Froehlich: "Everyone has an interest or should have an interest" in common standards for autonomous vehicles.
NEW YORK – BMW AG plans more deals with mining companies to secure the battery equipment of electric vehicles and is open to forming alliances to share the costs of developing autonomous vehicle systems, said the head of the automaker R & D.
Klaus Froehlich, board member, says that car manufacturers and major suppliers are beginning to discuss how they should agree on a single standard for autonomous vehicle systems. Froehlich has said in the past that car manufacturers and suppliers must agree on a single standard.
"Everyone has an interest or must have an interest" in common standards for autonomous vehicles, said Froehlich earlier this week during an event to show off a futuristic, electric and autonomous crossover.
Froehlich made his remarks before a report in Automotive News on Friday that Volkswagen Group is interested in an industrial alliance to standardize autonomous vehicle systems.
Raw materials
According to Froehlich, BMW is pursuing a strategy on batteries to protect cheaper batteries than rivals, including through the supply of raw materials for its partners that make batteries to check.
"We will have agreements with mining companies," Froehlich said. "We have one agreement, there will be more." An important point, he said, is to secure cobalt from mines that do not employ employees or employ children.
BMW drove a wave of electric vehicle marketing this month by European luxury brands. The German car manufacturers and rivals, including Jaguar Land Rover from Tata Motors and Volvo Cars, part of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Inc. in China, prepare new electric models. The legacy automakers are under pressure from regulators in China, Europe and the state of California to use more clean vehicles. European brands also want to keep more affluent consumers from flowing to vehicles made by Silicon Valley car manufacturer Tesla Inc.
BMW has previously announced agreements with the Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. in South Korea. However, Froehlich said that these companies will supply batteries with their own BMW design.
"With electromobility you have to be a cost leader," he said. "If you are not a cost leader, you will not survive."
Prototype crossover
BMW on Saturday showed the electric, autonomous "Vision iNext" transition in Beijing as part of a publicity tour in which the prototype car and a podium traveled the world in the hold of a Lufthansa cargo jet.
The vehicle, with gas and brake pedals that sink into the floor during autonomous driving and controls on the touch screen embedded in the rear seat cushion, refers to an electric vehicle that BMW would launch between 12 fully electric models that it had promised in 2025.
Volkswagen's Audi brand plans a smashing launch for its e-tron-crossover on Monday, the same day that Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he wants to release news about the first passenger of Space X & # 39; s cunning named BFR rocket.