#Technology

Huawei has announced it will continue becoming intertwined with the automotive sector after signing onto a joint venture with Chinese state-owned carmaker Changan Automobile. The telecommunications giant has established Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($140 million USD) and a focus on smart car equipment manufacturing, artificial intelligence system integration services, and AI software development.

Stellantis will be working with BlackBerry on a new virtual cockpit they believe will allow for faster development and lower production costs. The system, which is part of the company’s Virtual Engineering Workbench, is designed to replicate automotive controls using Amazon Web Services’ data cloud and is supposed to reduce development turnaround cycles by “up to 100 times.” The stated goal is to ensure new infotainment tech is created and then pushed to the public quickly and efficiently.

Croatian hypercar manufacturer Rimac Automobili has thrown the world a bit of a curveball. The business is reportedly in the middle of a plot to develop robotaxi services for Europe and making some decent headway at that.

New research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is claiming that forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking are less successful at identifying trucks and motorcycles. In a study that comprised more than 160,000 accidents, the IIHS asserted that these systems prevented accidents with regular passenger vehicles 53 percent of the time. However, motorcycles only benefited 41 percent of the time and trucks 38 percent.

Sacrificing much, GM spent billions and billions of 1980s dollars on technology and engineering entities at the behest of CEO Roger Smith, who wanted to transform The General into a company more resembling a conglomerate like GE. Half a decade later Smith was gone, and the remaining brass began to unwind the costly EDS and Hughes deals and return GM to its standard operating procedure. But behind the layers of finance and paperwork, Guidestar GPS was developed. And the first time the public got to see it was in 1994 in a very exciting debut.

Lamborghini is working on a novel automotive technology that would allow vehicles’ to adjust camber and toe settings while moving. It’s something that the brand’s corporate parent, Volkswagen Group, has been struggling with for a while. But the potential benefits could result in major performance advantages and redefine how future suspension systems function.

As we learned in our last installment in this series, the lowering of the digital and governmental barrier between civilian and military GPS assets in 1996 was a boon to the consumer side of navigation, and (per our comments) land surveying as well. It was a timely turn of events for General Motors after the Orlando area TravTek experiment of 1992 proved either too costly to scale, or alternatively not valuable enough in the eyes of consumers. Before we get to GuideStar, we need to cover much context around why GM was so keen on high-tech things in the Nineties, and the massive amounts of money it spent in its pursuit.

Mercedes-Benz is teasing the next generation of its user experience ahead of the official reveal it has scheduled for CES 2024. The proprietary Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) is said to boast a voice assistant that uses artificial intelligence and more space for screens than ever before.

Details are limited before the official premiere. But the company has promised a new visual interface, developed with game-engine graphics from Unity, that is supposed to help drivers communicate with the new voice assistant. It’s also going to feature a “selfie camera” installed in the cabin.

Hyundai Motor Group have introduced a novel snow chain that’s integrated directly into the tire. The design allows drivers to deploy the system at the push of a button, allowing drivers to sidestep some of the disadvantages associated with installing snow chains.

General Motors announced its intention to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on its upcoming EVs earlier this year. Now we have a new piece out in Motor Trend in which the company explains in so many words that the decision is all about driver safety.

Chinese smartphone giant Huawei has apparently broached the topic of software collaboration with a pair of German automotive companies. According to reports, Huawei wants to bust out of the situation in which it finds itself partnered on such projects solely with brands in China.

Detroit now has a quarter-mile length of roadway with the ability to charge properly equipped electric vehicles as they drive. While similar programs have been pioneered in Europe, Detroit is the first and only city to do so in the United States. Governor Gretchen Whitmer offered her support when the plan was announced in 2021. 

General Motors spent a lot of time and money in the development of TravTek GPS. As we learned in our last installment, the comprehensive (if clunky) navigation system used a touchscreen, had live traffic information, and could even make phone calls. Installed in 100 Toronados used in the greater Orlando area for an entire year, GM, AAA, and various government parties were eager to see just how useful the system was and if it was worthwhile. Narrator: It wasn’t. Let’s find out why.

BMW has announced it is expanding its ChargeForward incentive program to drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles living in the contiguous United States. The proclamation coincides with the launch of the brand’s all-electric i5 and is supposed to incentivize customers into “aligning their vehicle charging with times when renewable energy is highest on the grid.”

That’s progressive-corporate speak for charging vehicles when the demand for electricity is lower to ensure less energy is wasted. One of the biggest obstacles presented by EVs is that widespread usage would result in explosive energy demand many electrical grids may not be able to accommodate. BMW believes this can be mitigated with ChargeForward by ensuring user charging times are carefully monitored and scheduled. 

We return to our spicy Oldsmobile content this week, with the introduction of GM’s first publicly tested in-car navigation system, TravTek. Arriving in the early Nineties, TravTek was launched more than two decades after GM’s magnet-based DAIR prototype failed to make production. This time The General was determined to make good on their big investment. Onward, to Orlando!