Here’s the Start of Talking Cars

The first cars that will be able to communicate with traffic lights will launch this fall from Audi.

The company will release cars that tap into the data monitoring traffic lights in certain cities.  The info is then sent over LTE to the Audi’s instrument cluster and a heads up display (if available) showing you a countdown indicator until the signal will change to green.  In the future, it may be integrated into the navigation system, said Audi.

The Audi system falls under what is called V2I (vehicle to infrastructure) communication.  It is part of the larger plan to allow cars to talk to each other called V2V (vehicle to vehicle) communication to avoid crashes.

The first of its kind system will be available on 2017 Audi Q7, A4 and A4 allroad models built after June 1, 2016.  And it will be available “in select smart cities and metropolitan areas across the country through 2017 and beyond,” said Audi.

It takes the form of a “ticker” that is shown in the middle screen in the instrument cluster.  It stops about 3 seconds before the light actually changes (so cars don’t try to race each other into the intersection).

As Audi sees it, it can give you fair warning to perform quick tasks like looking behind you to check on the baby in the back.

Eventually, it could tie to the navigation system to give drivers a recommended speed to avoid hitting too many red lights.

“In the future we could envision this technology integrated into vehicle navigation, start / stop functionality and can even be used to help improve traffic flow in municipalities. These improvements could lead to better overall efficiency and shorter commuting times,” said Pom Malhotra, Audi General Manager, Connected Vehicles.

The service will be an optional part of Audi’s Connect Prime services and may require an additional subscription.

V2V technology could prove a new area for the aftermarket as noted here and here.

Source: Audi via Businesswire

Photo: Yahoo Finance