Honda Launching World’s First Production Car with ‘Eyes-Off’ Self-Driving Tech by Mid-2021
Honda has received regulatory approval from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) to begin selling vehicles equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving.
In a press release, Honda highlighted that it would begin the sale of the Honda Legend equipped with its all-new "Traffic Jam Pilot" feature by the end of the company's fiscal year (March 31, 2021). The feature is reportedly similar to GM's Super Cruise and Ford's Active Drive Assist in the sense that all road conditions must be perfect before Traffic Jam Pilot can be activated.
While presently limited to vehicles sold in Japan, Honda's Traffic Jam Pilot is slated to become the very first commercially available function demonstrating Level 3 autonomous driving. No automaker, Tesla included, has announced its ability to reach this milestone in such an advantageous timeline.
Read the article at The Drive.
Will There be an EV in Every Driveway Under the Biden Administration?
President-elect Joe Biden's excitement over electric vehicles prove he's bullish on the power of EVs to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
First, his Day One "unprecedented executive actions" include moving the federal government procurement system toward 100 percent "clean energy and zero-emissions vehicles" as well as making sure U.S. fuel-economy standards are set so they get "100 percent of new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles [to] be electrified" alongside annual improvements for heavy-duty vehicles.
Second, Biden's "Year One Legislative Agenda" is to include accelerating the deployment of electric vehicles by working with governors and mayors to deploy over 500,000 new public charging outlets by the end of 2030. The plan also calls for restoring the federal government's electric-vehicle tax credit and targeting it toward middle-class consumers while prioritizing electric vehicles made in America when possible.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
Mentor App Powered by FICO Safe Driving Score
Mentor by eDriving is essentially a “fitness app” for safe driving, and it’s powered by the FICO Safe Driving Score.
We Remember Mark Boada
By Janice Sutton and Ted Roberts
It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we announce that Mark Boada, FMW's executive editor, passed away last Wednesday morning, November 11, 2020.
He suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack while cycling with a friend.
Mark was an award-winning writer with a brilliant, always-inquiring mind, and he was an absolute joy to work with. He was a keen observer of politics and government affairs and served as vice-chair of NAFA Fleet Management Association Government Affairs Committee.
Virgin Hyperloop Gears Up for the Future After 107-MPH Test With Passengers Onboard
After starting out in a garage six years ago, Hyperloop One has since become Virgin Hyperloop and now recently sent its first-ever riders for a test in the company's 0.31-mile DevLoop test site in Las Vegas, after performing over 400 empty tests.
On such short distance, the freshly-unveiled XP-2 vehicle accelerated to 107 mph while carrying co-founder and CTO Josh Giegel and director of passenger experience Sara Luchian. Needless to say, this pace is far from the venture's ultimate goal of moving 28-person pods at over 600 mph, but it's a step in the right direction.
Before connecting major cities through a hyperloop network, Virgin's team needs to raise $500 million to establish a six-mile test facility in West Virginia, after which the system could be certified in 2025 or 2026. Mind you, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden recently announced that he wants to see zero-emission public transit for cities with over 100,000 people, which is a significant commitment towards a greener future that could just as well include a high-speed hyperloop system.
Read the article at The Drive.
