The Kona Electric will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland next week. It’s based on Hyundai’s small gasoline-powered Kona SUV. With the standard battery, the Kona Electric will have a range of about 186 miles. With an optional high-capacity battery it could go as far as 292 miles. These figures are based on new European driving test designed to yield more realistic results than tests that have been used before.
XL Hybrids will offer an electrified 2018 Ford F-250 pickup to commercial and municipal fleets that will be unveiled at NTEA’s Work Truck Show in Indianapolis in early March, the company announced. The battery-electric hybrid F-250 will be equipped with the vehicle modifier’s XLH hybrid drive system that’s expected to increase fuel economy by 25% and significantly reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. Production of the hybrid F-250 conversions will begin in March. The Work Truck Show is set for March 6 to 9 in Indianapolis. XL Hybrids will also make its technology available on more F-150 pickups, by adding SuperCrew models. The company now offers F-150s with its XLP plug-in hybrid electric system that improves fuel economy by 50%, according to the company.
If your career is focused on transportation and traffic analysis, how are you going to spend your free time? On a boat, of course! When he’s off the clock, Bryan Mistele, founder and CEO of INRIX, heads to the water, which between Puget Sound and numerous Western Washington lakes can be readily accessed near his home and work. While Mistele “grew up on sailboats,” his current vessel is a Sunseeker powerboat for cruising the Sound.
It’s perhaps the single-greatest transportation revolution since the Ford Model T. And Bellevue is among the cities who are at the forefront of the movement. The idealistic concept of autonomous vehicles has now become concrete discourses and brass-tacks negotiations. In the last year alone, the nation has seen more pointed efforts from companies like Tesla and Google. And in Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee signed in June 2017 an executive order — right here in Bellevue — allowing for easier testing and operation of self-driving cars.
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in traffic on a freeway surrounded by other drivers, know that it’s all because a computer isn’t driving your car. At least that’s the reasoning of proponents of autonomous, or driverless, cars — vehicles that are driven entirely by computers and can sense and respond to their surroundings without human guidance. Proponents of the technology, which now include the federal government and an increasing number of car manufacturers, argue that humans simply are not that good at driving. They say putting computers behind the wheel will cut down on congestion, pollution and accidents.
Originally published at GeekWire. Not too far down the road is a transportation revolution that will prioritize creative ways of getting around over single-occupant cars. It’s happening fastest in cities, where environmental concerns tend to be acuter and traffic reveals a lot to be desired in traditional modes of transportation. New options — from Uber to Chariot — are just starting to emerge and already they have created an unlikely battleground for transportation innovators: the curb. Curbs have always been valuable in cities, initially for parking and public transportation. But they have become far more precious in a relatively short period of time. Seattle is one of the main fronts in the war for curb space as an early adopter Read More ›
Originally published at GeekWire. Seattle is an innovation hub with transportation pain points aching to be solved. For those reasons, the city seems like the obvious choice to pioneer self-driving cars in Washington now that Gov. Jay Inslee has given the green light. But Seattle’s neighbor, Bellevue, is speeding ahead in the race to get autonomous vehicles on city streets. So says Bruce Agnew, director of the ACES Network, which stands for autonomous, connected, electric, and shared. Agnew says that Bellevue is prepared to put up the funding with a technology levy for transportation programs and develop the necessary infrastructure to begin testing self-driving cars. “The most promising project is the City of Bellevue, which has fully embraced the ACES Read More ›
Originally published at Kiro 7 News. SEATTLE – Drive through Downtown Seattle and you’ll see Uber and Lyft drivers, sometimes with hazard lights on, stopped in traffic lanes to pick up or drop off riders. It can block traffic and be unsafe for passengers getting in and out of the cars. “In an ideal world we wouldn’t do that, but sometimes there’s no choice,” said Michael Wolfe, a ride-share driver and leader of Drive Forward Seattle, a group founded by the industry to fight a unionization effort. The group sent a letter to city officials calling for dedicated pickup and drop-off zones. The group listed “pain points,” topped by the block of Union Street between Russell Investment Center and Target, Read More ›
