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New Honda smart cruise control predicts other motorists' future idiocy

It's not quite "Open the pod bay doors, Hal," but we're getting there: Honda is offering a predictive cruise control system on the Exectuve Grade Honda CR-V in Europe starting this year. Advancing the capabilities of the present adaptive cruise control, the Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (i-ACC) will be able to foresee and automatically react to other vehicles cutting in ahead of you up to five seconds ahead of it happening. A research team developed the system after studying European driving patterns for years. The i-ACC keeps track of surrounding cars with a camera and radar, "evaluating relations between multiple vehicles" and running the data through an algorithm to figure out who's going to do what. If it detects another car about to move into your lane, the CR-V brakes softly and a dash light illuminates to let the driver know what's about to happen, then it brakes a little more firmly to keep the proper distance after the other car moves in. Honda says it works in the UK and on The Continent because it knows which side of the road you're driving on. That means it could work here, but our guess is that it will take a while for that happen, our driving patterns being a little more erratic - and that's putting it kindly - than those of our Euro brethren. There's a press release below with more information. Honda to Introduce World's First Predictive Safety Cruise Control System 08.01.2015 - Honda is to introduce the world's first predictive cruise control system known as Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (i-ACC), capable of foreseeing and automatically reacting to other vehicles 'cutting-in' to the equipped vehicle's lane. Based on extensive real-world research of typical European driving styles, Honda's Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control (i-ACC) uses a camera and radar to sense the position of other vehicles on the road. It then applies an algorithm to predict the likelihood of vehicles in neighbouring lanes cutting-in by evaluating relations between multiple vehicles, enabling the equipped vehicle to react quickly, safely and comfortably. i-ACC will make its debut this year on the new European CR-V*, building upon the traditional Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system. Traditional ACC systems keep a preselected longitudinal velocity, which is only reduced for maintaining a safe distance to a car in front. However, if a vehicle cuts-in from a neighboring lane, the traditional ACC system reacts later thus requiring stronger braking.

Techstars Mobility brings transportation startups to Detroit

A new tech incubator is looking to combine the Motor City's automotive history with its evolving tech startup landscape. "Techstars Mobility, Driven by Detroit" kicks off its first round with 10 startups next week. Techstars is an established accelerator network with incubators around the world, and Detroit is a new addition. The projects center around mobility in some form, be it improving vehicles, moving goods, or working cars into the sharing economy in new ways. In return for a percentage stake in each company, Techstars provides mentorship, access to experts, seed money, and a collaborative environment. One startup we're particularly excited about is Motoroso. This site is like Pinterest for the car-obsessed, with boards replaced by garages that can contain photos and links to other projects. The site lets you follow brands – Chevy, Porsche, Ducati, and others already have profiles – as well as other users. For the Autoblog editors, Motoroso provides a new way to share stories, photos, and video, as well as a way to discover new products and interesting DIY projects. Take a look at the Autoblog profile and wander around the site to check things out. Another one of the startups, Classics & Exotics, is helping owners of interesting cars and would-be drivers connect in an Airbnb-style distributed rental program. Think of it as an auction catalog you can drive. Renters can specify the price, mileage, minimum driver age, and availability. Similar to Airbnb, Classics & Exotics provides each vehicle owner with $1 million in liability and damage protection. The company also vets renters for added peace of mind. Sounds like fun, and a cheap way to avoid a costly Craigslist or eBay mistake. Along similar shared-economy lines comes SPLT, a ride-sharing platform that finds people going where you're going and lets you hop in a car and split the costs. It's aimed at commuters but also has great applications for those looking for occasional one-way rides somewhere. SPLT notes that the system is a good way to meet new people – hopefully, good new people. Depending on how well SPLT keeps sketchy rides and riders out of the system, this could be a solid alternative to services like Uber and Lyft. This Techstars Mobility class has backing from corporate sponsors, including Ford, Honda, Magna, Dana, Verizon Telematics (Verizon has an offer pending to buy AOL, our parent company), and McDonald's.

Zipcar, Honda announce OneWay carsharing with 2015 Fit

Zipcar has been around for over a dozen years, and now shares more than 10,000 cars on a short-term basis with 850,000 members around the world. But there's been one thing missing from the carsharing giant's quiver of options: the one-way rental. That changes today. For a select few in Boston, anyway. OneWay's Boston launch is so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge. Zipcar has announced a new one-way carsharing option called (annoyingly) ONE>WAY. This new program soft launches in Boston today, and it's so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge drivers who use the new service. What we do know is that OneWay exclusively uses the 2015 Honda Fit and will allow drivers to rent by the half hour as they pick up and drop off in two different locations. The standard Zipcar model requires the cars to be brought back to the original location and has a one-hour minimum. At least one membership fee will cover both standard Zipcar and Zipcar OneWay. The introduction of shorter-term, one-way rental may sound a bit like Car2go, the successful carsharing program started by Daimler. Zipcar representatives told AutoblogGreen that it did develop OneWay in response to member demand and that there are two main differences between the two carsharing services. First, since OneWay still uses the traditional reserved-for-Zipcar parking spot method (new ones will be established for OneWay), there will always be a guaranteed space when you arrive at your destination. Second, the Fit has a lot roomier than the Smart ForTwo used by Car2go. To see this point in action, check out the four happy hipsters in Zipcar's new ad for OneWay below. There are currently other Fits in Zipcar fleets in other cities, but the specially branded vehicles in the Boston trial program will need to be used with the OneWay vehicles. That means, for now at least, that users will specify a pick-up and drop-off location before renting the vehicle, said Kaye Ceille, the president of Zipcar. The 30-minute minimum might also someday be changed, depending on user feedback. There's a lot up in the air right now, but Zipcar did say that despite the fact that OneWay is intended for short trips and has reserved parking, the Fit EV will not be involved. That car simply doesn't offer the cargo flexibility that the standard Fit does and some of the reserved parking spots will be on the street, where putting in a charging station isn't feasible.