These Are Your Ten Biggest Fears About The Google Car

The future is here, but is it a bright one with Google's autonomous ride? These are the fears of an autonomous future that are keeping you awake at night. We don't need another Prius moment. : The smugness of Prius drivers, the entitlement of techies and the general apathy of...

May 2, 2025

Why Google's Goofy Little Self-Driving Car Is Almost A Design Triumph

Google just showed the world , and it looks pretty much like a cross between an Isetta, Honda's Asimo robot, and a Koala. Matt, the Editor King, told me "our readers are going to hate it." Maybe. But, if you think about it, the design is brilliant. Well, almost brilliant....

May 2, 2025

The Real Reason Google's Self-Driving Car Doesn't Have Controls

The most dangerous thing about autonomous cars isn't snow or rain or Neo hacking the mainframe. It's the meat bag behind the wheel. Specifically, it's the "handoff" from car to driver, and that's why nixed the steering wheel, brake, and accelerator on its self-driving prototype. The when introducing Google's third...

May 2, 2025

Take A Luxurious Spin In The Autonomous Mercedes S-Class

Hey, not all autonomous cars have to be with faces that vaguely resemble clowns who want to eat you! Some of them roll in the utmost luxury and style. And you don't get more stylish and luxury-ish than the Mercedes S Class. This video takes us for a spin inside...

May 2, 2025

How Two Wacky Concepts Make The S-Class Coupe Lean Like a Skier

Back in 1997, Mercedes-Benz showed off the F 300 Life Jet. Like most concepts it was an impractical flight of fancy fueled by weak German pilsner and strong German coffee. But 16 years later, the Life Jet inspired the suspension wonks in charge of the , and now the luxo-sled...

May 2, 2025

​Even A Ferrari Can't Make Apple Developers Care About Cars

The and the one thing missing – aside from Dr. Dre playing out the keynote – is CarPlay. Any mention of Apple's push to make its way into your dashboard was notable in its absence, and the primary problem is that app developers just don't care. The idea behind CarPlay...

May 2, 2025

Where The Hell Are Tesla's Battery-Swapping Stations?

It's been nearly a year since Tesla showed off its for the Model S. Elon Musk said on stage that the first station would be operational by the end of year. Six months later, nothing. Then we heard that it was happening in the first quarter of 2014. Still nothing....

May 2, 2025

​Ford Wants To Kill The Lead-Acid Battery Dead

Ford and Samsung showed off a prototype for a lithium-ion battery that could finally spell the death of ye ol' lead acid brick for good. And it's about damned time. At the same event in San Francisco where the wraps came off the , Ford and Samsung SDI – the...

May 2, 2025

Watch Steve Skate. Watch Steve Break. Poor Steve.

How well does the Lexus LS 600h's Active Pedestrian Detection System work? Allow Consumer Reports and its levitating test dummy "Steve" demonstrate. CR has some cool toys. In this case it's Steve. Steve is designed to test the pedestrian detection systems currently on offer from Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo, with...

May 2, 2025

Is The Google Car A New Dawn For Car Bombs?

You could argue that the most terrifying weapon of the post-modern era is the car bomb, delivering explosives anywhere, at any time, and hidden in plain sight. The only weapon that's possibly more piercing into the collective unconscious is drones, and the could very well combine the two. If a...

May 2, 2025

Is GM's License Plate Texting App Way Too Creepy?

Ever wish you could give that asshat who cut you off on the freeway more than just a honk of your horn? General Motors' Chinese R&D division is working on an app that lets you scan other people's license plates and then send messages to their phones. reports that at...

May 2, 2025

​Surprise! Automakers Still Suck At Tech

This year's J.D. Power Initial Quality Study™ is out, and people love their Porsches. What they don't love are the clumsy, hacked together attempts at integrating tech into cars. Once again, most consumers have in the first 90 days of ownership, and topping that list is Bluetooth problems, streaming woes,...

May 2, 2025

​Will Autonomous Vehicles Breed 'Spam Cars'?

Anyone that's traveled to Vegas in the past decade has seen them. Trucks carrying massive billboards for gentlemen's clubs, shooting ranges, and way-off-the-Strip "services". Now remove the driver from the situation. Yup. It's spam IRL. In about one possible use for self-driving vehicles – beyond the boilerplate car-sharing, congestion reduction,...

May 2, 2025

For $10,000 This Company Will Turn Your Audi Into An Autonomous Car

If you're unwilling to wait for Google or an automaker to bring an autonomous vehicle to market, will sell you the privilege for $10,000. The start-up says it can retrofit your ride with cameras, sensors, and computers to enable semi-autonomous driving. But it's only for Audis and it's not fully...

May 2, 2025

Google's Domination Of Your Dash Starts With Android Auto

Google just delivered what we've waited for. A comprehensive redesign of the Android operating system designed for your ride. And unlike the handful of automakers that Apple has on board for CarPlay, Google is boasting over 40 automaker partners at launch, with the first cars hitting showrooms this year. The...

May 2, 2025