Daily News: Monday 1/22/18

Bugatti 3D Prints World’s First Functional Brake Caliper

Bugatti, despite being one of the most storied automotive marques steeped in history, often leads the charge towards greater technological integration in their products and production methods. The Veyron and Chiron super sports cars have been near the top of the automotive performance pyramid for nearly a decade and a half due to this use of technology.

Now, Bugatti has introduced another technological first in the automotive world: they have designed and produced the worlds first brake caliper that can be printed using existing technology. The brake caliper features a monobloc caliper, and eight pistons aiding in stopping power.

Not only did Bugatti design the first printable brake caliper, they have deviated from the normal printing material, aluminum, and instead utilized titanium, making this caliper the largest functional component printed using titanium. This was done with the help of Laser Zentrum Nord of Hamburg, Germany, a leader in 3D printing technology.

This 8-piston caliper is strong enough to be used on a Chiron, and as such vehicle trials on production-like vehicles begins in the first half of this year. The large size of the caliper can also be scaled down as needed, for use in the rest of the Volkswagen Group.

Bugatti looks to be setting itself up as the 3D Printing development company within the Volkswagen Group, so look for more 3D printed parts coming out of Molsheim in the coming years.

BMW to Turn Apple CarPlay into Subscription Service

Beginning with 2019-model-year vehicles, BMW is looking to turn Apple CarPlay functionality into a subscription service. Currently, the automaker treats the service much as it does a sunroof or interior options, and charges a one time fee of $300 for the inclusion of CarPlay services.

With the new plan, BMW vehicles will all have CarPlay installed, however it will only be enabled through the enrollment in a yearly-subscription program. New vehicles will come with one year of CarPlay included, with following years costing $80.

With this move, BMW may herald the industry switch of treating CarPlay and Android Auto (which BMW’s are not compatible with) as services like Sirius XM radio, rather than AM/FM radio, which is simply installed once and is in the car for good. On the flip-side, the market may not approve of such a move, forcing BMW and any other following automakers to fall back into line, so to speak.