The world’s first driverless bus service began carrying passengers in the French city of Lyon this weekend, attracting curious onlookers keen to photograph the vehicles.
Two electric minibuses with a capacity of 15 passengers each are now operating a 10-minute route with five stops in the city centre at an average speed of 6 miles (10km) per hour.
Continue reading… “World’s first driverless bus service begins service in French city of Lyon”
Ford says it’s going to deliver self-driving cars by 2021 – and these will ship in volume, and will also lack steering wheels, brake or gas pedals, offering full Level 4 self-driving features which don’t require a human driver at all, the company announced at a press conference in Palo Alto today.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 16, 2016 – Ford today announces its intent to have a high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation in 2021 in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service.
To get there, the company is investing in or collaborating with four startups to enhance its autonomous vehicle development, doubling its Silicon Valley team and more than doubling its Palo Alto campus.
Continue reading… “Ford Projects A Fully Autonomous Vehicle for Ride Sharing in 2021”
Near the end of 2014, Uber co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick flew to Pittsburgh on a mission: to hire dozens of the world’s experts in autonomous vehicles. The city is home to Carnegie Mellon University’s robotics department, which has produced many of the biggest names in the newly hot field. Sebastian Thrun, the creator of Google’s self-driving car project, spent seven years researching autonomous robots at CMU, and the project’s former director, Chris Urmson, was a CMU grad student.
Continue reading… “Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet in Pittsburgh This Month”
China’s futuristic straddling bus was an idea that sounded straight out of a science fiction novel. It seemed too good to be true. And, as it turns out, it may be.
Just days after its high-profile unveiling in the northeastern city of Qinghaungdao—quashing doubts that the project would ever get off the ground—the bus (or train, as some have argued) seems to have driven right into a ditch of dashed hopes.
Continue reading… “Derailing Into Controversy: China’s Straddling Bus”
In a weird and clearly reactionary move after Elon Musk announced that Tesla will venture in the semi-truck business, electric truck startup Nikola Motor, which like Tesla borrowed its company name from Nikola Tesla, announced that it will unveil a working prototype of its first truck, the Nikola One, on December 2nd in Salt Lake City.
The spectacular growth of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market in China continues; state media reports that sales were up a massive 162% to 170,000 units in the first half of the year. NEVs include pure-electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
The 170,000 NEVs were divided by 134,000 EVs and 36,000 PHEVs.
Continue reading… “Chinese Electric Car Sales Up 162% So Far This Year”
Electric power could be the dominant form of propulsion for all new cars sold in the UK as early as 2027, with more than 1.3 million electric cars registered each year, according to forecast analysis by Go Ultra Low, the government and industry-backed campaign.
This means that, according to Go Ultra Low, the UK is on target to meet a government forecast that all new cars and vans will be electrically-powered by 2040.
Continue reading… “Electric cars could eclipse fossil fuels by 2027”
New Jersey public transit was recently forced to remove the bugs it had installed on its light rail system after a public outcry, however Baltimore’s buses and subways remain under audio surveillance. All the while in Oakland, cops have hid mics around bus-shelters near the courthouses to capture audio of defendants and their lawyers discussing their cases.
Continue reading… “Hidden “anti-crime” mics are proliferating on US public transit”
A new transportation system that could take commuters around Moscow at speeds of up to 1,200kph is in the works. Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov says a pilot Hyperloop project could begin in December.
Continue reading… “Moscow Hyperloop is about to launch”
Self-driving delivery bots could be trundling down a sidewalk near you sooner than you think. London-basedStarship Technologies, which counts Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis among its founding team, is launching a broad testing phase of its autonomous delivery bots in parts of the UK, Germany and Switzerland starting this month.
Continue reading… “Self-driving delivery robots could soon be common sights”
Creator of the world’s first 3D-printed cars, Local Motors, has developed the first self-driving “cognitive” vehicle, using IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive. It’s set to debut later this year in Washington DC.
Continue reading… “Self-driving ‘cognitive’ vehicle uses IBM Watson IoT”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.