Technology

The first one I tried, a Toyota Prius, could happily measure the gaps and reverse into place provided I took care of work on the brake and accelerator, and that's a familiar package now for a range of cars including the Ford Focus.But there are also cars that can parallel park, and even reverse safely out into traffic using a range of radar-style sensors. Some people say the rise of self-parking cars is all about our increasing laziness and the ability of technology to take over the menial, or annoying, tasks in our day-to-day lives.Others might, more controversially, draw a link between self parking cars and the inability of many women to do the job. Before you get too carried away, I should point out that this has now been scientifically proven by a study in the UK that I read about in a book called 'Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps'.The book is by Allan Pease - the body language man - and his wife Barbara, and includes the parking research in a section devoted to women's relative lack of 'spatial awareness'. This apparently affects their ability to read maps, and park, but is offset by greater peripheral vision that makes it easier for women to spot things in a fridge than men.But, moving along, I've also recently heard about a new incentive for self parking cars. It comes as Audi accelerates its work on cars that can valet park themselves, linking electronically to a system inside a carpark that identifies open slots and then guides the car into place. They can then be summoned out of hibernation as needed.There is currently only one self-parking garage in the world, not surprisingly at Audi's headquarters in Germany, although work is progressing at other sites and on other cars. But the idea is that cars which can park themselves will free up extra space for parking. After all, when you park - often with other people in the car - you need clearance to open the doors for access. It's the same for head space, as well as clearance to open a hatchback boot.But if the cars can park autonomously, think about all the extra space in the world. It's something that occurs to me nearly every week as I head to the airport or my local shopping centre and wonder where the space has gone. Cars are obviously getting larger, and SUVs are making an increasing land grab, but am I the only one who thinks that parking slots are being shrunken to get a bigger car - and cash - return on the available space?Then again, there are cars that cannot be helped. In Britain - where 1950s garages designed for tiny Austins now look ludicrous in the face of even a humble Ford Fiesta - I was once driving a long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom. When I drove into the supermarket to buy some fruit I was shocked to discover that the brutally brilliant limousine actually required four standard-sized parking spots, as it was both too long and too wide for anything less.This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover 

No, the little robots you're seeing aren't prototypes for EVE, the futuristic plant-finding robot in the Pixar movie WALL-E. They're actually all little Nissans, designed to develop technology for the firm's future autonomous vehicles, and the behaviour of each has been inspired by the way creatures like bees and fish travel in large groups.ALSO SEE:  Nissan promises autonomous car by 2020 Nissan calls the robot EPORO, and each uses laser range-finding technology, 180-degree vision (inspired by the compound eyes of a bumble bee) and a series of algorithms to help it navigate with other EPOROs - and people - in a confined space. Each of the six robots can communicate with the others and monitor each others' positions, allowing them to travel closely together, avoid collisions, follow nose-to-tail and travel side-by-side - just like a school of fish.While the EPORO robots fit neatly with Japan's love of all things 'kawaii' - and are treated almost as children by their creator, advanced engineering director Toru Futami - their long-term goal is much more serious. Lessons learned from how the robots interact with obstacles, each other and the world around them will be vital in developing Nissan's future autonomous vehicles. Getting small robots to zip around without bumping into things is the first step in getting cars to do the same.ALSO SEE:  Google may build its own self-driving carFutami believes it might even clear up the roads and reduce the need for signs and signals. "In current traffic laws, cars are supposed to drive within the lanes and come to a halt at stop signals, but if all cars were autonomous, the need for lanes and even signals could be gone," Futami says."A school of fish doesn't have lines to help guide the fishes, but they manage to swim extremely close to each other. So if cars can perform the same type of thing within a group and move accordingly, we should be able to have more cars operate with the same width roads. This would lead to more cars, but with less traffic congestion," he adds.ALSO SEE: Ford taps space robots for new car communication systemswww.motorauthority.com 

Google is aiming to create a fleet of driverless 'robo-taxis' that could do away with the need for people to run their own cars.The tech giant's revolutionary concept for cars operated by computers would apparently improve safety by slashing the number of accidents caused by human error. The cost of the vehicles – about £100,000 each – has deterred car manufacturers from embracing the project.But US tech insiders say Google is talking to major auto component companies such as Continental AG and Magna International about creating its own 'robo-taxi' ranks in major cities.A cabbie would be at the wheel at first, as emergency back-up, with drivers being phased out over time. Clients would hail the cab and pay for it on their smartphone. Google's robotic cars have been cleared to drive in four states in the US, and UK legislators have given permission for tests.The futuristic cars have so far been involved in only two accidents – one in which a car was rear-ended after it stopped at a red light and the other when a human driver took control of the vehicle. 

The future is going to be automatic. Automatic social updates pushed automatically to your mobile phone, synced automatically to your computer and to your car, which then drives you automatically to work where you automatically perform the tasks for which your employer automatically drops credits into your online bank account.Google wants to be the automater. It also, apparently, wants to be an automaker. Or, as Jessica Lessin reports, it might want to be. At least, it's on the table as the next project for the big brains at the search-is-just-part-of-the-game web company. Having tried and failed to find an automotive partner for its self-driving car technology, Google may set out on its own. And it could field a fleet of “robo-taxis” with the cars it builds.Google-liveried 2012 Mitsubishi iGoogle, says Lessin, has been talking with carmakers about building new vehicles to its own specifications. This news comes just days after a report of a deal between Google, IBM, and Continental AG--a well-known automotive tire and parts supplier.What could come of these new cars? The undercurrent is this: there may be a new high-tech automotive startup on the scene soon, and this one has pockets deep enough to hold Elon Musk several dozen times over.www.motorauthority.com 

Hybrids, for a long time, were synonymous with everything that isn't fun about driving--commutes, traffic, gas mileage, and penny pinching. Lately, they've taken on a new high-performance sheen, perhaps nowhere as much so as at Ferrari.The LaFerrari hypercar is, put simply, obscene in its perversion of hybrid technology. We love it. It's a 708kW, no-all-electric-mode, sub-three-second-to-100km/h, more than 350-km/h-top-speed, this-clearly-isn't-about-saving-the-planet hybrid. But don't call it an electric car, or Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo might get a bit cross with you.Why? According to Bloomberg, di Montezemolo doesn't believe in electric cars. Presumably, that means he finds them unsuitable to Ferrari's mission of exclusive performance rather than merely unsuitable for reality.With examples like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive out setting sub-8-minute Nordschleife laps, it's clear EVs can be made quick, if not quite truly fast, but then you'd expect it of a 560kW/1000Nm supercar, whatever fuel delivers that power. Unfortunately, the maximum range of the (roughly) US$550,000 SLS AMG Electric Drive is just 250km even with much more temperate use, and it takes about 20 hours to charge without the optional quick charger. Perhaps that's what di Montezemolo is talking about.Ferrari, meanwhile, is already joined at the upper end of the exotic hybrid segment with the McLaren P1 knocking out similar acceleration and top speed figures, despite sporting just 673kW, and the Porsche 918 Spyder making do with 653kW yet still achieving similar performance.Whose machine will reign supreme? Allez hybrids!www.motorauthority.com 

Range Rover is launching its first-ever hybrid models in the form of the new Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid, which make their world debut next month at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show and go on sale overseas early next year. Both vehicles feature state-of-the-art diesel-electric hybrid powertrains.The powertrain is common to both: a 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6 paired in parallel with an electric motor integrated with the ZF eight-speed automatic already fitted across the line. Peak output of the system is 250kW of power at 4000rpm and 700Nm of torque, with the latter generated from as low as 1500 rpm and up to 3000rpm.Note, the electric motor by itself generates 35 kilowatts and 170Nm of torque. This allows the vehicle to travel at speeds of up 48kmh on electric power alone, but only over a distance of about 1.6km. This mode, which is selectable by the driver, is purely for stop and start driving around town. The motor also acts as a generator under braking.The total weight of the hybrid system, including the floor-mounted lithium-ion battery and inverter, is only 120kg, helping the vehicles maintain their strong performance and off-road capability. The Range Rover Hybrid weighs in at 2394kg while the Range Rover Sport Hybrid checks in at 2372kg.They’re not exactly light but that makes the performance of their new hybrid system all the more impressive. Land Rover claims a 0-100kmh time of 6.9 seconds for the Range Rover Hybrid and 6.7 seconds for the Range Rover Sport Hybrid. Top speed is 218kmh and 225kmh, respectively. Combined fuel economy for both models, based on the European combined cycle, is 6.4L/100km, with CO2 emissions of 169g/km.Importantly, both hybrids retain Land Rover’s peerless four-wheel drive system and work seamlessly with the computer-controlled Terrain Response 2 off-road system, and both offer uncompromised wading and ground clearance despite their floor-mounted batteries.To demonstrate this capability, three Range Rover Hybrids will embark today on an epic trip, from the home of Range Rover production in Solihull, UK to the home of Land Rover’s parent company Tata, in Mumbai, India. The journey, which Land Rover has dubbed the “Silk Trail 2013,” will see the vehicles travel some 16,000km across 12 different countries. They are expected to arrive in Mumbai on October 15.www.motorauthority.com 

A complex twin-charge engine - similar to one recently abandoned by Volkswagen - heads up the future at Volvo. The supercharger and turbocharger combination are designed to put Volvo into the high-performance league with 225kW-plus from a 2-litre four-cylinder engine.Volvo, which unveils its new technology at next month's Frankfurt motor show, plans multiple applications and outputs from only two 2-litre engines - one diesel and one petrol.This includes hybrid drive with plug-in storage, turbocharged, twin-charge and aspirated with direct petrol injection. Volvo's Powertrain vice president, Derek Crabb, says adding electric power such as plug-in hybrid technology, "we will reach power figures in the V8 territory.""We have created smaller, more intelligent engines with power curves that give exciting driveability compared with engines with more cylinders yet deliver the fuel economy of only four cylinders."Volvo now rids itself of the inline six and five-cylinder engines and will bundle hybrid plug-in and charging technology with the Swedish-made four-cylinder engine under the Drive-E logo. Previously, the new powertrains were devised under the Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) umbrella.Drive-E offers one diesel and one petrol engine in various outputs. They replace the current eight basic engines, slashing production and development costs in the same way the Volkswagen Group plan billion-dollar savings by using a single vehicle platform across multiple vehicle sizes and applications.Drive-E bi-turbo diesels will range from 90kW-170kW and petrol versions will start at 104kW and go to 225kW-plus. Next month, for the European market, Volvo kicks off the program with the new S60, V60 and XC60. These will be available with three engines from the new engine family: the 228kW turbo-petrol T6; the 182kW T5 and the turbo-diesel D4 with 135kW. The T5 and the D4 will also arrive in the new Volvo V70, XC70 and S80.The diesels claim a world-first i-Art technology featuring pressure feedback from each fuel injector instead of using a single-pressure sensor in the common rail. Volvo says i-Art means continuous monitoring and delivery of fuel to each combustion cycle and in each of the four cylinders."Increasing the common-rail pressure to 2500 bar, while adding the i-Art technology, can be described as the second step in the diesel revolution," Crabb says. "It is a breakthrough comparable to our invention of the lambda sensor for the catalytic converter in 1976. It's another world first in passenger cars for Volvo."He says the combination of higher injection pressure and i-Art gives the engine improved fuel economy, considerably lower emissions, high performance and a powerful exhaust sound. The engines are mated to a new Swedish-built eight-speed automatic or a six-speed manual."Our four-cylinder engines will offer higher performance than todays six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation," Crabb says. "If you take a four-cylinder Drive-E engine versus any six-cylinder engine, there's a massive weight and size reduction for the same power. Fuel economy savings are anything from 10 to 30 per cent, depending on which engine you're comparing it to."Volvo hasn't put a time frame on the launch of plug-in hybrid versions but says the Drive-E engines are prepared for future electrification from the start. "Key components, such as the Integrated Starter Generator, can be connected easily and the compact size of the four-cylinder engines means that the electric motor can be fitted in the front or rear of the vehicle," Crabb says."The battery pack will be located in the centre of the car." But don't think all this will be easy to spot. The boot badge mystery remains as Volvo plans to continues its current program. The T6, for example, identifies the car as having a six-cylinder engine but will remain for the new four-cylinder engine to indicate the most powerful version."The easiest way to understand it now is for the T (and D) numberings being representative of power outputs, not cylinders," says Volvo Australia spokesman Oliver Peagam. "So a T6 is the highest petrol output engine and a T4 the lowest (in Australia). Same with the diesel D5 and D2. It's nothing to do with cylinders anymore." 

With regard to your comments about AM radio reception in Carsguide on July 19 I would like to offer the following comments as a retired electrical and communications engineer. You correctly pointed out that AM is not getting much air-play these days due to FM, CDs and iPODs. Notwithstanding that, while modern cars have a very high standard of interference suppression much of the interference experienced by Mark Fenton results from "tracking" on high voltage power line insulators. Dirt and dust accumulates on the pole-mounted insulators and in Victoria the main high voltage is 22,000 volts. With even slight conditions of moisture or rain, this causes the formation of small arcing currents across the insulators, often referred to as "tracking". In itself this is not too serious and is normally not visible at least in daylight, but this "tracking/arcing" causes electrical noise that affects AM radios. In fact, AM technology has been used to detect "leaky" insulators. In past times, insulator washing was well practiced, but with the advent of our privatised electrical distribution systems, reduced washing programs are aimed to save maintenance costs. Since there are no real standards to determine what are or are not reasonable levels of AM interference car drivers are expected to tolerate, the reduced washing programs are pushing the boundaries. I live in Geelong and there are "horror" points with my Ford Territory TS, but in other areas of Geelong, AM reception from Melbourne is just fine. Trust this helps.

A few colleagues and I drive new Ford Territory TX's, all of which have shocking interference when the radio is on AM. It doesn't matter whether we are in the city or the country. Ford say there is nothing wrong, any thoughts?

I took a lovely ride in the German countryside the other day, enjoying the mid-summer sunshine and some beautiful scenery, with no-one at the wheel. The driving was all handled by the car. Not just that, but my BMW autopilot was safe, controlled and had a surprisingly light touch. It was even able to make a safe, gentle, 100km/h merge between two sections of freeway, blending easily into the fast-flowing traffic after selecting a gap and then accelerating into the space between two other cars. It felt like the future to me, although it's a very distant future based on the amount of equipment in the car and the need for super-detailed digital mapping data that's not coming to Australia any time soon. The 7 Series future car still needs to be closely monitored by a person in the driving seat, and it will take time to get it ready for full-scale production, but BMW believes it's more than just a lab-on-wheels. "Yes, it's a wonderful sience project, but with a realistic horizon," the head of driver assistance work at BMW, Dr Werner Huber, tells me in Munich. "We don't want to fly to the moon. So it's relatively easy. "What we do is highly-automated driving. The driver has the complete freedom to decide if they want to drive by themself or have the car drive them in a specific situation, and that is the motorway." Relatively easy for him looks super complicated for me, but Huber and his small team has done the heavy lifting and is now a question of time, money and lawyers. The time and money is needed to commercialise the system, while the lawyers will be essential to build a framework for blame. BMW is not the only company working on a self-driving car - or an autonomous auto, as they prefer - but it's far more convincing even than the latest S-Class. I have sampled the big Benz as it drives itself in a single motorway lane, but it's a long way from the package in the latest BMW test car. And it's a long way before a car will be able to respond to a voice command and drive you to work. Instead, BMW is focussing on a car that can take control in the hurly-burly of suburban traffic and the boring expanses of motorways, freeing you to do other things - like email and telephone calls - and preventing the fatigue that leads to crashes. Dr Huber is upbeat and enthusiastic but says BMW is not planning at total takeover on the roads, which would also require millions of cars with a huge range of all-round sensors, giant computer brains and special roads with hardware and assistance systems which have yet to be developed by governments. "I won't say this never will happen. it could happen. But when I have retired ….," he says. "At the first step we are trying to find the technology. But that is not the big picture. It is the driver in society. Do drivers and society accept the technology and how do we deal with this? "But for the first step we have to develop the technology to show it. And show the benefits." Based on my ride outside Munich, BMW is well down the road. It even has a car that will be popular with the police, since it cannot exceed the speed limit and never makes the sort of silly blunders that lead to so many crashes." This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover