said the last time China had
any issue of this size was the SARS
outbreak; however, that was nearly 20
years ago and the country didn’t have
the global impact it does today on the
automotive industry. Producing hydrogen from renewable
electricity backed up by abundant
gas resources in the Taranaki region
would have a big impact on transport
emissions and help to lower the
carbon footprint.
China’s auto factories produced 1.1
million passenger vehicles in 2002
when the SARS epidemic erupted,
killing 349 people in China from 2002
to 2003, according to International
Organization of Motor Vehicle
Manufacturers. That compares with
roughly 23.5 million vehicles produced
today, according to the group. “We need to be prepared to use all
forms of low emission fuels, and not
just focus on electricity.”
“That’s 2 million vehicles a month;
500,000 a week. So, you miss a
couple weeks and that’s a million units
right there,” Dunne said.
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Crawford said new car distributors
were “very supportive of the prospect
of a clean green transport future”.
“A comprehensive hydrogen
production and refuelling network
would provide an important new
source of fuel, not only for heavy
vehicles, but increasingly for cars.”
AUTONOMOUS
ADVENTURE
A Nissan Leaf has completed a 230-
mile (370 km) journey autonomously in
Britain, the longest and most complex
such trip in the country as automakers
race to develop driverless technologies
which could revolutionize travel.
Britain has been wooing developers of
autonomous vehicles, hoping to grab a
slice of an industry it estimates could be
worth around 900 billion pounds ($1.2
trillion) worldwide in 2035.
The Leaf undertook the journey from
the automaker’s European technical
center in Cranfield, southern England, to
its Sunderland factory in the northeast,
alongside conventional road users.
It included roads with minimal markings,
or none at all, together with junctions,
roundabouts and motorways.
“The project allowed us to develop an
autonomous vehicle that can tackle
challenges encountered on UK roads
that are unique to this part of the world,
such as complex roundabouts and
high-speed country lanes with no road
markings, white lines or kerbs,” said
Nissan Technical Centre Project Manager
Bob Bateman.
The car had two engineers on board and
monitoring the vehicle’s actions at all
times. The journey was also conducted
with the knowledge and support of all
relevant highway authorities, Nissan said.