Latest news with #Huhnke
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The revival of Scout preserves its heritage through innovation
This story was originally published on Automotive Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Automotive Dive newsletter. NOVI, Mich. – Reviving a storied American truck brand was a task not taken lightly by Scout Motors. During a presentation at AutoTech 2025 last week, CTO Burkhard Huhnke detailed how the company is using the 'digital twin' design approach to develop and test its fully electric and extended-range EVs. Scout's goal is to preserve the vehicle's heritage through innovation and modern technology. The original Scout SUV was built by International Harvester from 1961 to 1980. Huhnke also confirmed that Scout vehicles will adopt a new zonal electrical architecture which was co-developed by joint venture partners Volkswagen and Rivian. The technique, which is also being used by Rivian, enables over-the-air updates, remote diagnostics and cloud connectivity to enhance customer value. For Rivian vehicles, the new architecture reduces the number of ECUs needed from 17 to seven and eliminates 1.6 miles of wiring from each vehicle, according to the company. 'So what we are using is the most modern electronics architecture, which allows us with the pipeline into the cloud, a real-time access to the car,' said Huhnke. Among the technologies Scout is utilizing includes high-performance computing, simulation technology and software to create a 'digital world' where various interactions — including crash tests — of vehicle designs can be simulated before physical testing in the real world. The automaker's goal is to reduce test hours through simulation to achieve a high level of accuracy before physical prototyping begins. 'You have to optimize your driving dynamics. You have to calibrate your brake system,' said Huhnke. 'You have to do propulsion and dynamics optimization, and that's how everyone does it. After the simulation phase, we run for physical testing.' According to Huhnke, Scout's vehicle development process will begin with the creation of a digital model. That environment also includes a 'digital wind tunnel' to test and optimize the aerodynamics of Scout vehicles. The process includes running various simulations, then using Use AI and machine learning to optimize vehicle designs to improve aerodynamics. Huhnke says this approach can reduce iteration times from 24 hours to just 5 seconds in some cases. 'What you're getting is very quick … an AI response or design variables within seconds,' said Huhnke. 'So you can run through multiple sessions within seconds to use AI and machine learning to optimize aerodynamics quite quickly. The highest accuracy in the digital world gives us the chance to reduce not just test properties, but also the test hours.' Huhnke noted that it's not just vehicle optimization in a digital environment, it's reusing test properties as well. The testing of digital designs by Scout can also be combined with real-world prototype tests to further validate the vehicle's design. The Scout CTO says that this process can help improve the final product. 'So you close the loop with a very comprehensive testing, instrumented version to compare the digital world with the physical world,' said Huhnke. 'And the better you get, the more accuracy you get.' Automaker Porsche has also adopted digital twin technology to design and test electric vehicle batteries. According to the company, the digital representation of a battery functions exactly as one in a production vehicle and provides data that includes its expected aging process. The automaker is also using a 'thermal model,' which can be used to predict how well a battery reacts to changes in temperature to improve the service life and performance. Scout is targeting the outdoor adventure vehicle market that's been revived in part by the return of the Ford Bronco SUV in 2021 after a 25-year hiatus, as well as Rivian's EVs, which will share some technology with Scout vehicles as a result of the EV maker's joint venture with Volkswagen Group. In April, Scout announced the appointment of Oliver Wollinsky as its chief production officer. Wollinsky previously served as plant manager for SAIC Volkswagen in China. In the role, he will oversee the completion and ramp-up of Scout's assembly plant in South Carolina and lead manufacturing of the company's Traveler SUV and Terra truck, with initial production targeted to start in 2027. Fully electric Scout models are anticipated to offer up to 350 miles of range, while extended range versions are projected to offer more than 500 miles of range using a gas-powered generator, according to the company. Disclosure: AutoTech 2025 is run by Informa, which owns a controlling stake in Informa TechTarget, the publisher behind Automotive Dive. Informa has no influence over Automotive Dive's coverage. Recommended Reading Scout Motors breaks ground on $2B EV plant after environmental delays Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rose-Hulman alumnus establishes fellowship honoring former physics professor
A gift from alumnus Michael A. Huhnke and his wife, Karen, to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will support a new endowed faculty fellowship for the Physics and Optical Engineering Department. The fellowship will be named in honor of former professor Bruce Danner. The Dr. Bruce R. Danner Endowed Faculty Fellowship will start in spring 2025 and support a current professor's expertise in physics, optical engineering, or nanoengineering, lead to conversations with other educators in career fields, and encourage research opportunities with undergraduate students, the institute said in a news release. The support for the fellowship "is essential in our efforts to attract and retain exceptional professors who provide our students with the world's best undergraduate STEM education, while inspiring and preparing students for lives of purpose and success," said Robert A. Coons, Rose-Hulman president. Michael Huhnke is a 1975 physics and mechanical engineering alumnus. "We picked the Physics Department because of my very strong feeling that physics provides one of, if not the most important, foundational pieces that all of the other science and engineering disciplines rest upon," he said. "It is my belief that Rose-Hulman must have and maintain a superb physics area, which of course means maintaining first-class instructors, to continue to succeed in its mission." Danner was a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty for 30 years and after retiring in 1998 continued teaching on campus as an adjunct professor until 2012. He also spent time as director of Rose-Hulman's Waters Computer Center and helped establish a consortium with computer center directors from DePauw University (his alma mater), Franklin College, and Wabash College. He died in 2018. Danner was Huhnke's faculty advisor. "What he was really good at ... was relating to his student, and that is what I remember about him the most. He could make us feel like we could do it, too." Huhnke has enjoyed a 50-year career working in the petroleum industry, spending more than 45 years as vice president of operations with Texas Crude Energy.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Volkswagen considering new 4x4 based on Scout platform
Volkswagen had previously planned to launch a large electric off-roader on the MEB platform Volkswagen could revive plans to launch a highly capable electric off-roader by using a new platform being developed by Scout Motors. The American brand, inspired by the Scout range of Jeep-rivalling off-roaders made by International Harvester in the 1960s and 1970s, was launched by the Volkswagen Group in 2022 and is currently developing an SUV and a pick-up truck that will sit on a bespoke ladder-on-frame chassis. Although part of the Volkswagen Group, Scout Motors is an independent company and has been conceived to act as a fast-moving start-up with a heavy focus on advanced technology. The Terra pick-up and Traveler SUV will both be offered with electric and range-extender powertrains and will benefit from software developed by Volkswagen's new joint venture with Rivian. The models will be built at a new US plant under construction in South Carolina, and are due to be launched in around 2028. The development of a bespoke ladder-on-frame chassis is necessary to give the Scout vehicles genuine Jeep Wrangler-rivalling off-road ability. Scout technical boss Burkhard Huhnke told Autocar that the firm offered 'a chance for the Volkswagen Group to observe how a start-up would take on these challenges'. He added: 'There is no body-on-frame platform in the entire group, so someone has to start. There is no body like that, EV like that, chassis like that, so we have to start from scratch.' Asked how closely Wolfsburg is monitoring its investment, particularly in the ladder-on-frame chassis, Huhnke said: 'You never get money for free.' Speaking about the challenge Scout faces, he said: 'Efficiency is key. I've taken the challenge to become a benchmark R&D organisation in the world, from a size and cost perspective. That is an interesting challenge appreciated by our sponsors as well. Of course, we are under observation.' While Huhnke did not directly address the Volkswagen Group's interest in the ladder-on-frame chassis, sources suggest there is a desire to use it for further vehicles – although given the timelines for the Scout launch, any other models adopting the platform would not appear until at least the early 2030s. In 2020, Autocar revealed plans by Volkswagen to launch a large electric off-roader. The vehicle, known internally as the ID Ruggdzz and set to use a variant of the MEB platform, would have served as a Defender-rivalling SUV. The model had been planned for a 2023 launch but was one of a number of models scrapped after a change in Volkswagen management. However, Autocar sources suggest Volkswagen is keen to revisit the concept of an electric off-roader, and the Scout chassis would be a natural fit. Audi could also be interested in Scout's platform. As reported by Autocar in 2023, Audi is considering plans to launch its own 4x4 off-roader, with a model that could potentially be built alongside the two Scouts to make maximum use of the new plant's production capacity. Scout boss Scott Keogh recently said the factory has been designed so it can produce models for other Volkswagen Group brands. ]]>
