Category Archives: Autonomous Driving

India is resisting the push towards driverless cars in order to protect jobs, its transport minister has said.

July 27, 2017Autonomous Driving, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Nitin Gadkari said the government would “not allow any technology that takes away jobs”.

He said India needed to recruit about 22,000 more commercial drivers and would be opening 100 training facilities to address the need.

India’s road system and sometimes chaotic traffic makes it a difficult place to develop the technology.

The Hindustan Times reports Mr Gadkari as saying:

“We won’t allow driverless cars in India. I am very clear on this.
“In a country where you have unemployment, you can’t have a technology that ends up taking people’s jobs.”

However, he did not rule out the idea of a future change of policy.

“Maybe some years down the line we won’t be able to ignore it, but as of now, we shouldn’t allow it,”

he added.

Inderpreet Kaur, an analyst at research firm Ovum said:

“The ministry has cited job losses as a reason behind banning autonomous cars in India, a bigger challenge would be to have ready infrastructure for these self-driving cars.”

Google, BMW, Tesla, Audi and Uber are among businesses working hard to be the first to bring truly autonomous cars on to roads.

Self-drive technology trials, both for private cars and commercial vehicles, are being carried out around the world.

Google has been testing self-drive cars in California and other states since 2012.

Paris began a three-month test of self-driving buses at the beginning of the year, and in the UK a consortium of companies plans to test driverless cars on motorways in 2019, while others are testing cars in off-road sites, including in London.

Commenting on the decision on Twitter, Indian congressman Gaurav Pandhi tweeted:

“The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) said the same when Rajiv Gandhi talked about introducing computers to India. They haven’t really changed.”

Source: BBC News

Lyft’s autonomous electric vehicles will run on 100% renewable energy

July 20, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE Z.E. 40Jo

One of the leading on-demand ridesharing companies has committed to charging its forthcoming autonomous electric vehicle fleet with electricity from renewable sources.

One of the promises of services such as Lyft and Uber (which are called ridesharing platforms but are more like dispatchers for freelance taxis) is that they will reduce the need for car ownership, and that they will bring down the total number of cars driving in cities, thereby also decreasing vehicular emissions.

The logical next step in that clean transport play is to move to greener cars, such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and full electric vehicles, and the one beyond that is using autonomous cars, while the third move looks to be a combination of electric mobility and self-driving cars. But although those steps, in conjunction with things like walkable neighborhoods and clean last-mile vehicles, can help move us forward in terms of a more sustainable transportation model, one of the many environmental elephants in the room is the origin of the energy powering this EV evolution, which in many places is still predominantly fossil fuels.

According to a blog post from Lyft co-founders, the company is committed to using 100% renewable electricity to charge its forthcoming fleet of autonomous electric vehicles, right from the get-go, beginning with the nuTonomy self-driving vehicle pilot program launching in Boston this year.

Paris to host on-demand driverless vehicle service

July 17, 2017Autonomous Driving, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Europe’s first on-demand driverless vehicle service on open roads is set to begin operating in France later this year.

The pilot service, a collaboration between Delphi and French-based public transport operator Transdev, will see autonomous vehicles operating in Saclay, a Paris suburb, and Rouen in Normandy.

In Paris, initially one shuttle will operate along a fixed route from the train station to the campus of the University of Paris-Saclay.

In Rouen the service will operate in an area of the city where there is currently no public transport, and will initially consist of two driverless Renault Zoe cars.

Customers will be able to use a smartphone app to book a ride in the vehicles, which will be tracked by a remote control and command centre. A driver will initially sit in on the journeys to monitor the vehicles, but by 2018 the companies hope to operate the service without a driver on-board.

For the pilot the companies have chosen the so-called “last-mile” of public transport – the journey between a train or bus station and the commuter’s place of work, for example – as it is seen as an area of particular need, according to Serge Lambermont, director of automated driving at Delphi.

“People like to travel by public transport, but this last mile, how to get from your subway station to your destination, is an inconvenience,”

he said.

“So if you can arrive with the ticket already on your smart phone connecting you to an automated, mobility-on-demand taxi or pod system, which takes you on to your location, you take all the inconvenience out.”

The vehicles will be equipped with a range of different sensors, designed to complement each other. Each vehicle will be fitted with short range radar, for example, with sensors at each corner and two at either side, as well as one forward facing image radar and one rear facing long range radar.

Continental joins BMW partnership as Germany pushes forward with autonomy

July 11, 2017Autonomous Driving, BMW, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The joint venture in autonomous driving by BMW, Mobileye and Intel has gained another partner in German automotive parts and tyre company Continental.

As the development of the technology continues at a pace, manufacturers are finding themselves in needs of an alliance with technology companies to ensure they can keep up with the demand required to meet launch targets. The BMW venture will see Continental play a role in the commercialisation of the platform, which will be sold to other vehicle manufacturers.

Frank Jourdan, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and head of the Chassis & Safety division, comments:

‘We have already had very good experience in working with the BMW Group through jointly successfully completed development and series projects. Contributing development and integration for the partnership is a recognition of our extensive competence in the field of automated driving. The cooperation with the core partners involved represents the unique opportunity to drive ahead and get this technology of the future to our roads more quickly.’

Speaking on behalf of the partnership, Klaus Fröhlich, member of the board of management of BMW AG for development, adds:

‘Every new Tier One partner brings us a step closer to our goal: We intend to bring safe autonomous driving to series production by 2021 and actively shape this technology. With our non-exclusive approach to this technology of the future we will deliver a safe, fast and cost-efficient solution that is highly attractive also for other manufacturers.’

The group added Delphi to the partnership in May 2017, while Mobileye was bought by Intel earlier in 2017, the technology giant seeing the need to integrate the autonomous specialist into its ranks.

The U.K. Wants to Lead World in Driverless and Electric Vehicles

July 10, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The U.K. government plans to invest more than 800 million pounds ($1 billion) in new driverless and zero-emission vehicle technology as it seeks to boost its economy while leaving the European Union.

Investment in research and new recharging infrastructure is intended to make Britain a “leader” in electric and autonomous vehicles, Queen Elizabeth II said in a speech marking the state opening of Parliament in London on Wednesday. The technology may be worth 28 billion pounds to the economy by 2035, the government estimates.

In order to deliver on that goal, the government will:

Extend mandatory vehicle insurance to cover the use of automated vehicles
Set a target for almost every car and van to be zero emission by 2050
Allow government to require motorway service areas and large gasoline stations to install electric vehicle recharging points
Require a set of common standards for charging points so they can be used widely across all vehicles
Invest 200 million pounds in researching and testing driverless car infrastructure and 600 million pounds during the course of this Parliament in supporting the ultra-low emission vehicles, sums which had been previously announced

The measures were welcomed by businesses, which had been concerned that Prime Minister Theresa May’s focus on withdrawing Britain from the European Union would push issues like air pollution down the agenda.

“It is encouraging to see the government’s desire to make the U.K. a leader in new industries and enhance its role on the world stage,”

said Nick Molho, executive director of the Aldersgate Group, an alliance of business leaders, politicians and non-profit groups that’s pressing the Treasury on environmental policies.

Queen’s Speech introduces an Electric Vehicles Bill

July 6, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionJo

New Bill unveiled in Queen’s Speech to require charging points to be fitted at services and fuel stations, support driverless cars and keep insurance claims simple

Motorway services and petrol stations may be forced to install electric charging points as part of Government plans to ensure the UK

“remains a world leader in new industries”.

An Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will be introduced to encourage the use of electric and self-driving cars, the Government announced in the Queen’s Speech.

The first all-electric car to be built in the UK rolled off of the production line in 2013, and the Government wants

“almost every car and van to be zero-emission by 2050”.

Of more than 36.7 million licensed vehicles in the UK, just over 100,000 have been purchased with help from a government plug-in car grant.

Registrations of electric vehicles are increasing, with 13,800 being registered in the first quarter of 2017, a 17% rise on the same period the year before.

Plans to fund the additional electric charging points have not yet been announced, although the Government said it was committed to spending £600m during this Parliament to support the ultra-low emissions market.

The new law also aims to support British manufacturing and innovation by allowing self-driving cars to operate in the country.

Source: Platts Garages

Honda looks to future with EV and autonomous strategy

June 29, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, Honda, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Japanese manufacturer Honda has spelled out its plans for the future as it unveiled its mid-term Vision 2030 strategy plan. The company wants to develop level 4 autonomous cars for sale by 2025 and plans two new electric vehicles (EVs) by 2018.

The company has been investing in its research and development of future mobility, spending 750 billion yen (€6.1 billion) for the year to March 2017.

Speaking at the launch of its new strategy, Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo said:

‘We strive to electrify two-thirds of our global automobile unit sales in 2030. This development will put a central focus on hybrid-based models utilizing a high-efficiency plug-in hybrid system unique to Honda. As for zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), we will strengthen the development of electric vehicles as well as fuel cell vehicles (FCV), in addition to a China-exclusive model scheduled to go on sale in 2018, a dedicated EV model for other regions is also currently under development.’

Developing new driving technologies, robotics- and artificial intelligence-driven services and new energy solutions also would be key priorities for Honda in the years ahead, the company said.

In addition to the new low emission strategy, by 2025, Honda plans to come up with cars with level 4 standard automated driving functions, meaning they can drive themselves on highways and city roads under most situations. Achieving this will require artificial intelligence to detect traffic movements, along with a battery of cameras and sensors to help avoid accidents.

Hachigo adds:

‘By featuring smooth and natural driving characteristics, our automated driving vehicle will realise occupant comfort that gives the driver complete trust and provides a fun mobility that makes people naturally want to go driving. We are going to realise automated driving technologies for use on highways in 2020. Then, we will make them usable in a broader area including regular roads, by 2025.’

Autonomous cars with no human backup may hit the road next year

June 26, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

DETROIT — Autonomous vehicles with no human backup will be put to the test on publicly traveled roads as early as next year in what may be the first attempt at unassisted autonomous piloting.

Two on-demand Renault Zoe autonomous taxis will be deployed in Rouen, Normandy. Pictured is the standard version of the 2016 Renault Zoe. (Renault)

Automotive electronics and parts maker Delphi and French transport company Transdev plan to use autonomous taxis and a shuttle van to carry passengers on roadways in France.

The companies on Wednesday said they plan to combine Delphi’s self-driving technology with Transdev’s knowledge of mobility operations. Transdev operates trains, buses, ferries and other transportation services in 19 countries, including the U.S.

Two on-demand Renault Zoe autonomous taxis will be deployed in Rouen, Normandy, and a shuttle van will run between a rail station and campus in the university district of Paris-Saclay. Both will start with humans on board later this year, with the intent of going fully autonomous sometime in 2018. From the start, the shuttle van won’t have a steering wheel or pedals, and humans will be inside solely to communicate with passengers, said Leriche, chief performance officer at Transdev Group.

But humans at a central dispatch center would still be able to take control of the vehicles, said Glen De Vos, Delphi Corp.’s chief technology officer.

“We’re confident that in the event they would need to intervene, they can,”

he said.

The companies also plan a similar test in North America and are scouting locations, De Vos said.

He believes they’ll go through several iterations of self-driving software and systems before the French vehicles are fully operational sometime in 2019.

Transdev plans to gradually spread the technology throughout Paris and other cities that it serves, so the autonomous vehicles will be on roads along with human drivers.

It may take a while for people to trust the vehicles enough to use them, but Leriche said acceptance may not be that hard to get. Transdev has surveyed users in autonomous shuttle tests about the service and quality, and more than 90 percent were excited about the service.

“They were not afraid of the fact that there was no driver,”

he said.

The partnership comes less than a month after U.K.-based Delphi joined with BMW, Intel and Mobileye to develop autonomous vehicles. Delphi, which has U.S. operations just outside of Detroit, makes the computing platform that brings together information from the car’s sensors, cameras and computers.

Source: Jacksonville

Passenger economy will develop as autonomous vehicles take to roads

June 25, 2017Autonomous Driving, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Technology company Intel has released a study into the creation of a new ‘passenger economy’ when autonomous vehicles become commonplace on roads around the world.

The company believes that this new opportunity will be more than twice the size of the ‘sharing economy’, and will develop to support the idle time when drivers become passengers as they no longer have control of the vehicle themselves. Intel values this market at $7 trillion (€6.2 trillion) as autonomous technology grows by 2050.

Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, comments:

‘Companies should start thinking about their autonomous strategy now. Less than a decade ago, no one was talking about the potential of a soon-to-emerge app or sharing economy because no one saw it coming. This is why we started the conversation around the Passenger Economy early, to wake people up to the opportunity streams that will emerge when cars become the most powerful mobile data generating devices we use and people swap driving for riding.’

The report states that business use of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is expected to generate $3 trillion (€2.7 trillion) in revenues, or 43% of the total passenger economy, while consumer use of MaaS offerings is expected to account for $3.7 trillion (€3.3 trillion) in revenue, or nearly 55%.

Intel believes that this future mobility will see drivers moving away from traditional car ownership, with shared vehicles operating in towns and cities, a strategy that manufacturers in Europe also believe will aid infrastructure and improve both safety and pollution. In the report, the company states that self-driving vehicles are expected to free more than 250 million hours of consumers’ commuting time per year in the most congested cities in the world.

Lyft and nuTonomy are deploying a fleet of self-driving electric cars in the US

The ride-sharing platform Lyft has been quite active through partnerships in the self-driving space. It took an important $500 million from GM to work with them on the deployment of autonomous cars in their fleet. They also announced a similar deal with Alphabet’s Waymo last month.

Now they announce another partnership with a self-driving car startup, nuTonomy, in order to use their vehicles for a fleet in the US – starting in Boston.

nuTonomy already operates similar test programs in Boston and Singapore, but through this partnership with Lyft, customers will be able to experience the vehicles through the ride-sharing app:

“The collaborative R&D effort will take place in Boston, MA, where nuTonomy has been testing its self-driving electric cars since the beginning of the year. The tests are being conducted in Boston’s Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park and the adjacent Seaport and Fort Point neighborhoods. An engineer from nuTonomy rides in each of its vehicles during testing to observe system performance and assume control if needed.”

What is also interesting here is that nuTonomy has been using electric vehicles as a platform for its self-driving technology, namely the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Renault Zoe.

“Thousands” of the vehicles should end up in the new program in Boston as the two companies develop the technology.

Karl lagnemma, CEO and Co-founder of nuTonomy, commented on the announcement:

“By combining forces with Lyft in the U.S., we’ll be positioned to build the best passenger experience for self-driving cars. Both companies care immensely about solving urban transportation issues and the future of our cities, and we look forward to working with Lyft as we continue to improve our autonomous vehicle software system.”

Here’s a demonstration of nuTonomy’s latest autonomous driving system:

https://youtu.be/iP_lAjIfZwU