Q8 (Audi)

On July 10, GAC Energy signed a cooperation framework agreement with Wintao Communications Co., Ltd. (Wintao Comms).

According to the agreement, the two parties will leverage their respective resources to promote comprehensive cooperation in the energy sector. They will thoroughly explore areas such as charging and battery swapping stations, integrated solar energy stations, cross-industry integration, digitalization, and V2G (Vehicle to Grid).

In the second half of 2024, the two parties will start investment and construction of public charging stations along expressways and launch a “cooperative project for 10,000 charging stands at destination charging stations”. They will build destination charging stations in various scenarios such as office buildings, residential communities, parking lots, and scenic spots to create convenient and beneficial high-quality energy replenishment infrastructure for the public.

From a GAC Energy press release

On July 10, ABVV-Metaal union announced that Audi plans to cease the production of Audi Q8 e-tron at its Brussels plant by the end of 2025 due to sharply declining demand at a special works council. The company is considering a complete termination of activities in Brussels if no alternatives for the Q8 e-tron model are found.

During the special works council on July 9, 2024, unions learned that the company plans to halt Q8 e-tron production in 2025 instead of 2027 which potentially leads to layoffs affecting 1,410 employees by October 2024 and an additional 600 by early 2025. Currently, Audi Brussels employs 3,000 people.

Previously, the production of the model was planned to transfer to China and Mexico after 2027. However, plans to manufacture the Q4 in Brussels were scrapped in October 2023. The restructuring announcement has significantly impacted the local metal industry, raising concerns about potential factory closure.

Employees were placed on economic unemployment ahead of the scheduled summer vacation, and recently finished cars were quickly removed from the Audi Brussels parking lot.

Based on ABVV-Metaal (1/ 2)

On July 5, Li Auto announced that HD-map-free NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) available nationwide in China will be rolled out to all AD Max users in July, with the following four major function upgrades:

-          Independence of HD maps or prior information for true availability on any road in any Chinese city.

-          A new spatiotemporal planning model for smoother and more efficient detouring.

-          Beyond-visual-range route selection that effectively solves the problem of going the wrong way at complex intersections.

-          Decimeter-level fine vehicle control with full consideration of user psychological security boundaries for reassuring intelligent driving experience.

To be also rolled out to all AD Max users in July are Fully Automatic AES (Autonomous Emergency Steering) and Omnibearing Low-speed AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking). In some extreme cases where collision cannot be avoided even if the AEB system brakes hard, Fully Automatic AES responds rapidly and automatically avoids collision without the need for manual steering. Omnibearing Low-speed AEB covers many more active safety risk scenarios and effectively reduces fender-benders, comprehensively avoiding the risk of collision.

Furthermore, Li Auto unveiled a new E2E (End-to-End) model-, VLM (Visual Language Model)-, and world model-based autonomous driving technology architecture, a more intelligent and personified driving solution simulating human thinking and decision-making processes inspired by a Daniel Kahneman theory.

The E2E model and the VLM are capable of processing information from daily driving quickly and thinking logically in complex scenarios, respectively. Both in-vehicle models will learn and test their capabilities in a virtual environment (cloud) generated by the world model to offer users a safe, reliable, and efficient autonomous driving system.

From a Li Auto press release