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GM and Honda will mass-produce hydrogen fuel cells together
Just weeks after the car and energy industries began their big push on hydrogen, the first real action is being taken. General Motors and Honda have leapt into bed together to begin work on a new factory that'll mass-produce hydrogen fuel cells for their vehicles. Fuel Cell System Manufacturing (FCSM) will be based at GM's electric vehicle battery site in Brownstown, MI (pictured), and is expected to start work in 2020.
Recharging your electric car could be as simple as parking
WiTricity, one of the leaders in contactless, wireless charging is working with General Motors. The new partnership will, you guessed it, involve wirelessly charging electric vehicles. WiTricity's prototype Drive 11 park and charge system works at both 7.7 kW and 11 kW systems and could even be installed under a substrate to offer cord-free power for public parking spaces.
GM's car-sharing service arrives in Los Angeles
Maven, General Motors' car-sharing service, is finally coming to the City of Angels. Though Maven has been around in other cities for awhile now -- Ann, Arbor, Mich., Boston, New York City and San Francisco to name a few -- its move to Los Angeles is a pretty interesting one due to the city's car-centric culture. Essentially GM's answer to services like CityCarShare and ZipCar, Maven makes it possible for residents of Los Angeles to live a car-free life, but still have the convenience of a car if they want it.
The first Chevy Bolt EV you see might be your Lyft ride
Shortly before General Motors scooped up the pieces of failed Uber competitor Sidecar back in January, they invested $500 million in Lyft for a partnership to create a self-driving vehicle network. In August, news broke that the car giant made an offer to buy the ride-sharing company, but was rebuffed. Their intertwined saga continues today, as they announced that Lyft drivers would be among the first to get Chevy's Bolt electric vehicles.
Amsterdam's autonomous canal boats, and more in the week that was
Hydrogen-powered cars and planes are on the rise, and this week Germany announced plans to launch the world's first completely hydrogen-powered passenger train in 2017. In other transportation news, Volvo unveiled a new SuperTruck that's 70 percent more fuel-efficient than big rigs on the road today. The world's first solar-powered helicopter lifted off on its maiden flight in Maryland. And Amsterdam is getting set to launch a fleet of autonomous boats in its famed canals.
The all-electric Chevy Bolt costs $30,000
Chevy has hemmed and hawed over the ins and outs of its Bolt electric vehicle's pricing, but now we have some specifics. Driving one off the lot with the "well equipped" LT trim package comes with a rear camera, 10.2-inch touch screen and a Regen-on-Demand paddle will set you back $37,495 according to the automaker.
GM recalls 4.3 million vehicles worldwide over faulty airbags
General Motors will recall 4.3 million vehicles across the globe because of a software defect in the airbag system that has so far been linked to one death and three injuries, Reuters reports. The bug prevents frontal airbags from deploying in "rare circumstances when a crash is preceded by a specific event impacting vehicle dynamics," GM tells Reuters.
Lyft reportedly tried to sell to Apple, Uber and others
Apparently General Motors wasn't the only potential buyer for Lyft's ride-sharing business. According to the New York Times, the San Francisco-based company has been trying to sell itself to everyone from Apple and Google to Amazon, Uber and Didi Chuxing -- albeit without any luck. While the Times notes the company is currently sitting on $1.4 billion in cash and isn't in any danger of shutting down, the fact that Lyft couldn't find a buyer at its unicorn valuation of $5.5 billion speaks to some of the volatility left in the ride-sharing industry.
Tesla's plan for world domination, and more in the week that was
Tesla is known for producing some of the world's best electric cars, but founder Elon Musk has even bigger plans for the company: world domination. Musk's new masterplan will grow the company to produce trucks and buses while using battery technology and solar infrastructure to transition the world away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the world's first "Tesla Town" is coming to Australia, and every home in it will feature solar panels and a powerwall. Driverless cars are almost here: This week Mercedes-Benz unveiled the fully autonomous bus of the future, while a GM exec confirmed plans to launch a self-driving Chevy Bolt EV with Lyft. And we spotted a crazy truck that's able to lay its own road across treacherous terrain in just six minutes.
ICYMI: A RoboGlove to boost your strength
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: General Motors is building a RoboGlove (with help from tech company BioServo), to be used in auto manufacturing plants, which is modeled on a version NASA used aboard the International Space Station. The Spector is a gadget to sample fonts and colors and use them within design software, immediately, though right now it's only a prototype. We are really into this Japanese instrument called the Otamatone. You can read about the wine gadget that can ferment grape juice faster than anything else that exists, here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Lyft and GM will test self-driving fleet within a year
General Motors and Lyft's planned network of on-demand, self-driving taxis will begin testing in one undisclosed city sometime in the next year, the Wall Street Journal reports today. While the details of the plan are still scarce, the accelerated timeline will put a fleet of publicly available autonomous vehicles on the road ahead of either company's major rivals in Silicon Valley.
GM buys Cruise Automation to develop driverless tech for its cars
After snatching up what remained of the ridesharing company Sidecar, GM further boosted its self-driving efforts by acquiring Cruise Automation. If that name doesn't sound familiar, the company makes kits that put driverless technology inside Audi S4 or A4 vehicles. That know-how will be used to bring autonomous features to GM's vehicles while Cruise remains based in San Francisco.
Keep a Zipcar for as long as you want
Just ahead of GM's car-sharing service Maven launching in Ann Arbor, resident rival Zipcar is punching back. The latter's unveiling a new system wherein you could keep a car indefinitely rather than being stuck to a rigid reservation schedule. Switching up drop-off locations and destinations while you're on the go is an option now, too.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 'Deathproof' vehicles and more!
Many automakers are working on self-driving cars, but Volvo is the first to announce plans for completely "deathproof" vehicles by the year 2020. Meanwhile, General Motors invested $500 million in Lyft to create a network of autonomous vehicles. Snowstorms snarl traffic, but engineers have a solution: electric roads that de-ice themselves without the need for road salt. We also spotted a unique circular bridge in Uruguay that encourages drivers to slow down and enjoy the view. And Ford teamed up with fashion designers to debut a collection of couture made from recycled upholstery.
GM gets serious about car-sharing with new 'Maven' service
Move over, Zipcar. General Motors just announced the launch of Maven, a new car-sharing service meant to ease personal transport woes. Public transit is great (when it works anyway), but some situations just call for cars and GM's eager to try filling in gaps its competitors have left wide open. This isn't the first time GM has experimented with car-sharing — it launched a similar service called Let's Drive NYC for tenants of one apartment building last October. With Maven's launch, GM is no longer a company that looks at cars purely as products; they're a service now, too.
GM quietly buys failed Uber rival Sidecar
They won't say it out loud, but car makers are secretly terrified about what Uber will do to their business. That's why GM is buying up the remains of one of its rivals, Sidecar, in a deal worth somewhere close to $30 million. Bloomberg is reporting that the auto outfit has picked up the knowledge and IP of the service that struggled against its wealthier rivals like Lyft and Uber, shutting down last December. Most of the employees will be moving over to GM, although co-founder Sunil Paul isn't one of them.
GM and Lyft team up to create self-driving vehicle network
Lyft and General Motors may be runners-up in their respective industries, but a partnership between the two could significantly boost both driverless vehicles and ride-sharing tech. The companies announced a joint venture to develop a network of autonomous cars, a first for a ride-sharing company and automaker. In the short-term, GM will provide vehicle rentals and its OnStar network to Lyft drivers, while Lyft will offer perks to GM drivers, presumably via trips for vehicle owners. In the long term, however, the companies plan to develop "a network of on-demand autonomous vehicles" developed by GM that might one day pick you up from the curb.
Smoother movements help robots save a lot of energy
Eliminating the herky-jerky movements of robots isn't just good for comforting nervous humans... it helps the robots, too. Researchers have developed smooth movement algorithms that slow the acceleration and deceleration of robots, saving as much as 40 percent of the energy they'd normally use. The trick is to order tasks in a way that lets robots move at their own pace without colliding into each other. Factory robots typically rush through tasks in a rigid order, only to wait for their fellow automatons to catch up. Here, they're more flexible as to when and how quickly they get things done.
GM working on over-the-air updates for future vehicles
Over the past few weeks, General Motors has focused on bringing Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support to its vehicles. While this functionality is great for drivers, the company's current infotainment ecosystem still relies on being updated at dealerships -- which can be a hassle to some people. But, it looks like that won't be the case for much longer. On Wednesday, GM's global product development chief, Mark Reuss, said the automaker is already working on a new technology that will allow future vehicles to receive cloud-based software updates.
GM powers data center with used Chevy Volt batteries
General Motors believes old Chevy Volt (and eventually, Bolt) batteries have a future as backup power sources for houses and buildings that use renewable energy. In fact, the company has repurposed five old Volt batteries to help power its data center in Milford, Michigan. They store energy generated by the center's 74-kilowatt solar array and wind turbines, and then feed the surplus back to the Milford campus grid. GM senior manager Pablo Valencia said that's possible, because the batteries retain 80 percent of their storage capacity, even after they're no longer ideal for cars.
