Garmin nuvicam LMT R7 500

Though the company is quite successful in the fitness wearable market, Garmin has gone in an interesting direction with its traditional breadwinner navigation units. Where its big rival has gone down the software and big data path, Garmin has turned to hardware to bring the focus back to in-car units.

Nuvicam is a 6-inch touchscreen device that does all the live traffic and mapping things, but has a built-in dashcam. That dashcam will also sound a collision warning if it feels you’re too close to the car ahead and you can pair your phone via Bluetooth for hands-free calling. Add the fact that it overlays route guidance information on the camera feed, and you can kind of justify the steep price.

liquid salt and have perfected nano-photovoltaic cells, the electric car range will rival even the most frugal diesel vehicles.

Electric motors also have fewer moving parts and are inherently less prone to accidental damage. Besides, the motors run silently, don’t overheat, switch off at idle and can run via direct drive.

But in the future we’ll have much fewer wide open spaces to explore. We’ll also probably want to do it under our own power and take a break from all the connected technology.

The 4x4 of tomorrow may not need to take you up the mountain, but merely to the trailhead where you’ll set out on foot or by bike. In those situations (which are becoming more common) a thirsty off-roader seems wasteful.

There’s also a considerable safety concern should batteries get damaged in your off-road pursuits, you don’t want to rupture the lithium-ion batteries and release that chemical reaction in the cabin. BMW (on the i8) and Volvo (XC90 T8) have what can be considered as the best solution to this problem. All of the XC90’S 96 cells are placed in the centre of the car floor. Volvo’s director of powertrain engineering Lutz Stiegler describes it as the safest part of the car that “never gets deformed by accident”.

The T8 powertrain comprises: l The two-litre turbo supercharged engine from the T6; l A crank-integrated high-voltage starter generator (which acts as a starter motor and charges the batteries) that can also be recruited as an engine power booster; l And, on the rear axle, the electric motor.

The battery pack is rated at 9,3 kwh and was good for about half-an-hour of foot-to-floor driving on the route for the international launch in Barcelona last year. Energy is recovered from braking or you can plug in at any charging station.

Taking the car out in the Spanish vineyards gave a fair idea of what the SUV is capable of when you leave the tar. Power was delivered smoothly with both power plants working hard to maintain traction on the steep gravel incline. You don’t notice the handoff from petrol engine to electric motor, but the lack of mechanical differential lock can induce the occasional spin when the computer isn’t too certain where to send the front axle power. Rear-wheel spin felt natural, like when a traditional four-wheel-drive system releases wind-up tension.

The Volvo was also aided by adjustable ride height – which is set to maximum when you select the off-road drive mode – but there is no terrain management system outside of this. You can change gears manually via paddle shift, though.

We’re still far off from seeing a an all-electric off-road 4x4 that can compete with the current market leaders, but there is hope. Less mechanical maintenance, no lubrication, less moving parts and better component sealing are only some of the positives we can look forward to. It’ll also be great for the environment, which will ensure that there’s wildlife to see out in the wilderness for generations to come. – LS

* See http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/wheels/land-roverelectric-defender-game-viewer/ and http://www.popularmechanics. co.za/wheels/sa-man-converts-his-jeep-to-electric-power/