https://techxplore.com/automotive-news/ en-us Tech Xplore covers the latest in car tech Researchers have developed a new experiment to better understand what people view as moral and immoral decisions related to driving vehicles, with the goal of collecting data to train autonomous vehicles how to make "good" decisions. The work is designed to capture a more realistic array of moral challenges in traffic than the widely discussed life-and-death scenario inspired by the so-called "trolley problem." https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-autonomous-vehicles-moral-decisions-ditch.html Automotive Fri, 01 Dec 2023 11:37:03 EST news620653021 Crews have installed what's billed as the nation's first wireless-charging public roadway for electric vehicles beneath a street just west of downtown Detroit. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-technology-beneath-detroit-street-electric.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:57:04 EST news620495807 When purchasing a smartphone, one of your primary considerations is typically finding a durable case and a screen protector to safeguard the device from external harm. Similarly, a group of researchers from POSTECH has recently garnered attention in the academic world by introducing a tungsten coating that functions as a shield, much like these protective cases and films, for eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cell electrodes. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-hydrogen-fuel-cell-durability-tungsten.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:13:06 EST news619355582 Mass adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is a key part of plans to decarbonize the United States' energy system. As EV ownership in the U.S. increases, understanding how much EV owners are driving their cars informs everything from climate and energy models to U.S. policy and energy planning. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-electric-vehicles-driven-gas-cars.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 06 Nov 2023 16:20:02 EST news618509999 One of the goals outlined by the Biden administration's National Climate Task Force in 2021 was to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 50%–52% below 2005 levels by 2030. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-decarbonizing-light-duty-reveals-strategies-goal.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 06 Nov 2023 13:49:16 EST news618500953 The rapid adoption of zero-emission electric vehicles will move the nation close to an 80% or more drop in transportation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from the 2019 level according to researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-deep-decarbonization-scenarios-reveal-importance.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 02 Nov 2023 09:55:04 EDT news618137701 To meet the rising global demand for electric vehicles, we need new and improved batteries. One promising candidate are all-solid-state lithium sulfur batteries. They can store nearly 10 times the amount of energy as traditional lithium-ion batteries, according to researcher Justin Kim. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-batteries-energy-storage.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 31 Oct 2023 11:42:03 EDT news617971321 Engineers at The University of Manchester have built and flown the world's largest quadcopter drone. The drone, made from a cardboard-like material called foamboard, measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg—0.5kg less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-fly-world-largest-quadcopter-drone.html Engineering Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:30:25 EDT news617286622 Without political measures for zero-emission technologies, a significant proportion of heavy goods vehicles will still run on diesel in 2035. This result is shown in a new ETH Zurich study on the decarbonization of truck traffic. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-heavy-trucks-zero-emission-future-decarbonization.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:40:01 EDT news616149001 Autonomous drone aircraft traffic in uncontrolled airspace below 400 feet altitude is expected to substantially increase in the next few years. Experts anticipate a fleet of nearly 1 million commercial uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in the U.S. by 2027, engaging in tasks like package delivery, traffic monitoring, and emergency assistance. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-drone-traffic-ai-collisions.html Automotive Mon, 09 Oct 2023 16:13:27 EDT news616086801 Imagine you're in an airplane with two pilots, one human and one computer. Both have their "hands" on the controllers, but they're always looking out for different things. If they're both paying attention to the same thing, the human gets to steer. But if the human gets distracted or misses something, the computer quickly takes over. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-ai-co-pilot-human-precision-safer.html Automotive Tue, 03 Oct 2023 15:45:07 EDT news615566702 Material used in organic solar cells can also be used as light sensors in electronics. This has been shown by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, who have developed a type of sensor able to detect circularly polarized red light. Their study, published in Nature Photonics, paves the way for more reliable self-driving vehicles and other uses where night vision is important. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-solar-cell-material-self-driving-cars.html Engineering Thu, 28 Sep 2023 11:09:23 EDT news615118158 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have already proved invaluable for tackling a wide range of real-world problems. For instance, they can assist humans with deliveries, environmental monitoring, film-making and search & rescue missions. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-learning-based-method-coverage-path-recharging.html Automotive Tue, 26 Sep 2023 08:40:01 EDT news614857228 Photos are two-dimensional (2D), but autonomous vehicles and other technologies have to navigate the three-dimensional (3D) world. Researchers have developed a new method to help artificial intelligence (AI) extract 3D information from 2D images, making cameras more useful tools for these emerging technologies. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-method-ai-3d-space-2d.html Automotive Mon, 25 Sep 2023 16:06:01 EDT news614876758 Just a couple decades ago, nitrogen oxide emissions routinely plagued cities' skies and their residents' lungs. These polluting reactive nitrogen oxide gases from the tailpipes of combustion-engine vehicles and machinery are often abbreviated as NOx. These emissions have, over the years, been substantially mitigated by cleaner combustion engine technologies and the implementation of exhaust aftertreatment such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-nitrogen-oxide-emissions-industrial-vehicles.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 14 Sep 2023 17:31:03 EDT news613931461 From zero to 100 km/h in less than a second: a racing car built by students has broken the world record for electric vehicle acceleration, a Swiss university said Tuesday. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-swiss-students-world-electric-car.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:29:26 EDT news613747755 An autonomous vehicle must rapidly and accurately recognize objects that it encounters, from an idling delivery truck parked at the corner to a cyclist whizzing toward an approaching intersection. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-ai-high-resolution-vision.html Automotive Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:42:57 EDT news613737772 The transportation of goods forms the basis of today's globally distributed supply chains, and long-haul trucking is a central and critical link in this complex system. To meet climate goals around the world, it is necessary to develop decarbonized solutions to replace diesel powertrains, but given trucking's indispensable and vast role, these solutions must be both economically viable and practical to implement. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-harnessing-hydrogen-potential-long-haul-trucking.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 07 Sep 2023 16:33:08 EDT news613323108 If the region surrounding Chicago—North America's largest freight hub—shifted just 30% of its current on-road heavy-duty vehicles to electric versions, it would substantially reduce pollution and save hundreds of lives per year, with the benefits largely concentrated in disadvantaged communities, according to a new Northwestern University-led study. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-electrifying-heavy-duty-vehicles-environmental-inequalities.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 05 Sep 2023 11:39:05 EDT news613132741 Flying robotic systems have already proved to be highly promising for tackling numerous real-world problems, including explorations of remote environments, the delivery of packages in inaccessible sites, and searches for survivors of natural disasters. In recent years, roboticists and computer scientists have introduced a multitude of aerial vehicle designs, each with distinct advantages and features. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-efficient-single-winged-aerial-robots-energy.html Robotics Thu, 24 Aug 2023 11:20:02 EDT news612094188 A new study led by Dr. Xuekun Lu from Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with an international team of researchers from the UK and U.S. has found a way to prevent lithium plating in electric vehicle batteries, which could lead to faster charging times. The paper was published in the journal Nature Communications. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-ways-suppress-lithium-plating-automotive.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:00:01 EDT news612018475 Autonomous vehicle software used to detect pedestrians is unable to correctly identify dark-skinned individuals as often as those who are light-skinned, according to researchers at King's College in London and Peking University in China. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-bias-self-driving-software.html Automotive Wed, 23 Aug 2023 14:30:01 EDT news612017974 A tailsitter is a fixed-wing aircraft that takes off and lands vertically (it sits on its tail on the landing pad), and then tilts horizontally for forward flight. Faster and more efficient than quadcopter drones, these versatile aircraft can fly over a large area like an airplane but also hover like a helicopter, making them well-suited for tasks like search-and-rescue or parcel delivery. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-algorithm-enables-high-performance-flight-tailsitter.html Robotics Wed, 23 Aug 2023 11:11:04 EDT news612007861 Most electric vehicles are equipped with an electronic brain that manages day-to-day battery performance and safety. This battery management system, or BMS, includes software that uses algorithms to monitor the overall health of the powerful lithium-ion battery pack. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-ev-batteries-real-world.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 21 Aug 2023 12:00:26 EDT news611838020 Zinc-air batteries have emerged as a better alternative to lithium in a recent Edith Cowan University (ECU) study into the advancement of sustainable battery systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-zinc-air-batteries-future-powering-electric.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 18 Aug 2023 09:14:03 EDT news611568842 Today's electric cars use large lithium-ion batteries, which work fairly well. They can store a fairly high amount of energy in relation to their weight. They also don't need to be completely discharged each time before being recharged, so you can usually put the car on charge when it suits you without thinking too much about whether you are damaging the battery. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-solid-state-batteries-electric-cars-safer.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 17 Aug 2023 10:29:04 EDT news611486941 A new study finds that "connected" vehicles, which share data with each other wirelessly, significantly improve travel time through intersections—but automated vehicles can actually slow down travel time through intersections if they are not connected to each other. The culprit? Safety. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-self-driving-cars-traffic-slower.html Automotive Mon, 14 Aug 2023 10:19:37 EDT news611227166 Digital displays on the exteriors of self-driving cars could help cyclists stay safe on the roads of the future, researchers say. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-digital-displays-exteriors-self-driving-cars.html Automotive Wed, 09 Aug 2023 11:40:09 EDT news610799981 Rather than being solely detrimental, cracks in the positive electrode of lithium-ion batteries reduce battery charge time, research done at the University of Michigan shows. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-lithium-ion-batteries-electric-vehicle.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:07:03 EDT news610124821 It may not be too long before autonomous vehicles rule the roads. Despite a few widely reported mishaps, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are considered as safe or safer than human drivers in many respects. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-ghost-busting-heat-assisted-ranging-clarity-thermal.html Hi Tech & Innovation Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:29:19 EDT news609751753