Category: Cars

UK getting 200 mile route to test self-driving vehicles on public roads


A mobility consortium in the UK has begun work on a real-world test route for self-driving vehicles as part of local government trials exploring the future of mobility tech. The project, led by Midlands Future Mobility, is building the route to include 300 km (190 miles) of roads around the University of Warwick, Coventry, Solihull, and central Birmingham, Coventry Live reports. [Read: Engineer finds Tesla Model 3 is secretly equipped with hardware for powering homes] It should give autonomous vehicles a mix of urban, rural, suburban, and motorway roads to navigate. It will also take in important transport hubs including…

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What is CHAdeMO? Let us explain


Welcome to SHIFT Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice to help you navigate the changing world of electric vehicles and mobility tech. One of the more confusing aspects of owning an electric vehicle (EV) is knowing how to charge it. Unfortunately, there are a few different standards used in the industry, connectors vary from vehicle to vehicle. As a result,  it’s not quite as simple as just knowing whether you need to fill up with diesel or petrol. Once you’re passed the new terminology though, it’s actually all quite straightforward. In its simplest form, there are two things…

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Want to turn on the new Polestar 2? Use your butt cheeks


Earlier today, Volvo subsidiary and electric vehicle maker Polestar held a public webinar to highlight some of the features found on its new all-electric Polestar 2 vehicle. As it turns out, there is no ignition, or start button, but you turn the car on with your, ahem, posterior. During the webinar, product manager Beatrice Simonsson demonstrated how Polestar 2 drivers can seamlessly approach the vehicle, get in without having to use a key, sit down, place their foot on the brake, select drive, and take off. All without actually having to manually turn the car on. [Read: Engineer finds Tesla…

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Engineer finds Tesla Model 3 is secretly equipped with hardware for powering homes


Despite not being that keen on the idea in the past, Tesla seems to have made some of its vehicles capable of bi-directional charging, otherwise known as vehicle-to-grid charging. During a reverse engineering vehicle tear down, an engineer that works for a Tesla competitor found that their Model 3 came equipped with a charging controller capable of both taking on electricity and dishing it back out, Electrek reports. [Read: VW wants its EVs to become part of the power grid when charging] “The design is fully bidirectional. This means power can be converted from AC to DC the same way…

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Survey: Americans still aren’t drinking the autonomous car Kool-Aid


American perceptions of autonomous vehicles have are showing a trend that doesn’t seem to be improving, for automakers at least. According to a recent survey from industry body PAVE (Partners for Automated Vehicle Education), most Americans don’t believe autonomous vehicles are “ready for prime-time.” [Read: The crazy story how self-driving’s biggest star stole Google secrets, joined Uber, and became bankrupt] Nearly half of those surveyed said they would never get in a taxi or ride-share vehicle if it was being driven autonomously. It seems most of the distrust displayed by those surveyed is rooted in the present. When asked about…

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Dyson’s ‘600-mile’ electric car won’t ever see the light of day — and I’m glad


Despite his company’s best efforts, British inventor and entrepreneur James Dyson killed his firm’s electric car project last year as it did nothing but hoover up funds, including his own money. But something good still might come out of it. In an interview with The Times, Dyson finally unveiled his company’s electric vehicle prototype, which was originally supposed to be launched this year had it all gone to plan. He also revealed how he funneled £500 million ($605 million) of his own money into the project. It’s not like that really matters though, because he just topped The Sunday Times’…

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The crazy story how self-driving’s biggest star stole Google secrets, joined Uber, and became bankrupt


What started out as a private legal case between Google and its former head of self-driving technology, Anthony Levandowski, that no one really batted an eyelid over, evolved into a public nightmare for all involved. With most cases against Levandowski having been settled, the former Google engineer and his most recent employer, Uber no less, are now left pointing fingers over who would pick up the $180 million bill. During a case between two of Levandowski’s former employers, Google and Uber, Waymo lawyers allegedly painted the self-driving sensation out to be a troublesome and challenging employee, not the entrepreneurial and…

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Elon Musk: Tesla will prioritize Cybertruck over Roadster


Tesla is currently working on two of the most hotly anticipated cars, not just for itself, but the whole auto market. However, it seems the electric vehicle (EV) maker can’t make both at once. Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast yesterday — which was recorded over the past week — Musk said that the Tesla Roadster would have to take a backseat so the company can focus on its other vehicles. [Read: The low-down on the A-12 spy plane that Elon Musk and Grimes named their child after] When Rogan asked Musk when he’d finally be able to buy a…

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Uber tells its litigious California drivers it doesn’t have to offer them proper employment status


Lockdown policies around the world have, as we might have expected, led to a drop in user numbers for ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft. If that wasn’t challenging enough, the state of California is now suing the two companies for playing fast and loose with how they’ve classified their workers. In a court document published yesterday, California representatives allege that Uber and Lyft made “calculated business decisions,” to misclassify their gig-working drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The plaintiffs allege this has led to the exploitation of hundreds of thousands of Californian workers. Given that Uber and Lyft‘s…

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Tesla forgets to wipe infotainment data, exposes sensitive customer information


It seems Tesla isn’t taking full care of its customers’ personal data when replacing infotainment and Autopilot hardware in some of its vehicles. According to an investigation by white hat hacker, GreenTheOnly, previously used Tesla infotainment components have been found for sale online. The real kicker though, is that Tesla isn’t wiping the past customer’s personal data from the hardware before passing them on, InsideEVs reports. [Read: Tesla pulls a slick sales move in China, lowers Model 3 price to fit new subsidy limit] Green allegedly obtained four Tesla MCUs (media control units) from eBay and found that the previous…

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