It may not be the most exciting driverless vehicle around, but the French Induct Cybergo will be demo-ing their electric vehicle in Indianapolis for anyone who lives in that area.

It’s an interesting angle on driverless vehicles. Quite obviously, this one is not intended for use on the open roads (yet) but the possibilities are endless.

One big thing predicted by most analysts of driverless car technology is that most transportation will be conducted in single-passenger vehicles.

Here’s some of our favourites. Most are only concepts but it’s fun to think about it.

LIT Motors C1 (currently a concept car, but production is planned. More info here)

GM – EN-V (concept car - more info here)

This one is technically 2 passenger but we love it, so it’s in. This vehicle has two wheels, using technology borrowed from the Segway in order to balance. The range is 25mi/40km but we can give battery tech a bit of time to work it out! In any case, most trips are less than that length.

Moville (concept - more info here)

Credit - Tuvie.com

Credit - Tuvie.com

Tango (limited production – more info here)

Credit - Unknown

Credit - Unknown

Honda 3R-C

Credit - Unknown

Volkswagon NILS

Credit - VW

Credit - VW

 MIT Citycar (now beginning production)

Credit : MIT

The US Navy is currently testing two unmanned Lockheed Martin/Kaman K-MAX robotic helicopters to deliver supplies in Afghanistan.  An entire Wikipedia article details the specifics of both the manned and unmanned versions of the aircraft.

Manmohan Bahadur, an Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force (we’re guessing he knows what he’s talking about) has an article about the K-MAX in the India Times. In short he thinks the K-MAX is an unheralded, revolutionary technology.

Driverless cars may actually cost more to insure according to Peter Nowak author of Sex, Bombs and Burgers. 

Nowak points out that all the extra electronics will add to the sticker price of the car, the cost of insurance could also go up as replacing those extra parts won’t be cheap if the car is in an accident.

It seems slightly obvious to suggest insurance would be higher on a more expensive car, however when you consider Nowak’s solution, it works:

One intriguing possibility is that the entire notion of car ownership may change. If we can simply order up a car on our smartphone that then drives itself to our front door, what need would we have to actually own one?

At DriverlesscarHQ.com we agree. with this statement. 20 years from now most of us are more likely to own a bicycle than a car. If we do own a car it will be for fun (off-roading or private racing tracks).

For a good while now Australian mining company Rio Tinto has been using a fleet of 5 930E driverless trucks from Komatsu limited in its mining operations with plans to expand to 10 this year. (HT: Bradley Keyes and Paul S. Grad)

However, Rio Tinto has massively upped their order to 150 driverless trucks. The order is expected to be completed by the “end of 2015″.

This is a very exciting piece of news for driverless car enthusiasts (even though the trucks are centrally controlled). The mining industry is very prominent in the Australian economic discussion, I expect over time there will be a number of positive news stories about these trucks which will help introduce the public to the idea of driverless cars in general.

Courtesy of aptusinsurance.com

The infographic ignores truck drivers and many other occupations, but here it is:

BAE in partnership with Oxford have developed Wildcat Robotic Vehicle

BAE are also developing “Robovolc” volcano exploring robots. 

Thanks Bryant Walker Smith:

Here’s the legislation

They join Nevada, Florida and Hawaii in taking steps forward.

Credit : MIT

The MIT Citycar has officially announced today that it is headed to production.

The car, which is fully electric, is notable for its ability to fold – which gives it an ability to jam into very tight spaces.

Interestingly, the business model is mostly focused on share-car systems such as Zipcar or Flexicar, with the goal being to price the car somewhere in the  range of 12 thousand Euros, much cheaper than the Smart Car produced by Mercedes.

The car runs has a range of 75mi (120km) and battery packs will be leased.

Green Car Congress reports: 

The Sartre has recently completed the first successful test demonstration of a multiple vehicle platoon, with Volvo Car Corporation as the only participating car manufacturer. The test fleet included a lead truck followed by three cars driven entirely autonomously at speeds of up to 90 km/h (56 mph), with no more than a 6-meter (20-foot) gap between the vehicle.

(Hat tip: Next Big Future)

I’m personally not a huge fan of the development of this kind of technology. Platooning is – in my opinion – not a solution that would ever prove economically viable unless the lead vehicle (at the very least) was completely automated. The cost benefits of less wind resistance for the following vehicles would be more than offset by the cost of the driver and the vehicle which is generating the wind break in the first place.