Nissan's e-4ORCE is the Spiritual Successor to the GT-R's ATTESA All-Wheel Drive System

Nissan’s ATTESA or Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain is famous for its application in the GT-R supercar among others. Well, the Japanese automaker just showed off its most direct successor and its name? e-4ORCE.

Showed off in a prototype Nissan Leaf in Japan last year, e-4ORCE provides instant torque to all four wheels to deliver balanced, predictable power, and handling on par with many premium sports cars.

The “e” represents Nissan’s technologies enabled by a 100 percent electric motor drive system. “4ORCE,” pronounced “force,” evokes physical power and energy with “4” standing for the all-wheel control driving capability.

The technology was born from lessons learned in the development of the Nissan GT-R's ATTESA E-TS torque split system and the Nissan Patrol's intelligent 4X4 system. Engineers developed the e-4ORCE technology to specifically manage electric vehicle power output and braking performance to be smooth and stable.

Unparalleled ride comfort is the result of the e-4ORCE technology’s ability to minimize vehicle pitch and dive. This is accomplished by employing regenerative braking from both front and rear motors, making city stop-and-go traffic less jostling. Similarly, on rough, bumpy roads and when accelerating, motor control is optimized to maintain ride comfort by minimizing irregular movement.

e-4ORCE increases driver confidence by faithfully tracing the driver's intended line thanks to ultra-high-precision motor and brake control. With the confidence to handle such a variety of road surfaces, even for novice drivers on slippery surfaces, driving becomes more enjoyable.

The first vehicle that’ll benefit from e-4ORCE will be on the production version of Nissan’s zero-emissions crossover, the Ariya which was already shown in concept form at the Tokyo Motor Show last year.

Tired of Building Cars, Toyota Will Now Build a City

Today, Toyota revealed plans to build a prototype city of the future on a 71-hectare site at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Called the Woven City, it will be a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Envisioned as a “living laboratory,” the Woven City will serve as a home to full-time residents and researchers who will be able to test and develop technologies such as autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment.

Toyota will extend an open invitation to collaborate with other commercial and academic partners and invite interested scientists and researchers from around the world to come work on their own projects in this one-of-a-kind, real-world incubator.

For the design of Woven City, Toyota has commissioned Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels, CEO, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). His team at BIG have designed many high-profile projects: from 2 World Trade Center in New York and Lego House in Denmark, to Google’s Mountain View and London headquarters.

The master plan of the city includes the designations for street usage into three types: for faster vehicles only, for a mix of lower speed, personal mobility and pedestrians, and for a park-like promenade for pedestrians only. These three street types weave together to form an organic grid pattern to help accelerate the testing of autonomy.

The city is planned to be fully sustainable, with buildings made mostly of wood to minimize the carbon footprint, using traditional Japanese wood joinery, combined with robotic production methods. The rooftops will be covered in photo-voltaic panels to generate solar power in addition to power generated by hydrogen fuel cells. Toyota plans to weave in the outdoors throughout the city, with native vegetation and hydroponics.

Residences will be equipped with the latest in human support technologies, such as in-home robotics to assist with daily living. The homes will use sensor-based AI to check occupants’ health, take care of basic needs and enhance daily life, creating an opportunity to deploy connected technology with integrity and trust, securely and positively.

To move residents through the city, only fully-autonomous, zero-emission vehicles will be allowed on the main thoroughfares. In and throughout Woven City, autonomous Toyota e-Palettes will be used for transportation and deliveries, as well as for changeable mobile retail.

Both neighborhood parks and a large central park for recreation, as well as a central plaza for social gatherings, are designed to bring the community together. Toyota believes that encouraging human connection will be an equally important aspect of this experience.

Toyota plans to populate Woven City with Toyota Motor Corporation employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists, and industry partners. The plan is for 2,000 people to start, adding more as the project evolves.

The groundbreaking for the site is planned for early 2021.

Future Nissans Will Be Quieter Than Ever Thanks to This New Material

Nissans has built a reputation around its frigid cold air conditioning system, but its absorption of unwanted NVH? Not so much. Well, all that’s going to change thanks to this new breakthrough material developed by the company.

Dubbed “acoustic meta-material,” it’s a simple yet ingenious material. A combination of a lattice structure and plastic film controls air vibrations to limit the transmission of wide frequency band noise (500-1200 hertz), such as road and engine noise.

Currently, most materials used to isolate this frequency band consist mainly of heavy rubber board. Nissan’s new acoustic meta-material weighs one-fourth as much as these while providing the same degree of sound isolation.

Because of its simple structure, the material’s cost competitiveness in terms of mass production is almost the same as, or possibly better than, current materials. Therefore, the material can also be applied to vehicles where the use of sound insulation materials is currently limited due to cost or weight.

Nissan started its research on meta-material technology around 2008. At the time, meta-material was used in high-sensitivity antennas used for electromagnetic wave research. Nissan worked to extend the applicability of meta-material technology to include sound waves, leading to the successful invention of acoustic meta-material.

Honda to Do Away with Pedals with Their Latest Concept Car

Aside from traditional motor shows, carmakers are now attending tech shows in force to preview what’s coming, especially in the realm of connectivity and autonomous driving.

Honda is no exception and they’re making the trek to the Consumer Electronics Expo (CES) this January to show their vision of autonomous vehicles. And while they’re saving the full details for the show proper, they’ve given the world a tease—meet the Augmented Driving Concept.

Made to address the cultural transition to autonomous vehicles, Honda’s Augmented Driving Concept features a seamless transition from autonomous to semi-autonomous driving operation. To respond quickly to the user’s curiosity, the autonomous driving system is constantly on standby, ready to intervene and control the vehicle when needed. The driving system changes between automatic and manual mode with a switch, and features more than eight modes between fully autonomous and semi-autonomous operation. Various sensors in the vehicle continuously read the user’s intention to smoothly shift between these modes, creating an instinctive driving experience.

Additionally, the concept will literally reinvent the steering wheel. By patting the steering wheel twice, the vehicle will start. Pull the steering wheel and the vehicle will slow down; push the steering wheel and the vehicle will accelerate.

Honda believes that customers will be able to enjoy mobility in new ways when freed from the responsibility of driving. However, some customers may still want to experience the emotion and thrill of driving—and in these cases, they have a two-in-one solution in the Augmented Driving Concept.