While many people associate CES with computers and gadgets, cars have become a major part of the trade show, particularly this year. CES 2018 saw a number of exciting projects in the automotive world, centered largely around the one seismic concept: Automation. Autonomous cars have been one of the hottest topics in the industry for a few years now and if there is one thing CES 2018 made clear, its that autonomous driving is no longer the tech of the future, but of the present.
Toyota made an impressive showing with its e-Palette concept vehicle, which casts off many of the traditional aspects of car design for a radically utilitarian look. The e-Palette is essentially a box with wheels, and Toyota characterizes it as “a fully-automated, next-generation battery electric vehicle (BEV) designed to be scalable and customizable for a range of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) businesses.”
The scalable aspect is crucial. The e-Palette is big and largely empty, by default, and companies can easily modify the design to suit their business model. A company like Amazon could use it as a delivery vehicle, stuffed with boxes, while a clothing retailer might use it as a mobile shop, with racks of clothes lining the interior.
Ridesharing companies like Lyft have been at the forefront of autonomous driving research, and the company partnered with tech company Aptiv for a special showcase at CES. The partners provided attendees with driverless rides to 20 locations around Las Vegas, and Digital Trends found the experience remarkably ordinary — a good sign for a technology that faces a lot of skepticism and worry.
One of the most surprising automotive revelations at CES came from a company not normally associated with cars: Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia. The company showed off its highly anticipated Drive Xavier, a processor built for autonomous vehicles. To test the capabilities of Xavier, Nvidia created a virtual world in which artificial intelligence can pilot virtual cars, demonstrating their driving abilities.
It’s a bold move, but Nvidia already has companies eager to collaborate, including a self-driving car startup called Aurora, and Volkswagen, a titan of the auto industry.
Government and the industry will still need to work out all the details of how autonomous cars will function safely in society, but as CES 2018 shows, the tech is developing quickly.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.