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Electric Vehicle and Autonomous Driving Converging in the Near Future

The convergence of car technologies is globally taking place. Electric cars are a major trend, and autonomous cars are lauded. The latter is widely supported by both regulators and the media. The presence of both technologies will make a bold impact by changing people’s mobility in modern cities.

Mobility

Urban planners are looking at the city from the viewpoint of mobility. In that context, having a private car idle for 23 hours a day is a waste of resources. The new movement in car-sharing and trip-sharing apps, one-trip rental cars and car-pooling clubs have proven to be helpful. More and more people are following these trends and are leaving their cars at home.


In terms of efficiency, it has been shown that high-density urban areas amp up their potential for success with less traffic. Clogged up roads that delay the transportation of goods, documents, etc. from merchant to client, hurt businesses. Traffic also negatively impacts the productivity of employees when instead of being at the office on time, they spend more hours on the road and they get to work already exhausted.

Looking forward to 2050, two-thirds of the estimated 9.7 to 9.8 billion people will be living in urban areas. The population explosion will increase the density of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Both are great threats to humanity and the environment, and this points to the fact that electric cars are the only way to go to improve a huge aspect of urban living.

Leading the charge to changing urban transportation and mobility are cities around the world with a milestone year for electric vehicle implementation. Volvo has committed to selling EVs by 2019. Renault is not only releasing new EV car models, the company also has partnerships with various renewable energy and transport companies.

Commitments and Plans for Electric Vehicles

India plans to limit sales of new vehicles strictly to electric cars by 2030. Similar proposals are also in the works for Britain and France, where they will ban the sale of fully gasoline or diesel cars by 2040. In addition to these measures, individual cities are also taking action on pollution. London will set an ultra-low emissions zone by 2019. The area will extend to the inner ring roads by 2021. These areas are off-limits to traditional internal combustion engine powered cars.

Companies have their own different approaches to the challenges and we are seeing more electric cars from the biggest motor companies. General Motors for instance is set to unveil new battery-electric vehicles. By 2023, GM will also have 20 electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles available globally by 2030. Ford on the other hand committed to more than $4.5 billion on EVs by 2020. Renault is preparing to have an all EV line-up by 2040. The French car company is Europe’s acknowledged leader in EV cars and vans. It recently partnered with Ferrovial in Zity, which is a new car sharing service in Madrid, Spain. The car sharing service has a fleet of 500 Renault Zoe EVs. Madrid is a good place to start this service due to its high acceptance of a car sharing. In addition, it has fair incentives for electric vehicle use, as well as the motivation due to the city’s rapidly growing air pollution problems. Madrid will ban the use of internal combustion engine powered cars in the city center staring this year.

Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are ready to improve the safety of driving. According to Graeme Smith, CEO of Oxbotica, a British company which develops autonomous vehicle software, China is planning new cities which will have publicly owned cars and trucks using electric power, as well as independent autonomous control.

Across the world, level two and level three autonomous cars are already on the road. Audi for instance is introducing a new A8, level 3 autonomy car. Hyundai and Volkswagen are partnering with Aurora Innovations, the company started by Chris Urmson of the Google self-driving car. The three companies are geared towards making their self-driving cars available in 2021, to answer demands for them in the cities.

Autonomous car experts can’t emphasize enough the importance of understanding about the different autonomy car levels. The levels of automation include Level 0-no automation; Level 1-driver-assisted; Level 2-partial automation; Level 3-conditional automation; Level 4-high automation; Level 5-full automation. To date, the highest level of autonomy available is Level 3.

While there are challenges like a charging infrastructure missing in the cars, and the reluctance of people towards the modern invention, the adoption of autonomous cars is still promising. Bold companies are dedicating their time in creating the car of the future.

 

Development of High Speed Baltimore-Washington, D.C. Route Heating Up with TNEM and Hyperloop

There have been several attempts at a high speed rail in the United States. However, there has not been any significant movement beyond the study phase. The proposed magnetic levitation (maglev) running along the so-called Northeast corridor could be the one to make it happen.

The Baltimore-Washington, D.C. Route

The latest proposed high speed rail is the Boston-New York-Washington route, also called the Northeast corridor. There are several reasons making this a primary candidate. It is relatively long enough that a drive can take 4.5 hours from Washington to New York without any traffic bottlenecks. The current Amtrak Acela rail service takes 3 hours to run the same route, while a high speed train takes only an hour or less. This is the promise of The Northeast Maglev (TNEM). Founded in 2011, it is a private company which aims to build a high speed rail service between New York and Washington, D.C. Along the way, it will be developing a Washington, D.C, to Baltimore route which will take commuters between 15 minutes to travel from end to end. This will later be extended to New York.


TNEM has announced three routes which are being studied. TNEM will be using maglev trains which can travel up to 300 miles per hour. Showing its commitment to the project, TNEM has already set up its headquarters in Baltimore. It has also garnered support from the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan who started advocating a maglev route after riding one on a trip to Asia.

Maryland is supporting the TNEM initiative with a $28 million federal grant for the environmental impact statement process. It has also reportedly raised more than $100 million in funding.

It is expected to take at least another two years before government agencies would choose one of the proposed routes.

There have been some dissenting opinions about the project, chiefly from Maryland residents, as it may disrupt the neighborhoods it will pass through due to the noise. To prevent the noise, or to better dampen against the possible noise, project planners are designing tunnels running 90 feet below the ground. There are still some project opponents who opine that even if the train was underground, residents living above the route would still be affected.

MagLev and Hyperloop in Competition

TNEM is not alone in trying to develop the Boston-New York-Washington route, as well as the shorter Baltimore-Washington, D.C. route. The same route is also being studied by Elon Musk’s Boring Company for the possible construction of a hyperloop.

The hyperloop and the TNEM both work on the same basic propulsion method. Maglev or magnetic levitation is a mode of transportation where a vehicle is lifted off the track, or levitates off the track with the use of magnets. The vehicle levitates a short distance atop the track, and a different set of magnets would provide propulsion, and pushing it forward. The train levitates above the track and there is no friction between the train and the track. This allows the train to travel faster, at speeds up to 300 miles per hour.

One difference between a maglev and a hyperloop is the use of pods or smaller vehicles with a small number of passengers on the hyperloop, whereas a maglev high speed train would use cabs which look like regular trains. Another difference is the use of partial vacuum tunnel by the hyperloop. At higher speeds, a big part of the energy used by a maglev is used to push it against wind resistance. The faster it goes, the more energy is expended to make it move. The hyperloop can go at a much faster 600 miles per hour because there is little air resistance in a hyperloop tunnel.

A private Japanese company, Central Japan Railway, will be collaborating with TNEM on their project. Central Japan Railway developed a maglev route between Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan, which costs $50 billion to construct. The high cost of the construction was due in large part to the tunneling. Tunnels were used because at the high speed maglev trains were traveling, it was necessary to create a straight track from point to point.

The Baltimore-Washington route is expected to cost upwards of $10 billion – a worthwhile investment considering the bold impact maglev has made in Japan, China, and South Korea. More bold ideas are needed to help alleviate the problem of mass transportation in mega cities all over the world.

 

Truckers Still Struggle Despite Positive Signs from ELD Mandate

When the electronic logging devices or ELD order was first petitioned to the United States Department of Transportation, experts and officials were quick to say that the rule would create a bold impact on the trucking industry. Quite surprisingly, the supposedly positive order is now causing a negative effect on the truckers and small businesses.

The ELD rule is the brainchild of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or FMCSA, an agency that controls the trucking industry in the United States. The idea of electronic logging devices is nothing new. It was created back in 1971 when buses and trucks were compelled to be equipped with tachographs.


FMSCA has a lot of great ideas for the usage of ELD, from bringing the logging record system into the modern age to allowing drivers a much-needed rest after their scheduled service. But the real aim of the Government agency is to help lessen fatigue-related crashes by drivers who change their paper logs, trying to hide the real number of hours they have driven. This is usually beyond what a specific regulation allows.

In spite of all the good intentions thrown at the ELD rule, there will always be that one sector that would feel neglected. That is why even at the start of issuing the mandate, there were organizations that firmly stood against it.

One of those organizations is the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), an international trade organization. Up until now, the organization continues to fight the ELD order, saying that they will be against it no matter what. OOIDA is worried that the carriers will harass drivers to still drive even though they’re already tired.

Before the implementation of the rule, 30 organizations joined forces in order to delay it. These organizations cater to different industries–from the world of livestock to the pyrotechnics industry.

The American Trucking Association or ATA has once fought against the rule but it seems like the tide has turned when the association started expressing its commendable support. Surprisingly, the ATA has applauded the ELD mandate, even calling it “safe and efficient”.

In the case of the truck drivers themselves, they are more concerned with their so-called privacy, which is a Fourth Amendment Right. The ELD monitors the following:

  • Miles driven
  • Vehicle movement
  • Engine hours
  • Information of the location

According to David Wangler, the President of TMW Systems and Trimble Transportation Enterprise, “This is really not a technology issue at all, it’s about removing the flexibility and freedom of the job. There are a lot of jobs you can do for more money than driving a truck, but the freedom is why people do it. Now, they feel more freedom is being taken away.”

A lot of drivers, if not all, don’t want to be micromanaged and be tracked electronically.

Drivers are also concerned about the ‘detention time’, knowing that they will be paid for the time that they’re moving and not the time that they’re waiting for the loads. Meaning if truckers are required to work for 40 hours and they waited for 20 hours for their loads, then they will only get half the supposed payment.

Reports say that 65% of lost revenue can be blamed on detention time.

Truck drivers are not the only ones who are negatively affected by the ELD mandate. Small businesses also share the same dilemma. Small firms will have a hard time affording the new electronic logging devices for their trucks.

The ELD mandate is something fresh, accurate, and definitely bold. But what if the sector that this rule is protecting is experiencing negative outcomes? Should it be that authorities need to take time to consider and iron out the rule? It is hard to compromise, but if it will make things better for both parties then why not?

 

Shaping Urban Communities To Build More Interconnected Smart Cities

Smart cities have garnered quite the buzz over the past few months although the idea has been around for years. The premise behind these urban modernizations is the ease of communication and the power of automation that it can bring. Smart cities initiatives are bold ideas ongoing all over the world; currently, there are various discussions, talks, and conferences about how to make them come about whether building them from the ground up or integrating such technology into already existing infrastructure.

Where Smart Cities are Headed

Smart cities are more than just a bold idea – they are living, breathing, urban communities connected and networked with data-driven automated systems designed to help with mobility, economic growth, and public service.

There is a reliance on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as on internet-of-things (IoT) to help the city to run itself. This results in an environment with improved citizens’ lives, and the smart cities features manage some of the city functions.

Most smart cities initiatives deal with mobility. Last year, Columbus, Ohio won a grant of $40 million as a prize for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge. The city of Columbus developed partnerships and raised $500 million in private funding for a transportation systems project.

This money raised is a relatively large initial funding for urban mobility. However, Columbus is using the funds for several projects up to 2020. The projects include a parking assist for cars to lessen the time drivers use to find a parking slot; a V2V communication system to help reduce accidents due to blind spots; the acquisition of 780 electric cars; and platooning trucks to lessen emissions. These would require technology development that does not yet exist.

Recently, Bill Gates bought 25,000 acres of Arizona land intending to build smart cities on his own, named Belmont City. Included in the smart cities development would be the latest in technology, with high-speed internet and networks, with data going to and from data centers, as well as new manufacturing tech, innovative distribution models, provisions for autonomous vehicles, and logistics hubs.

Besides being the richest man in the world, Gates also has a firsthand understanding of embedding buildings with technology that does not yet exist. When he started building his Medina, Washington house in 1988, he envisioned it to have facilities which only became truly available in 2015. It is not far-fetched to say that the current smart cities will start to become a reality sometime in 25 years, or more.

In Toronto, the city is partnering with Sidewalk Labs to develop an equally astounding project, the first Google city from the ground up, dubbed as a thriving hub for innovation.

Questions for a Smart Cities

The solution presented by Bill Gates seems to be the only viable way to have smart cities: to build from scratch. For the rest of the world trying to create smart cities, there are questions still left unanswered.

What is the aim of a smart city? Will it be to ease traffic and increase mobility? If that were the case, it would take more than just sensors and vast computing power to solve the problem. Smart cities are attempting integrated multi-modal solutions to make this work. Sensors and smart apps help to get the passenger to where he wants to go, using trains, buses, cars, and taxis. You can also throw a hyperloop transport in the mix.

How does a smart city affect social justice? Re-inventing the city will mean that portions of the population will have to move. This usually includes the disadvantaged. A smart city can be a utopia for its residents, and yet, it seems necessary to uproot them from low-rent projects to improve their surroundings. One other aspect of a smart city is the proliferation of sensors. A Big Brother server monitoring everything about the city and making decisions is a scary thought.

What are the costs of a smart city? So far, the initial costs being raised are only for initial studies. The changes in the infrastructure will be in the billions. Columbus, Ohio has a kitty of $500 million for use over the next five years, and only then will Columbus truly evolve into a smart city. The result will be a drastic change from the cities that we have right now, with a still unimaginable price tag.