Category: News

US researchers said they have successfully used artificial intelligence (AI) in a group of wirelessly connected cars to help ease rush hour traffic on a major road.

During an experiment in Nashville, Tennessee, 100 test cars sent traffic information back and forth on the Interstate 24 route (I-24).

Their adaptive cruise control was modified to react to the overall flow of traffic using AI, in a bid to reduce so-called “phantom” traffic jams with no obvious cause.

Researchers are still examining the data, but say the experiment was a success. In addition to easing driver frustration, less stop-and-go driving means fuel savings and less pollution.

Professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University Daniel Work is one of a group of engineers and mathematicians from universities around America who have been studying the problem of phantom traffic jams after a simple experiment in Japan a dozen years ago showed how they develop.

Japanese researchers put about 20 human drivers on a circular track and asked them to drive at a constant speed.

Before long, traffic went from a smooth flow to a series of stops and starts.

Prof Work said: “Phantom traffic jams are created by drivers like you and me.”

He explained that if one person taps the brakes, for whatever reason, then the person behind them takes a second to respond and has to brake even harder. Then, the next person has to brake even harder. The wave of braking continues until many cars are at a standstill.

However, as traffic clears, the drivers accelerate too quickly, causing more braking and yet another jam.

“We know that one car braking suddenly can have a huge impact,” Prof Work said.

The experiment showed that a few cars driving slowly and steadily could have an impact as well – for the better.

The experiment utilised 100 cars that travelled in loops on a 15-mile section of I-24 from about 6am to 9.45am each morning.

Working on the premise that if 5% of the cars on the road were acting together, they could lessen the prevalence of phantom traffic jams, the researchers equipped those 100 cars to communicate wirelessly, sending traffic information back and forth.

They also took advantage of the adaptive cruise control that is already an option on many new vehicles.

This technology lets the driver set a car to cruise at a certain speed, but the car automatically slows down and speeds up as needed to keep a safe distance from the car in front.

In the experiment, the adaptive cruise control was modified to react to the overall traffic flow – including what was happening far ahead – using AI.

The cars’ decision-making occurred on two levels, Prof Work said. At the cloud level, information about traffic conditions was used to create an overall speed plan. That plan was then broadcast to the cars, which used AI algorithms to determine the best action to take.

The researchers were able to evaluate the effect the connected cars had on morning traffic flow using a special four-mile stretch of I-24 outfitted with 300 pole-mounted sensors.

The experiment is a project of the Circles consortium, a group that includes several car makers and the US Energy and Transportation departments. Other lead researchers are based at the University of California, Berkeley; Temple University; and Rutgers University-Camden.

Liam Pedersen is deputy general manager for research at Nissan, a Circles consortium partner who was in Nashville last week for the experiment. He said one of the exciting things about it is that it builds on technology that is already in many new cars.

“This is not autonomous driving,” he said. “This is something we could realise very soon.”

The driver of a Mini decorated in 3,000 twinkling lights hopes to “bring little moments of joy to people’s lives” this Christmas and raise over £10,000 for charity.

Nicholas Martin, 33, is celebrating his fifth year behind the wheel of his “Festive Mini” but has gone to new lengths to create an illuminative show with thousands of app-controlled, battery-powered lights – each one customisable to generate different light patterns, messages, and animations.

With each individual light available to sponsor for £2, Mr Martin will take to the streets of his local town Bracknell, in Berkshire, in the run-up to Christmas with an aim to support The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Trust and Duchenne UK.

“The Festive Mini actually has a purpose and its purpose is to bring joy to as many people as possible,” Mr Martin, a software engineer, told the PA news agency.

“People just get blown away when they see it.

“They have an expectation of what it might look like but when they actually see it, their jaw just drops.

“It brings little moments of joy to people’s lives.”

Mr Martin first started driving his decorated Mini in 2018 “as a bit of fun,” when he wrapped his red car in around 600 supermarket-bought LEDs.

It garnered attention on a local Facebook group and when people were asking for its return in 2019, Mr Martin wanted to go “bigger and brighter and a lot more festive”.

He drove around public spaces and near shops but did not do any street visits – until he was invited to the home of then-11-year-old Marcus Rooks, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic condition that causes degeneration of muscles.

“With a muscle wasting disease, you lose the ability to walk and stuff like that – it’s a really horrible thing,” Mr Martin explained.

“So he wasn’t able to go out to all of these wonderful places to see Christmas lights because he’s wheelchair-bound.

“Somebody invited me and said, ‘Why don’t you surprise Marcus with a visit from The Festive Mini?’ So I did just that.

“When I saw his face light up, it hit me with so many emotions.”

Mr Martin continued to spread festive cheer throughout the Christmas Covid lockdowns for the next two years, raising £6000 and £8000 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Mini UK were in touch to provide him with an electric Mini in 2021, keeping the project “economically friendly” as Mr Martin gives the British public an opportunity to have their say in the appearance of The Festive Mini – even allowing them the chance to draw a design on the car via an iPad.

“People haven’t seen the finished product yet, (but) it’s amazing,” he said.

“You can actually draw on the Mini, which is fantastic, you can put writing on it as well.

“In terms of the effects, there (are) two stand-outs for me – there’s one which is a Christmas cracker, a green and red striped pattern which I love.

“And then the favourite, of course, is the rainbow pattern… It just shows off all the colours, it’s beautiful.”

Mr Martin is raising money for two charities close to his heart – The MS Trust and Duchenne UK, the country’s leading DMD charity.

His mother lives with MS, which he said has made hearing other people’s stories “really hit home”.

“There’s one person, in particular, that was really, really emotional,” Mr Martin said.

“It was during lockdown and this woman had unfortunately just lost her husband to MS.

“And she suddenly started crying… And she just held my arm and said, ‘I am so sorry, I’ve just lost my husband to Multiple Sclerosis and what you’re doing is absolutely fantastic, but this is the first time I’ve actually processed the fact that he has gone.’

“That was the most touching thing, with my mother suffering from MS.

“It is just amazing that The Festive Mini can bring out all of these emotions.”

He spent “roughly two weeks, four hours every night,” wrapping the car ready for its official switch-on at The Lexicon shopping centre in Bracknell on November 25 and plans to drive it up until Christmas eve.

Mr Martin’s wife, Rachel Martin, said it has been “amazing to see how happy it makes him”.

“It does look great,” Mrs Martin, a 28-year-old claims advocate, told PA.

“I have to live with him when he’s putting all the lights on, which can be a long task.

“But it’s worth it… Seeing how everyone reacts to it and how much work is put into it, it’s really lovely.”

To find out more about The Festive Mini, go to: www.festivemini.com

Abarth has revealed its first electric model with the new 500e – a hotter version of Fiat’s 500 EV.

Set to be sold alongside petrol versions of the Abarth 595, this 500e signals a new era for the brand and is its first new model in more than half a decade.

Based on the electric Fiat 500, the 500e ‘performs better than petrol’ thanks to improved weight distribution, better torque and a wider wheelbase, says Fiat. Power increases from 116bhp on the Fiat to 153bhp here, although the 42kWh battery remains. No range figure has been given, but expect slightly less than the 199 miles that Fiat claims for its electric 500.

Accelerating from 0-60mph takes 6.8 seconds, with Abarth saying it can pick up speed faster around town and can overtake more quickly than petrol versions.

There are three driving modes depending on how you want to get around – Turismo, Scorpion Street and Scorpion Track – while Abarth says it has engineered an ‘immersive sound experience for those who want to drive electric without giving up on the famous and unmistakable Abarth roar’.

Known as a ‘Sound Generator’, it aims to replicate the noise of a petrol engine, but it can be turned off if drivers don’t want it.

Abarth has also given the model a much more aggressive design than the standard Fiat 500, including dedicated bumpers, side skirts and a rear diffuser insert. Bespoke alloy wheels are also fitted, along with a new Abarth logo.

Like existing models from the Italian firm, the 500e will be offered as a hatchback and a convertible, with Abarth creating a launch edition model known as the ‘Scorpionissima’.

Limited to 1,949 units to mark the year the firm was founded, the model is available in Acid Green or Poison Blue paint. It also comes with exclusive 18-inch alloy wheels, a fixed glass roof and rear privacy glass. Alcantara is used for the seats, dashboard and steering wheel, while the standard equipment includes a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring, heated front seats and a JBL sound system.

Abarth is yet to announce pricing, although since an electric Fiat 500 starts from £30,645, it’s likely to come in close to £35,000. The 500e is expected to arrive in the UK by June 2023.

Mazda has hinted at a new electric sports car as part of a new confirmation that it was investing $10.6bn (£8.9bn) in its electrification plans.

The Japanese carmaker has revealed further information about its management plan to take Mazda up to 2030, as well as developing its electrification strategy, which will come as part of three phases.

In the first, taking place between 2022 and 2024, Mazda says it will ‘enhance technology development for the age of electrification’, and strengthen its US plant and ‘large product models’, including the new CX-60 and seven-seat CX-80, which is due on sale next year.

In phase two, brought in between 2025 and 2027, Mazda says it will ‘transition to electrification’, still using internal combustion engines as its base for profit, as well as pushing its battery development and technology.

Then in Phase 3, Mazda says it will undertake a ‘full-scale launch of EVs’, though the firm says it expects only between 25 and 40 per cent of its cars sold globally in 2030 to be EVs.

However, the brand stressed its cars’ driving enjoyment, with the last five minutes of the presentation including a video about the importance of ‘emotion’ and the ‘joy of driving’.

Including various clips of past Mazda sports cars, including the classic Cosmo from the 1960s and various generations of the firm’s well-loved MX-5, Mazda then showed a new digital concept car – boasting a design clearly taking cues from the RX-7. The unnamed ‘Vision Study Model’ features a long bonnet and almost supercar-like styling thanks to upwards-opening scissor doors.

While Mazda revealed no information about the car, it strongly hints that a future sports car is in the pipeline, whether it’s as a replacement for the MX-5 or as more of successor to the well-loved RX-7 and RX-8 – something Mazda has hinted at in previous years.

Pininfarina has confirmed performance details of its new electric Battista, including the fact that the new road-legal hypercar can accelerate a Formula 1 car.

Announced as part of the Battista’s debut in the Middle East, Pininfarina says its launch control system allows for a 0-60mph time to be achieved in just 1.79 seconds, compared to the typical 2.1-2.7 seconds that an F1 car takes.

Furthermore, Pinfarina has said that a 0-120mph run, where permitted, could be achieved in just 4.49 seconds, while a 31-metre stopping distance from 60mph to a standstill makes the Battista the fastest braking EV in the world.

Pininfarina is best known for being a design house that has worked with a number of car brands over the years, from niche Ferrari products to mass-market Fords, but established ‘Automobili Pininfarina’ as a standalone brand.

First revealed in 2019, first customer deliveries of the Battista are said to be underway, with the model making its dynamic debut at the Dubai Autodrome following its launch in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Paolo Dellacha, Automobili Pininfarina chief product and engineering officer said: “I am proud that our new electric hyper GT delivers on the promises we made when we set out our development plan. In Battista, we have achieved performance beyond our original, extreme targets.

“Battista’s incredible technical package includes a carbon ceramic brake system, helping the Italian hyper GT become the fastest braking electric car in the world. Our discerning clients here in the UAE have been overwhelmed by the Battista driving experience, which is as breathtaking as its award-winning design.”

The Battista’s electric motors put out a remarkably 1874bhp and 2,340Nm of torque, with each car taking 1,250 hours to be produced at the brand’s factory in Cambiano, near Turin in Italy. Just 150 are being produced, priced from £1.9m each, excluding taxes.

Supermarkets are “taking advantage” of drivers by charging “far higher” fuel prices than they should be, a motoring services company has said.

The RAC accused the UK’s biggest fuel retailers of refusing to lower their pump prices despite a drop in wholesale costs.

It said supermarkets’ profit margins are around 15p per litre for petrol and diesel.

This means customers are being charged an “unnecessarily high” average price of 161.0p per litre for petrol and 184.4p for diesel.

This is only 2p per litre lower than the average for all UK forecourts.

Supermarkets normally charge around 3.5p per litre less than the UK average.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “With many people struggling to put fuel in their cars, it’s very sad to see the biggest fuel retailers taking advantage of their customers by charging far higher prices than they should be.

“This is unfortunately a perfect example of prices falling like a feather, the opposite of them rocketing up as soon as the wholesale price rises significantly.

“The supermarkets dominate UK fuel retailing, primarily because they have traditionally sold petrol and diesel at lower prices due to the large volumes they sell.

“Sadly there is now a remarkable lack of competition among the four main players which means prices are far higher than they should be.

“There are smaller, independent forecourts offering more competitive prices than supermarkets, so drivers should shop around.”

The number of new cars with a manual handbrake continues to fall, with only 13 per cent of new models featuring one.

Research from online marketplace CarGurus has found that 87 per cent of new cars are supplied with an automatic handbrake – up from 83 per cent in 2021 and 63 per cent in 2018.

With household names such as the Citroen C1, Nissan Micra and Peugeot 108 all being discontinued in the past 12 months, this has contributed further to the decline. BMW also dropped its X1, 2 Series and M4 Convertible models recently, all three of which had a manual handbrake, meaning the brand’s entire range now uses an electronic parking brake instead.

Other brands such as Volvo, Peugeot and Mercedes also no longer offer a manual handbrake on their cars, while in Audi’s line-up, it’s only the A1 that doesn’t use the electronic version.

In fact, Abarth is the only manufacturer that offers a manual handbrake across its range – and even that’s set to change later in the year when an electric 500 is introduced.

CarGurus UK editor Chris Knapman said: “The fifth instalment of our Manual Handbrake Report shows the number of new models featuring a traditional handbrake has continued to fall.’

He added that the discontinuation of some well-known models as well as the rise of the EV had contributed to the four percentage point drop over the past 12 months.

Knapman said: “Since 2018, we have seen a 24 percentage point fall in the number of new cars being fitted with a manual handbrake.

“It was always likely that the expected 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars would spell the end of the manual handbrake – the question now is whether it can even last until then.”

Peugeot’s well-loved 205 GTI has been given a modern-day update, ‘reimagining’ this iconic 1980s hot hatch.

Courtesy of restoration specialists Tolman Engineering, the 205 GTI has been enhanced with a number of modern upgrades, with the first customer ‘Tolman Edition’ now being revealed.

The firm says it bolsters the model with ‘contemporary performance, reliability and convenience features to enjoy driving it today and every day’.

Customers are able to choose between 1.6- and 1.9-litre engines, with this first customer car being the latter, and has been upgraded to offer more low-down torque and a revised cylinder head and new cams.

The result being more than 200bhp – a sharp increase on the 130bhp the 205 GTI came with from the factory.

A revised throttle is also said to offer a keener response along with improved starting in hot and cold conditions, while a Tolman exhaust and Quaife differential have been fitted to enhance the way the 205 drives.

Modern convenience features are also available, including LED lighting, an LCD dashboard and an integrated infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Customers can also have the seats retrimmed, electric windows fitted and an Alcantara steering wheel to give the Peugeot a sportier feel.

Chris Tolman, founder of Tolman Engineering, said: “Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, for me and I’m sure many others, 205 GTIs were a first taste in performance cars; something rewarding, responsive and engaging.

“We wanted to recreate that feeling of being at one with the road, a car you can just jump in and simply enjoy driving hard. Current hot hatches surpass these cars in so many areas but despite having loads of power and incredible dynamics, they fail to rekindle that emotional involvement that made us feel special with the 205.”

The Warwickshire firm says it has access to a number of donor 205 GTIs in both left- and right-hand-drive, or customers can use their own cars, and that all upgrades can be reversed and put back to standard. After this, Tolman says 700 hours are spent modifying the car with both performance and convenience updates.

Prices for a Peugeot 205 GTI Tolman Edition start from £55,000.

Petrol and diesel could rocket up by 12 pence a litre in March if a planned rise in fuel duty comes into force.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBD) provides independent analysis of the UK’s finances and has stated in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook for November that ‘the planned 23 per cent increase in the fuel duty rate in late-March 2023’ would add an extra ‘£5.7 billion to receipts next year.’

It added that this would result in a ‘record cash increase’ and the first time that any government has raised fuel duty ‘in cash terms’ since January 1, 2011.

The resulting hike in fuel duty would see petrol and diesel prices increase by around 12p a litre which, at current prices according to RAC Fuel Watch, would see petrol rise to 175p a litre and diesel shoot to near the £2-per-litre mark.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes: “As things stand, drivers will face an enormous hike in the cost of fuel next Spring due to fuel duty going up.

“The OBR expects to see 12p added to a litre of fuel, as a result of the current 5p duty cut coming to an end combined with its scheduled rise – something that’s not been seen for over a decade due to duty being frozen in successive Budgets.

“The Government has always made a big deal of cancelling duty rises in the past and will face colossal pressure to do the same next year – after all, a rise of these proportions would heap yet more misery on the millions of households that depend on their vehicles, most of whom will have just endured one of the costliest winters on record.”

A Treasury spokesperson told the PA news agency: “The 23% figure came from the OBR not the Treasury and it’s based on forecasts that are subject to change.

“We have not announced anything on fuel duty today, the existing 5p cut will remain in place until March 2023 (a tax cut which is worth £2.4bn) and final decisions on fuel duty rates will be made at the Spring Budget.”

Cutting speed limits on urban roads to 20mph does not significantly improve safety, a new report suggests.

Researchers analysed data from before and after the limit was introduced on 76 roads in central Belfast in 2016.

The study found “little impact on long-term outcomes” in the city.

Comparisons with streets in the surrounding area and elsewhere in Northern Ireland that retained their 30mph or 40mph limit showed there were “no statistically significant differences” in terms of the number of crashes, casualty rates or average traffic speed.

Roads with a 20mph limit did experience a reduction in traffic, according to the report published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The authors of the report, who include Professor Ruth Hunter of Queen’s University Belfast and Dr Ruth Jepson of the University of Edinburgh, noted that their research was smaller in scale than some other studies on the topic.

The report said that 20mph limits could be combined with other measures such as driver training, CCTV and police communications to “facilitate an ambitious culture change that shifts populations away from the car-dominant paradigm”.

It added that reducing speed limits is “not simply a road-safety intervention” but can be “part of the fundamental reset of the way we choose our life priorities – people before cars”.

Schemes to cut speed limits to 20mph have become increasingly popular in the UK and other parts of Europe in recent years as part of effort to reduce crashes and injuries.

The Welsh Government has committed to lowering speed limits to 20mph on all roads in the country where cars mix with pedestrians and cyclists.

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: “The findings of this study are surprising as they appear to suggest that drivers on 20mph roads in Belfast hardly slowed down at all, despite the lower speed limit, which is at odds with other reports.

“It seems there is a serious problem with compliance as we would expect that even without enforcement, average speeds would drop.

“Consequently, the study may demonstrate a need for councils to find other ways to get drivers to slow down, whether that’s through enforcement or modifying road design with traffic islands, well-designed speed humps or chicanes.”

Mary Williams, chief executive of road safety charity Brake, described 20mph limits as “life-saving”, particularly for pedestrians and people riding bicycles and motorbikes.

She added: “It is a matter of physics. At speeds of 20mph or less, drivers have significantly more chance to spot hazards and stop in time.

“The difference between a 20mph limit and a 30mph limit is a doubled stopping distance.”