In August 2017, the Trump administration announced its intent to freeze corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and CO2 emissions standards at 2020 levels, abandoning the previous plan for continued increases through 2025. While the auto industry had…
Latest Blogs
Auto Industry Continues to Spin Off Internal Combustion Engines
For several more decades (at least), tens of millions of vehicles a year are expected to be powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs). But this doesn’t mean designing and building ICEs and the components that go into them is expected to be a…
It's Time for EV Makers to Back Off on Performance
I enjoy driving as much as anyone, and I particularly enjoy driving quickly. Over the near 40-year course of my driving life, vehicle performance has improved dramatically thanks to modern electronic controls, materials, and construction methods. In…
The Demise of the Uber Leasing Program
Transportation Efficiencies
Clean Transportation
Clean Transportation
Automated Vehicles
Recently, Uber announced that it will discontinue the vehicle leasing program it has offered to drivers for the past 2 years. Average losses of $9,000 per leased…
With Investment from Ford, Civil Maps Hopes to Turn Every Car into Mapmaker
In general, an autonomous vehicle could drive itself around based only on its sensing systems without having any access to maps. Unfortunately, while such a vehicle might be able to avoid collisions, this would severely limit the overall capabilities…
Toyota Concept Truck Points at Commercial Potential of Hydrogen Fuel Cells
At the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, Toyota showed off its latest application of hydrogen fuel cell technology: a pizza-baking pickup truck. Based on the full-size Tundra pickup, the Tundra PIE Pro was developed in partnership…
FordPass Points to a Future beyond Selling Cars
Automotive Industry
Fuel Efficiency and Emerging Technologies
Transportation Efficiencies
Mobile Apps
Ford
At first glance, the FordPass smartphone app seems like an also ran, a remote control app similar to what other automakers have been making for…
New Modes of Seeing the World Coming to Automated Vehicles
For the past 15 years, red-green-blue (RGB) cameras, radar, and lidar have largely been the holy trinity of sensors to enable automated vehicles to see the world. That perception suite is starting to evolve as an array of new technologies begin to…
The Plug-In Hybrids Are Coming, But Will the Market Buy?
The bulk of new product introductions focused on electrification at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, not surprising given that California is the largest market for plug-in EVs (PEVs) in the US. However, while there were multiple new battery EVs (BEVs)…
Audi Motorsport Marks the End of an Era as It Shifts to Formula E
Over more than 3 decades, few companies have demonstrated more consistently how to “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” than Audi. Since at least the 1980s, Audi has used its involvement in motorsports to demonstrate the efficacy of its latest…