Items tagged with Cars
Google isn't feeling the love from California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which drafted a set of rules on autonomous vehicles that set several restrictions on their use. As currently conceived, driverless cars would be required to have a steering wheel, pedals, and a licensed driver behind the wheel in case something goes awry. It sounds reasonable on the surface, but from Google's vantage point, the DMV is essentially placing a ceiling on autonomous driving technology. Google is looking to totally transform the driving experience and has designed vehicles that, when finished, would lack a steering wheel or pedals. Part of the thinking behind that approach is to make the technology...
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Ford Motor Company is rolling the dice on electric vehicles with a monstrous investment. How monstrous? Try $4.5 billion, which is how much the auto maker has committed to spending in order to put 13 new electric vehicles on roadways by 2020, including a new year model Focus Electric with all-new DC fast-charge capability. It's a big bet on electric that represents Ford's largest ever electrified vehicle investment in a five-year period. Once complete, more than 40 percent of Ford's global nameplates will come in electric versions. It will also see the expansion of Ford's EV offerings to growing markets like Taiwan, Korea, and China. Ford’s shift to add electrified vehicle solutions answers increasing...
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Lamborghini debuted the open top version of its sleek and sexy Aventador LP 700-4 Superveloce that was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year. For the topless LP 750-4 Roadster model, which is the first and only of its kind in the Superveloce family, Lamborghini headed to Pebble Beach and rolled out its marvelous creation at the Quail Motorsports Gathering over the weekend. By taking the top off, Lamborghini was able to reduce the Aventador's weight by 110 pounds for a dry weight of 3,472 pounds. Under the hood is the same 6.5-liter V12 engine found in the LP 700-4, but as the model number suggests, the lighter Roadster gains 50 horsepower for an obscene 750HP rating, same as the...
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Perhaps one day cars will run on dreams and rainbows. In the meantime, the majority of vehicles still require gasoline, battery power, or a combination of both. Such is the case with Chevrolet's 2016 Volt. Armed with the company's all-new second-generation Voltec extended-range electric propulsion system, this thing can cruise for 53 miles on battery power alone. That's a whopping 40 percent improvement over the first generation Volt, and if you ask Chevy, many 2016 Volt owners are likely to use power solely from their batteries for more than 90 percent of trips. Chevy's talking about commutes to and from work, grocery store runs, errands across town, visiting family and friends in neighboring...
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Ford rightfully claims that driving on unlit roads at night can be a "nerve-wracking experience." No, not because you're lost in a rural area and are about to live out a scene in Wrong Turn, but because you never know when an animal or human might be walking in the shadows on the side of the road. To help you spot these kinds of potential hazards and have more time to react, Ford is working on some interesting headlight technologies. There are a few things at play here. One is the use of GPS information to trigger an enhanced lighting system when going around a curve or dips on a chosen route. If GPS isn't available for whatever reason, a video camera will detect lane markings and predict where...
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It's a pretty big deal that Ford is mass producing carbon fiber wheels for its Shelby GT350R Mustang. How so? For one, never before has a major automobile manufacturer offered carbon fiber wheels as standard equipment -- you'd have to enter the supercar scene, where only Koenigsegg has offered optional carbon fiber wheels. And secondly, there's actual rocket science involved. We're not making that up. Ford provided some details on its carbon fiber wheels, which involves using a plasma arc gun to liquefy a ceramic material. This is then sprayed on the front wheels. Critical points around the inner wheel barrel and on the back spokes are coated to provide thermal protection from brake...
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Expanding a recall dating back to 2008, Japanese automobile airbag manufacturer Takata Corp is doubling the number of recalls for its potentially lethal product in the U.S. from 16.6 million to approximately 34 million vehicles (about one in seven of the over 250 million vehicles on American roads), which makes it the largest such recall in American history. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in conjunction with Takata state that the recall affects passenger- and driver-side airbag inflators that are installed in vehicles made by 11 automobile manufacturers. “We are committed to continuing to work...
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If you already suffer from motion sickness from reading while being driven, you can expect things to get worse when you read in autonomous car. Researchers from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute are cautioning that people who are prone to motion sickness will want to avoid reading or watching TV while traveling in self-driving cars. “Motion sickness is expected to be more of an issue in self-driving vehicles than in conventional vehicles,” said U-M Transportation Research Institute researcher Michael Sivak. “The reason is that the three main factors contributing to motion sickness – conflict between vestibular (balance) and visual inputs, inability to anticipate the...
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BMW is hard at work trying to end parking lot mishaps. The answer, of course, lies in sensors that will be able to detect when you're about to make a terrible mistake; like trying to squeeze in between another car and a concrete beam or backing up just a little to far as you ram into a wall. Incidents like that will ruin your day. They're also on the verge of being avoidable with BMW's ActiveAssist parking technology. It's part of a 360-degree collision avoidance system in which four advanced laser scanners record the environment and identify impediments like columns, such as the ones that exist in multi-story parking lots. "If the vehicle approaches a wall or a column too quickly, the system...
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As we dive deeper into the era of the so-called "Internet of Things" (IoT), some exciting things are happening. One of them is a joint collaboration between Ford and Intel to make automobiles more connected, which would include the ability to remotely view what's happening inside your vehicle using a smartphone app, as well as give or deny permission to guest drivers. Those are just two examples of what could come out of Project Mobii. Mobii stands for Mobile Interior Imaging, and just like it sounds, Ford and Intel are exploring ways how interior-facing cameras sporting sensor technology and various inputted data can best be utilized in tomorrow's vehicles. There are several scenarios already...
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Wireless power isn't really a reality even in the consumer world, but already we're seeing wireless options crop up for the precious few who own electric vehicles. Bosch is amongst the first, announcing the first commercially available wireless electric vehicle charging system in U.S. The company has teamed with Evatran Group to offer the $3000 Plugless Level 2 EV Charging System, alongside financing options for all offered electric vehicle charging stations and their installation. Bosch will provide the complete installation solution for the Plugless L2 System. A Bosch-certified electrician will install the home infrastructure portion of the system, and Bosch Car Service centers will install...
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It’s about time. Apple is planning to put iOS into devices in cars from many major vehicle manufacturers, starting as early as 2014. Brands lining up for the project include Acura, Chevy, Ferrari, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, and Volvo. Microsoft and Ford teamed up for For Sync. Now, Apple is planning to put iOS in cars. Image credit: Microsoft. Apple has already worked with some car manufacturers on support for its iDevices, but now it’s talking about put iOS onto in-car screens, which would be an entirely new (and important) step for the company. This is one area where Microsoft has already made a substantial investment. Ford SYNC uses Bluetooth to connect...
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The Chevrolet Volt is unique among electric cars because it runs on two sources of energy. You have an electric source – a battery – that allows you to drive gas-free for an EPA–estimated 35 miles. And there's also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go farther. So if you want to drive using only electricity, you can. If you want to drive using electricity and gas, you can do that, too. Feeling all revved up? Check out what this current Chevy Volt driver has to say about his unique driving lifestyle… Eric J. Rotbard, Esquire is a self-proclaimed tech lover, so it’s no surprise that becoming a Volt driver was the right move for him. ...
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The Chevy Volt is unique among electric cars because it runs on two sources of energy. You have an electric source – a battery – that allows you to drive gas-free for an EPA–estimated 35 miles. And there's also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go farther. So if you want to drive using only electricity, you can. If you want to drive using electricity and gas, you can do that, too. Feeling all revved up? Check out what this current Chevy Volt driver has to say about his unique driving lifestyle… Dennis Jackson spends a lot of time in his car driving to meet clients for his consultant job, and gassing up his Jeep Wrangler didn’t come cheap....
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Comedians often make cracks at banks for including Braille on drive-through ATMs (there are number of valid reasons why they do this), but given the progress made by researchers at The National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech, don't assume that the driver in front of you isn't actually visually impaired. While it may seem an unlikely scenario, the researchers are ever closer to developing a car for the blind, and in fact plan to demonstrate a prototype vehicle next year that will help those who can't see be able to drive. That's because it will come equipped with technology called "nonvisual interfaces," which use sensors to help a blind driver weave in and out of traffic and other...
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We may not have cars that drive themselves yet, but BMW is working on a navigation system that can learn your driving habits and improve the efficiency of the car. The BMW system is called ILENA, which stands for Intelligent Learning Navigation. The system records data during your typical daily commute to learn your route, road gradients, curves, and breaking points. The system also uses a camera to get a view of your path. Say your everyday commute involves a quick acceleration from 0-50 to merge onto a freeway, for example. After the system learns your path, the system could proactively reduce the power to your AC system in order to give you more power to merge onto the freeway, BMW claims....
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Microtune's New Tuner Chip Brings High-Speed Digital TV to Automotive Entertainment Microtune Technology Permits Automakers to Adopt Advanced RF Silicon Electronics for High-Quality, Real-Time Broadcast TV World-Standard, Automotive-Grade Tuner Engineered to Deliver Superior TV Broadcast Reception in Vehicles Traveling up to 200 km/hour (125 miles/hour) INGOLSTADT, Germany & PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2008--Bringing its advanced radio frequency (RF) silicon electronics to the automotive industry, Microtune(R), Inc. (NASDAQ: TUNE) today introduced a first-of-its-kind tuner chip for high-speed in-car TV. The MicroTuner(TM) MT2067 is a world-standard, automotive-grade TV tuner engineered...
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Everything gets automated eventually. At first, businesses strive for efficiency in workers, and then when the work becomes too boring and repetitive, they go all the way to having a machine of some sort do it. But that could never happen to writing software code, could it? Charles Simonyi thinks it could, and his company Intentional Software is trying to do just that with its Domain Workbench. Simonyi's five-year-old startup, Intentional Software, is making software so smart that you can simply tell it what you want to do. Lay down a few basic parameters, and it will write its own code. No programming skills are necessary. "Experts [in other fields] can be much more innovative...
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Thankfully the collaboration between Ford Motor Company and Microsoft is only for the entertainment system- "Initially to be made available in twelve 2008 models across the Ford family and across the entire 2009 lineup from FoMoCo, the service will be a fully-integrated, flash memory-based system that enables drivers to call hands-free and to control a range of digital audio via voice commands and buttons mounted on the steering wheel. The system is based on an a Microsoft Auto operating system comprising an ARM 11 processor, 64MB of DRAM and 256MB of flash memory. Microsoft tells us that its software will be updatable, probably via the USB port." It does appear to have some really hot features...
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