Skip to main content

Cohda Wireless to trial AVs which can talk to each other in Australia

Cohda Wireless is to trial two autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Australia this month. The MKZ Sedans can communicate with traffic lights and each other – and the company also expects them to be able to detect pedestrians around blind corners. The initiative, approved by the South Australian government, will take place in Adelaide’s central business district on closed-off roads. Dr Paul Gray, chief executive officer of Cohda Wireless, told ABC that the technology is intended to reduce the chance of huma
October 15, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
6667 Cohda Wireless is to trial two autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Australia this month.


The MKZ Sedans can communicate with traffic lights and each other – and the company also expects them to be able to detect pedestrians around blind corners.

The initiative, approved by the South Australian government, will take place in Adelaide’s central business district on closed-off roads.

Dr Paul Gray, chief executive officer of Cohda Wireless, %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external told ABC false http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-05/driverless-cars-to-be-tested-in-adelaide/10341588 false false%> that the technology is intended to reduce the chance of human error.

"This is really the goal of autonomous vehicles, is to make the vehicle safer and really just reduce the number of people that are dying on the road anyway just due to human error,” Gray adds.

He says technology can also sense a car behind a parked truck or another car approaching over a crest or hill.

"Whilst these completely autonomous, sit-in-the-backseat cars may be a long way off in the future, there is some early stage autonomy being introduced into the market,” Gray concludes.

Related Content

  • January 2, 2018
    CVMA: Quebec's ZEV plan may create unintended consequences
    The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association’s (CVMA’s) president Mark Nantais has stated that Quebec’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations “may result in unintended consequences for consumers, automobile dealers, industry and ultimately, Quebec's economy,” in response to the new strategy introduced by the province’s government. The standard aims to increase the number of ZEVs in the region and to reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions. It will come into effect on the 11 January 2018.
  • June 19, 2019
    Bird acquires California-based EV firm Scoot
    Scooter-share firm Bird is to acquire Scoot, a San Francisco-based electric vehicle (EV) company. Scoot began deploying electric scooters in San Francisco in 2012 and has expanded in Santiago, Chile and Barcelona. Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird says the partnership will work toward replacing “car trips with micro mobility options for all”. Scoot will continue to operate under the same name but as a subsidiary of Bird.
  • January 25, 2019
    Colorado signs exec order to support transition to ZEVs
    Governor of Colorado Jared Polis has signed an executive order which outlines a suite of initiatives to support a transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEV) in the US state. Polis says: “Our goal is to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2040 and embrace the green energy transition already underway economy-wide” He believes the public health and environmental benefits of widespread transportation electrification will increase as the state moves towards a cleaner electric grid. The initiatives include
  • August 28, 2018
    Uber to redirect focus to bikes and electric scooters
    Uber intends to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business as it says individual modes of transport are better-suited to inner city travel. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, believes users will make more frequent, shorter journeys in the future, the Financial Times reports. "During rush hour, it is very inefficient for a one-tonne hulk of metal to take one person ten blocks,” he says. Uber’s Jump electric bikes are now available in eight US cities such as San Francisco and Washington DC, and are