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GMC could join electric-pickup tailgate party

2019 GMC Sierra
General Motors has remained mum on its plans for making its pickups all-electric—until now.

It's something of a fait accompli, really, since GM's CEO Marry Barra has said the company plans to move to a 100 percent electric lineup, eventually.

READ THIS: Cadillac to become “lead electric vehicle brand” for GM to rival Tesla (Updated)

Now the head of the company's primary U.S. truck division, GMC, has given a hint about how electric trucks might come about at GM. In an interview with CNBC at a conference in Detroit last week following the Detroit auto show, vice president of the GMC brand, David Aldred, said GM's upscale U.S. truck brand is considering an all-electric truck.

Two days before the auto show, General Motors announced that Cadillac will become its primary brand for electric cars, indicating that it may develop more expensive electric models in an effort to better cover the costs of developing them.

DON'T MISS: GM's national electric car plan may not be all that, scientist argues

Introducing an electric pickup first at GMC would follow the same strategy, GMC has long sold pickups similar to those buyers can get from Chevrolet, but at a premium price. An electric pickup from GMC could include luxury features similar to the brand's Denali lineup.

Aldred did not reveal any timing for an electric GMC pickup or even give positive confirmation that the company will build it.

CHECK OUT: Ford confirms future all-electric F-Series truck, holds details close

Although none have yet reached the market, the competition is heating up among brands announcing new electric pickups, since U.S. startup automaker Rivian met with enthusiasm when it showed its concept electric pickup at the LA auto show. The Rivian R1T is scheduled to debut late next year.

At another industry conference following the Detroit auto show, Ford global vice president Jim Farley announced Ford will build an all-electric version of its bestselling F-Series pickup. Like Aldred, he did not provide any timing, even though other Ford executives, including chairman Bill Ford had suggested for months that the company was considering an electric truck.

Velodyne Lidar Showcases a Wide Array of Never-Before-Seen Products at CES

Velodyne Lidar Showcases a Wide Array of Never-Before-Seen Products at CESJanuary 3, 2019|In Press Releases|By Albie Jarvis
Velodyne is Everything Lidar, Meeting all Needs for Autonomy and ADAS

Velodyne Velarray’s best-in-class range, resolution, and field of view facilitate robust object detection, allowing for longer braking distance and increased safety.

Velodyne Lidar, Inc. will introduce and demonstrate its breakthrough new lidar sensor technology at CES 2019 in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, booth #9010. Velodyne will present product demonstrations showing how lidar is advancing vehicle autonomy, safety, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The in-booth press conference will announce exciting collaborations and strategic partnerships, never-before-seen products, and customer achievements on Wednesday, January 9, at 11:00 a.m. PST.

“The new products we are unveiling at CES advance Velodyne’s leadership position in providing the smartest, most powerful lidar solutions for autonomy and driver assistance”

Velodyne will showcase a wide array of products that fully meet all of the auto industry’s lidar needs, including new products to address directional and short-range sensing with trailblazing technology and performance. Velodyne will also introduce complete lidar-based safety solutions that incorporate Velodyne hardware and software. For more details, please see the Velodyne CES new product release on Tuesday, January 8, at 9:00 a.m. PST.

“The new products we are unveiling at CES advance Velodyne’s leadership position in providing the smartest, most powerful lidar solutions for autonomy and driver assistance,” said Anand Gopalan, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Velodyne Lidar. “Delivering integrated hardware and software safety solutions is extremely valuable to automakers with the technologies seamlessly working together to provide breakthrough advanced driver assistance systems.”

At CES, live demonstrations of Velodyne’s lidar sensors will show their industry-leading combination of long range, high resolution, and wide field of view. Visitors to the Velodyne booth can experience a lidar point cloud via augmented reality. Velodyne partners also will lead in-booth presentations, unveil new technologies, and demonstrate lidar’s use in autonomy, marine, agriculture, and emerging industries.

Velodyne demonstrations at CES will include:

The Velodyne Alpha Puck sensor is specifically made for autonomous driving and advanced vehicle safety at highway speeds.

Velodyne Alpha Puck™. The culmination of ten years of lidar development and learning from millions of road miles, the Alpha Puck is a sensor specifically made for autonomous driving and advanced vehicle safety at highway speeds. Perfect for Level 4-5 autonomy, the sensor produces an image best described as “stunning,” with the highest resolution data set in the world. It boasts the longest range for highway driving and maximum safety.

Velodyne Velarray™. The Velarray’s best-in-class range, resolution, and field of view facilitate robust object detection, allowing for longer braking distance and increased safety. Designed for seamless vehicle integration, this compact sensor generates a richly-detailed directional image, day or night. It can be concealed within roof lines, in bumpers, and – as demonstrated at CES – behind windshields.

The Velodyne booth will also feature Velodyne’s Augmented Reality demonstration that allows people to experience how autonomous vehicles see the world.

“At CES, people can come to the Velodyne booth to experience how our intelligent lidar sensors are enabling autonomous vehicles on the road today,” said Mike Jellen, president and chief commercial officer of Velodyne Lidar. “They can see how Velodyne’s rich computer perception data helps determine the safest way to navigate and direct a self-driving vehicle. Visitors to our booth can also learn how Velodyne’s versatile lidar sensors are utilized in a myriad of trailblazing applications in addition to self-driving cars and driver assistance, including unmanned aerial vehicles, mapping, industrial safety, robotics, security, and more.”

Velodyne’s Augmented Reality demonstration allows people to experience how autonomous vehicles see the world.

Cutting-Edge Customer and Partner Solutions

Velodyne will present products and presentations from its network of customers and partners that are using lidar technology in a range of innovative solutions. These partners include Accur8vision, AGC, Apex.AI, AutonomouStuff, DeepMap, Local Motors, MechaSpin, and Paracosm.

Accur8vision. Equipped with Velodyne lidar, Accur8vision provides an innovative approach to the security sector. Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that protects an entire area needing to be secured, compared to perimetric detection which only guards the boundary. With Accur8vision and Velodyne lidar sensors, any intruder who enters the guarded area will never go undetected.

AGC. A world-leading supplier of flat, automotive, and display glass, as well as chemicals and other high-tech materials and components, AGC will showcase windshield technology from its WIDEYE task force. Wideye™ is focused on autonomous vehicles and solid-state lidar integration solutions. Combined with the Velarray™ sensor for an interactive demo in Velodyne’s booth, WIDEYE’s infrared transparent automotive-grade glass provides an ADAS and autonomous solution featuring both seamless design and safer perception.

Apex.AI. Apex.AI builds reliable, safe, and certified software for autonomous vehicles and other autonomous mobility systems. Apex.OS is an SDK compatible ROS 2 (Robot Operating System). It provides a production-grade, safety-certified real-time framework for developing safe and secure autonomous vehicle applications. Apex.Autonomy provides functional building blocks for autonomous vehicles on top of Apex.OS, such as libraries for 3D lidar perception including integration of Velodyne lidars.

AutonomouStuff. AutonomouStuff provides the best R&D platforms, products, software, and engineering services to aid in the advancement of robotics and autonomy. The company has provided solutions for automated driving to thousands of customers worldwide. In order to continue to rise up, companies must surround themselves with the best. This industry is no different. That is why AutonomouStuff chooses to surround itself with a market leader like Velodyne.

DeepMap. HD mapping is a crucial piece of the autonomous vehicle stack that needs to be robust, reliable, and highly scalable. DeepMap provides state-of-the-art mapping and localization to autonomous vehicles as a service. DeepMap helps its customers expedite their autonomous vehicle technology development in a safe and scalable way. Velodyne’s lidar is widely used by DeepMap and its customers for autonomous driving as well as mapping and localization.

Local Motors by LMI. Local Motors will show the world’s first co-created, electric, and self-driving shuttle, Olli. On display will be a current R&D prototype made of a nearly 90 percent 3D-Printed Olli and integrates a range of Velodyne sensors. Local Motors partnered with Velodyne to showcase how Velodyne sensors allow Olli to not only see in 360 degrees, but also ensures coverage of multiple overlapping areas at greater distance with more reliability.

MechaSpin. An industry-leading lidar sensor integrator, MechaSpin will showcase how it has utilized Velodyne’s lidar technology to develop an ecosystem of capabilities to provide solutions in the maritime, intermodal, agriculture, and material handling industries. MechaSpin’s proprietary MSx Processing Engine enables rapid adoption and integration of lidar sensor technology for custom applications.

Paracosm. Paracosm, a division of Occipital, develops PX-80, a handheld 3D mapping device that captures large-scale indoor and outdoor spaces in minutes using Velodyne’s Puck™ sensor. Its CES presentation will highlight exciting, real-world customer use cases from scanning aircraft hangars to the Amazon rainforest for a virtual reality film.

For more information on Velodyne and to download news releases, photos, and videos, please visit https://velodynelidar.com/newsroom/. Media can schedule an executive interview or product demo by contacting Robin Carr at Landis Communications Inc. (415-971-3991; velodyne@landispr.com).

About Velodyne Lidar

Velodyne provides the smartest, most powerful lidar solutions for autonomy and driver assistance. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Velodyne is known worldwide for its portfolio of breakthrough lidar sensor technologies. In 2005, Velodyne’s Founder and CEO, David Hall, invented real-time surround view lidar systems, revolutionizing perception and autonomy for automotive, new mobility, mapping, robotics, and security. Velodyne’s high-performance product line includes a broad range of sensing solutions, including the cost-effective Puck™, the versatile Ultra Puck™, the perfect for L4-L5 autonomy Alpha Puck™ and the directional view Velarray™.

NVIDIA Updates Financial Guidance for Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019

Fourth quarter revenue expected to be $2.20 billion versus previous guidance of $2.70 billion Gaming and Datacenter revenue below company’s expectations Management to discuss reported financial results on Feb. 14 earnings call NVIDIA today updated its financial guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019, reflecting weaker than forecasted sales of its Gaming and… Continue reading NVIDIA Updates Financial Guidance for Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019

RIEGL has the next-gen lidar for your airborne, UAV, and land-based scanning needs

RIEGL has long been known for the quality of its lidar technology. One thing that often goes unnoticed, however, is the company’s unusual dedication to offering a wide range of systems—some that offer a great deal of flexibility across applications, some that meet the requirements of very specific applications, and a number of systems that… Continue reading RIEGL has the next-gen lidar for your airborne, UAV, and land-based scanning needs

Upcoming partial sale of the development center: works council mobilizes against sale of “Opel’s heart”

DPA Main building of Opel’s development center in Rüsselsheim Opel does not rest. In a leaflet, the works council fights against the impending Partial sale of the development center (ITEZ) to the external service provider Segula. The Segula deal “carries considerable risks” for those affected, according to the paper available to manager magazin. The change… Continue reading Upcoming partial sale of the development center: works council mobilizes against sale of “Opel’s heart”

Zipcar and Honda Expand Strategic Partnership for Mobility Solutions

BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2019 – Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing network, and Honda today announced an expansion of their strategic mobility partnership. The agreement will add hundreds of new Honda vehicles to Zipcar’s diverse fleet, while focusing on supporting Zipcar’s university program in California and the expansion of Zipcar’s successful service in Columbus, Ohio. In… Continue reading Zipcar and Honda Expand Strategic Partnership for Mobility Solutions

Lotus and Williams commit to developing electric car tech together

Lotus and Williams Advanced Engineering have confirmed plans for a “strategic technical partnership” which will see the two firms share development and research into “advanced propulsion technologies”, with an emphasis on the development of new fully electric powertrains. The two companies have not announced anything beyond their intentions to work together on new powertrains, but… Continue reading Lotus and Williams commit to developing electric car tech together

Special Award for Quality Manager of ZF Business Unit Off-Highway Systems

„Ever since gaining my doctorate, I have worked intensively in the area of heat treatment and in particular in material engineering – in research as well as in industrial practice“, says Dr. Küper. „I feel very honored that my work is awarded with this highly respected prize.” Not only the AWT but in particular the… Continue reading Special Award for Quality Manager of ZF Business Unit Off-Highway Systems

Volkswagen develops automotive industry in Ethiopia

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Apple’s dismissal of 200 self-driving car employees points to a shift in its AI strategy

Bloomberg | Getty Images
John Giannandrea, senior vice president of artificial intelligence and machine learning strategy at Apple, speaks at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2017.

It's not often you hear about layoffs at Apple.

So it came as a surprise Wednesday when CNBC learned that Apple was removing 200 employees from its self-driving car unit. Apple confirmed the staffing change, but reading between the lines of a spokesperson's statement, it sounds like the move is the latest in the company's broader goal to improve its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities as it faces increased competition from rivals Google and Amazon.

“As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple,” the company spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC Wednesday.

Self-driving car technology may still be an important initiative at Apple. But reading between the lines, it looks like it's taking a back seat a Apple beefs up its general AI staff.

“I think they're making the decision that, at least in the near term, it's better to have these people doing AI in other projects,” said Gene Munster, a venture capitalist and analyst at Loup Ventures.

Apple's self-driving car project, called Titan internally, started out with the desire to create an Apple-branded electric car, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015. But over the last few years, Apple has scaled back its ambition and lost leaders and other employees in the process. Today, the unit mostly explores the underlying technology that makes self-driving cars possible. CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly called self-driving “the mother of all AI projects.”

Since Apple started its self-driving division, the consumer AI space has exploded through the rise of digital assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and devices like Amazon's Echo. Apple's own digital Assistant, Siri, had a head start when it launched on the iPhone 4S back in 2011, but has not kept up with the competition.

To address the shortfall, Applehired Google's head of AI John Giannandrea away from the search giant in April. Within a few months, Apple had reorganized its entire AI and machine learning teams under Giannandrea, the company announced to TechCrunch. And just last month, Giannandrea was promoted to Apple's executive team as vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy.

Self-driving may still be an important piece to Apple's AI research. The company said in its statement Wednesday: “We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever.”

But as far as products go, competition in self-driving and electric vehicles has grown dramatically in the last four years.

Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car company, recently opened up its self-driving car service to the public in Phoenix, Ariz., and is widely considered to be the leaders in self driving. Legacy car companies like GM working on self-driving technology. And it's not just Tesla making electric cars. Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and other legacy car companies have all announced electric vehicles. It's hard to imagine how Apple would stand out.

“The sense that I had is they're not as far along as I had hoped,” Munster said of Apple's decision to remove the 200 employees out of its car division. “But they still have initiative there.”

Giannandrea's rapid rise at Apple is the biggest signal yet that Apple intends to invest a lot of time, money and talent in improving AI. Plus, according to leaked comments from Cook at a recent company all-hands meeting reported by Bloomberg, Apple plans to continue hiring in AI “at a strong pace” even as it slows down hiring in other divisions.

In short, we're seeing Apple eliminate jobs in self-driving and increase the number of people working more broadly on AI.

It may already be paying off. Late last year, a study from Munster's company, Loup Ventures, showed Siri vastly improved its ability to correctly answer a series of 800 questions. The Loup study said Siri answered 74.6 percent of the questions correctly, up 22 percentage points from just nine months earlier. By comparison, Google Assistant answered 87.9 percent of the questions correctly. Alexa got 72.5 percent of the questions right.

It's not just about getting questions right, though. The messier problem for Apple is training its AI while convincing users that it's keeping their data secure.

Google trains its AI systems in part using the massive amounts of public data available on YouTube and the Google search engine. (It's also started using a program that strives to protect users' data.)

But Apple has taken a hard stance against unfettered data collection, and promotes its concern over user privacy as a reason to buy its products. In a speech in Brussels last year, Cook called the privacy practices of companies like Google “surveillance,” for example. It also put up a giant ad about its privacy stance in in Las Vegas during CES earlier this month.

So Apple will have to continue to improve its AI while sticking to its goal of keeping people's personal information private.

“I think it's very clear Apple is a believer in AI and most of the products will be very subtle about how AI is used,” Munster said.

WATCH: Apple CEO Tim Cook writes op-ed calling for tech privacy regulation

Apple CEO Tim Cook writes op-ed calling for tech privacy regulation
6:11 PM ET Thu, 17 Jan 2019 | 01:30