Friday 27 April 2018

Fiat Chrysler Will Not Name Successor Until 2019

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ CEO, Sergio Marchionne, plans to retire after 2018 comes to an end, but has declined to announce who will be succeeding him until next year. Marchionne announced he will not name a successor at the company’s annual general meeting in Amsterdam, foiling some predictions that he would make the announcement on an investor day event in June. Marchionne became CEO of Fiat in 2004, rising from the company’s own staff. After retiring, he's going to want a fun car to enjoy his newfound free time - and the car shouldn't set him back much like a Scion.   The future leadership for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles after Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne retires will apparently not be clarified until next year. At the company's annual general meeting Friday in Amsterdam, Marchionne said his successor will not be named until 2019, according to the company. There had been speculation the future leadership face of FCA could be revealed earlier, possibly during an investor day event planned for June. Marchionne has said he plans to retire after this year. News from the meeting reinforced the expectation that the company plans to name a successor for Marchionne, who became CEO of Fiat in 2004, from within the company's ranks. Click Here to Continue Reading

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General Motors Is One of America’s Most Diverse Top-Rated Companies

According to Fortune, out of the top 20 companies in the U.S.A., only General Motors has both a female CEO, Mary Barra, and has a board of directors with equal numbers of men and women on it. Out of these 20 companies, only healthcare company McKesson has a evenly divided board of directors, and the only other with a CEO who is a woman is PepsiCo, which is led by Indra Nooyi.   General Motors is the only company among the largest 20 in the United States, as ranked by Fortune, that has both a female CEO, Mary Barra, and an equal number of women and men on its board of directors. Of these top 20, the only other company with gender parity on its board is healthcare company McKesson. Of the top 50, the only other company with a female CEO is PepsiCo, led by Indra Nooyi. [...] Both GM and PepsiCo were among the six. Click Here to Continue Reading

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The Tesla Ordering Options Explained – Quick!

After placing a thousand-dollar preorder fee for a Tesla Model 3, there’s a few things a consumer needs to know about the email that lets them begin ordering their car. First, only the “First Production” version of the Model 3 is currently ready, with all upgrades and the extended range batteries, which is $49,000 through direct ordering. The standard batteries and all-wheel drive configurations are not yet available. Colors beyond the basic black add $1,000, and changing to 19-inch wheels adds $1,500. There are also autopilot options at $5,000 and $8,000 that are not yet currently available, but will become more expensive if chosen at a later date. And if all that sounds like way too much of an expensive hassle to deal with, check out our massive selection of great used cars online! We promise you  won't have to pay just to get the opportunity to buy a car.   Two years ago this month, when Elon Musk revealed the unfinished Tesla Model 3 to the world, I plunked down my thousand bucks for a spot on the list. Now, the (more) affordable Tesla has become a real car, one that just won Popular Mechanics Car of the Year. The factory is cranking out more than 2,000 per week. And my number has come up. Sort of. Here's what happens when Tesla emails you that "Your Model 3 Is Ready to Order." First of all, your Model 3 is not ready—not unless you want the tricked-out "First Production" version that features 310 miles of range and all the premium upgrades, which jacks up the cost to $49,000. This much we knew. If you want a dual-motor all-wheel-drive 3, you've got to wait a little longer. I want the base model with 220 miles of range, the one that costs 35 grand before the options, which means I'll be waiting until late 2018. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Russia Gets a Taste of Tesla’s Model 3 Ahead of International Release

Russia may not be much for electric vehicles yet (only 82 total in 2017), but those who like their electric cars really go out of their ways to show it. Igor Antarov of the Moscow Tesla Club somehow got a Model 3 to Russia despite it not officially being for sale outside the USA yet, and rode around Moscow asking pedestrians what they know about EVs. The Tesla Club also staged a drag race between the Chevy Bolt (sold as the Opel Ampera-E in Europe and Russia) and another Model 3. The Tesla won with much room to spare.   You probably wouldn’t think of Russia as much of an electric vehicle hotspot, and you’d be correct. According to Autostat (via The Barrel), only 82 EVs were sold in the vast country in 2017 (meanwhile, in neighboring China, 603,300 plug-in passenger cars were sold). However, Tesla has a small but devoted fan base here. Igor Antarov, of the Moscow Tesla Club, somehow managed to bring a Model 3 to Russia – even though the new EV isn’t yet officially on sale outside the US. In a recent video, he takes us for a ride around Moscow, and asks people on the street how much they know about EVs. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Monday 23 April 2018

Tesla Over-Relied On Robots, Musk Admits

If you’re wondering why production of the Tesla Model 3 has been so slow, add one more reason to the list: over-automation of the manufacturing process. Elon Musk has admitted in an interview with CBS that its automation slowed down the process, and wound up creating a “crazy, complex network of conveyor belts” that the company had to scrap in an attempt to speed up production. Tesla has announced it believes it can reach a rate of 5,000 Model 3s a week by the end of Q2 2018.   Elon Musk says Tesla relied on too many robots to build the Model 3, which is partly to blame for the delays in manufacturing the crucial mass-market electric car. In an interview with CBS Good Morning, Musk agreed with Tesla’s critics that there was over-reliance on automation and too few human assembly line workers building the Model 3.   Earlier this month, Tesla announced that it had officially missed its goal of making 2,500 Model 3 vehicles a week by the end of the first financial quarter of this year. It will start the second quarter making just 2,000 Model 3s per week, but the company says it still believes it can get to a rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week at the midway point of 2018. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Tesla Parts Spotted At San Jose Machine Repair Shop

Unassembled pieces of Tesla’s signature cars, the Model 3, Model S and Model X, were spotted at a machine shop in San Jose, CA. The shop, JL Precision, is close to Tesla’s Fremont factory. Tesla has said they use the JL Precision to coat parts, though Tesla insiders say the shop is also used to rework designs or right flaws. Employees at Tesla say Tesla has not spent as much time as other automakers vetting out third parties, which may explain the parts’ presence at the machine shop.   A large number of parts intended for the Tesla Model 3, along with parts for the Model S and Model X, have been spotted outside a machine shop in San Jose. Such third parties are sometimes used to fix flawed parts after manufacturing, and previous reports suggest Tesla has struggled with an unusually high rate of flaws in parts coming from suppliers and its own production line. The parts were spotted by CNBC outside a shop called JL Precision, not far from Tesla’s Fremont factory. They included door frames and a variety of other components shipped from suppliers in China and Ohio. Tesla told CNBC they use JL Precision to add a coating to some parts, but sources within the company said the same shop was used to rework designs or correct flaws in components. Click Here to Continue Reading

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All-Wheel Tesla Model 3 Due Once Other Configurations Are Perfected

Elon Musk has been quiet so far on when exactly to expect the all-wheel and smaller battery packs for Tesla’s Model 3 car, but he may have given up a hint while speaking with a reservation holder on Twitter. His Tweet said that once the current Model 3 configurations are at full production rate, Tesla will shift its focus to adding the all-wheel configuration. There is still no word on the smaller battery pack for now.   As Tesla ramps up production of the Model 3 and continues to deliver cars to its long list of reservation holders, many buyers are wondering when they will be able to configure Model 3s with "D" all-wheel drive or with the smaller base battery pack. We can't yet address the smaller battery packs, but CEO Elon Musk left a clue for buyers waiting for all-wheel drive models when he responded to reservation holder Brandon Ledford on Twitter. Ledford asked for more specific information on when his AWD model might be available, and Musk said Tesla won't build all-wheel drive models until after it reaches its full production rate for the Model 3 configurations now available. Click Here to Read More

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Monday 16 April 2018

Alaska Car Thieves Chased By Vigilante Tracker

Alaska is about as wild as a state can be, but if you’re the victim of a car theft there, it’s not the law of the wild that wins the day. Floyd H. Hall, 53, is a snow-removal worker in Anchorage who’s taken to social media and Alaska’s go-it-alone lifestyle to make sure justice is served. In his spare time, Hall coordinates with other volunteers in the city to box in stolen cars and make sure owners or the police can retrieve the cars (and sometimes the thieves). He does this despite Anchorage’s increasingly frustrated police force, which is very aware of how popular Hall’s service is with the citizenry. Now that’s frontier justice.   ANCHORAGE — When bad stuff happens here in the nation’s wildest state, where the distances are vast and the population low, you can’t always count on government officials swooping in for a rescue. Tales of individuals’ gumption — trekking the tundra, fighting off bears, starting fires to stay warm — are as much a part of Alaska’s culture as the midnight sun or the North Star on the state flag. Now, people like Floyd H. Hall are taking that get-it-done, go-it-alone way of life to the city streets, where crime has soared. Rather than waiting for the police or political leaders to slow the sudden wave of stealing, ordinary people are taking matters into their own hands. Mr. Hall, 53, is a soft-spoken snow-removal worker with a slight paunch, a salt-and-pepper beard and a matched set of .45 caliber pistols. In his spare time, he recovers stolen cars in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, to the occasional annoyance of the police and the cheers of just about everybody else. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Nashville New Center For BMW, Mercedes-Benz Subscription Showdown

Mercedes-Benz will be piloting its “car subscription program” in the city of Nashville, TN, directly competing with BMW, which also is piloting a similar program there. The “Mercedes-Benz Collection” program is slated for June, and will offer multiple pricing tiers (TBA), including access to performance vehicles, and will not have any mileage restrictions. “Access by BMW” is a similar program, and starts at $2,000/mo., with its performance vehicles at $3,700/mo. Cadillac and Porsche have similar programs, starting at $1,800/mo. and $2,000/mo., respectively.   BMW and Mercedes-Benz are long-time rivals, and they're about to square off in an entirely new arena -- subscription programs. Mercedes-Benz will launch pilots for its car subscription program in both Nashville and Philadelphia. BMW also happens to be launching its subscription in Nashville. Looks like there's a storm a-brewin'. Mercedes' programs kick off in June. When it launches, Mercedes-Benz Collection will offer multiple pricing tiers, each offering a variety of vehicles. Like BMW's program, there will be access to high-performance vehicles, as well. Collection doesn't have any mileage limitations, and users will rely on an app to secure reservations. Click Here to Continue Reading

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GM Eliminates Ohio Factory Shift Due To Slow Market Demand

General Motors says up to 1,500 of its workers could be impacted by its decision to cut a shift at its Lordstown, OH auto plant. This plant exclusively manufactures the Chevy Cruze, whose 28% drop in demand is even more pronounced than the average 13.2% dip in car sales this year. GM already cut the Lordstown plant from 24-hour assembly to two shifts in 2017, so now the factory has only one shift remaining.   General Motors is cutting several hundred jobs at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio as the automaker adjusts to dramatically slower demand for cars. The plant, which employs just under 3,000 workers, builds only the Chevy Cruze. Friday afternoon plant leaders informed workers the facility will be slowing the assembly lines by eliminating one of two shifts starting in mid-June. General Motors says up to 1,500 workers could be impacted, though the exact number of jobs being eliminated will not be known for a few weeks. The move is not surprising given the dramatic drop in demand for sedans, especially in the United States. This year, car sales are down 13.2 percent while sales of pickups, SUV's and crossovers are up seven percent. For the Chevy Cruze, the drop in sales has been even more severe. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Monday 9 April 2018

Tesla Contractor Claims It Wasn’t Paid, Sues Tesla

American Integrated Services Inc. is suing electric car maker Tesla over nonpayment of $513,473 at a plant in Fremont, California where the automaker is currently trying to increase production of its Model 3 sedan. American Integrated Services Inc. is a lead and asbestos removing company, working under a total contract for $3.57 million, signed in January 2016. The lawsuit was filed April 3 in a California state court in Oakland.   A small Tesla Inc. contractor has sued the auto maker claiming it hasn’t been paid for work at a Fremont, Calif., assembly plant where Tesla is now trying to ramp up production of the Model 3 sedan. American Integrated Services Inc. claims Tesla hasn’t paid $513,473 for lead and asbestos abatement-related work under a $3.57 million contract signed in January 2016. It filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a California state court in Oakland. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Two-Tone Is Back In Fashion, Car Makers Show Off Classic Look

The New York Auto Show is a herald of things to come, but maybe this has been coming for a long time now. Toyota’s new RAV4 wowed the audience with a bold contrasting roof — white or black depending on the version selected — and Hyundai’s Genesis concept car sported an exciting metallic grey with a huge gloss-black stripe running down the center of the hood. When you add this to existing cars by Land Rover, Volvo, and especially Mini, it’s clear that this retro car design choice is making an exciting comeback.   Maybe it's a sign of the times and optimism amid a strong economy. Or maybe it's a sign that people are just tired of plain, monochromatic cars. Whatever the reason, automakers are finally putting an added dash of color in the looks of some of their latest models, giving them fancy two-tone paint jobs. Toyota introduced the next version of the RAV4, a compact that was the nation's most popular SUV last year, at the New York Auto Show last week with a contrasting roof color — white or black — depending on the version. Hyundai's Genesis followed up with a stunning concept car that included a startling choice of metallic gray on the body with a large swatch of glossy black down the hood. They join other two-tones already on the market from Land Rover, Volvo and the automaker best known for leading the modern version of the trend more than a decade ago, Mini. Click Here to Continue Reading

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SpaceX Rockets See More Success Than Tesla Cars

Elon Musk must scratch his head in confusion now and then, when he contemplates his two very different companies. Tesla and SpaceX are both media darlings, and gather a lot of attention, but while SpaceX has launched seven orbital missions and unveiled a new rocket, Tesla electric cars are trickling out of the manufacturer at a painfully slow pace. This is a bit deceptive though; there are only a few improvements and rich customers SpaceX needed to make profit once the rockets started flying, and Tesla had to make breakthroughs in battery technology as well as compete in the saturated and cutthroat personal vehicle market. Still, it’s a strange world where rocket science is easier than making a competitive electric car.   Elon Musk’s most successful companies, Tesla and SpaceX, are having very different years in 2018.   SpaceX debuted a powerful new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, and has successfully launched seven orbital missions. Tesla has struggled to produce its Model 3 electric sedan at promised rates, raising questions about the company’s cash flow and encouraging short-sellers. On March 23, a driver was killed after his Tesla’s autopilot system steered the car into a barrier, though the system is not intended to be used without a driver’s hands on the wheel. Analysis of both companies tends to focus on Musk’s social media antics and brash confidence, but both are run by professional teams and their business success is determined as much by market forces and global trends as Musk’s brand of strategic risk-taking.  Click Here to Continue Reading

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Trump To Protect Domestic Automakers By Increasing Imported Car Regulation

While the Trump administration is usually associated with decreasing regulation, its plans to give domestic automakers a boost are taking a different approach. The administration is planning to use “nontariff barriers” to make it more expensive to import cars to the U.S., all by making import environmental targets more strict for imported cars. The U.S. has traditionally condemned these trade practices in other countries.   The Trump administration is pursuing ways to protect domestic vehicle manufacturing by forcing imported cars to meet stricter environmental rules when entering the country, according to senior administration and industry officials, a move that would make imports more expensive. The cost of meeting the stiffer import standards would, at least in part, be passed along to U.S. consumers. This style of “nontariff barrier”—a protectionist stratagem the U.S. has long condemned in other countries—is designed to reduce the relative Click Here to Continue Reading

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Detroit’s Big Three Showing Long-Term Trend Away From Single-Passenger Cars

Since roughly 2010, there has been a major trend in the American automotive business to capture the market for multi-purpose utility vehicles. LMC Automotive, an industry-tracking firm, notes that at the rate of production and consumption they’re at, at minimum 84% of the cars produced by the Detroit Three — Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler — will be SUVs and trucks. While there is some demand for less fuel-intensive and heavy-handling vehicles, market forces appear to be favoring larger cars and trucks.   After a century of ferrying millions of daily commuters and taking countless family road trips, simple passenger cars are disappearing from American life, and they may not come back. Detroit's Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — pioneered the mass production of the car, but in just four years, all three may be known to Americans simply as truck and SUV makers, with only a stray sedan for sale. The automotive industry in America is making what many observers think is an irrevocable shift toward pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers. While carmakers are producing sedans and sports cars that are safer, faster and more comfortable than ever, customers continue to flock to taller vehicles with features cars simply cannot offer. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Tuesday 3 April 2018

Honda and Toyota Execs Concerned By EPA Regulatory Relaxation

The Environmental Protection Agency seems set to relax fuel economy standards, and high-ranking Honda and Toyota executives have reacted unexpectedly critically of the measure. Robert Bienenfield, a VP at American Honda Motors, complained that this was not what the automakers’ had asked for, and that the route the EPA was trying to take wasn’t sensible. Jim Lentz, chief executive of Toyota’s America branch, said state regulations stricter than the federal regulations could pose a “logistical nightmare.” The Obama-era target set all trucks and cars to achieve an average fuel economy of over 50 MPG, which automakers at the time argued was near impossible, due to the market’s appetite for SUVs and trucks.   A top executive at the Honda Motor Company says the expected relaxation of fuel efficiency standards by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not the "sensible" plan automakers requested. “We didn’t ask for that. The position we outlined was sensible," said Robert Bienenfeld, an assistant vice president at American Honda Motor, when asked by The New York Times about the new standards. The EPA is expected to declare within days that the fuel efficiency regulations on cars in the U.S. are too strict, and offer revisions for standards on greenhouse gas emissions enforced by the Department of Transportation. The EPA sent a draft of the 16-page revised plan to the White House for approval this week, according to The New York Times. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Monday 2 April 2018

2019 Subaru Forester Offers Facial Recognition Safety Software

It’s not just in your smartphone anymore; Subaru has announced it’s 2019 Forester will offer the “DriverFocus” facial recognition system, which will provide a number of different functions. The technology will be able to bind vehicle settings to up to five different drivers, which will likely include things like mirror angles and driver seat-pedal distance. Even more ambitiously, DriverFocus can also engage the EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, which can detect when the driver is feeling fatigue or distraction, and engage more safety suites like pre-collision braking and lane assist when appropriate.   Subaru’s newest vehicle offers an innovative new safety feature: Facial recognition.Facial Recognition Delivers Subaru SUV's Big New Safety Feature   The 2019 Subaru Forester uses the biometric technology to automatically look for signs of fatigue or distraction in the driver’s face. When such signs are identified by the ‘DriverFocus’ system, the car’s software can engage its EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, enabling things like adaptive cruise control, pre-collision breaking, lane assist, and so on, in addition to warning the driver of the danger. The biometric technology can also be used to automatically adjust vehicle settings, personalizing them for up to five different drivers of a given vehicle. This is a vehicular application of biometric technology that multiple firms have been exploring, though of course fatigue alert systems could ultimately prove more impactful for drivers and passengers alike. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Thief Steals ‘00 Honda Civic With Forklift, Then Burns It

When Hawaii resident David Rose decided to work on a 2000 Honda Civic with his son as a project car, out of all the things that could go wrong, he probably didn’t count on a forklift thief lifting his car out of a parking lot. Friday afternoon, in less than a minute, an unidentified thief did exactly that. The villain didn’t stop with just a grand theft auto, but arson too; the car was later found stripped of parts and burned. Rose was devastated, saying that burning his car made it personal for him. Here’s hoping someone finds the thief and brings them to justice, Hawaii style.   The 2000 Honda Civic was a good if unsexy car, coming out in the model’s late middle years. Famously reliable, a lot of 2000 Honda Civics are still puttering around, too, like this one in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, that was viciously stolen Friday via a forklift. The car was a project car for David Rose and his son, Rose told KHON. It was taken in less than a minute. There’s a surprising amount of things going on in the surveillance video before a forklift enters the screen from the right around the 0:55 mark: Click Here to Continue Reading

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Trump’s EPA Likely Rolling Back Fuel Economy Targets For Automakers

The Trump presidency has focused heavily on de-regulation of businesses, and it seems he’s keeping this philosophy in practice with the EPA. The agency looks set to roll back the Obama-era fuel economy and emissions target numbers that have set automakers on edge for years. While opposition was light at first, the target of a 54.5 MPG average fuel economy by 2025 slowly grew frustration, as the US auto market trended toward SUVs and trucks, which are notoriously heavy gas consumers. Agency chief Scott Pruitt is expected to reveal the replacement plan Tuesday.   This shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed the Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump and agency chief Scott Pruitt, but it looks like a rollback of the aggressive Obama-era fuel economy and emissions targets are finally coming next week. The New York Times reports the plan is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday, and we don’t yet know the specifics of what Pruitt’s plan will entail, but it should address the requirement for automakers to basically double the average fuel economy of trucks and cars to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.   While automakers initially accepted these rules in the wake of the bailouts, they eventually balked at them, claiming they’d be nearly impossible to meet—especially in the current market that trends heavily toward SUVs and trucks. The rules also would have put the United States, historically a laggard in fuel economy regulations, at the forefront worldwide in the manufacture of electric and highly fuel efficient vehicles. Click Here to Continue Reading

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Volkswagen “Dieselgate” Cars Gathering Dust in Desert Lots

Volkswagen’s woes never seem to end after their disastrous brush with corruption; thousands of Volkswagen diesel cars implicated in the testing fiasco, bought back by Volkswagen as one option for their settlement with owners, are sitting in lots where they wait for the automaker to decide what to do with them. Volkswagen has a total of about 37 facilities in the United States where they are storing the diesel vehicles, including empty stretches of desert and a defunct paper mill.   Volkswagen's dieselgate fiasco has been one of the most infamous automotive scandals in modern times. After the German automaker was discovered to be using an emission defeat device with diesel cars sold around the world, it was hit with costs totaling more than $25 billion worldwide. Of that money, more than $7 billion has been spent buying back affected cars from the public; but where have they all gone? As part of the dieselgate settlement, owners could choose from three options to remedy their woes: Allow Volkswagen to modify the vehicle to become compliant with emission laws, terminate the lease on a leased vehicle, or simply sell the car back to Volkswagen for an agreed upon amount. The third option is what many owners and prospective entrepreneurs chose to do, earning back thousands of dollars due to the value of the affected vehicles plummeting for private sale. Click Here to Continue Reading

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GM Self-Driving Car Gets A Traffic Ticket in California

General Motors got a nasty surprise when a San Francisco cop wrote the self-driving Cruise a ticket for getting too close to a pedestrian for comfort. The Cruise team claims that their car’s data shows the pedestrian was 10.8 feet from the car while the car was driving, and there was no indication that a safe-driving law was broken. This ticket comes one day after a Uber self-driving car fatally crashed in Tempe, Arizona.   A car from GM's self-driving car unit, Cruise, received a traffic ticket last week from a San Francisco police officer who said that a Cruise car drove uncomfortably close to a pedestrian. Cruise disputes the officer's accusation, saying that the vehicle stayed more than 10 feet away from the pedestrian.   The incident was first reported Tuesday by Jackie Ward, a reporter for the local CBS station in San Francisco. She was tipped off by a viewer, Kevin O’Connor, who snapped the above picture of the car being pulled over just a day after a fatal Uber self-driving car crash in Tempe, Arizona. "According to data collected by Cruise, the pedestrian was 10.8 feet away from the car," Ward says. The car was in self-driving mode and "it began to continue down Harrison at 14th St. Shortly after the car accelerated, the officer pulled it over." Click Here to Continue Ke image via KPIX/Kevin O'Connor

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Mitsubishi Outlander Hybrid Arrives In America After Wowing Europe

It’s not an exaggeration when Mitsubishi calls their Outlander the best-selling crossover vehicle in the world: they’ve sold over 100,000 units in Europe alone, have dominated that market in the plug-in hybrid niche, and has sold better than the Tesla Model X and any Chinese competitors. It has the longest electric range, has an all-wheel drive, and offers Level 3 fast charge. And it just dropped in America in March 2018. Time will tell if it will make the same impact on the American market as it did abroad.   Mitsubishi’s technology flagship, the Outlander plug-in hybrid, has arrived in the United States nearly five years after it was originally due. The vehicle itself might look rather dated (as does the rest of the Outlander lineup), but the technology within is most definitely not. As a testament to how far ahead of its time the Outlander PHEV was a half-decade ago, it remains the plug-in SUV with the longest electric range, the only plug-in hybrid from a nonluxury brand with all-wheel drive, and the only plug-in-hybrid model of any kind to offer Level 3 fast charging. So why hasn’t the Outlander PHEV been offered in America if it’s such hot stuff? Partly because Mitsubishi is a struggling carmaker trying to capitalize on a successful model. To paraphrase a former company spokesman, somewhat exasperated over several years of it’s-coming-next-year delays: Why sell them here when Mitsubishi is selling every one it can build, in Europe, at full price, where the company can get 10 grand more than it could in the U.S.? Click Here to Continue Reading

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