+++ 3 years ago, Google’s self-driving car project abruptly shifted from designing a vehicle that would drive AUTONOMOUSLY most of the time while occasionally requiring human oversight, to a slow-speed robot without a brake pedal, accelerator or steering wheel. In other words, human driving was no longer permitted. The company made the decision after giving self-driving cars to Google employees for their work commutes and recording what the passengers did while the autonomous system did the driving. In-car cameras recorded employees climbing into the back seat, climbing out of an open car window, and even smooching while the car was in motion, according to 2 former Google engineers. “We saw stuff that made us a little nervous”, Chris Urmson, a roboticist who was then head of the project, said at the time. He later mentioned in a blog post that the company had spotted a number of “silly” actions, including the driver turning around while the car was moving. Johnny Luu, a spokesman for Google’s self-driving car effort, now called Waymo, disputed the account, but said behaviour like an employee rummaging in the back seat for his laptop while the car was moving and other “egregious” acts contributed to shutting down the experiment. We humans are easily distracted by our games, phones and mates. And automotive engineers, computer interaction designers and, yes, lawyers, wonder if the self-driving cars they are working on will ever really be able to count on us in an emergency. Engineers say they believe that cars will be intelligent enough to do all the driving, somewhere between five years and a decade from now, depending on whom you ask. But until then, what passes for autonomous driving will be a delicate ballet between human and machine: Humans may be required to take the wheel at a moment’s notice when the computer can’t decide what to do. To outline a development path to complete autonomy, the automotive industry has established five levels of human-to-machine control, ranging from manual driving (Level 0) up through complete autonomy, Level 5. In the middle, Level 3 is an approach in which the artificial intelligence driving the car may ask humans to take over in an emergency. But many automotive technologists are skeptical that the so-called hand-off from machine to human can be counted on, because of the challenge of quickly bringing a distracted human back into control of a rapidly moving vehicle. “Do you really want last-minute hand-offs?” said Stefan Heck, chief executive of Nauto, a startup based in Palo Alto, California, that has developed a system that simultaneously observes both the driver and the outside environment and provides alerts and safety information. “There is a really good debate going on over whether it will be possible to solve the handoff problem”. Nauto’s data shows that a “driver distraction event” occurs, on average, every 6 kilometers. Heck said there was evidence that the inattention of human drivers was a factor in half of the approximately 40,000 traffic fatalities in the United States last year. Last month, a group of scientists at Stanford University presented research showing that most drivers required more than five seconds to regain control of a car when (while playing a game on a smartphone) they were abruptly required to return their attention to driving. The handoff challenge is compounded by what is known as “over-trust” by automotive engineers. Over-trust was what Google observed when it saw its engineers not paying attention during commutes with prototype self-driving cars. Driver inattention was implied in a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation that absolved the Tesla from blame in a 2016 Florida accident in which a Model S sedan drove under a tractor-trailer rig, killing the driver. Solving the over-trust issue is a key to autonomous vehicles in the Level 3 category, where the computer hands off to humans. The first commercial vehicle to offer Level 3 autonomy is expected to be released next month by Audi. A version of its luxury A8 model will be able to drive in stop-and-go freeway traffic up to 60 km/h while allowing drivers to pursue other tasks. The vehicle reportedly will notify drivers in emergencies, giving them 8 to 10 seconds to intervene. Despite these limited advances, many automotive technologists remain uncertain about whether technology will ever be able to operate smoothly with a human driver who may be reading email or playing World of Warcraft. “I believe that Level 3 autonomous driving is unsolvable”, said John Leonard, a mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has collected detailed examples of driving situations that are currently impossible for state-of-the-art autonomous driving systems. “The notion that a human can be a reliable backup is a fallacy”. +++
+++ FORD is offering buyout packages to about 15,000 salaried workers in North America and Asia in a cost-saving move that is aimed at boosting profits amid slowing sales in the U.S. and China. The offers target about 10 percent of the white-collar workforce in each region with the aim of trimming 1,400 employees from the global head count, the company said. Workers who accept the voluntary buyouts are expected to leave by Sept. 30. The Dearborn car maker is struggling to prove to Wall Street that it can continue to boost profits even as sales in the U.S. (its largest and most profitable market) begin to slide. The staff reduction plan was put into place under former chief executive Mark Fields, who was ousted last month after failing to reverse a prolong stock price slump that frustrated shareholders and the company’s board. His replacement, Jim Hackett, has vowed to move faster and speed up decision making. He has already restructured the management team to reduce the number of executives reporting to him directly and aligned more functions under 2 global chiefs, Jim Farley and Joe Hinrichs. The job cuts target specific departments, including communications, finance, government affairs and marketing. +++
+++ HONDA has confirmed it is developing 2 electric vehicles, one of which will go on sale next year. Takahiro Hachigo, Honda’s CEO, held a press conference to outline some of the company’s plans out to 2030. During the meeting, he revealed the company was hard at work on 2 electric cars. One is being developed specifically for China, where the government is incentivising plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in order to reduce the pollution problems it has in big cities. The Chinese EV will go on sale in 2018. The second EV is being engineered for global markets, and will be introduced at a motor show during the northern autumn. This means an introduction at either the Frankfurt motor show in September or, more likely, the Tokyo Motor Show in October. It’s not clear if the production car or a concept version will make its debut this year. This also means it’s uncertain when the global EV will go on sale. Honda’s new electric vehicles will be developed by the company’s Electric Vehicle Development Division, which established Hachigo in October 2016. These 2 Electric Vehicles look likely to join the Clarity in its growing portfolio of electrified vehicles. Honda has stated on numerous occasions it expects by 2030 two-thirds of its sales will come from vehicles with partially or fully electric drivetrains. At this year’s New York motor show, Honda introduced plug-in hybrid and electric versions of its Clarity, which was originally launched as a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Equipped with a 120 kW / 300 Nm electric motor, and a 25.5 kWh battery pack, the Clarity Electric has a range of just 129 kilometres. Priced from 35,000 dollar, the Clarity Electric is more expensive than the Nissan Leaf with a range of 172 km, but cheaper than the Chevrolet Bolt (Opel Amperea-e) with a 383 km driving range. The Clarity Electric will only be sold in a select number of US states, including California and Oregon. Honda expects the vast majority of the Clarity sales in the US to come from the plug-in hybrid variant. +++
+++ LEXUS has given the strongest hint yet that it new LC coupe will eventually be built in convertible form. While pulling up short of actually confirming the project, Lexus management admitted that the roadster market is an important one in the LC’s market segment. During the launch of the LC 500 and LC 500h, Lexus’ LC-project assistant chief engineer, Takashi Watanabe, confirmed that the LC’s platform would theoretically support a convertible layout. The only previous Lexus drop-tops have amounted to the IS 250C from 2009 and the SC 430 from way back in 2001. While pulling up short of actually confirming the project, Lexus management admitted that the roadster market is an important one in the LC’s market segment. +++
+++ SELF DRIVING cars could fight crime. Intel’s CEO predicts autonomous cars could double as security cameras. Companies investing in autonomous technology argue it can save lives by reducing traffic accidents. Now, Intel has detailed how self-driving cars can help fight crime. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich predicts autonomous cars can double as security cameras. “I always say that the cars are going to be out there looking, so the next time an Amber alert comes up and they’re looking for a license plate, the cars should be able to find that license plate quite rapidly”, he told. A self-driving car’s on-board camera could also be used to record crimes such as robberies and homicides. And, the footage can help determine who is at fault in an accident. Getting cars to take over for Scruff McGruff and take a bite out of crime will require special programming, and it could mean giving authorities access to motorists’ dashboards. This raises obvious privacy concerns, but Krzanich believes they can be easily dealt with. “We’ll have to put limitations on it. We’ll have to encrypt that data and make sure I can’t tell that it’s John’s car necessarily”, he explained. He added that the amount of social good that can come from using cars as watchdogs far outweighs the privacy concerns. While Intel isn’t developing a car from scratch, it provides software and hardware for autonomous technology. Many of the driver-less prototypes roaming the planet’s roads day in, day out wear an “Intel Inside” sticker. +++
+++ TESLA lands on the Fortune 500 list ahead of the Model 3 arrival. The company has reportedly succeeded in its efforts to attract more customers in China. Tesla has been added to the Fortune 500 list, debuting in the 383rd position thanks to $7 billion in revenue last year. In a related report, Fortune highlights the company’s success in revitalizing its important China operations after several years of lackluster sales. Analysts at JL Warren Capital estimate Tesla’s China sales likely reached around 10,400 units last year, tripling 2015’s deliveries and accounting for 13 percent of the company’s global sales volume for the year. The California-based automaker has not been shy in acknowledging China’s importance as the world’s largest automotive market and particularly critical for electric vehicles. The country will likely play a leading role in Tesla’s aim to take on industry giants with the more affordable Model 3. Tesla so far has declined to establish a joint venture to produce cars in China, resulting in huge markups of around 50 percent due to import tariffs and taxes. Fortune sources claim several Chinese companies are ‘feverishly’ pursuing partnership talks with the high-profile US automaker. Chief executive Elon Musk traveled to China in April to meet with Vice Premier Wang Yang. Reports suggest the event marked the first time the important economic official had met with an automaker for a one-on-one chat. The visit coincided with official hints that China could be preparing to wind down its joint-venture restrictions that currently require foreign automakers to team with local companies before establishing assembly facilities. Fortune’s first ‘500’ list contained 5 US automakers when it debuted in 1955. Only 2 remained by 1999 (Ford and General Motors) and Tesla is the first new car manufacturer to ever join the list since its inception. +++
+++ The VOLKSWAGEN VR6 has been an incredible addition to the vast timeline of automotive engines. It saves space like an inline 4-cylinder, yet allows for increased power and torque production like the V6 that it always has been. It made its debut before the days of mass-market turbocharging, and, at the time, the VR6 was the hottest of engines from VW. However, as time marches on, engines are becoming smaller and increasingly feature more forced induction from turbochargers. It’s led to the death of many V6 engines and the VR6 is likely on its way out, too. The blame can be pinned on turbocharging of smaller-displacement engines and efficiency. About efficiency: it’s a no-brainer that a smaller engine is more efficient. Any 2.0-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder is going to be more frugal than the thirstier VR6 engine. So, that’s one strike against the VR6 mill. Secondly, a turbocharged 4-cylinder delivers a much flatter, more consistent torque curve. Volkswagen’s modern turbocharged inline-4 delivers more peak torque at an earlier point in the powerband than the current VR6 engine. Strike two. It’s also expensive for any automaker to offer a wide selection of engines and produce each at great high volumes. Consolidation of powertrains has occurred over the past few years in the industry, and it’s the reason why so many brands feature similar engines with slightly different tunes. If VW’s inline-4 can provide better torque and performance than the VR6 at a lower cost, it’s not personal, just good business. Strike three. Finally, even though the VR6 takes up relatively little room, a smaller inline 4-cylinder not only saves weight and space in the car, it’s easier to work on and keeps maintenance costs down. Going back to the powertrain consolidation, when a company only makes one or two engines, it means many parts are shared across the product lineup. Strike four. It will likely be some time before we say goodbye to the VR6 engine, but there’s no denying modern technology is making its existence harder to justify. With that said, the VR6 is still an amazing feat by Volkswagen. +++