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Transportation

Opinion: Environmental Protection Agency considering backdoor subsidies for ‘talking car’ tech

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By Mark Scribner, transportation policy expert, Competetive Enterprise Institute

During the final days of the Obama administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed its “talking car” mandate.

This would have required new vehicles to come equipped with radios to communicate information to other vehicles in order to convey hazard warnings to drivers.

This was to use a specific communications protocol known as dedicated short-range communications. The proposal was deeply flawed in numerous ways, as CEI pointed out at the time.  [Read more…] about Opinion: Environmental Protection Agency considering backdoor subsidies for ‘talking car’ tech

Automated driving hype is ‘dangerously confusing drivers’

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Research by Europe’s leading road safety organisation shows that 71 percent of drivers around the world believe they can purchase a self-driving car right now.

The astonishing finding is just one of many worrying perceptions uncovered by the study, which also showed that one in 10 drivers would be tempted to have a nap while using a so-called “Highway Assist” system, such as Adaptive Cruise Control.

The TestingAutomation study, commissioned by Thatcham Research, Euro NCAP and Global NCAP, has discovered potentially dangerous false impressions around the apparent self-driving capability of new cars and the safe usage of Highway Assist technologies.  [Read more…] about Automated driving hype is ‘dangerously confusing drivers’

Denso invests in software developer eSOL for automated driving

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Denso Corporation has taken a 2% equity stake in eSOL Co., Ltd., a leading developer of real-time embedded software solutions. Denso will use eSOL’s technologies to develop software for the systems and products required for automated driving.

To improve the performance of automated driving and the utilisation of external data for safety, in-vehicle electronic products must be integrated to ensure seamless control of the entire vehicle system.

As in-vehicle systems become increasingly more complex, it will be necessary to update, rewrite or add software to coordinate with new electronic systems and electronic control units for automated driving.

[Read more…] about Denso invests in software developer eSOL for automated driving

Toyota and SoftBank to set up new mobility services joint venture

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Toyota Motor Corporation and SoftBank Corp. have agreed to form a strategic partnership to create new mobility services, and plan to establish a joint venture company, MONET Technologies Corporation, before the end of the 2018 fiscal year (April 2019).

MONET will provide coordination between Toyota’s Mobility Services Platform, Toyota’s information infrastructure for connected vehicles, and SoftBank’s Internet of Things Platform, which was built to create new value from the collection and analysis of data acquired from smartphones and sensor devices.

By utilising a wide range of different forms of data related to automotive and human mobility on both platforms, MONET is aiming to optimise supply and demand in transportation and, ultimately, to launch Mobility-as-a-Service businesses capable of resolving social mobility issues and creating new value.

[Read more…] about Toyota and SoftBank to set up new mobility services joint venture

Honda, Cruise and GM team up to build new autonomous vehicle

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Cruise and General Motors have joined forces with Honda to pursue the shared goal of transforming mobility through the large-scale deployment of autonomous vehicle technology.

Honda will work jointly with Cruise and General Motors to fund and develop a purpose-built autonomous vehicle for Cruise that can serve a wide variety of use cases and be manufactured at high volume for global deployment.

In addition, Cruise, General Motors and Honda will explore global opportunities for commercial deployment of the Cruise network.

[Read more…] about Honda, Cruise and GM team up to build new autonomous vehicle

Electric vehicles: Mercedes-Benz starts construction of battery factory

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Mercedes-Benz Cars has held a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the start of the construction of a new battery factory. The factory will be built near the vehicle production site in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, providing batteries for future electric SUV under the product and technology brand EQ.

Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, attended the ceremony: “We aim to play a pioneering role in the development of e-mobility and are well prepared to accomplish this mission.

“One year ago, we announced $1 billion investment in Tuscaloosa mostly for the production of electric SUVs and a battery plant. We are bringing electric mobility for Mercedes-Benz to the United States. Around the globe, we are preparing six sites for production of EQ models and our battery network will consist of eight factories.”

[Read more…] about Electric vehicles: Mercedes-Benz starts construction of battery factory

Škoda Auto extends data centre in the Czech Republic

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Škoda Auto is expanding the data centre at its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav into the largest privately owned computing and data storage centre in the Czech Republic.

Once the expansion is completed, the data centre will have a computing capacity of 15 petaFLOPS, which equates to 15 quadrillion computing operations per second.

Thus, it is capable of extremely challenging high-performance computing (HPC). To further improve energy efficiency, Škoda Auto will use heat generated by the computers’ cooling system to heat offices.

[Read more…] about Škoda Auto extends data centre in the Czech Republic

NXP launches automotive radar solution

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NXP Semiconductors N.V., leader in automotive radar 2, has expanded its radar portfolio with an automotive radar solution that combines its S32R processors, RF Transceiver and Antenna design on a new reference platform.

Created through a partnership with Colorado Engineering, the company says its solution is the only currently available automotive-grade radar development platform designed to meet the stringent functional, performance, and safety requirements of the industry.

This new radar solution is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of radar into production vehicles and includes a full portfolio of tools that aim to lower development costs and spur radar application adoption worldwide.

[Read more…] about NXP launches automotive radar solution

BMW and Daimler plan to headquarter joint mobility company in Berlin

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The BMW Group and Daimler AG plan to locate the headquarters of their proposed global mobility company in Berlin.

The two partners are purposely seeking to establish this innovative mobility services provider outside of their respective Group structures in Germany’s capital city.

They plan to combine and strategically expand their existing on-demand mobility offering in the areas of CarSharing, Ride-Hailing, Parking, Charging and Multimodality.

[Read more…] about BMW and Daimler plan to headquarter joint mobility company in Berlin

Volkswagen and Microsoft announce strategic digital partnership

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Entering into a strategic partnership, Volkswagen and Microsoft Corp. will collaborate to develop the ‘Volkswagen Automotive Cloud’, one of the largest dedicated automotive industry clouds for all future Volkswagen digital services and mobility offerings.

The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG approved the conclusion of an agreement to this effect between Volkswagen and Microsoft on September 28, 2018.

With Microsoft as its strategic partner, the company is taking a decisive step in its digital transformation into a mobility provider with a fully connected vehicle fleet and the digital ecosystem “Volkswagen We”.

[Read more…] about Volkswagen and Microsoft announce strategic digital partnership