It’s been a large twelvemonth for Qualcomm. Alongside its monolithic motorboat into laptop chips done the Snapdragon X Elite series, Qualcomm is now entering nan automotive space. The institution has announced nan caller Qualcomm Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite platforms astatine its yearly Snapdragon Summit, which it flew maine retired to attend.
The 2 platforms are designed for different purposes, and tin beryllium utilized togetheror separately. The Snapdragon Cockpit Elite is built for in-vehicle infotainment systems and services, while nan Snapdragon Ride Elite is built to powerfulness autonomous conveyance systems, including each nan cameras and sensors that spell into those systems.
At nan bosom of some platforms is the Qualcomm Oryon CPU, which is nan aforesaid CPU that’s built into Snapdragon-powered smartphones. The result? Vehicles pinch package moving connected nan Snapdragon Cockpit Elite could theoretically tally arsenic speedy arsenic your telephone — that would beryllium a immense betterment for astir vehicles. That’s much important than ever arsenic carmakers commencement to move toward building software-defined vehicles, aliases SDVs, successful an effort to beryllium much for illustration Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid.
Software support is important here. In nan smartphone space, astir Snapdragon chips tally Android. In nan PC space, they tally Windows. But successful nan automotive world, location are dozens of in-car operating systems, each a small different. Qualcomm says that nan level will support each of these operating systems, though we’ll person to hold and spot if it results successful a capacity hit.
It’ll support early vehicles pinch much displays too. Qualcomm says that nan Snapdragon Cockpit Elite tin thrust up to 16 displays pinch a 4K resolution, which is beautiful huge.
AI support is important present too, particularly erstwhile it comes to nan Snapdragon Ride Elite, which is designed to process self-driving tech. Both platforms are designed pinch a dedicated neural processing unit, pinch nan Snapdragon Ride Elite built specifically for low-latency and highly meticulous processing. Low latency is important — nan platforms support complete 40 multimodal sensors, which includes up to 20 cameras to guarantee 360-degree coverage, positive in-cabin monitoring.
And nan platforms are designed to do each of this efficiently. That’s important excessively — nan little powerfulness being utilized for processing, nan much that tin spell into ensuring a decent range.
Car package is notoriously slow, often taking seconds to respond to touch and load menus. That’s not only annoying — it’s dangerous, representing much clip that you walk looking astatine a surface erstwhile you should beryllium looking astatine nan road. As we caput into a world of much and much autonomous tech, amended processing is progressively important.
Qualcomm says Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite will beryllium “available for sampling” successful 2025. That doesn’t mean we’ll spot cars pinch nan platforms successful 2025 — it intends automakers will beryllium capable to get nan chips to commencement testing with. It could beryllium immoderate clip earlier we tin really bargain a car pinch 1 of these platforms, though, hopefully, they’ll beryllium disposable sooner alternatively than later.
EV bidirectional charging: what it is and really to get it
One of nan biggest advantages of electrical vehicles is not only nan truth that you tin complaint astatine location but that you tin usage your EV to powerfulness your location successful nan arena of a powerfulness outage, aliases to prevention money by limiting powerfulness usage during highest periods. The expertise for an EV to not only person powerfulness but besides proviso it is called bidirectional charging -- and if you unrecorded successful an area pinch predominant powerfulness outages aliases different emergency situations, it tin connection superior bid of mind.
Bidirectional charging is apt to go progressively communal complete nan adjacent fewer years. If you're an EV proprietor pinch nan expertise to complaint astatine home, you'll apt want to astatine slightest deliberation astir whether bidirectional charging could beryllium adjuvant for you. Here's everything you request to cognize astir nan technology, including its advantages and really to guarantee you tin instrumentality it.
Advantages of bidirectional charging
There are plentifulness of advantages to allowing an electrical conveyance to not only person powerfulness but to proviso it arsenic well.
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Tesla reveals value scope for Optimus Gen2, its ‘robot without wheels’
“The early should look for illustration nan future”, CEO Elon Musk said astatine nan Tesla "We Robot" typical arena held successful Burbank, California, earlier this week. Sure enough, Tesla’s much-anticipated autonomous robotaxi, nan Cybercab, and its large-van counterpart, nan Cybervan, seemed consecutive retired of celebrated sci-fi movies. But arsenic nan sanction of nan arena hinted at, a imagination of nan early would not beryllium complete without robots: Several of nan Optimus Gen 2, Tesla’s latest type of humanoid-like robot, were recovered serving drinks, holding conversations pinch guests, and moreover dancing astatine nan event.Tesla has precocious sounded nan Optimus arsenic a imaginable replacement for mill workers successful China and elsewhere. Musk antecedently said he expects nan Optimus to commencement moving astatine Tesla factories successful 2025 and to beryllium disposable to different firms successful 2026.
Yet, astatine nan event, nan Tesla leader revealed his expanded imagination of a family robot that tin do “everything you want: Babysit your kid, locomotion your dog, mow your lawn, get nan groceries, conscionable beryllium your friend, service drinks”.He besides gave a person estimate of nan robot’s value tag: Once produced "at scale," Optimus should costs location betwixt $20,000 and $30,000. Musk had antecedently said nan robot’s value would beryllium astir half that of a car.
Staying existent to his sci-fi vision, nan Tesla CEO referred to Optimus arsenic a transverse betwixt R2D2 and C-3PO, nan celebrated droids from nan Star Wars movie series.
Ever since nan first procreation of nan Optimus was revealed successful 2022, Tesla has emphasized nan continuity betwixt its cars and nan robot. “Everything that we’ve developed for our cars -- nan artillery power’s electronics, nan precocious motor’s gearboxes, nan software, nan AI conclusion machine -- it each really applies to a humanoid robot,” Musk said astatine nan event. “A robot pinch arms and legs, alternatively of a robot pinch wheels.”
Tesla would not beryllium nan first to connection a home robot connected nan market. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics has already commercialized a location service-type robot called Spot pinch a hefty value tag of $74,500. BMW and Open AI are backing robots made by Figure, a California-based company. Meanwhile, Nvidia is processing Project GR00T to besides present humanoid robots.Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs forecast that nan yearly world marketplace for humanoid robots could scope $38 cardinal by 2035, pinch robot shipments of 1.4 cardinal units some for business and user applications. It besides said that robots could go much affordable arsenic their manufacturing costs has been decreasing much than expected -- starring to faster commercialization.
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GM launches PowerBank, a artillery that could rival Tesla’s PowerWall
Competition to supply nan champion power savings to EV owners is heating up betwixt car makers.General Motor’s portion GM Energy has conscionable released PowerBank, a stationary power retention artillery battalion that gives electrical vehicles (EV) owners nan expertise to shop and transportation power from nan electrical grid, and allows integration pinch location star powerfulness equipment.The PowerBank, which comes successful 10.6kWh and 17.7kWh artillery capacity variants, tin powerfulness up a location erstwhile location is an outage aliases thief offset higher energy rates during highest demand, GM said. In addition, customers tin besides usage PowerBank to shop and usage star energy, supplement nan charging of EVs and supply powerfulness to a location without an EV being present.GM says that combining 2 of its 17.7kWh PowerBanks tin supply capable power to powerfulness nan mean American location for up to 20 hours.The PowerBank tin beryllium bought arsenic portion of 2 bundles: nan GM Energy Storage bundle astatine $10,999, aliases nan GM Energy Home System bundle astatine $12,700. The second includes a bi-directional EV charger that tin supply up to 19.2kWh of power. By comparison, Tesla’s power retention system, PowerWall 3, tin shop 13.5kWh of power and has a value tag of $9,300.According to GM Vice President Wade Sheffer, 1 cardinal advantage of nan PowerBank it its “modularity,” which allows for easy integration pinch existing technology.GM announced successful August that it would supply vehicle-to-home (V2H) exertion connected each its exemplary twelvemonth 2026 models. It will now besides connection vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which tin supply further power and financial savings.
Energy savings coming from nan integration of electrical vehicles, solar-powered homes, and power grids are progressively astatine nan halfway of EV manufacturers' offerings.
Nissan, BMW, Ford, and Honda person grouped together to connection nan ChargeScape V2G software, which connects EVs to utilities and nan powerfulness grid. EV owners tin person financial incentives to region charging during highest request aliases waste power backmost to nan grid.While Tesla has truthful acold backed disconnected from embracing V2G technology, CEO Elon Musk has hinted that V2G tech could beryllium introduced for Tesla vehicles successful 2025.
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