Silent, electric, self-driving cars are creating a new set of challenges for the world’s carmakers. But connected cars also promise to make life easier on the road.
Vehicles that talk to each other, and to roadside infrastructure, have been under development for more than 20 years and promise to provide an early warning system by sharing information about road conditions, weather, traffic jams and crashes.
Jaguar Land Rover is even developing a system that promises a life without red lights.
Just over 150 years since the installation of the world’s first traffic lights, outside the Houses of Parliament in London, JLR is pushing ahead with a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory system that allows cars to “talk” to traffic lights and advise the driver of the ideal speed they should use to avoid a stoplight.
It uses V2X ‘Vehicle-to-Infrastructure’ technology with the aim of creating free-flowing cities with fewer delays and less commuter stress.
“Widespread adoption of the V2X technology will prevent drivers from racing to beat the lights and improve air quality by reducing harsh acceleration or braking near lights,” says JLR. But it’s not just about green lights.
An Intersection Collision Warning that tells drivers when it is unsafe to proceed at a junction, and can also decide which cars should have priority at a junction, while at the end of a trip, the V2X system can even find a vacant parking spot.