Category Archives: autonomous vehicles

Milestones: Intelligent Traffic Management Now Deployed at Center for Applied Research in Reno Nevada

One reason the lidar sensors have been placed at crossing signs and intersections is because lidar used today does not allow for facial recognition. In theory smart by anonymous city applications can preserve trust among the public. However, the US is far from even thinking about privacy, let alone articulating a policy about private data use as evidenced by Google and Twitter and Facebook among many other rich and powerful corporations that own politicians. Continue reading

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Michigan and Cavnue to Create Autonomous Vehicle Lanes Linking Ann Arbor and Detroit

The project will draw on an advisory committee of automotive and autonomous mobility companies, including Ford, GM, Argo AI, Arrival, BMW, Honda, Toyota, TuSimple, & Waymo. Notably absent is Fiat Chrysler. (See AutoInformed.com on “Bye Bye FCA and PSA. Hello Stellantis”) Continue reading

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MIT Research: Widespread Autonomous Driving is at Least One Decade Away. Maybe More.

The longer rollout time for Level 4 autonomy provides time for sustained investments in workforce training that can help drivers and other mobility workers transition into new careers that support mobility systems and technologies. Continue reading

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Bye Bye FCA and PSA. Hello Stellantis

The Stellantis name will be used exclusively at the Group level, as a Corporate brand. The next step in the process will be the unveiling of a logo that with the name will become the corporate brand identity. The names and the logos of the Stellantis Group’s basic brands will remain unchanged. What actually happens to the brands is an entirely different matter. Continue reading

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Chinese CATL and Honda Alliance to Make EV Batteries, Technology and Maybe Autonomous Vehicles

The companies said the agreement will enable them to begin discussions on a broad range of areas including joint development, stable supply, and the recycling and reuse of batteries. Honda is spreading the risk and costs and hedging its bets on battery electric vehicles, the development of which is threatened by the ongoing Covid crisis that has already cost automotive companies billions of dollars. A key byproduct of EVS is autonomous vehicles – which may not justify the investment required for a decade or more. Continue reading

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First Look – 2021 Ford F-150 Pickup

The launch will be closely watched by industry observers – the number of build combinations seems needlessly large, and Ford needs to prove it can launch the best selling pickup in the US without the problems it experienced on the Explorer.
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Ford Motor in Corktown and Newlab Working on – What Else – Vehicle Connectivity, Autonomy and Electrification

Two years ago, pre-Covid, but nevertheless financially challenged Ford bought 1.2 million square feet in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, including the historic Michigan Central Station, with plans to establish a new mobility innovation district dubbed Michigan Central. Mostly press releases have followed since then. Continue reading

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BMW and Mercedes-Benz Stop Automated Driving JV

In what appears to be the automotive equivalent of marriage counseling or an analysis of the financial aspects of a pre-nup, the companies said: Following extensive review, the two companies have arrived at a mutual and amicable agreement to concentrate on their existing development paths – which may also include working with current or new partners. Continue reading

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Milestones: Volkswagen Completes Promised Argo AI Funding

The numerous problems confronting Ford Motor and Volkswagen AG revolve around a central issue: Whether the two global giants and hundreds of thousands of workers can work together or consume shareholder capital at astonishing, company threatening rates without producing the promise efficiencies – on time and on budget. Continue reading

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Consumer Feelings on Future Mobility Technologies Declines

The quarterly study claims to be “the pulse of market readiness and acceptance for self-driving and battery-electric vehicles, as seen through the eyes of consumers and industry experts.” Continue reading

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Multi-Seasonal Self-Driving Data Issued by Ford

Leaving aside for the moment giant unresolved privacy issues and how companies can sell your personal information their benefit not yours, data is needed to help engineers and researchers create software that can teach self-driving vehicles how to analyze their environments. This software used to be called the driver. Continue reading

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German Tax Payer Funded Driverless Vehicle Testing Shows Need for Complex, Expensive Redundant Systems.

With the auto industry in full collapse given the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting and still emerging Global Depression, it is unknown if automakers will continue to rush into developing and producing autonomous vehicles – always a dubious business proposition, which is now likely at some makers a survival issue. Invest in the unknown future, or use resources to keep the existing business alive? Continue reading

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COVID-19 Disrupts the Mobility Industry

“Many cities around the world are currently experiencing lockdowns and ‘shelter at home’ executive orders that have slowed the pace of urban life. Mobility is one of the industries that is being hit directly by the new pandemic in multiple aspects,” Bahrani Fard says. Continue reading

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Toyota Research Institute Launches AI Study of Human Behavior

Translation: A computer can take control of a vehicle if the driver is doing something dumb. This is an extension of  so-called driver assist systems (intelligent cruise control, pre-crash braking and belt tightening, automatic emergency dialing, lane wandering alerts and such that are already in widespread use in luxury vehicles) and a necessary step on the bumpy road to autonomous vehicles. There also are much broader applications in human enterprises to help people think. Continue reading

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More Management Changes at Profit Challenged Daimler

The reorganization at Daimler continued today at Daimler in Investor Relations and Greater China. Olaf Schick is to take over Finance & Controlling at Daimler Greater China replacing Steffen Hoffman. Hoffmann will take over as Head of Investor Relations on 1 April 2020  with the current head, Björn Scheib, leaving the company by “mutual agreement,” after 11 years in the position. Continue reading

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