This week's snippets of automotive news include news BMW's solid state battery progress, FCA's ambitions for co-development of EV powertrains and Audi's upcoming Q4, plus more.
BMW on solid state batteries:
Solid state batteries are a technology that BMW’s i brand is investing in and developing, according to boss Robert Irlinger. He said that they are one of a number of different battery options being explored as part of a recent €200 million (£175m) investment.
Electrified powertrains:
The automotive industry would be wiser to share development costs for electrified powertrains and autonomous technology than for each brand to act separately, according to FCA Group boss Sergio Marchionne. “Is there anything brand-specific to this technology? No. Could it be easily shared? Yes,” he said. “A huge amount of capital is being sucked up and a lot of it is duplicative.”
Upcoming Audi Q4:
The overall look and feel of the new Audi Q8 is set to be replicated on the upcoming Q4, according to the marque’s design boss Marc Lichte. “The Q8 is a clear direction for our coupé SUVs in the future,” he said.
While a Q4 – a coupé version of the Q3 – is confirmed for production, a Q6 coupé SUV is not. Lichte said that the upcoming e-tron electric SUV, due to be revealed on 30 August, would sit in the range where a Q6 would otherwise. “The e-tron fulfils that,” said Lichte when asked if Audi still planned a Q6.
Bentley won’t pander to regional tastes:
Bentley won’t pander to different regional tastes in evolving the design of its models, and most important of all was “doing a British luxury car” that represents a “bold” and “authentic statement” to the rest of the world, according to design boss Stefan Sielaff.
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Sergio Marchionne
Yeah, agreed with xxxx and whalefish.
Battery and motor tech absolutely are brand-specific. If one company creates better batteries than others, then that's a competitive advantage, just as when one company builds better engines. And a company can tailor the noise or characteristics of their motors to suit their brand - Rimacs, Teslas and Formula E cars all sound quite different, and are packaged differently too.
Regional taste?
I didn’t think Bentley pandered to taste wherever it came from?
i is a model
BMW i is a model not a brand.