Do you want your Volt to Drive itself?
Besides displaying the Cadillac Provoq, GM CEO Rick Wagoner also discussed GMs future plans for vehicle to vehicle (V2V) technology in his speech as the Consumer Electronics Show.
Using their built in GM OnStar communications system as a starting point, cars could eventually be programmed to communicate with one another, GPS, and the road such that they can drive autonomously.
In his words:
autonomous driving means that, someday, you could do your e-mail, eat breakfast, apply your makeup, read the newspaper, watch a video … all while commuting to work. In other words, you could do all the things you do right now while commuting to work, except you could do it safely
How’s that for cruise control?
Who knows, one day in the future maybe our Volts could all log-on to GM-Volt.com, and we can drive together, virtually exchanging ideas, and car data as we go.
Source (Detroit Free Press)
Popularity: 2%
Related posts:
- Lutz: Forty-Mile Electric Range Mules in March or April
- New PHEV Consortium Bashes the Chevy Volt
- Production Chevy Volt to Have a Spacious Interior
- Are the Volt Prototype Packs Running Too Hot?
- Chevy Volt to Cost About $35,000?
(11 votes, average: 4.45 out of 5) 
Loading ...
30 Responses to “Do you want your Volt to Drive itself?”
Leave a Reply
Recent Posts
- The 2009 Detroit Auto Show Should be Electrifying
- Chevy Volt Battery Temperature Control
- EEStor Gets a Trademark Patent on EESU and Provides Specs for a 24V EESU
- More Future Volt Competition?: Lotus E-REVs and Solar-Powered Toyotas
- Poll: Which 2010 Hybrid Would You Buy?
- Happy New Year From GM-Volt.com
- 10,000 Camaros Have Been Pre-Ordered, How Many Volts Will Be?
- How Will Air Conditioning Affect the Chevy Volt’s Electric Range?
- Volt Chief Designer on the Public Reaction to Chevy Volt Redesign
- US Battery Companies Seek Government Funds to Establish US-Based Lithium-ion Production Capacity
January 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Why not if it is to go faster in the commuting traffic. We kwnow that if everybody drives at the same speed even it it seems lower than what you think your average speed is, everybody in fact arrives faster to the destination.
In Belgium, in summer when the weather is good (not so often) several thousand people take their car and take the same highway at te same hour(75 miles) between Brussels and the coast. When the police coordinates the traffic (block circulation with no passing allowed and everybody at the same speed of 8Okm/h (+/- 55 miles/h), the traffic is fluid and it takes a lot less time to go than when the traffic is free with less people on the road.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
This idea is so 1958.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S18LCISRm4
January 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I’m 72 years old ! Just get me my Volt before they take away my drivers lic. This is like artificial insemination, you want to take all the fun out of driving.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
The driver has always been the biggest safety problen in driving. I am all for letting the car do the driving most of the time. Could be a real time saver!
January 9th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
They had this over 150 years ago. The horse knew where home was. No driving necessary.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I think we have a way to go before this becomes a reality. And I am in the computer business…….. I don’t think I am ready to place my life in the hands of operating systems that still do random reboots, especially at 65 mph!
To re-word another famous analogy:
You can have my sterring wheel when you can pry it from my cold dead hands!!!!
January 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
IF (and that’s a BIG if) all cars were equipped and the system was 100% reliable, then it would be a wonderful thing, mainly to extend range on freeway driving.
V2V communication would allow cars to closely follow each other at the same speed and draft off of each other. Surprisingly even the lead car in such a formation gets significant aero benefits!
I see it as harder to make work in city driving though. More as a very smart criuse control system.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
There was a Congressional mandate some time ago requiring 1/3 the vehicles in all branches of the U.S. military to be autonomous by 2015. This is seven years away. The DARPA Grand Challenge and the subsequent DARPA Urban Challenge, where the government put up cash prizes for an autonomous vehicle land race, was a direct result of the mandate.
I see battlefield-proven technology being ported over to civilian use before too long. UAVs can already take off, land, and stay on autopilot for extended periods of time. The next step is to port this tech over to unmanned freight aircraft (I imagine UPS and FedEx and excited). The same will no doubt be true for land vehicles. I can’t wait.
Rashiid - But where do you plug the horse in? Wait…don’t answer that.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
…HELL No…
January 9th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Total inattention to the road? No, I don’t think that will ever happen. I can’t imagine that the car will be able to respond to all the improbable yet possible events correctly. Even so, I would short GM stock in a heartbeat if they decide to take on the liability for every motor vehicle death. Bad idea.
Like my father said to me years ago when I complained about the driving age, “Any 13 year old can drive a car 99% of the time, but you need to be older to be able to react when the emergencies happen.”
As far as a glorified cruise control, it will just encourage more of the inattentive behaviors that we see already. I’m all for technology, but this is folly.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I took me a while to get used to the fact that our sky train system had no driver. Now I’m used to the idea and there have been no accidents as a result (note: it’s a closed system on a track). I can see this starting out on freeways etc..
Having said that … can you image the carnage resulting from “Microsoft Traffic 1.0″?
January 9th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
You can buy cars now that automate a good chunk of ordinary highway driving.
The new Infiniti EX35 has adaptive cruise control that keeps you from hitting the car in front of you and lane-departure prevention that keeps you in lane by applying the right bread(s). In the UK and Japan, Honda has an “ADAS” option in many vehicles that does the same, except it keeps in lane by actually steering.
The tech really is there fore some basic automated highway driving. It’s just a matter of reducing liability and regulatory hurdles.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I don’t think I want to see the Blue Screen of Death when the computer is supposed to be driving my car at 65 mph on the highway.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
As an engineer and IT professional, I’m skeptical that general purpose vehicle-autonomy will ever be a reality. It’s simply impossible to test for every possible scenario.
Maybe they could do something like this on interstates (utilizing guide strips that would need to be installed as infrastructure), but then everyone needs to agree on the same standard. Just defining the standard would be a huge hurdle … look how long the HD-DVD vs Blue-Ray battle has been dragging on.
They may as well be promising hover cars like on “Back To The Future”. Both seem equally likely to me.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
This technology is still in the early research phase. In other words, there are absolutely no plans to bring it to production.
By contrast, the Volt is being devloped for production as we speak.
So asking if you want your Volt to Drive itself is like asking if you want to use anti-matter to power your iPhone.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
If you do any commerical flying, most of that is now done by the computer. All of our fighter jets are flown by the computer all the time. Software development for these kinds of “must not mess up” systems have been around for a long time. Generally the software way out performs the pilot on things like aircraft carrier landings etc. Software is much more reliable than humans in these systems.
I find it hard to believe software would be less reliable than someone putting makeup on in the car as they drive. It doesn’t get much more unreliable than a drunk human.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
The keynote speech Wagoner gave yesterday at CES covers a LOT of other subjects than V2V, including the VOLT (& other e-flex vehicles). This very interesting speech in its entirety is at:
http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewmediaspeechdetail.do?domain=4&docid=42333
I found it well worth reading!
January 9th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Dwane:
Good points, but fighter aircraft cost $50 million each, and at those prices, the electronics systems should work. Plus, you have highly trained pilots in the cockpit.
But people here are complaining that the Volt will cost more than $25K, and the only training we have is to pass a driving test at the DMV!!!!!!!!
January 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Thanks nasaman # 17,
very intersting indeed, particularly the commitment of GM (as Wagoner said) to electric driven cars.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Jim,
Good points, but fighter aircraft cost $50 million each, and at those prices, the electronics systems should work. Plus, you have highly trained pilots in the cockpit.
Keep in mind that the software cost for a fighter is spread over a couple hundred to couple thousand aircraft. Spreading the cost over 100,000 cars brings the cost way down.
BTW - if the computer(s) in a F22 go out in flight, the only skill useful to the highly trained pilot is how to punch out fast!
January 9th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Saturn Flextreme? Google it.
January 9th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
[quote comment="25703"]
BTW - if the computer(s) in a F22 go out in flight, the only skill useful to the highly trained pilot is how to punch out fast![/quote]
See all the cool stuff you can learn here???
I had no idea that was the case.
So now GM will have to install ejector seats with parachutes on the Volt when they get self drive functional!!!
January 9th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
…..So now GM will have to install ejector seats with parachutes on the Volt when they get self drive functional!!!
Cool! Do ya think there will be an option to just punch out the passenger seat? I think a lot of people would gladly pay extra for that!!!
January 9th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
GM said: “autonomous driving means that, someday, you could do your e-mail, eat breakfast, apply your makeup, read the newspaper, watch a video - all while commuting to work”…
… this already exists today… it’s called light rail, van pools, and car pools.
In any case, the idea is nothing new, nor does this really have anything to do with the Volt, the technology is independent from EV’s.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
First work on bringing us a plug-in..THEN work in automatic driving. But a plug (to me) should be more of a priority then the car driving itself.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
It seems that people are concerned about leaving the driving to a computer. However, next time you drive in a car that has an Automatic Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) “airbags”, or even electronic ignition (EI) system - remember that all these devices are microprocessor controlled using real-time operating systems. [Not to be confused with Windows, etc. :-)] “Drive by wire” is becoming a necessity as cars evolve towards plug-in hybrids …
January 9th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Lets not get ahead of ourselves. First we have to get a Volt. You can add the fancy stuff on later.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
[quote comment="25733"]Jim I Said:
So now GM will have to install ejector seats with parachutes on the Volt when they get self drive functional!:)[/quote]
Jim, I was one of the first people to speak out about the need for ejector seats on the Volt once the self drive is made functional.
Great minds think alike.
January 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
That would be a great idea. If it every happen. I can stop bitch to other driver stop text message on the cell phone. It just getting out of hands. At the same time, I feel sorry for worker in taxi, city bus, and shipping industries.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Guy/Jim:
There’s nothing new under the sun. If you ever get a chance, listen to the ’60s vintage Jonathan Winters routine, “Elwood P. Suggins And His Automobile”. Elwood had a passenger side ejection seat even then.
“Say your mother-in-law yells ‘C’MON -DRIVE’ - eject that person.”
LOL