Tesla Genie Grants Your Autopilot Wishes, Wireless Kia Soul EV Charger and F1 Meets Formula E | 11 April 2018
Nico Rosberg Brings Formula 1 to Formula E | TV Deal Done For ElectricGT | Formula E Season 6 Manufacturers Confirmed | Tesla Grants Autopilot Wishes For Model 3 Owners | Model S Video Shows Improved Autopilot | German Government To Support Battery Makers | Kia Soul With Wireless Charging
Wednesday 11th April 2018.
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ELECTRIC CARS GO RACING
- Following on from the news yesterday about Audi’s e-tron Vision which is being made for real after starting life as a car for the PS4 Gran Turismo game, we heard yesterday that Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg will be driving the Gen2.0 Formula E car, you know the Batman style one, very soon in Berlin. He’ll be at the Berlin E–Prix on May 19th. And what with Nico Rosberg being a Formula 1 World Champion, he will definitely bring a lot of press coverage and attention to electric racing.
- And also news from the Electric GT Tesla racing series. Barcelona company Mediapro Group will do the TV production and feed distribution for the coverage of the fully-electric Tesla racing car championship. Mediapro will produce all the events of the Electric Production Car Series in HD 1080 technology and distribute the signal around the globe to other broadcasting partners. Mark Gemmell, CEO and founder, Electric GT Holdings, said: “We aim to bring the latest technological developments and innovations not only to the racetrack but to people’s homes through the way that they will view and experience the races, Mediapro will be key in providing that link between us and the fans who cannot wait to see and feel how exciting this new racing series will be.” According to Gemmell, the main feed will be distributed to linear networks and platforms, but there will also be video content for social media and online platforms.
- Still no firm news on dates, circuits and a full driver lineup. However I’m really looking forward to seeing Tesla Model S P100DL on a racetrack, just as much as seeing the Jaguar I-PACE series supporting Formula E.
- The FIA – motorsport’s governing body – confirmed the full list of manufacturers that will homologate powertrains from season six.
– Audi Sport – BMW AG – DS Automobiles – Jaguar Land Rover – Mahindra Racing – Mercedes-Benz – NextEV NIO – Nissan – Penske Autosport – Porsche AG – Venturi Automobiles
TESLA GENIE GRANTS THE WISHES OF MODEL 3 OWNERS
- Simon Alvarez for Teslarati has a first look at the new Tesla Model 3 Autopilot controls using the right steering wheel scroll wheel for altering speed and distance. A constant bit of feedback from Model S owners was that moving to Model 3 autopilot wasn’t as intuitive, and involved too much use of the central screen. In fact I’d say it was the biggest feature request I saw regularly. In the What’s New section of the software update, it says “For your convenience, we’ve updated the functions of the scroll buttons on the steering wheel. The right scroll button now lets you quickly adjust Traffic-Aware Cruise Control settings. To increase or decrease the set cruising speed, roll the right button up or down. To adjust the follow distance between you and the vehicle ahead, press the right button to the left or right. You can still adjust these settings from the touchscreen and press down on the button to activate voice commands.”
- Teslarati say: “A video showcasing the new Model 3 Autopilot controls was uploaded to a private Tesla Facebook group by Model 3 owner Ivan Karpenko. The short clip, which could be viewed below, features Ivan adjusting his electric car’s AP settings without touching the Model 3’s 15- inch centre display. According to the Tesla owner on his Facebook post, the new Model 3 Autopilot controls “feel natural.”.
- Staying with Teslarati actually, and last night a new article popped up about an improvement to Autopilot. A Model S running Tesla’s newest Autopilot update (v8.1 2018.12) successfully managed to drive over a tough curve on an inconsistently-marked road without disengaging. In a statement to Teslarati, My Tesla Adventure noted that the latest updates suggest that the company’s neural net is steadily advancing forward. The neural net has really taken a jump forward, and it’s now advanced enough to handle complex situations. That is game-changing. It’s a full-factor improvement from v8.1 (2018.6) to v8.1 (2018.10.4), and I would say even more smoothing around the edges with v8.1”
ANOTHER BLOW FOR GERMAN DIESELS
- According to Reuters “The German government is ready to offer support to the makers of batteries for electric vehicles, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday, saying one possibility might be to exempt them from some energy levies. Speaking at an industry event, he said the production of batteries for electric cars was not necessarily a matter for carmakers, but the future manufacture of battery cells must be guaranteed. The German government would support that. Altmaier said a possibility might be to exempt the batteries’ energy-intensive production from some electricity charges. He added that decisions must be made soon on electric vehicles and future technology in cars.
WIRELESS KIA SOUL EV
- On a press release from Kia Motors today: “HATCI and Mojo, a wireless technology company, worked together to develop a compact wireless charging system that is capable of transferring more than 10 kW to the vehicle for fast charging while targeting an 85 percent grid-to-vehicle effi The project installed the system on five Soul EVs and tested them in real-world applications for durability, safety and performance.
- The system works by using an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two coils—a transmitter on the ground and a receiver on the bottom of the vehicle. The driver simply parks the car above the transmitter to begin charging and then energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which uses that energy to charge the electric vehicles' battery. The system is so efficient it will allow some misalignment between the transmitter and the receiver, making it easier and more convenient for owner's day-to-day use.”
- There is no current plan to offer the wireless charging system on production vehicles for sale to consumers; however, the success of this development project suggests similar systems are possible on future Kia electric vehicles.
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