August 23, 2021
Tesla boss Elon Musk has unveiled plans for a metallic humanoid robot that will perform unsafe, repetitive, or boring tasks and will be built on the same technology as the company’s semi-autonomous vehicles. The whimsical entrepreneur promised a prototype of the ‘Tesla Bot’, which will have five fingers on its hands and an androgynous black-and-white […]
August 17, 2021
The American highway safety watchdog NHTSA is opening a new investigation into the alleged role of Tesla’s Autopilot system in eleven accidents between 2018 and 2021, where one person was killed and 17 injured. The NHTSA says the involved vehicles – Models S, X, Y, and 3 – “were all confirmed to have been engaged […]
August 11, 2021
Audi is bringing somewhat of a peculiarity to Monterey car week. Their concept car Skysphere, a modern interpretation of the swooping grand tourer lines of the old but infamed Horch 853, is several cars in one. Take that literally. Actuated by electric motors and a telescopic nose structure, this sports car can actually be redimensioned. […]
August 03, 2021
Almost without a wavelet, unnoticed by the media, Europe’s first fully autonomous – solar-powered – water taxi has been commissioned in a pilot project in Teylingen, near Leiden in the Netherlands. Residents can call up the water taxi with an app to bring pedestrians and cyclists across the Groote Sloot to the recreational areas of […]
July 26, 2021
America’s number one car manufacturer, GM, has filed a complaint against competitor Ford for the use of the name Cruise before Californian justice. In April, Ford launched a driver assistance system named BlueCruise. It gives a driver the freedom of not having to put his hands permanently on the steering wheel. In a statement, GM […]
July 13, 2021
According to a recent study from the Belgian Federal Plan Bureau, a fully automated automotive fleet would probably lead to an increase in traffic and a drop in average speed in already congestion-prone zones. The study’s author points out that this will result from the increased demand due to the safety and cost advantages of […]
June 17, 2021
America’s number one carmaker, GM, is pumping another 8 billion dollars into EV development and autonomous driving. In November, CEO Mary Barra announced a $27 billion investment in an ‘all-out pursuit of global EV leadership’. Now the counter is set to $35 billion. According to sources quoted by several media, GM will use the money […]
June 14, 2021
The Bloomberg news agency was the first to report a few days ago that Apple has hired Ulrich Kranz, co-founder and former CEO of electric utility vehicle startup Canoo. Before that, Kranz was BMW’s senior vice president for the electric division that developed the i3 and i8. The news was confirmed by Apple to The […]
May 10, 2021
The touristic Terhills site in Limburg will have crewless self-driving shuttles on its territory by 2022. The kick-off was given last Friday in the presence of the Flemish Ministers Lydia Peeters (Mobility, Open Vld) and Hilde Crevits (Economy & Innovation, CD&V). Terhills is located on the former Eisden mining site in the heart of the […]
April 29, 2021
The British Department for Transport has announced that hands-free driving would be legalized this year. It will be limited to driving with automated lane-keeping systems at speeds of up to 37 mph (60 km/h) on highways. The government notes that vehicles fitted with the technology must first receive GB-type approval and that there shouldn’t be […]
April 28, 2021
After Uber having sold its autonomous subsidiary ATG to a Silicon Valley start-up back in December, now is the turn of Lyft to get rid of Level 5. The ride-hailing company’s subsidiary, specializing in autonomous driving R&D, will be integrated into Toyota’s Woven Planet Holdings for 550 million dollars (455 million euros). Pressured by shareholders […]
April 20, 2021
Volvo Cars and DiDi Autonomous Driving, the self-driving technology arm of Didi Chuxing, have signed a strategic collaboration agreement on autonomous vehicles for DiDi’s self-driving test fleet. Volvo Cars will provide DiDi with XC90 cars equipped with necessary backup systems for functions such as steering and braking. It will collaborate with DiDi Autonomous Driving to […]
April 20, 2021
In a tweet on Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Autopilot function wasn’t active when a Model S missed a turn, went off the road, and crashed into a tree in Houston (Texas) on Saturday. In the car that burst into flames after the crash, the bodies of two men were found: one in […]
April 15, 2021
The rumors which surfaced in February that China’s telecom and ICT giant Huawei would venture into the development and production of self-driving cars under its own brand name were confirmed this week by one of its rotating CEOs, Eric Xu. According to the Bloomberg news agency, Xu told analysts in Shenzhen this week that the […]
April 13, 2021
Israeli ADAS tech developer Mobileye, owned by chip giant Intel, is partnering with Udelv, a US startup specializing in driverless deliveries, to roll out a fleet of 35 000 ‘robot delivery vans’ between 2023 and 2028. The ‘Transporter’ Udelv is developing will use Mobileye’s self-driving system, called Mobileye Drive™, to find its way autonomously to […]
March 08, 2021
Honda is the first manufacturer to homologate and market with the Legend Hybrid EX, a car that can drive autonomously at Level 3. Honda’s Traffic Jam Pilot’ is a Level 3 function, which means that the car can drive ‘eyes off’ on the motorway under certain predefined conditions. Under the current five-level autonomous driving classification, […]
March 04, 2021
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) is consistently trying to advance the development and the implementation of autonomous driving. “With the confirmation of the group’s supervisory board for our Autonomous Driving R&D program, we are setting the course for the future of mobility. Autonomous electric driving will make an important contribution to urban mobility and road safety. […]
February 25, 2021
The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo and Chinese partner Geely Auto, both owned by Geely Holding, are not going ahead with the announced fusion. They will intensify their collaboration instead, focusing on electrification and autonomous drive. In February last year, Volvo and Geely had announced that they were thinking of a fusion creating an ‘international group’ […]
February 24, 2021
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has started a program to develop the first ‘fully connected city’ in Japan. It will be a big laboratory for all future technologies like autonomous driving, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). The city will be called ‘Woven City’ and installed at the foot of Mount Fuji (central Japan). The purpose is […]
February 17, 2021
On Monday, Seafar, a specialized company in remotely controlled navigation, launched the first shipping trip between the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge. Deseo, a 110-meter long containership – the largest semi-autonomous canal ship – will make the trip daily, transporting containers to and from the river Scheldt and the North Sea. Ultimately, the ship will […]
February 12, 2021
Volkswagen has announced that it is expanding its collaboration with technology company Microsoft. The deal allows the German car manufacturer to integrate Microsoft’s cloud technology. Both firms’ software branches will join forces to create a common platform called Automated Driving Platform (ADP). In the end, this should severely speed up and facilitate the development of […]
February 10, 2021
It’s outlandish. It can boldly go where no car has ever gone before. It’s a redefinition of mobility. Meet the Tiger X1, Hyundai’s concept vehicle that shows us the future today. Plans to start building prototypes could start as soon as 2023. Like most car brands, Korean car manufacturer Hyundai is reinventing itself as a […]
February 09, 2021
In reaction to the rumors that Apple was talking with Hyundai/Kia on making an autonomous vehicle together, the Sout Korean car manufacturer denied explicitly talks are still going on currently. It doesn’t mean there were no talks with Apple before. Apple is known to be extremely vigilant not to disclose anything on future products and […]
February 05, 2021
Ford wants to surpass General Motors as the bigger investor in electric cars and autonomous drive. Dearborn’s carmaker has announced that it will invest $22 billion by 2025 on electrifying the vehicle line-up. That’s double the investment compared to the previous one, which was set at $11,5 billion. Ford’s new CEO, Jim Farley, called it […]
January 13, 2021
General Motors launches a new Bright Drop brand to offer electric delivery vehicles combined with roll containers and an intelligent cloud-based logistics platform. Delivery company FedEx will start using this system from the end of 2021. New brand A few days ago, GM showed its new logo and announced its plans for the number of […]
January 13, 2021
Many cars sold worldwide over the past decade were white, and even today, the number of white cars in traffic is impressive. But why? Is it a question of fashion? Or is it a technology-related trend? Let’s try to find some explanations. According to figures from BASF, the largest chemical multinational globally, last year, the […]
January 12, 2021
China’s ‘Google’, search engine giant Baidu, confirmed joining forces with carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop and manufacture ‘smart’ electric cars. Baidu will bring in its expertise on car connectivity and autonomous driving, including DuerOS for Apollo and Baidu Maps. Geely offers its manufacturing knowledge and its new electric Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA). Baidu’s […]
January 11, 2021
Rumors pop up again Apple is talking with established carmakers to cooperate for building an autonomous electric car. Like the Korea Economic Daily TV, local media in South Korea mentioned last week, Apple talks with Hyundai this time. The rumors boosted Hyundai’s stock value temporarily by more than 24%. Hyundai initially confirmed the talks to […]
December 30, 2020
Chances are you never heard the name Zoox before. Still, after Amazon pumping $1,2 billion into the Californian start-up, the robot taxi company suddenly got out of the clouds into the bright sunlight. Just half December, it showed the world for the first time its production prototype (Level 4) steering wheel-less robot taxi actually drive […]
December 29, 2020
For the first time, Volkswagen shows a working prototype of the mobile car chargers on which the manufacturer has been working for two years. Via Car to X communication, they not only offer ease of use, but they can also offer charging solutions in places where the power grid is insufficient to feed charging stations. […]
December 10, 2020
The European Commission has presented its plan for a ‘smart, green, and affordable transport’ of the future on Wednesday. The ‘‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy’ is an 82-points plan focusing on ten key areas called ‘flagships’ with targets set for 2030, 2035, and 2050. It confirms the 30 million zero-emission vehicles by 2030, three million […]
November 19, 2020
Flemish public transport company, De Lijn, will not continue with an urban autonomous transport project. The Board of Directors of De Lijn ratified a decision on Wednesday. According to De Lijn, it appears that the market for autonomous transport has not reached the technological development previously announced in recent years. De Lijn’s decision not to […]
November 18, 2020
The Mini brand is presenting the Vision Urbanaut, an all-new interpretation of a vision of space. This digital vision vehicle offers a lot of interior space and versatility but still on a minimal footprint. “The Mini brand has always stood for ‘Clever Use of Space’. In the Mini Vision Urbanaut, we extend private space far […]
November 12, 2020
Today, Honda cars can legally drive autonomous (Level 3) on Japanese roads. Honda is planning to launch a Honda Legend for sale with the newly approved automatic driving equipment (called ‘Traffic Jam Pilot’) in the coming months. Honda Motor Cy. Ltd. has received the required type designation for Level 3 automated driving from the Japanese […]
November 12, 2020
A farming tractor performing – all alone – tasks like collecting boxes with harvested fruit or hay bales, plowing a field, and sowing. Faster than we’ll see fully autonomous cars on the roads, it’s the future of farming starting today, as shown by Flanders Make with its autonomous tractor. The standard tractor, retrofitted with the […]
October 30, 2020
German car and truck builder Daimler is putting Google’s Waymo in the driver(less) seat of its American Freightliner Cascadia truck to send it on the road autonomously. Both companies announced this week a “broad, global strategic partnership” to deploy Level 4 autonomous driving for heavy trucks, meaning no driver is needed under certain conditions. “The […]
October 20, 2020
In the third quarter of this year, Tesla has delivered a record number of 139 300 cars, more than the most optimistic analysts had forecasted. On the other hand, unsatisfied Dutch Tesla owners have started a foundation called Stichting Tesla Claim to start a class action against Tesla. They claim that the car’s quality is […]
October 15, 2020
From 2023 onward, the Flemish transport company De Lijn wanted to transport passengers with an autonomous shuttle on a few fixed routes in Antwerp, Leuven, Mechelen, and Genk. But De Lijn is about to call off the ambitious project because it is too complex and expensive. On Wednesday, De Lijn did not want to confirm […]
October 09, 2020
Google/Alphabet daugther Waymo is starting in Phoenix to expand its ride-hailing service to the general public without a human driver behind the wheel. So far, there was always a driver to intervene when needed, except for a small group of early riders under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). From Thursday on, more regular Waymo One clients […]
September 03, 2020
Olli, the self-driving shuttle of American ‘ground mobility company’ Local Motors, made its Belgian debut at the Maria Middelares hospital in Ghent on Wednesday. It’s going to transport visitors between the bus and tram stop and the hospital over a distance of 600 m, with an accompanying driver ‘just in case’, for the time being. […]
August 12, 2020
Car manufacturer Hyundai and Aptiv, the autonomous driving offshoot of automotive supplier Delphi (ex-GM) have baptized their self-driving joint venture ‘Motional’. They promise on-road tests with Level 4 ‘fully driverless systems’ starting this year, and ‘available for robotaxi providers and fleet operators in 2022’. The 50/50 joint venture itself was announced in March of this […]
August 07, 2020
Dutch security researchers have succeeded in manipulating several smart traffic lights. By mimicking the signal of users of a special app, the hackers create a virtual cyclist who pushes the wait button remotely, thus allowing them to get the green light without being near the traffic lights. The hackers announced their findings on Thursday, at […]
August 06, 2020
Anthony Levandowski is sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing business-sensitive documents when he moved from Waymo to competitor Uber in 2016. Levandowski was the brain and driving force behind Waymo, the Google company that develops autonomous cars. Levandowski took thousands of ‘top secret’ computer files with him from Waymo to Uber. “This is […]
July 28, 2020
The use of robot trucks on a new automated ‘container highway’ is turning the Port of Rotterdam labor relations upside down. The Rotterdam port manager considers them a new milestone to a ‘smart port’, while the unions see them as a threat to future employment. Container highway The port manager is investing 175 million euros […]
July 27, 2020
The Flemish Waterway wants to create the possibility to have unmanned ships on the Flemish waterways by 2030. The agency is to invest 150 million euros in the project. Challenges The Flemish Waterway manages the more than 1 000 kilometers of navigable waterways in Flanders. Two years ago, the agency was founded as a fusion […]
July 24, 2020
Alphabet’s (Google) autonomous driving branch, Waymo, has tightened the four-year-old bonds with Italo-American carmaker Fiat-Chrysler to implement the self-driving technology to the full product portfolio in the future, starting with ‘robot delivery vans’. And that theoretically includes all French-German PSA car brands too, after the intended merger into ‘Stellantis‘. Waymo is using an extensive fleet […]
July 22, 2020
With the Covid-19 health crisis and the economic crisis that will follow, experts not only foresee a 20% fall for the automotive sector in 2020, they also anticipate a reduction in fully autonomous driving technology development. According to them, priorities are revised and investments are directed to the electric car. “There is an obvious process […]
July 10, 2020
According to Elon Musk, fully autonomous driving in any circumstances without a driver required – so-called SAE Level 5 driving – is “very close”. He’s confident Tesla will have the basics ready “before the end of the year” and with the current hardware of the Teslas. It’s merely a matter of software and addressing a […]
July 08, 2020
The smartphone in your pocket warning connected cars ‘Watch out, I’m here’ even when still out of sight. It’s the basic idea for the app ‘!Important’, Canadian Bastien Beauchamp developed. It sends the car your GPS location and eventually could tell it to slow down or to brake automatically. Beauchamp, CEO of the Berkeley-based (CA) […]
June 26, 2020
This week, some sixty nations have consented with binding United Nations Regulations on autonomous driving (at low speeds). In specific conditions, the driver no longer needs to keep his eyes on the road (Level 3). It’s seen as a ‘milestone’ in creating uniform legislation on further autonomous driving. The new UN Regulation, which will enter […]
June 23, 2020
Good, reliable software is paramount. That’s now also very clear for the largest car manufacturer in the world, the VW Group. And that’s why a new entity within the group will create a VW OS, a home-developed operating system for all VW products. Not only governments are scrutinizing the GAFA companies. Many companies are worried […]
June 22, 2020
BMW Group has announced that it will cut 6 000 jobs from the 126 000 it employs worldwide. It hopes to do this with several measures but avoiding direct dismissals. Until now, BMW was suffering less from the corona crisis than other car manufacturers. During the first quarter of this year, turnover went even higher […]
June 15, 2020
How is the car business waking up after the corona confinement? Belgian newspaper L’Echo asked Stéphane Sertang, CEO of the car dealer group Ginion, how he sees things. Ginion Group covers a certain amount of (usually premium or high-end luxury) brands. There is Mini, BMW, and Volvo, but also Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, McLaren, Pininfarina, or […]
June 03, 2020
Volkswagen invests $2,6 billion in the start-up Argo AI, which could already count on investments from Ford. The company specializes in the development of autonomous technology for vehicles. VW and Ford now jointly control Argo AI. VW’s investment is part of a broader alliance between the German brand and Ford. The two manufacturers will jointly […]
May 18, 2020
American carmaker General Motors is cutting 160 of the 2 000 jobs at its self-driving division Cruise. “It’s a measure of extreme precaution,” GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, said last week at an online conference. The job cuts nevertheless come as a surprise, as according to Reuters, Barra declared just a week before that “the automaker’s […]
May 07, 2020
Swedish carmaker Volvo is aiming to offer in the XC90 from 2022 on Level 4 fully autonomous driving on highways without the need for the driver’s attention. Key is affordable LiDAR technology from Florida-based tech start-up Luminar, in which Volvo did ‘a strategic investment’ back in 2018. LiDAR, an acronym for ‘light detection and ranging‘ […]
March 12, 2020
Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation, Hilde Crevits (Cd&V), has decided to attribute 7,3 million euros from the European Fund for Regional Development (Europees Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling, EFRO), to three Flemish projects. Manufacturing economy The major part of the budget – 5,2 million euros – goes to a campus for the manufacturing economy in […]
March 09, 2020
At the canceled Geneva show, Renault was ready to show the Morphoz concept car. As the name suggests, the vehicle can change according to the needs of its passengers. It’s Renault’s vision on personal and shared mobility for 2025 and beyond. Morphoz sits on Renault’s future, a modular electric platform CMF-EV that will be used […]
February 21, 2020
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation announced the development of a Connected Shift System based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Both are the most important members of the South Korean-based Hyundai Motors group. The Connected Shift System can predict the oncoming road and traffic conditions and act on the shifting pattern of the […]
February 20, 2020
As a part of its ‘Destination Zero’ mission, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) showed Project Vector, a concept car that wants to integrate into smart city infrastructures of the future. Project Vector wants to be an advanced, flexible, multifunctional electric vehicle platform, ready to drive autonomously when needed. The idea is to be of service for […]
