Tag: VW

VW signals with light, Lexus teases EV, Volvo delegates engine development: Today’s Car News

Volvo is done developing internal-combustion engines. Well, almost; it’s delegating them to a new joint venture with parent Geely. Electrify Canada is pushing out some very high-power fast-charging hardware. Lexus will show the new iteration of an electric city car that’s likely production-bound. And VW is using light to send messages. This and more today at Green Car Reports.

Volkswagen is introducing a new light-based communication feature in its ID 3 electric car—and potentially all ID models—that helps the driver understand alerts and status updates without chimes and warnings.

Electrify Canada is pushing ahead with plans to install 32 high-power DC fast-charging stations by the end of 2020. On Thursday it mapped out more than 20 of those—all 350-kw-enabled—to be installed at Canadian Tire locations starting this year.

Lexus has teased the design of its production-bound all-electric city car, potentially to be shown in concept or prototype form at this month’s upcoming Tokyo Motor Show.

By 2025, half of all Volvos by sales volume are to be battery-electric. But for the other half, which will be hybrids in some form, Volvo still needs internal combustion engines—and this week it merged engine-development operations with its parent Geely.

And car-to-infrastructure technology, or C2X, is being tested in Germany as a way of directing road-maintenance crews to respond quicker to road conditions like ice and snow on roadways—one of many potential important steps toward autonomous-vehicle tech becoming viable.

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Britain’s James Dyson scraps electric car project

* Project was not commercially viable
* Company said the car was a technical success
* Tried but failed to find a buyer
* Will seek to redeploy 500 engineers working on project (Adds further details)
LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, has cancelled his ambitious plan to build an electric car because the project was not commercially viable.
Dyson said his engineers had built a “fantastic car” and that the project was not being closed due to any failures in research and development.
“However, though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable,” he told staff on Thursday.
The company had tried to find a buyer for the project but had not succeeded, he said.
Dyson announced two years ago that his engineers had been working a on a secret automotive project, building on its expertise in batteries and electric motors to develop a vehicle.
The company bet that its ba..

Our Hardware Future

As many of you who follow us know, comma is striving to be as consumer friendly as possible. We built panda and giraffe in a different time, when ADAS technology on cars was brand new, chffr was still a product, and it was unclear what we would do to gain traction. panda and giraffe were… Continue reading Our Hardware Future

Volkswagen ID.3 Banana Box Test Beats Tesla Model 3, VW e-Golf

Volkswagen ID.3 beats the Volkswagen e-Golf in the banana box test. It’s slightly better than the Tesla Model 3 too. Volkswagen ID.3, as with all modern all-electric cars, is built on a skateboard platform. It’s therefore supposed to be roomy (for its size) with plenty of cargo capacity. The recent Bjørn Nyland’s Banana Box test… Continue reading Volkswagen ID.3 Banana Box Test Beats Tesla Model 3, VW e-Golf

Boeing partners with Porsche on electric flying car

Oct 10 (Reuters) – U.S. planemaker Boeing Co said on Thursday it was working with Volkswagen’s sports car brand, Porsche, to develop a concept electric flying vehicle capable of transporting people in urban settings. Boeing is already competing with arch-rival Airbus SE and other companies to introduce small self-flying vehicles capable of vertical takeoff and… Continue reading Boeing partners with Porsche on electric flying car

Holoride makes its in-car VR available to the public for the first time

Audi spin-out Holoride is launching to the general public for the first time, though a collaboration with Ford and Universal Pictures. The young company is focused on a unique twist on virtual reality: In-car VR, to be experienced by a passenger while a vehicle is in motion. VR in cars might sound like a bit… Continue reading Holoride makes its in-car VR available to the public for the first time

Porsche and Boeing are partnering to develop ‘premium’ electric flying cars

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ID Light feature inside VW ID 3 electric car communicates without clutter

With its first ground-up electric effort, Volkswagen chose to produce a car that is conventionally practical while embracing the high-tech approach taken with many EVs. One of the ID 3's unique features is an intelligent LED-based communication system designed to deliver alerts and status updates in a simple, easily interpreted manner.

The system is inspired by the LEDs you find on smart home devices. It illuminates in different colors and patterns for different notifications, and reacts to voice prompts with directional animations to indicate whether it is listening to the driver or passenger for additional input.

The LED strip is integrated with just about every vehicle system, including navigation, driver assistance features, infotainment and even the powertrain.

While it may sound like something out of “Independence Day,” the interplay is far more innocuous—not to mention productive. Per VW, strategic lighting design in a car's interior can lend it additional character. Long-time VW fans surely remember the company's use of light blue gauge illumination as a long-standing interior signature.

“For all its innovativeness, ID. Light functions intuitively by using familiar colours. This use of light, makes the vehicle more ‘personable’ and is a very simple and intuitive way of communicating,” says VW UX designer Valentina Wilhelm.

Volkswagen included some of the basic animations in a feature overview released Wednesday. Entry and exit are accompanied by animations reminiscent of a television being turned on and off. Door locking is indicated by an inward red animation; unlocking goes the opposite direction and appears in green. An upcoming turn is indicated by a blue effect running in the desired direction, and an emergency braking indicator is a full-width flash of red. Other notifications modes include incoming telephone calls and battery charge status.

The ID 3 will launch in Europe next year, and while it might eventually be brought to Canada, no U.S. distribution is likely. The first vehicle member of the ID family, a model to be called ID 4 (or ID 4X), hasn't yet been detailed, but look for ID models to share some common interface traits—and this might very well be one of them.

Porsche and Boeing to Partner on Premium Urban Air Mobility Market

“Porsche is looking to enhance its scope as a sports car manufacturer by becoming a leading brand for premium mobility. In the longer term, this could mean moving into the third dimension of travel,” says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. “We are combining the strengths… Continue reading Porsche and Boeing to Partner on Premium Urban Air Mobility Market