Category: Transportation

: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Transportation Energy Demand Determinants (ITEDD-2015) model estimates Source: The transportation of people and goods accounts for about 25% of all energy consumption in the world. Passenger transportation, in particular light-duty vehicles, accounts for most transportation energy consumption—light-duty vehicles alone consume more than all freight modes of transportation, such as heavy trucks, marine, and rail. The United States was the world’s largest transportation energy consumer in 2012, the most recent year with detailed international transportation data by mode. The United States, where on-road passenger travel is especially prevalent, consumed 26 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), or 13 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (b/d), representing 25% of global transportation energy demand in 2012. Major European countries (those in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD) and China are also major transportation energy consumers, at 19 quadrillion Btu and 13 quadrillion Btu, […]

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Hustling to bring cars that drive themselves to a road near you, Google finds itself somewhere that has frustrated many before: Waiting on the Department of Motor Vehicles. The tech titan wants the freedom to give the public access to self-driving prototypes it has been testing on public roads since the summer. Before granting that permission, California regulators want Google to prove these cars of the future already drive as safely as people. The Department of Motor Vehicles was supposed to write precedent-setting rules of the road by last Jan. 1. Nearly a year later, it is still struggling. After all, the agency is geared to administering driving tests and registering cars, not settling complicated questions the technology raises. If the cars’ advanced sensors and computing power can drive better than humans, do they need a steering wheel and pedals? Would a person even […]

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« Ford first to test autonomous vehicle at U Michigan Mcity | Main | 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid coming to market with EPA-estimated 27-mile electric range; starts at $34,600 » The key to self-driving cars is software that can interpret all of a vehicles’ sensors and learn to mimic the driving skills and experiences of the very best drivers. Google is the current technology leader in this arena, according to a report from industry analysts IHS Automotive: “Google Self-Driving Car Strategy and Implications”. IHS estimates suggest Google has invested nearly $60 million so far in autonomous vehicle research and development, at a run rate of nearly $30 million per year. Unlike traditional vehicle manufacturers, Google also has the ability to leverage adjacent technologies and learnings from its other projects and investments—including robotics, drones and related technologies that help automotive operations, such as neural networks, artificial intelligence (AI), machine […]

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« Sendyne patents novel active battery cell balancing method | Main | IHS Automotive sees Google leading technology, testing, software development for autonomous driving » Ford is the first automaker to test autonomous vehicles at Mcity—the full-scale simulated real-world urban environment at the University of Michigan. ( Earlier post .) The 32-acre facility is part of the university’s Mobility Transformation Center. Ford has been testing autonomous vehicles for more than 10 years and is now expanding testing on the diversity of roads and realistic neighborhoods of Mcity near the North Campus Research Complex to accelerate research of advanced sensing technologies. The Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle merges today’s driver-assist technologies, such as front-facing cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors, and adds four Velodyne LiDAR sensors to generate a real-time 3D map of the vehicle’s surrounding environment. Mcity opened in July. The full-scale urban environment provides real-world road scenarios—such as […]

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Self-driving cars are expected to take over the roadways in the next two decades, but the vast majority of the fleet will likely be dedicated to services and not owned by individuals, according to a new report by IHS Automotive. Within five years, Google and carmakers are expected to have driverless vehicles on the world’s roadways. By 2035, 12 million self-driving and driverless cars will be sold globally, IHS Automotive estimates. However, given that 85% of the world’s population doesn’t have a driver’s license and teenagers in developed countries are waiting longer to get a license — and driving less when they do — the majority of autonomous vehicles will likely be used by a services industry. Car-as-a-service (CaaS) opportunities are becoming a new driving force for urban transportation, according to IHS Automotive. Essentially an extension of ride-sharing using driverless vehicles, CaaS will enable people to summon a car […]

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The latest solution for congested cities is an electric, autonomous tricycle for adults. The challenge of moving people and things around the world’s dense, growing major cities is bad and getting worse. Ninety percent of the world’s population growth in this century will be in “megacities,” and cities will soon account for 80 percent of global carbon emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Much of that will come from idling cars stuck in miles-long traffic jams. Ryan Chin, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, specializes in dreaming up solutions to urban transportation problems. His latest invention, unveiled at the EmTech conference earlier this week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, tries to marry the three dominant trends in urban automobiles: autonomy, vehicle sharing, and electrification. But it’s not a car; it’s a three-wheeled EV that Chin has dubbed the “persuasive electric vehicle,” or PEV. With a carbon fiber […]

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In an open-access invited review for the Journal of the Electrochemical Society , Dr. Oliver Gröger ( earlier post ), Volkswagen AG; Dr. Hubert A. Gasteiger, Chair of Technical Electrochemistry, Technische Universität München; and Dr. Jens-Peter Suchsland, SolviCore GmbH, delve into the technological barriers for all-electric vehicles—battery-electric or PEM fuel cell vehicles. They begin by observing that the EU’s goal of 95 gCO 2 /km fleet average emissions by 2020 can only be met by means of extended range electric vehicles or all-electric vehicles in combination with the integration of renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar). Based on other studies, they note that without an increasing percentage of renewables in the European electricity generation mix, the only vehicle concept which could meet the 95 gCO 2 /km target is the pure battery electric vehicles. (Hydrogen produced via electrolysis using the EU mix or by natural gas reforming would exceed […]

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