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Major Alexa deal will bring Amazon services into more cars

Amazon and its personal assistance service Alexa are partnering with HERE Technologies to create a new connected mobility service powerhouse. Alexa will integrate with HERE's navigation and location services to offer what the two companies are calling a "true voice-first-navigation experience." Alexa will come pre-integrated with HERE navigation on-demand, which the automakers can then enable, which should help cut down on development time. One of the biggest features from this partnership is how directions could be offered and delivered using HERE's Open Location Platform (OLP). Currently, the OLP uses data from several car manufacturers to provide insights into real-time location and traffic. But on Alexa, this could be used to provide directional context. For example, Alexa could say, "Turn right after [such-and-such a building]" rather than just, "Turn right." Amazon has been testing the automotive waters throughout the past decade. Its home-based Alexa-enabled devices are already offered with connections to several manufacturers. To various degrees of integration, it can already pair with Ford, Genesis, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai and BMW vehicles. At the end of 2018, Amazon took things a step further when it introduced the Echo Auto, a Bluetooth-connected Alexa assistant device that can be physically kept in a car. Currently only available by invitation (its production and distribution have been delayed), the $25 device is essentially a voice service that works together with smartphones and connects to a car's speakers. Users can command it to do a variety of things, including playing music, setting navigation, opening the garage door, finding local stores, making calls, setting reminders, and thousands of other "skills." According to The Verge, nearly 1 million people have already ordered the device. Some (well, probably few) may know HERE Technologies from its maps on Windows Phones. We all know how that turned out, though. Today, HERE has expanded into a multi-function suite that is available in multiple mediums, including many automotive applications. HERE Automotive's connected vehicle services include real-time traffic, parking, weather, fuel prices, hazard warnings, traffic sign integration, and even EV charging stations. These all incorporate and extend the use of HERE's location and tracking programming. HERE is already partnered with BMW, Audi, Daimler, Intel, Mobileye, NVIDIA, and has investments from Bosch, Continental and Pioneer.

U.S., South Korea strike a new trade deal

WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea have reached agreement on a new trade pact, the White House said on Tuesday. "We have come to an agreement in principle, and we expect to roll out specific details on that very soon," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a briefing. Her comments were the Trump administration's first confirmation that the two sides had reached an agreement in trade talks covering revisions to the U.S. South Korean Trade Agreement (KORUS) and a South Korean exemption from new U.S. metals tariffs. Seoul on Monday announced a deal to limit exports to the U.S. of South Korean steel, while extending high U.S. tariffs on any possible South Korean pickup trucks and increasing U.S. automakers' access to the Korean market. But details of the agreement have not yet been released by the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which led the negotiations for the United States after President Donald Trump last year called the 6-year-old bilateral pact a "horrible deal" that had doubled the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea since 2012. The deal is expected to permanently exempt South Korea from Trump's tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, but South Korea will have to reduce its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent from its average over the past three years to about 2.68 million tons. South Korea was the third largest steel exporter to the United States last year after Canada and Brazil. The agreement also was expected to double South Korea's import quota for cars meeting U.S. safety standards — not necessarily Korean standards — to 50,000 per manufacturer per year from 25,000 previously. The big challenge now would be getting unimpressed Korean consumers to buy them. The 25 percent U.S. tariff for pickup trucks, which was due to begin a phase-out starting in 2019, would be extended for another 20 years, according to South Korean officials. This would virtually ensure that any pickup truck contemplated by Korean automakers Hyundai or Kia for the U.S. market would be built in the United States.Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and David LawderRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Reuters Government/Legal Hyundai Kia

Recharge Wrap-up: Peugeot eF01 folding e-bike, Australia orders Hyundai FCEVs

Australia has ordered 20 hydrogen powered vehicles from Hyundai. The Australian Capital Territory Government in Canberra will take delivery of the fleet of Hyundai's next-generation fuel cell vehicles (set to replace the Tucson Fuel Cell in 2018) for its Renewable Transport Fuels Test Berth project. As part of the program, the vehicles will be powered by hydrogen made with a Siemens Silyzer System with electricity from Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia. The Siemens refueler is capable of powering over 1, 000 fuel cell vehicles each averaging 14,000 miles per year. Read more from Hyundai. Peugeot has unveiled its eF01 electrically assisted folding bike. Meant to facilitate multimodal travel, Peugeot's eF01 folds up quickly to be thrown in the trunk of a car, carried on public transport, or wheeled in its folded position while walking. It's a little hefty, at 37 pounds, but its compactness helps make up for that. It can be charged in the cargo area of any vehicle with a 12-volt outlet, so it's ready to provide 18 miles of electric assistance at speeds of up to 12 mph. It can also communicate with a smartphone via Bluetooth to show current charge and range. Read more from Peugeot. A123 Systems will collaborate with Argonne National Laboratory to create safe, better performing lithium-ion batteries. The partners will focus on cathode technology in order to increase energy density and durability in order to improve the driving range of electric vehicles. A123 expects to increase energy density and range by more than 60 percent over its current offerings. "Working with Argonne will further advance our already strong presence in plug-in vehicles and support the increasing market demand globally," says A123 Systems CEO Jason Forcier. "We look forward to expanding our customer base as we offer increasingly greater range to our plug-in vehicle programs without compromising on the life and safety performance that the market has come to expect from A123." Read more in A123's press release. Featured Gallery Peugeot eF01 Folding E-Bike Related Gallery 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell: LA 2013 View 19 Photos News Source: Hyundai, Peugeot, A123 Systems Green Hyundai Peugeot Alternative Fuels Bikes Electric Hydrogen Cars recharge wrapup