China’s Geely buys a $9 billion stake in Daimler.

Li Shufu, the founder of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has acquired a nearly 10 percent stake in Daimler AG, the German company said in a regulatory filing Friday.

The stake, which is worth just over $9 billion at the current market price for Daimler shares, makes Li Shufu the biggest single shareholder in the maker of Mercedes Benz cars, trucks and vans and marks the biggest investment in a global automobile manufacturer by a Chinese company. More »

Sony is developing an AI-based taxi hailing system. Algorithms would predict when you are likely to need a ride.

As Sony wants to expand its artificial intelligence presence in both the commercial and business sectors, Sony is forming a joint venture with five taxi operators in Japan. The joint venture is going to launch a taxi-hailing system that will use artificial intelligence to predict customers’ demands.

Sony’s partners in the creation of an AI-powered hailing platform include Tokyo-based Taxi operators Checker Cab, Hinomaru Kotsu, Daiwa Motor Transportation, Kokusai Motorcars, and Green Cab. More »

The autonomous cars and robots will lead to mass unemployment.
Аccording to Dr. Subhash Kak, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a leading expert from Oklahoma University, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars could put a third of all people out of work.
Vehicles that transport people using artificial intelligence are increasingly becoming a part of our everyday life. Dr. Subhash Kak believes a third of jobs will be lost.

Dr. Kak also warns that as robots are taking control of the world, humans are heading for a dystopian future with mass unemployment. Autonomous cars and artificial intelligence are making an impact in all business sectors. Dr. Subhash Kak says that as one-third of the people in any advanced economy are engaged in transportation, those employees will lose their jobs as soon as self-driving cars become widely adopted. Kak predicts a world where robots replace humans and machines will work at a cheaper price and longer hours without getting tired. More »

According to the American Automobile Association, the number of travelers hitting the road from Wednesday through Sunday, is expected to swell to levels not seen in the last 12 years, triggering record traffic delays in some of the country’s biggest cities, including Chicago.

 

 

According to Chicago Tribune.

Fisker has filed patents for a radical ‘solid-state battery’ and technology that will slash charging times and improve range. Officials for the company claim the battery would be able to power a car for 500 miles and recharge in just a minute.
Fisker is a very small company that makes luxury electric cars. The technology will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Along with the battery module equipped with advanced thermal management, the company will also be launching its Fisker EMotion luxury electric sedan at the show.

According to the firm, its batteries deliver 2.5 times the energy density of typical lithium-ion batteries and is estimated to cost one-third of the 2020 projected price for those batteries, due to advances in materials and manufacturing.

Solid-state batteries would charge very quickly and should not have the fire issues with lithium-ion batteries. However, they are known to have a number of drawbacks, such as low power and low rate capability as a result of the layered electrode structure.

Dr. Fabio Albano, vice president of battery systems at Fisker Inc. commented that this breakthrough “marks the beginning of a new era in solid-state materials and manufacturing technologies”.

 

According to Autoblog.

United Airlines is now flying an 18-hour flight between Los Angeles and Singapore that’s now the longest regularly scheduled route ever flown by a U.S. airline and the world’s longest by flying time.
The Chicago-based carrier officially claimed that late Friday, when it launched a non-stop service on the 8,700-mile route between Los Angeles and Singapore. The flight is anticipated to take nearly 18 hours.
The route is scheduled to run from Los Angeles International Airport to Singapore’s Changi Airport. The distance is about 8,700 miles which are about 7,560 nautical miles. More »

Daimler is planning to invest $1 billion into electric car production in its Alabama plant, the company said Thursday in a statement.
Daimler will try to take on Tesla’s Model X by making Daimler the first European company to assemble electric SUV in the U.S. as it is starting to assemble electric sport utility vehicles in its facility in Alabama.
Daimler, the parent company of luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz, announced plans to invest $1 billion to start production of plug-in autos in the U.S.
The Stuttgart-based company will use the sum to expand the 20-year-old Vance facility, in Alabama, where Mercedes already makes SUVs. More »

The new Nissan Leaf will operate with just one pedal.Less than a month ahead of the official reveal of the 2018 Nissan Leaf on September 6, Nissan announced that the highly anticipated 100% electric car will be launched with only one pedal, the e-Pedal, an innovative technology that will transform the way you drive a car.
More details have been released about the second generation of the electric car.
Nissan’s brand-new version of its electric car, the Leaf, will be fully unveiled on September 6 when the car will showcase its single pedal mode for accelerating and decelerating. The company claims that this innovative concept is being introduced for the first time in a novel way and the e-Pedal is “the world’s first one-pedal operation.” More »

Boeing 787 Dreamliner took a 4,000-mile flight for 17 hours to trace an outline of itself in the skies above the US.
The flight started from Boeing’s Seattle headquarters in Washington at 11 pm last Tuesday. Aviation fans were able to track its unusual route avidly while cruising continually at 41,000 feet when the flight track began to take shape using flightradar24. The outline hit 17 states and spans from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the tip of Texas.
In a staggering stunt that has provoked admiration and amusement, the aircraft managed to draw a perfect outline of a massive Dreamliner in the skies over America. More »

2018 Mustang GT hits 0-60 in under 4 seconds with an all-new 10-speed automatic transmission.
Ford announced Monday the power and torque figures for the 2018 Mustang lineup. The automaker promises impressive improvements for both models: the V8-powered GT and 4-cylinder-powered EcoBoost.
The 2018 Mustang GT will be the fastest Mustang to date, capable of 0-60 mph acceleration in less than four seconds which puts the GT ahead of the quickest sports cars, including the Porsche 911.
The new Mustang GT features an improved 5.0-liter V8 engine that generates 460 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. That is an impressive upgrade over the 2017 model with its 435 horsepower and 400 pound-feet. More »