Honda the first to mass produce level 3 self-driving cars

Virtually every semi-autonomous car you’ve seen on the road, even Teslas with Autopilot, uses level 2 self-driving — they may save you from steering or hitting the accelerator, but they won’t make many decisions by themselves. Honda believes it will push those boundaries, however. According to Reuters, the transportation giant claims it will be the first to mass produce cars with level 3 self-driving. While you’ll still have to be ready to take over, the cars could make important decisions like overtaking slow cars.

Honda’s first level 3 vehicle will be a version of its Legend sedan (pictured above) equipped with a Traffic Jam Pilot feature. It should arrive before the end of the company’s fiscal year, or no later than March 2021.

Read More

BMW unveils its flagship electric SUV, the BMW iX

(Nijafreetab) - BMW has unveiled its new flagship car, the anticipated BMW iNEXT, which gets the new BMW iX street name. This is a large electric SUV - or SAV as BMW calls it - promising over 300 miles of range, while introducing radically new design for the company.

In many ways, this car is an evolution of the exciting work that the BMW i3 started - there's once again a carbon cage to reduce weight - and it isn't just a repurposed version of an existing BMW car, but something that's a much bigger statement.

BMW says that the design of this car started from the inside, wanting to create an interior space that was more like a loft, minimised and free of clutter and that's seen a reduction of many of the common elements you might expect, fewer switches, greater subtlety and a concept that BMW is calling "shy tech".

The idea behind shy tech is to have advanced technological features, without them being overtly obvious. One example is the iDrive controller, the familiar click dial that BMWs have offered for well over a decade, now reduced to what looks like a cut glass decoration - but still offering interaction and touch controls. It's the same as before, but different.

Read More