Audi is launching a new vehicle-to-infrastructure platform (V2I) in some of its 2017 cars, allowing vehicles to notify drivers of how long they’ll be waiting at a red light. It’s the first step in what is expected to be a massive leap forward in connected cars, as vehicles talk to surrounding infrastructure and other vehicles to make driving safer and more convenient.
The car will wirelessly receive real-time signal information from city-wide traffic management systems, allowing drivers to see how long until the light turns green. As V2I systems mature, they could tell a car when a light will turn red, allowing an autonomous vehicle to let off the throttle if it knows it won’t make the light, improving fuel economy.
Eventually, cars will...