General Motors CEO Mary Barra has announced that GM will put its first V2V-enabled car on the road in about two years. Speaking at the 21st annual Congress of the Intelligent Transport Society in Detroit, Michigan (US) recently, the GM top boss said that if the automotive industry has to thrive well in future then it has to provide solutions to mitigate - if not eliminate - problems like traffic congestion, pollution and traffic accidents.
"To do that, we have to be passionate and fearless advocates for safety technologies like vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication and ultimately, fully autonomous driving. No other suite of technologies offers so much potential for good... and it's time to turn potential into reality. That's why I'm announcing today that GM will put its first V2V-enabled car on the road in about two years."
Barra also announced that GM will bring an advanced, highly automated driving technology to the market in the same timeframe. She highlighted that ‘intelligent and connected' is an engineering reality today and that's exactly the right path for GM to follow as it builds the next generation of vehicles and roads around the world.
"Let's start with the concept of "intelligent" cars, because our first responsibility is to keep making vehicles smarter in order to reduce crashes and injuries. Then we can weave in connectivity, and all the opportunities that it opens up."
Barra further announce that GM will also be expanding the availability of technologies like adaptive forward lighting, rear vision cameras, blind-zone monitoring and lane-keeping. "Many of these technologies provide the foundation for something we call ‘Super Cruise'. That's the working name for the GM semi-automated driving technology that allows for hands-free driving on the highway - both at speed and in stop-and-go driving."
GM is also planning to launch Super Cruise in the same timeframe as V2V. "And it will appear for the first time on an all-new Cadillac that's going to enter a segment where we don't compete today," Barra said.
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