In a new sign of the importance of China to international auto makers, Porsche unveiled its new sedan at the Shanghai auto show.
The new Porsche Panamera made its official public debut to journalist to mark the opening of the Shanghi's auto show.
Continue reading "Porsche unveils new Panamera sedan in China " »
So let's pretend for a second that you are directly working for team Obama, and the word comes down from the big cheese himself that you should seriously consider getting a hybrid as your next car.
After all, the Obama administration has made its renewable energy policy central to its core agenda of change.
And let's also suppose that you are very amiable to the idea of driving one them newfangled hybrids that gets over 40 mpg.
Continue reading "Why team Obama is buying hybrid cars built by Ford" »
Way back in the prehistoric days of the crossover car era, the Forester was one of the first vehicles to be forged from the primordial soup that combined the DNA of a car with that of the SUV.
When the elements cooled and the steam drifted away, the Forester stood tallish and proud in the vanguard of the new crossover craze.
Others would follow in its tracks, but it was the Forester that showed them the way.
Continue reading "Road review 2009 Subaru Forester: forged in the primordial crossover soup" »
When it comes to taxing cars, the state of Colorado along with many other large states like California, have got it completely wrong.
In fact, not only does Colorado have it wrong, but completely backwards as well.
Continue reading "So why exactly does Colorado and California tax the hell out of new cars?" »
A few years ago I was at the Munich airport looking for a book to read when I stumbled upon a paperback buyer's guide that listed every new car sold in Germany along with a photo of the cars and their vital specs.
I was amazed at the size of the book. It was about as large as the Wedster's New World Dictionary.
That same type book is published here in magazine form, and it's about a third of the size of the German version.
Continue reading "Why Chrysler declaring bankruptcy is great for America" »
The bigger-is-better approach may indeed improve the driving experience. These screens can display more information in larger formats that are easier to interact with. Large screens also offer a more flexible platform compared to conventional dials and hard buttons. Soft buttons in these multi-touch displays can change on demand. For example, the volume control for the media player can easily transform itself to temperature control. But there are drawbacks to adopting this new trend in automotive technology. First, the physical muscle memory associated with hard buttons help drivers to map locations of each button/control used while driving. In essence, the driver’s muscle memory of hard buttons enables quicker and safer access to controls. Soft buttons on a digital display do not provide the tactile feel necessary to develop the muscle memory. More buttons displayed on screen means a driver needs to spend more time staring at it to find information, otherwise it is like trying to find a moving object in dark. In a driving situation, any additional moment you spend gazing at the screen and not at the road could tremendously increase the chance of accident.
In my last post, I described what mobility means today and offered a glimpse into the automotive industry’s focus on mobility related challenges. With the intent of proposing a new experience of ‘mobility’ of the future, here are technologies that could help improve the mobile experience in cars.
A head-up display, or HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the user to look away from his or her usual viewpoint. The origin of the name stems from the user being able to view information with his head “up” and looking forward, instead of angled down looking at lower instruments. The first HUDs were essentially advancements of static gun sight technology for military fighter aircraft aimed to offer advantages in in-air dogfights. And the core merit from this technology in automotive applications is that it offers a more ergonomic solution and keeps the drivers’ eyes focused on the road. Key information required in most common driving situations like speed and navigational direction is displayed on the windshield as a clear and easy-to-read image. BMW claims that
Head-Up Display halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from road to the instruments and back, dramatically reducing the risk of not seeing the sudden illumination of brake lights of the car ahead, or an unexpected obstacle
But today the display size of HUD units in automobiles is limited a portion of the windshield that measures 18 x 10 cm. The driver may also experience issues switching between the focal distance of a HUD and objects outside the automobile. (Automotive HDs: the overlooked safety issues by Daniel R. Tufano).
The increasing amount of information from sensors in cars and those carried onboard by the driver has led the automotive industry to offer solutions that make them more accessible and manageable. From the BMW’s original idrive to the latest “remote touch” solution from Lexus, the basic approach seems to be the same. These solutions may seem accessible and familiar to the driver because they resembles the mechanism we are used to from using a computer mouse and remote controls. But the core issue remains: it requires drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel.
With advances in natural user interfaces, heads-up displays, and head and eye tracking, the interface can be made safer and ergonomically sound. For example, the combination of headtracking with a HUD can improve the display of information while keeping the drivers hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. The onboard computer system can also track behavioral patterns that can help “tune” the user interface of the display. In case, information displayed via HUD can stay at a minimized state (creating less distraction) until driver’s focus is engaged with the display when it expands reveal more information. When the driver’s focus looks away, the displayed information would disappear. The driver’s natural movement dictates the interaction.
This report is intended to give a general overview of the global automotive market, and provide information about how Nexans is serving this market.
It opens with a brief introduction which explains the trends affecting the automotive industry worldwide, especially in terms of assembly volume, growth, sales and continuing consolidation. This is followed by specific trends in the industry and especially the automotive cable business. After exploring challenges and the “push-pull” factors transforming car manufacturing, it concentrates on Nexans’ four strategic strengths which also correspond to the concerns of auto and harness makers, themselves: metallurgy, standard and special cables, recycling, and an ability to serve customers in emerging automotive-assembly countries. Finally, the White Paper explains the Nexans approach to innovation, which is driven by technology, new production methods (“lean manufacturing”) and strategic outsourcing. The final chapter explains Nexans service solutions in practical terms, and emphasizes the importance of partnership in finding solutions for an increasingly synergized industry.
