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NuTonomy shows that people quickly relax in autonomous cars

For six weeks, nuTonomy has had a fleet of self-driving taxis on the streets of Singapore, and it seems the experiment is already yielding useful information based on rider surveys. CEO Dr. Karl Iagnemma revealed at UPSHIFT 2016 that despite most first-time riders initially being nervous about stepping into a self-driving vehicle, the anxiety quickly fades. In fact, after a minute or two in the car, riders will relax into near boredom. Customers who ride along in either a fully autonomous Renault Zoe or a Mitsuibshi i-MiEV have been providing valuable feedback to engineers pre- and post-ride. The research and data obtained from their self-driving taxi service and the riders who use it is already being integrated into their future, Level 4 autonomous products. The Cambridge, MA, based company has also found that riders are attributing human-like characteristics to the vehicles. It seems that riders prefer when the machines don't behave like machines but more like people. NuTonomoy is tailoring their future vehicles to be less trolly-like. Iagnemma revealed that the company is in talks with other global cities to bring their autonomous products to the roads. Related Video: Image Credit: Adam Whittaker Green Mitsubishi Renault Autonomous Vehicles Electric renault zoe nutonomy

Now Mitsubishi Motors has ousted Carlos Ghosn, days after Nissan firing

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors said on Monday its board removed Carlos Ghosn from his role as chairman, following his arrest and ouster from alliance partner Nissan last week for alleged financial misconduct. Ghosn's sacking in a unanimous board vote marks the end of his chairmanship of Japanese automakers, just two years after he was praised for bringing a steadying hand to Mitsubishi Motors following a cheating scandal in 2016. CEO Osamu Masuko will become temporary chairman, the automaker said. "Ghosn has lost the confidence of Nissan" and it is "difficult for him to fulfill his duties," spurring the dismissal, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement. Nissan holds a controlling 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors and has two executives on the board. The move comes amid discontent over French partner Renault SA's role in the 19-year Franco-Japanese alliance of which Ghosn was the driving force. Sealed in 1999 when Nissan was rescued from near-bankruptcy, it was enlarged in 2016 to include Mitsubishi and enabled the members to jointly develop products and control costs. The alliance vies with Volkswagen AG and Toyota for the ranking of the world's biggest automaker. Even as Nissan has recovered and grown rapidly, it remains a junior partner in the shareholding structure. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan and the Japanese automaker holds a 15 percent non-voting stake in the French firm. And Nissan is almost 60 percent bigger than Renault by sales. Top alliance executives are meeting this week in Amsterdam, aiming to shield their joint operations from the fallout of Ghosn's arrest as a power struggle between Nissan and Renault looms. Renault has refrained from firing him as chairman and CEO. Mitsubishi Motors already had plans to discuss its position in the alliance with Ghosn and, following the ouster, it needs to consider focusing on regions and technology where it can retain competitiveness, CEO Masuko told reporters after the board meeting. Cooperation among alliance members is needed amid the rise of new technology like automated and internet-connected vehicles, he said. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told staff on Monday that power was too concentrated with Ghosn and that in future better communication between alliance board members and executives would help preserve independence and generate synergies among the automakers, a Nissan spokesman said.

Nissan and Mitsubishi reportedly working on a 1-ton pickup for the U.S.

We can probably consider it a testament to how far ex-Nissan Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn veered the conglomerate off the straight and narrow that Nissan continues to restate its global aims. Four years ago, Ghosn successor CEO Makoto Uchida announced Nissan Next, part of the plan's global initiatives to "[Focus] on global core model segments including enhanced C and D segment vehicles, electric vehicles, sport cars," "Introduce 12 models in the next 18 months," and "[Expand] presence in EVs and electric-motor-driven cars, including e-POWER, with more than 1 million electrified sales units expected a year by end of FY23." About 18 months later, the automaker expanded on detail with Ambition 2030, which would invest 2 trillion yen ($13.2 billion U.S.) through 2026, part of which would pay for launching 23 new electrified models, 15 of those pure-electric and planned to hit the market by 2027. It's been a tough row to hoe. Now, at the end of Nissan's fiscal year in March, Uchida announced a revised business plan called The Arc. This would put 30 new models on the market by the end of fiscal year 2026 (March 2027), 16 of which will be electrified. Note the climbdown: Ambition 2030 wanted to put 23 electrified vehicles on the market, 15 of them pure-electric, The Arc wants 30 total vehicles, 16 electrified, eight of them pure-electric. A report in Automotive News says one of those BEVs could be an electric one-ton pickup that Nissan will develop with Mitsubishi for the North American market, as well as a plug-in hybrid powertrain that will power an unknown body style and could also serve the pickup. The PHEV would come first, no surprise based on trends in the EV market. Mitsubishi would develop the PHEV powertrain, perhaps an evolution of the system sold in the Outlander PHEV here and the Eclipse Cross PHEV in international markets like Australia. Bringing a PHEV would give Mitsu a third plug-in model, and give Nissan a second to go along with the China-specific Venucia-brand PHEV that launched last year. Beyond giving Nissan a much needed hybrid to sell in the U.S. — the automaker doesn't sell any here now — it would give Mitsubishi dealers some much needed new product.  The pickup, on the other hand, would employ Nissan's EV expertise. It's planned for our market sometime between March 31, 2027, and the same date in 2031. This could make it a part of Nissan's planned family of next-gen modular EVs that debut after the eight models coming by 2026.