logo
Ola Electric, TVS charge up plans to beat rare-earth magnet crunch

Ola Electric, TVS charge up plans to beat rare-earth magnet crunch

Ferrite magnets are now globally considered a viable and cost-effective option due to their easy availability instead of rare-earth materials like neodymium, making it an affordable option
Surajeet Das Gupta New Delhi
Listen to This Article
Ola Electric is planning to launch in the third quarter (September-December) some of its electric vehicles powered with ferrite motors as an alternative to those that go with heavy rare-earth magnets, whose supply the Chinese government has choked.
Government sources Ola is in discussion with have said the company has been working for over two years on developing the technology and design for ferrite motors, where the magnet is made of iron (with some other metals added). The prototype has been internally validated and is being tested on some of its vehicles.
The company has to go to the Automotive
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Microsoft probing if Chinese hackers learned SharePoint flaws through alert: Report
Microsoft probing if Chinese hackers learned SharePoint flaws through alert: Report

Time of India

timea minute ago

  • Time of India

Microsoft probing if Chinese hackers learned SharePoint flaws through alert: Report

Synopsis A security patch Microsoft released this month failed to fully fix a critical flaw in the U.S. tech giant's SharePoint server software, opening the door to a sweeping global cyber espionage effort. In a blog post on Tuesday, Microsoft said two allegedly Chinese hacking groups, dubbed "Linen Typhoon" and "Violet Typhoon," were exploiting the weaknesses, along with a third, also based in China.

Tesla beats Chinese rivals in some driving assisted tests, say China state media, Bytedance
Tesla beats Chinese rivals in some driving assisted tests, say China state media, Bytedance

Time of India

timea minute ago

  • Time of India

Tesla beats Chinese rivals in some driving assisted tests, say China state media, Bytedance

Billionaire Elon Musk 's Tesla outperformed Chinese rivals including BYD , Xiaomi and Huawei in a test of assisted driving technologies on China's highways, according to results published by TikTok owner Bytedance's auto unit Dcar. State television CCTV and Dcar jointly tested the level 2 advanced driving assistance systems ( ADAS ) from more than 20 electric vehicle brands in China and rated their performance in a series of scenarios with higher risks of accidents on highways and urban traffics. The test videos posted by Dcar went viral on Chinese social media. Tesla scored the best in the highway test among 36 models, with its Model 3 and Model X passing five out of six scenarios, while BYD's Denza Z9GT and Huawei-backed Aito M9 failed in three scenarios. Xiaomi's SU7 passed in one of six. In a Weibo post on Friday, HIMA, the Huawei-led auto alliance, said it declined to comment on the "so-called test." BYD and Xiaomi didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. "Due to laws against data export, Tesla achieved the top results in China despite having no local training data," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on his X account on Friday. Tesla has been caught in what Musk described as a "quandary", as the U.S. doesn't allow its AI software to be trained in China, while the automaker has been seeking approval from Chinese regulators to transfer data saved locally in Shanghai back to the United States for algorithm training. Domestic brands should face up to the gap with Tesla in autonomous driving , Wang Yao, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told an auto forum in Shanghai earlier this month. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, in remarks after a Tesla Model Y delivered itself from an Austin, Texas factory to its owner in the area roughly 30 minutes away, said "we will continue to learn" from Tesla which has led industry trends. The test came amid growing safety concerns in China about the ADAS after a highway accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 killed three people in March. State media have blamed misleading promotions for resulting drivers' improper uses of the technologies and the authorities have banned the uses of terms such as "smart driving" and "autonomous driving" for marketing driving assistance features. The public security ministry said this week that the country will set out legal responsibilities related to the technology that has yet achieved true autonomous driving. Drivers face safety and legal risks if they are distracted in accidents when assisted driving is turned on, the ministry warned. Xiaomi had seen a slump in new EV orders as a consumer backlash began in April following the fatal trash, but the impact seems short-lived, with its new electric SUV receiving exceptionally strong initially orders after it went on sale last month. Tesla's sales of its China-made electric vehicles edged up 0.8 per cent in June from a year earlier, snapping an eight-month losing streak, but they continued to fall on a quarterly basis in the face of lower-cost new models from its Chinese rivals. Tesla's assisted driving suite is available in China for nearly $9,000, while the technology from its local rivals including Xiaomi and BYD is without extra cost, pressuring the U.S. automaker's self-driving future. Tesla's technology approach relies solely on cameras as sensors and artificial intelligence while most Chinese peers including BYD use lidar (light detection and range sensors) additionally to ensure performance.

Dixon's Dragon Deal Sparks JV Current in India
Dixon's Dragon Deal Sparks JV Current in India

Time of India

time2 hours ago

  • Time of India

Dixon's Dragon Deal Sparks JV Current in India

Several electronics contract manufacturers in India are plotting partnerships with Chinese companies, enthused by the Centre's nod to a joint venture between Dixon Technologies and Chinese original design manufacturer (ODM) Longcheer Intelligence . Dixon, the top homegrown electronics contract manufacturer, said late Thursday that it has secured Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) approval to form a joint venture with Longcheer which will be 74% owned by the Indian company and 26% by the Chinese partner. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Encouraged by the development, other Indian companies such as Epack Durable, PG Electroplast, Amber Enterprises, and Karbonn Mobile are looking to proceed with plans to ink similar JVs with Chinese firms, industry executives said. For the domestic electronics industry, the Dixon approval signals a softening of the Modi government's stance on allowing Chinese firms to join the burgeoning manufacturing footprint in the country. The industry was closely following the fate of Dixon's JV proposal. Currently any application with a Chinese entity needs multi-ministry government approval under the Press Note 3 (PN3) norms. 'The industry needs 1-2 cases of Chinese joint venture approvals before forming similar partnerships with Chinese companies,' said the chief executive of a leading contract manufacturer. 'Dixon's approval will now help everyone. Chinese companies are more comfortable with joint ventures than just technology licensing.' Mobile phone manufacturer Karbonn is finalising a JV with a Chinese company for component manufacturing, on the lines of the Dixon proposal where the foreign partner will own 26%, a senior official said. Contract AC and TV manufacturer PG Electroplast managing director (operations) Vikas Gupta said the Dixon approval is a positive for the industry since the Indian electronics industry needs technology and support from Chinese companies. He said the company will now explore equity partnership with Chinese firms for the electronics component manufacturing scheme . Meanwhile, Dixon is awaiting government approvals for two other Chinese JV proposals—with HKC to manufacture display modules, and smartphone brand Vivo for assembling handsets. According to Dixon, the MeitY approval was issued under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, and the government's Press Note 3, 2020, which states that an entity of a country sharing land border with India, can invest only after receiving PN3 approval from the government. The proposal was approved on July 23, it said. ET reported in its July 21 edition that the Centre is likely to support Chinese investments in the electronics sector, only through JV agreements, after the industry's request to ease the process. The government has however pushed for technology transfers instead of only setting up assembly units. Niti Aayog has also recently proposed easing curbs on Chinese investments in India. The government's move also comes close on the heels of external affairs minister S Jaishankar's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. Post the meeting, India, for the first time in five years, resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24. India had imposed the curbs following the Galwan valley clashes in mid-2020 and issued PN3 norms that require multi-department approvals for investments from businesses and entrepreneurs based in land bordering countries such as China. This forced Chinese compressor maker Highly Group and Voltas to scrap a JV agreement in which the Chinese partner was to hold 60% two years ago as the proposal did not get the government's PN 3 approval. Renewed attempts by both companies to form the JV could not materialise in the absence of clear signals from the government though the talks can be revived again, an industry official said. Indian companies have been pushing for a review of trade ties with China, particularly concerning PN3. Joint ventures with Chinese companies are crucial for the success of the recently announced Rs 22,000-crore electronics component manufacturing scheme, experts said. The government is expected to extend the July 31 deadline to apply under the scheme as potential participants race to ink JV pacts to acquire expertise in manufacturing electronics components and sub-assemblies. "We need some hand holding from the Chinese companies otherwise Indian electronic contract manufacturing cannot move up the value chain. We would now explore opportunities," said Ajay DD Singhania, CEO at appliance contract manufacturer Epack Durable. With India seeking to deepen and expand the supply chain through the electronics component manufacturing scheme, Indian companies need expertise from Chinese entities that currently make the bulk of the components supplied globally.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store