Consumers trust tech companies over carmakers for self-driving cars

Google might want to partner its technology with auto manufacturers rather than making and selling the cars itself.

Almost all the world’s automotive manufacturers are scrambling to develop self-driving cars. But, it appears, the world would rather buy a self-driving car made by a tech company. Consumers are more likely to splurge on a self-driving car made by Mercedes-Benz than Nissan; they’re even likelier to buy one made by the likes of Google and Apple, according to a study released by audit and advisory firm KPMG on Oct. 10.

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Japan issues driverless Nissan LEAF its own driver’s license

Driverless Nissan LEAF

Driverless cars will likely be part of the roadway in the future. But over in Japan, the future has already begun to take shape. There, this driverless Nissan LEAF just got the world’s first national driver’s license issued to a car and not a human. (Video)

 

 

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DeepFlight Super Falcon flying submarine

DeepFlight Super Falcon

The DeepFlight Super Falcon (DFSF) is a sleek vehicle that flies, but it’s not flying in the air, it’s flying through the water. It is shaped like a stout fighter jet with two stubby 8.8-feet wide “wings” at each side, with a super slim chassis and domed semicircle waterproof windows. The 20.11 feet DFSF soars through water instead of simply sinking like traditional submarines. (Video)

 

 

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Toyota’s i-Road EV concept enters production

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1vUNd9hBDM[/youtube]

At the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year, Toyota showed up with a three-wheeled escape pod of an electric vehicle called the i-Road. At the time Toyota declared the diminutive vehicle production-ready.  Not many “production-ready” concept cars ever actually see the light of day, but as it turns out, in the case of the i-Road Toyota has already begun producing the slick little vehicles. (Photos)

 

 

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Google files patent for gesture-controlled car

Google wants you to gesture when you drive.

Google wants to take advantage of our ability to make gestures. Google will be able to read and decipher any number of gesture commands by mounting a camera in your car’s ceiling and a laser in your dashboard. Swiping downward near your window will roll it down for you, while pointing to the radio will pump up the music.

 

 

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Who drives electric cars in the US: Infographic

Over 30% of 2013 US electric car and plug-in hybrid sales have occurred in California.

There is a pretty interesting infographic on who drives electric cars that has been published by the Wall Street Journal. The infographic highlights several interesting facts on who is driving electric cars.

 

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Is there a “need for speed?” Why the U.S. Postal Service should get behind the hypertube

A system of tubes contemplated for the U.S. Postal Service.

Raymond Alvarez:  Travel in the 19th Century was dusty, smokey and slow – very slow. But commuters these days may be wondering if it was better. In Beijing, the roads have become so snarled that commuters abandon their vehicles in traffic that doesn’t move for days. Here in the U.S., many young adults don’t even contemplate owning a vehicle. They prefer cycling or walking.

 

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Google’s quest to popularize self-driving cars

How a self-driving car sees the world.

At about 8am every morning, Anthony Levandowski gets into the driver’s seat of his white Lexus for his daily commute to work. Most of us perform this routine five times a week, 50 weeks out of the year. But, Levandowski’s commute is different. He has a chauffeur and it’s a robot.

 

 

 

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The world’s weirdest vehicles

Here is a vehicle for all couch potatoes out there: the Couch Bike

Some cars can be made without wheels, tracks or skis (and still get places just fine, thank you), others may not even require an engine, while some vehicles are so strange that can hardly be called “cars” anymore. On top of all that, some car designers must have something against drivers, judging by profoundly befuddling and non-user-friendly setups they come up with. In most cases, though, these experimental machines do get around quite well (sometimes even more efficiently than traditional vehicles), and almost certainly turn into prized collection items.  (Photos)

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