Wolfspeed today announced the company will be supplying Silicon Carbide devices to power future Mercedes-Benz Electric Vehicle (EV) platforms, enabling greater efficiency in the powertrain. Wolfspeed's semiconductors will be incorporated into next generation powertrain systems for several Mercedes-Benz vehicle lines."Coming from a long-term technical collaboration history between our companies, we have now chosen Wolfspeed as one of our key partners for future Silicon Carbide devices, thus securing preferred long-term supply, technology and quality of this decisive semiconductor component for our electrification offensive," said Dr. Gunnar Güthenke, Head of Procurement and Supplier Quality for Mercedes-Benz.As a leader in luxury vehicles, Mercedes-Benz understands the need for superior performance. By leveraging Wolfspeed's expertise and Silicon Carbide devices to improve vehicle range and power, Mercedes-Benz plans to have some of the most efficient EVs on the road."We are pleased to be supporting Mercedes-Benz, an organization with a long, successful history of providing world-class performance and luxury vehicles, as they introduce next-generation EVs to the market with highly efficient power systems," said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed. "We are continuing to invest in our manufacturing capacity to support a steepening demand curve for Silicon Carbide devices that will not only improve EV performance and drive greater consumer adoption, but also support the sustainability efforts of global automotive leaders like Mercedes-Benz."The Silicon Carbide power devices for Mercedes-Benz will be produced at Wolfspeed's facilities in Durham, North Carolina and its new 200mm Mohawk Valley Fab in Marcy, New York. This Mohawk Valley Fab is the world's largest Silicon Carbide fabrication facility and is dramatically expanding Wolfspeed's production capacity. Earlier this year Wolfspeed also announced it was beginning construction on a new Silicon Carbide materials facility in North Carolina, which will expand its Silicon Carbide capacity by more than 10x.

Founded in 2015, WeMo Scooter provides new transportation alternatives to city dwellers by embracing visions of sharing economy, green energy, and environmental conservation. Having previously studied abroad and worked at international corporations, Mr. Jeffrey Wu, founder and Vice Chairman of WeMo Scooter, pointed out that, compared with countries such as Israel, the startup environment in Taiwan has its unique environmental factors but shows no major discrepancies. However, the key to the variance in startup performance can be found in execution.To an entrepreneur, having a vision is everything. By upholding its intention to "make city living more wonderful," for the past seven years, WeMo has been committed to enhancing the utilization of electric scooters, reducing idle vehicles in cities, reducing global air pollution with green energy, and making more public space available in cities via its real-time electric scooter rental services.Mr. Wu wishes that the government can formulate clear policies and directions for the development of the country for the next five to ten years. At the same time, he also wants the government to pay more attention to the development of digital economy industry other than high-tech sectors such as semiconductors, information and communications technology (ICT), and wafer production. He believes that the development of startups would certainly benefit if the government could provide clearer guiding principles.Currently, the incentives, investments, and policies of the Taiwanese government for the entrepreneurial industry are mostly provided on an "equal shares for all" basis. Nevertheless, such diversified strategy also detracts from the effective use of manpower, materials, resources, and funding, as it offers very limited benefits to startups that are widely involved in many industries. Mr. Wu believes that the government needs to take a step further and change their mindsets when it comes to supporting the development of startups. Rather than "equal shares for all", the government could set an overall objective for every five to ten years, during which it would work toward developing a new economy, and thereby promoting the overall prospects of the new economy.Speaking of partnerships between corporates and startups, Mr. Wu believes that since the common practice tended to focus on hard skills in the past, startups must focus on their soft skills and data analytical skills if they wanted to foster a partnership with corporates. Take WeMo Scooter for instance. Over the past six years, data collected by its mobile vehicles is one-of-a-kind. On top of information concerning its riders, WeMo Scooter has also acquired data on movements, including movements from one place to another, transportation trails within cities, and mobile transportation data of its users.Soft skills and data analytical skills can help make a startup irreplaceable. Mr. Wu emphasized that WeMo Scooter hopes to achieve even better performance in terms of data acquisition in the future, such as collecting more data related to cities. Such data will range from cityscape, gases, oscillation, to temperature, humidity and more. It will collaborate with regional governments, which can plan city management measures ahead based on such data. On top of reducing the occurrence of accidents, such as the gas explosion in Kaohsiung, it can also help cities engage in long-term development planning, thereby improving the cityscape.As for fluctuations in the capital market in 2022, Mr. Wu believes that the most important thing to founders of startups is to "stabilize cash flows". Since the venture capital environment in Taiwan has always been more conservative than the international market, founders must plan ahead to stabilize their cash flows when dealing with economic recessions and market downturn.In addition to fluctuations in the capital market, it is also undeniable that the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the business development of startups in various industries. As for potential scenarios of global expansion, Mr. Wu expressed that his company is looking for different possible avenues. Nevertheless, what remains unchanged is WeMo's belief in integrating the soft and hard skills of Taiwan to continuously spread the vision of "making city living more wonderful" from the corners of Taiwan to different cities throughout the world.Readers can download " 2022 Taiwan Startup Ecosystem Survey" jointly conducted by PwC Taiwan, TIER and DIGITIMES: https://www.pwc.tw/en/publications/taiwan-startup-ecosystem-survey.html

The implementation of smart technologies is one of the most important trends in the automotive industry. As a technology hub, Taiwan is among the world leaders in both technology and services, and many manufacturers are taking advantage of Taiwan's strengths to capture an even greater market share. However, vehicle safety standards are very strict, and industry regulations are constantly being updated. Mr. Allan Tseng, Vice President of Reliability Engineering Division of Integrated Service Technology Inc. (iST) therefore advises manufacturers in Taiwan to closely follow the developments of standard-setting organizations in order to gain customer recognition and secure more orders.The adoption of smart technologies in the automotive industry is already in full swing, and the popularity of the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) continues to grow. After observing the market development, Mr. Tseng points out that Level 2 driving automation has become the vehicle standard in the past two years. A Level 2 vehicle is still controlled by the driver. Nevertheless, its systems actively monitor the environment through various means. They also provide some level of driving assistance, such as collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning, which are all basic functions currently.While the transition from partial driving automation of Level 2 to conditional driving automation of Level 3 is indeed trending, Mr. Tseng believes that whether Level 3 vehicles can hit the road depends largely on external infrastructure and government regulations. From a technical perspective, Level 2 vehicles have already matured. Vehicle development per se does not make the transition to Level 3 difficult. However, conditional driving automation requires the incorporation of three environmental factors: people, vehicles, and roads. Therefore, it requires a much larger scope of consideration. Mr. Tseng further analyzes that in Level 2, various functions are focusing on the vehicle itself. This allows automakers to control the development process themselves. As a result, the market is evolving relatively quickly. However, Level 3 involves environments both inside and outside the vehicle. Infrastructure catering to driving automation in the surrounding environment must be in place. At the same time, legislation must also be revised. Therefore, the development process is not solely dependent on manufacturers. Before the industry can make further progress, the relevant infrastructure and legislation must first catch up.While waiting for more favorable external conditions, the automotive and electronics industries have not been slowing down. They continue to invest significant resources to enhance the capabilities of automotive systems. Standard-setting organizations also proceed with updating regulations to improve road safety for the public and provide a more comprehensive framework for the industry to follow.Currently, key standards for the automotive market include IATF 16949 for quality assurance in automotive production, ISO 26262 for functional safety of electrical and electronic systems in road vehicles, VDA 6.3 for quality control systems in the automotive supply chain, and various specifications developed by the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC). Mr. Tseng emphasizes that AEC specifications, which have become the common and fundamental standards for the automotive industry, are particularly relevant to automotive products developed by manufacturers in Taiwan. Therefore, the industry needs to pay more attention to the way standards are developed, as well as details and changes of these standards.At present, AEC has developed six standards for five types of automotive electronic components or modules. Among which are AEC-Q100 (for integrated circuits), AEC-Q101 (for discrete components), AEC-Q102 (for discrete optoelectronic LED components), AEC-Q104 (for multi-chip modules [MCMs] or systems-in-package MCMs) and AEC-Q200 (for passive components). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of AEC standards has slowed down in the last two years. Nonetheless, the pace will pick up again in the post-pandemic era. Mr. Tseng predicts that standards for board level products, silicon carbide (SiC) components and touch screens will all be announced in 2023.Formulating specifications for board level products could simplify the market. In the past, vendors had to design their products to meet the varying standards of each Tier 1 customer. However, standards set by AEC will share a common framework. Manufacturers of board level products can use this framework as a foundation and add specific features required by Tier 1 vendors to optimize design costs and scheduling. SiC, which features high voltage withstanding, low on-resistance, and low switching losses, is considered the next-generation automotive power devices. According to market research firm, TrendForce, the shipment value of SiC will exceed US$1 billion in 2022, and soar to US$3.9 billion by 2026. AEC is likely to introduce the corresponding standards for the new generation SiC power devices as well. For touch screens, new standards will set detailed requirements in terms of their reliability, as they are an important human-machine interface of automotive systems.iST offers a comprehensive range of consulting and certification services in the field of automotive electronics standards. The company has also become a member of AEC in 2022. There are currently 93 AEC members worldwide, with only nine in Taiwan. iST is the sole independent third-party laboratory in Asia accredited by AEC. According to Mr. Tseng, the AEC membership of iST will bring three major benefits to the automotive component manufacturers in Taiwan. First, iST will be able to stay on top of the dynamics of standard development and help its customers stay ahead of the curve. Second, iST will be able to understand the nature and mechanisms of the standard development process. This will enable automotive component manufacturers in meeting the requirements of these standards and obtain certifications more quickly. Third, iST can serve as a platform between AEC and the automotive component manufacturers in Taiwan, relaying requests of manufacturers during the standard development process. Meanwhile, AEC can also communicate its philosophy on standard development through iST.Mr. Tseng concludes by noting that iST has been heavily involved in automotive electronics for many years, providing consulting, verification, and certification services ranging from semiconductors, modules to vehicles in their entirety. For this service system, iST not only focuses on semiconductor consulting and verification, but has also formed a strategic alliance with DEKRA, a world-renowned third-party professional testing and certification organization. In addition to vehicle inspection, DEKRA has joined forces with iST to establish DEKRA iST, to specialize in reliability verification of automotive modules and systems. By joining AEC, one-stop services offered by iST will become even more comprehensive. In the future, the company will continue to strengthen its capabilities in various areas to help its customers, i.e., the automotive component manufacturers in Taiwan, improve their competitiveness.Mr. Allan Tseng, Vice President of Reliability Engineering Division of Integrated Service Technology Inc. (iST) pointed out that after becoming a member of AEC at the end of 2022, the one-stop service of iST has become increasingly comprehensive, which is able to assist clients in Taiwan to make preparation ahead of the curve by entering and securing the automotive market.

In its early days, Top Taiwan Venture Capital mostly focused on investing in enterprises in their expansion and mature stages, as well as in electronic technology industries. It has successfully completed a dozen venture capital (VC) fundraising based on its past investment performance. Its shareholders included major finance and insurance businesses in Taiwan, as well as corporate shareholders including Chunghwa Telecom, Inventec, ELAN Microelectronics, and SINBON Electronics. By building a well-rounded VC platform and ecosystem, Top Taiwan strives to realize its vision in developing and investing the Taiwan market, and leading Taiwan toward future transformations and challenges.On top of being optimistic about the continued expansion of the semiconductor industry, Top Taiwan mostly factors in Taiwan's extension of core strengths, as well as solutions to the human race's current and upcoming major challenges when making investments. Therefore, in terms of sustainable energy, Top Taiwan has included electric vehicle technologies and the relevant components into its portfolio. Top Taiwan has also expanded into bicycle manufacturing, which is one of Taiwan's core strengths. Bicycles are one of the few products that Taiwan has complete autonomy over—from proprietary brands, global sales channels, to manufacturing and production. Furthermore, bicycles with a traditional mechanical structure can be upgraded to electric bicycles by integrating electronic components and batteries, thereby presenting higher value-added. They are ideal investment targets that focus on upgrading Taiwan's competitive industries, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues since they take into account many functions ranging from environmental protection, sports, health, to recreation.In addition, since challenges facing the human race for its current and future developments include severe climate change, sustainable energy is another issue that we must focus on. Of which, areas that deserve our attention include solar power, wind power, hydrogen, and energy storage, circular investments, and waste recycling and reuse. These are all development projects worthy of investments.Meanwhile, the demand for medical, healthcare, and sports has also increased due to an aging population around the world. Moreover, food shortages caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic and climate change will drive new demand for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, tests, and agricultural technology. These are all new areas that Taiwanese startups can explore.Mr. Tsung-Liang Yang from Top Taiwan suggested that in dealing with the next wave of industry transformation, Taiwan must begin by strengthening its pool of international talents. As such, Taiwan also needs to provide sufficient incentives to attract talents to either return from overseas, or to recruit foreigners to work in Taiwan. Over the past few decades, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has played an important role in the development of Taiwan's electronic technology and advanced manufacturing industries. As Taiwan embarks on an era of digital economy, an institution of similar gravity should also be formed to drive the development of digital economy in Taiwan. Mr. Yang hopes that the Ministry of Digital Affairs will play a similar role as ITRI did in the past.Nowadays, although Taiwan is currently planning to develop its software and digital economy industries, it has not tailored its development to follow major new-generation software and networking players such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Adobe, Salesforce, or Netflix closely. Taiwan should integrate efforts from the government and private enterprises to connect Taiwanese startup teams to these IT giants that have emerged in the past two decades, so as to re-establish Taiwan as an indispensable player in the global digital industry chain.Startup teams are currently confronted with challenges including a drastic cooldown of global tech stocks, and a credit squeeze brought forth by a rapid interest hike to curb inflation, all of which affect the funding of startup teams. Nevertheless, resource constraints often inspire greater creativity and more productive executions. Top Taiwan has proposed the following three recommendations for the fundraising efforts of startup teams amid such economic climate:1. Startup teams should continue to optimize their products and services to make sure that customers are willing to pay. They also need to get back to the true nature of commerce, which is to find business models that generate liquidity quickly.2. Startup teams need to be very clear of their core products. All non-core products should be discarded.3. The purpose of fundraising for a startup is not merely to get through these tough times, but also to strengthen investments in its core products and to widen its competitive edge over its competitors."If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." Top Taiwan Venture Capital hopes to become a steadfast partner that offers the strongest support for entrepreneurs. By making investment, it wishes to help Taiwanese entrepreneurs who will lead future transformations, and thereby nurturing world-class Taiwanese enterprises.Readers can download '2022 Taiwan Startup Ecosystem Survey' jointly conducted by PwC Taiwan, TIER and DIGITIMES: https://www.pwc.tw/en/publications/taiwan-startup-ecosystem-survey.html

CES this year made a hit with sustainability, EVs and battery innovation – from smart home technology to clean energy and portable power. At the world's largest consumer electronics show, Zendure, one of the fastest-growing clean energy tech startups, showed off its breakthrough portable power system, SuperBase V."In a world where consumers are looking to reduce their carbon footprint, move off-grid or prepare for the unexpected, innovation in these categories will become more paramount to how we live as human beings," said Jolene Shang, Chief Marketing Officer, Zendure. "For us, it's not just about providing a clean energy solution for consumers in the home and beyond, but about offering true power independence, making energy more accessible and being part of the solution to a global challenge."SuperBase V, CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree, is the first modular, portable power station with semi-solid state batteries to provide more reliable, safer, cleaner energy when and where users need it most. It is ideal for RV and off-grid living, EV charging, whole-home power needs, and an emergency backup when sudden outages occur, especially during extreme weather.MORE STORAGE & POWER: Zendure's semi-solid state batteries deliver customizable, expandable capacity from 6.4kWh to 64kWh with satellite expansion batteries, the first of this type in the world. The maximum configuration for SuperBase V (with two base units and eight Satellite Batteries) stores enough energy to power a typical household for a week or more.FAST RECHARGE: When used in conjunction with satellite expansion batteries and combined with industry-leading solar input (3,000W) and AC power, SuperBase V can be recharged in just one hour (up to 6.6kW dual-recharge).120V & 240V DUAL VOLTAGE: A backup power for an entire home, it is also the first and only system that can supply 120V/240V dual voltage from a single base unit to charge small and large appliances at the same time.EV CHARGING AT HOME & ON-THE-GO: With up to 12,000W of power distribution, the Home Panel can charge two vehicles at the same time and provide AC power to up to ten circuits around the house. Portable level 2 EV charging also supports public power station input, and the SuperBase V paired with a battery pack adds an extra 40 miles to keep drivers moving between pit stops.SAFER WITH ZERO DOWNTIME: Semi-solid state batteries boast a higher energy density and greater damage resistance than lithium-ion phosphate batteries. And when the unexpected happens, SuperBase V's backup power switches on instantly without interruption, preventing damage or disruption to sensitive equipment.SMART / CONNECTED: Works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home systems for intuitive, convenient voice control. The Zendure app also gives users tools to monitor, manage and customize energy use, which can significantly reduce your energy bill.VERSATILE: Each base station comes with a variety of hook-ups and 14 ports, including AC, USB-A and USB-C and a 12V car outlet for limitless power possibilities.PORTABLE: The unit is equipped with a pull-out handle and motorized wheels for easier portability around your home and on the go.Zendure also showcased its smaller, easy-to-transport power station SuperBase Pro at CES, which comes in a luggage-style design with two wheels and an extendable aluminum handle. With a power output of either 1,500 or 2,000W, the SuperBase Pro can easily keep devices such as laptops, LED lights, drones, mini-fridges, and projectors running for extended periods of time – while camping or during a power outage at home. Plus, it boasts a fast charging time of just one hour for an 80% charge and can also be charged off-grid with solar panels up to 1,800W.Currently, both SuperBase V and SuperBase Pro are now available starting at $3,199 and $1,499, respectively, at Zendure.com (Affiliate: ShareASale). They can also be purchased in installments for easier accessibility.If you'd like to meet with Zendure or schedule a demo at CES, please contact Chris Chiu at chris.qiu@zendure.com. sarah.bellinger@maxborgesagency.comZendure SuperBase V portable power systemPhoto: Company

AI dashcam has been gaining market attention in recent years because it is able to detect specific road events, such as dangerous driving and driver distraction. This technology is especially sought after by fleet management service providers to improve driving safety and driver coaching. To response to the road situation and guide the driver in real-time, iCatch has developed a connected AI dash camera solution based on its CR3 AI imaging SoC which can notify the fleet operation center in real-time on the occurrence of dangerous driving events. This solution has been adopted by US leading fleet management service provider.The connected AI dashcam consists at least two cameras, one is for front-facing and the other is for in-cabin monitoring. The front-facing camera is used to perform advanced driver assistant systems (ADAS) and record hazardous situations as evidence, such as pedestrian collision warning (PCW), forward collision warning (FCW) and lane departure warning (LDW). On the other hand, the in-cabin camera is used for driver monitoring system (DMS), such as distraction by phone or smoke and drowsiness due to long distance driving. When there is an event detected from either camera, the connected AI dashcam will send an event notification along with the event video clip to operation center's cloud server as a backup in real-time.The connected AI dashcam consists ADAS and DMS with event notification real-timePhoto: iCatch TechnologyThe CR3 AI imaging SoC from iCatch not only can support up to 4 cameras with its high dynamic range 4K image processor and H.264/H.265 video CODEC, but also embeds neural processing unit (NPU) for edge AI acceleration. The algorithm provider can easily port their deep learning models to enhance the performance of front ADAS and in-cabin driver monitoring. Moreover, the flexible connectivity interfaces on CR3 can support a variety of networking communication methods, such as 4G LTE, 5G and WiFi through add-on modules. The fleet management service provider can choose the configuration that best fit their existing system architecture.Mr. Choi, CEO of Think-i Corporation, a leading AI dashcam manufacturer in Korea quotes "iCatch's CR3 AI imaging SoC solution comes with a complete dashcam reference software, cloud connectivity libraries and AI development toolchain. Therefore, we are able to develop a comprehensive connected AI dash camera product in much shorter time to meet customers' performance requirement and time-to-market."The fleet management market has been experiencing strong growth and iCatch is obligated to be a part of this revolution. Since customers are looking for AI imaging SoC with even higher imaging and AI deep learning performance, iCatch will continue to develop the next-generation solution to meet customers' future product roadmap to cover not only front and in-cabin, but also side and rear view to be able to monitor the environment surrounding the vehicle to further protect drivers and road users' safety.For more information on iCatch's AI imaging SoC, please visit the company website: https://www.icatchtek.comFor more information on Think-i's AI Dashcam solution, please visit the company website: https://www.think-i.co.kr

Sheeva.AI and AeonCharge announced a new strategic partnership that will bring in-vehicle activation and payment of over 50,000 public EV chargers in North America.It brings together Sheeva.AI, the leader in in-car payments that provides vehicle location-based services that help monetize the driver experience, and AeonCharge, whose app helps EV drivers seamlessly locate, activate, and pay for charging sessions across various charger networks through a single platform."So many OEMs shift to electric vehicles today. We are here to help with this transition. While the infrastructure keeps growing, user experience still largely falls short," said Evgeny Klochikhin, founder and CEO of Sheeva.AI."By bringing seamless navigation and payments inside the car, together with AeonCharge, we help remove the notorious 'range anxiety' and improve overall ownership experience," he added. "The EV future is clearly focused on user convenience and adoption. I'm proud of what we and all of our partners like AeonCharge have accomplished to help the cause.""At AeonCharge, our mission is to connect every charger and electric vehicle on the road. Our platform combines thousands of EV chargers into a single interface that makes charging a convenient and easy experience for drivers," says Christopher Jing, Co-Founder and COO at AeonCharge.He says his firm sees huge potential: "Connecting the drivers to our network directly within cars makes it a thousand times better. It's a new consumer marketplace, and we look forward to working together with Sheeva.AI to grow and scale this opportunity."Sheeva.AI's patented precise geolocation technology allows drivers to seamlessly pay for and receive services such as EV charging, fueling, parking, curbside pickup and drive-through without leaving the comfort of their vehicle.The firm's technology automatically detects the vehicle at the specific gas pump, parking spot, electric vehicle charging space, or drive-through lane and enables payments right on the in-vehicle infotainment screen or in any OEM's mobile app.AeonCharge provides EV drivers with real-time data on the availability of chargers compatible with their vehicle across several popular public charging networks and enables activation of the charging hardware without exiting the car.The two companies started discussions in mid-2022 and formalized the partnership this week, with plans to allow Sheeva.AI's technology to activate thousands of EV chargers via the car's infotainment screen by the end of 2023.

HOLON, the new brand from the BENTELER Group, will present its autonomous, fully electric and inclusive mover for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. The vehicle is the world's first autonomous mover built to automotive standards – in other words, a leader in safety, ride comfort, and production quality. The HOLON mover operates autonomously and with a maximum speed of 60 km/h (37mph). It has a range of about 290 kilometers (180 miles).Marco Kollmeier, Managing Director of HOLON: "Our mover is an answer to social megatrends: Urbanization, climate change, demographics – mobility needs to change. With our mover, we are proving that emission-free, safe, comfortable and inclusive passenger transportation is possible. And thus provides the answer to traffic problems that are becoming prevalent in cities. We are delighted to unveil the vehicle to the global public today."Areas of application for the mover are on-demand services, such as ride pooling and ride hailing, but also normal scheduled services. The first pilot project has already been announced: in Germany with Hamburg's Hochbahn, the country's second-largest mass transit company. In the U.S., the mobility provider Beep will be responsible for implementing the first vehicles. Other areas of application and thus customers include private institutions such as campuses, airports and national parks.Marco Kollmeier continues: "Our mover is specifically designed for autonomous driving. This is reflected in every step of the development and every detail. The result is the world's highest quality vehicle of its kind. As such, we are creating a new dimension of smart, sustainable mobility that ideally complements public and private passenger transport."Mover designed from the ground up to be inclusiveThe vehicle catches the eye with an asymmetrical design that combines maximum functionality with high recognition value. The vehicle has been designed with a generous spatial concept for up to 15 passengers, thereby closing the gap between personal and public transport concepts. The comfortable, subtly offset seating arrangement provides a sense of privacy while meeting all safety requirements."The vehicle design combines two character traits – friendly and inviting as well as technologically advanced and clear. That goes for both the exterior and interior. It immediately makes the HOLON mover a design icon," explains Silvio Pietro Angori, CEO of the renowned Italian design company Pininfarina. "Every detail of the vehicle is designed to make passengers feel more comfortable and safer than in any other mode of transportation."HOLON is pursuing the goal of allowing everyone to benefit equally from the freedoms offered by mobility. The mover is therefore designed from the ground up to be inclusive. Electric double-wing doors with photo-electric sensors and an automatically extending ramp with lowering function are included as standard for barrier-free access. The automatic securing of wheelchairs inside the vehicle combines comfort with safety. Information in Braille and an audiovisual guide provide additional support for visually impaired people during the journey.Autonomous, digital and sustainableThe SAE Level 4 mover is based on Mobileye Drive, the industry's premiere commercial self-driving system for the use in a defined operational design domain. "Our autonomous driving system is designed to make ground-breaking mobility concepts possible – like the HOLON mover. Seeing the mover come to life is proof of the robustness and scalability of our approach," says Johann Jungwirth, Senior Vice President, Autonomous Vehicles at Mobileye.The scalability of the HOLON mover is ensured by a triad of features that help the vehicle make the right decisions on the road: an advanced sensing system that makes use of different redundant sensors, an innovative mapping technology as well as a formal model for driving policy. The combination of these technologies makes the HOLON mover an industry-leading mobility concept.Sustainability is an integral part of the HOLON brand. The mover is therefore completely electrically driven. Over-the-air updates ensure that the vehicle is always kept up to date without the need for workshop visits. Throughout the development, emphasis has been placed on the use of sustainable materials.Strong partners for the future of autonomous mobility servicesAmongst others, an additional development partner for the vehicle besides Pininfarina and Mobileye is the electronics and IT specialist Cognizant Mobility.HOLON relies on key partnerships for the vehicle's operation in service. Leading mobility services provider Beep is HOLON's preferred partner in the United States, providing turnkey services and a technology platform for service management, governance and user experience. "Automotive-grade autonomous shuttles provide a critical form factor for reducing congestion and emissions, providing first- and last-mile transportation, and extending mobility equity," said Joe Moye, CEO of Beep. "The unique and transformative value of shared, autonomous electric transportation is rapidly proving itself in our current deployments and use cases. With this new mover, HOLON is setting a standard for this kind of vehicle, and we are excited to introduce it to our current and future customers."Production of the HOLON mover is scheduled to start in the U.S. at the end of 2025, with additional production capacity to be built in Europe and the Middle East/Asia in the following years. The particularly flexible platform architecture makes it possible for HOLON to also bring further variants onto the market in a timely manner – both for passenger transport and for cargo applications. Last mile delivery is a particularly important field of operation.With HOLON, BENTELER is underlining its ambitions in the global business of autonomous mobility.Credit: CompanyCredit: Company

The technology industry of Taiwan has always focused on carbon reduction, energy conservation, and environmental sustainability, among other issues. Having established a solid foothold in the automotive electronics and intelligent transportation solutions markets for years, SINTRONES Technology Corp. (SINTRONES) has also begun its attempt to get involved in green engineering and environmental sustainability by leveraging its technologies.For over 13 years since its founding, SINTRONES has focused and engaged in providing automotive electronics, in-vehicle computer systems, and other related technologies. Specifically, vehicle-related system products account for 80% of SINTRONES' revenue, whereas roadside equipment-related products, such as charging piles, intelligent poles, and traffic enforcement facilities, constitute 20% of its revenue. SINTRONES' primary sales region is Europe, followed by the U.S. and Japan.Identifying traffic conditions using AI to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions"In the past, detection of road conditions in general only involved collecting data in combination with some application scenarios similar to smart poles. However, overseas markets have developed to a level where changes in traffic flow can be captured through cameras, and peak and off-peak periods can be determined through AI and machine vision technologies. At the same time, traffic flow can be regulated by adjusting traffic lights to reduce exhaust emissions from idling vehicles. On the whole, this is a strategy for environmental sustainability," SINTRONES CEO Kevin Hsu explained.Following the current shift from fuel to electric vehicles taking place in the global automotive market, SINTRONES has not failed to seize this market opportunity, as evidenced by the gradual entry of its in-vehicle computers into the supply chains of large-sized modes of transportation such as electric buses, delivery trucks, and trains. SINTRONES in-vehicle computers can support real-time analysis of vehicle conditions via digital dashboards, center consoles, and LTE/5G technologies.In intelligent transportation, SINTRONES in-vehicle computers save energy in multiple ways. For instance, SINTRONES driving system alerts the driver of the vehicle's high energy consumption and advises them to avoid pressing hard on the accelerator pedal when real-time energy consumption is greater than the average energy consumption based on calculations made by the driving system. It also lowers energy consumption by synchronously controlling the range of change of the accelerator pedal, increasing the vehicle's driving range. Moreover, the driving system also enhances the control of the accelerator pedal in consideration of real-time road conditions to expand the recharging capacity of the vehicle, which in turn enables synchronous control of acceleration and braking to increase the driving range of the car and reduce energy consumption.SINTRONES and AUO Group join forces to create win-win opportunitiesIn addition, AUO Group has become one of the significant shareholders of SINTRONES after investing in the company. At the same time, both parties have initiated close collaboration in the automotive factory-installed market. As revealed by Mr. Hsu, the opportunity for collaboration with AUO primarily arose from AUO Group's ideas for transformation, where one of the focuses was to engage in development toward a diverse range of vertical applications. SINTRONES long-established foundation in intelligent transportation has earned great recognition from the market, while the company is also well-established in the technical aspect of this field. With a reluctance to limit its development to the area of panels, AUO approached SINTRONES to establish a mutual collaboration based on the strengths of both parties.Mr. Hsu added that SINTRONES and AUO are working together in the field of charging piles. Thus, we can imagine a charging pile will be equipped with its typical functions and serve as digital signage. At this point, AUO display panel technology will come into play, giving plenty of room for imagination in terms of the application scenarios of charging piles. He conceded that Delta Electronics and Lite-On are generally perceived as significant pile market players. Coupled with the fact that companies must possess rich technical capabilities for power management to penetrate this market, breaking into it is widely seen as a highly challenging task.However, Mr. Hsu elaborated that SINTRONES excellent R&D capabilities in power management constitute part of its unique competitiveness. Power consumption issues have been taken into account in the design of this type of futuristic charging pile. These charging piles have lower power consumption than a dehumidifier. This shows that even with the addition of display panel functions, these charging pile systems are still environmentally friendly and low-power. Currently, charging piles jointly developed by SINTRONES and AUO have entered the implementation stage.In terms of automotive electronics, AUO is known to be one of the world's central suppliers of most automotive display panels. Therefore, SINTRONES has also begun shifting its focus from the automotive aftermarket to the factory-installed market with AUO's help, thus making gains in various products such as center consoles and instrumentation.Paving the way for environmental sustainability with core competitiveness in power supply design capabilitiesEchoing SINTRONES R&D capabilities in power management mentioned earlier, Mr. Hsu added that while being relatively quite familiar with several platforms such as AMD and Intel in the past, SINTRONES has also recently adopted the NVIDIA A4500 GPU in its effort to penetrate the self-driving bus market in Europe, mainly by incorporating the fanless design of Intel i9 processors and NVIDIA's A4500 into in-vehicle central computers. Meanwhile, SINTRONES has also embraced the NXP i.MX applications processors based on the Arm architecture following its collaboration with AUO on factory-installed consoles. Regardless of the chip platform, power management design capabilities become indispensable once these processors are applied to vehicles. Therefore, SINTRONES has also directed its solid foundation in the automotive field to applications such as charging piles and intelligent poles.Furthermore, backup power supply design for vehicles is also one of SINTRONES strengths. The European market has previously stipulated that all European passenger cars must be equipped with the eCall system, which will automatically make an international emergency call in the event of a severe traffic accident. It can also signal the local rescue team so medical personnel can rescue the victims. SINTRONES solution does not end there. Aside from transmitting signals, it also ensures that images of the accident can be captured and synchronously uploaded to the cloud to provide more information to the relevant units for emergency rescue. Mr. Hsu shared that the SINTRONES solution is evidently very much ahead compared to European standards. He also believed that SINTRONES could already satisfy such application scenarios as we move into a world of image transmission.To penetrate the supply chain of top-tier international customers and maintain a long-lasting relationship with them, SINTRONES has continually used AEC-Q100-compliant components from major global chip makers (e.g., NXP and Analog Devices, Inc.) in all its products. Therefore, SINTRONES various in-vehicle solutions can meet the automotive industry's ISO 26262 Functional Safety Standard. On SINTRONES' market expansion strategy for 2023, Mr. Hsu also said that the company would gradually speed up the pace of technology incorporation while responding to initiatives such as sustainability and energy conservation, fulfilling its responsibility for the global environment by leveraging its technological strengths.According to SINTRONES Chairman Kevin Hsu, the highest level of development for any business opportunity is "sustainable growth." SINTRONES is committed to minimizing its impact on the environment and bringing a positive cycle for environmental protection, which is not only in line with the global trend of net-zero emissions but also creates vitality and benefits for the company.Photo: SINTRONESSINTRONES and AUO Group have joined forces to integrate various key technologies for intelligent digital cockpits, aiming to turn vehicles into the third most crucial bright space shaped by 5G and AIoT after homes and offices, which in turn will become the development focus of intelligent vehicle technologies.Photo: SINTRONES

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