Public transportation might have just one-upped our personal transportation methods. To take advantage of autonomous driving technology, you don’t have to buy your own fancy car — instead, just head over to Amsterdam, where Mercedes-Benz revealed the world’s first self-driving city bus on Monday. Known as the Future Bus, this 21st century vehicle took a 12-mile trek through the streets of the Dutch city using Mercedes’ autonomous driving system — CityPilot.
Similar to HighwayPilot, which the German car company used to send semi trucks down highways, CityPilot helps buses drive semi-autonomously in specifically marked bus lanes. Capable of reaching speeds up to 43 miles per hour, the bus is said to operate “even more safely, efficiently, and comfortably than conventional buses.” According to Mercedes: “The CityPilot is able to recognize traffic lights, communicate with them, and safely negotiate junctions controlled by them. It can also recognize obstacles, especially pedestrians on the road, and brake autonomously.”
In its test run, Mercedes noted that its Future Bus was able to master “an exacting route … with a number of tight bends, tunnels, numerous bus stops, and involving high speeds for a city bus.” And because it reduces a human bus driver’s workload (don’t worry, there’s a driver aboard at all times to keep an eye on things), a CityPilot-equipped bus “improves efficiency, as its smooth, predictive driving style saves wear and tear while lowering fuel consumption and emissions.”
And don’t worry — it’s not just navigation in which the Future Bus excels. Mercedes has taken the same care with the interior of its vehicle, claiming that the open-plan design of these buses takes its lead from city squares and parks. “Designer seats are loosely arranged along the walls in each zone,” Mercedes says, while “innovative grab rails reflect the park-like theme by branching upward like trees toward the two-tone ceiling. The ceiling lighting resembles a leaf canopy.”
But don’t get too excited. Sadly, Mercedes doesn’t seem to have plans to put Future Bus and the CityPilot system into full production. Rather, it plans to incorporate individual aspects of the technology into various public vehicles. But all the same, the German company says, it’s well on its way to “developing the bus transport system of tomorrow.”
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.