HIGH-TECH WONDERS
Opportunity to recognize very best of innovative automotive technology
Automobile journalists hand out three all-new awards to brands based on tech innovations,
The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) handed out three new awards on Wednesday afternoon at the 2018 Canadian International AutoShow. The AJAC Innovation Awards — designed to highlight new advances in automotive technology — are broken down into Best Green Innovation, Best Safety Innovation and Best Technical Innovation.
Each award category is judged by a panel of nine automotive journalists who are technology specialists. They each independently review briefs for all entries, prepared and submitted by Canada’s automakers, that cover their most innovative technologies.
Once that review is complete, the jurors pare the field of entries down to a shortlist for each category. The jurors then gather for a day of presentations from the respective manufacturers representing the shortlisted entries, where they ask questions and deliberate before voting on a secret ballot. The results are then compiled and authenticated by accounting firm KPMG, which also performs the same role for AJAC’s Canadian Car of the Year awards program.
“I call this our inaugural year, as we have taken what used to be called the Technology awards and made them broader reaching,” said Mark Richardson, president of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada.
“We’ve even added a category, and this is now our opportunity to recognize the very best — and most innovative — examples of new automotive technology available to Canadian drivers.”
The finalists in the different categories were: Best Green Innovation
Chevrolet: Regen-on-Demand System (Chevrolet Bolt) Lexus: Multi-stage hybrid system Toyota: Gas Injection Heat Pump System Design Best Safety Innovation
GM: Vehicle to Vehicle (V2) Communications System
Honda: Cabin Talk and Watch (Honda Odyssey)
Lexus: Safety System + Nissan: Pro Pilot Assist Best Technical Innovation Cadillac: Super Cruise Technology FCA: eFlite Transmission — Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Volvo: S90 Hybrid Combined Powertrain And the winners are . . . Best Green Innovation Toyota won the Best Green Innovation award for the Gas Injection Heat Pump System Design used in the 2017-18 Prius Prime. The Gas Injection Heat Pump addresses one of the biggest challenges for plug-in hybrid vehicles and other electric vehicles when operating in cold weather: the ability to produce heat.
When a vehicle’s batteries are being used to heat the cabin, it can significantly reduce its electric-only range — as much as 60 per cent in severe cold. Thanks to its specially designed Cyclone Separator integrated valve, the Gas Injection Heat Pump System in the Prius Prime improves the performance of the conventional heat pump, enabling it to continue to supply cabin heat down to -10 C. Best Safety Innovation The Best Safety Innovation award was presented to Lexus for its Safety System + A, which was introduced on the 2018 Lexus LS.
The Lexus Safety System + Advanced package (LSS+ A) incorporates a newly designed millimetre wave radar sensor, a stereo camera system, plus new yaw rate and steering sensors and adds several new safety features to the existing Lexus Safety System + (LSS+) bundle, including Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Alert and Active Steering Assist (both world firsts). Also included with LSS+A is Lexus CoDrive, which adds Lane Tracing Assist, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Front Cross Traffic Alert, a world’s first from Lexus. Best Technical Innovation The Best Technical Innovation award was won by Cadillac for its Super Cruise Technology. The 2018 CT6 is the first Cadillac to utilize Super Cruise, which encompasses two systems — a driver attention system and LIDAR map data — that work in conjunction with a various cameras and radar sensors in the car to enable hands-free driving on divided, limited access highways.
The driver-attention system uses a small camera located on the top of the steering column that focuses exclusively on the driver and works with infrared lights to track head position to determine where the driver is looking whenever Super Cruise is in operation. Super Cruise also utilizes precise map data scanned by LIDAR (a combination of the words light and radar) in conjunction with real-time, cameras, sensors and GPS to govern steering, braking and acceleration. It is the first assisted-driver system to use advanced laser technology.