“A 3D transport swarm is coming to your city soon.”
That is not the rambling of a geek pretending to be a nerd who is hiding his dorkiness in his mother’s basement behind a big screen permanently fixed on Syfy.
It comes from none other than Morgan Stanley, which continues, “Over the past day, we’ve seen a number of interesting developments around the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) and eVTOL domain that comprise just a small part of what is clearly becoming a profound development. GM unveiled the latest rendering of its Cadillac branded eVTOL at CES. And the previous day, Tom Enders (former head of Airbus) joined the board of Lilium. Many of our clients may, understandably, chalk the excitement around flying cars to free money and a frothy market environment. Oh sure, that helps… but we believe there are bigger forces at work and worth investor attention today.”
The multinational bank and financial services company’s frequent flyers go on to lay some implications flying cars will have, including a post-COVID, final-mile role in logistics and e-commerce.
And while no less than Tesla CEO Elon Musk has historically dismissed UAM transport modality—due to noise, privacy and general annoyance concerns—Morgan Stanley says, “[W]e would not bet against Tesla unveiling a concept in the UAM arena in the near future.”
The third annual Movin’On Summit in Montreal ended on Thursday, wrapping up another successful event focused on sustainable mobility, industry trends, environmental awareness, and the latest and greatest to impact global players in e-commerce, automotive manufacturing, and more.
The Michelin-inspired event concluded with a message from United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019 Special Envoy, Luis Alfonso De Alba and Michelin Group’s CEO, Florent Menegaux, stressing the importance of working towards creating sustainable action for mobility in the UN.
Approximately 5,000 visionaries from 44 countries and more than 150 partners participated.
The closing ceremony reiterated the purpose of the annual Movin’On Summit as an inspiration and driver behind the development of mobility solutions for the environment while changing the pace of transportation as we now know it.
Major takeaways from the 2019 Movin’On Summit focused on solutions for eliminating waste, addressing challenges in dimensional mobility, maximizing automation, and utilizing technology to create streamlined collaboration and efficiencies. Game-changers revealed include the Michelin Uptis – an airless and puncture-proof tire projected to enter the market as early as 2024.
Over 95 leading speakers from academia, politics, cities, and businesses addressed challenges and presented the latest in automated strategies, further promoting movement in sustainable action. Keynote speeches were presented by Michelin Group, General Motors, BMW Group, Harvard Business School, California State Transportation Agency, Accenture, Google Cloud, and more.
Beyond education and innovation exploration, companies left the summit with action plans and next steps to overcome challenges and improve initiatives. Among those pursuing next steps include Lyon, Angkor and Niamey developing an action plan to address mobility challenges following participation at the startup LaVilleE+ working session.
The 2020 Movin’On Summit planning is already underway, as confirmed by Michelin’s CEO Florent Menegaux during the closing ceremony. Montreal will again host the C2 International-organized event from June 3-5, 2020.
General Motors continues efforts in fulfilling its vision of a world where crashes, congestion, and emissions are no longer a part of the daily commute, from passengers to businesses. As a proud Michelin partner, General Motors pushes the limits when addressing transportation concerns that other companies have accepted as a norm.
Following the highly anticipated reveal of the Michelin Uptis Prototype at this year’s Movin’On Summit, GM’s Senior Vice President of Global Purchasing & Supply Chain, Steve Kiefer, shared a glimpse of what’s to come for transportation and how automation is transforming the way consumers approach the daily commute.
“At General Motors we have a vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion,” Kiefer said. “It’s really a vision not just of GM, but a vision for our industry and our world and sustainable planet. I’m extremely proud of the position that General Motors has taken with the “Zero, Zero, Zero” vision. I’d like to comment on just a few of the elements of it.”
GM’s Senior Vice President of Global Purchasing & Supply Chain, Steve Kiefer, shared a glimpse of what’s to come for transportation.
Through GM’s “Zero, Zero, Zero” vision, transportation is transformed from every aspect including safety and reliability, to sustainable innovation and affordability. By tackling the biggest issues in transportation, GM creates solutions for major issues impacting the economy and overall safety for all drivers.
Zero Crashes
“First of all: zero crashes. We have been working with our
partner – Cruise Automation, and have developed four different generations of autonomous
vehicles that are committed to autonomous, person-free driving. As most of you
may know, 94 percent of the crashes in the world are due to driver error. We
believe autonomous vehicles will eliminate crashes in the future.”
And it doesn’t stop there. Keifer announced General Motors will soon boast an entire fleet of electric vehicles ranging from passenger cars, SUVs, and full-size pickup trucks. This vision has already taken shape in the form of the battery-only Bolt EV offering competitive pricing and outlasting ranges of other EVs.
Zero Emissions
“The second thing is zero emissions, and first let me talk about the beautiful Bolt EV. This is really the first of General Motors’ vehicles that really achieve an affordable, long-range vehicle. This vehicle has a range of 238 miles, an incredible amount of cargo space, and a 0-60 time in six and a half seconds. We often say it’s not just the “great electric vehicle” because it’s a great vehicle. This is part of our commitment to an all-electric future.”
Time is of the essence and GM tackles the issue head-on by adding it to their vision for the future. Time is something that simply cannot be bought back, so GM wants to provide a way to re-purpose the hours wasted due to congestion.
Zero Congestion
“Last thing I will comment on is zero congestion. Our goal is really to give our customers their time back. An interesting survey that revealed U.S. drivers sit idly in traffic an average of one full week per year during their commute. That’s 168 hours of precious time and a cost of over $3 billion a year when you break it down. Part of our solution will be to provide hassle-free access to transportation through mobility choices such as Lyft and Uber,” he concluded.
To read more about what General Motors and Michelin are doing to support sustainable transportation, please visit: GM.com
Day one of this year’s Movin’On Summit kicked-off bright and early Tuesday in beautiful Montréal offering a vast array of networking brain dates, working sessions, and press conferences revealing upcoming innovations and transportation game-changers. Among the most exciting press conferences would be the early afternoon session hosted by Michelin’s very own Executive Vice President of Research & Development, Eric Vinesse, Chief Executive Officer for Michelin Group, Florent Menegaux, and Steve Kiefer, Senior Vice President, Global Purchasing & Supply Chain General Motors.
The Michelin UPTIS – an airless wheel assembly, was introduced during the highly anticipated press conference revealing a new kind of innovation to impact passenger models sector as early as 2024, following a joint research agreement between Michelin and General Motors validating the prototype.
“Today, I’m especially pleased to introduce our latest breakthrough in mobility, supporting the first of the four pillars, a prototype – Michelin Uptis,” Vinesse said as he unveiled the airless, puncture-proof tire. “Together with our partner General Motors we have the ambition to make this prototype available for users and owners of passenger vehicles as early as 2024.”
“It brings less stress and more peace of mind knowing there’s no longer the risk of finding yourself stranded on the side of the road because of a flat tire. It brings greater efficiency and productivity for fleet and commercial vehicles that will no longer have to plan for maintenance operations to check and adjust… or to fix a flat tire,” he added.
The Uptis Prototype directly supports Michelin’s goal of holding true to its four-pillar vision in creating airless, connected, 3D printable, and completely sustainable innovative solutions. Currently, more than 200 million tires are discarded or replaced due to air pressure issues, road hazards, and damages. Uptis not only changes the way transportation is approached, but directly impacts the environment by eliminating wasted materials.
“General Motors is excited about the possibilities that Uptis presents, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Michelin on this breakthrough technology,” said Steve Kiefer, senior vice president, global purchasing & supply chain, General Motors. “Uptis is an ideal fit for propelling the automotive industry into the future and a great example of how our customers benefit when we collaborate and innovate with our supplier partners.”
“The Uptis Prototype demonstrates Michelin’s capacity for innovation — in both the mastery of these high-tech materials, and also the development approach in close collaboration with GM, which validates our Vision concept as a roadmap for innovation,” added Vinesse. “Uptis represents progress toward Michelin’s vision for tomorrow’s mobility, and also embodies our commitment to a better, sustainable mobility for all.”
Delta Township, MI – Ontario, Canada-based Magna International Inc. announced today the grand opening of a new ‘greenfield’ facility in Delta Township, Michigan, for the manufacture of automotive exterior products.
The 290,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art injection molding and robotic paint line facility will employ approximately 340 people at full production.
The facility will produce front and rear fascias for several vehicles within the General Motors line-up, including the Cadillac ATS, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.
With the addition of DexSys, Magna now has 28 manufacturing operations and more than 10,000 employees in Michigan alone.
Magna International is a global automotive supplier with 317 manufacturing operations and 83 product development, engineering and sales centers in 29 countries.
The company’s capabilities include the production of body, chassis, interior, exterior, seating, power train, electronic, vision, closure and roof systems and modules, as well as complete vehicle engineering and contract manufacturing.
