Standing between the Semis wrapped in Pepsi and FritoLay branding, Musk spoke about the need to reduce carbon emissions before pivoting to talking up the selling points of the trucks. “It looks sick,” Musk said, gesturing at one of the vehicles. “You want to drive that. I mean, that thing looks like it came from the future.”

The first delivery of Tesla Semis went to PepsiCo, which placed an order for 100 trucks back in December 2017. Other customers waiting for deliveries include companies like Walmart, UPS, FedEx, and Anheuser-Busch, most of which placed orders numbering in the dozens. PepsiCo plans to use at least 15 of the Semis to achieve zero-emissions status at its Modesto, California Frito-Lay facility.

Some Promises Kept, Others in Question

Musk originally unveiled the Tesla Semi electric Class 8 truck prototype in 2017, with plans to start production in 2019. Then came delay after delay. After a couple years of prototyping, finalizing the design, and road testing the truck, Tesla faced pandemic-related supply chain challenges and a shortage of battery cells.

In 2017, Musk said the Tesla Semi would run on Autopilot, the automaker’s advanced driver assistance system, but made no mention of it at the recent delivery event. It appears that prices will also rise sharply from Musk’s 2017 estimates of $150,000 for the 300-mile range version and $180,000 for the 500-mile version.

But many of the other specs have remained the same, including a tri-motor system that allows the truck to easily cruise by conventional gas-powered trucks pulling the same load. The Semis will still be charged with a “megawatt class charger” and consume less than 2 kWh per mile. The trucks also deliver three times the power of any diesel truck currently available and feature regenerative braking, meaning the brakes deliver power to the battery when drivers stop pressing the accelerator.

The Gigafactory reveal event came after Tesla completed a 500-mile test trip of one of its Semi trucks fully loaded with 81,000 pounds of cargo. The trip began at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California and ended in San Diego without needing to recharge the battery.

Will the Tesla Semi Ever Actually Take Off?

Tesla’s all-electric Semi trucks could dramatically change long-haul trucking. Current diesel-powered trucks in the same category represent one percent of U.S. vehicle sales, but 20 percent of overall vehicle emissions. If they are, in fact, equipped with Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system, they could reduce demand for drivers and help prevent accidents that occur when drivers are tired or distracted. The system uses sensors and cameras to provide data on the surroundings to the truck’s onboard computer, alerting the driver to potential collisions and applying the brakes automatically in emergencies.

Self-driving functionality is still probably quite a few years from becoming reality, with potential job losses yet to be determined. In the meantime, drivers will have to get used to a very different user experience than what they’re used to, especially inside the cab. Polish truck driver Tomasz Orynski went viral on Twitter after pointing out impractical design choices that make the Semi “a completely stupid vehicle,” including a central seating position that makes it hard to see oncoming traffic or access the window without getting up.

Among other things, the doors are positioned in the rear of the cab, so there’s no longer room for a mattress. The position of the touchscreens replacing physical buttons and levers also makes them hard to reach while keeping eyes on the road.

Musk Drama Could Make Tesla Less Desirable

Meanwhile, it’s hard not to wonder whether Musk’s misadventures at Twitter will affect Tesla. Recent media coverage suggests that all of Musk’s conspiracy theories, transphobic jokes, erratic behavior, and right-wing political comments could harm Tesla by association. Company stocks continue to nosedive, and investors are increasingly furious with Musk over his preoccupation with the social media platform, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“The market voted today that the $TSLA brand has been negatively impacted by the Twitter drama,” tweeted Gary Black, a hedge fund manager who owns about $50 million in Tesla stock. “Where before EV buyers were proud to drive their Teslas to their friends or show off Teslas in their driveways, now the Twitter controversy is hurting Tesla’s brand equity.”

The post Tesla Finally Delivers Semi Trucks to Customers Amid Musk Twitter Drama first appeared on Dornob.

Apple reportedly aims to compete with Tesla, starting with a high-end vehicle that will be produced in small quantities as a sort of test while the company irons out the technicalities of building a lower-priced version. That means the initial Apple Car will fit into the high-performance luxury tier currently occupied by models like the $132,940 Tesla Model X Plaid, the $105,100 2023 BMW iX M60, and the $103,360 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS. None of those cars are quite like Apple’s rumored design, however.

Bloomberg reports that the fully self-driving car will reportedly have no steering wheel or pedals, with an interior designed for hands-off driving. One option discussed internally is an interior design similar to that of the Lifestyle Vehicle by Canoo Inc., which features U-shaped seating so passengers sit across from each other in a conversational arrangement. Various designs have also included an infotainment system with a large iPad-like touchscreen in the middle of the U so passengers can interact with it. The car might be equipped with an emergency takeover mode.

Apple aims to get its high-tech Apple Car on the market as early as 2025, which is ambitious, to say the least. Other manufacturers with a lot more experience, including Tesla, are still years away from producing fully autonomous cars that are ready to hit the road. Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo has been beleaguered by constant staff turnover, delaying progress. Uber Technologies Inc. gave up on its own autonomous-driving division, selling it off last year. But Apple believes it has reached a crucial milestone with the development of its self-driving system, making the timeline possible.

The technology at the core of the project is a self-driving software chip designed by Apple’s silicon engineering group, which is also responsible for the processors in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Paired with self-driving sensors, the new processor is being tested in retrofitted cars, including a fleet of Lexus SUVs. As for the rest of the vehicle? It’ll have to be made by other manufacturers. Apple isn’t exactly ready to pivot into automotive manufacturing, a massive venture that would require nearly all of its attention. But the company will still be responsible for much of the design, including safeguards like backup systems that take over if the self-driving process fails.

What the Apple Car might look like on the outside is anybody’s guess. British vehicle leasing company Vanarama used real Apple patents and inspiration from Apple’s other products to come up with its own speculative design. A series of 3D concept renders envision coach doors, seats that swivel to face each other, handles that resemble iPhone buttons, and a grille inspired by the Mac Pro’s vents.

The post Apple’s Long-Rumored Self-Driving Car Might Cost $100K or More first appeared on Dornob.

Awarding the contract to US-Spanish aerospace firm Skydweller Aero Inc., the Navy is hoping to move away from the airliner-sized MQ-4C Titon drones it currently uses to monitor ships on patrol and eventually triple the amount of time an aircraft could be out before returning to recharge.

Skydweller Areo, founded in Spain with headquarters now in Washington D.C. and Oklahoma City, used the Navy’s piloted Solar Impulse 2 as a starting point, adding new software and improving hardware. They also eliminated the need for a human on board.

“We are currently following our plan to test autonomous flight, then autonomous take-off, then autonomous landing, and finally our first fully autonomous flight,” says Skydweller CEO Robert Miller. “Once all this has been proven, we will move into long-endurance testing with the goal of operating for 90-plus days.”

The solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 successfully circumnavigated the globe in 2015 but had to make pit stops every five days to accommodate the human pilot. Turning the plane into an unmanned craft not only allows for much longer continuous flights but also frees up space for more hardware.

“When we remove the cockpit, we are enabling true persistence and providing the opportunity to install up to about 400 kilograms of payload capacity,” Miller explains.

The plans for the new Skydweller aircraft, named after the company, include 72-meter (236-foot) wings lined with solar panels. To boost power and act as a backup in bad weather conditions (a frequent occurrence for navy vessels stationed in stormy seas), the plane will also be outfitted with hydrogen fuel cells.

Skydweller engineers will need to produce a lightweight hydrogen storage system to keep the airplane nimble and energy efficient. The team is also working on adding advanced battery modules and cutting-edge mission management software. Additionally, the aircraft will get a full analysis and possible redesign of its airframe structural components, power system performance, and energy management.

The U.S. military has shown a greater willingness to lean into clean technologies in recent years. The Army already has a net zero goal and the Air Force hopes to go carbon negative someday, having recently encouraged the entire Department of Defense to make similar objectives across all military branches.

The development of smarter, more efficient warcraft is especially relevant in light of Russia’s current war on Ukraine. “Furthering perpetual flight aircraft for solving next-generation government sensing and monitoring solutions is critical to national security. This collaboration will accelerate the development of our platform, providing a viable, carbon-neutral solution which expands the aircraft mission capabilities significantly,” says Miller. “This contract allows Skydweller to continue supporting the Department of Defense by addressing the current needs of our Combatant Commands and creating military-grade unmanned aerial systems that can operate safely and reliably at record endurance in various, changing environmental conditions.”

The post The US Navy Spent $14 Million on This Unmanned Solar Plane first appeared on Dornob.

In an interview with Business Insider, North Miami Beach commissioner Michael Joseph said the plan would alleviate a lot of traffic, and that commuters and visitors alike would benefit from a tunnel connecting the city center to the beach. The cost per mile would be “a fraction of what is seen in other types of mass transit projects proposed in South Florida, while the construction would not be disruptive to the local economy.”

If you’re wondering how, exactly, this would work, look to the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop as an example. Part of The Boring Company’s plan for an eventual 29-mile tunnel system which will connect Teslas to more than 50 stations across Las Vegas, this 1.7-mile tunnel network opened in April 2021 and has three stops. Built in about one year using the Godot Tunnel Boring Machine at a cost of $47 million, the tunnel is able to ferry thousands of visitors around the Las Vegas Convention Center area, reducing a 45-minute walk to about two minutes. The company says it will eventually enable large conventions with upwards of 100,000 attendees to occur without road closures or disruptions to street traffic. Even better, the trip is free for convention center visitors.

The Boring Company’s renderings for such tunnel projects once included 16-passenger public transit vehicles, but now, they’ve been replaced by Tesla Model 3 cars holding up to five people at a time. And while the company previously said the vehicles could go up to 155 miles per hour, the cars within the Las Vegas loop are only going about 50. The point seems to be using existing technology to make a difference now, with Musk claiming that incremental advances in technology could allow different types of vehicles or connections to subterranean Hyperloop rail systems. But Musk has a penchant for making big announcements and then changing his mind, so it’s unclear exactly how this project will evolve.

Skeptics have called these tunnels little more than brief Tesla test drives, and a bid to sell more of Musk’s cars. The tunnel proposals for various cities have also drawn a lot of criticism and controversy. Projects in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore seem to have faltered, and The Boring Company website no longer even mentions them. Civil engineering experts and tunneling industry veterans call into question Musk’s claims that his company can bore tunnels faster and cheaper than ever before. In Los Angeles in particular, the Boring Company dug a tunnel 40 feet beneath a low-income part of the county without even informing the local community.

In Florida, where the water table is much higher than average, one has to wonder just how safe the tunnels will be from flooding. It seems like there are a lot of kinks to be worked out in these plans, but as usual, Musk is simply boring straight ahead with his plans, apparently planning to figure it out as he goes.

The post Elon Musk Aims to Solve Miami Traffic Problems with a 6.2-Mile Tunnel first appeared on Dornob.

Matt Soule, who worked for the famed aerospace company for 13 years, got the idea to create a nimble electric fleet of smart cargo trains after watching a YouTube video that came through on his feed in 2019, shortly after leaving SpaceX. Armed with a great idea, he recruited two former colleagues, John Howard and Ben Stabler, to help him found the new venture which they call Parallel Systems.

The concept is both green and efficient. Freight trains already use a lot less energy than trucking, requiring just a quarter of the power needed to keep a semi-truck going.

“But because of how rail is architected, it has its operational and economic limits,” explained Soule in a recent interview with CNBC. “…If you can break through those barriers and allow rail to serve more of these markets — that’s the opportunity.”

Thanks to labor and fuel costs, traditional rail transport generally requires long lines of 200 or more cars to make it economical, but it can be difficult to find railyards large enough to park and load these behemoth cargo chains. This reduces the number of routes these trains can travel, making them more expensive and less flexible.

That’s where Parallel Systems’ battery-electric smart platooning rail vehicles come in. The units are teamed up in pairs, each holding one end of a freight car. Together they are strong enough to carry the weight of two stacked boxcars.

With smart tech like “camera-based perception systems,” the trains are autonomous and can be linked together with other pairs to form “platoons” of cargo. They can also be programmed to automatically detach from each other at any point along the route, allowing just a few boxcars to head to a more remote location and better compete with the flexibility of semi-truck transport.

Even better, the Parallel Systems trains can be autonomously loaded by overhead smart machines in ports or depots, eliminating costly manpower and time. Sticking with trains of just 10 to 50 freight cars instead of the traditional 200-plus lines, loading will take a fraction of the time, saving even more money.

And the electric batteries will help reduce greenhouse gases, too. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation creates 29 percent of all U.S. emissions each year. Although the company has not yet settled on a battery type, just by using electric power, the engines can be smaller and have the potential to be net-neutral in carbon production.

Based on Parallel’s prototype, each smart train will be able to trek 500 miles on a single charge, and only need one hour to fully reload its battery.

The trains could also help the flow of traffic around train crossings. They will already be much shorter than traditional freight trains, so they’ll go through crossings much faster, but they can also separate as needed when blocking traffic. That feature will also allow emergency vehicles to get through quicker and safer.

After a few years of research, prototyping, and test runs, the company went public on January 19th, 2022, declaring a $50 million Series A funding goal led by Anthos Capital. Soule is encouraged by the “universally positive” conversations his team has had with key players like class one railroads, ocean carriers, ports, and shortline rail holding companies.

“No matter how many PowerPoint presentations we give them, as soon as they come see it in person, you can see the lightbulb come on,” he says.

The post Former SpaceX Employees Bring Tesla Tech to Electric Trains first appeared on Dornob.

While not intended for drivers (there’s even a warning letting intended players know that games like Solitaire are “for everyone, but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers,”) it’s still possible for the driver to play – or, at the very least, be distracted by the screen.

This summer, Tesla introduced the update for its vehicles that allows drivers to play while on the road. Given the “autonomous” nature of Tesla vehicles, it makes sense that drivers would be more than slightly tempted to get their game on mid-trip, which poses a definite safety concern, especially given that distracted driving is often the cause of major traffic accidents.

In a recent statement, a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) weighed in on the controversial new feature and its potential dangers, explaining that “Distraction-affected crashes are a concern, particularly in vehicles equipped with an array of convenience technologies such as entertainment screens. We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer.”

But Tesla is not the only automobile manufacturer who’s implemented touchscreen technology into their list of features. In fact, most newer vehicles have touchscreen technology built into them, whether it’s in the form of entertainment (like Stellantis’ DVD player) or simply the ability to load directions, music, and other basic information. Here, as with Tesla’s infotainment features, the onus is on the driver to act responsibly and utilize the system’s “voice-based” technology — though this doesn’t always happen. For example, in a recent study, researchers at the University of Utah found that even when drivers used voice-based technology, they were more likely to “[take] their hands, eyes, and mind off the road for more than 24 seconds to complete tasks.”

And 24 seconds could make a big difference, especially behind the wheel of a car. Of course, there are supposed safety systems in place when it comes to such automobile technology. The DVD on the dashboard from Stellantis, for example, only lets people watch while the car is in park. And NHTSA guidelines strongly urge automakers to install protocols that prevent drivers from completing such “inherently distracting secondary tasks while driving.”

While Tesla does urge drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel, even when in Autopilot mode, chances are drivers will only become distracted when more gameplay options are added to the mix. While the future of Tesla’s infotainment options is in question (currently, the company has not made any effort to comment on these safety concerns), statistics show that features like these only lead to more distracted driving and accidents.

Guess we’ll just have to play Solitaire the old-fashioned way, sitting sedentary in our office chair while we’re supposed to be working.

The post Tesla’s In-Dash Gaming is Super Cool – But is It Safe? first appeared on Dornob.

Edwin Bos got the idea for BeachBot (“BB” for short) after his four-year-old son dug into the sand at their favorite beach and produced a cigarette butt. Bos raked his hand through the sand and found more. “It’s such a beautiful place,” he says of Scheveningen Beach, located just outside The Hague in The Netherlands. “It really amazes me that all these things are just lying around. The filters of the cigarettes are full of micro-plastics. It’s bad that these end up in nature.”

Bos teamed up with fellow entrepreneur Martijn Lukaart to start TechTics, a company that combines artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and robotics technologies to create sustainable innovations. They produced the first AI-based detection algorithm that specifically spots cigarette butts in the sand and worked with students from Delft University of Technology to develop the BeachBot, which today uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) – a self-learning algorithm – to help it see litter of all shapes and sizes in all kinds of lighting conditions.

That learning process relies on input from the public. The company solicits photos of cigarette butt litter through Microsoft Trove, an app that connects AI developers with photo-takers and grants them modest compensation for each image (about 25 cents). The app also lets participants see exactly how their images are used. TechTics is hoping to get thousands of photos to help BeachBot’s AI system recognize and remember exactly what cigarette butts look like. Eventually, the team also plans to add new types of litter to the mix.

“The system learns how to see pictures like a child recognizing an object for the first time,” says Christian Liensberger, lead principal program manager of Trove. “The bot does all the legwork. It goes to the beach, and it is the hero of cleaning,” he adds. “But to clean, it needs all these people to give it consistent data input. Without that, the bot will run into new situations it doesn’t understand. Machines like this only work because of people.”

A prototype BeachBot machine demonstrated its abilities in September 2020 for World Cleanup Day, scooping 10 cigarette butts with its gripper arms into an internal bin within 30 minutes. It uses one onboard camera to watch for people and obstacles, and another to look down at the sand. It’s battery powered and can currently run for about an hour before it needs a recharge. To make it more efficient, TechTips is developing two smaller “helper” robots that will cruise the beach looking for cigarette butts, then send BeachBot a map to their locations. A second demonstration is set for later this summer.

The post BeachBot Rover Uses Artificial Intelligence to Clean Up Cigarette Butts first appeared on Dornob.

Pushed out at midnight on July 10th to the company’s early access program of 2,000 drivers (mostly Tesla employees), the FSD Beta v9 came with serious warnings from CEO Musk. “Beta 9 addresses most known issues, but there will be unknown issues, so please be paranoid,” he said on Twitter, adding that “safety is always top priority at Tesla.” The release notes also cautioned that the software “may do the wrong thing at the worst time.”

The new package allows owners to use the advanced driver-assist function on local, non-freeway streets and includes improvements to driving visualization, providing more information about the surroundings on an in-car display. On top of that, the cabin camera located above the rearview mirror will now track the driver’s movements to ascertain “inattentiveness” at the wheel. Motorists will get audible alerts when their eyes wander too far from the road during autopilot sessions.

For those worried about those cameras and privacy issues, Tesla claims the captured feeds will not be shared against the occupants’ will. “Camera images do not leave the vehicle itself, which means the system cannot save or transmit information unless you enable data sharing,” said the company in its social media release notes.

And while the Beta v9 is undoubtedly an advanced driving system, its name is deceptive. At least, it definitely doesn’t transform the car into a fully autonomous vehicle. The Society of Automotive Engineers still classifies it as a level 2 driver-assist program, an automated system that does most of the work but still requires a human to be ready to take control at any moment.

Early Access participate Chuck Cook posted videos on his YouTube channel demonstrating a “mixed bag” of performance from the Beta v9 when it comes to unprotected left turns. In his video he attempted a left turn across a six-lane highway with a median three times, only one of which was halfway successful.

It is likely this version will come under intense scrutiny thanks to a recent incident in Texas where two men died in a Tesla after crashing into a tree and catching on fire. Although authorities believe that neither man was in the driver seat at the time of the accident, it certainly challenges Tesla’s ability to deliver fully autonomous driving cars.

Risks notwithstanding, Tesla drivers are excited for the updates. When asked on Twitter when the general clientele will have access to the Beta v9 software, Musk said, “Depends on how the limited beta goes. If it goes well, maybe a month or so.”

As soon as it is ready to be rolled out on a larger scale, the change will be available through the “download update” button accessible to owners who purchased the FSD package. Musk has also discussed launching a monthly subscription plan for those who want to get in on the FSD action but didn’t buy the $10,000 platform up front.

For now, however, even with the update, it looks like Tesla owners will need to keep both eyes on the road and two hands ready to grab the wheel to support the not-quite Full Self-Driving system.

The post Tesla’s Newly Released Full Self-Driving System Doesn’t Quite Live Up to Its Name first appeared on Dornob.

Taking the Bentley brand as his inspiration, Alexis Poncelet, a member of the exterior design team for VW Future Center Europe, has imagined an autonomous electric limousine that maintains the opulence and style of the famous car while incorporating sleeker and more aerodynamic structure.

In a concept he calls “The Monument,” Poncelet pays tribute to the signature flat-nosed Bentley front-end but switches out the classic grill for dotted metal wraps, spaced out to reveal four vertical LED headlights.

The rear of the car was designed as “a flat cut-out for aero efficiency,” he says on his Behance page, in an attempt to provide longer mileage range from a single charge. Not a fan of trendy rear LED stripes, Poncelet instead adds taillight modules that allow nearby vehicles to gauge the Monument’s brake intensity. This would allow the self-driving car to “communicate with other road users in a smart and elegant way.”

The top is crafted to give the feeling of one continuous curve of glass from front to back, providing passengers with an almost 360-degree view of their surroundings while those outside the car get a paparazzi-like glimpse into the occupant’s life of luxury.

Being chauffeured around by the most advanced artificial intelligence is also on-brand for the British car company’s ultra-wealthy clientele, with an interior that features sumptuous leather seating, ample leg room, and a platform that bisects the car down the middle, doubling as the perfect drink table. And although the Monument is intended for autonomous driving, it does include a steering wheel for the times when an affluent owner might want to take control for nostalgia’s sake.

The car body is long and low, creating a smooth and streamlined image. Poncelet calls it “just a soft and proud British limousine in the main lines,” adding that by incorporating larger surfaces, fewer unique parts, and greenhouse gas-countering abilities, the car would become a “mechanical jewel.”

While he doesn’t include any specs on batteries or electrical systems, drafting an electric vehicle body for the posh brand is a very shrewd design move, as just last year Bentley announced its Beyond 100 plan: a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2023 and switching to a completely electric fleet by 2030.

That plan may be reaching for the stars, as the company currently only has two hybrid models, and its first all-electric vehicle is not expected to hit the market until 2025. As it rolls forward on those plans, Bentley may appreciate having an innovative design in their pocket, especially one from someone on the staff of its parent company Volkswagen.

And Poncelet has plenty of ideas. His Instagram posts run the gamut of vehicle mock-ups, from a Star Wars-esque angular transport and a moon-ready Porsche to a hot dog-shaped hotrod.

A native of France, Poncelet is a 2020 graduate from Rubika, a French school of design, and specializes in ultramodern transport concepts.

The post VW Designer Alexis Poncelet Imagines the Future of Autonomous Bentley Limousines first appeared on Dornob.

“For me, the I.D. Buzz concept is the most beautiful and most exciting electric car in the world,” says Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management for the company. The German automaker hopes to bring back the nostalgia of the original VW Bus, a vehicle that became synonymous with the cross-country freedom of the 1960s and 1970s.

“It took you everywhere with your friends, it was a car but also a home on wheels. It was both reliable and unconventional. It was highly emotional,” says Diess, adding that “it was and still is a wonderful car.”

Paying homage to the original Microbus design, the new I.D. Buzz features the classic front split-colored V shape, sleek rectangular windows, and instantly-recognizable three rear air vents. It also comes equipped with hexagonal LED headlights and a front trunk cargo space.

“The I.D. Buzz stands for the new Volkswagen,” Diess explains. “We are fully committed to the future of mobility, and we want to reignite America’s love for VW. Our goal is clear: we want to make the fully electric, fully connected car a bestseller around the world. The iconic car of the electric age must be a Volkswagen.”

The van will join VW’s current electric offerings, the I.D. 3 and the I.D. 4 crossover, and is set to roll out in Europe in 2022 and the United States the following year. It will be available in both commercial and passenger models in Europe, while the U.S. will only get the long-wheel base passenger version.

The basic rear-wheel drive option can provide up to 200 horsepower, while the all-wheel drive upgrade boasts up to 300. Of course, both are a far cry from the 30 horsepower generated by the first 1950 VW Bus.

Each axle will get an electric motor, with the 111kWh battery pack in the car’s MEB chassis allowing for a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge. With its proprietary fast-charge system, the I.D. Buzz can regain roughly 80 percent of its energy capacity with just 30 minutes recharging at 150 kW.

Not only will it be more eco-friendly than its predecessors, but VW’s new van will also be much smarter. Incorporating some of the company’s autonomous technology, the I.D. Buzz comes with a fold-away steering wheel, pop-up laser scanners in the roof, and an augmented reality heads-up display. In 2025, the European market will get a version that includes the fully automated “I.D. Pilot” mode, intended for taxi and delivery services. It will also be Volkswagen’s first completely self-driving vehicle.

“These cars will offer everything — and even more — than you have seen from other electric carmakers.,” Deiss says. “And they will be much more affordable.”

Announced as a concept in 2017 and originally slated for the U.S. market in 2022, Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh recently confirmed in an interview with Automotive News that the new “love bus” would not be available until 2023.

“I wish it was coming next year,” he said. “It’s not going to come quite as soon as that; it’s going to be a little bit later than that.”

The post Groovy, Fully Electric Volkswagen Bus Will Arrive in 2023 first appeared on Dornob.

Right now, autonomous solar-powered vessels called Interceptors are doing just that. Created by nonprofit organization The Ocean Cleanup, these “floating garbage trucks” are designed to scoop waste out of rivers using a long floating boom. The Interceptors are anchored to the riverbed, and plastic trash guided into openings on their fronts is loaded onto a conveyor belt that in turn collects it into bins. When those bins are full, sensors notify local operators, who empty and replace them, and send the waste to local facilities for processing.

This automation is part of what makes the project so promising. The system is highly efficient, already having proven effective at fishing micro-plastics as small as a millimeter in size out of the water. After testing the first design, the Interceptor 1.0, The Ocean Cleanup’s engineers developed a new model with simpler parts, the ability to collect larger volumes of litter, and greater stability in the water, protecting against accidental spills.

Video of the Interceptor at work in Malaysia shows just how well it does its job. An astonishing amount of trash passes over the conveyor belt almost constantly, including cups, straws, packaging, and even shoes. The trash collectors operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, extracting over 110,000 pounds (50,000 kilograms) each day. Catching all of this manmade debris before it reaches the oceans solves a critical problem with ocean cleanup that occurs in the actual oceans: accidentally capturing marine life along with all the trash.

Three Interceptors are already in place in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic, with a fourth set to be installed in Vietnam early next year. The Ocean Cleanup hopes to tackle the 1,000 most polluting rivers worldwide within a five-year period, with an ultimate goal of removing 90 percent of all floating plastic by the year 2040. They’re working with manufacturers around the world to roll out more Interceptors, and constantly refining new generations of the design using what already they’ve learned.

Recycling the plastic it recovers from waterways is an essential part of The Ocean Cleanup’s vision. In October 2019, the project made its first foray to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and while hiccups and delays prompted a redesign and redeployment in 2020, the barriers are successfully gathering trash that’s now being transformed into products like sunglasses designed by Yves Béhar.

“100 percent of the proceeds from the sales of these sunglasses will go directly to continued cleanup operations. When we return to the patch, because of your support, we estimate that we can clean an area equivalent to 24 football fields of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from the proceeds of just one pair of sunglasses. If we sell every pair, that means we could clean half a million football fields worth of ocean.”

If all of this already sounds familiar to you, that’s probably because the concept existed before The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptors came along. In Baltimore, a trash-eating barge called Mr. Trash Wheel has been in operation since 2008 using almost the exact same process, but with the fun addition of googly eyes.

The post Autonomous Solar-Powered “Floating Garbage Trucks” Scoop Trash Out of Rivers first appeared on Dornob.

In “Chill” mode, the autonomous concept becomes a retreat so you can relax or work in the midst of your journey, or once you’ve arrived. The bright, spacious interior features seating that slides, rotates, or folds down on demand so all passengers can face forward, backward, or inward towards each other. When the car is stationary, the dashboard lowers to create a comfortable seating corner the designers call the “daybed,” and the windshield fully opens to the outdoors to offer a “balcony.”

The bright and airy central section of the car includes a small integrated table with a plant opposite from the sliding entrance door. Deeper into the vehicle, in the rear section, is the darker “cozy corner,” featuring generous seating and LED backlighting. In “Wanderlust” mode, the car is set up to be driven, either by the occupant or using automated driving functions. Visual imagery inspired by 1960s travel posters appears on the screens along with information about attractions and arrival times.

“Vibe” mode is made for entertaining, and turns the car into the perfect hub for an outdoor party. The central circular instrument transforms into an entertainment center complete with graphic equalizers projected onto the walls, and users can select from various club-like lighting effects. You switch between the three modes by placing the key fob in the appropriate slot.

“Intuitive, discreet user interface solutions allow conventional controls such as switches or buttons to be omitted,” reads a BMW press release on the concept. “This creates a minimalist, cozy spatial experience while maintaining full connectivity. The principle of making things as simple as possible to use (‘natural interaction’) is highlighted by the ‘analogue,’ tactile, haptic experience of initiating a feature, e.g. the direct touch operation option in the Loop over the rear seat bench. The circular instrument is now positioned in the middle of the car – the new centre of the action – and brings information to the place where people meet.”

The Vision Urbanaut is just as cozy and compact as you’d expect from MINI, with a frame that’s taller than the carmaker’s usual dimensions to resemble more of a minivan in shape. The designers used augmented reality and wooden scale models to develop the interior before working on the exterior to achieve what they call the brand’s signature “clever use of space.”

“In 1959, the very first Mini ushered in a small-scale revolution in vehicle construction with its transversely mounted engine,” recalls Oliver Heilmer, Head of MINI Design. “With the MINI Vision Urbanaut we have been able to rethink and increase the usable surface area inside the car even further in relation to its footprint.”

As of yet, there’s no physical model of the MINI Vision Urbanaut, so it’s hard to assess just how realistic or workable this design really is. But NEXTGen is really more of a creative playground for exploring the future of mobility, and it’s cool to see what car designers are envisioning for the decades to come.

The post MINI’s Vision Urbanaut: Part Driverless Car, Part Mobile Living Room first appeared on Dornob.

The self-driving electric ferry zips to either side of the Trondheim Fjord on demand, stopping only briefly to charge wirelessly at the dock in between crossings. To call it, pedestrians simply press a button. Up to twelve passengers and their bicycles fit on the ferry at any one time, and there’s no charge for the service.

First unveiled in 2018 in response to a need for climate-friendly water-based transportation options, the zero-emissions ferry design was completed by Norwegian mobility company Zeabuz, itself a spin-off of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The university has spent years researching ship control and autonomy, not just for safe passenger transit but also managing ship traffic at ports.

Safety is a major component of the project. With autonomous vehicles still so new, many people are nervous they’ll malfunction or fail to sense dangerous scenarios like obstacles or people in their path (though human drivers certainly don’t always do a great job of that, either). In the latter case, at least, it sounds like the Zeabuz ferry is in good hands. Each one is equipped with cameras, radar, 5G antennas, and “Lidar,” a collision-avoiding sensor system that measures distances with lasers.

They also won’t be completely unmanned. CEO Erik Dyrkoren says the ferries will still be monitored and managed by human workers at central operations offices, from which they’ll be able to remotely step in and take over if anything goes awry.

“Our autonomy solution is world-leading and can enable self-driving ferries that safely maneuver among other boats, dock to the quay by themselves, and handle passengers safely,” says Susanne Jäschke, innovation manager at Zeabuz. “We worked with DNV GL, the Norwegian Coastal Administration, and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate to test two prototypes in Trondheim. The unique technology has been developed at NTNU and will be made available to the company.”

The ferries are expected to be in operation by next year, and Zeabuz hopes to sell the technology to other coastal and port cities around the world, where they’ll operate as a free public service. Though the self-driving aspect is novel, Norway is already a ferry pioneer, having launched the world’s first electric ferry for passengers and cars in 2015.

The use of ferries is expected to grow across the globe in the near future as more cities rediscover the utility of their waterways amidst attempts to reduce vehicular traffic. Zero-emissions water transit could certainly help eliminate a lot of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in many locations. Plus, it’s easy to imagine how the convenience of a free service like this could encourage more people to leave their cars at home or go car-free altogether while visiting, living, or working in urban centers.

The post Norway Takes Electric Ferries One Step Further With Self-Driving Capabilities first appeared on Dornob.

The condensed summary is that Tesla has big plans to lower their cars’ cost per kilowatt hour, a key metric used to measure electric vehicles’ battery packs. This in turn will allow for more affordable vehicles at a lower manufacturing investment, a point to which Musk adds: “It’s absolutely critical that we make cars that people can actually afford. Affordability is key to how we scale.” And scalability is crucial to Tesla’s long-term goal of producing one-percent of the planet’s overall vehicle fleet, which works out to about 20 million vehicles per year.

With that in mind, the company announced plans to begin producing their own batteries, which they currently source from Panasonic. Not only will in-house production reduce costs, but it will also allow Tesla to completely eliminate all the cobalt they currently use. This is especially important because cobalt is often mined under conditions that violate human rights, which has led to a widespread push to find other materials to replace it. The company’s new “tabless” batteries, called 4680 cells, are completely different from any battery currently on the market and produce five times the energy. In turn, that makes them six times more powerful, which increases their range capability by 16 percent.

In addition to revealing an artful battery concept, which is well past the testing stage, the team also announced a sequence of manufacturing improvements. Of course, they were speaking directly to their investors, so they made sure to stress above all else that these changes would result in a 75-percent decrease in investment. The cost savings comes down to moving material production in-house. This includes more effective sourcing and production of silicon, simplifying the steps involved in the manufacturing process, and in true Tesla style, increasing range capabilities, too. In the end, the company expects to see a 56 percent reduction of cost per kwh. They also announced continuing efforts to move to a higher level of nickel content, which is stable and relatively inexpensive. On the sustainability side of things, the plant will continuously recycle water during manufacturing to create a zero waste loop.

Honks of approval were also heard when Musk discussed the new casting machinery being used in the company’s Fremont plant. This huge piece of technology creates a single frame for the front and back of the car. Of course, Tesla isn’t one to be limited by currently available materials, so they created their own alloy for this process, which requires no heat treatment or coatings. From there, the innovation continues with a center section connecting the front and back that not only offers storage for the batteries, but also incorporates additional frame support. Placing the batteries in the center of the vehicle adds a safety feature during potential impact and improves the handling via enhanced center of gravity performance. Plus, these manufacturing changes cost 50 percent less than the current practices.

Although the event was centered around cost savings and inventive technology, Tesla fans also got a snippet of a few products in the pipeline, including the new Model S with Plaid powertrain. This sexy beast achieves a zero to 60 mph in less than two seconds, and a quarter-mile time of less than nine, breaking most race track records in the process. The $139,990 car’s 1100 horsepower takes it to a top speed of 200 miles per hour, and it’s capable of delivering an astonishing 520-mile range on a single charge. Models are expected to start rolling off the line in late 2021.

Last year’s Cybertruck was also mentioned, with Musk confirming over 600,000 preorders to date. Of course, with nothing but a $100 refundable down payment required to secure one, that number may well exceed the actual number of purchases, but the news is that the trucks will be hitting the streets soon.

In another announcement, Tesla discussed self-driving technology. More accurately referred to as ‘autopilot’ because they don’t actually drive themselves, the company seems to have completely reinvented the system, with plans to unlock a beta version in the next several months.

Finally, the elusive $25,000 Tesla model Musk mentioned as a possibility in 2018 (with an expectation to see it within three years) is still in the “soon” timeline. With the focus on scalability for mass production, ground-breaking advancements in material development, and streamlining manufacturing processes, the goal of reducing manufacturing costs to a point of making that low price tag a reality is clearly still in the center of the frame.

The post The Biggest Announcements from Tesla’s Battery Day first appeared on Dornob.

Even putting practical concerns like economics and fuel efficiency aside, the third factor throws a wrench in any efforts to create a vehicle design that’s too far outside the box. For whatever reasons, people are wary of cars that look “weird,” and since our ideas about what’s attractive tend to vary widely, nobody can seem to agree on the styles that make a car look cool and fresh. Just take the reaction to Tesla’s boxy Cybertruck for a recent example.

But that doesn’t mean auto designers shouldn’t keep trying. If we ever want to get our flying cars, we have to allow things to progress in increments, don’t we? So why should cars using the latest technologies look like any other car? BMW engineer Ulrich Kranz aims to take a few steps forward with the Canoo, a sort of van/SUV mix with a footprint the size of a Toyota Prius.

This shiny, beetle-like vehicle looks unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The company calls it “a loft on wheels,” featuring a spacious interior with a U-shaped bench in place of back seats, tons of cargo room in the center, an overall design inspired by modern furniture, and a whopping 22 windows made to optimize light and visibility. In fact, virtually every surface from the doors up has been kept transparent, completely eliminating blind spots.

If you need to transport furniture or other large objects, there’s already plenty of space for that in the back, and the rear seats still fold down as usual. But when you need to fit additional people, the car really reveals its uniqueness: two “drawer” seats pull out in the upper part of the U-shaped bench, and two more fold down from the backs of the driver and passenger seats.

Bright T-shaped LED lights built into the body of the vehicle give it a little bit of a futuristic edge, while the interior features soft, adjustable ambient lighting. You’ll find all the expected pockets and cupholders inside, too, but you can also add on accessories like phone holders, skateboard racks, laptop pockets, and even tiny planters. And if you get bored having a car that looks the same for a long time, you can even switch out the “wrap” on the exterior for a new color, or add cool vinyl graphics.

The Canoo’s small footprint already makes it easy to drive and park, but it also boasts a fully digital steering system that will allow existing models to be upgraded to autonomous technology just as soon as it becomes widely available. Other components are upgradable, too, and there’s no built-in screen that will soon be obsolete: the company acknowledges that we all just use our smartphones most of the time, anyway. The battery also gets a 250-mile range and charges up to 80 percent in thirty minutes.

More importantly, the Canoo offers futuristic flair to everyone, not just millionaires who want to collect supercars. Users will even be able to rent the car for a fixed monthly fee that includes insurance, charging at existing stations, and registration without signing any long-term leases. It’s currently in testing, but production is expected to start by the end of 2020, with customers receiving the first cars in the Los Angeles area by early 2021.

Check out more features and details at the offuicial Canoo website.

The post Canoo Aims to Take the Electric Car Aesthetic Into the Future first appeared on Dornob.

One of the most exciting categories to be covered at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is that of “smart cities.” While the fair’s other exhibits focus more on specific aspects of electronic and AI innovation, the Smart City sector addresses different ways to bring aging infrastructures up to par by repurposing the old concurrent with incorporating new technologies into the renovations.

These were just a few of this year’s most interesting developments in the field:

Toyota Woven City

Near Mount Fuji, Japan, Toyota is constructing a smart city. Their project, scheduled to launch in 2021, will transform a former factory into an actual town where families will live, work, and research mobility options and advancements. The 175-acre locale designed by Bjarke Ingels’ BIG company will focus on converging transportation options, housing alternatives, a conglomerate of smart power sources, water distribution technologies, and research that benefits the community’s sustenance and growth.

BIG previously designed Two World Trade Center and Google’s latest headquarters, so this undertaking fits well on their résumé of projects. Their transportation scheme for the “Woven City” is three-fold. One road is dedicated entirely to self-driving vehicles, another to scooters and bikes, and for pedestrians, the firm plans to construct a large park chock-full of walking paths. All three options come together in the center of town. The goal is for residents to use one or more of these every day to get around.

The houses in the Woven City will predictably be constructed from sustainable wood and be powered by photovoltaic tiles. A subterranean level of the city will also house hydrogen cells to store power and a water filtration system. Another underground system will deliver supplies to residents via conveyor belts — or even a mass of little androids.

Power to the People

For a futuristic city to flourish, the people who live there need to thrive as strongly as the emerging infrastructure. Many exhibits in this year’s CES Smart City category concentrated on taking care of the inhabitants.

Vayyar, headquartered in Israel, presented a sensor-based system called Walabot that monitors the movement of people inside their homes. Raviv Melamed, the company’s CEO, explained in an interview that “the idea is to have something that the person doesn’t need to wear, so it just sits over there monitoring the house … we have a 3D imaging sensor that can look at you without actually having your picture so basically we can track people if they go around the house if they fall down, if they sit, if they lie down in bed sleeping. We can monitor day-to-day kind of living and tell you things about yourself or alert someone if you fall.” Walabot also detects children left in hot cars and alerts parents and caregivers through an accompanying mobile app.

Addison Care, developed by Electronic Caregiver, is a voice-controlled 24-hour virtual caregiver. CEO Anthony Dohrmann says that “she is a 3D virtual smart health home virtual caregiver [that] manages behavioral health, chronic disease, supports caregivers, and even takes care of child patients. So she can through that visual sensor verify you’re taking medications, see how you’re feeling, look for signs of distress, or if you’re doubled over in pain. She can see if your fall risk increases. She can see how you’re adjusting to a prosthetic or a new rehab exercise. She can even demo a rehab exercise, verify you’re doing it with that visual sensor, monitor your progress as you improve, and keep providers informed.”

Platform House HED-Net, the latest innovation from Sekisui House, uses contactless sensors to improve health, wellness, and happiness in homes. The system can detect strokes and heart movements. Company President Yoshihiro Nakai clarifies: “Let’s think of a bedroom because what we use for sensing is contact-less, it is not under a mattress, not like a watch or a pad put onto the [chest]. Instead, we install a sensor recessed onto [the] ceiling. By monitoring vital data such as heart rate, perspiration rate, and blood pressure and using our proprietary algorithm, we [can] detect the onset of acute diseases.”

Again, this is just a sampling of all the fantastic smart city fantastic innovations on the horizon. CES 2021 is sure to introduce even more spellbinding advancements to help make mankind as happy and healthy as possible, so be sure to stay tuned!

The post CES 2020 Gives Us a Peek Into the Future of Smart Cities first appeared on Dornob.