1977 Jeep Mitsubishi Cj-3b ( Willys Cj-3b) on 2040-cars

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Mitsubishi bringing Emirai 3 to Tokyo?

Inquiring minds really want to know if the W-shaped steering wheel will return on Mitsubishi's newest iteration of the Emirai electric concept vehicle. The Japanese automaker is slated to show off the third variant of this interesting concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of the month, according to Technologic Vehicles. Beyond the facts that the car is a two-seater and runs on electric power, we don't have many details to share just yet. One specific item we do know, though, is that concept will once again offer close monitoring of the driver's physical state. In this case, the car is said to use cloud-based data to gauge the driver's physical condition, so the concept goes well beyond the types of sensors we see in other vehicles that offer features like collision avoidance and lane maintenance. The car is also missing doors, which doesn't necessary help the driver's physical state but is still pretty cool-looking. The model could see the light of day – and limited production – by the end of the decade. Two years ago, Mitsubishi brought its Emirai 2 concept car to Tokyo. That super-futuristic vehicle included a biometrics feature that adjusted the driver's seat based on the user's facial temperature and heart rate. It also had a W-shaped steering wheel straight out of a Superfriends cartoon. Mitsubishi was an early entrant in the electric-vehicle sector with its i-MiEV, though that model has been selling in the single-digit figures in recent months. Now that we have a few year's worth of hindsight, the i's jellybean shape looks pretty pedestrian compared to the Emirai. News Source: Technologic Vehicles Green Tokyo Motor Show Mitsubishi Electric

nuTonomy beats Uber to launch first self-driving taxi

In the cutthroat world of technology, if you're not first, you're last. With this in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see tech companies and automakers clawing to be first in line to release self-driving cars. Uber recently partnered with Volvo in a $300-million project that should result in a self-driving fleet as early as next month. But amazingly, a 3-year-old company called nuTonomy has beat Uber to the punch by launching the world's first self-driving taxi in Singapore. Cambridge, MA,-based nuTonomy has been privately testing self-driving vehicles in Singapore since April and is now allowing select residents in the city's one-north business district to be driven around in its self-driving taxis for free. Customers will be able to summon one of nuTonomy's self-driving taxis through the company's app and will be picked up in a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car modified for autonomous driving. While the taxi will drive itself, an engineer from nuTonomy will ride in the vehicle to ensure that the car is operating properly and will take over if needed. There's no word on how many self-driving taxis nuTonomy put on the road, but the trials take the company one step closer to launching its fully autonomous fleet by 2018. The Wall Street Journal's Jake Watts managed to get a ride in one of nuTonomy's self-driving taxis and, while it went well, he claims human cabdrivers may not go extinct any time soon. According to Watts, the self-driving Mitsubishi lacked Tesla's polish and was overly cautious. The car did a fine job of avoiding jaywalkers, parked cars, and pedestrians on the short drive, but hesitated often, which could gives riders motion sickness, Watts said. nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma will be speaking at Autoblog's UPSHIFT 2016 conference on transportation technology on October 6 in Detroit. Related Video: News Source: The Wall Street Journal, nuTonomyImage Credit: nuTonomy Green Mitsubishi Renault Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Uber driverless singapore nutonomy

2014 Mitsubishi Lancer to shrink

The aging, oft-forgotten Mitsubishi Lancer won't get a replacement until sometime in 2014, but a new report states that the next-generation model could be a relatively drastic departure from the car you see here. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation President Osamu Masuko told Australian site The Motor Report that the new Lancer will be smaller than the current car, going in a different direction than the vast majority of other automakers.
"The new Lancer will be a very new car, and will be sized somewhere between the current model and its predecessor," Masuko-san told The Motor Report.
There are both pros and cons to this decision. On the plus side, a smaller car means the Lancer will likely have a weight advantage over other vehicles in its class. That said, Mitsubishi will need to find ways to maximize interior space and create efficient packaging in order to still have its compact sedan remain competitive with strong offerings like the Hyundai Elantra, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and so on.