Driverless Cars
Car makers and suppliers appear to be committed to putting more autonomous – or driverless – cars on the road. Recently, chip maker Nvidia Corp. made an announcement about deepening its commitment to driverless vehicles. The company said it has built a new computer for autonomous cars that has the computing power equivalent to 150 Apple MacBook Pro laptops, and is about the size of a lunchbox. The new computer is required to process the massive amount of data coming through sensors on autonomous vehicles. In other news, Toyota is building a 200-person company designed to advance automated driving and other artificial intelligence. The new company may seek to commercialize products outside of autos that relate to artificial intelligence. In fact, the word is that Toyota plans to introduce an autonomous highway-driving system around 2020, although it hasn’t committed to a fully autonomous vehicle usable in all conditions. At the same time, Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk has tried to recruit software engineers to work on autonomous vehicles, and Ford Motor Co. said it plans to triple the number of autonomous Ford Fusion sedans it is testing. Ford also announced it is implementing a new advanced laser range finder from supplier Velodyne Acoustics, which can be hidden in side-view mirrors. General Motors Co. said it has a partnership with Mobileye NV, a maker of a camera-based vision system for lane and object detection used in autonomous vehicles. GM vehicles, which are connected to servers through its OnStar system, can feed information about roadways and traffic back to Mobileye, which can then constantly create new maps that are then sent back to autonomous vehicles to help them navigate the world. Google Inc., meanwhile, has been working on autonomous driving systems since 2009.
Vegan cars?
Tesla’s luxury electric vehicles are considered an eco-conscious choice for car buyers – or are they? For some, the leather in the seats and steering wheel requires slaughtering animals. Yet, the cloth substitute doesn’t quite measure up for a vehicle that can cost more than $100,000. In response, Tesla has introduced synthetic leather seats and steering wheels in its the new Model X sport utility vehicle. The carmaker is not alone. In recent years, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Ferrari have begun offering models with faux leather seating, and Volvo and Ford have increasingly emphasized the use of more natural components, such as soy foam, in their seats. Still, as the push to reduce carbon dioxide emissions leads to the use of new energy sources, it may become increasingly difficult to avoid animal products. Biofuels aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions (such as those United Airlines announced last year it would start using) are sometimes derived from animal fats. And the use of animal-based food waste to make electricity and fuel is on the rise in
Mainstream electric
General Motors recently introduced its Chevrolet Bolt at the Consumer Electronics Show in California – the automaker’s latest electric vehicle aimed in part at making inroads with the brand in California and urban areas. GM has positioned the Bolt – which reportedly has a range of 200 miles – as a mainstream electric vehicle that will further the automaker’s technological bona fides. GM has said in the past that the car would be priced roughly at $38,000 and cost owners around $30,000 after the federal $7,500 income-tax rebate for electric car purchases. The car features one-pedal driving mode and saved settings for multiple drivers controlled through their smartphones. GM has stated that looming uncertainty over the direction of fuel prices, and stringent U.S. regulations calling for auto makers to eventually sell vehicles together averaging nearly 55 miles a gallon, underpin the company’s bet on the Bolt. In addition, California requires automakers to sell so-called zero-emissions vehicles.
Collision course
Federal auto safety officials in Detroit, Mich., recently indicated the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) agency is willing to allow auto manufacturers to detour U.S. motor vehicle laws and regulations, particularly for unproven robot cars. At press time, NHTSA was expected to announce an industry-government consortium aimed at putting safety breakthroughs into production faster than would happen through the traditional rule-making process. Not everyone was pleased with the prospect. Non-profit citizen organization Consumer Watchdog said it would be a “wrong turn.” Given the multiple instances of deadly defective cars, the number of recalls, the recent Volkswagen scandal and the recent report that Google’s robot cars have had hundreds of near misses, it’s imperative that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintain its responsibility to enforce auto safety through binding safety rules, notes Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog. Consumer Watchdog and other leading consumer safety advocates have formally petitioned NHTSA to issue a safety rule requiring auto companies to install new braking technologies as standard equipment. In addition, the consumer advocates caution that autonomous (driverless) vehicles pose unprecedented safety, privacy and ethical questions.
Safe phoning
The 2017 Hyundai Elantra will be compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto™. Both smartphone integrations will be available on the 2017 Elantra’s seven-inch Display Audio touchscreen system, with rearview camera and Hyundai’s eight-inch touchscreen navigation system, which includes voice texting, access to music stored on the phone and third-party audio apps. CarPlay support is designed to enable drivers to make calls, get directions optimized for traffic conditions, listen to music and access messages. With CarPlay, Siri provides drivers an eyes-free experience by responding to requests through voice commands accessed through the steering wheel’s voice button. Using a Lightning connector, CarPlay works with iPhone 5 and current models running the iOS 7.1 or higher operating systems. (Elantra provides an available second USB port for charging.) Elantra is also compatible with Android Auto for seamless and intuitive operation of commonly used smartphone functions, including navigation with Google Maps™, streaming audio, voice-controlled search capabilities and over 40 approved smartphone apps. Android Auto is compatible with Android phones running Android 5.0, Lollipop or higher.