Volvo’s ‘Drive Me’ is the world’s first large-scale autonomous driving pilot project

Yes, you’ll be able to chat on the phone when the Volvo does the driving for you Like it or not, we’re rapidly moving to the point where autonomous cars will be the norm, with the driver only being involved in the act of driving by choice. Volvo – unsurprisingly with their stated goal of making sure no one dies in a Volvo in future – is at the forefront of the move to autonomous driving, and have teamed up with the Swedish Transportation Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg in a project called ‘Drive Me - Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility’. The project kicks off next year with customer research and the development of the necessary technology and Volvo aims to have 100 autonomous cars on the roads of Gothenburg by 2017, where they’ll be driving round approximately 50 kms of selected roads, including commuter roads, motorways and regular queues.

No more Top Gear until 2013, says Jeremy Clarkson

No new Top Gear Series until 2013 Top Gear leader Jeremy Clarkson has revealed to South African Sasha Martinengo on Ballz Radio that there won’t be a new series of Top Gear until 2013. Under normal circumstances we’d expect a new series of Top Gear to arrive in the Autumn of 2012. But it seems not.

BMW i3 ‘virtual test drive’ app (2013) CAR review

Though we’ve seen new the BMW i3 in full production trim, and had a ride in the carbonfibre electric city car, there’s still a short wait before anyone can get behind the wheel of a showroom-spec example in the UK – or is there? BMW has launched a smartphone and tablet app – ‘BMW i3: Become Electric’, which it claims allows users to virtually test drive the new i3 without so much as setting foot outside their front door, yet alone finding the time to head to a BMW dealership. It’s available now on the Apple App Store, and from 26 September 2013 on Google Play.