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News Roundup: A Semi-Autonomous Motorcycle, Driverless Cars Hit Public Roads in England, and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A roundup of some of the most interesting news to come out of the driverless, connected-car world this week:

BMW says helmets won’t be needed with their self-balancing motorcycle

While most of the world is focused on semi-autonomous features that can make cars safer, BMW has been quietly focusing on a semi-autonomous motorcycle. This week, the auto manufacturer unveiled its design for the Vision Next 100 bike, with features like semi-autonomous steering and self-balancing wheels. Instead of a helmet, the bike will come with a visor that has an internal display super-imposed over the road and surrounding environment. The bike’s connected-vehicle system will give alerts about obstacles and risks on that display. BMW says the self-balancing wheels are so effective, a rider won’t even need to put their feet down on the ground when they stop, and it will be so hard to crash the bike, traditional helmets and padded, protective clothing won’t be necessary. Read more about the Vision Next 100 on CNNMoney.

Driverless cars tested on UK public roads for the first time

As Britain keeps moving toward its goal of having driverless cars on the road by 2020, a test car hit the public streets of Milton Keynes for the first time on Tuesday. Traveling at about 5 km per hour, the small two-seater driverless pod car navigated the streets of the largely pedestrianized southern town, stopping for people that crossed in front of it and safely turning corners. The pod car, heavily adapted from a compact Renault car, was developed by the Oxford University spin-out Oxbotica. Read more about the driverless car’s first public trip from Reuters.

Lots of driverless news out of California this week

According to news outlets like Ars Technica, Wall Street Journal and Elektrek, things are really heating up in California, where the number of companies that have been issued permits to test autonomous vehicles has just climbed to 17, up by three just since the end of summer. The two newest permits were issued to Wheego, an electric vehicle powertrain engineering company, and Valeo, a familiar name in the industry as a longtime tier-one automotive supplier. Also recently, Chinese tech firm Baidu received a testing permit. In other California news, Elektrek was one of the first to spot prototypes of Google’s long-awaited self-driving Chrysler Pacific mini-vans in Mountain View last weekend, and published a few somewhat grainy photos. Read more recent industry news from Ars Technica.

Image: Vision Next 100 semi-autonomous motorcycle prototype, by BMW.

NuTonomy Raises $16 Million in Funding for Self-Driving Taxi Pilot

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Jennifer van der Kleut

NuTonomy, a self-driving car startup that is backed by Ford Motor Co., announced today it has raised $16 million in funding, which it says will help them achieve their goal of having autonomous taxis on the streets of Singapore by this fall.

Naturally, the Singapore government is one of the big investors, along with major investment firm Highland Capital.

NuTonomy spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2013, founded by PhD graduates Karl Iagnemma (CEO) and Emilio Frazzoli (CTO). Since then, NuTonomy has garnered a reputation as being one of the leading companies in the race toward driverless cars.

Now, CEO Karl Iagnemma says this latest round of funding will help them dramatically “accelerate [their] progress—more people and more cars,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

NuTonomy is just one on a list of eight companies working on self-driving technology that want to bring it to the streets of Singapore. The government asked for proposals last year, and eight companies submitted proposals-among which were NuTonomy, Uber and BMW.

“We are inviting companies and research institutions to test-bed their technology and concepts here, in real-life, mixed-use traffic conditions,” Singapore’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Kin Keong Pang said in a statement.

Perhaps in a jab at the regulatory back-and-forth happening in the U.S. right now, Pang added, “We are contributing financial resources in these partnerships and we are able to fast-track regulatory and other administrative approvals, and get the trials and test-beds up and running quickly and with minimum fuss.”

TechCrunch explains, NuTonomy manufactures equipment that is used to retrofit existing vehicles and turn them into driverless ones. They are currently using retrofitted Mitsubishi iMiev electric cars, and are expecting to also use Renault Zoe EVs in its autonomous cab service later this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

TechCrunch reports, NuTonomy is also currently testing cars in Michigan and in the U.K., where they are partnering with Jaguar Land Rover, among others.

Most recently, NuTonomy gained a lot of attention when it ran a test program for an autonomous shuttle operating in an office park that could be summoned by an app. Representatives said the amount of data gathered by the program was incredibly valuable.

General Motors and Lyft to Test Self-Driving Electric Taxis on Public Roads Within 1 Year

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Just months after General Motors (GM) announced it was investing half a billion dollars in ride-hailing app Lyft, now the two partners say they will be conducting joint tests of driverless taxis on public roads-within a year.

The Wall Street Journal reports the tests will be of autonomous, electric Chevrolet Bolt taxis.

One other firm will have its hands in the mix as well. As GM recently purchased San Francisco-based tech firm Cruise Automation Inc., WSJ reports Cruise’s self-driving technology will power the cars.Lyft-GM car

WSJ says details are still being worked out, but that Lyft sources say the tests will involve average taxi customers in an undisclosed city (perhaps San Francisco?).

GM is hoping the popularity of its Chevy Bolt will soon take off, despite slow demand for electric vehicles due to most U.S. cities still lacking a sufficient supply of charging stations. GM is banking on the fact that more drivers will appreciate the larger storage space and passenger leg room of the Bolt, since the car’s electric battery is located under the floor instead of the front of the car.

This is just the latest in a long line of recent autonomous vehicle announcements by major automakers. Earlier this week, Google and Fiat-Chrysler announced a joint venture to manufacture self-driving Pacifica mini-va
ns. Elon Musk and the gang at Tesla Motors announced they are taking a short-term profit hit in order to speed up productio
n to meet the demand for its less expensive Model S, now promising to have 500,000 cars ready by 2018 rather than 2020. And Volvo announced it would be conducting “the largest and most ambitious autonomous car test yet” with its “Drive Me London” program, scheduled for next year.

With all of those announcements (and more), plus several U.S. states working on autonomous vehicle legislation, things are certainly heating up.

Self-Driving, Connected Cars Are The Big Buzz at Beijing Auto Show

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Jennifer van der Kleut

The Beijing International Automotive Exhibition is happening this week, and self-driving and connected cars appear to be the big-ticket items on most people’s minds.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for all the buzz is the fact that one self-driving car traveled roughly 2,000 kilometers to get itself to the show. A driverless car manufactured by Changan Automobile completed the six-day journey from its headquarters in Chongqing to Beijing for the show, according to the South China Morning Post.

The article says in addition to cameras and radar that allowed the car to maneuver through traffic and change lanes, the car is also capable of recognizing traffic signs and even following voice commands.

In total, a movement called “Internet Plus” seems to be permeating China’s automotive industry, as more and more automakers announce work on self-driving and connected-car technology.

For example, Chinese online video and smartphone maker LeEco, formerly know as LeTV, also showed off its first concept car at the event-a self-driving, electric vehicle, news outlets are reporting.

Cars with connected technology were also big stars of the auto show. The Roewe RX5 SUV by Chinese automaker SAIC debuted to much buzz. The car is run by Alibaba’s YunOS operating system, which reportedly has an impressive ability to process big data. As the Wall Street Journal reports, SAIC touts the car as “the car that understands you best.”

And speaking of SUVs — to the surprise of some, big cars seemed to be all the rage. A number of SUVs have already been unveiled at the show, including two new models by Honda Motor Co.

However, off-roading does not necessarily seem to be the target terrain for many of the new SUVs being shown off during the event. As the Detroit Free Press reports, the aim appears to be space and luxury for many of them.

“Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors and China’s Chery also displayed new SUVs, many never meant to be driven off-road and equipped with heated seats, Web-linked navigation, entertainment centers and other features,” the Free Press said.

These early reports are already coming out of the show, but there is likely much more to come, as the show runs through May 4.