Audi's new Q7 and A4 cars will ‘talk’ to smart traffic lights as soon as next year, saving time wasted waiting at intersections.
Drivers will see a countdown to green lights in their car, allowing them to pull away promptly at the lights.
The technology will also display a countdown before upcoming traffic lights turn red, with the aim of stopping drivers speeding dangerously across junctions.
The system, dubbed “traffic lights information,” will feature in select Q7 and A4 models built for the US market after June 1, but will only prove useful in a handful of US cities that have compatible smart infrastructure.
The system will let the car communicate with smart infrastructure such as traffic lights, installed in five to seven cities in the US initially. But Audi has not named which cities will be ‘switched on’ first.
It works by receiving real-time information from an advanced traffic management system that monitors traffic lights. An on-board LTE data connection communicates with Audi’s servers, which are in turn linked to smart city servers.
The time remaining until a traffic light turns green will be shown in the ‘instrument cluster’ by the steering wheel, as well as on a head-up display, if one is fitted in the car.
The system was first tested in Ingolstadt and Berlin in Germany, Verona in Italy, and was shown off at CES in Las Vegas in January.
Car manufacturers are racing to develop vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems, which will let cars communicate with each other and plot their positions on a road, with the aim of reducing traffic jams and crashes.
The technology will bring cars one step closer to navigating roads with little, or no human intervention, but much depends on the roll out of smart infrastructure, as well as in cars themselves.
In the UK, Audi has launched a slightly less exciting piece of kit – a wireless charging case for the iPhone 6 and 6S. It works with its Audi Phone Box charging system, which can be fitted in most of its cars, from the A3 to the R8 for £325.
Phones protected by the case can be charged wirelessly by simply being placed in a box in the centre of the car. The £35 case, which is branded with Audi’s four rings, can also be used on other wireless charging pads with Qi functionality.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
