Mini, the world famous manufacturer of tiny cars, has revealed to the world its first ever hybrid vehicle. The Mini Countryman SE was unveiled at the LA Auto Show and immediately made a big impression. This is a 4 wheel drive model but there is something unusual about how it works. The interesting thing is that the front wheels are driven by a traditional petrol engine, while the back wheels work thanks to the electric motor that is hooked up to them. The total amount of horsepower that is obtained in this way is 221. The tradition, twin...
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In car navigation and entertainment systems have come a long way recently, with Ford one of the top names in the industry. The Ford Sync 3 has been getting an airing at the Mobile World Congress 2016, together with the car manufacturer’s new Kuga. As you might expect, this new technology lets you use your car in much the same way as a giant smartphone, with a touchscreen and a number of useful apps. The system supports both Android devices and iOS gadgets. Indeed, you get the option of switching directly to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto...
Car giant Ford has revealed that it will be carrying out a lot of wearables research at its new lab in Dearborn, Michigan, Among the goals of this new Ford wearables research centre in the US will be finding ways of linking in-car technology to health information. One example of this could be if your smartwatch can tell you that you are getting tired, potentially meaning that the car could take over driving duties for a while or else flash you up a warning. Another way it could work is if the person behind the wheel gets agitated during...
One of the most interesting developments to look out for at CES 2016 in Las Vegas comes from BMW. The German car giant will use the upcoming technology show to reveal details of its Vision Car Initiative. This includes the AirTouch system, which allows drivers to use gestures to control certain aspects of their vehicle. The word from BMW is that the system will still have a touchscreen included in it. However, it will be used to track the driver’s hand movements in the space between the dashboard and the rear-view mirror. This means...
With our vehicles getting more and more connected all the time, it is no real surprise to see that smartwatch functionality has now been add by Ford. This comes in the shape of the MyFord mobile app, which only works on certain of the company’s cars for the time being. Sadly, it doesn’t let you drive the car just using your watch. However, it does let you adjust some of the vehicle’s comfort settings and see data in this way. Even before you put your foot on the accelerator there are some things you can do using this app....
Breaking the speed limit while driving is something that we would definitely rather avoid. However, it is all too easy to let your car creep over the limit without even noticing. If only there was some sort of gadget to help with that. Well, thanks to new technology from Ford it is now possible to forget about keeping one eye on the speedometer and the other on the speed limit signs. The system is called Intelligent Speed Limiter and it works using a camera that is mounted on the windscreen. This camera scans traffic signs that you pass...
Could self-driving cars be available to use within 5 years? That is certainly the hope of the head of Google’s self-drive project. Chris Urmson was speaking at the recent Technology, Entertainment and Design event when he said that he wanted the first cars to be ready for when his 11 year old son grows up and starts to drive. The plan is for Google to start testing its new prototype autonomous vehicles later on this year. Urmson hopes that the technology behind their self-drive cars will be on the road in the next 5 years; before...
The success of the Tesla electric car range has us wondering which car manufacturer will come out with the next big battery-powered vehicles. News from a German magazine called Manager Magazine suggests that Porsche could be about to bring one out in the future. The magazine interviewed Matthias Müller, who is the chairman of Porsche, about the car maker’s plan for electric cars. He said that the design of their battery-powered car will be based on the 4 door Porsche Panama hybrid. According to Müller, this will allow the German car...
Finding where to re-charge an electric car is one of the big issues for new drivers of environmentally friendly vehicles. Why not look up for the answer. No, not the sun, just a bit lower. That’s right, the answer to our recharging problems could lie with the good, old-fashioned street lights. The boffins at BMW think that street lighting could be the solution for topping up electric cars away from home. They have come up with the idea of Light and Charge LED street lighting that could be used as charging points for electric vehicles...
When you buy a brand new car you expect certain things, like nice upholstery and a smooth ride. What you don’t expect is, well, a drone. The Renault Kwid is a concept car which was recently shown off at the Delhi Motor Show. Apart from the usual stuff you would expect on a new car these days it’ll have the added bonus of its very own quad-copter drone. The idea behind this is that as you drive along you set the drone off to check out the traffic situation up ahead or just to take some nice aerial pictures of you driving in your...