In AT&T’s smart city future, cars talk to each other and play nice

By Keith Nelson Jr. January 7, 2017

When driving, you invariably end up depending on slight communications with other drivers to ensure everyone’s safety. In AT&T’s smart city future, the cars will do the communicating with each other. Digital Trends spoke with Joe Mosele, vice president of internet of things solutions at AT&T Mobility, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show about how technology is inspiring one of the greatest advancements in the history of the automotive industry.

“This is the biggest transformation of the automotive industry in the last 100 years,” Mosele said of the recent wave of internet of things integration in cars. Mosele touted AT&T’s past contributions to the revolution — remote control car locks, built-in Wi-Fi hot spots — but harped on AT&T focusing on connecting cars deeper by having them talk to one another. AT&T announced new partnerships with Ford and Delphi at CES to develop and implement vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication. The companies plans to integrate V2X with AT&T’s smart cities’ infrastructure so drivers can be notified of approaching vehicles and possible traffic accidents over AT&T’s LTE network.

Recommended Videos

Mosele says the government will be the “catalyst” to getting all cars connected, even suggesting a federal mandate for all older cars to be retrofitted with connective technology. Yes, your dad’s 1970 Cadillac DeVille will have to turn into KITT from Knight Rider in AT&T’s smart city future.

Cars may be able to tell the other one when there’s trouble ahead, but it’s still up to a human to decide how to avoid it, and we make mistakes. Mosele says there will come a time when there are no accidents — it will be when there are no people driving. “We’re years away from a society where nobody’s driving, where nobody owns their own car,” Mosele attests before claiming it will happen, but not in the near future.

The smart car is another component of AT&T’s smart cities initative. AT&T first revealed its framework for smart cities last year around this time; naming Atlanta, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Chicago, and Dallas the initial spotlight cities. This year AT&T have added infrastructure, citizen engagement, transportation, and public safety as well as naming Portland, Oregon, the latest city it will spotlight.

Digital Trends is live all week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Check out our continuing coverage live on YouTube, Facebook, #DTces, and DigitalTrends.com/ces/.

Topics

Keith Nelson Jr.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…

Cars

Lucid Gravity: range, charging, price, release date, and more

A Lucid Gravity electric SUV on the road.

There's finally another option in the world of electric SUVs. The Lucid Air has long been known as the electric car with the longest range, but Lucid is finally branching out with a bigger option -- the Lucid Gravity. It offers a similar design sensibility as the Air, with more room on the inside and pretty great performance.

The Lucid Gravity could well be the go-to electric SUV, at least when it comes to luxury options. Curious to learn more? Here's everything you need to know.
Lucid Gravity design
If you've seen the Lucid Air, you have an idea about the overall design of the Lucid Gravity. The car is sleek and stylish, and while it's not quite as unique-looking as the Air, it's clearly a premium car overall.

Cars

Norway has more EVs than gasoline cars on the road. Why?

Tesla Model 3 Highland Front

Norway hit a major milestone in the world of electric cars. The country is the first to have more EVs on the road than gas cars. And didn't just see more sales of EVs -- more people are driving EVs than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

According to a new report from the Norwegian road federation, as reported first by AFP, of the 2.8 million private cars registered the country, 754,303 are all-electric vehicles, compared to 753,905 that are gas-powered cars. Of course, you might notice a discrepancy in those numbers. In the mid-2000s, Norway instituted a big push for diesel fuel complete with tax incentives, and diesel cars remain the most common vehicle type in the country, accounting for over a third of vehicle registrations. But officials in Norway think that EVs will outnumber even diesel cars by 2026 -- which isn't surprising given the fact that the report highlights that in August, EVs accounted for a whopping 94.3% of new car registrations in the country.

Cars

Rivian R1S (2nd-generation) vs. Kia EV9: Should you pay more?

Rivian R1S Gen 2.

Electric crossovers have been plentiful for a few years now, but we're finally getting a solid selection of electric SUVs too. In fact, some of these electric SUVs are now on their second generation. The Rivian R1S has long been considered among the best options for those who want a three-row electric SUV -- and this year, the company unveiled an update to the vehicle. But it goes up against tough competition, like the Kia EV9, which has been hailed as a more affordable option that still offers an excellent overall experience.

So how does the second-generation Rivian R1S stack up the Kia EV9? They're certainly priced differently, but is the R1S worth that extra cash? Here's what you need to know.
Design
The second-generation Rivian R1S and the Kia EV9 are both three-row SUVs, so of course there are similarities in their design. They're both relatively large, and both look like SUVs when it comes to their overall shape.