Month: July 2019

Enlarge / An illustration of VW's MEB modular electric vehicle architecture. VW is gearing up to put MEB-based vehicles into mass production in the next 18 month. (credit: Volkswagen)

On Friday morning, Reuters reported that the collaborative alliance between Ford and Volkswagen is to deepen. Back in January, the two car makers announced plans to share technology and platforms, starting with new commercial vehicles like vans and medium-sized pickup trucks. At the time, there was much speculation as to whether VW would also give Ford access to its new MEB architecture, a parts bin and toolkit for building electric vehicles.

Although Ford was an early leader in hybrid technology, in recent years it has lagged behind other large automakers when it comes to electrification, particularly VW (which has a highly aggressive plan to build battery EVs at scale). When the initial partnership was announced, it was not therefore surprising that VW leadership was asked whether the collaborative effort would include VW allowing Ford use of MEB.

In January, VW CEO Herbert Diess told reporters that "We are in constructive open dialog to leverage the technology. Probably not worldwide, but they are viable for Europe and China." However, there was some ambiguity as to whether Diess was referring to MEB or VW's light truck platform which Ford will use in markets outside North America.

Enlarge / You had me at "cyber."

This week, my wife and favorite librarian Paula brought home a new acquisition specially for me: An Innocent to Tame the Italian, a recent book from the Harlequin Presents imprint. Author Tara Pammi's previous books—which include Sicilian's Bride for a Price and Sheikh's Baby of Revenge—share a somewhat politically incorrect leitmotif of foreign sexual intrigue. If you're wondering: no, romance novels are generally not my speed.

But the back-of-the-book tease for this work declared otherwise:

For brooding tech billionaire Massimo Brunetti, a cyberattack on his company is unacceptable. After tracking down the savvy Manhattan hacker, he's stunned to find gorgeous genius Natalie Crosetto. Yet naive Nat isn't the saboteur. To uncover who she's protecting, Massimo returns to Italy—with Nat playing his fake fiancée! But this untamable Italian might have met his match in innocent Nat, who challenges him... and tempts him beyond reason!

"You had me at cyber," I told Paula.