The era of electric cars has just begun if recent events abroad are anything to go by. This week, Elon Musk has finally launched the Tesla Model 3 with production expected to scale up massively in the next few months. Europe & USA are infamous for taking environment emissions seriously and that is why the german auto makers are on high alert. Most of their automobiles rely on diesel to power their huge engine drivetrains. Hapo ndo kuna shida cz evidently Tesla has stolen a march on them in terms of scaling up the electric vehicle manufacturing infrastructure.
The upcoming elections in Germany is putting pressure on Merkel 's government to do something about the diesel emissions and hence the emergency meeting the car makers yesterday had with the government officials that was marred with protests from environmentalists. BTW huku Africa sidhani we are yet ready for electric due to lack of sufficient infrastructure like steady electricity and sufficient charging booths. Haiwezi kutu affect but Europe is another story altogether na hao wajerumani wasipochunga they can easily be overtaken by kina Tesla & Volvo. The 3 large automaker are arguing to have diesel as the stop gap fuel as they accelerate their own plans for electric divisions,by asserting that 800,000 jobs are on the line.
As for me,as a petrol head hata iwe year 2030,I will still prefer a good old V8 or God willing v12 bi turbo engine growling mernacingly on the driveway rather than the so called “clean engines” that do not give me any goose bumps of excitement. Plus sidhani the world famous brands BMW,Merc & VW can ever be gazumped by an upstart due to their sheer heritage,dealership networks and huge financial resources.
It’s either they adapt or go under just like other big companies. You cannot stop an idea whose time has come. It’s sad that they are trying kusimamisha gari after ishapita.
hehehe such articles make me laugh. You think those companies hawana electric cars? ni same way uone Google making a self driven car then think BMW wamelala. They have prototypes for such it’s just that they prefer to keep the info secret till when the launch time comes, did you see the car Audi launched last month?
true,some of the worst diesel engines are to be phased out.n the remaining have to be fitted with catalytic converters to reduce the nitrous oxides they produce which the auto makers argue should be adopted in the near to medium term future before they restucture.
Google? Remember that tiny startup facing off with Yahoo?
Facebook? Remember that one too? vs MySpace?
PS. The electric cars will be “more” fun than the gasoline powered alternatives. Better torque. With better battery packs, fossil fuels will be entirely wiped out of transport. Have you wondered why countries with electric trains prefer them over diesel powered ones?
hehe,true ,you can never ignore the so called “tiny start up”.you eithr kill the competition at its inception or adapt and be ahead of the pack.the germans have no option but to adapt with the times.
The oil cartels are already suffering right now with dwindling global oil prices.By 2025,the oil cartels will be no more,and there will be no where to hide.
of course they do have fully equipped research & development departments to build up electric cars,ni vile tesla has launched ahead of them and is about to start mass production before they do.
“Plus sidhani the world famous brands BMW,Merc & VW can ever be gazumped by an upstart due to their sheer heritage,dealership networks and huge financial resources”
Locally, ask Telcom how big it is now…
For the carmakers, there is more info on pollution and climate change so they have to adapt. It may not be a fast switch but a gradual one which will see these diesel engines phased out.
For the Americans, the petrodollar crisis is already taking over the global economy. They have to cushion themselves.
Asian manufacturers already have started offering electric cars,like Nissan & Hyundai which can be appropriated for the emerging markets. However,I think the biggest problem for theses emerging markets would be the accompanying infrastructure (reliable electricity,sufficient charging booths). it would only make sense to drive them around urban centres and no where else.
Currently Tesla is receiving [SIZE=5]1800 RESERVATIONS PER DAY[/SIZE] of the new Model 3. Tesla are far ahead in the development of Autopilot systems, other car manufacturers are only trying to catch up.
Hii unaweza ingia Thika rd or Mombasa rd uweke autopilot and then ukule slices pole pole for kitu 20 minutes. :D:D:D:D
hehehe ati Tesla are far ahead in dev autonomous systems, unasmoke nini?
refer to my earlier reply above, in the car markets, everyone is ready, the fact that they don’t publicise it doesn’t mean that they are not.
Last Month Audi launched the first Level 3 Autonomous car The new Audi A8 luxury sedan is a high-tech beast that can drive itself - The Verge
they were even the first to get a permit to try it in New York a city considered hard for autonomous cars
incase hauelewi the autonomous levels then here is an explanation
[ul]
[li]0: No automation at all. The human does all the work, even if there are warnings that pop up, like a Check Engine light.[/li][li]1: Driving assistance. The vehicle can assist with steering or speed in certain circumstances, but the human is still fully in charge of driving.[/li][li]2: Partial automation. The vehicle can take over steering and speed altogether in certain circumstances, but the human is still fully in charge of driving.[/li][li]3: Conditional automation. The vehicle steers, takes care of speed and monitors the road. The human is still required to take over when the system needs help.[/li][li]4: High automation. The vehicle can pretty much do everything, even if the human driver does not respond when asked to by the system.[/li][li]5: Full automation. The vehicle does absolutely everything a human driver could do.[/li][/ul]
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There is an important point that you are missing, in vehicle automation, data not algorithms, is what confers competitive advantage. Tesla has the largest number of cars with self driving features, as a result their cars end up having more developed automation features than those being sold by other car manufacturers.
This is also the reason why Tesla will be the first company to release a fully autonomous car in the market, the Model 3.
Self-driving cars operate using machine learning. Machine learning algorithms have become commoditized, some are even open source.
