{"id":18848,"date":"2017-10-04T14:38:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T12:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/?p=18848"},"modified":"2017-10-04T17:18:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T15:18:23","slug":"future-cars-iaa2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/future-cars-iaa2017\/18848\/","title":{"rendered":"Cars of the future: A report from the Frankfurt motor show"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you\u2019d like to know what cars will look like in the future, the Frankfurt motor show is one of the best places to find out. It is the largest auto exhibition in the world and the main automotive exhibition for the German car manufacturing industry. Its full name is Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA).<\/p>\n

Aspark Owl \u2014 the fastest car in the world?<\/h2>\n

If you have never heard about the Aspark Owl, that\u2019s to be expected. No one but its creators knew of the existence of this supercar before the Frankfurt Motor Show, so its debut<\/a> took everyone by surprise.<\/p>

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Aspark Owl: From 0 to 100 km\/h in just two seconds<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the claims of its designers, this completely electrical supercar (it uses a combination of a battery and supercapacitors) is now the fastest car in the world, accelerating from 0 to 100 km\/h in exactly two seconds. This result is several tenths of a second better than the previous record-holders \u2014 the Ultima Evolution Coupe, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, and the Tesla Model S P100D.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Aspark Owl\u2019s body is made entirely out of carbon fiber and weighs only 50 kilograms. The total weight of the car is 850 kilograms, which makes it half the weight of the Lamborghini Aventador, for example.<\/p>

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The Aspark Owl is only 99 cm tall<\/p><\/div>\n

Its maximum speed of 280 km\/h is rather low for a supercar, but it\u2019s rather high for an electric car; the fastest the Tesla can go is 250 km\/h. However, the Aspark Owl\u2019s range is not great \u2014 only 150 kilometers. At the Aspark booth in Frankfurt, one could place a preorder, but the car\u2019s cost and the time of its launch have yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

Audi A8: First third-level autonomous car<\/h3>\n

At IAA 2017, Audi presented its new flagship sedan, the A8. Among other things, this sedan has advanced autonomous features. It is the first mass-produced car in the world that, in addition to traditional cameras and sonars, uses lidar<\/a>. In addition, Audi claims that the A8 is the first ever mass-produced SAE level-three car in accordance with the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) classification<\/a>.<\/p>

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The new Audi A8, equipped with most advanced autonomous technology on the market<\/p><\/div>\n

That means that under certain conditions \u2014 in this case, it would be moving at speeds of up to 60 km\/h \u2014 the driver can surrender control of the car and be distracted by watching movies, texting, and so forth. Until now, Teslas were known as the cars with the best autonomous technology, but they\u2019re level two, which means that the driver must always watch the road and be ready to take over control of the car at any moment.<\/p>

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Audi A8: Autopilot button located directly in front of gear shift<\/p><\/div>\n

The advanced autonomous technology used in the Audi A8 is supported by Nvidia<\/a>. The car uses a total of six Nvidia processors, which are also responsible for the dashboard, entertainment system, navigation, and so on.<\/p>\n

Qualcomm Halo: Wireless charging<\/h3>\n

Truth be told, wireless charging technology has been in Qualcomm\u2019s portfolio for a long time. But the company hopes that next year, this solution will go beyond prototypes and concepts and be used in mass-produced cars. As many as two German auto giants promise to equip their cars with this technology in 2018: BMW is planning to introduce wireless charging in its connected hybrid 530e, and Daimler promises to put it on its flagship hybrid Mercedes S560e.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moreover, Qualcomm is already working on next-gen wireless auto chargers that enable a car to charge its batteries while in motion \u2014 and they are talking about charging at highway speeds.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The technology is already being tested as part of the FABRIC Project, sponsored by the European Commission. This project investigates the possibilities of building highways with in-built chargers, which would allow for battery charging on the go \u2014 one way to deal with limited battery capacity.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Self-parking: Collaboration between Valeo and Cisco<\/h3>\n

Apparently, it will still take a while to arrive at fully autonomous cars that don\u2019t require input from a driver. Artificial intelligence still makes too many errors<\/a>, and no road infrastructure exists that can ensure recognition algorithms are working right. Besides, it is still not quite clear what to do about ethical dilemmas<\/a> (see \u201cthe trolley problem<\/a>\u201c) and the legal side of things. Extreme weather in some locations complicates matters as well; during the winter even the side of a driveway can be hard to discern, let alone road markings or signs. No doubt these problems will gradually be solved one way or another, but it will take time.<\/p>\n

However, autopilot can already be handy in a parking lot. Here we are talking primarily about multilevel parking garages, where one is forced to circle in search of a free parking space, wasting a lot of time in the process.<\/p>\n

Speed limits in such structures are minimal; maps of the sites are very precise; and relatively few pedestrians are walking around at any given time \u2014 thus, all conditions for using even an imperfect autopilot are met. The computer\u2019s ability to quickly generate a route will also be useful in contacting the control center and locating free parking spaces.<\/p>\n

Smart parking garages that allow one to leave a car at the entrance and go about business will likely be here pretty soon \u2014 the collaboration between Cisco and automotive supplier Valeo gives us hope in this regard. As part of this partnership, Valeo is developing automotive autopilots, whereas Cisco is providing the infrastructure to be installed in a smart parking garage \u2014 communications, video surveillance systems, control room, and so forth.<\/p>\n