Suppliers investing in new mobility projects

28 June 2018

Vehicle suppliers are looking for new ventures to involve themselves with in order to safeguard their businesses as automotive mobility changes.

Two companies, ZF and Bosch, known as vehicle parts suppliers, have announced new directions involving electrification and connectivity respectively. The moves will give the companies an opportunity to develop technology that will help them remain relevant as the automotive industry moves away from petrol and diesel and into connected, autonomous and electric vehicles.

ZF has formed a joint venture with the e.GO Mobile startup that helped develop Deutsche Post’s StreetScooter, and plans to develop an electric van with the company.

ZF’s CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider and GÜnther Schuh, founder and CEO of e.GO Mobile AG based in Aachen, have announced that series production will begin in Aachen in 2019. The e.Go Moove joint-venture partners manufacture people and cargo movers primarily for the urban mobility needs of the future. Five-digit volumes are initially scheduled for annual production, and ZF is expecting that the demand for these vehicles will reach approximately one million in the next five to seven years. The company is equipping the e.Go Mover with electric drive systems, steering systems and brakes as well as ZF’s ProAI central computer (using artificial intelligence) and sensors which enable automated driving functions

′System providers like ZF can significantly benefit from the worldwide trend toward automated driving and electromobility,’ said Wolf-Henning Scheider during the ZF Technology Day 2018 in Friedrichshafen. ′The e.GO Mover is the first production-ready vehicle featuring ZF systems which provides an autonomous mobility concept for cities.’

At the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in September this year, ZF will show further use cases for its ZF ProAI supercomputer and a broad set of related sensor systems which can help to increase efficiency and save costs throughout the entire logistics chain.

Connected vehicles

Meanwhile, Bosch is partnering with Canadian startup Mojio to get more vehicles connected wirelessly to a wide range of digital services, from insurance companies to emergency responders, the companies said Wednesday.

The German supplier said it was investing in Vancouver-based Mojio as part of the startup’s Series B funding round. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

Bosch is heavily involved in the development of autonomous vehicle systems and aims to work with Mojo on connecting more vehicles to the internet and gather data to support services for consumers and vehicle manufacturers, as part of Bosch’s Connected Mobility Solutions group.

′The extensive data we’ve derived from our portfolio of diagnostic solutions has given us invaluable insights that can be the basis for solutions that bring great value to consumers and OEMs,’ said Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America.

′The Mojio platform combined with Bosch’s immense automotive expertise will empower us to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced connected car services to automakers, mobile network operators and consumers around the world,’ added Mojio CEO Kenny Hawk.