CES 2015 was the first I heard of Nvidia DRIVE studio software, a package that can be used to develop car infotainment solutions. For this year’s show Nvidia collaborated with Renovo Motors to develop a 500 horsepower all electric coupe. As a first the car featured the Nvidia Tegra X1 mobile super chip which can offer over one teraflaps of processing power.
The advance in communication technology has seen a convergence in home and car entertainment systems. As an indication the to this growing area of collaboration the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), said they are expecting a record number of car manufacturers at 2014 CES showcasing their latest car technologies both inside and out. A total of nine manufacturers are expected: Ford, Kia, Toyota, Audi, Chrysler, General Motors, BMW, Mercedes and Mazda.
The University of Southern California (USC) in partnership with Mitsubishi Motors have setup a campus wide smart grid project called the “Living Laboratory”. The project will simulate a city with a population of between 50,000 – 60,000 and will use the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicles as part of the project. The university’s Viterbi School of Engineering and Mitsubishi said the project will work to further develop and improve electric vehicle to accommodate widespread usage.
Vistor to this month’s Australia and New Zealand Smart Utilities Conference will see the world’s first certified smart grid Electric Vehicle (EV) charger. Create by DiUS Computing, the ChargeIQ an intelligent charger that communicate with Smart Meters and adjust the electric vehicle’s charging load based current demand. ChargeIQ is certified to the Zigbee communications standard and is used by Victoria’s smart meters.
BMW is collaborating with AT&T and Tendril to launch the BMW i Born Electric Tour Hackathon, an event that will allow developers to create software solutions that will interlink electric vehicles (EV), mobile devices and the home. The seven-city event is expected to hightlight BMW’s sustainable and holistic approach to technology and lifestyle and at the same time creating innovative solutions for the future connected home.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that Seven of the top 10 car manufacturers will showcase their latest car technologies at CES in January. Audi, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru the new comer to CES will be displaying their connected systems in infotainment, communication, safety and driver assistance solutions and services. There will also be more than 110 total automotive tech companies, including Delphi, Mitek, Pioneer and more at the show.
UK Power Networks, one to the companies selected by OFGEM to participate in its UK Smart Grid Projects is to fund the installation of free Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points in London for residents and businesses. The trial is design to study the effect of EV charge points use on Britain’s electric grid infrastructure and to enable the vehicles to be recharged conveniently in London, both at home and on the street.
According to a smart grid report titled ‘Smart Grid Landscape in Europe - Market Size, Key Issues, Regulations, Investment Analysis and Outlook to 2020’, the European smart grid market could share energy from their natural resources. The authors believe that the development of electric vehicles and its market in Europe is dependent on non-financial incentives.
For many countries in the develop world transition from analogue to digital broadcasting is either finish or in its final stages. While employees in one government department are praising the successes of switching over to digital broadcasting others are just rolling up their sleeves to start working on the smart meter switchover. Like the broadcasting switchover the smart meter switchover will be digital except smart meter will be a more connected solution (end-to-end) involving the government, utility providers and us the consumer.
According to research firm ABI Research an estimated $590 million was spent on smart grid security technologies in 2010. They are projecting that by 2016 the amount will surpass $2 billion. In 2011, security spending on transmission upgrades made up the largest portion of smart grid spending; approximately 54%. ABI expects security spending to maintain this trend over the next five years.