Mobility – Page 6707 – I wish I had more to offer

@BMW: Interview with Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG: “We will be taking sustainability to a whole new level”

Munich. When it comes to sustainability, major corporations have a key role to play. The BMW Group acknowledged this fact long ago and outperforms industry rivals by far in terms of CO2 emissions per vehicle produced. But as new powertrains such as e-drives gain momentum, the approach to sustainable vehicle production is changing. In an… Continue reading @BMW: Interview with Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG: “We will be taking sustainability to a whole new level”

After losing Grubhub, Uber reportedly hails Postmates

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@Hyundai: Hyundai Motor Group Appoints Martin Zeilinger as Head of Commercial Vehicle Development Tech Unit

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@Toyota: Toyota Releases Sales, Production, and Export Results for May 2020

TOKYO, June 29, 2020 – (JCN Newswire) – Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces its sales, production, and export results for May 2020 as well as the cumulative total from January to May 2020, including those for subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., and Hino Motors, Ltd. The main points are as below: May 2020 Sales Results… Continue reading @Toyota: Toyota Releases Sales, Production, and Export Results for May 2020

@Toyota: Toyota Motor North America Opens New Parts Distribution Center in Phoenix

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@Nissan: Nissan Sunderland restarts vehicle production

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@Nissan: Nissan production, sales and exports for May 2020

2020/06/29 YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced production, sales and export figures for May 2020. 1. Production Nissan’s global production in May declined 62.6% from a year earlier. Production in Japan declined 78.7% from a year earlier. Production outside Japan declined 59.9% from a year earlier. Production in China surpassed year-earlier results… Continue reading @Nissan: Nissan production, sales and exports for May 2020

@GM: GM Defense Awarded a $214.3M Contract to Produce the U.S. Army’s Infantry Squad Vehicle

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Ford Launching Its Own Driver-Assist System To Compete With Tesla Autopilot (Sort Of)

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Published on June 18th, 2020 |

by Johnna Crider

Ford Launching Its Own Driver-Assist System To Compete With Tesla Autopilot (Sort Of)

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June 18th, 2020 by Johnna Crider

CNBC just reported that Ford is trying to compete with Tesla and GM by launching its own driver-assist system to compete with Tesla’s Autopilot and GM’s Super Cruise. Sort of. It’s called “Active Drive Assist” and will be able to control three major aspects of its vehicles:

Speed.
Braking.
Steering.

Ford will do this through a system of cameras, radar, and sensors on 100,000 miles of pre-mapped divided highways in the US and Canada.

Active Drive Assist will be part of Ford’s “Co-Pilot 360” program. The hardware for the hands-free driving system should be available for purchase first on the Ford Mustang Mach-E this year. After that, Ford will have a list of other vehicles for its 2021 model year that will use the tech. Unfortunately for customers, they will have to wait until next year for Active Drive Assist to be available on the Mustang Mach-E.

CNBC noted that even though a Ford spokesman didn’t comment on which other vehicles the tech will be offered on, a great candidate is the F-150. The article also noted that Active Drive Assist will function more like GM’s Super Cruise than Tesla’s Autopilot. One main reason is that GM and Ford both will only operate on pre-mapped roads, whereas with Tesla, Autopilot has an AI system that can intelligently drive the vehicle and react like a human would in real-time.

Ford plans to stand out from GM’s Super Cruise with the way its system handles and interacts with drivers. One way is through a digital driver information screen instead of just a light bar on the steering wheel. During a media briefing, Darren Palmer, Ford’s global director of battery electric vehicles, said, “A huge amount of work was done in this respect. We noticed from reviewing systems on sale that it can be a little bit confusing to customers.”

I personally think it is a great thing that Ford is coming up with its own version of assisted driving. However, it’s not in full competition with Tesla’s Autopilot. One has to understand the difference between Autopilot and the other types of driver-assist technology.

Even though Autopilot is a type of technology that assists drivers on the road, it’s the first step for Tesla in its goal to complete “Full Self-Driving” vehicles. Autopilot, unlike Super Cruise, isn’t limited to a pre-mapped highway system. It’s also more advanced than typical driver-assist tech and is routinely improved via over-the-air software updates, and comparing it with Super Cruise or Ford’s new Active Drive Assist is similar to comparing bananas to plantains. Both are in the same species, but they are two different treats.

I think what I would like to see more from legacy automakers is the passion behind creating EVs. Ford has one EV coming, but for us to fully go in the direction of electrification, legacy automakers need to focus on electrifying their whole lineups, instead of pushing out a few new fossil fuel vehicle models each year. Like, make the 2021 Ford F-150 an EV only — and do this with every make and model vehicle from here on out. Without doing that, it’s hard to see their supposed commitment to society and it’s hard to see them not fall further and further behind in the new automotive era.

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About the Author

Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge artist, gem, and mineral collector, member of the International Gem Society, and a Tesla shareholder who believes in Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon Musk advised her in 2018 to “Believe in Good.”

Tesla is one of many good things to believe in. You can find Johnna on Twitter

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Didi installs V2X equipment in Shanghai, begins test robotaxi service

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, backed by SoftBank Group, launched a test robotaxi service in a Shanghai suburb on Saturday after installing V2X (Vehicle to Everything) hardware throughout the area. FILE PHOTO: The company logo of the Didi ride-hailing app on a car door at the IEEV New Energy Vehicles Exhibition in… Continue reading Didi installs V2X equipment in Shanghai, begins test robotaxi service