As car makers look for new ways to differentiate their products, they must think carefully before allowing tech giants Apple and Google to dominate their customers’ experiences, says vehicle connectivity pioneer VNC Automotive. With electric vehicles gaining in popularity, opportunities for car manufacturers to create distinguishing features and engineer-in character are diminishing. Component … [Read more...]
New era of maps unfold for electric vehicles
Zap-Map has released an integrated Route Planner within the app platform, designed to help EV drivers find suitable charge stops on their electric journey. This new feature is available now on Android devices with the iOS version following later in the summer. Building on the current Zap-Map app which includes UK-wide charge point data, EV drivers can now plan their journeys using a ‘quick … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Vauxhall Viva Rocks 1.0
The greatest challenge to any car designer is getting the most of what you are given, and when Vauxhall’s team wanted to create a very compact SUV they looked to the Viva. The original Viva was a boxy saloon built in Ellesmere Port, now home of the Astra, from 1963 to 1979 and that spawned what you might call an SUV – a Services Utility Vehicle. Better known as the Bedford HA van it was a … [Read more...]
Apple at the core of future technolgy
A WiFi war is about to break out in our cars. General Motors, Hyundai, and several other OEMs have made announcements around Apple CarPlay and Android Auto development and deployments recently. Hyundai has announced the deployment of Android Auto on the 2015 Hyundai Sonata with navigation, starting this weekend. General Motors announced the availability of both Apple CarPlay and Android … [Read more...]