Driverless Features
News: Audi Set to Launch Level 3 Model — But You Have to Hack It for Self-Drive
The next-generation Audi A8 to launch in July is expected to be the world's first Level 3-capable production car to go on sale in retail channels.
News: Can Volvo Deliver Level 4 by 2021?
Volvo Cars' claims it will offer Level 4 models by 2021 means the premium carmaker will likely have to finalize the driverless design to meet the aggressive timeline by next year at the latest.
News: Self-Driving Race Car Successfully Completes Full-Speed Lap
In a recently released video, it was revealed that Formula-E's partner Roborace has developed a driverless race car that can complete laps at full racing speed.
News: Google's Self-Driving Car Job Postings Hint at Big Things Coming
Alphabet's moonshot factory, X (formerly "Google X"), is a secretive place, but it seems that when they are close to graduating a project, then they need to staff it up quickly. Watching for these job ads is one easy way to know they're close to budding off a baby.
News: Waymo's Move to Trucks Should Be a Smooth Ride
Waymo's transfer of its driverless car know-how to commercial trucks will likely pose few challenges for the self-driving unit of Alphabet, which owns Google.
News: Head of FedEx Freight Wants Laws to Make Truck Drivers More Like Pilots
We've heard a lot about self-driving taxis, as car and ride-sharing companies compete to win the driverless gold rush. But FedEx wants to bring its enterprise into the mix, as the head of its freight division has asked the US government to develop laws for self-driving trucks.
News: Why You're Probably Always Going to See Those Ugly Dome-Shaped LiDARs on Driverless Fleet Cars
The large, dome-shaped LiDARs that have become a fixture on driverless car prototypes are expensive and notably ugly. And yet, these unsightly devices should remain planted on driverless cars, even when they become available in commercial fleet services across the country in a couple of years.
News: Indian 'Driverless' Startups Like Swaayatt Are Daring to Navigate the World's Most Dangerous Roads
In Bhopal, India, a place nestled in between the royally pink city of Jaipur and the dry (i.e., alcohol forbidden) state of Gujarat, is a team of developers determined to make a fully driverless car suitable to the complexities of Indian traffic. An algorithm elaborate enough has yet to be made by any other company, but is the fundamental key to handling the intuitive habits of Indian drivers, the often intense and gridlocked traffic, and the country's vast expanse of jarring roads.
News: A 22-Year-Old May Be About to Disrupt the Entire LiDAR Industry
Uber has been in the hot seat for awhile now, for many reasons, especially for being sued by Waymo over stolen LiDAR designs. But now, perhaps the attention will be taken off both Uber and Waymo as a new contender enters the LiDAR arena; A small, independent company called Luminar has finally let the world in on what it has been cooking up.
Today's Top News: Tesla Jumps Aheads with a Truly 'Silk Smooth' Autopilot Update
Some drivers give Tesla's Autopilot update released this week rave reviews, after version 8.1 has taken longer than expected to live up to Elon Musk's "smooth as silk" Tweet from earlier this year.
News: And Suddenly, Tesla Becomes a $5.9 Billion Car Brand with 32% Jump in Value
Demand for Tesla's driverless features as well as its ultra-long battery ranges and a reputation for offering the best-in-class electric car driving experience helped Tesla see a 32% surge in its value as a brand, topping out at $5.9 billion in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, released June 5.
News: Waymo Taps Avis to Manage Its Driverless Fleet
Today it was revealed that Avis Budget Group will now support and maintain Waymo's driverless car fleet in Phoenix, the company's first public trial of self-driving cars. This is an unprecedented partnership in the autonomous vehicle field and conveys the steps driverless companies are taking to make their vehicles more accessible to the public.
Today's Top News: Cruise Comes in Third in Self-Drive App Race
Cruise Automation follows Waymo's and Uber's lead with its debut of a beta version of an app-based driverless ride-hailing service for its employees in San Francisco, ahead of a possible launch of a full-fledged commercial offering within four years.
News: Waymo Kills Much-Hyped 'Fireflies' in Shift Away from Designing Own Cars
Waymo revealed more clues about its future business model after it said yesterday it plans to kill its Firefly pod-like car project and focus more closely on offering driverless systems for commercially available car and truck models.
News: 'Google's' Self-Driving Car Just Graduated—Welcome to Waymo
Earlier today, Alphabet announced that the Self-Driving Car Project has officially graduated from their innovation factory (X) and will now operate as an independent company called Waymo.
News: Google's New Self-Driving Car Spinout Waymo Debuts Their Fleet of 100 Chrysler Pacificas
Last week it was announced that Waymo, the former Google Self-Driving Car project, had graduated from Alphabet's X innovation center. This graduation had been in the cards for many months with senior members of the project team and X hinting that it would be soon.
News: Quanergy CEO & Founder Louay Eldada on Early LiDAR Development & the Driverless Revolution
Quanergy CEO and founder Louay Eldada is, by any standard of measure, a pioneer in the development of LiDARs for driverless vehicles.
News: Argo AI's First Driverless Car Is Spied in Pittsburgh
Argo AI is coming late to the party, but has begun testing a fleet of driverless cars in hopes of developing robo-taxi services to eventually compete against those that Waymo, Uber, Cruise Automation, and others plan to offer.
News: So Long, Bird Poop! Waymo's Plans for Dirty LiDARs Revealed
Waymo has done a lot of things over the course of their driverless journey, but their solution to little birdies pooping all over a self-driving car's LiDAR system is definitely our favorite.
News: Sony Develops New HDR Camera Sensors for Self-Driving Cars
In the driverless race, technological advances can sometimes just add more tension to an already heated competition, if Waymo suing Uber over their allegedly stolen LiDAR technology is any indication. Now, Sony is offering a new camera sensor, one that should help self-driving cars "see" the road with much more accuracy than any other camera sensors available for vehicles currently.
News: Valeo R&D VP Guillaume Devauchelle on Why Waymo Can't Go It Alone
Self-driving car models and fleets get most of the media attention, but it is the suppliers that design and make the technologies underpinning the driverless revolution, says Guillaume Devauchelle, the vice president of innovation and scientific development for leading tier-one supplier Valeo.
News: Tesla Says New Autopilot Is Now as Good as Old One
Tesla says the new version of Autopilot is now as good as the previous one, after having completed over-the-air updates of the driverless software during the past few days.
Today's Top News: CEO Arrested After Baidu Pulls Crazy Stunt to Show China's Still in the Driverless Race
China's Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google, live streamed a video yesterday of CEO Robin Li riding a self-drive vehicle along the streets and highways of Beijing.
News: Ford Pins Its Survival on Driverless with Its New CEO Appointment
Ford's appointment of Jim Hackett as its new president and CEO reflects how the company is largely pinning its long-term survival hopes on its driverless business. Following his previous role as head of Ford's Smart Mobility division, which overseas Ford's autonomous driving activity, Hackett will help the company take a more self-driving direction as a whole.
News: The Audi A8 Is Smart Enough to Read & React to Signposts
The Audi A8 may be short on the wow factor as the industry's first Level 3 car, but Audi has revealed some interesting details about one stand-out feature underneath the hood: the car's ability to self-pilot itself at stop signs and lights.
Today's Top News: Tesla Discretely Preps Autopilot Gearshift for Level 4 Before Everybody Else
Tesla's Autopilot self-drive interface in its new Model 3 signals the carmaker is already prepping its cars for Level 4 driving years ahead of the competition.
News: Google's Self-Driving Car Is Here & You've Gotta See This Thing in Action
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five years, you've at least heard murmurs of Google's self-driving car, with Big G even getting California and Nevada to sign off on legislation to allow these motorist-less vehicles on the road. But now, Google is showing off their in-house manufactured vehicle, as opposed to the Prius' that doned their hardware in the past. And it's...well, it's something.
News: Guess Who's Back? Sherif Marakby Returns to Ford After Uber Stint
Sherif Marakby has returned to Ford as the VP of AVs & Electrification after a brief stint with Uber. Marakby's VP title will be effective June 12.
Today's Top News: Uber Demands to Know What Exactly Lyft & Waymo Are Doing
Waymo and Lyft have remained highly secretive about their driverless car programs, but may be forced to reveal a lot about their plans after a judge in a US federal court granted Uber's request to review documents about Waymo and Lyft's partnership.
Today's Top News: Waiting for Tesla's Reaction to Former Uber Engineer's 'Faketesla' Claims
Former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski's scathing accusations challenging the physics behind Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk's claims about Autopilot should force Musk to make his case that self-drive cars don't need LiDAR in the next few months.
News: DMV Accident Reports & Cruise's Driverless Videos Show How Dumb Human Drivers Are
Recently released accident reports by the state of California's Department of Motor Vehicles show humans did a lot of dumb things to cause accidents with General Motors' (GM) Cruise Automation driverless vehicles in San Francisco this year.
News: EU Driverless Tech Could Knock the US Off Its Pedastal
The US driverless market has become a competitive – and crowded – arena, with big names like Google, Apple, Uber, and even Intel intent on leading the pack. Not to be outdone, the EU is also getting in on the automated car action with self-driving fleets launching in both the UK and the Netherlands within the next two years.
News: To Avoid Crashes, Cadillac's Super Cruise Will Only Work on Highways
It be would the ideal morning commute—sit back, drink some coffee, and read the news as your car drives you to your destination. That reality isn't quite here yet, but Cadillac is offering something close with "Super Cruise" on the CT6.
News: Mercedes-Benz to Start an Uber-Like Driverless Taxi Program
Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Daimler, announced their intention today to put self-driving taxis on the road in three years or less in a partnership with Bosch.
News: New Shots of Model 3 Shows Tesla Is Doubling Down on Cameras
While it may seem like the Cold War 2.0 is happening, at least some US spies are getting the content Americans need. That's right, Electrek has gotten some new pictures of the Tesla Model 3.
Today's Top News: Tesla's Moment of Truth as Model 3 Arrives, Intel & Mobileye Double Down on Driverless
All eyes will be on Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk tonight to see if he is reveals details about the status of Tesla's challenged Autopilot at tonight's official Model 3 launch party.
Today's Top News: Ford CEO Rethinks Strategy to Lead Driverless Revolution
Newly appointed Ford Motor CEO Jim Hackett admitted yesterday that demand for driverless transportation could take many different forms and that Ford was rethinking how it would tailor its cars and mobility services for self-drive modes of transportation in the future.
News: Former Google Self-Driving Car Boss Receives Funds for New Project
Google's former driverless car boss Chris Urmson raised considerable funds to get his new startup company Aurora Innovation up and running. Axios initially reported that Urmson raised over $3 million to fund his brainchild in the wake of his Alphabet exit, according to an SEC filing.
Today's Top News: Tesla Quietly Upgrades Autopilot Hardware
Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk has repeatedly said this year all Tesla models made since October 2016 have the requisite hardware for "full self-driving" capabilities, yet the company has reportedly begun to add a second graphics processor (GPU) to its computer platform for Autopilot — without officially saying why.
News: And the Company with the Million-Mile Lead for Machine Learning Is ...
Data for mapping and other applications is the lifeblood of machine-driven cars, and so far, Tesla has taken a definitive lead in information it has gathered ahead of other driverless players, including Waymo.