Daimler and Bosch to start testing self-driving taxis soon

Mercedes-Benz’s parent company Daimler and Bosch first promised to bring fully autonomous vehicles to the market in the next decade. But with their competition working faster to bring their self-driving cars into the market, it looks like they acknowledged that they needed to work faster. Bosch chief Volkmar Denner told German weekly publication Automobilwoche that they will be testing their self-driving taxis within a few months. No additional details about when exactly but it is at least a more definitive timetable for the project.

The advantage Daimler believes they have over their competition is the purpose-built nature of their taxis. These taxis apparently won’t just be a “technology-kit mounted on a serial vehicle,” or so Daimler VP Wilko Stark says but they’re designed to be autonomous vehicles “from the beginning.”

Source: Engadget

Meet Mercedes-Benz’s semi-autonomous bus

While there are ride-hailing apps and self-driving cars, there is still a need for public transport, especially since these can fit more people in. But there’s also a need for it to evolve and that’s what Mercedes-Benz is trying to do with the semi-autonomous Future Bus program. It follows a route from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to the town of Haarlem, which is a route that has a number of bends, traffic lights, and tunnels. The Future Bus was able to navigate this route of over 20 kilometers. It has a top speed of 70km/h and promises to drive gently and smoothly so it’ll still be a safe ride for standing passengers. Yes, it still has a human driver ready to take over in case of an emergency. But Mercedes-Benz believes the technology called CityPilot in the Future Bus makes the ride both safe and efficient.

CityPilot technology is adapted from the software they use for their autonomous trucks made under the Daimler name. The bus can detect objects on the road and bus stops. And it can connect to the city’s infrastructure network so it can get information like when traffic lights will change as well as collect data for the city using its cameras to see things like road wear and tear. Inside of the bus gets so tech upgrades too as there are things like wireless charging spots in them.

Source: Daimler

Three German carmakers reportedly in talks to buy Nokia’s Here mapping service

Audi, BMW, and Daimler are reportedly in talks with Nokia to buy the company’s mapping service. The deal is estimated to be worth over US$2.71 billion. A source told The Wall Street Journal that Nokia has been talking exclusively with these three car manufacturers. The agreement could be signed within the next few days.

There is a possibility though that the car companies might invite other brands to buy stakes in this. According to the source, the goal is to make the service an open platform for everyone. So they don’t have to rely on third-party platforms like Garmin and Google. Uber was supposedly in talks to buy Here but they gave up on bidding several weeks back. Another possible outcome of the takeover is it’ll help companies develop self-driving cars.

Source: The Wall Street Journal | Via: Apple Insider

Motoring: smart forspeed Electric Roadster concept unveiled

While we've never found Mercedes Benz's smart line of cars appealing, we like what we see with this futuristic new concept vehicle. The smart forspeed Electric Roadster will never see production (sigh!) but a number of its design elements and underlying technologies will. The smart forspeed accelerates from 0 to 60 km/h in just 5.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 120 km/h. A 30 kW magneto-electric motor is installed at the rear of the smart forspeed and the vehicle concept provides an immediate powerful response from stationary. They should put a few of these in an upcoming Transformers movie.