Porsche Cars North America is set to roll out special smartglasses for all 189 dealerships across the United States. Combined with augmented reality software, Tech Look Live aims to make life easier for technicians and improve customer service.
The Tech Look Live system works by allowing Porsche technicians to work in real-time with experts at Porsche’s central technical support team. The high-definition cameras mounted to the smartglasses allow the experts to see exactly what the technician is looking at – despite the dealership likely being hundreds of miles away from Porsche’s North American headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
From seeing the live feed, the technical centre experts can then suggest fixes in a number of ways. This can include projecting step-by-step guides onto the screen within the smartglasses, allowing the technician to follow instructions hands-free.
In addition, the smartglasses also allow for screenshots to be taken, allowing technical experts to investigate novel new problems in more detail if needed.
The Tech Look Live system is said to rapidly speed up the diagnostic process, eliminating the need for technicians and experts to exchange countless phone calls or emails to try and get to the root cause of a problem. In worst-case scenarios, dealerships would previously need visits from Porsche’s Field Technical Managers, taking even longer to get cars back on the road.
Porsche began piloting the augmented reality software in 2017. Trials found time savings of up to 40 percent in diagnosing complex repair problems.
A total of 75 North American dealers will be online with Tech Look Live by the end of the year, with the remaining set to be included in 2019.
It looked like BBC had finally found a presenting lineup that was working for Top Gear, but now it seems set to change again.
Matt LeBlanc has announced that the next series of Top Gear will be the last one to feature him, with BBC executives already claiming to have ‘great plans’ for his replacement come 2019.
The American actor stated that, although he has found working on the BBC Two show ‘great fun’, the extensive travelling and time commitment has taken away too much of the time with friends and family.
LeBlanc joined the show in 2016, following the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May in the wake of the steak fracas. LeBlanc was initially partnered with Chris Evans, and the US star was arguably the highlight of the challenging 23rd series of the hit show.
Once Chris Evans made his departure, LeBlanc was featured alongside Chris Harris and Rory Reid, with a fledgling ‘bromance’ that appeared to be recreating the glory days of Top Gear again.
His time on Top Gear has not been without controversy, with his involvement in a segment which involved Ken Block’s modified ‘Hoonigan’ Mustang performing drifts near the Cenotaph in London. The tabloids were whipped into a frenzy, with the BBC forced to issue an apology.
The loss of LeBlanc from the show is notable in that he had proved himself to be more than just a successful comedic actor. As a man with a genuine passion for cars, and the bravery to own a scary Porsche 911 GT2 RS, LeBlanc was knowledgeable enough to move beyond simply being typecast as ‘Joey from Friends’ to viewers.
The fourth series of Top Gear to feature LeBlanc will air later this year, but the speculation about his replacement will undoubtedly begin much sooner.
Virgin Trains wants motorists to cut out car use entirely when catching a train – and has partnered with Uber to offer more seamless door-to-door travel. As an incentive, early adopters will get 50 percent off their first Virgin Trains-facilitated Uber ride.
The idea is to help passengers more easily request an Uber either to the railway station, or away from it upon arrival at their destination.
Initially, those booking a Virgin Trains ticket online will be able to get an SMS reminder sent to their smartphone; this will contain a link to book an Uber in time to get them to the station without missing their train – and get another one at the end of their trip.
But Virgin Trains has further plans afoot, to “continue optimising passenger journeys and [improve] customer satisfaction before, during, and after they travel”.
The firm’s executive director Sarah Copley says evidence shows “taking the first and final mile is critical to opening up rail travel to new customers.
“Our exciting new partnership with Uber is the next step in making this end-to-end journey easy and seamless for our customers.”
Ubers head of cities, Fred Jones, agrees. “In order to make it easy to leave your own car at home, we want door-to-door experiences to be as seamless and convenient as possible.
“This partnership with Virgin Trains is an exciting first step towards offering customers an easy way to combine train and car travel at the touch of a button.”
Opinion: Every little helps
It doesn’t sound like a major advance, letting people book Ubers when they book a train ticket. But it seems Virgin Trains has evidence it’s not the actual train journey itself that puts people off using them, it’s the hassle that comes either side of it.
By making this bit easier – basically, sorting it out when the ticket’s booked, not just before you have to depart – the train operator believes it can offer motorists one less excuse to try out the train.
Few of us live within walking distance of major train stations. Many of us would thus consider driving there and, once we’ve gone so far, why not drive the rest of the way? Result: one ticket booking investigated, but not taken up.
If Virgin Trains’ ‘door-to-door’ offer can ease this pain point, more people may be encouraged to catch the train. Will it work? We shall see: sometimes, it’s the smallest nudges that can make the biggest difference…
Instagram continues to be one of the fastest growing social media platforms, and it’s therefore only natural that cars find their way into your feed. Vehicle supplier OSV has investigated which brands have been hashtagged the most, and also which particular model gets the most attention.
Unlike comparing which Instagram brand has the most followers, this list should ‘keep it real’ with what cars social media users are actually tagging. This is the top 20 in ascending order.
20. Mitsubishi #3.55 million
The Mitsubishi brand actually applies to everything from banking to industrial machinery and even air conditioning units. We’ll give the Japanese brand the benefit of the doubt and assume people are more inclined to post about their new car, rather than the latest forklift truck.
Less surprising is that the Lancer Evo tops the table for the most hashtagged Mitsubishi. Covering ten versions, and with a huge following in the tuning world, it would always be a winner.
McLaren Automotive has just delivered its 15,000th car in just seven years of production. It’s a far cry from the ultra-limited-edition world of the legendary F1 road car, but proof that the brand is certainly buoyant. Attention on Instagram can only help build that following.
The 650S might now be out of production, but currently holds the most tags. Expect the newer 720S supercar to overtake it in the near future.
The olde-world image of MG and the shiny modern style of Instagram seems something of a juxtaposition, but the brand sneaks into 18th place on OSV’s list.
Maybe it’s all those hipsters finding a car like the TA Midget really suits a black and white photo filter, especially when combined with a beard and tweed jacket.
Lexus used Will.i.am to promote the crazy angular lines of the NX when it was first launched back in 2015. Still, that association hasn’t stopped fans of the company from posting about Lexus on Instagram today.
OSV claims that ‘lexusfsport’ is the most popular hashtag associated with the Japanese premium brand. With Lexus now applying the F Sport badge to a number of models, we’ve picked the handsome RC F Sport coupe to highlight here.
As one of the world’s leading luxury car companies, this again should not be too much of a shock. Instagramming Bentley products could cover anything from the brand’s participation in a variety of motorsport events, through to excitement at spotting the latest model on the street.
It’s the Bentley Continental GT that attracts the most attention, and we imagine that the all-new third-generation car will be driving the hashtags.
Although not one of the outright largest car manufacturers in the world, Mazda does have a loyal and devoted fanbase. Enthusiasts love the MX-5, whilst the rotary Wankel-engined cars will always hold cult appeal.
Which is why we were somewhat surprised that the humble Mazda 3 is the one which apparently gets the most tags on Instagram, with more than 600,000 at present. Perhaps it’s those pesky hyphens in the RX-7 and RX-8 names ruining the hashtags…
As with many of the companies here, #Suzuki could easily apply to cars, motorbikes, or even all-terrain vehicles. However, as the third largest seller of cars in Japan, we’ll go with the assumption that it’s all about the automobiles with this one.
The global appeal of the Swift helps make it the most popular model to be hashtagged. We imagine the Swift being produced locally in India under the Maruti subsidiary brings substantial hashtagging potential.
The UK may have fallen out of love with performance Subaru models like the WRX STI, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world has too. Subaru’s performance brand is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and North America has just received the latest version of the STI saloon.
It’s the WRX model which steals the most hashtag attention on Instagram though. Probably not the ‘bug eye’ second-generation model from 2000, though – filters can only do so much.
It may well be the ‘people’s car’ but Volkswagen needs more hashtags from fans to push it inside the top 10. Despite the Vee-Dub scene being eminently popular, perhaps those in it are just too cool for social media.
With more than 30 million examples built since 1974, the Golf is the most popular model to be hashtagged. Even dieselgate cannot kill the enthusiasm for the ever-present VW hatchback.
A classic British marque, or a modern brand within the BMW empire? Whichever way you choose to view Mini, it is at least popular on Instagram. More specifically, it’s the Mini Cooper that gets the most tags.
This does leave us with one of the great social media mysteries of our time, though. Is Mini Cooper Instagram equivalent to Fiat 500 Twitter (look it up)? And, more importantly, do we really want to know the answer to that?
Even people with virtually no interest in cars can identify a Jeep, or at least use the brand name to describe any number of different 4×4 and SUV models. Perhaps that generic association with off-road vehicles helps push #Jeep higher up the rankings.
Branding is all about being easily identifiable, and despite the Jeep Wrangler being into its fourth-generation, the link to past models is clear to see. It still proves popular with buyers, too, notching up annual sales of more than 200,000 across the world.
We’ll admit that we expected this particular Italian supercar brand to be higher up the list than ninth place. Tellingly, #Lambo has more than two million hashtags alone, so the company could be even higher if people would stop being lazy and use its full name.
The Aventador might be one of the newest models to emerge for Sant’Agata, but it has also combined with a enhanced social media presence from Lamborghini. Perhaps Instagram is just the modern replacement for sticking a poster of a Countach on your bedroom wall.
Identified as one of the most profitable companies in the world, Porsche still manages to somehow avoid appearing too corporate to be liked on Instagram. The brand is booming, and a long way from the potential collapse of the early 1990s.
Enthusiasts will be pleased to note that the 911 is the most hashtagged Porsche according to OSV, rather than the Cayenne or Macan SUVs.
It’s the second-largest car manufacturer in the world, so the placing of Toyota on the list is a formality. However, that the company is so far up the rankings suggests we shouldn’t automatically assume that it’s products are so anodyne to discourage people from hashtagging them.
Also forget the Corolla, Supra, or MR2, as it’s the American-built Tacoma that gets the most attention on Instagram.
We had to double check the figures on this, and we imagine the Italians will be running to the stewards in protest, as Ferrari has been edged out by Mercedes again. Still, sixth place in the rankings isn’t too much to complain about.
OSV’s figures had the 599 as the most popular Ferrari model on Instagram, although our research suggests the iconic F40 actually has more tags. That’s all the excuse we need to roll out the retro model from the 1980s again.
Simply using the hashtag Mercedes on Instagram can open the door to a wide array of contenders. Be that the Mercedes-Benz name itself, the racier Mercedes-AMG sub-brand, or simply people bestowed with the name Mercedes.
The most popular model is also #MercedesAMG it seems, which leaves the door open for a number of cars. We’ve gone with the thundering Mercedes-AMG GT R supercar here.
German behemoth Audi sneaks ahead of Mercedes, even though we can’t imagine many children sharing a name with the Ingolstadt brand. As such, this must be on pure car popularity alone, and a reminder of how far the company has come in recent years.
On the data supplied by OSV, the Audi Q7 SUV was listed as the most hashtagged model. However, our own research suggests that the R8 supercar gets far more attention. It’s also prettier, too.
Taking the bronze medal in the list of the most hashtagged car brands is one that has a truly global appeal. The scale and reach of the Ford name is staggering, so that fans are happily taking photos and tagging the Blue Oval should be a certainty.
The Mustang being the most popular model should also be no surprise. Immediately identifiable, and now offered in more markets than ever, muscle car love is a given.
As another vast corporation producing virtually anything with an engine, and even some things without, Honda has the potential to attract a lot of attention with ease. But let us not underplay the following that cars like the NSX and Civic Type-R have with enthusiasts.
Tellingly it’s the Civic that gets the most hashtags. A long time favourite of the modified car scene across the world, the keen marketing of the latest Civic Type R will undoubtedly have helped channel attention to Instagram.
We’ve reached the end of the list, and BMW is a clear winner with almost 30 million individual hashtags on Instagram. Maybe the short name helps avoid typographical errors, or maybe it’s that owners really do just love the ‘ultimate driving machine’.
We’ve departed again from OSV’s most popular model data, which suggested that ‘bmw5’ was the winner. A little digging finds over a million hashtags for the BMW M3, and this eye-searingly orange M3 GTS seems a much better place to end.
Land Rover sold 126,078 Discovery Sport vehicles in 2017: this is more in a single year than any Land Rover in the firm’s 70-year history. To mark this, the 4×4 company has decided to launch a new Landmark special edition, priced from £40,400.
The Discovery Sport Landmark is offered in three colours, Narvik Black, Corris Grey and Yulong White. All three get a unique Carpathian Grey contrast roof and Graphite Atlas detailing.
Unique Gloss Dark Grey 19-inch alloys are fitted, as is a more dynamic front bumper (the air intakes are larger); inside, grained Ebony leather seats are standard, along with a dark Ebony roofliner. Land Rover’s also chucked in dark satin grey aluminium dash trim, a panoramic roof, heated steering wheel and a Meridian sound system as standard.
All Discovery Sport Landmark models are powered by the same 180hp 2.0-litre TD4 engine, and come with a nine-speed automatic gearbox as standard. Average economy of 43.5mpg is claimed, and both five- and seven-seat variants are offered; the former does 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds, the latter dipping a little to 9.2 seconds.
Why are people flocking to the Discovery Sport? Because, says Land Rover’s global product marketing director Finbar McFall, “it demonstrates the breadth of Land Rover’s ability, offering unrivalled all-terrain capability with the versatility for up to seven people and a premium interior”.
Since its launch in 2014, he adds, more than 350,000 Discovery Sports have been sold globally: the 2017 production record was marked on 30 April, Land Rover’s official 70th birthday, when the Discovery Sport became the first Land Rover built that day.
The vehicle will now be used to support a number of Land Rover community projects, the first of which will be in Scotland starting in June.
More than 50 electric and electrified cars will go on show at Silverstone next weekend (9th and 10th June) at the inaugural Fully Charged Live motorshow – a gathering that organisers promise will be the largest number of electric vehicles ever assembled in Britain.
First-look cars include the new Jaguar I-Pace and Nissan Leaf, the Tesla Model S ‘Shooting Brake’, plus converted EV curious such as a Ferrari 308 GT, 1965 Fiat 500 and a Jaguar XJ-S.
Every new electric and electrified vehicle currently on sale in Britain will be there, promise the organisers.
Red Dwarf star, Scrapheap Challenge presenter and Fully Charged founder Robert Llewellyn is the man behind Silverstone’s Fully Charged live show. “It’s been an exciting few months since we announced Fully Charged Live,” he explained, “and the list of exhibitors, speakers, sponsors and vehicles that will be on show and the volume of tickets sold is incredible.
“The Fully Charged team have worked tirelessly to include the ingredients that our audience love in a live format and we’re really looking forward to welcoming them on the 9th and 10th June.”
There will be a number of live sessions, presented by Llewellyn and fellow TV colleagues Jonny Smith (Fifth Gear) and Helen Czerski (From Ice to Fire). The idea is to educate visitors about the electric car scene, with sessions including ‘introduction to owning an electric vehicle’ and ‘generating your own heat and power at home’.
There’s also an ‘ask the experts’ area, a hospitality zone and plenty of things for kids to do while their parents gen up on whether an EV is for them.
Fully Charged was a concept born on YouTube: in eight years, 300 shows have gone live, now viewed by two million people a month. The Fully Charged Live show is the first step in the scale-up strategy for Llewellyn’s Fully Charged concept.
Fully Charged Live 2018
Where: Silverstone Wing
When: 10am-6pm, Saturday 9th June; 10am-5pm, Sunday 10th June
Car-sharing company Zipcar has ordered 325 all-electric Volkswagen e-Golfs for London members. The new cars will be available to hire through the new Zipcar Flex service, which allows ‘drive and drop’ one-way vehicle rentals.
The expansion into fully-electric e-Golfs is a development of Zipcar’s existing Volkswagen deal, which has seen the car-share firm run plug-in hybrid Golf GTEs for the past two years. “Thousands” of people have since got behind the wheel.
It’s Volkswagen’s 2017 revisions to the e-Golf that seem to have encouraged Zipcar to go EV. The car’s range was improved to 186 miles on the NEDC cycle, which VW says translates into a realistic real-world range of 124 miles – meaning the cars can viably be used as daily drivers without the need for frequent recharges.
A larger capacity lithium ion battery – up from 24.2 kWh to 35.8 kWh – also helps the latest e-Golf deliver 15 percent more power, and run from 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds.
Volkswagen UK director Alison Jones is excited by the deal. “Thousands of Zipcar members will experience electric driving, perhaps for the first time, and we know they will love the functionality and ease of use that the all-electric e-Golf provides.”
The UK importer’s head of marketing, Geraldine Ingham, said there was evidence inner-city residents are looking for new alternatives to car ownership – they like the flexibility of cars, but not the complications of actually owning one.
“This development of the relationship between Volkswagen and Zipcar offers the best of both worlds: the benefits of access to a car and zero emission motoring across the UK’s capital.”
Zipcar UK general manager Jonathan Hampson says the deal is another key milestone for Zipcar and “another step towards our vision for a greener London where car sharers outnumber car owners, making our amazing city an even better place to live for all”.
Londoners can now sign up for a Zipcar UK account online, and then rent one of the new e-Golfs either online or via the firm’s app.
For what seems like decades, concept cars have been shown with fancy, tiny ‘virtual’ door mirrors. Only to then make production looking largely identical – save for the addition of massive ‘Dumbo ears’ on each door. But now, Audi is making every concept car designer’s dream a reality, with the world’s first production-ready virtual door mirrors.
They’re appearing on the new Audi e-tron, which will be revealed this summer ahead of production starting later this year. At this stage, they’ll be a (likely expensive) option, rather than standard fit, but it’s still proof that Vorsprung durch Technik is alive and well after all at Audi.
The firm says they’re much narrower than normal door mirrors – they reduce the overall width of the e-tron by a healthy 150mm. They also reduce drag and, most noticeably, significantly reduce wind noise.
So how do they work? Via built-in cameras, which feed to high-resolution OLED displays mounted between the dashboard and the door.
Audi says they adapt to different driving situations, displaying three different views through the MMI system – there are bespoke displays for motorway driving, turning and parking.
We’ll get more details of Audi’s virtual door mirrors in the build-up to the car’s official release in the coming months – including details of how Audi’s going to overcome European legislation that still mandates at least one physical exterior rear-view mirror (Japan has, however, already altered legislation to allow cameras instead of mirrors: others are expected to follow its lead).
For now, listen carefully and you’ll probably hear the cheers in advanced car design studios across the world…
Land Rover used to say it is the best 4x4xfar. Now it aims to move this claim into the autonomous age by developing vehicles that drive themselves off-road, with the launch of a new all-terrain autonomous programme called CORTEX.
The ambitious project has been announced with £3.7 million of funding, to develop vehicles that can drive themselves no matter what the weather and terrain – this includes dirt, rain, ice, snow and fog. Today’s driver-assist technology is frequently disabled when it rains: Land Rover aims to overcome this.
But it’s even more complex than that. The autonomous systems need to be able to read all types of terrain, no matter how steep, uneven or extreme. This is why the core of the project is the development of the world’s first ‘5D’ technology: it is this that will enable highest-level Level 4 and Level 5 off-road autonomy.
Land Rover says 5D will combine acoustic, video, radar, light detection and distance sensing tech in real time, with the addition of machine learning to help the vehicle improve and get more sophisticated over time.
“It is important that we develop our self-driving vehicles with the same capability and performance customers expect from all Jaguars and Land Rovers,” said Jaguar Land Rover’s connected and autonomous vehicle research manager Chris Holmes.
“Self-driving is an inevitability for the automotive industry… CORTEX gives us the opportunity to work with some fantastic partners whose expertise will help us realise this vison in the near future.”
Land Rover will now work on the algorithm development, sensor optimisation and physical testing at off-road tracks throughout Britain – in association with the University of Birmingham and machine learning experts Myrtle AI.
There is an official BSI certification standard for blastproof and bombproof civilian armoured vehicles, called PAS 300. Now, Skoda UK is offering a civilian armoured Superb Estate that’s been certified to this standard – it’s on sale now from £118,688.
Based on the regular Superb 2.0 TDI 190 estate, it’s the result of a three-year engineering project by the British team, and is expected to become a popular new option for police forces – particularly undercover cops.
That’s because it’s “virtually indistinguishable from the standard production car, yet offers bullet and blast protection to occupants”.
This has been achieved through fitting bulletproof glass, along with the use of high-strength steel and composites. Skoda intentionally isn’t revealing too many technical details about the conversion, arguing they “must remain secret”. It has, however, been proven by an independent test facility, which fired different types of ammunition at it, as well as exposing it to blast and fragmentation threats.
Run-flat tyres and wheels have been fitted, so the car can continue to drive after a blowout, and Skoda’s also packed in emergency lights and sirens – both well-hidden for suitably incognito duties. For off-duty entertainment, occupants have the 8.0in version of Skoda’s infotainment system, with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and GPS.
Although the engine is standard, both suspension and brakes have been uprated to cope with the (unquoted) additional weight of the bulletproof, bombproof extras.
Want to see more of the most expensive Skoda ever sold in the UK? Check out the video below. Oh, and reassuringly, adds Skoda, no matter how many bullets and blasts it resists, the standard three-year warranty remains valid…
It looked like BBC had finally found a presenting lineup that was working for Top Gear, but now it seems set to change again.
Virgin Trains wants motorists to cut out car use entirely when catching a train – and has partnered with Uber to offer more seamless door-to-door travel. As an incentive, early adopters will get 50 percent off their first Virgin Trains-facilitated Uber ride.
Land Rover sold 126,078 Discovery Sport vehicles in 2017: this is more in a single year than any Land Rover in the firm’s 70-year history. To mark this, the 4×4 company has decided to launch a new Landmark special edition, priced from £40,400.
More than 50 electric and electrified cars will go on show at Silverstone next weekend (9th and 10th June) at the inaugural Fully Charged Live 
Car-sharing company Zipcar has ordered 325 all-electric Volkswagen e-Golfs for London members. The new cars will be available to hire through the new Zipcar Flex service, which allows ‘drive and drop’ one-way vehicle rentals.
For what seems like decades, concept cars have been shown with fancy, tiny ‘virtual’ door mirrors. Only to then make production looking largely identical – save for the addition of massive ‘Dumbo ears’ on each door. But now, Audi is making every concept car designer’s dream a reality, with the world’s first production-ready virtual door mirrors.
Land Rover used to say it is the 
There is an official BSI certification standard for blastproof and bombproof civilian armoured vehicles, called PAS 300. Now, Skoda UK is offering a civilian armoured Superb Estate that’s been certified to this standard – it’s on sale now from £118,688.
