Automotive News Canada - October 2021 - 8

8
* OCTOBER 2021
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
A DRIVER WAS BEHIND THE
wheel in late September when the test
vehicle pulled into the Autonomous
Vehicle Research and Intelligence Lab
at the University of Waterloo. But if all
goes well over the next five years, that
Jeep Grand Cherokee might leave the
southwestern Ontario lab without a
human foot on the pedals.
Outfitted with a series of advanced
driver-assistance systems (ADAS), the
SUV is part of a $1.6-million partnership
between the university and parts
supplier Magna International Inc.
The collaboration, designed to
enhance the safety and cybersecurity
of self-driving vehicles, is among the
growing number of research and development
efforts aimed at sharpening
Canada's competitive edge in the global
race to electrify vehicles and equip
them with autonomous systems.
But experts interviewed by
Automotive News Canada are divided
over whether the domestic sector can
compete with industry superpowers
such as China and the United States.
INNOVATION NATION? YES
Canada has the right mix of automotive
and tech know-how to become
a centre for innovation, said Ross
McKenzie, managing director of the
University of Waterloo's Centre for
Automotive Research (WatCAR).
" I'm a firm believer that we've
punched above our weight in the past,
and with continued effort, we will find
more of those opportunities and to
continue to punch above our weight, "
McKenzie said.
Fedeli:
EVs can
jump-start
opportunity
for the
province.
FILE PHOTO
WatCAR has more
than 100 researchers
working with automakers,
parts suppliers
and other industry
players to tackle
projects ranging from
weight reduction on
the components side
to ADAS in the industry's
fast-growing software
segment. Similar
institutional auto
research hubs - and
startup incubators
such as Communitech
in Waterloo and the
DMZ at Ryerson University in Toronto
- have grown up along the TorontoWaterloo
corridor.
For Ontario, which is the driving
force of Canada's auto sector, the shift
to electric vehicles presents the opportunity
to be involved in every step of
the process, said Victor Fedeli, the
The University of Waterloo and Magna
International are working to improve
the safety of self-driving vehicles,
and the cybersecurity needed to
move them beyond the lab.
PHOTO: DAVID KENNEDY
FIELD OF
DREAMS
Canadian researchers are at the forefront of new
automotive technologies, and the sky's the limit
But is it?
province's minister of economic development,
job creation and trade.
The province's strategy extends
across a significant
portion of the EV
supply chain, running
from resource
extraction through
design to battery
manufacturing and
vehicle assembly.
Fedeli wants it all
done in-province.
The government is
currently working to
help companies tap
Ontario's reserves
of cobalt for use in
batteries as well as
courting several EV
battery manufacturers
looking to set up
Kabbara:
" We're in
a race to
become a
global ZEV
leader. "
PHOTO:
LINKEDIN
shop in the province, Fedeli said.
A ROAD TO EV SUPPLY CHAIN
In a bid to rev up the development
of a domestic EV supply chain,
a cross-Canada network of representatives
from manufacturing, mining
and labour recently forged an alliance
called Accelerate.
Canada currently lacks a cohesive
strategy to take its " rightful place in
the ZEV (zero-emission vehicle) transition
and ensure its long-term competitiveness, "
the group said.
Accelerate's mandate: Develop an
industrial road map to build out the
supply chain, engage in policy advocacy
and enable collaboration among
ZEV players to help attract investment,
secure public support and create
a talent pipeline to power the
emerging supply chain.
" We're in a race to become a global
ZEV leader, " said Moe Kabbara,
the group's acting executive director.
" Acting now to create this alliance
and to position ourselves for success
in the rapidly changing automotive
sector will ensure we not only retain
existing jobs in Canada but also add
new ones. "
Ontario uses
the Autonomous
Vehicle Innovation
Network (AVIN)
to support new
Ontario-made
auto technologies
and the Ontario
Automotive
Modernization
Program (O-AMP)
to help parts suppliers
roll out
innovations. Fedeli
pointed to big-ticket
auto investments
in the province
over the past
Kingdom are other prominent examples.
" All
of these semiperiphery automotive
countries are experiencing a
similar decline and none of them have
found the magic solution. "
WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES
Automotive R&D spending in
the last few years is just about
exactly the same, even without
accounting for inflation, as it
was in the year 2000.
GREIG MORDUE
McMaster University
year by Ford Motor Co., Stellantis and
General Motors as proof the strategy
is working.
" There's nothing that says success
like those projects being announced, "
he said.
The federal government continues
to back automakers and parts suppliers
on innovation through such programs
as the Strategic Innovation
Fund that caters to large-scale projects
and the Net-Zero Accelerator
designed to support emissions-reducing
technologies.
R&D SPENDING IS ABOUT THE SAME
Although " pockets of positivity "
exist, the common narrative of
Canada as an auto research hub isn't
supported by the data, said Greig
Mordue, an associate professor of
engineering and ArcelorMittal chair
in advanced-manufacturing policy at
McMaster University in Hamilton,
Ont.
" Automotive R&D spending in the
last few years is just about exactly the
same, even without accounting for
inflation, as it was in the year 2000, "
Mordue said.
The slow shift of vehicle assembly
out of Canada is part of a global reordering
that has seen auto research
cluster around the home bases of the
world's big automakers, he said. At
the same time, production has moved
to regions with cheap labour, Mordue
said.
Canada and others on the " semiperiphery "
of the industry have
struggled to redefine themselves, he
said. Belgium, Spain and the United
While the global marketplace presents
new challenges, it offers auto technology
companies wider reach.
One such example is GaN Systems,
an Ottawa-based semiconductor company.
It recently
signed an agreement
to supply
BMW Group with
transistors for
the automaker's
upcoming electric
vehicles.
" It's up early
in the morning
to talk to Europe,
and midday you
talk to North
America, and at
night you talk
to Asia, " GaN
Systems CEO
Jim Witham said.
" That's just kind of part of doing business
in the global industry. "
Before GaN adopted an international
approach, Canada's research capabilities
were a key reason the company
was founded in Ottawa. GaN carried
out much of its early work at
a research fabrication site that the
National Research Council Canada
(NRC) maintains in the nation's capital,
Witham said.
The NRC also runs sites with direct
ties to automotive in Ontario, Quebec
and British Columbia.
Éric Baril, director
general of
the Automotive
and Surface
Transportation
Research Centre
within the NRC, said
his group conducts
research on products
such as new composites,
battery materials
and electric motors.
On a typical project,
Baril said, the
NRC might work with
an automaker, a Tier
1 parts supplier and
several other suppliMordue:
Is
Canada an
emerging
auto R&D
hub? The
data says no.
SUPPLIED
PHOTO
ers that share project costs, often with
an added cut from the federal government.
" By
doing that, we are assembling
a value chain. If the part goes through
the test and reaches [production], some
of the players around the table are
ready to put capital together to bring
the process into a commercial setup. "
- ANC
Automotive News Canada - October 2021

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