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Aurora's Chris Urmson on autonomy — that's one way to avoid speeding tickets

Although this year's CES was full of companies announcing and exhibiting their real and conceivable self-driving car technologies, while actual self-driving cars from Aptiv-Lyft were giving conventioneers 400 rides around town, the biggest news came when Volkswagen Group — and recognize this is the entire group, not just the brand — and Hyundai announced that they'd both partnered with Aurora Innovation. While the VW announcement was vague — "The collaboration brings the two companies together to realize self-driving electric vehicles in cities as Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) fleets" — Hyundai provided a concrete goal: "a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021." You may not have heard of Aurora, which has been described in some news accounts as "mysterious." But Aurora Innovation has been in business since December 2016, and it is to autonomous technology what the 1927 Yankees are to baseball. The three leaders of the company are Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO, who had previously been chief technology officer for Alphabet Self-Driving Cars; Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer, who had directed the development of Tesla Autopilot; and Drew Bagnell, co-founder and chief technical officer, who had been autonomy architect and perception lead at the Uber Advanced Technology Center. We had the chance to sit down with Chris Urmson after he appeared onstage at a Hyundai press conference. He shared his insights on Aurora's approach to automated driving. Initial deployment of self-driving cars? "We think the first place this technology comes to market in in the transportation services or ride-hailing applications, but that's for our partners to decide." (Ride-sharing is a strategy a lot of players in the field are shooting for, as round-the-clock use is one way for paying for what will initially be a technology too costly for private ownership.) Transporting goods or people? "I personally — and as a company — am more excited initially about moving people around. Urban mobility. That's where you see the largest social impact. And it provides better access to mobility for people." Can you create a car that doesn't crash? "It is a fundamentally hard problem because other operators on the road can behave erratically at any moment. For example, if you are in a two-lane, opposing-traffic road, if you want to be safe, you don't drive there, ever.

Volkswagen Golf voted 2013 European Car of the Year

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf just went on sale in Europe, but it is already off to a promising start. Announced as the Geneva Motor Show kicked off, the newest Golf was named European Car of the Year for 2013 in dominating style over cars like the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86 twins, Volvo V40, Ford B-Max and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
According to Automotive News Europe, the MkVII Golf won handily over its rivals with a total of 414 votes. The Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 received 202 votes finishing in a distant second, while the Volvo V40 (189 votes), Ford B-Max (148 votes) and Mercedes-Benz A-Class (138 votes) round out the top five. The new Golf marks the third Volkswagen product to receive the prestigious award with previous cars including the MkIII Golf and the most recent iteration of the Polo.

EPA discovers defeat device in more VW TDI engines

In a sternly worded letter, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new set of allegations against Volkswagen claiming that so-called emissions defeat software has been found in the company's 3.0-liter TDI V6 diesel engines. This is a completely different engine than the 2.0 TDI that has already been identified as an emissions cheater. In addition to VW, the EPA has included Audi and Porsche in this notification, as the non-compliant engine has been used in vehicles from all three manufacturers from model years 2014 through 2016. The EPA claims that cars equipped with the 3.0 TDI engine know when they are being tested for emissions, and their on-board computers switch into a mode designed to pass the stringent requirements in the United States for diesel exhaust. Vehicles sold in the United States with this engine include the 2014 VW Touareg, 2015 Porsche Cayenne, and 2016 Audi A6, A7, A8L and Q5. The EPA says there are 10,000 vehicles currently on the road with this second defeat device, along with an unknown number of 2016 models either on dealer lots or in the driveways of consumers. According to the EPA, VW's 3.0-liter TDI, like the 2.0 TDI that was found to circumvent US regulations, has code in its computer specifically written to intentionally put the vehicle's engine into a mode that allows it to meet exhaust requirements. When the vehicle is unhooked from testing equipment, it will go back into a mode that emits nine-times higher nitrogen oxide emissions than is allowable under US law. "VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans," said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for the Office for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "All companies should be playing by the same rules. EPA, with our state, and federal partners, will continue to investigate these serious matters, to secure the benefits of the Clean Air Act, ensure a level playing field for responsible businesses, and to ensure consumers get the environmental performance they expect." Richard Corey, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement, "Today we are requiring VW Group to address these issues. This is a very serious public health matter. ARB and EPA will continue to conduct a rigorous investigation that includes testing more vehicles until all of the facts are out in the open." This story will be updated as new information becomes available.