McLaren carbon fiber | Lind Canvas | Longbow lightweights | NXP MCUs | Volkswagen ID. EVERY1 | Grand Prix ACF startups

Volume 5 Issue 9

McLaren develops ART aerospace-grade carbon fiber scaled for supercar manufacturing

Deployed at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in Sheffield, UK, the new Automated Rapid Tape production method produces carbon-fiber structures optimized for lighter, stiffer, and stronger parts produced with less waste, the first production application being on the new W1 Ultimate supercar.

Lind intends to redefine surfing with the electric Canvas

Next week at the Palm Beach International Boat Show in Florida, the startup will demonstrate the Canvas, its first model with the look and feel of a traditional board but with an underside electric powertrain generating 20 kW for speeds of up to 37 mph and a 3.1-kW·h battery for a ride time of up to 45 min.

New automaker Longbow revives the iconic lightweight British sportscar in electric form

Led by former Tesla, Lucid, and X Shore execs, the startup says it is the first British electric sports car manufacturer and world-first maker of ‘featherweight electric vehicles,’ with the Speedster and Roadster having an all-electric powertrain and sub-1000-kg mass with first deliveries planned for 2026.

New NXP MCUs aid SDV zonal and electrification architecture development

Launched at Embedded World, the S32K5 MCU family extends the NXP CoreRide platform and combines leading-edge core performance with embedded MRAM memory to enable ECU consolidation with a focus on latency or efficiency to help automakers shift to software-defined vehicles.

Volkswagen ID. EVERY1 previews entry-level €20,000 electric model

The show car from Europe for Europe previews the production version backed by a new powerful software architecture and is part of a Volkswagen plan for nine new models by 2027 including four electric models based on the new MEB platform with front-wheel drive.

Grand Prix ACF AutoTech awards spotlight top auto startups

On April 2 in Paris, the accelerator will present awards to three of the six finalists—Carbon Waters, TETMET, H2Gremm, Abiliz, Merci Paulo, and Olec Technology—for its annual contest, and it is encouraging startups from the U.S. to apply later this year for the 2026 awards.