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A research note from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has poured cold water on the concept that autonomous cars would lead to a reduction in fuel consumption.

The study, from UMTRI researchers Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, weighs up the energy-saving pros and cons of self-driving vehicles. In theory, if cars were driverless then there would be fewer of them on the road, and would conserve fuel through more eco-friendly driving standards; increasing...

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A report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) argues the need for greater industry collaboration in developing connected and driverless cars.

The report outlines a variety of potential issues and threats covered in this publication before, from personal data theft to fraud and deception, freight and goods theft and automotive...

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The connected car is the focus of a lot of speculation about uses for contextual data feeds. The visions are exciting, whether of helmet-mounted cyclist beacons or biometric apps to stop drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

But they derive from car makers without a long track record in the kind of human-centred thinking that constitutes best practice in interaction design. Or they come from technology companies whose over-riding ambition is to transplant their operating...

Visa, Pizza Hut and Accenture are to collaborate on a proof-of-concept connected car that will be used to test commerce possibilities when drivers are out and about.

The concept will bring together several technologies, including Visa Checkout, mobile connectivity, Bluetooth and iBeacon, so that staff will be alerted when a customer has arrived to collect their pizza.

Takeaway food might be the initial focus of the tests, but the trio of companies have visions of their technology being adopted for everyday...

Smartphones, tablets and wireless-enabled wearable technology will all become more reliable if BMW succeeds in bringing its Vehicular Small Cell research project to road cars.

Originally conceived to provide mobile phone signal in areas that normally struggle with poor coverage, femtocell technology was designed with thick-walled country cottages and large, insulated structures in mind.

BMW, however, is working with Nash Technologies and peiker acustic to circumvent the signal shielding that can cause...

Aspects of in-car communication are still causing headaches for drivers, with a study from market research firm J.D. Power placing Bluetooth connectivity and voice interpretation at the top of a list of woes.

Of those that experience Bluetooth pairing or connectivity issues, 55% complained that the vehicle did not recognise their phone and 31% admitted their device would not automatically connect when entering the car.

Failing communications are playing a part with drivers’ decisions to repurchase with...

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Driverless cars raise a diverse array of legal issues, one of which will almost certainly be the intellectual property (IP) rights that industry players create and assert to assist them in establishing their market position, and differentiating their products. The auto industry has always been a hotbed of IP disputes. The advent of driverless technologies could well lead to a spike in scuffles caused by jockeying for dominance in this new area, as well as the convergence of...

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The Hella group has released details of a new system called the Intelligent Damage Detection System that is capable of detecting scratches and dents as they happen.

Depending on the specification, anything from two to 12 sensors are positioned through a car’s body panels. A central control panel is able to detect a pressure being applied to the panel and then decide whether it is rain or something far less innocuous like a scratch.

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Before driverless cars can be released into our complex environment, they need to achieve exceptional levels of safety. How close are we to making this happen?

Automation is old hat. Almost every new car built features some form of non-human control: ABS; cruise control; lane-changing warning systems; even semi-automatic control. In the latter case, the car is capable of following traffic, accelerating and braking, as well as keeping to the same lane, within a defined maximum...

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Connected cars are on the rise, this much is certain, but how fast the market will grow in the future is an area that is still up for discussion and one company has its own take on where the industry is headed.

By the year 2020, Business Insider Intelligence estimates that the market’s value will be $2.2 trillion thanks to the 220 million connected cars due to be be on the road by then, although connected services will only be used by consumers in 88 million of...

The development of driverless technology has gathered momentum along with claims that automation should bring with it improved road safety, fuel efficiency and ecological benefits. Leading automotive brands including Mercedes-Benz and Nissan are working on high profile driverless vehicles while Google’s much-discussed autonomous car project will see the search giant join the race to meet the demands of a potentially significant new market.

All the emerging driverless vehicles, including the Google car...

After less than two years of development Volvo has already announced plans to bring its self-driving project to the roads of Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg.

Volvo’s autonomous vehicle project DriveMe aims to put 100 self-driving cars in the hands of customers by 2017, a step that is being heralded as a landmark by Dr Peter Mertens, the company’s senior vice president of research and development.

“We are entering uncharted territory in the field of autonomous driving,”...

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There is widespread discussion that driverless cars, and more broadly autonomous vehicles, will monumentally change the landscape of the automotive industry, arguably creating the biggest transformation of society’s view of the vehicle in the last 150 years.

Public acceptance of the vehicle began following the ‘Red Flag Act’ of 1865 when, by the 1890s, it became the ‘norm’ to see motor vehicles mingling, albeit uncomfortably, with the horse and...

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Mobile software management company Redbend continues its advance on the connected car industry with the launch of over-the-air software management platform Redbend 10.

Fresh from being acquired by Connecticut-headquartered Harman, Redbend has announced its latest package that lets manufacturers apply software and firmware updates using

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Internet access in the connected car will become a great deal more usable after Chinese telecommunications company Huawei and Orange, a French mobile network, announced a wi-fi product for cars in Spain.

Huawei’s Car Wi-Fi system can manage up to 10 different devices, including laptops, mobile phones and tablets. For the average car that seats a maximum of five people, each person would be able to use two different internet-connected devices which is more than...

Rewind to 2009 when I was visiting Professor Alberto Broggi and his team at the University of Parma. Using hours of footage from cameras mounted on the front of cars, they had trained computer systems to recognise kerbs, white lines, parked cars and even pedestrians.

Sitting in the back of his demonstration car, I was concerned to see my driver climb into another car and drive off. What I had not expected was for my car, the driver’s seat still empty, to follow it; steering itself and maintaining...

Electronics company Sony has its eyes on the connected car industry after investing in ZMP, a Japanese startup that manufactures robot cars.

Purchasing a 2% stake for 100 million yen ($842,000), Sony is said to be interested in offering its expertise in image sensors to further ZMP’s development of driverless cars.

Sony’s diversification comes at a time when the firm expected to report its financials in early February, but was instead forced to delay the announcement by a month because of the...

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The driverless car, for a long time anticipated as an invention belonging to the future, seems to have arrived. Trials in four UK cities were announced just recently by the government.

For the driverless vehicle to be truly ‘connected,’ and to deliver benefits of safety, convenience and comfort, it must be one part of a whole communications infrastructure. Not just in the car but...

Federal standards that secure cars and protect drivers’ privacy have taken a step closer to reality, after new legislation was announced at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.

Senators Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut want the legislation to direct National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create these new federal standards.

The concerted push for legislation comes after Markey’s own office

Driverless cars are a hot topic at the cutting edge of automotive developments. To date, much of the focus on driverless cars has been in the USA who appear to be in “pole position” in relation to the testing and development of this technology. For example, it has been reported that Google’s driverless vehicle has driven 300,000 miles in the US without any accidents.

The UK is keen to come on board to become a global leader in the development of autonomous vehicles, with plans to invest...