Recharge Wrap-up: Lyft partners with Didi Kuaidi, Cadillac uses ultracapacitors
Car2go has announced service in Miami Beach, FL. Beginning October 1, the one-way carsharing service will expand its boundaries beyond its current Miami service area to include neighboring Miami Beach. “We’re thrilled to see car2go expand to Miami Beach,” says Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine. “Miami Beach residents and visitors are increasingly seeking new, environmentally conscious options to move around North, Middle, and South Beach, and carsharing is an important part of realizing that vision.” Read more from Car2go.
ClipperCreek has added the HCS-30 EVSE to its product line. The 24-amp, 240-volt Level 2 charging station is designed for residential and workplace duty. It allows for faster charging without the customer having to upgrade their electrical service panel. Delivering about 20 miles of range per hour of charging, the HCS-30 EVSE can charge most EVs in about four hours. Pricing begins at $565. Read more from ClipperCreek.
Cadillac will use ultracapacitors in its stop-start systems for 2016. Rather than relying on battery power to run electrical systems while the engine is not running, the utracapacitors can provide a stable flow of energy without losing lifespan to repeated cycling. Supplied by Maxwell Technologies, the ultracapacitors are also lighter than batteries and, according to Cadillac, provide smoother restarts. The 2016 models to use the updated stop-start technology as standard will be the ATS and CTS, with the exception of the V performance variants. Read more at Green Car Reports.
– Didi Kuaidi Invests $100 million in Lyft – Companies Introduce Ridesharing Coverage Between the U.S. and China – Strategic Partnership Includes Product and Technology Collaboration
SAN FRANCISCO and BEIJING, Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Lyft and Didi Kuaidi today announced Didi Kuaidi has made a strategic investment of $100 million in Lyft. Additionally, the two companies have entered into a strategic partnership that will leverage each company’s technological strengths, product development expertise, rich local market knowledge and vast resources to bring seamless ridesharing to the U.S. and China.
Didi Kuaidi’s investment came as part of a financing round led by Rakuten earlier this year that also included Carl Icahn, Alibaba and Tencent. With this investment, Didi Kuaidi has joined leading investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management and others in supporting Lyft’s long-term growth.
Under the partnership, the two parties will launch in-depth collaboration between their technology and product development teams, to achieve synergies in product innovation and enhance user experiences. Adding to the combined power of their advanced algorithm systems and ride-matching capabilities, Lyft and Didi Kuaidi will also share local knowledge and other business-related resources to explore new models of cross-platform and cross-regional market development, with an aim to build a healthy, collaborative global ridesharing industry.
As part of the alliance, Lyft and Didi Kuaidi will launch cross-platform interoperability so their existing users can access local on-demand transportation services offered by the partner company from their native applications when they are traveling in the U.S. and China. The number of visits between the two countries totaled more than 7.8 million[1] in 2014 and continues to experience double-digit growth. The global coverage partnership will improve users’ international travel experience and boost each partner’s global market impact.
“Didi Kuaidi is excited to form this groundbreaking collaboration with Lyft, the first company to develop a peer-to-peer service,” said Cheng Wei, CEO of Didi Kuaidi. “From our home base in China, Didi Kuaidi is building China’s largest one-stop on-demand transportation service platform. As the industry innovation leader, Lyft will continue to build upon its existing market and brand power.”
Cheng Wei continued, “Didi Kuaidi deeply admires Lyft’s commitment to best serve their driver and passenger communities. Like Lyft, we focus on activating the power of local resources and expertise in the true spirit of building a global sharing economy. We will continue to cherish and focus on our home base while sharing financial, technological and market resources to achieve a shared goal of building the most efficient, sustainable and diversified global transportation ecosystem.”
John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft, said, “Lyft was founded with the mission of connecting people and their communities through improved transportation. We are extremely excited to partner with Didi Kuaidi as they share our commitment to redesign cities putting people at the forefront. Didi Kuaidi is the clear market leader in China and has invaluable local expertise. In today’s rideshare environment, where every region presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities, partnering with the homegrown leader is the winning approach to Chinese expansion.”
Jean Liu, president of Didi Kuaidi, said, “Lyft is the pioneer in ridesharing innovation and Didi Kuaidi has built success with a unique model that offers comprehensive transportation solutions in more than 360 Chinese cities. Today we offer private car, carpooling, bus, chauffeur and taxi hailing services to more than 200 million users in China. These along with other connected services will extend to Lyft’s passengers. More importantly, the partnership with Lyft enables us to join forces in rapidly advancing global innovation and growth.”
