The Swedish Transport Agency recently granted the Swedish auto giant permission to begin real-world testing of its self-driving cars, boosting the company’s chances of meeting its stated goal of bringing the technology to market by 2021.

The self-driving cars will be allowed on motorways and streets in the Gothenburg area. The cars will not be allowed to exceed 60 kilometres per hour when the self-driving features are activated and drivers are required to keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times. Operators of the autonomous vehicles must also undergo training provided by Volvo.

Earlier this month, the Swedish company unveiled the futuristic concept car Volvo 360c, a fully autonomous, electric vehicle with no steering wheel that has been described as “a bedroom on wheels”, by a recent article on Verge.

The company will explore how autonomous vehicles can be used to shuttle people between cities, allowing them more time for rest, work and play instead of the hassle of flying. Air travel routes of around 300 kilometers (186 miles) are “prime candidates for disruption,” the company said. Such routes actually become more time-consuming by air than by car once you factor in travelling to and from the airport, going through security and boarding procedures. So, it would make sense to travel in a self-driven car that allows you to enjoy work and play, with premium comfort so that you wake up refreshed at your destination.

“The business will change in the coming years and Volvo should lead that change of our industry,” company president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson said in a press release announcing the 360c. “Autonomous drive will allow us to take the big next step in safety but also open up exciting new business models and allow consumers to spend time in the car doing what they want to do.”

Volvo concludes that the 360c is a mere starter for a conversation about the doors that autonomous driving might open up in the future. The company intends to advance that conversation as technology and infrastructure continue to evolve.

While this is definitely a great conversation starter, we can’t be sure if autonomous cars can actually completely replace flights. Moreover, with the advent of hyperloop and flying cars, the competition is quite tough. What would you choose?

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Lidar is a key component in the race for autonomous vehicles. That is exactly what the Waymo-Uber lawsuit is pivoted around. And now, a startup claims to have improved upon what is at the centre of this upcoming revolution. Luminar Technologies is the startup in question. It was working under the wraps for almost five years and raised USD 36 million in seed funding from names like Canvas Ventures, GVA Capital and 1517 Fund.

Austin Russell, now 22, co-founded the company to make roads a safer place, at an age when he wasn’t even of legal driving age in many parts of the world. The product is a powerful form of Lidar which, as the startup claims, provides 50 times more resolution and 10 times the range, thus providing more data for the self-driving computers to use.

The initial support for the startup came from Peter Theil in the form of Theil fellowship. Apart from Waymo, which appears to have made significant progress with its driverless vehicles, Luminar also faces competition from Velodyne and Quanergy, companies providing similar solutions for driverless cars. Luminar however claims that because its system can see objects at 200 metres thus giving the system more time to respond even at high speeds.

Some experts however believe that Lumnar is looking at the wrong problem. According to them, increasing the resolution to such a level won’t solve real problems, cutting on the costs will. Right now Luminar plans to manufacture 10,000 lidar units and about 100 of the systems will be tested by four undisclosed companies, both tech and auto, working on self-driving vehicles.

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Autonomous car technology and its initiative is a buzzword in road transportation industry. Most companies have been going along their way. The whole ‘jumla’ over self-driving technology has taken the ride-hailing sector by a storm.

With automakers like Ford and Volvo, ride-sharing giants Lyft, Uber and tech giant Google joined forces to form a self-driving coalition for safer streets. Fiat’s Chrysler has joined hands with Google last month to turn their Pacifica minivan in a self-driving experiment.

As stated by Forbes, Uber seems interested in partnering with Hyundai on the development of self-driving technology in Korea itself. It also feels inclined in placing a huge order on Hyundai vehicles. It was also noted that Uber had visited Hyundai’s latest research and development facility in Hwaseong on a locomotive mission.

However, the automakers seem to have a lukewarm response towards car-sharing and ride-hailing businesses. According to Korea Herald, the company’s initial dialogue towards such talks has not gone anywhere. Sources state that the company still feels a lack of heat in the local mobility market as the local sharing economy has not grown big enough to worry the automakers. Koreans still view cars as an asset owned rather than shared.

Uber’s presence since August 2013 has not shown significant growth in the car-sharing segment. The firm pulled out of its business last year following the government’s regulation and strong opposition from the taxi industry.

Although this partnership if fostered could mean bringing serious business to both the firms. The company had been actively speaking about autonomous vehicle technology as the future of riding. With its presence in 71 countries and 438 cities, this partnership could mean millions of vehicles for the Korean automaker’s global growth.

Hyundai hasn’t been seen as a high profile player in the autonomous segment like others in its league. It sought an approval from the government to test self-driving Hyundai’s Genesis sedans on public roads. The G90 and the G80 that are now part of Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury sub-brand both incorporate semi-autonomous technology such as adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and pedestrian detection with automatic emergency braking.

Reportedly, Uber has its sight set on the new Hyundai G80 that is scheduled to debut in 2019. The ride-sharing giant would choose the high-end vehicles of Hyundai which is a signal of an another possible partnership and huge fleet buy from it.

Source: Forbes

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Uber has partnered with Toyota for a strategic investment and an auto leasing deal. The ridesharing company waged a whole new level of war in the world.

The company is proud to announce the partnership as the popularity of Toyota cars as Uber vehicles have far reaching effects which explain Uber’s financing program for Toyota cars.

The terms of the deal are kept veiled as there aren’t many but according to the car manufacturer’s release, the companies have entered a MoU and are interested in exploring the opportunities that lie in the ridesharing segment, starting with trials in countries that have lately adopted ridesharing as a concept and are expanding. This MoU takes various factors into account such a business regulations, conditions, and customer needs.

The leasing deal by Toyota will not only boost Uber’s drivers and Xchange financing program but will also boost the self- vehicle driving future for the company. Though there were no particular mentions of self-driving cars, but as Toyota, a leader in self-driving technology, is the name involved, many tech and car manufacturers have started investing in ridesharing services.

Toyota Research Institute, which was announced last November, was credited with $1 billion by the car manufacturer for the development of AI and robotics for the self-driving capabilities. Uber’s rival Lyft had gotten half a billion from GM earlier this year as a step forward to work with ridesharing companies.

There has been a slew of self-driving tech deals taking up major space in the industry by some prominent players. Volkswagen confirmed a $300 million deal with the New York-based ridesharing startup Gett yesterday morning and Apple added a $1 billion investment to the recently named Chinese rideshare service Didi Chuxing earlier this May.

Source: TechCrunch

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Self-driving taxis are taking the commuting sector by storm. Otto offered autonomous technology for trucks lately and following it was nuTonomy, an MIT spinoff which recently got funded $16million for the same goal to offer self-driving cabs within two years.

Karl Iagnemma (CEO) and Emilio Frazzoli (CTO), MIT PhDs graduates founded nuTonomy, a Cambridge MA-based self-driving technology for cars, the kind of technology that Uber, BMW, Google are currently developing. nuTonomy refits existing cars with technology to make them driverless.

Singapore has been an experiment ground for nuTonomy. Apart from the investments that pour in, it has an office there and has tested self-driving vehicles. It had started testing out self-driving cart style buggies summoned by smartphones in 2014 but is now believed to test a fleet of self-driving fully functional taxis which it claims can hit the roads by 2018.

The start-up s working closely with SMART (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) as a part of organisation’s expansive decree to enhance the lifestyle of the residents. Being one of the many on agenda, Singapore’s smart city initiative also covers areas like cashless wallets, open government APIs, a push to promote entrepreneurialism, and increased security surveillance.

It is the best time for nuTonomy to hit the Singapore roads as the technology has made its debut in the U.S. and it’s already trying to create its own space here. The country only introduced its on-demand taxi services in April where driverless cars are now going to become a reality.

The nuTonomy cars being tested in Michigan and the UK where they’ve partnered with Jaguar and Land Rover.

Source: TechCrunch

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It has become rather difficult to predict which companies will lead the automobile industry in future. At this point it appears that the car, as we know it, will fade away to make way for connected autonomous vehicles that will redefine urban mobility. Tech companies are pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and trying to take the front row in the automobile industry. Earlier it was a space dominated by the big names but as the segment calls for innovation, we can see tech companies entering the picture.

Autonomous cars will significantly change the way we see road transport in future and now a name from China has joined the race. Chinese firm LeEco has announced a car that is electric, fast and autonomous. The car is called LeSEE and during the unveiling, the car managed to operate by following few voice commands spoken into a phone by company CEO Jia Yueting.

LeEco is new to this game and has previously produced mobile phones. Even before it jumped into the autonomous electric car thing itself, it has invested in Faradey Future, the company that made headlines at CES for an outrageous electric car concept.

The car is loaded to the brim with technology similar to Tesla but this is a little louder when it comes to design, probably because it is a concept at this stage. However this strengthens the fact that road travel is changing and Chinese manufacturers don’t want to be left out in the race for autonomous cars. The market is growing fast and the Chinese government is supporting them. They are incentivising electric car manufacturers to innovate and develop cleaner and smarter vehicles.

The car will be called LeSEE and will debut at the upcoming Beijing Motor Show. Tesla, we are looking at you.

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