Welcome to our roundup of the news that's grabbed our attention from across our specialist industries over the last month!
Automotive
Honda’s electric vision is on-plan
As part of its “electric vision” strategy, Honda intends to electrify its mainstream European model line-up by 2022. In a bid to meet European regulations, the manufacturer will launch six electrified cars over the next 36 months, including the new Honda Jazz.
Honda’s shift to electrification in Europe arrives three years earlier than initially planned due to the speed at which European emissions regulations are being updated, improved consumer attitudes towards electric motoring and the company’s confidence in its pure and hybrid powertrains.
The 2020 Honda Jazz will spearhead the firm’s push towards hybrid drive, with the Jazz’s petrol engine acting as a range-extender, generating electricity for the motor, which Honda says improves economy and refinement.
Motorsport
Formula 1 streams 2019 Mexican Grand Prix via Twitch
Sunday’s Grand Prix was streamed via the Twitch website and app – the first time a Grand Prix has done so. Sessions from the Mexican Grand Prix weekend were streamed live and free in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The news comes as F1 announces its partnership with the leading service for multiplayer entertainment.
The deal will see interactivity and gaming elements added to the broadcast to drive engagement from within the community, and the race sessions will be co-streamed by a select group of prominent gaming/in-market personalities to drive further engagement and exposure.
Manufacturing & Technologies
Barclays Research says 5G could boost UK business revenues by over £15bn by 2025.
Research from Barclays has found the introduction of a 5G mobile telecommunications network could increase UK business revenues by up to £15.7bn by 2025. The UK government has partnered with mobile infrastructure and telecoms providers to work towards an ambitious target of a national 5G rollout by 2027, and full fibre broadband six years later.
5G’s far greater speed and lower latencies present enormous opportunities for UK manufacture and its place on the world stage, with “infant” technologies such as IoT, big data, smart cities and homes, AR and VR all greatly facilitated by the greater connectivity of 5G. The World Economic Forum predicts 5G will become the standard for industry connectivity in the future.
Future Tech
Intelligent Energy wins APC grant to develop high power fuel cells
Zero-Carbon think tank The APC, whose remit is to ensure the UK remains competitive in the global race to reduce CO2 emissions, has awarded a grant to help Intelligent Energy integrate full fuel cell powertrains into SUVs and buses.
The grant will help Intelligent Energy contribute its latest high powered cell system unto SUVs for Chinese car manufacturer Changan and buses for ADL, the leading bus manufacturer in the UK.
The programme will see the development of fuel cell stacks and systems in the range of 30kW to 120kW based on Intelligent Energy’s high-power metal plate fuel cell technology. It will present wider positive implications and opportunities for the UK’s fuel cell system supply chain, with a production capability that enables the fuel cell stacks and systems to be made available to other OEMs.
Exec & Leaders
Banning access to work emails outside office hours ‘could impact employees’ wellbeing’
…But not in the way you might assume. New research has concluded that blocking employees from accessing their work emails outside of working hours could be detrimental to their mental health.
A study conducted by the University of Sussex suggests that bans on extra-curricular (work) email-checking can be difficult for people who suffer from high degrees of anxiety or neuroticism. In summary, the research suggests that “one-size-fits-all” approach to managing emails is not effective in workforces where, inevitably, there are as many ways to managing inboxes as there are employees.
In 2017 a law was passed in France requiring firms with 50 employers or more to establish when staff must refrain from sending or answering emails, while in 2018 Lidl reportedly banned workers in Belgium from sending emails to each other between 6pm and 7am.
Graduates
Embrace Volunteerism if you want to hire us, says Gen Z
A survey of 5,000 U.S. members of Gen Z by Door of Clubs has revealed that the generation is more driven by specific causes than older generations, from the environment to equality. Perhaps enabled by the fact that as digital natives they are always connected and have a global world view, they expect to be involved in global, not merely local initiatives. They expect employers to embrace volunteerism, which for some companies may include volunteer time off programmes (VTOS).
Source: https://www.tlnt.com/gen-z-expects-you-to-embrace-volunteerism/