On today’s show… consumers prefer Silicon Valley over the automakers to develop software for autonomous cars, why the Audi TT has one of best interior layouts we’ve seen in a car and Tesla is looking at gas stations to expand charging station locations. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily for June 30th, 2016.

BMW TO PARTNER FOR AUTONOMOUS TECH
Autonomy could be one of the most transformative technologies to ever hit the auto industry. And it seems that everyone wants to get in on the action. That’s why Reuters is reporting BMW is set to announce a partnership to develop self-driving cars with Intel and Mobileye, a company that makes driver assistance technologies. Earlier this month, the German automaker revealed plans to introduce a new flagship vehicle with autonomous technology in 2021. There aren’t many details about the partnership but a formal announcement is expected tomorrow.

CONSUMERS WARMING UP TO AUTONOMY
And it seems like consumers are warming up to the idea of self-driving cars. Recent studies showed that car buyers aren’t ready to give up control of a vehicle. But a new survey from AlixPartners found that trend is reversing. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would use an autonomous car for their daily commute. That number jumps to 90% as long as riders can occasionally take control of the wheel. And perhaps best of all for automakers, 80% said they would pay extra for the technology. Most interestingly though, consumers by a wide margin said they trust Silicon Valley more than the automakers to develop the software and protect their privacy. However when it comes to building the vehicles, consumers prefer the automakers but it wasn’t as decisive. Automakers and tech companies are pouring billions into this technology, so you can bet they’re glad to see consumer attitudes are changing.

Still to come… a look at the enhancements to the Cadillac ATS and CTS.

FILL ‘ER UP PLEASE
One of the things preventing electric vehicles from catching on is not having a place to charge them. So in order to expand charging locations, The Washington Post reports Tesla is in talks with gas station and convenience store operator Sheetz, to have its chargers installed at its locations. Sheetz, which is located mostly in the mid-Atlantic region, says no plans are final but discussions are ongoing. It currently has plugs for non-Tesla EVs at eight of its locations. Tesla declined to comment but it did reveal that it’s talking with gas stations, hotels and restaurants to install chargers. This could solve another potential headache for Tesla. It currently has a network of over 600 supercharger stations across the U.S. for Model S and X owners to charge at for free. But earlier this month CEO Elon Musk revealed the company plans to charge Model 3 owners to use them. So this news could help those owners with more spots to plug-in.

2017 CADILLAC ATS & CTS ENHANCEMENTS
We like to try and keep you up to speed with all the new product that’s out there and Cadillac just announced a few enhancements for the ATS and CTS. New to both vehicles is a Carbon Black sport package, two paint colors and new wheel options. Cadillac CUE, which is upgraded with new technology, is now standard on the ATS. The 2017 CTS gets a new grille design and an all-new rear fascia with vertical exhaust. However, these changes are not reflected in the V-series models. The CTS will also get the Rear Camera Mirror that debuted in the CT6. Look for the 2017 models to start hitting dealer showrooms within the next few months.

Coming up next, Audi goes for the “less is more” approach with the new TT.

LESS IS MORE
The new Audi TT has got to have the cleanest looking dash in the business right now because the design team removed two of the most prominent features found in cars today. As you can see the HVAC controls are hidden within the air vents. From left to right, you have the blower speed dial and AC control, temperature adjustment, mode selector for vent control and then all the way at the sides you get the control for the heated seats. The bezel around the vent also rotates for fine tuning airflow and there’s lever at the bottom to open and shut the vent. But you’re probably thinking to yourself, there’s something else missing from this picture. And you’re right. No big infotainment screen in the center of the dash. It’s been integrated into the instrument cluster. I found the best way to control all the functions is to use the steering wheel controls. On the left hand side there’s a few buttons for scrolling through all the options, like navigation, devices (for a plugged in cell phone) and the radio. A nice easy-to-use thumbwheel allows you to search through and select stations. The volume knob is on the right hand side of the steering wheel along with navigation and phone controls. One of the trickiest parts of this setup is the ability to change the screen layout. With a simple click of the view button, the speedo and tach jump out of the way and the infotainment screen takes center stage. Again, you can scroll through radio stations using the thumbwheel and adjust the volume. But the great part is you no longer get this minimized version of the navigation screen. It’s nice and big. There are also controls on the center console to navigate all these functions if you don’t like the steering wheel controls or the passenger wants to change the station. But the passenger is kind of screwed with this setup. They have to peek over the driver’s shoulder just to see the screen. But I will say it’s kind of nice to have options. If you’re romping through a nice section of road, you can have the speedo and tach be nice and big, but if you’re just cruisin’ around, you can switch to a larger infotainment screen. In the end, I didn’t find that it helped with the amount of time I took my eyes off the road compared to a center screen or anything like that, but just look how clean the dash layout is.

We’ve got a great AFTER HOURS coming up today. Our own Dr. Data, A.K.A. Gary Vasilash, is the host of this live roundtable with three of the best “Mikes” in auto journalism. In alphabetical order, Mike Colias from Automotive News; Mike Martinez from The Detroit News and his colleague at the News, Mike Wayland, will be talking about their various beats as well the hot topics in the auto industry. If you have any questions send them to us at viewermail@autoline.tv.

But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.