Month in tech: Mercedes gives you the silent treatment
From Mercedes, a loud statement in quietude
For
those looking for the next best thing to silence on the road – and who
have $200,000 to burn – Mercedes-Benz claims its new Maybach S600 is the
quietest production sedan in the world. The company, which unveiled the
sedan at the 2014 Los Angeles auto show this month, used special
hose-like seals on the rear door joints, added extra insulation on the
rear seats and moved the passengers farther from the rear windows, all
to keep the cabin quieter at high speeds. Mercedes tested the car at its
new acoustic wind tunnel in Sindelfingen, Germany. The S600 will be
available in select global markets early in 2015. They have a file on you – but for how long?
(Newspress)
Absent federal standards, the Auto Alliance, a
consortium of 12 automakers active in the US, notified the US Federal
Trade Commission that it had adopted voluntary standards for how the
companies would collect and use passenger-vehicle data. The rules
include minimising the amount of time automakers retain driver data;
asking for consent before using it for marketing purposes; and not
handing over information to law enforcement agencies without a court
order. The new standards go into effect for 2017-model-year vehicles,
but could be changed or augmented if the US government determines the
voluntary rules do not go far enough to protect drivers’ privacy. Audi wants to share the luxury
The German brand recently launched a new
car-sharing service for drivers who don't want to limit themselves to
just one vehicle. The service allows drivers to select a different
vehicle each month, and pay based on how much the car is driven. So if
it's sunny and warm, drivers can cruise around in a convertible and,
when the weather sours, select an SUV (such as the Q7 pictured above).
Drivers use a smartphone app to schedule their time in the desired car.
The service, called Audi Select, is only available in Berlin at the
moment, but two undisclosed US cities are expected to receive pilot
programmes in coming months. Toyota first to price a fuel-cell vehicle
Toyota has made clear its belief that
hydrogen-fuelled – not battery-powered – cars are the most viable
replacement for fossil-fuel-burning vehicles. The company’s most
emphatic statement came at the 2014 Los Angeles auto show this month,
where it unveiled the hydrogen-powered Mirai. The car, whose name
derives from the Japanese word for “future”, travels 300 miles on a
single tank of hydrogen, refuels in just five minutes and emits only
water vapour. Unlike other carmakers who have offered fuel-cell electric vehicles,
or FCEVs, as lease-only propositions, Toyota is first to put a price on
such a car, at $57,000 in the US. Though availability is initially
limited to select markets in California, Toyota is building 12 hydrogen
refuelling stations across five states in the US northeast, with
expectations of marketing the Mirai in that region after the initial
rollout. Expect to see them on California roads in late 2015. General Motors sees OnStar’s predictive potential
OnStar, the in-car connectivity service from
General Motors (GM), could be used to detect car-diagnostic problems
before they surface. GM contends that the system could track engine,
electrical and other vehicle data and compare it to other vehicle
information on OnStar’s cloud network. While some OnStar features
currently track on-board diagnostics, they do not draw on other vehicle
data in real time. The new system would use data to diagnose potential
problems and notify owners of any irregularities, ideally before they
develop into major problems. GM is testing the system with employees’
vehicles, with an eye towards bringing it to the public.
click for more...
No comments:
Post a Comment