Automotive

Japanese online service developer DeNA launched a free car-hailing campaign on Wednesday, in a bid to catch up with bigger competitors in an increasingly crowded market.

Uber Technologies Inc. and Hitachi Ltd. are among the companies that will flood London with 3,000 electric vehicles as part of a study aimed at overcoming a shortage of charging points blamed for holding back sales.

Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions, Toshiba's infrastructure unit, is teaming up with Johnson Controls Power Solutions of the U.S. to make lithium-ion batteries, the Japanese company said on Wednesday.

An experiment with a traveling gas station was launched Monday in northern Hamamatsu, the first trial of its kind in Japan, with a tanker truck directly transferring gasoline to vehicles.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry have presented a draft roadmap stipulating the start of flying cars’ practical use in the 2020s.

Sumitomo Metal Mining will spend over 200 billion yen ($1.77 billion) to set up a nickel smelter in Indonesia to meet strong demand for the metal used in electric car batteries.

A humanoid robot drove a car in a demonstration event held on Friday in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. The Toyota city government and a University of Tokyo laboratory have been conducting research on developing a robot capable of driving a car. They developed a new robot named Musashi, which is about 1.6 meters tall and is able to move its fingers and toes. Cameras mounted in its eyes and sensors inside the body enable the robot to recognize its own posture and detect vibrations.

It is 5 p.m. on a weekday in Huizhou, a lake-studded city in China's Guangdong Province, and workers are streaming out of a BYD manufacturing plant looking weary after a day's work. Many head straight for the crowded street food stalls lined up in front of the factory for after-work noodles and drinks.

Mazda Motor plans to release electric vehicles exclusive to the Chinese market in 2020, aiming to boost its presence in the world's biggest automotive market by offering locally built products.

Toyota Motor Corp. is considering trials using autonomous vehicles to transport residents and deliver food in central Japan by the late 2020s as it focuses on new mobility services using self-driving technology, company sources said Friday.