3 mo. ago • 98%

Japan rivals Nissan and Honda will share EV components and AI research as they play catch up

techxplore.com Japan rivals Nissan and Honda will share EV components and AI research as they play catch up

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving.

47 comments

Nissan was one of the first car companies to ship an EV. Not sure what “catching up” they need to do.

47
- I think it's related to the rise of China's BYD.
  
  31
- I assume that's about the self-driving part rather than the EV part. Honda was the first to actually sell something that met the requirements for the (American) Society of Automotive Engineers' Levels of Driving Automation that counted as the the human in the driver's seat not driving
  
  16
  
  I thought that was Mercedes (in Nevada), unless you’re talking about sales outside of America.
  
  4
- They're asleep on the wheel though. Even with the partnership with Renault they're still selling cars with chademo in Europe, that's a Dead standard that less and less new chargers are supporting today
  
  15
  
  I thought the new ones were using the CCS plug now, have they still not made the switch?
  
  2
- The catching up that their second EV took a decade and is underwhelming.
  
  5
Am I an old fart for being concerned about future generations growing up with self driving cars?

I guess I grew up with a lot of automated things, but I feel like driving is something that people should be able to do for safety reasons.

14
- I guess I grew up with a lot of automated things, but I feel like driving is something that people should be able to do for safety reasons.
  
  Have you not met "people"? People drive like absolute idiots. I had to emergency brake just yesterday because the woman driving the car to my right was drifting into my lane at highway speeds while she negotiated a large 24oz can of some beverage in her left driving hand while simultaneously holding a cigarette. Her right hand and both eyes were busy doing something on her cell phone.
  
  There is very little safe about people driving.
  
  46
  
  Yeah, recently I've started paying attention to what other drivers are doing while stopped at intersections. The amount of people using their cell phones behind the wheel astonishes me.
  
  7
  
  Yeah people suck at driving, but they’ll just get worse while the automation is being ironed out and eventually they won’t know how to drive at all. What about an emergency situation that the automated cars and/or roads aren’t programmed for?
  
  -9
- I'm a driving instructor and I believe automated roads would be a godsend. I'd actually be happy the day I don't have to do my job, not because I hate it - I actually love my job - but because automated roads would be so much safer overall.
  
  13
  
  I guess that’s fair. Machines would be much less accident prone than humans, but you can’t automate everything on the road (e.g. people, bikes, non-automated vehicles). People are going to have to be able to know how to get out of situations manually. What about emergencies where you have to do something that the automated roads aren’t programmed for?
  
  0
- My dad said the same thing about GPS Vs the ability to map read
  
  Nearly drove us off the road a couple of times while trying to read a map lol
  
  12
  
  Haha funny comparison. I love GPS, but when it doesn’t work it’s pretty low stakes. The mechanism in which it works is completely different too.
  
  6
- I don't know about your city, but I trust technology a lot more than the average driver. At least technology can detect a red light vs a green light. I nearly got hit by a ford mega truck in broad daylight who thought the small, green bicycle symbol was his indicator to ignore his massive red "no left turn" indicator across a protected bike lane. :P
  
  11
  
  I agree. Less margin for error, but leaves people who depend on automation vulnerable. I just imagine lots of growing pains before we get to ideal state.
  
  -2
  
  I don't know about your city, but I trust technology a lot more than the average driver.
  
  I don't. Technology can be subject to glitches, bugs, hacking, deciding to plow right through pedestrians (hello Tesla!), etc.
  
  While the case can be made that human drivers are worse at reaction time and paying attention, at least a "dumb" car can't be hacked, won't be driven off the road due to a bug, won't try to knock people over itself without stopping, etc.
  
  A human, when they catch these things happening, can correct them (even if it is caused by them). But if a computer develops a fatal fault like that, or is hijacked, it cannot.
  
  EDIT: It seems like this community is full of AI techbro yes-men. Any criticism or critical analysis of their ideas seems to be met with downvotes, but I've yet to get a reply justifying how what I said is wrong.
  
  -3
- Yes, you probably are. Please don't forget that the current available technology constantly improves, and that we actually don't see any good examples of self - driving cars that much - the most prominent displays are from Tesla, and they arguably build the worst cars we've seen since Ford came up with the assembly line.
  
  The technology used in autonomous vehicles, e. g. sensors, have been used in safety critical application for decades in other contexts, and a machine is capable of completely different reaction times. Also, if autonomous vehicles cooperate in traffic sticking to their programmed behavior, observing traffic rules etc., you will get less reckless driving, with traffic flow becoming more deterministic. These benefits will particularly increase once self-driving cars don't have to share the road with human drivers.
  
  I would always trust a well-engineered, self-driving car more than one driven by a human.
  
  Disclaimer: I used to work on these things in a research lab. Also, we're not quite there yet, so please have a little patience.
  
  3
  
  What about things on the road that are not automated? There will be situations where a machine’s ethics might override a human driver’s ethics. It would be good for us to be able to override the system and know how to safely drive in emergencies.
  
  -1
No one wants to partner with Toyota for fuel cells?

11
What does this mean for future reliability of Hondas

7
- Probably fine. Nissan's problem isn't reliability so much as being boring and outdated.
  
  4
  
  That was always my issue with them, like, I want to like their offerings but they always feel several years behind
  
  2
  
  I'm obviously embracing middle aged-ness and say boring isn't too bad. And what's wrong with being out dated ?:p
  
  1
  
  My wife and I had to have her 2013 Nissan rogue transmission replaced last year which cost $7k, so I disagree on your point about reliability. -___-
  
  In all seriousness though, I always had the impression that Nissan was known for being the least reliable of the big 3: Toyota, Nissan, Honda
  
  1
- That ship sailed when they built the Alabama plant.
  
  2
Who decided they're even capable of rivaling Japan?

2
Title is confusing.

Edit: Isuzu uses at least some GMC sensors. So please explain to me where the confusion is.

Oh that's right, they're cross compatible, or at least they once were..

-7
Permanently Deleted

-30
- Only because current infrastructure supports them. They will only become less versatile going forward while EVs become more.
  
  23
- More versatile FOR ME TO POOP ON
  
  15
  
  ok Uncle Unfiltered Cigarettes
  
  3

You've viewed 47 comments.