Posts from ‘Autonomous Cars’
Electric pickups may well be “The Next Big Thing in Trucks.” Due in the next couple of years are Tesla’s electric Cybertruck (top left), revealed to great fanfare late last year, and the Rivian R1T (top right), already boasting connections with Amazon and Ford Motor Co. Other, lesser-known “newbies” include (bottom row, left to right) the Atlis XT, Nikola Badger, and Lordstown Endurance. Ford and GM are due to add their own electric pickups to the fray.
Trucks are big business – and becoming bigger all the time. We recently attended the inaugural National Truck Summit that preceded the Twin Cities Auto Show in Minneapolis to hear about truck trends and what’s in store for the future.
Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast
Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.
Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast
Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.
2020 Cadillac CT5 Premium Luxury
In the lead-up to the 2019 New York International Auto Show, Cadillac has officially introduced its all-new compact 4-door sedan. The 2020 CT5 is a fastback-shaped sports sedan that offers turbocharged 4-cylinder or twin-turbo V6 engines, a choice of rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and a host of high-tech available features.
Hands-Free Haven: Volvo 360c Concept
Volvo 360c Concept
Where would you live if you could commute each workday in an autonomous-driving, fully-functional, connected, comfortable, mobile office space? What if the service was provided via an on-demand subscription basis? Or, what if it was provided by one employer but not another – which company would you work for?
2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum in Satin Steel Metallic
2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum
Class: Premium Large Car
Miles driven: 322
Fuel used: 15.9 gallons
2018 BMW 740e xDrive iPerformance in Magellan Grey
2018 BMW 740e xDrive iPerformance
Class: Premium Large Car
Miles driven: 210
Fuel used: 7.8 gallons
If there is an automotive analogy to the concept of a shadow government, it’s the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Although there’s nothing actually shadowy about the group, its members do establish a considerable number of standards and general guidelines by which the industry regulates and organizes itself. The SAE does this while having no direct relationship with any car manufacturer or the government.
In the 1956 short film “Key to the Future,” General Motors predicted a hands-free driving system not unlike the Cadillac Super Cruise option due for 2018.
The 2018 Cadillac CT6 is slated to offer Super Cruise–General Motors’ first true hands-free driving technology–when the car goes on sale this fall. That’s great, but we think GM had autonomous driving nailed more than 60 years ago. Well, maybe not nailed, but the company certainly had a good handle on what hands-free driving might look like one day. In the promotional film “Key to the Future,” GM explores the possibility of hands-free driving from the perspective of a family of vacationers. The film was first seen in 1956 as part of GM’s annual touring Motorama exhibition.
Google’s “Waymo” autonomous-vehicle initiative includes evaluation of 100 specially equipped Chrysler Pacifica minivans.
As seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Kobayashi Maru is a Star Fleet Academy training exercise designed to test the character of cadets. The Maru simulation forces cadets to choose between ignoring a dire request for assistance by a stranded ship (the Kobayashi Maru), or staging a rescue of the ship–despite strong indicators that the distress call is a trap set by an enemy.
