Tech like this can vastly improve safety, but it can also improve your commute.
Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is largely framed as something that can benefit drivers from a safety standpoint, but it will also be able to improve long slogs filled with traffic lights.
Jaguar Land Rover announced Thursday that it's developed V2X technology that can help drivers catch a series of green lights. The tech, called Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory, is capable of suggesting a speed for a driver, and if the driver holds to that speed, he or she should be able to hit a series of green lights without stopping.
Communication is key here. If vehicles are able to send and receive communications with local infrastructure, it can give the vehicle the information it needs to avoid needless waiting and congestion. Jaguar Land Rover says the tech should prevent drivers from recklessly speeding to make a light, and it should also reduce emissions because fewer vehicles will be left idling at red lights.
JLR is currently testing the system in London, home of the world's first traffic lights, in a specially outfitted F-Pace SUV. It's part of a £20 million (about $26 million) government project called UK Autodrive, which aims to boost British development of autonomy and connected-car systems.
But that's not the only trick up JLR's sleeve. The automaker also has a V2X system called Intersection Collision Warning that can use vehicle communications to warn a driver if it's dangerous to enter an intersection. It also has a system that can alert drivers when emergency vehicles are approaching, in addition to tech that provides real-time parking availability to drivers on the hunt for a space.