Posts Tagged: vehicle

Honda to test its Autonomous Work Vehicle at Toronto’s Pearson Airport

While many of the flashy, marquee mobility and transportation demos that go on at CES tend to be of the more… aspirational variety, Honda's electric cargo hauler, the Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV), could soon find use on airport grounds as the robotic EV trundles towards commercial operations. 

Honda first debuted the AWV as part of its CES 2018 companion mobility demonstration, then partnered with engineering firm Black & Veatch to further develop the platform. The second-generation AWV was capable of being remotely piloted or following a preset path while autonomously avoiding obstacles. It could carry nearly 900 pounds of sutff onboard and atow another 1,600 pounds behind it, both on-road and off-road. Those second-gen prototypes spent countless hours ferrying building materials back and forth across a 1,000-acre solar panel construction worksite, both individually and in teams, as part of the development process. 

This past March, Honda unveiled the third-generation AWV with a higher carrying capacity, higher top speed, bigger battery and better obstacle avoidance. On Tuesday, Honda revealed that it is partnering with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority to test its latest AWV at the city's Pearson Airport. 

The robotic vehicles will begin their residencies by driving the perimeters of airfields, using mounted cameras and an onboard AI, checking fences and reporting any holes or intrusions. The company is also considering testing the AWV as a FOD (foreign object debris) tool to keep runways clear, as an aircraft component hauler, people mover or baggage cart tug. 

The AWV is just a small part of Honda's overall electrification efforts. The automaker is rapidly shifting its focus from internal combustion to e-motors with plans to release a fully-electric mid-size SUV, as well as nearly a dozen EV motorcycle models by 2025, and develop an EV sedan with Sony. Most importantly, however, the Motocompatco is making a comeback

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/honda-to-test-its-autonomous-work-vehicle-at-torontos-pearson-airport-153025911.html?src=rss

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Faraday Future delays the launch of its first electric vehicle yet again

Back in February, Faraday Future presented the production version of its FF91 electric SUV at its California plant and said it would start manufacturing its long-delayed vehicle in the third quarter of 2022. Now, according to Bloomberg, the embattled company has revealed in a filing for investors that it has to push back the EV's production yet again and that it needs more cash for its commercial launch. 

Apparently, the company said it has to delay FF91's deliveries to the "third or fourth quarter of 2022." Seeing as the third quarter has already started, it's now likely aiming for late Q3 — that said, the fourth quarter seems more likely, and that is if Faraday Future's plans finally go as intended. Especially since it also has to find the money needed to keep running: The company also told investors that it needs additional cash to launch the FF91 and that it's looking to raise around $ 325 million to fund its operations until December 31st, 2022. 

Faraday Future was founded in 2014 and planned to launch its first electric vehicle way back in 2018. It's had to postpone launching its EV several times over the past years as it grappled with a litany of financial issues. The company almost ran out of cash in 2017 until a company called Season Smart, which was later acquired by Chinese company Evergrande, agreed to invest $ 2 billion in it. Faraday Future quickly burned through Season Smart's $ 800 million initial cash injection, though, and it spent 2018 feuding with its main investor. 

While it reached a restructuring deal with Evergrande by the end of 2018, it wasn't able to secure enough money to bring back the employees it put on unpaid leave. The company also had to give up on its plans to build a factory in Las Vegas and put up the 900-acre plot for sale for $ 40 million. Faraday went public in a merger with a blank-check company back in 2021, but it looks like that wasn't enough to solve its financial woes.

As Bloomberg notes, the delay comes in the midst of an issue between the company and its founder, Jia Yueting, who stepped down as CEO in 2019 as part of the company' restructuring deal. Apparently, a shareholder group associated with Yueting offering Faraday Future "at least $ 100 million" to remove an unnamed director from the startup's board. The company reportedly pushed back, and the group accused it of not treating the offer "with the gravity, urgency and fairness it deserves" considering Faraday's financial condition. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Waymo sues to keep autonomous vehicle emergency protocols secret

Waymo has sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles. In a case first reported by The Los Angeles Times, the Alphabet subsidiary filed a complaint with the Sacramento County Superior Court on January 21st to prevent the agency from disclosing what it believes to be trade secrets.

At the center of the lawsuit is a public records request an unidentified party made to obtain Waymo’s driverless deployment application. Before sharing the requested documents, the DMV allowed the company to redact any sections it believed would reveal its trade secrets, including questions that were asked by the agency. When the DMV eventually forwarded the package to the requester, that individual or group challenged the redactions. The agency then contacted Waymo and invited the company to sue it to resolve the matter.

Some of the information Waymo wants to prevent from entering the public domain include details on how it plans to handle emergencies involving its autonomous vehicles. Another redacted section details the abilities of its Driver software to handle San Francisco’s tricky one-way streets and hills. The company began offering taxi service to a limited number of customers in San Francisco in August. Those vehicles operate with a backup human driver.

The company contends it has publicly shared almost all of the information contained in its application with the DMV. According to Waymo, the redactions involve technical details that touch on how it achieves the safety performance it has detailed in other public venues. Waymo claims that information could give a competitor an edge on it. The suit's purpose here is to either forestall or completely prevent the disclosure of the requested information. As TheLos Angeles Times notes, resolution for these types of cases can take years.

“Every autonomous vehicle company has an obligation to demonstrate the safety of its technology, which is why we’ve transparently and consistently shared data on our safety readiness with the public,” a spokesperson for Waymo told Engadget. “We will continue to work with the DMV to determine what is appropriate for us to share publicly and hope to find a resolution soon.”

The DMV declined to comment on the case, but said it's currently reviewing the complaint. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

States vow to block any vehicle emissions standards rollback

California isn't the only state that will openly defy the White House if it rolls back any of the vehicle emission standards set by the Obama administration. The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington District of Columbia, I…
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City of LA’s electric vehicle fleet includes a Tesla Model S

For anyone who thought that Los Angeles' efforts to turn its traffic problems green would end after a partnership with Waze, think again. The City of Angels has committed to leasing 160 battery-powered electric vehicles and 128 plug-in hybrids for…
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