AD #4015 - Mercedes May Use Humanoid Robots By 2030; Automakers Prepare for Trump Tariffs; GM to Use NVIDIA AI Tech

Speaker 1: This Zotolne Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry. Automakers are preparing for the twenty five

percent terrafs President Trump has promised to go into effect on April second. As we reported last week, Ford is

stockpiling parts ahead of the terrace, and now Stilantis is doing the same thing by moving some parts from Canada and Mexico to the US sooner than usual. The automaker

is also working with dealers to expedite orders of vehicles that could be impacted by the terrafs. In Europe, the

German luxury brands Audi, BMW and Mercedes are considering strategies that include passing the cost of the terrace onto customers and lowering or shifting production. Audi will especially be impacted

by the terrafs because it doesn't have a plant in the US and its best selling model, the Q five, is built in Mexico and over in Japan, the japan Automobile Manufacturers Association is warning that US TERRAF could lead to significant production cutbacks in Japan because of the disruption to the supply chain. Nissan is already getting ahead of

the tariffs and says it has boosted production at its plant in Mexico and is aiming to get that extra output to the US before the terraffs go into effect.

BYD has big expansion plants, but its new plant in Mexico could be in jeopardy. The Financial Times reports that

Chinese officials have delayed approval for construction to start because they're concerned about BYD's intellectual property and technology leaking to the US. That's all we know, and we'll be sure

to update the story with any new information. But since

BYD is private and not state owned like some Chinese automakers, we wonder how long officials can really delay construction. More

automakers are getting involved in humanoid way robots. Mercedes announced

it's making a low double digit million euro investment into Aptronic, a US based robotics company, and the automaker has already started testing aptronics Apollo robot at its Berlin factory. It's

using Apollo for repetitive tasks like transporting vehicle parts to the production line, and believes robots could have real factory jobs before twenty thirty. Mercedes is also making AI in

digital enhancements at its production sites to improve their efficiency.

And now we shift over to China, where Baic announced a partnership with robot maker Ubtech. Baic deployed the Walker

S one to do parts inspections at a plant where it makes anyvs repetitive tasks. Seem like the best applications

for humanoid robots right now, with ubi Tech claiming accuracy rates of ninety nine percent, so it feels like it's going to be a while before human line where start losing their jobs to robots. But most major automakers are

testing humanoids, including Tesla, BMW, the Hyundai Group, Neo, Japung, Toyota, and Honda. Valvo says it's using a technique called gauzy

and splatting to improve its hands free and driver assistance technology.

It allows users to create realistic three D environments from real pictures and video, and then manipulate that environment anyway they want. It sounds like this is particularly useful for

edge cases or unlikely driving scenarios like a dog running into the road, but maybe instead of just one dog, you want a whole pack of dogs running from both sides of the street, or a million other cases. Volvo

can then train its system to handle all those situations which will help make it better. And in somewhat related news,

we reported late last month that Tesla applied for a ride hailing permit in California in November of last year.

Now the California Public Utilities Commission has officially approved that application, which allows Tesla to own and operate a fleet of vehicles that transport employees around. However, note that I did

not use the word cybercab, robotaxi, FSD, autopilot, or self driving.

This permit is only for a taxi like service with human drivers. While Weimo also has the same permit, Tesla

has not applied for an autonomous driving permit yet.

Speaker 2: There's nothing wrong with heavy metal hy light enough, but with world class composite material taging automotive technologies makes vehicles lighter, safer, and more eco friendly.

Speaker 1: Hands free driving is also taking a step forward in China.

Three automakers Japang, GAC and Zeker. Gile's premium brand revealed

plans to introduce Level three capable vehicles this year, which means eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, but still being in a position to take over if needed.

Zeker announced that its upcoming nine x SUV, which launches in the second half of the year, will have that capability.

Japung says it will also have vehicles with L three in the second half and that it will start producing vehicles with Level four capabilities next year, and GAC says it will have L three models for sale this year and that it's also working on L four vehicles. But

while the vehicles have Level three capabilities, the three automakers still need regulatory approval before owners can use the features.

General Motors and chip maker and Nvidia announced plans to use AI software and simulation to develop vehicle technology and to improve the efficiency of the automaker's plans. GM will

use the Nvidia Omniverse platform to create digital twins of its assembly lines, allowing for virtual testing and production simulations.

The technology will also be used to train robotics platforms that are already in use, which it expects to increase safety and efficiency at plants. GM will also use an

Nvidia operating system in its next gen vehicles for advanced driver assistant systems. Bosch is expanding the metal three D

printing capabilities at one of its plants in Germany, with the goal of producing car parts in volume. The supplier

has invested six million euros in the center and it just installed a new printer that's five times faster than previous metal three D printers that will help speed up the development of parts, especially metal parts, which can take a long time to make with older methods. One example

is with engine blocks. Using conventional methods, it can take

up to three years to develop an engine block from the first draft of volume production, which includes up to eighteen months just to make the casting mold for the block.

A three D printer, on the other hand, can create a prototype engine block in just a few days, and Bosch claims it's the only Tier one supplier in Europe with this type of three D printing capability. In addition

to mining, recycling old EV batteries is seen as a way to help supply materials needed to make new batteries.

But there's just one problem. Batteries are lasting longer than expected.

Hydro Volt, a battery recycler in Norway, opened its first production line last year with the goal of processing twelve thousand metric tons of batteries from twenty five thousand evs a year, but because batteries are lasting longer, hydro volt only expects to process about a third of that this year.

While the number of evs scrapped last year in Norway was up fifty percent, EV's only a punted for four point four percent of passenger vehicles sent to the scrapyard.

So while battery recycling is promising, it could take longer to fully ramp up. And that brings us to the

end of today's show. Thanks for making autoline a part

of your day.

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