Autonomous, Alternative and Experimental Vehicles

Reports concerning autonomous, electric, hydrogen, fuel cell vehicles, driverless shuttles and buses, self-driving trucks, autonomous cars, etc.

Apple
Apple designed its very own car suspension system
Cult of Mac - Luke Dormehl
The question of whether Apple is building a physical Apple Car or just a software platform hasn’t been confirmed either way. But there are a few hints, such as the fact that Apple was just granted a patent
Personal Finance (UK)
Electric car chargepoints to be added to all new homes in England by law
mirror.co.uk - Emma Munbodh
New guidelines will make it mandatory for all homes to be fitted with chargepoints for electric cars - in what could save drivers £1,000 a year All …
U.S. Army
The US Army will test armored robotic vehicles in 2020
The Verge - Andrew Liptak
The US Army says that it will conduct live-fire tests of a new Robotic Combat Vehicle next year. While the tests won’t involve vehicles ultimately slated to go into combat, they will be used to show off
Mobile Technology
Autonomous ships are coming, and we’re not ready for them
Digital Trends - Dyllan Furness
Picture this: It’s a stormy night in the middle of July and a 500-foot long cargo ship charges east through the Atlantic Ocean. There’s nothing …
Toyota
Toyota forms a joint venture to make its own self-driving car chips
Engadget - Georgina Torbet
Toyota is getting into the semiconductor business, partnering with auto supplier Denso to form a new company focused on chip manufacture. The aim is to create next-generation semiconductors for use in
FIAT
FCA investing $789 million in new assembly line to produce 80,000 electric Fiat 500s annually
Electrek - Phil Dzikiy
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is investing €700 million ($789 million) into its new assembly line for the upcoming electric Fiat 500. FCA executive Pietro Gorlier told Reuters the automaker has installed
World News
Israeli firm truly reinvents the wheel to power electric vehicle future
jpost.com - Eytan Halon
REE places the motor, steering, suspension, drivetrain, sensors, brakes, thermal systems and electronics into the vehicle's wheels, creating a flat …
Automotive Industry
BMW Takes on VW and Tesla With $36,400 Electric Mini Cooper
Bloomberg - Elisabeth Behrmann
BMW AG’s first electric Mini will hit the streets by the end of the year, targeting urban buyers and giving the German manufacturer more ammunition …
Norway
Electric vehicles made up almost half of all cars sold in Norway in …
independent.co.uk - Alessio Perrone
Almost half of new cars sold in Norway in the first six months of 2019 were fully electric, up from just over a quarter in the same period last …
MIT
Over half a million Tesla electric cars have Autopilot 2 – what’s the big deal?
thedriven.io - Bridie Schmidt
There are now more than half a million Tesla electric vehicles on the road with Autopilot version 2, according to statistics put together by a MIT …
Autos
Autonomously Driven Electric Cars Will Change The World, McKinsey Says
Forbes - Jack R. Nerad
Waymo self-driving car performing tests on a street near Google's headquarters, Silicon Valley. Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is among several companies developing autonomous vehicle technology. Autonomous
Norway
Norway Invites You to Explore Its Electric Vehicle Paradise
WIRED - Brett Berk
If you’re used to road tripping in America, where two-thirds of all new vehicles sold are hulking, gasoline-powered SUVs or pickups, the streets of …
BMW Group
Mercedes and BMW cars will drive themselves on the autobahn by 2024
Engadget - Steve Dent
The manufacturers agreed to work together on level 4 self driving systems. BMW and Mercedes started working together on autonomous cars earlier this year, and now they have optimistic plans to deliver
Maryland
Maryland’s high-demand EV tax credit fund runs dry before fiscal year even starts
Electrek - Phil Dzikiy
Maryland’s state electric vehicle tax credit program has proven so popular that rebate funding was depleted for the entire fiscal year before it even began on July 1, 2019. Maryland offers a credit of
Toyota
Toyota and Geely partner with Baidu's Apollo self-driving car program
Roadshow - by Kyle Hyatt
The companies are working together to further develop the open-source autonomous car technology platform and the artificial intelligence necessary to run it.
Hydrogen
Electric air taxis powered by hydrogen promise greater range for intercity commutes
NBC News - By Tom Metcalfe
The new vehicles could be in production in the United States by 2021, but would need FAA approval. Your daily commute may be about to take to the skies. More than 100 electric air taxi designs are already
Automotive Industry
The True Price of Electric Cars
Bloomberg - Lionel Laurent
Most people will be happy to see the back of the combustion engine. Cleaner air and less dependence on oil are good reasons to look forward to the …
Bosch
Brose, Bosch, Shimano: which ebike system has the most power, punch and reliability?
mbr.co.uk - Danny Milner
Brose, Bosch, Shimano… which has more power, which packs more battery punch, which is more reliable? Our quick guide to e-bike motors has the answers. …
Tesla
Elon Musk: Tesla to install autonomous chip on old cars at end of year
Business Insider - Mark Matousek
Tesla will likely start installing the chip it designed to one day make its cars autonomous on vehicles that don't already have it near the end of this year, CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday. "End of Q4, likely,"
Tesla
Tesla will stop selling cars once full self-driving is solved, says Elon Musk [Updated]
Electrek - Jameson Dow
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been talking a lot about Tesla Network lately, part of Tesla’s “Master Plan, Part Deux” which will enable Tesla cars with full self-driving hardware to operate as autonomous robotaxis
World News
Israeli start-up mimics nature to enable autonomous vehicles to see
jpost.com - Eytan Halon
"We essentially took the insect's head and put it on one piece of hardware, which you just connect to your car or vehicle." A bee is seen on the frame …
Tesla Model Y
Teslas will get a lot more expensive when full self-driving goes mainstream
techradar.com - Catherine Ellis
Tesla cars will become a lot more expensive when fully self-driving models are available, says the company's CEO Elon Musk. Musk has long insisted …
Samsung Gear VR
Drift car champ uses Samsung phone and Vodafone’s 5G to do what he does best
Digital Trends - Andy Boxall
How do you demonstrate the potential of 5G’s low-latency signal in an interesting and exciting way? When you’re Samsung, you make a driverless car …
Waymo
Waymo offers free music and WiFi to make its driverless taxis stand out
Engadget - Georgina Torbet
No talking to a driver, just tunes as you travel. Google's self-driving car project Waymo is looking for ways to distinguish itself in the cut-throat taxi market, where it must compete with ridesharing
Mazda
Subaru, Mazda Join Toyota and SoftBank's Autonomous Car Venture
futurecar.com
Subaru and Mazda are joining Toyota and SoftBank’s venture to develop services that will use autonomous cars. Together, all of the major companies …
Softbank
GM's self-driving unit is close to receiving a $2.25 billion boost
Engadget - Jon Fingas
SoftBank has been cleared to make a huge investment in Cruise. It took more than a year, but GM's self-driving company is close to receiving a giant cash infusion. Cruise Automation confirmed to Reuters
Goodwood
Watch VW's electric race car smash a 20-year-old Goodwood record
Engadget - Jon Fingas
It took an optimized version of the ID.R, but it's still a milestone. VW clearly wasn't satisfied with setting the electric car record for the hill climb at 2018's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The automaker's
Toyota
Toyota is testing a much more efficient solar roof for its electric cars
The Verge - Jon Porter
Toyota will start testing a new solar roof for the Prius that it says can add as much as 44.5 km of range to the plug-in hybrid a day. The solar cells, which are being manufactured by Sharp, are just thick,
Technology
Tier IV raises over $100 million to develop open source software for driverless cars
VentureBeat - Kyle Wiggers
Tier IV, a Japan-based driverless car software maintainer and provider, this week announced the closure of a round north of $100 million led by Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance, with participation from