Author Archive: AUCTIONCARS SALES

The iNext SUV is on track to become the first system on U.S. roads to utilize conditional automation according to SAE standards.

In a Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA) report filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), BMW said it plans to introduce what could become the first system on U.S. roads to qualify as “Level 3” conditional automation by SAE’s standards. By way of review, SAE Level 3 involves automated driving rather than driver support features (Levels 0, 1, and 2). Level 4 means that the system controls all aspects of the driving tasks, including when a driver doesn’t respond appropriately to requests to intervene, while Level 5 is entirely autonomous.

BMW’s system is coming with its iNext EV, an all-new, all-electric production vehicle arriving possibly as early as 2021 (Fig. 1). The iNext will feature the automaker’s 5th-generation eDrive system, which is reported to offer up to 530 hp [...]

Companies are collecting our personal data from our vehicles and monetizing it. If it’s my car, isn’t it my data?

What follows might look like a bit of a rant, and I don’t want to appear alarmist, but we are becoming victim to our own data and the sky is falling!  Well maybe not, but still …

As consumers we produce millions (billions?) of points of data every day in countless ways, from our shopping choices, to the online searches we do, to the calls we make on our cell phones.  We create data in other ways too, ways that many ordinary people may not fully appreciate.  When we drive our vehicle, when we have an accident, when we go to a body shop for estimates or repairs, when we make an insurance claim, we are creating data.  Companies are collecting this data and monetizing it on a massive and ever-increasing scale.

I’m not aware of anyone questioning who [...]