Driverless Towing System at Nissan Oppama Plant

December 13 – Yokohama – Nissan Motor recently announced the introduction of Intelligent Vehicle Towing (IVT), a fully automated vehicle towing system, at its Oppama Plant.

Nissan has worked on making the relationship between people, cars and society more exciting under its Intelligent Mobility vision, a framework for how cars will be driven, powered, and integrated into society.

This new project, which utilizes mapping and communication technologies to link an intelligent and all-electric car to infrastructure, is a step towards the realization of Nissan Intelligent Integration.

The IVT system uses a modified Nissan LEAF to autonomously tow trollies carrying finished vehicles between designated loading and unloading points at the plant.

Unlike conventional automatic guided vehicle systems for transporting parts, which often require the installation of rails or extensive use of magnetic tape, this system does not need any special infrastructure to operate.

The towing car is equipped with an array of cameras and laser scanners that detect lane markings, curbs and potential obstacles or hazards around the vehicle. By cross-referencing this information with map data, the towing car calculates its own location, negotiating the route to its destination unaided.

The towing car travels within the speed limits of the factory, and automatically stops if it detects an obstacle or hazard ahead, before setting off again when it has determined that the road ahead is clear.

The towing route can easily be altered to accommodate changes in production processes or vehicle transport routes. All driverless towing cars are connected to a central traffic control system, which can monitor the location, driving speed, remaining battery and operational status of each vehicle.

When two driverless towing cars meet at an intersection, the control system’s algorithm determines which car should be given right-of-way, and in case of emergency, the system can stop the vehicles remotely.

 

Nissan Half-Year Earnings

Yokohama – Nov. 7 – Nissan Motor announced financial results for the six-month period to September 30, 2016 that showed an operating profit of 339.7 billion yen, a 6.4 percent margin on net revenues of 5.32 trillion yen.

Nissan Makes CDP “A-List” for Climate Change Efforts

Yokohama – Oct. 25 – For the third consecutive year, the CDP has included Nissan in a select list of companies receiving top-tier “A-List” ranking in its annual Climate Change Report. Nissan finished ahead of thousands of other international businesses in the CDP’s assessment.

Established in 2000, CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) is an influential U.K.-based NPO representing 822 institutional investors, which annually rates corporations for their management of climate change based on a combination of survey data and publicly available information.

Nissan was selected for A-List ranking for transparency in disclosing environmental information and for a plan to reduce well-to-wheel CO₂ emissions from new vehicles by 90 percent by the year 2050 from levels in the year 2000.

Nissan was also recognized for pioneering the world’s top-selling zero-emission vehicle, enabling Nissan LEAF owners to power their homes from their vehicles during peak power usage times, and for partnering with companies and local governments to grow vehicle charging infrastructure.

“At Nissan, we take sustainability very seriously through the vehicles that we produce but also through reducing our carbon footprint throughout our entire business operation. I want to express Nissan’s gratitude to the CDP for recognizing our efforts by including us in their prestigious report for the third consecutive year, said Hitoshi Kawaguchi, Nissan Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer.

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“As a large global company based in Japan, we recognize that our work in this area can have a great impact, so we are committed to leading by example to reduce CO2 emissions even further in the years ahead.”

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Nissan announced in June that it had shrank its CO2 emissions by 22.4% over the past decade.

These efforts to reduce Nissan’s corporate carbon footprint have been spearheaded by the recently established Nissan Energy Saving Collaboration (NESCO), which measures energy loss at the company’s plants worldwide.

These activities are part of the company’s third generation environmental action plan, the Nissan Green Program 2016.

The full CDP report can be found at www.cdp.net.

Nissan CEO Ghosn to deliver keynote address at CES 2017

Oct. 14, 2016 – Japan – Nissan today announced it will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES®) 2017 held in Las Vegas. Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn will deliver a keynote on January 5, 2017 at Westgate Theater.

During his keynote, Ghosn will provide insights on how Nissan Intelligent Mobility is enabling Nissan to realize its vision of the future. He will also announce several technology advancements and partnerships that will benefit consumers today.

“I’m pleased that Nissan will be taking the CES stage at this moment of significant change and opportunity for the automotive sector,” said Ghosn.

“Nissan has a history of developing breakthrough technologies that have transformed how cars are powered, driven, and integrated with wider society. We look forward to presenting our vision for how the technologies of today are the building blocks for a future with zero emission vehicles and zero fatalities on the road.”

Carlos Ghosn’s Q&A on autonomous driving and technology advancement in the automotive industry is available here.

ProPilot Chair: Chairway to Heaven

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Yokohama – Sept. 27 – Nissan unveiled the latest in a series of innovations designed to bring the benefits of its Intelligent Mobility blueprint to the daily lives of customers on Tuesday.

Following the success of the Intelligent Parking Chair earlier this year, the newly-developed ProPILOT Chair negotiates queues on behalf of its occupant, sparing them the hassle of standing in line.

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Nissan Crossing to the Future in Ginza

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Tokyo – Sept. 20 – Nissan held an official opening ceremony for Nissan Crossing on Tuesday, its new brand experience space in the prestigious Ginza district, shortly before the venue opens its doors to the public on Saturday.

The event was attended by representatives of the Japanese government, ambassadors, leading figures in politics and business, members of the design community, and representatives of Ginza’s planning council.

Nissan Crossing occupies the site of the former Nissan Gallery, a popular local landmark that served as a point of contact between Nissan and the general public from 1963 to 2014.

The new venue will offer visitors from around the world a chance to learn about Intelligent Mobility, Nissan’s vision for the future of the relationship between cars and people.

Speaking the event, Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “This new gallery is designed to express Nissan’s brand values of innovation and excitement in a space twice as large as the original.”

“The gallery provides an enhanced customer experience, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and world-leading features,” he said.

“We believe Nissan Crossing will again become an important landmark in Ginza…and an epicenter for broadcasting the Nissan brand to the world.”

For more on the original Nissan showroom in Ginza, please click this link.

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Fantasy to Reality – Nissan BladeGlider: Intelligent Mobility

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Rio de Janeiro – Aug. 4 – Nissan has moved the radical BladeGlider Concept from fantasy to reality, taking the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show star to fully-functional advanced prototype.

Nissan’s vision was for an agile, efficient EV providing new dimensions of driving fun and excitement, thanks to the near-silent performance of its electric powertrain and aerodynamic shape.

After two years of work on design, engineering and development, Nissan BladeGlider reflects the potential of advanced EV performance, epitomizing Intelligent Mobility, a philosophy to make its cars more exciting by redefining how they are driven, powered and integrated into society.

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Power is 100-percent electric, with exceptional powertrain performance delivered by technical partner for the BladeGlider project, UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering.

Maximum speed of the demonstration models is in excess of 190km/h*, with 0-100km/h taking less than 5 seconds. The rear wheels’ drive is provided by two 130kW electric motors – one for each wheel. Power is supplied by a high performance five module lithium-ion 220kW battery. Bespoke cooling systems have been developed for both the battery and the motors.

“These prototypes epitomize Nissan’s drive to expand its Intelligent Mobility philosophy, where driving pleasure combines with environmental responsibility,” said Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Nissan believes that enthusiasts should look forward to a zero emission future and BladeGlider is a perfect demonstration of that. It’s the electric vehicle for car-lovers.”

The model features an advanced chassis configuration with a narrow front track and wider rear track for optimum aerodynamic efficiency and handling stability, while high-waisted, rear-hinged dihedral doors provide a dramatic entry and exit to the cabin.

 

 

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Coastdown Facts

Coastdown Facts

Overview

A coastdown test is a procedure that determines key metrics used to calculate a vehicle’s fuel consumption values or “L/100kms rating.”   The litres per 100kms ratings are established using a machine called a “dynamometer.”   A dynamometer is like a treadmill for vehicles, enabling vehicles to be operated indoors on a stationary platform to simulate real-world vehicle operation.  The level of resistance on the dynamometer is adjusted for each specific vehicle model tested to simulate the level of resistance that the vehicle would encounter if operated outside on the road.   Coastdown testing is used to determine the appropriate resistance levels (or “road loads”) to use on the dynamometer for a given vehicle model.  Coastdown testing is used to measure all types of resistance encountered by a given vehicle model during real-world operation, including:

• Vehicle aerodynamic resistance, a factor affected by the vehicle’s shape, which determines how much air the vehicle has to push out of the way as it moves. The more resistance, the more energy has to be expended.
• Tire rolling resistance, a factor related to tire design that determines how much energy the vehicle has to use to overcome the resistance caused by the interface between the tires and the road.
• Driveline and powertrain mechanical resistance, a factor of the vehicle’s drivetrain and how much energy the vehicle has to use to overcome internal friction to drive the wheels.

Coastdown Method

• A vehicle that has been properly broken in prior to the test (generally the mileage, fluids and fuel, tires and vehicle warm-up) is driven up to a certain speed, typically around 128 KPH, after which it is put into neutral  and allowed to coast until its speed drops below 14 KPH.
• Special devices in the vehicle accurately measure environmental conditions (ambient temperature, humidity and barometric pressure), performance data, and speed and distance traveled during the vehicle’s deceleration.
• In order to eliminate the effect of wind speed and direction, the test is performed multiple times (a minimum of 5 runs) on a completely flat, straight and dry road in both directions of the track.  Analysis of the recorded speed and distance information provides the vehicle’s road load force.

Background

• A dynamometer is an electric motor that is connected to the vehicle and simulates standard highway and city driving cycles, enabling generation of simulated fuel consumption and emission values. 
• EPA and NRCan publish fuel consumption results, which are a by-product of emissions testing.
• Manufacturers began to reduce road load in response to public demand for more fuel efficient vehicles.
• The coastdown test is the standard industry technique to determine vehicle road load, which coupled with dynamometer testing, enables the manufacturer, the EPA and NRCan to measure fuel consumption and emission values. 
• The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) developed a standard procedure (J2263- Dec 2008) to perform road load measurement using coast down testing.
• The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) developed a standard procedure (J1263- Mar 2010) to perform road load measurement and dynamometer simulation using coast down testing.

Resources

• The current government-approved standard for road load measurement using onboard anemometry and coastdown testing techniques is SAE International Standard J2263, which was most recently updated in 2008. 

Hyundai/Kia Consumption Background

HYUNDAI/KIA FUEL CONSUMPTION BACKGROUND

Overview
Fuel consumption is measured under controlled conditions in a laboratory, using a device called a dynamometer.  The dynamometer simulates a vehicle driving on the road.  Fuel consumption is measured by determining how much of certain gases are emitted from the vehicle during the test cycle.  Emissions are measured to determine how much fuel is burned and then converted into litres per 100kms for the fuel consumption label.  The same measurements are now used for purposes of the Environmental Protection Agency’s and Environment Canada’s greenhouse gas program.

Manufacturer Testing
All manufacturers test prototype vehicles, calculate the fuel consumption information and submit the data to the EPA for review.  EPA issues Certificates of Conformity based on the data submitted by manufacturers.  Environment Canada accepts EPA Certificates of Conformity as evidence the vehicle meets Canadian emissions regulations.  Confirmatory tests are run on a percentage of production vehicles.  There are typically variances between the prototype test information originally submitted to EPA and Environment Canada and the later production tests. 

Coastdown Testing
In order to measure and calculate fuel consumption, a manufacturer must first assess each vehicle’s “coastdown” value.  This value is determined through a series of tests run by the manufacturer.  The EPA informed Hyundai and Kia’s technical center that it had questions about how Hyundai and Kia had determined the coastdown values for its vehicles.  EPA’s independent testing had resulted in coastdown values different than those reported by Hyundai and Kia.

Hyundai/Kia Cooperative Test Program with EPA
The companies engaged in a testing program with EPA to determine the source of the test result differences.  The companies’ technical team found certain discrepancies in the way in which the coastdown testing was conducted.  EPA also found that the companies’ interpretation of certain aspects of the procedures differed from EPA’s understanding of how the tests are generally conducted.  

Hyundai/Kia Future Testing
Hyundai and Kia have agreed to conduct all future testing in the manner EPA has communicated to the companies and to rectify certain procedural errors found during the test program.  The procedural errors relate primarily to how the companies’ testing engineers identified vehicle weight and chose test runs for calculation of the coastdown values.  Hyundai and Kia are committed to working with EPA to ensure that all future testing meets EPA’s expectations.