The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Showed offered a very specific ethos this year: electric and self-driving cars. Many automakers used the bright lights and gleaming stands to reveal their interpretation of a future with all-electric and driverless vehicles. Audi was not absent from the theme. DON'T MISS: Audi confirms (again) 3 electric cars on the market... Audi’s self-driving e-tron electric concepts: Aicon (Level 5) and Elaine (Level 4) at Frankfurt
The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Showed offered a very specific ethos this year: electric and self-driving cars. Many automakers used the bright lights and gleaming stands to reveal their interpretation of a future with all-electric and driverless vehicles. Audi was not absent from the theme. DON'T MISS: Audi confirms (again) 3 electric cars on the market...
Swedish company Einride has officially unveiled the first full-scale prototype of its futuristic autonomous electric truck. First announced back in April, the T-pod is touted as being more than a simple self-driving electric truck—it’s pitched as an entirely “new transportation system,” with plans to have an active fleet of...
The Tesla Model 3 continues to generate an inordinate amount of interest from electric-car advocates and the general public, as pretty much any Tesla model has in the past. But unlike the Model S in 2012, which broke new ground on multiple fronts, the lower-priced Model 3 appears to be less innovative based on what we've seen as the car goes into...
While Uber, Tesla, and Google are fighting over who will be first to deploy self-driving cars on a large scale, the Dutch underdogs at mobility startup Amber are planning a surprise move to overtake them all. If all goes according to plan, Amber’s self-driving cars will hit the streets of Dutch cities by mid-2018. Amber CEO Steven Nelemans...
The United States House of Representatives has taken the first step towards allowing automakers and technology companies to deploy self-driving cars on public roads. A House panel passed a proposal that would allow automakers and other companies to deploy up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles. Significantly, the bill does not require the...
Nissan has begun to release a slow trickle of information about the 2018 Leaf electric car, but the latest teaser has nothing to do with its zero-emission powertrain. Instead, Nissan has revealed the 2018 Leaf will arrive with ProPilot Assist, the automaker's driver-assistance technology. The system is capable of assisting drivers in stop-and-go...
Tesla's most recent Autopilot software head has left the company after just five months on the job. Chris Lattner, who had previously worked at Apple for more than a decade, joined Tesla in January as head software engineer overseeing development of the electric cars' Autopilot active-safety systems. However, it wasn't a good fit—something...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that the latest iteration of Autopilot would be the most refined variation of the software yet. In fact, the Tesla chief recently tweeted that the new Autopilot algorithm would be "smooth as silk." One owner, James Hansbert, recorded his experience after receiving the latest firmware updated for his Tesla Model S...
The National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed to apply the brakes when a tractor trailer turned...
It's widely acknowledged that most, if not all, of the autonomous vehicles expected to reach our roads in volume will be electric cars. Without the complexity of a combustion engine and transmission that must be electromechanically controlled, the task of automating the driving of a vehicle is considerably simpler. It largely comes down to a...
Vehicle engineering and development focuses heavily on passenger cars and light trucks, but what about other forms of transportation? In an effort to cut congestion on its roads, the country of Norway is experimenting with the idea of autonomous, electric ships to replace large semi trucks, reports Gas2. Not only do semi trucks clog roadways, but...
Oregon is a state that punches well above its weight in promoting and adopting zero-emission vehicles and plug-in electric cars. Smaller than California, it offers a laboratory where EV makers can try out new programs and experiment with new marketing and charging programs to see how they work. That was the pitch, at least, from the state-funded...
Last year, techies, auto journalists, and Apple fans spent a great deal of time debating the existence, technology, and potential prospects of an "Apple car" project that the company never officially acknowledged. The idea that Apple would move from fast-turn, high-volume, very profitable consumer electronics into long-cycle, insanely expensive...
It's been a vision of the future for decades now: self-driving cars that let you get in, specify your destination, and then curl up for a bit more sleep, waking when you arrive. That kind of anywhere-any-time autonomy remains some years in the future, most engineers suggest. Automakers are already adding individual active-safety systems that will...
Never let it be said that Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn't a man of strong opinions. His tweets are the stuff of legend, his dismissals of hydrogen fuel-cell cars as "fool cells" have been consistent for many years, and if you get his attention, he will definitely tell you what he thinks. Perhaps U.K. software developer Nick G hadn't really expected to...
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is a crucial car for General Motors in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and $37,495 base price (before federal, state, and local incentives), the Bolt EV considered a groundbreaking electric-car game changer. But the Chevy hatchback is also GM's main platform for self-driving car development. DON'T...
If you wanted to start a green taxi service—and had ample funds to do so—Tesla electric cars would seem to be a good choice. The Model S and Model X offer plenty of interior space and range, and their popularity would like raise the profile of any taxi service using them. So perhaps it's not surprising that the Dubai Taxi Corporation...
The Chevrolet Bolt EV may very well turn out to be a game-changing electric car in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the Bolt EV has the potential to appeal to a much broader range of customers than previous electric cars. At the same time, it's also the car General Motors is using as its primary...