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Move over Uber, BMW is doing some autonomous vehicle testing of its own in Germany next year, according to Reuters.

The rise in popularity of car-sharing apps such as Uber is part of the catalyst for this, according to the news service.

It reports that BMW will test 40 cars with a self-drive function around Munich’s inner city, before expanding this out to others in due course.

According to Reuters, tech companies such as Uber and Lyft have...

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The federal transportation authority is calling for a national set of standards on driverless car safety. Tesla just announced its Autopilot feature for all future models, and meanwhile, the White House recently announced an initiative for a vehicle charging network covering 25,000 miles of US highways.

These recent developments are bringing about the reality of widespread autonomous vehicles – sooner than many had realised. Of course, a number of other pieces must fall into place to...

Driverless vehicle technology is a new and exciting industry. However, even with the recent advancements we have seen, there are still several obstacles that autonomous technicians need to overcome before we see a lot of self-driving cars out on the streets.

Some of these roadblocks include finding the best minds to work with and strict restrictions set by local governments. In response to these challenges, it seems we have seen several companies that are developing self-driving technology shifting their work...

The rumours about a possible Apple foray into self-driving car technology have possibly been assuaged somewhat - but in true ambiguous Apple style. 

The company has reportedly written a letter to the US' National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), expressing their excitement about the potential of automated systems "in many areas, including transportation". 

The letter doesn't say whether Apple is intending to build its own autonomous vehicle, but did say it has heavy investment in...

It certainly seems to be a fact-finding mission at the moment where driverless cars are concerned, highlighted by yet another survey delving into what people think about the emerging tech.

This time it’s Nissan that has done the digging, and in addition to what people see autonomous cars being useful for, they’ve also looked at the financial impact of the vehicles on European roads.

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Driverless cars are still a few years off yet, but people already have quite strong views on how they would impact everyday life.

As Ford recently announced it would start European testing of autonomous cars next year, it also commissioned a survey asking people from various countries how they would pass their time when travelling in one.

In response, 80% said they...

New Tesla owners will get Enhanced Autopilot features within a matter of weeks, Elon Musk tweeted recently.

The Tesla boss was answering a query from a car owner, who said he was “upset” the Model S’ new hardware meant it is missing some features that older models have.

He tweeted a copy of an email that reportedly came from Tesla, saying that some features, including auto windshield wipers, park assist and side collision warning, wouldn’t work on the new...

Car tech startup nuTonomy will start road testing autonomous cars in Boston before the end of the year.

The company, which creates software that builds self-driving cars and driverless mobile robots, began in 2013 and aims to deliver fully driverless cars by 2019.

It’s already got a self-driving taxi pilot up and running in Singapore, whose government were part of the company’s recent $16m funding round. It’s also working with Uber rival Grab in...

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Sick of waiting for driverless cars to become mainstream? Have you got developer skills, $1,000 to spare and a 2014 Kia Soul going spare? If so, you can now just build your own.

PolySync has released an Open Source Car Control Project (OSCC) development kit on GitHub, which allows developers to modify and test driverless car technology.

They have stressed this is only to be used for research and development...

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Intel Capital is targeting $250m of new autonomous driving investments over the next two years, according to its CEO.

Speaking at LA Auto Show, AutoMobility this week, Brian Krzanich said that the new investments would ‘make autonomous driving a reality’.

Intel has already developed a platform solution that spans hardware and software for advanced driver systems, software defined cockpits and the heavy compute...

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Tesla has announced it will have a European presence after acquiring German firm Grohmann Engineering.

The company has increased its output target to half a million cars per year by 2018 and as such, sought out engineering talent in automated manufacturing systems.

After the acquisition, automated manufacturing company Grohmann Engineering will become Tesla Grohmann Automation.

The business will also serve as the first base for...

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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in September 2016 announced a new Federal Automated Vehicles Policy “…to help facilitate the responsible introduction of automated vehicles to make transportation safer, cleaner, more accessible, and more efficient.” 

In a report dated September 29, 2016, Gartner shared “The production of new...

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While fully-autonomous cars becoming a mainstream feature in our towns and cities may still be a decade or so away, researchers and governments are already looking at their potential impact in a number of areas.

So far studies have looked at people’s perception of driverless cars, as well as their impact on safety, insurance and the environment.

But one paper that’s just been published has examined autonomous vehicles from a perspective...

Trucks with self driving capabilities are coming to UK roads as soon as next year, according to Oxford-based auto tech company Charge.

The company builds easy-to-assemble, energy efficient and autonomous-ready smart trucks and are developing some for sale in the UK market in 2017.

It's also opening its first factory next year in Oxford, which it says is "the first of many". 

Charge's trucks range from 3.5 to 26 tonnes and are built using ultra-lightweight composite materials that reduce the...

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They’re the cars of the future, but many people are still concerned about the safety of autonomous cars. Can a car that drives itself really be safe and trusted on the road? Set your fears aside, because self-driving cars are actually incredibly safe and could lead to a much safer driving environment for everyone.

New technology

The core of a safe autonomous car is its operating system. Because they don’t rely on a human driver for control, autonomous vehicles have a...

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Intel has launched a new processor dedicated to building and enhancing features for connected cars and IoT.

Intel’s Atom processor E3900 series was built “to support the rapid development and the growing complexity of IoT business” and aims to make it easier and cheaper for car manufacturers to include connected features within...

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It's no longer an 'if' but a 'when' driverless and connected cars are on the roads, according to Atkins' technical director Neil Thomas. 

The company, which works with the University of the West of England's VENTURER, is trying out driverless vehicles to examined their feasability in the UK.

It has launched a whitepaper series this week, which will look at the urgent need to understand the full impact of these vehicles on cities around the world and invest in adapted infrastrucure from now...

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Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is creating a fleet of more than 100 research vehicles to develop and test a wide range of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies over the next four years.

The company is working in collaboration with Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Centre to allow cars to talk to each other as well as the roadside infrastructure in the future.

Some of the technologies that are being tested are the Advanced Highway Assist, Electronic Emergency Brake...

A new House of Lords select committee inquiry - closing on 26 October - is looking at how the smart technology around driverless cars and drones can evolve into a smart, autonomous transport system for the UK.The economic benefits from a world-leading industry around autonomous vehicles (AVs) have already been mapped out: a potential £51 billion for  the UK economy each...

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Tesla has announced that its Model 3 and all further cars produced by the brand will have fully self driving capabilities. 

New Model S and Model X cars with updated hardware are in production and can be bought as soon as today, it added in a blog post. 

The self driving hardware will reportedly have eight surround cameras, giving the car a 360 degree visibility of up to a 250 metre range. 

New cars...