A special concept EV to showcase an intended future production vehicle has been designed and prototyped by Rinspeed.

Named Budii, this concept will be shown at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and will include autonomous driving technology.

The electrically powered concept is intended, said Rinspeed, to become the driver’s “best buddy,” and its autopilot the perfect chauffeur that quickly adapts to the habits and preferences of its “boss.”

To this end, “Budii” will feature, according to Rinspeed, a host of innovations, which following a long-standing Rinspeed tradition will revolve around humans and their needs. In addition, it will take data from its environment and the “experiences” of other vehicles along its route into account.

SEE ALSO: Rinspeed’s Geneva Autonomous Driving Concept

According to Rinspeed founder Frank M. Rinderknecht, the breakneck speed of technical developments forces us to redefine our relationship with the automobile.

“Until now, what we have primarily associated with auto mobility was freedom and individuality,” said Rinderknecht. “And – consciously or unconsciously – we are prepared to pay a high price in many regards for these privileges. We need only look at the accident statistics.”

Rinspeed’s founder believes autonomous driving offers the opportunity to drastically diminish some of the drawbacks of private transport. For example, the number of traffic accidents could drop worldwide. But although it will be less prone to err than humans, even the best technology will not be perfect.

“That is something we will have to accept,” said Rinderknecht. “We should not develop a blind, but rather a healthy faith in the new capabilities of the hardware and software. They will keep learning each day, and as a result will get better and better at mastering the complex challenges of modern-day private transport.”

The Swiss company added it will show the world what such a learning and personalized “friend on wheels” might look like at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show with the trans-urban “Budii” concept car.

The car for the city and surrounding countryside will handle the often inconvenient daily routine trips independently, while the “pilot” will still be able to take the wheel as usual on fun weekend trips, believes Rinspeed.

An interesting twist revealed by Rinspeed and found on the Budii concept: the steering wheel is supported by a sensitive robot arm, which enables both the driver and the front passenger to steer. And if nobody feels like steering, it is simply parked in center position.

“The transition from traditional to autonomous driving will take place in stages, said Rinderknecht. “Consequently, man and machine will still have a few years left to get used to this new form of mobility and the different interplay between people and technology it will entail, time they both will need.”

The Geneva Motor Show will be held March 5 through 15, 2015.

The Rinspeed “Budii” is the twenty-first proprietary concept vehicle of the Swiss “Think Tank” and “Innovation Lab.”

Budii is not the first concept built by Rinspeed that showcases autonomous driving technologies. The Swiss company showcased a fully electric touring sedan concept going by the name of “XchangE”  at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

It seems that Ford is willing to give CVTs a second chance in its non-hybrid cars.

While automotive purists lambaste CVT transmissions for their lack of excitement and drone-like character – something akin to the latest Nickelback album, fuel economy aficionados frequently rally to their defense.

Bland perceptions notwithstanding, the ability of a CVT to produce better fuel economy when compared to most automatic and manual gearboxes has created a renewed interest amongst some automakers who once cast them aside.

SEE ALSO: Basic CVT Insight

“We’ve had some experience with CVTs and it wasn’t all good,” said Raj Nair, Ford’s global product development chief, during a recent media event in Dearborn, MI. “They are getting better. And we are taking another look, particularly in the low torque applications. There may be some [potential] there.”

Ford does not have an automatic transmission for its smallest engine, the 1.0-liter three-cylinder in the Ford Fiesta SFE. That car is available only with a manual transmission which presents a marketing challenge since fewer than five percent of cars sold in North America are equipped with manuals, according to IHS Automotive.

The ability to add a CVT to the Fiesta SFE could generate interest amongst drivers looking for a small, fuel-efficient vehicle, but don’t want to manually shift gears.

The CVT is enjoying a renaissance in North America, getting wide use in Audi, Nissan, Honda, Subaru and Toyota vehicles. Driving this renewed interest of course is better fuel efficiency.

A CVT also offers a smoother ride by continuously increasing its gear ratio as the vehicle increases acceleration, as opposed to stepping from gear to gear. The flip-side of this benefit to some is that it can produce a response that feels disconnected and sluggish.

Ford last offered a CVT in a non-hybrid in 2007 in the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans, and in the Ford Freestyle crossover. Those vehicles were equipped with a CVT built in Batavia, Ohio, and developed by a troubled joint venture with Germany’s ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Nair didn’t say if Ford would build its own or buy a CVT from a supplier.

At present there were no indications from Nair as to what models would be considered for a CVT, nor were any timelines provided as to implementation.

Carlos Ghosn, through his role as Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO, finds himself at the head of the company that has sold the most electric vehicles in the last few years.

Last month, the Renault-Nissan Alliance sold its 200,000^th zero-emission car. The Alliance’s Nissan Leaf, which was launched four years ago, is by far the top-selling electric vehicle worldwide with sales up 20 percent this year.

In his latest LinkedIn Influencer post, Carlos Ghosn explained his views as to why electric cars are the future.

The following are excerpts from his statements:

Why are more people switching to EVs? The reasons are clear:

• EVs are convenient: They can be refueled at home or at the office from multiple energy sources, including the increasing amount of clean energy from solar or wind power. Imagine never stopping at a gasoline service station because you wake up to a “full tank” every day. This is one of the top things EV owners enjoy about their cars.
• EVs are economical: Even with gasoline prices falling, Consumer Reports recently estimated operating costs of a Nissan Leaf in the United States at 3.5 cents a mile, compared with 11.9 cents for a subcompact gasoline car or 8.6 cents for a hybrid. EV owners typically save on their insurance policies, because insurers view EV drivers as a lower risk. Going green means saving green.
• More people are discovering EVs, thanks to what we call the “cul-de-sac effect.” The first Leaf owners in a neighborhood share their enthusiasm for their EV with neighbors, friends and family. Thanks to these early adopters, sales grow as more people see and experience the benefits first-hand.
• EVs are fun and reliable: Globally, the Nissan and Renault EVs have the highest customer-satisfaction rates of any vehicle that either company has ever produced, by far.

More infrastructure = more EVs

Over the past century, we’ve spent trillions of dollars to develop a sophisticated global infrastructure around petroleum. Gasoline service stations are now so common in the industrialized world that people often forget conventional cars have a limited range.

SEE ALSO: Nissan-Renault Has Huge Battery Overcapacity Problem

We are in the early stages of building the same type of infrastructure around EV charging. Whenever we see a concentrated initiative to boost EV infrastructure, we see EV sales grow.

For example, you might be surprised to learn the fastest-growing U.S. market for EVs this year has not been Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle – all strong EV markets.

It’s Atlanta.

Public and private initiatives, particularly investments in charging stations, have created a virtuous cycle of expanding sales in Georgia.

Coca-Cola, headquartered in Atlanta, recently doubled the number of parking lot charging stations to 75; the company estimates more than 100 Coke employees drive to work in EVs.

Atlanta-area EV drivers also enjoy unfettered access to carpool lanes on freeways and free entry to toll roads – a big advantage in a sprawling city where commutes are often long and slow.

Georgia Power Co. offers Atlanta residents an off-peak, plug-in charging rate of 1.3 cents per kilowatt-hour; that compares with a national average of about 11.88 cents a kilowatt-hour. Tiered pricing encourages people to charge cars when demand for air-conditioning, heating and other needs is lowest.

We’ve seen the same phenomenon elsewhere, including Norway, an oil-rich nation that has made an aggressive push to create a cleaner, less oil-dependent transportation system. I am also optimistic about the huge potential for EVs in China, where the government has recently adopted strong policies to support zero-emission vehicles.

Another encouraging sign is the growth in commercial fleet sales. Companies love EVs’ low operating costs. EV trucks and vans can get deliveries done quickly by using high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, and in big cities they avoid hefty congestion fees because they have zero tailpipe emissions.

In fact, last month, the French postal service La Poste took delivery of its 5,000th Renault Kangoo ZE, Europe’s top zero-emission van. EDF, Veolia, Orange, DHL and other companies are also logging zero-emission miles in Renault and Nissan EVs.

Interestingly, Carlos Ghosn took a stand against hydrogen initiatives, stating huge infrastructure costs:

For the foreseeable future, there’s little doubt battery EVs will remain the most practical and affordable zero-emission option. The biggest advantage of battery EVs is that they can tap into existing electric infrastructure, compared with hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles, which need an all-new infrastructure.

An analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory put the cost of upgrading one service station to dispense hydrogen at $2.5 million. By comparison, EVs can be charged at home or work; a typical home EV charger costs less than $2,000 installed. In the United States, there are more than 8,800 public charging stations, compared with 13 hydrogen stations.

What’s clear today is consumers will increasingly have more and more zero-emission choices.