Wal-Mart commits to the new Tesla Semi
You certainly know Tesla, the car brand launched by Space X's Elon Musk. It's an electric car that has had its ups and downs in its relatively short life. Musk is always looking to the future, though, so each of his current major companies continues to innovate in an effort to stay ahead of the market.
This week the company announced its latest offering, simply called the Semi. The product -- as the name implies -- is an 18 wheeler which looks similar to those you see on roads every day, but perhaps a bit more sleek.
How self-driving cars will forever change California's cities
With more than 46,500 miles of interconnected highways and minimally viable public transit in most parts of the state, California is undoubtedly a driving state. This is best evidenced in Southern California, where the freeway system’s notorious traffic and intricacy in design is a daily conversation piece.
A novel concept at the time, California freeways expounded upon the rudimentary expressways that existed in New York, Detroit, and Chicago. What had once been an impromptu system of roads were revamped into streamlined boulevards. Highways were widened and streets were extended. Arteries like the Ramona Boulevard freeway and Hwy 101 linked metropoles to remote locales. Californian’s urban and suburban identity was radically transformed and never looked back.
Nvidia announces Drive PX Pegasus AI system for self-driving cars
Smart self-driving cars could become a reality sooner than predicted after Nvidia revealed its most powerful AI hardware platform to date.
At the company’s GTC Europe conference in Munich this week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the new Drive PX Pegasus system -- the company’s most advanced offering, and the world’s first AI computer dedicated to powering such vehicles.
DHL will trial Nvidia's new autonomous driving tech in electric delivery vehicles
Package delivery could soon become smarter than ever after DHL revealed it will soon be trialing a powerful new AI platform.
At Nvidia’s GTC Europe event in Munich this week, the world’s largest logistics company today announced a partnership with Nvidia’s Drive AI technology in its autonomous delivery vehicles.
New auto technology, new consumer considerations
Our taste for new tech has compressed the adoption cycle and introduced fresh technology into a variety of industries, including automotive. By 2020, 10 million self-driving cars will be on the road. Think about it -- that’s just three years away.
So soon, in fact, that it’s snuck up on many of us. So, what else can we expect? Here are three to keep an eye on.
Vacuum cleaner company Dyson to make a 'radical and different' electric car -- let's hope it doesn't suck
Dyson makes a lot of products -- ranging from hand and hair dryers, to fans and heaters -- but it’s still best known for its vacuum cleaners.
That might change in the future however, as the company has announced plans to create its own electric cars.
Autonomous cars: A delicate balancing act of tech innovation, safety and security
Two big things happened on Wednesday, September 13. First, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed the SELF Drive Act. Second, executives from BlackBerry, Cisco Jasper and AIMOTIVE took the stage at Mobile World Congress Americas to discuss autonomous cars and vehicles as a service.
In the Mobile World Congress Americas session, Barbara Peng, VP of Research for BI Intelligence, started off by asking each of the panelists for their predictions when autonomous cars would be on the road. Not one of the panelists gave an estimate, much to Barbara Peng’s frustration. But this just shows that even the people working to make driverless cars a reality knows there is too much work left to be done before they can estimate when they’ll be on the road.
Semi-autonomous truck convoys will hit UK highways by the end of 2018
Small groups of semi-autonomous trucks will be tested on major highways in the UK by the end of 2018.
According to the UK government, Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has been awarded a contract to test vehicle convoys. These convoys, consisting of up to three trucks, will be traveling in formation, with the leading truck controlling breaking and acceleration.
Hackers can disable your car's safety systems
Hackers could disable a modern car's airbags and other safety systems, putting the driver and the passengers at grave risk, according to a new warning.
Researchers from security firm Trend Micro have revealed a flaw that could allow the controlling network of a connected car to be overloaded, allowing possible hackers to compromise key systems in the vehicle, including safety aspects.
Thinkware F770 is an attractive high-end dash cam [Review]
For a dash cam to stand out from the crowd it needs to go beyond the basics of recording video. It has to be easy to use. The quality needs to be very good. It has to be reliable in a wide range of conditions. It must not lose footage in the event of a crash. And, last but not least, it needs a couple of differentiating -- but useful -- features to give it an edge in this highly competitive market.
The F770, one of the most attractive dash cams in Thinkware's high-end lineup, promises all those things and more. Question is, just how well does it perform in real life? I've tested it to find out.
The top 5 features to look for in your future connected car
Shopping for a car is exciting, but understanding all the options can be intimidating. Finding the right type of car for your needs is just the beginning. Then come the decisions about paint and interior colors, wheels, etc. And now that cars are becoming computers on wheels -- the "ultimate mobile devices" -- technological options will soon mean even more decisions.
Although some of these choices are not critical, some options can really make or break how satisfied you are with your new car purchase. Connected cars can enhance the driving experience with personally-tailored music preferences or cabin temperature, and make our busy lives easier by opening garage doors, controlling your home’s lighting and appliances, or arming home security systems -- automatically.
Do autonomous cars mean insurance is obsolete?
According to Business Insider, fully autonomous vehicles -- those that can drive from point A to point B without driver interaction -- will debut as soon as 2019. And these autos will be only a fraction of the 10 million self-driving cars BI Intelligence estimates will hit the road by 2020.
According to Elon Musk, "in the distant future, people may outlaw driven cars because it’s too dangerous." This might sound outlandish, but it does line up with car safety statistics. With more than 90 percent of accidents caused by driver error, "there is every reason to believe that self-driving cars will reduce frequency and severity of accidents," says Professor Robert W. Peterson of Santa Clara University’s Center for Insurance Law and Regulation.
Navigating new mobility in our cities
The future of the automotive industry is a hot topic these days, especially when it comes to urban mobility. Indeed, the increase in urban density, rising cost of car ownership, insufficient infrastructure to sustain urban growth and the high adoption rate of smartphones have laid the foundation for a series of new services. While one-way carsharing (Station Based and Free-Floating) is less known than ride-hailing in the US, it’s still one of the fastest growing trends among millennials in Europe and North America. And this is just the beginning!
People in cities are looking for mobility options that offer them flexibility, convenience and affordability. One-way carsharing scores very high on all three aspects, and free-floating scores even higher. These services will only keep getting better, and to top it all off, technology is now available to give operators the means they need to build their operation in record time.
What self-driving car makers can learn from the aviation industry
Autonomous vehicles (AVs), or driverless cars, are no longer a fantasy idea found only in sci-fi movies. With several car manufacturers already developing self-driving features, and a reported 10 million driverless cars set to hit the road by 2020, it is quickly becoming reality.
While driverless cars offer a range of advantages both on a personal and a societal level, the most important is the technology’s ability to improve safety and reduce the number of accidents on the road. Statistics show that as many as 94 percent of car accidents are caused by human error. By replacing drivers with algorithms, AV technology has the power to radically reduce the number of road accidents that are, in most cases, caused by human error.
How the automotive industry can benefit from an after sales app
In the new digital communications age it’s often the simplest, yet most elegant solutions that capture our imaginations and take off. People across the world have fallen in love with the sleek, pocket-friendly form of the iPhone, for example, or the pared-back concept of Twitter. Consumers can follow the journey of low-cost goods such as a coffee maker from Amazon or a pizza from Dominos from the warehouse to their doorstep quickly and easily via their smartphone or tablet. In London each week, 30,000 people download the Uber app knowing that this will enable them to hail a taxi with a swipe of the technology in their pocket.
The automotive industry has been among the pacesetters, of course, in embracing stylish innovation. The advent of the driverless car and the use of virtual reality and other immersive technologies like augmented reality to drive marketing and sales of vehicles provide compelling examples of how pioneering the sector can be. Car servicing has remained a stubbornly conservative low-tech industry until recently, however.
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