10/12/2024 |Articles are machine translated
Imagine such an absurd thing: that a chip intervened in a fight between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison at the end of the 19th century. The merciless tug-of-war between former colleagues over whether the world should use alternating or direct current might not have happened at all. Nor would the unknown number of stray dogs and cats whose “executions” Edison staged to convince the public that alternating current, the one Tesla preferred, was deadly, have had to die in an exemplary manner. The chip would stand, figuratively speaking, between the two currents and simply change them from one to the other as needed. The chip can do that, and it can do it extremely efficiently. Yes, I know, it’s not that simple. It’s a bit of nonsense. And not just because in the 19th century nobody could imagine such a thing as a tiny but damned clever chip – although the conductive properties of silicon, on which semiconductor components, chips, are built even today, were known before Tesla and Edison came up with the first calculations.
Semiconductors have been manufactured in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, where onsemi’s huge investment is heading, since 1955. It is this long tradition, and therefore the great experience combined with the reliability that the Rožnov company has demonstrated over the last twenty years, already within the corporation, that was behind the decision to locate the new production here. It is a great success, which is only a few steps away. In this issue of Český autoprůmyslu, we talk about what such an investment means for Rožnov, for the Czech Republic and for Europe in an extensive interview with the vice-president of onsemi in Rožnov, Aleš Cáb.
In the interview, Aleš Cáb says, among other things, that the need for chips will grow significantly in connection with the development of autonomous transport. For some time, it seemed that self-driving cars were somewhat forgotten in our country. But in the Czech Republic, too, the ice has been broken. Not that a fleet of vehicles without pedals and steering wheels could immediately hit the streets here, but legislation is being born that will allow automated driving in Stage 3, i.e. with the option of having your hands in your pocket instead of on the steering wheel. A great text called Boredom in the Car has all the information you need to know about automated driving – including where Level 4 is already possible in Europe.
The December issue of the Czech Car Industry brings other good or at least interesting news. For example, we write about what the fact that Vitesco will change its name to Schaeffler means for Czech plants. We mapped the world of car shows and found out that they may be catching their second wind – at least Chinese companies will probably always participate. And maybe those in South Korea, too. After all, South Korean carmakers have considerable global ambitions. We write about that too.
As usual, this issue also focuses on European legislation, this time on legislation that will bring additional recycling obligations for car manufacturers. Will this be a contribution to sustainability or just another burden? Read on to see.
Try to keep the good news to yourself this Advent and be positive – as we do in this editorial.
Have a peaceful Christmas and recharge your batteries for a probably troubled next year.
to read in Czech
