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Forbes
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
AI Governance And The Road To Reliable EVs
Raghu Para is a tech exec with over 15 years of progressive experience in software, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Picture this: It starts with a flicker. A tiny, imperceptible dip in voltage at Plant #47 in Battery Pack #8192 isn't quite keeping up with its siblings. No alarms sound. No red lights flash. You're cruising down the highway in your brand-new electric SUV when suddenly, boom, the battery pack erupts into flames. Because in the grand symphony of automotive manufacturing, this sneaky little data gremlin slipped past quality checks, and the deviation was written off as statistical noise. Fast forward, and that plant is now the star of a viral video titled "My Brand-New EV Tried to Kill Me." This isn't a promo from a Netflix sitcom. It's history repeating, much like the Chevrolet Bolt recall and other high-profile battery incidents that have triggered safety concerns and financial losses, casting a long shadow over the global EV market's momentum. The problem? Poor data governance. The Great Data Betrayal: When Your EV's Battery Logs Don't Lie Most carmakers treat battery logs like a weird uncle's conspiracy theory spreadsheet: full of numbers and zero trustworthiness. Manual checks miss subtle anomalies. Sampling ignores outliers. And by the time someone spots a trend, it's too late, and thousands of defective packs are already on the road because they don't catch the anomaly that matters the most. And here's why: • The Sampling Fallacy: Factories often test one in a hundred battery packs and extrapolate the results. This doesn't help since defects cluster and entire batches quietly go rogue while the QA team nods at those green dashboards. • Static Rule-Checking: Most quality checks are rigid. But voltage drift isn't a binary villain. It's context-dependent. A 3.5V reading might be fine at 20°C but catastrophic at 30°C. Yet most systems don't cross-reference temperature, humidity or even which intern was running the test that day. • The Human Bottleneck: Even when anomalies are flagged, they land in the inbox of a sleep-deprived engineer who must decipher hieroglyphic logs while begging for caffeine to kick in. By the time they connect the dots, another 10,000 suspect packs may have shipped. Next are recalls, lawsuits and a general impression of EVs as ticking time bombs. But what if we could stop the disaster before it starts and let our factories hear the whispers before they become screams? Buckle up to explore how battery factories can turn from liability time bombs into self-healing data fortresses, courtesy of AI. The AI Intervention: Ensuring Data Speaks Up The fix isn't more data. It's data that knows how to tell its own story through state-of-the-art, AI-powered data governance, where every voltage reading, temperature log and calibration report isn't just stored but understood. At the core is an adaptive anomaly detection system, a neural network trained on millions of battery test cycles. Unlike rigid rules, it learns the unique "heartbeat" of each cell chemistry. And knows that a 0.05V dip might be noise in one context but the first symptom of a thermal runaway in another. Plus, it can cross-reference voltage drift versus temperature curves, charge/discharge rates against supplier batch IDs and even the machine's vibration logs (because a wobbly conveyor belt can skew readings). Also, when something's off, it doesn't just flag it—it diagnoses it. Here's where most systems fail. Alerts pile up, engineers drown in false positives and critical signals get lost in the noise. The breakthrough here is a language model fine-tuned on every recall report, repair log and failure analysis in automotive history. It can read raw data like a seasoned detective: "Plant #47's voltage dip matches the pattern from the 2023 recall—likely a contaminated electrolyte batch from Supplier X. Also, the test room was 2°C warmer than standard. Recommend: Reject entire batch and audit Supplier X's last three shipments." Suddenly, the engineer isn't staring at a spreadsheet, but a plain-English incident report with the culprit circled in red. Of course, none of this matters if you can't prove where the data came from. That's where immutable lineage tracking comes in. Every voltage reading is stamped with which machine recorded it, who was on shift and even the calibration certificate of the sensors. So, when the inevitable "This wasn't our fault!" finger-pointing begins, the data testifies. The Ripple Effect: Beyond Battery Fires Catching battery fires early is the tip of the molten iceberg. Once your factory speaks "data whisperer," the applications multiply. The system notices when safety sensors aren't talking to each other right and fixes them before those phantom braking glitches. Large language models (LLMs) sniff out suspiciously perfect test reports (because the world has wrinkles) and flag the sketchy parts before they wind up in your car. And instead of calling back every vehicle, it can pinpoint which 500 cars got the bad batch of parts. Now, the limitation is that this tech isn't infallible, because it's garbage-in and garbage-out. We don't want to trust the weatherman who only looks out the window once a month. So, we keep humans in the loop and make sure the data stays true. When Governance Grows Up (But Is Still Not A Silver Bullet) Let's be clear: AI-powered data governance isn't a magic wand. It's giving your factory a photographic memory and a team of obsessive forensic AI agents. So, here's to the quiet revolution, where the most unattractive part of manufacturing (governance) becomes its most powerful shield. And where, maybe someday, EV fires will be as old-fashioned as crank-starting your Model T. But these teeth from governance can only bite if the whole company agrees to stop pretending spreadsheets are enough. Governance can't do it alone if engineers ignore its alerts, execs won't invest in edge computing to feed sensors with clean data or regulators don't mandate adversarial audits (because AI models can cheat, too). If your factory's data governance isn't AI-powered, self-healing and rigorously secure, you're not building cars. You're exposing your organization to legal risk and the potential for reputational damage. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Car and Driver
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
We Entered the Electric Lemons Endurance Test and, Well . . .
One million nickels. Real nickels, like, physical money. I say that because there are plenty of mirages on a 101-degree day at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California. Even though these nickels are not symptomatic of heat stroke, they are just as out of reach. It's not that I doubt that the 24 Hours of Lemons would cough up its promised prize of $50,000 in five-cent pieces for winning a race overall in an EV. It's more that I doubt it's worthwhile, or even possible. It'd be like buying a PlayStation with arcade tickets; you've surely spent more to get there than the prize is worth. There has to be another reason to enter a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV in the longest road race in North American history—and there is. You can learn a lot about racing when you're forced to do it with no chance of winning. Lemons racing is famous for crapcan cars and wacky builds, but it's also a place to experiment with new technologies like electric drivetrains for considerably less money than an entry in Formula E. Choosing an unusual vehicle or drivetrain may not be a quick ticket to the overall winner's circle, but as the shimmering nickels highlight, the Lemons team encourages the outrageous and unlikely. View Photos James Gilboy Forrest Iandola has put together a team of outrageous and unlikely drivers to match his unlikely electric entry. It's a revolving cast of tech-industry colleagues who want a taste of racing and, in this case, one Lemons-loving automotive writer. We'd built camaraderie over racing crappy cars, and when he dropped an invitation to race his Bolt in Thunderhill's 25-hour I was happy to join the chase for the nickels. What About the Lemons $500 Rule? Those familiar with Lemons' $500-car rule may object to the $16,800 spent on an off-lease Bolt, and the thousands more to make it race-ready, but the boundaries of crapcan racing have expanded as used cars have become more expensive and Lemons racing more competitive. The $500 guidance predates Cash for Clunkers, when that money went further. $500 will hardly get you a parts car these days, never mind the gear to pass Lemons' safety inspection. I like to say that $500 is a vibe, a means of steering you toward Lemons' ethos: endurance racing in cars that are bad at it. In that sense, there are few cars more Lemons-worthy than a high-mile commuter EV. View Photos James Gilboy It's not that the Bolt is from a forgotten or disreputable brand. It's not poorly made or unreliable (at least, since the battery recalls), and on decent tires, it doesn't corner like a cruise ship. It's just bad at racing on account of having a battery that needs charging. At full tilt, Iandola tells me the Bolt will burn through a full charge in 20 laps of Thunderhill, or about 45 minutes. It'd then be sidelined for an hour to DC fast-charge back to 70 percent, while all the other cars are racking up laps. Unlike cross-country EV records, the strategy in endurance racing isn't to go flat out, but to conserve energy and prolong the time spent on track. It's full-on hypermiling, but it's in the middle of a hot track, and you have California's most impatient beater-E30 driver in your mirrors. Lemons officials say they codified EV rules because Lemons people wanna build weird stuff and race it. Lemons is the only prominent amateur endurance racing series where you can race an EV. WRL, AER, Lucky Dog, and ChampCar don't even have EV rules on the books. Lemons has allowed electric cars since 2019, when it announced the aforementioned $50,000 prize to the first team to win overall in an EV. At the time I considered it an impossibility, and more a publicity stunt than an invitation to EVs, but Lemons officials told me otherwise. They say they codified EV rules because Lemons people wanna build weird stuff and race it. Only recently has it become possible to power said weird stuff with lithium-ion batteries. View Photos James Gilboy Lemons' EV rules, which are based on Pikes Peak regulations, look onerous to follow. They require consulting series safety officials before fabrication begins, as the risk of an EV's battery spilling its Greek fire and red-flagging a race—perhaps for a whole weekend—is too great to neglect. That's why it comes as a surprise how little the Bolt had to be modified. In the end, Lemons and Iandola agreed that the safest thing was not to meddle with high-voltage safety systems that GM spent billions engineering (and later fixing), only to add new points of failure. The Bolt's performance mods aren't much more auspicious either. Slim options for 5 x 105 wheels leave it on cheapo 17-inchers with 215-section tires, with the rears hidden behind corrugated plastic moondisc covers. A plastic undertray flattens out the underbody. Performance brake pads, a stiffer rear anti-roll bar from a Cruze, and front camber plates round out the chassis changes. Quicker cornering speeds are a big piece of the efficiency puzzle, and race strategy plays an even bigger role. But it can't control the wildest variable in any race team: the drivers. View Photos James Gilboy As mentioned, Iandola's volunteers run the gamut from experienced sim racers to total novices, so we never had much chance of sticking to his well-planned race strategy. In theory, two drivers would split a charge evenly, maximizing regenerative braking by racing in Low gear. The second driver would leave the track with around 5 percent charge to visit DC fast-chargers in town, about 10 minutes from Thunderhill. While the fastest cars could run under 2:20, our target was a leisurely 2:50 with 2.1 percent energy use per lap, for an average stint of about an hour. That's about all the human could take with track temps soaring past 100 degrees anyway, cool suit or not. Those times proved deceptively hard to hit. Saving juice required going not much quicker than 70 mph down the straights. Making the most of regen required slowing twice as far out as you could with friction brakes, too. As a consequence, traffic tended to come in red-hot, and we often couldn't see them dive-bomb us on account of the Bolt's poor rearward visibility (a trait of almost all modern cars). When cars didn't make aggressive moves, they often assumed they could barge past in the corners. They quickly learned otherwise. View Photos James Gilboy From the factory, the Bolt might be the worst-handling new car I ever reviewed. The steering is quick, but its weight signifies nothing, and the pedals add nothing to the conversation. Rock-hard tires didn't help either. But with the modifications? It's a tiny hatch with a short wheelbase, a low center of gravity, and its understeer tuned out. I could latch on like a lamprey to the back of an E30 through any corner, and waggle the rear to bring the nose in line. Even while conserving energy, the Bolt had pace to make the occasional pass. We mainly preyed on our chief EV competitor, Arcblast's converted Datsun 620 pickup with a battery hot-swap setup that kept it out on track (and importantly, ahead of us in lap count). I added a C5 Corvette to the tally too. It may have been an automatic convertible hauled out of a field, but a Vette is a Vette. I might've been frustrated driving what felt like a permanent full-course yellow had I not known what I was getting myself into. This isn't a wheel-to-wheel showdown, it's an efficiency challenge. What is "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" but a maxim about conservation of energy? Learning not to waste momentum is just as important to mastering the Mazda MX-5 as it is endurance-racing an EV. Distill the experience down to the very fundamentals of driving fast, and you learn more. I certainly gleaned more about technique in an hour in that EV than I did any of my previous three 24-hour races. View Photos James Gilboy The overall winner of the 25 Hours of Lemons was, in fairly predictable fashion, a beater BMW. And we were nowhere close to catching them, but I'd still give an electric another try. Twenty-fours are hellish affairs that are just as likely to break you as your car. I've subjected myself to heat stroke and exhaustion-induced auditory hallucinations in the name of anonymous finishes before, and I will again. If I'm going to finish 81st of 118 cars, I might as well relax while I do it. Eat some ice cream. Do some yoga. Think about how to inch closer to those five and a half tons of nickels.
ArabGT
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- ArabGT
This Week's Top Stories Deliver Record Numbers Exclusive Insights and Electric Reveals
In this week's coverage, we bring you the most important developments in the automotive world — from new production plans for popular electric vehicles to record-breaking performances on race tracks, along with exclusive interviews revealing the future of iconic brands. Here's a roundup of the most talked-about stories locally and globally. Chevrolet Bolt to Return with a 2027 Edition General Motors has officially announced the start of production for the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV by the end of 2025, with the model set to launch as a 2027 edition. The new Bolt will be built at GM's Fairfax plant in Kansas, part of a $4 billion investment across three U.S. factories. This investment will also support the development of an affordable new EV and expand traditional vehicle production. While the previous Bolt was discontinued, its revival highlights GM's commitment to delivering an entry-level EV based on its latest Ultium platform. A Glimpse into Nissan's Future in an Exclusive Interview with the Head of Nissan Middle East In an exclusive interview with ArabGT founder Mousub Shasha'a, Thierry Sabbagh, President of Nissan and Infiniti Middle East, addressed the challenges facing the Japanese automaker and outlined the global 'Re-Nissan' strategy. This restructuring plan aims to cut costs and launch new models such as the Patrol NISMO and Z NISMO. Sabbagh also reassured GT-R fans that the iconic model is here to stay, emphasizing Nissan's focus on quality and after-sales service. Hyundai Teases High-Performance Ioniq 6 N Hyundai has revealed the first teaser images of the Ioniq 6 N — a high-performance electric sedan set to join the brand's 'N' sport lineup. With a wide, aerodynamic design, prominent fender arches, and a large rear wing, the Ioniq 6 N emphasizes both track and daily driving performance. The official debut is scheduled for the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, following the success of the Ioniq 5 N. 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser: Sharper Design and a Hybrid Option for the First Time Toyota has unveiled an updated version of the 2025 Land Cruiser featuring a more aggressive design, improved lighting, and new features. The biggest headline, however, lies under the hood: for the first time ever, a hybrid version is available. It pairs a 3.5L twin-turbo V6 with an electric motor to deliver 457 hp and 790 Nm of torque. This hybrid option will be offered alongside the classic gasoline V6 in markets like the UAE, marking Toyota's clearest step yet into electrification without compromising its off-road legacy. Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Makes History at Nürburgring The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra made history this week by clocking an incredible lap time of 7:04.957 at Germany's Nürburgring circuit — making it the fastest road-legal, four-door electric production car ever. It beat out the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Rimac Nevera using a production-spec version equipped with a track package that includes Bilstein suspension and Endless brakes. With over 1,500 horsepower and a 0–100 km/h time of just 1.98 seconds, Xiaomi's entry into high-performance EVs is both serious and record-breaking — becoming the first Chinese car to top the EV leaderboard at Nürburgring.
Auto Blog
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
2027 Chevy Bolt is Coming: Our Best Guesses on Its Radical New Look
The unveiling of the second generation of one of Chevrolet's most popular EVs is imminent. What can we expect to see from the legacy American automaker? The Bolt returns Set to be unveiled later this year, Chevrolet's popular subcompact electric hatchback is due to receive a massive overhaul for its upcoming second generation. As one of the most affordable EVs in North America, the Chevrolet Bolt has won over hundreds of thousands of buyers over the course of its lifetime. Hoping to continue the success of the model, Chevrolet has been tasked with enhancing the model's appeal to its loyal fanbase, and critical factors such as increased interior space, enhanced battery range, and modernized style will determine whether the model's appeal continues into its next generation, or if it'll be eaten alive by increasingly competitive rivals. 0:02 / 0:09 Walmart is selling a 'heavy duty' $89 step ladder for $48, and shoppers say it's 'sturdy and secure' Watch More Using generative text-to-image artificial intelligence software and Adobe Photoshop, we take an imagined look at what the second-generation Chevrolet Bolt might look like. Integrating styling cues from contemporary Chevrolet models, such as the Trailblazer, Blazer EV, and Equinox EV, we can get a sense of what the brand's updated design language might look like when applied to a subcompact hatchback that more closely resembles the size of a Bolt, albeit with a minor increase to reflect enhanced cabin and cargo space. 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV (First Gen) What could the second-generation Chevy Bolt look like? Chevrolet Bolt Concept — Source: AI Generated Image The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt will likely retain similar proportions to its popular predecessor, keeping things understated and modest in terms of style, and continuing the Bolt's reputation for admirable functionality. At the same time, we can expect the Bolt's design to take plenty of inspiration from its more sizeable siblings, namely the Equinox EV and the Blazer EV, forming a cohesive lineup of up-to-date EV hatchbacks and crossovers. With the reintegration of the Bolt into Chevrolet's all-electric model portfolio, General Motors will have one of the most diverse and respected ranges of electric vehicles available to North American buyers. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Chevrolet Bolt Concept — Source: AI Generated Image How could the next Chevy Bolt differ from its previous generation? Although we don't have much official news from Chevrolet yet, we can safely assume that the second-gen Chevy Bolt will have improved range over its preceding generation, increased size to accommodate a more spacious interior, enhanced cargo space, and, of course, revamped styling. The Bolt's next-gen enhancements will likely aim to make the model more competitive with freshly updated rivals such as the Hyundai Kona EV and incoming additions to the segment, such as the highly anticipated Rivian R3. Chevrolet Bolt Concept Chevrolet Bolt Concept When will we know more about the next-gen Chevy Bolt? According to Car & Driver, production of the second-generation Chevrolet Bolt will begin sometime this year, meaning we should see an official unveiling from the legacy American automaker any day now. Destined to hit showrooms just in time for the 2027 model year, it seems like the Bolt is a serious priority for General Motors at the moment. The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt will be produced at GM's Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, and the automaker has apparently also teased 'another next-generation affordable EV to be built alongside the Bolt in Kansas City, Kansas,' according to Car & Driver. We're left with nothing but guesses at the moment about what this mysterious second affordable EV could be, but our best assumptions suggest that it could be a replacement for the Bolt EUV, a variant of the subcompact electric hatchback with more rugged styling and a raised suspension. 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Final thoughts Although the Chevrolet Bolt may not be the most exciting topic of conversation for diehard automotive enthusiasts, the electric subcompact hatchback has proven to be a popular model with North American buyers looking for an affordable EV that can serve as a daily driver for inner-city life. With hatchback practicality, comfortable seating for five, and a fully-electric range of up to 259 miles, the Chevrolet Bolt has cemented its reputation for frugal functionality. Shockingly, when General Motors discontinued the model back in 2023, the automaker had no plans for a replacement. Thankfully, it seems that the executives at GM have changed their minds and recognized that leaving the Bolt without a replacement would only be doing themselves and their loyal buyers a massive disservice. As we eagerly await more news from Chevrolet, we can't help but be glad that the automaker hasn't given up on such a sensible model as the Bolt. About the Author Cole Attisha View Profile
Miami Herald
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
2027 Chevy Bolt is Coming: Our Best Guesses on Its Radical New Look
Set to be unveiled later this year, Chevrolet's popular subcompact electric hatchback is due to receive a massive overhaul for its upcoming second generation. As one of the most affordable EVs in North America, the Chevrolet Bolt has won over hundreds of thousands of buyers over the course of its lifetime. Hoping to continue the success of the model, Chevrolet has been tasked with enhancing the model's appeal to its loyal fanbase, and critical factors such as increased interior space, enhanced battery range, and modernized style will determine whether the model's appeal continues into its next generation, or if it'll be eaten alive by increasingly competitive rivals. Using generative text-to-image artificial intelligence software and Adobe Photoshop, we take an imagined look at what the second-generation Chevrolet Bolt might look like. Integrating styling cues from contemporary Chevrolet models, such as the Trailblazer, Blazer EV, and Equinox EV, we can get a sense of what the brand's updated design language might look like when applied to a subcompact hatchback that more closely resembles the size of a Bolt, albeit with a minor increase to reflect enhanced cabin and cargo space. The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt will likely retain similar proportions to its popular predecessor, keeping things understated and modest in terms of style, and continuing the Bolt's reputation for admirable functionality. At the same time, we can expect the Bolt's design to take plenty of inspiration from its more sizeable siblings, namely the Equinox EV and the Blazer EV, forming a cohesive lineup of up-to-date EV hatchbacks and crossovers. With the reintegration of the Bolt into Chevrolet's all-electric model portfolio, General Motors will have one of the most diverse and respected ranges of electric vehicles available to North American buyers. Although we don't have much official news from Chevrolet yet, we can safely assume that the second-gen Chevy Bolt will have improved range over its preceding generation, increased size to accommodate a more spacious interior, enhanced cargo space, and, of course, revamped styling. The Bolt's next-gen enhancements will likely aim to make the model more competitive with freshly updated rivals such as the Hyundai Kona EV and incoming additions to the segment, such as the highly anticipated Rivian R3. According to Car & Driver, production of the second-generation Chevrolet Bolt will begin sometime this year, meaning we should see an official unveiling from the legacy American automaker any day now. Destined to hit showrooms just in time for the 2027 model year, it seems like the Bolt is a serious priority for General Motors at the moment. The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt will be produced at GM's Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, and the automaker has apparently also teased "another next-generation affordable EV to be built alongside the Bolt in Kansas City, Kansas," according to Car & Driver. We're left with nothing but guesses at the moment about what this mysterious second affordable EV could be, but our best assumptions suggest that it could be a replacement for the Bolt EUV, a variant of the subcompact electric hatchback with more rugged styling and a raised suspension. Although the Chevrolet Bolt may not be the most exciting topic of conversation for diehard automotive enthusiasts, the electric subcompact hatchback has proven to be a popular model with North American buyers looking for an affordable EV that can serve as a daily driver for inner-city life. With hatchback practicality, comfortable seating for five, and a fully-electric range of up to 259 miles, the Chevrolet Bolt has cemented its reputation for frugal functionality. Shockingly, when General Motors discontinued the model back in 2023, the automaker had no plans for a replacement. Thankfully, it seems that the executives at GM have changed their minds and recognized that leaving the Bolt without a replacement would only be doing themselves and their loyal buyers a massive disservice. As we eagerly await more news from Chevrolet, we can't help but be glad that the automaker hasn't given up on such a sensible model as the Bolt. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
