The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Future Urban Mobility Interdisciplinary Research Group (FM IRG) recently showcased its driverless golf cart. Fitted with an onboard computer and laser sensors, each with a field vision of 270 degrees, the golf cart can drive on its own and stop to pick up and drop off passengers. […]
Automotive/Transportation
Daihatsu recalls 764,053 vehicles over transmission, sensor trouble
TOKYO, Dec. 4 (Kyodo) — Daihatsu Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling a total of 764,053 minivehicles due to possible damage to a gear shaft in a continuously variable transmission and faulty engine sensors. The nine models subject to the recall include the Move, Tanto and Mira, manufactured between May 2006 and November 2010, […]
Tokyo Motor Show ends with visitor numbers up
TOKYO, Dec. 1 (Kyodo) — The 43rd Tokyo Motor Show ended Sunday after drawing more visitors than the previous event. During the 10-day program, 902,800 people visited Tokyo Big Sight, up from around 840,000 in the previous show in 2011, to see 426 cars and two-wheelers displayed by 178 companies from 12 nations. The Japan […]
Using moving cars to measure rainfall
Drivers on a rainy day regulate the speed of their windshield wipers according to rain intensity: faster in heavy rain and slower in light rain. This simple observation has inspired researchers from the University of Hanover in Germany to come up with ‘RainCars’, an initiative that aims to use GPS-equipped moving cars as devices to […]
Tokyo Motor Show opens to public
TOKYO, Nov. 23 (Kyodo) — The 43rd Tokyo Motor Show opened to the public Saturday, with leading automakers showcasing next-generation fuel-cell cars and self-driving vehicles. A total of 426 passenger and commercial cars as well as two-wheelers are on display at Tokyo Big Sight through Dec. 1. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, the event’s organizer, […]
Photos of the Day: Network of electric car chargers stalled in Calif.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A New Jersey energy company required by an unusual legal settlement to build an extensive network of electric car chargers throughout California has delivered just 10 percent of what it promised in the first year. By fortifying the state’s still-spotty charging infrastructure, the settlement between NRG Energy Inc. and California energy […]
Next-generation green cars in spotlight at Tokyo Motor Show
TOKYO, Nov. 20 (Kyodo) — The Tokyo Motor Show opened to the press Wednesday, with leading automakers showcasing next-generation fuel-cell cars and electric vehicles as they look to the burgeoning green car market. At the 43rd motor show, which will open to the wider public from Saturday at Tokyo Big Sight, at least 76 vehicles […]
Photos of the Day: Pressure cooking to improve electric car batteries
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (https://www.ucr.edu) — Batteries that power electric cars have problems. They take a long time to charge. The charge doesn’t hold long enough to drive long distances. They don’t allow drivers to quickly accelerate. They are big and bulky. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have redesigned the component […]
New approach advances wireless power transfer for vehicles
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed new technology and techniques for transmitting power wirelessly from a stationary source to a mobile receiver – moving engineers closer to their goal of creating highway “stations” that can recharge electric vehicles wirelessly as the vehicles drive by. “We’ve made changes to both the receiver and the […]
Government speeds research on car safety systems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is speeding up research on safety systems that automatically prevent drivers from operating their cars if they are drunk or aren’t properly buckled in. Officials also said Thursday that they expect to decide by year’s end how to encourage automakers to make some special safety systems already in certain high-end […]