What would you do if a small, knee-high box on wheels with a flag topping its tall antenna whirred toward you electrically on a sidewalk at 4 miles per hour? It turns out three-quarters of the pedestrians in several cities who've seen one didn't stop or even stare as it avoided them and continued on its way. That box is an electric sidewalk... Starship electric sidewalk-delivery robot a hit at DC Auto Show
What would you do if a small, knee-high box on wheels with a flag topping its tall antenna whirred toward you electrically on a sidewalk at 4 miles per hour? It turns out three-quarters of the pedestrians in several cities who've seen one didn't stop or even stare as it avoided them and continued on its way. That box is an electric sidewalk...
Last year, after Tesla updated the radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors on its electric cars, CEO Elon Musk said the new hardware’s capabilities would lag behind the cars on the street already. Now, Musk has projected that the “Hardware 2.0” cars may surpass the older generation of “Hardware 1.0” vehicles and be “fully self-driving” in 3 to 6…
Japanese electronics firm Panasonic has been a close partner of Tesla Motors for many years now. It is the Silicon Valley automaker's sole battery supplier, it helps fund and operate the Tesla "Gigafactory" in Nevada, and the company owns a small stake in the carmaker. But Panasonic wants to move its partnership with Tesla beyond batteries...
While electric cars received a disproportionate amount of media attention over the last five years, the focus is now turning. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show and Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, cynical journalists were moved to propose a drinking game. Participants would have to take a drink every time an automaker used the words...
Faraday Future unveiled its FF 91 electric car on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The battery-powered 1,050-horsepower vehicle is intended to rival (or perhaps best) anything Tesla Motors may have up its sleeve. As an upright crossover, it appears to be designed to rival the Tesla Model X—and perhaps the future...
It was widely rumored that Chrysler would reveal an all-electric minivan at this week's Consumer Electronics Show—and now we have the details. But the Chrysler Portal concept that will debut at CES won't be showing up at your local dealer any time soon. Far from it, in fact: the Portal is Fiat Chrysler's idea of a future in which we'll...
In the automotive industry, Tesla is a leader in many respects—but it's hardly head-and-shoulders above the rest when it comes to self-driving cars. The Silicon Valley automaker is developing fully autonomous cars, but it's part of a crowded field that includes many other automakers and a handful of rich tech companies as well. Still...
If you see a Ford Fusion Hybrid mid-size sedan cruising along with no apparent input from the driver, rest assured that you are not hallucinating. Since 2013, Ford has used modified Fusion Hybrid sedans to test autonomous-driving technology. The automaker is now rolling out an updated version, which will form the basis for a larger fleet of test...
With its EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is a serious foray by General Motors into mass-market, long-range electric cars. It turns out the Bolt EV will play another important role for the company, too: it will be a testbed for its autonomous-driving technologies. Earlier this year, autonomous Bolt...
Since its launch eight years ago, Daimler's Car2Go car-sharing service has expanded to multiple cities across Europe, the U.S., and China. Daimler—parent company of Mercedes-Benz, Smart, and a handful of other brands—was one of the first automakers to get involved in car sharing, but several other manufacturers are showing interest as...
Tesla Motors will soon begin rolling out software to restore lost Autopilot driver-assistance features, its CEO says, as a prelude to what the company claims will be the launch of genuine self-driving capabilities. Last month, Tesla announced that it was equipping new Model S and Model X electric cars with a more elaborate suite of sensors, known...
The Renault Zoe electric car isn't sold in the U.S., but it will make an appearance on the streets of one U.S. city very soon. The battery-electric subcompact hatchback will serve as an autonomous-driving test bed for nuTonomy, a startup founded by researchers from MIT. The company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of...
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Tesla’s claim that its Autopilot driver-assistance software is safer than a human driver. After a fatal Autopilot crash last May, the company said the death was the first in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving—and noted that, “among all vehicles, in the U.S., there is a fatality every 94...
For the past couple of years, rumors about a potential Apple Car have garnered as much attention as any new product from an established automaker. Which is impressive, because Apple never confirmed the existence of the car—often called "Project Titan" and thought to be an autonomous vehicle with an all-electric powertrain. Whatever plans...
Yesterday morning, the state of California held a hearing on proposed rules governing self-driving cars. Both automakers and Google objected to the regulations as written, saying that the requirement to comply with voluntary federal regulations issued last month would hobble their development efforts. Then, last night, Tesla Motors announced a...