The West Midlands of England is a geographically diverse region, one home to everything from dense urban centers to rural counties to the longest river in the U.K. Despite what it may look like on a map, though, the area will soon be home to the future of driving.
Jaguar Land Rover has announced its participation in a 41-mile “Connected Corridor,” which will be used to develop connected and autonomous vehicle technologies. A part of the government-backed Connected Intelligent Transport Environment project (U.K.-CITE), the so-called “living laboratory” will use public roads around Coventry and Solihull to evaluate new systems in practical driving situations.
“This real-life laboratory will allow Jaguar Land Rover’s research team and project partners to test new connected and autonomous vehicle technologies on five different types of roads and junctions,” said Dr. Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology at Jaguar Land Rover. “Similar research corridors already exist in other parts of Europe so this test route is exactly the sort of innovation infrastructure the U.K. needs to compete globally.”
“The connected and autonomous vehicle features we will be testing will improve road safety, enhance the driving experience, reduce the potential for traffic jams and improve traffic flow,” he continued. “These technologies will also help us meet the increasing customer demand for connected services whilst on the move.”
Advanced roadside equipment will be installed along the corridor over the next three years, enabling enhanced vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication between test cars. The constant flow of information has multiple benefits, including optimized traffic control and in-car notifications for road conditions, detours, and construction zones. And because the need for variable freeway signs would be diminished, it also means less taxpayer money would be spent on the installation and maintenance of gantries.
A fleet of up to 100 cars — five of which will come from Jaguar Land Rover — will roam the 41-mile stretch in search of the best method of dialogue. The company hopes that with technologies like Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control, vehicles will be able to follow each other autonomously, making the roads safer and more efficient.
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.