‘Smart’ licence plates can report car thefts
Digital licence plates about to be tested in Dubai can communicate with persons outside the vehicle — contacting authorities — even to the point of reporting when a vehicle is stolen. Among their hightech functions, reports automotive data website The Car Connection, the plates will flash the word stolen “in lieu of a [plate] registration number to quickly notify authorities.” The plates, which have satellite tracking, were due to begin testing this month under the country’s Roads and Transport Authority. Agency head Sultan Abdullah al-Marzouqui said theft alerts are just one feature that the plates, called Tag 2 Connect, provide. They can also display information about traffic congestion, update drivers on road conditions and warn of accidents ahead, among other things.
Road in Sweden charges electric cars as they drive: A two-kilometre stretch of electrified road that resembles a slot-car track, and works in much the same way, has opened in Sweden. The project incorporates electric rails embedded into the road surface to power EVs through a contact arm that lowers from beneath the car, reports emerging-technologies webmag New Atlas. The arm extends and retracts by way of sensors that lower it only when over the rails. To exit the road or overtake another vehicle, the arm retracts automatically and the vehicle draws power from its battery instead. The eRoadArlanda group says to electrify 19,000 kilometres of Sweden’s roadways would cost about $9.5 billion US, but projects that the cost would be recouped “within three years.”
Toyota touts alternative to 5G cellular communications: Toyota and Lexus vehicles will soon be able to communicate with each other and with other cars and the surrounding infrastructure, the automaker announced in mid-April. The Toyota brands use V2X technology (combining vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle systems) through dedicated shortrange communications (DSRC) technology. System-wise, Toyota foresees a single standard developed for all automakers to “ensure clear communication in V2X technology,” reports automotive lifestyles webmagazine Motor Authority. “How that plays out is anyone’s guess. Automakers need to make big investments in the technology of their choice, and right now it appears to be a fight between DSRC and 5G” cellular technology. DSRC does not require a cellular network and Toyota is encouraging other automakers to adopt it also.
Buick Velite 6 is new, for China: General Motors’ newest bid for a share of the growing automotive market in China is the Buick Velite 6 extended-range compact electric hatchback, a standalone five-seat model in China that is unlike anything else the automaker currently offers to buyers there. It follows the Velite 5, a rebadged Chevrolet Volt. Unlike the 5, which is a plug-in hybrid, the Velite 6 offers a choice of two different electrified drive systems: plug-in hybrid; and all electric. The Velite 6 further offers buyers new levels of connectivity, both for car and driver, Buick said. Owners’ smartphones can double as keys and can remotely authorize others to drive the vehicle. A new eConnect cloud connectivity system pairs with the owner’s socialmedia network. BMW wants to streamline the batteries in its future electric vehicles — primarily for sports cars and sedans — to better suit their physical design parameters, reports business journal Automotive News Europe. Taller batteries are less of a concern in utility vehicles, said the automaker, but they limit smaller, more streamlined vehicle designs.