Tag: automaker

Waze’s crowd-sourced traffic info comes to Ford Sync 3 cars

In 2016, Ford wisely decided to offer Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto on all its Sync 3 infotainment system-equipped 2017 vehicles, and owners are seeing more benefits from that at CES 2018. Ford announced that it now supports Waze ‘s traffic and navigation app directly from your iPhone. After you plug it into any of the vehicle’s USB ports, the app will appear on the Sync 3 touchscreen, letting you control it from there or use voice commands. Waze, owned by Google, gathers traffic information from you and shares it, telling others if there’s a traffic jam along your route, for instance. You can be even more helpful by directly relaying unknown accidents, construction and other issues. Waze’s navigation system can then help you pick the quickest route, tell you about HOV lanes, relay your arrival time to friends and family and even find the cheapest gasoline nearby. As long as you keep your Waze iOS app updated, you’ll have the latest version on a Sync 3 car, which is one of the benefits of Ford’s wide-open system. It also unveiled Alexa support at CES 2018, giving you voice-controlled music, news and 25, 000 other skills. It’s odd that the automaker didn’t mention Waze Android support, since Google owns both Android and Waze, but we’ve reached out for more info. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

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Waze’s crowd-sourced traffic info comes to Ford Sync 3 cars

An autonomous Ford Fusion will deliver Domino’s in Michigan

Domino’s has been experimenting with high-tech delivery methods for years, from UAVs to drones with wheels . This time, the pizza chain might send a self-driving Ford Fusion to deliver your food if you’re in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Domino’s has teamed up with the automaker to test people’s response to an autonomous delivery car. They’ll use one Fusion equipped with all the trappings of a self-driving vehicle, including Ford’s full suite of cameras, sensors, radar and LIDAR, to deliver pizza for the month-long test. Despite the full equipment, a human engineer will be behind the wheel, since the test is all about observing customers’ reactions. He’ll be hidden behind tinted windows, though, and won’t be ringing anybody’s doorbell. Customers who agree to be part of the trial will get a text when their order arrives. They’ll then have to walk out, meet the car, punch in the last four digits of their phone number on a touchscreen display installed at the rear passenger-side window and take out the pizza from a warming oven inside. The partners will be keeping an eye on whether customers are willing to meet the self-driving car at the curb or if they want it to park in their driveway. They’ll observe how long it takes for people to punch in their codes and to take out their pizza from the oven. Most importantly, the test will help them determine if people are inclined to touch the car’s pricey LIDAR system spinning atop the vehicle. Ford will tweak the self-driving Fusion based on the trial’s results — we’ll bet the LIDAR system will end up hidden inside a tough casing if customers can’t stop themselves from touching. The trial is a perfect fit for the automaker’s vision for its self-driving vehicles. Like many other companies working on autonomous vehicles, Ford aims to develop a self-driving car with no steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals. The automaker plans to use them for ride-sharing fleets, but it believes the vehicle has many other potential applications, including delivery. Sherif Marakby, Ford VP of autonomous and electric vehicles, said: “It’s not just ride-sharing and ride-moving or people moving, but it’s also moving the goods. We develop the plan to go to market as we develop the tech. We work with partners (and) this is one example. There will be more in the future.” Source: Ford Motor Company , The Detroit News , Bloomberg

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An autonomous Ford Fusion will deliver Domino’s in Michigan

Lyft tests a new fixed-route ‘Shuttle’ service for commuters

Now that shared rides represent a sizable portion of Uber and Lyft’s business, both companies have been looking for new ways to expand their offerings while making the whole system more efficient and affordable at the same time. According to TechCrunch , Lyft is currently testing a new version of its shared Line rides called “Lyft Shuttle” aimed directly at commuters and riders who regularly take busy routes. As it’s only a test for now, Lyft Shuttle is only available in Chicago and San Francisco. Riders in those cities will see the “Shuttle” option while searching for Line rides in the app — but only if their pickup and drop off locations are close enough to one of the test routes. The service is only available during the morning and evening commute hours (6:30-10AM, 4-8PM), but the fares are a fixed price so riders can avoid surge pricing during rush hour. Uber tried a similar feature for UberPool called “Smart Routes” back in 2015 , and it still highlights nearby pickup points for shared rides, but the bus-like highlighted routes seem to have fizzled out. And unlike other services intended to cover long-distance commutes like Waze Rider , Lyft’s offering is meant for shorter trips within the city limits. In San Francisco, at least, Lyft will be competing more directly with Chariot, which runs private shuttles along popular commuter bus routes and handles ticketing through its own app. Chariot was bought by Ford last year and the automaker intends to expand to eight more cities by the end of 2017, so there’s definitely a market for this type of in-between service. Source: TechCrunch

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Lyft tests a new fixed-route ‘Shuttle’ service for commuters

Intel buys self-driving tech firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion

Intel’s recent work with MobilEye on self-driving cars must have gone well, because the chip giant is buying its Jerusalem-based partner for $15.3 billion. The deal was first reported by Israeli business site The Marker but has now been confirmed by the two companies. MobilEye is one of the largest players in autonomous vehicle tech and was in the news recently over a spat with Tesla following a fatal Model S crash in Florida. However, it recently teamed with Intel on BMW’s iNext self-driving platform, which the automaker aims to put into service by 2021. The technology they’re working on isn’t just for BMW vehicles, though. The idea is to build a “scalable architecture” that can be used by any automaker, especially if they don’t want to build their own tech from scratch. As such, it could become a huge business for MobilEye, which may help explain the huge acquisition price. The deal is one of the largest acquisitions of an Israeli-based tech company ever. Despite a recent PC renaissance thanks to Microsoft’s Surface and other devices, desktops are still losing ground to mobile devices. That has affected Intel’s bottom line while benefiting companies like Qualcomm, which makes the chips used in many smartphones and tablets. The situation has forced Intel into other areas like wearables, connected homes and “internet of things” devices, none of which has exactly taken off yet. BREAKING: Intel to acquire Mobileye for $63.54 per share in cash, or about $15.3 billion. $INTC $MBLY — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) March 13, 2017 Autonomous cars, on the other hand, are one of the hottest things in tech, with virtually every automaker, tech company and even peripheral firms like Uber and Lyft working on (and fighting about ) them. Even if fully autonomous cars don’t work out as planned (some critics think it’s a distant pipe dream ), autopilot tech that aids drivers and prevents accidents is available now on Tesla EVs and other cars. Ironically, MobilEye’s early success was due in large part to Tesla, and that partnership dissolved in a not-very-friendly way. Via: The Marker Source: Intel / Mobileye (.PDF)

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Intel buys self-driving tech firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion

BMW sold 100,000 EVs in 3 years, now turns attention to autonomy

EVs have come a long way in just a few years. Just look at the waves Tesla has made since introducing the Model S in 2012. Nissan just sold its 100, 000th Leaf in the US. BMW , too, would have you know that it has been pulling its weight in this grand acceleration of EVs. In fact, the German automaker has also recently hit a major milestone since it first launched battery-powered cars under its i sub-brand. BMW has announced that it has achieved 100, 000 plug-in vehicle sales worldwide . Beginning with the battery electric i3 in November of 2013, BMW went to work building upon the knowledge and experience gained from its field tests with the ActiveE . In the three years since then, BMW has sold over 60, 000 examples of the i3. The German automaker points out that those sales figures make the i3 “the most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment.” It’s not a very crowded segment, but BMW filled a hole and did it well, so we’ll give them that one. Say it proudly, BMW. And, impressively, the automaker reports that 80 percent of i3 buyers are new to BMW, which means first-time owners and those ever-important conquest sales. Next came the ultra-desirable i8 plug-in hybrid. The production car looked a lot like the eye-popping concept, which the public appreciated. Demand initially outstripped production , and the car will probably continue to turn heads for some time to come, particularly when the i8 Roadster allows owners to be seen more easily. BMW says it has sold some 10, 000 examples of the i8 since its launch in mid-2014. Additionally, BMW has sold about 30, 000 plug-in hybrid versions of its other core products, which now fall under the iPerformance label. Just as EV sales are expected to grow in general, we can expect to BMW’s plug-in sales to gather momentum in the coming years, especially as it increases the number of offerings. “BMW i remains our spearhead in terms of innovation and it will continue to open up groundbreaking technologies for the BMW Group, ” says BMW Chairman of the Board of Management Harald Krüger. “When it comes to electric drivetrains, we’ve already successfully managed to put this technology transfer on the road. The next technological advance we will address is automated driving, where the BMW iNEXT will set a new benchmark.” Following a Mini Countryman PHEV and the i8 Roadster in 2018, and an all-electric Mini in 2019, BMW has confirmed it will introduce the all-electric X3 in 2020, with another EV due in 2021. We can’t wait to see what’s (i)Next. Related Video: Source: BMW

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BMW sold 100,000 EVs in 3 years, now turns attention to autonomy

Honda unveils first hybrid motor without heavy rare earth metals

Honda pledged to reduce its use of rare earth metals a decade ago, and the automaker took another step towards that goal this week. It unveiled its new hybrid motor that was co-developed alongside Daido Steel, another Japan-based company. The new motor doesn’t use heavy rare earth metals like dysprosium and terbium, instead relying on magnets from Daido Steel that cost 10 percent less and weigh 8 percent lighter than the previous components. In fact, the automaker is the first to develop a hybrid motor that doesn’t use the heavy metals. Honda says the new engines will reduce its reliance on the pricey rare earth metals that are primarily supplied by China. The new hybrid motors will make their debut in the compact Freed minivan this fall, a vehicle that’s already on the road in Asia. Honda also noted during the announcement that not only would cutting out the rare earth metals save money, but it would also reduce the potential for price fluctuations on the materials it uses to build the engines. The new motors don’t nix rare earth elements entirely though, as the new version still has neodymium which is found in North America, Australia and China. Source: Reuters

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Honda unveils first hybrid motor without heavy rare earth metals