FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Imagine being the only driver on a two-lane asphalt highway as the stark desolation of Death Valley National park passes on each side and the crystal blue sky stretches up from the horizon. Or picture a tight left turn on Yosemite’s Glacier Point Road where in the east iconic Half Dome […]
Automotive/Transportation
Google admits it did not delete Street View data
(Reuters) – Google Inc said on Friday it had not kept its promise to delete all the personal data, such as emails, its Street View cars collected in Britain and other countries in 2010. The U.S. company admitted in May 2010 that its vehicles, which photograph neighborhoods to create street level images, had accidentally collected […]
Designing a better seatbelt
When it comes to safety in new cars, seat belts are a no brainer. They reduce crash-related injuries and death by 50 percent, according to the CDC. Forty-nine states—New Hampshire is taking Live Free or Die a little seriously—have laws requiring people to wear seatbelts, and it’s estimated about 80 percent of people actually wear […]
UK information watchdog orders city to stop recording taxi cab conversations
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s information watchdog on Wednesday ordered a city council to stop the mandatory recording of people’s conversations in taxis, saying the policy breaches the Data Protection act. Since August 2009, Southampton City Council has required all taxis and private-hire vehicles to install CCTV equipment to constantly record images and the conversations of […]
Smartphone app automatically detects and reports pothole locations to Boston city officials
BOSTON (AP) — The next time your car hits a pothole, a new technology could help you immediately tell someone who can do something about it. Boston officials are testing an app called Street Bump that allows drivers to automatically report the road hazards to the city as soon as they hear that unfortunate “thud,” […]
Sprint to offer auto insurers tracking technology
(Reuters) – U.S. wireless carrier Sprint (S.N) said on Thursday it will move into the hot market for tracking technology that lets auto insurers monitor how, where and when their customers drive. Sprint said its new Integrated Insurance Solutions unit would let companies offer what are known as “usage-based insurance” programs. Such programs, most notably […]
Extending the range of electric vehicles
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside believe they can extend the range of electric vehicles by at least 10 percent by taking into account real-time traffic information, road type and grade and passenger and cargo weight. The researchers, who work at the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), which is part of the […]
Stanford-SLAC team uses X-ray imaging to observe running batteries in action
Most electric cars, from the Tesla Model S to the Nissan Leaf, run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries – a pricey technology that accounts for more than half of the vehicle’s total cost. One promising alternative is the lithium-sulfur battery, which can theoretically store five times more energy at a much lower cost. But lithium-sulfur technology […]
German scientists concoct new coolant for electric cars
(Reuters) – Scientists in Germany have come up with a new fluid for cooling the expensive batteries in electric cars and thereby extending their life, another potential step in improving the cost efficiency of electric propulsion. The fluid, dubbed CryoSolplus, absorbs heat more effectively than either air or water and could allow for tighter packing […]
Mechanical engineers develop an ‘intelligent co-pilot’ for cars
Semiautonomous system takes the wheel to keep drivers safe CAMBRIDGE, MA — Barrels and cones dot an open field in Saline, Mich., forming an obstacle course for a modified vehicle. A driver remotely steers the vehicle through the course from a nearby location as a researcher looks on. Occasionally, the researcher instructs the driver to […]