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GM's OnStar facing social media backlash over baby in locked car in Florida

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Malaysia’s used car marketplace Carsome said to be raising $40m Series C

Eric Cheng, Co-Founder and CEO of Carsome Carsome, a Malaysia-based used car marketplace, is in talks to raise $40 million in a Series C funding round by the end of this year, according to three sources aware of the development. Go to Source

Chevy Bolt EUV Revealed As Chevrolet Menlo EV In China

The new EV crossover will be officially presented at the Chengdu Auto Show in September. The Chevrolet Bolt SUV is currently still under development, but that does not prevent GM from having other electric crossovers to play with. At least in China. While the Bolt EUV has not yet shown up for American customers, perhaps… Continue reading Chevy Bolt EUV Revealed As Chevrolet Menlo EV In China

Inside Voyage’s plan to deliver a driverless future

In two years, Voyage has gone from a tiny self-driving car upstart spun out of Udacity to a company able to operate on 200 miles of roads in retirement communities. Now, Voyage is on the verge of introducing a new vehicle that is critical to its mission of launching a truly driverless ride-hailing service. (Human… Continue reading Inside Voyage’s plan to deliver a driverless future

Some 2019-2020 Toyota and Lexus hybrids recalled for brake booster issue

Toyota will recall nearly 7,000 vehicles—including many hybrids—for a faulty brake booster that could malfunction and impair those cars' brakes, the automaker announced last month.

The recall affects mostly 2019 model year cars and includes the Toyota Prius, Prius Prime, and RAV4 Hybrids built between late April and late May. A small number of 2020 Toyota Prius Prime and 2020 Corolla hybrids are included in the recall. The 2019 versions of Lexus UX 250h, LC 500h, LS 500h, and ES 300h hybrids are also affected, although their numbers are smaller compared to the Toyota hybrids. (Just one ES300h sedan will be recalled; two LS500h sedans will be recalled.)

2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

According to paperwork filed with federal regulators, misshaped small brushes in the brake booster pump were improperly installed. Those brushes could become stuck in the holder and could cause the motor pump in the booster to stop operating. If it does, the braking assist could stop altogether and the vehicle's stability control systems could be disabled. Warning lights should illuminate on the dash if the malfunction occurs, according to Toyota.

Toyota said it discovered the issue in May 2019, and said it will begin notifying affected owners next month.

Toyota said one in four cars could potentially have the faulty brake booster, but the company didn't report any crashes or injuries related to the defect. One complaint registered with federal authorities reported that a 2019 Corolla crashed due to faulty brakes and injured its driver, although 2019 models were not included in the recall.

Toyota said it will replace the brake booster in affected cars for free.

Quiet launch: Daimler builds first electric heavy-duty semis for fleet test

Tesla might have been the first to generate a lot of fanfare over an all-electric Semi, but it’s not the first to actually place an electric Semi with customers for full-time use.

That nod would go to Daimler Trucks North America. The initial two Freightliner eCascadia semis were built this week for its Electric Innovation Fleet—funded by a $16 million California grant—and they’ll be placed into duty later this month by the Southern California operations of two companies: Penske Truck Leasing and NFI.

The company’s intent is to test how the trucks fare in large-scale fleet conditions, and the innovation fleet “will inform the final production versions” of its two upcoming electric trucks, the eCascadia, and the medium-duty Freightliner eM2. Daimler also has an Electric Vehicle Council of 38 customers “to identify and address all potential hurdles to large-scale deployment of commercial battery electric vehicles.”

How much range these trucks can achieve, while performing the tasks they’re expected to—year round—has been one of the great challenges for development teams. Daimler has quoted a range figure of 250 miles from the eCascadia pack’s 550 kwh of usable capacity (with an 80-percent charge possible in about 90 minutes), while Tesla has stuck to claims of versions offering 300 and 500 miles.

With both trucks essentially fitting the spatial constraints, that led some in the industry to question the physics involved—including Martin Daum, the head of trucks at Daimler, who told Bloomberg that “for now, the same laws of physics apply in Germany and in California.”

Tech luminary Bill Gates is among those with doubts about trucking going electric; he went so far as to say he doesn’t see them working quite yet. But Daimler sounds bullish on electric.

Daimler Trucks North America president and CEO Roger Nielsen

“The road to emissions-free transportation is going to be driven with battery-electric vehicles,” said Daimler Trucks North America president and CEO Roger Nielsen, as part of the keynote address to the annual ACT fleet conference in April. “I believe the future is electric.”

At that time Daimler called natural gas “an interim solution,” and stated that while it sees the potential for fuel cells it doesn’t see near-term viability. It stressed that three things need to happen: a common vehicle charging infrastructure; cheaper, lighter, and more powerful batteries; and incentives to strengthen electric’s ownership-cost advantages.

Those might not be the only eCascadias to soon be placed in duty. Daimler says that it will put 50 commercial EVs into use by the end of the year in North America, and more deliveries of trucks from the Electric Innovation Fleet will continue through the year.

Freightliner eCascadia electric semi and Freightliner eM2 short-haul truck

The longer-hauling electric truck gets its name from the Cascadia, which is the best-selling Class 8 heavy-duty truck, and both electric Freightliners will be built in Portland, Oregon, with full-scale production in 2021.

Tesla has followed a different strategy. It’s been getting the Semi out for customer test drives—including a long tour last year visiting big-name reservation-holders such as UPS and J.B. Hunt. Tesla hasn’t recently provided a formal update on the Semi, but Green Car Reports has reached out to the company for comment.

The two trucks could actually reach the market within months of each other. The Tesla Semi is now expected for first deliveries in late 2020, while Daimler is targeting full-scale production in Portland, Oregon, beginning in 2021.

Rivian might build upcoming Ford electric SUV

Rivian could be entrusted to build an upcoming Ford electric SUV—due within the next few years—at the startup’s former Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois.

“It would be counterproductive for us to try and make what they have capacity to do in the beginning here, because they've got a factory in Illinois that meets a lot of our criteria,” Ford CEO Jim Hackett told MotorTrend, in a story published Tuesday.

That's a departure from what was announced in April, with the formation of a strategic partnership between the two companies. At that time, Ford said that it will build an all-new battery electric vehicle using Rivian’s flexible skateboard platform, and that the companies would develop this next-generation vehicle together.

Rivian R1T, R1S chassis

The Ford truck project, which is now sounding more like an electric SUV than an electric pickup, will leave much to Rivian. It's due to share all of Rivian’s core components, such as its battery pack, power electronics, electric motors, and electronic architecture, but Ford will develop what sometimes in industry terms is called a top hat—a different or fully differentiated body that fits onto the skateboard, with all the key technical components shared.

Ford may have a little more influence in Rivian’s platform as it moves toward production, however—and potentially, many more models. The partnership was spearheaded by a $500 million minority investment from Ford, and under that, Ford President of Global Operations Joe Hinrichs was given a seat on the Rivian board.

Ford emphasized that the deal doesn’t affect its existing $11 billion investment toward electric and electrified vehicles, including the upcoming Mustang-inspired electric crossover, which is due to arrive next year, or work on a fully electric version of the Ford F-150 pickup.

The Rivian R1T pickup is due to arrive in late 2020, with the R1S SUV to follow in 2021—and the Ford product after that.

A Summer-Long Adventure In My Tesla Model 3

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Published on August 9th, 2019 |

by Guest Contributor

A Summer-Long Adventure In My Tesla Model 3

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August 9th, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Originally published on EVANNEX.
By Jonathan David Harris, aka @aPowerTrip

It was late April 2019 when a friend and I arrived at the Glendale Galleria in California to see the new Captain Marvel movie. While my friend took a business call I wandered into the Tesla showroom next door. It was then, for the first time, I encountered a Model 3 up close. I sat in the car and was amazed at the simplicity of Tesla’s interior design. It was impressive to see a single touchscreen control nearly all of the car’s features — even the direction of airflow.

At the St. Louis Arch (Source: @aPowerTrip)

After a quick overview of the car, the Tesla specialist showed me a map of all the Supercharger stations located throughout the US. He told me, “You can now travel freely around the county with the amount of charging stations available.”

In New Hampshire (Source: @aPowerTrip)

I gazed at the red dots across the Supercharger map and announced, “I know what I’m doing this summer.” It turns out I have a background in video production and technology, so an opportunity to put this Tesla Model 3 to the test while taking video and photos all across the country would turn out to be a perfect match. It was decided — I wanted to take a summer-long road trip with my dog without using any gasoline.

Mt. Washington (Source: @aPowerTrip)

I don’t think the specialist believed me any more than my friends or family. When I told everyone I was thinking of taking a summer-long road trip with a Tesla all around the country from Memorial Day to Labor Day, they were in disbelief. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I believed it would happen either. Memorial Day was a month away and I wasn’t even sure I could afford the car. Or the trip.

Over the next week, I figured out a plan. If I could sell my car, old production gear, and other items in my house, rent out my home for the summer, and camp in National Parks around the country (rather than spend money in hotels) — I figured … it just might be possible.

Redwood National Park (Source: @aPowerTrip)

So I sold off the gear and my car, gathered some camping essentials that would fit in the Model 3 trunk and frunk, and managed to find someone to sublet my home. Everything fell into place very quickly. Even the car I wanted — a RWD Tesla Model 3, Midnight Silver, with long-range battery became available for pickup the day after I ordered it.

There were, however, a few speed bumps in those initial prep weeks. The first sublet tenant bailed last minute and I was worried I wouldn’t find a replacement just a few days before my departure. I also found some lumps on my dog Indy, which gave me a scare about her health. Indy is a twelve-year-old terrier I adopted when she was only eight weeks old. She’s named after Indiana Jones, the lead character in my favorite movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Camping at Devil Tower (Source: @aPowerTrip)

Indy turned out to be okay and the vet gave us the green light. Financing this last-minute adventure was a bit of a rocky adventure, with a very rough idea of where we were going.

Brooklyn Bridge (Source: @aPowerTrip)

The plan was to visit National Parks, cross off some bucket list items, visit friends and family, and basically allow the trip to determine our path. In just two months, we’ve put over 12,000 miles on the Model 3 and it wasn’t until August 1st that I finally had to pay to charge the car.

I was fortunate enough to have two people use my Tesla referral code (Jonathan96658), which gave me 6,000 free miles of Supercharging along the way. The other 6,000 miles of charging came from Tesla’s free destination chargers, friends and family allowing us to plug in, and other free public charging spots. I even had a few Quality Inn hotels provide access to their outlets so we could get some extra range in parts of the country that didn’t have ample Superchargers.

Cheers Pub in Boston (Source: @aPowerTrip)

It’s been an incredible journey, with many challenges and bumps in the road, but very few have to do with the Tesla Model 3. There was snow, hail, and storms (especially in the Midwest), road closures, Indy temporarily became ill, my car was towed in NYC, and (yes) a few moments of “will I have enough range to get to the next charger?” But that was typically my fault. I was trying to push the limits of the car.

After a hail storm in Yosemite (Source: @aPowerTrip)

There were a few other hiccups along the way. Although the Tesla specialist told me every Supercharger is conveniently located near a place to use a restroom — that isn’t 100% true. Most Superchargers are close to a restaurant (or located near stores) but if you’re traveling around the country and need to charge early in the morning or late at night, there can be a surprising lack of options for trash removal, cleaning the windshield, or access to restrooms, as everything is usually closed during these off-hours.

Supercharger station late at night (Source: @aPowerTrip)

But these minor issues haven’t taken away from the Model 3’s stellar performance. I do not see myself ever going back to a gas-operated vehicle. Also, thank you Tesla for Autopilot — it’s especially helpful when you’re driving over 10 hours in a day. I can’t wait for Tesla’s updates to Summon, Autopilot, and other refinements that should arrive in the next software update. And, of course, a huge shout out to “Dog Mode,” which keeps Indy safe and cool while I run errands.

In Seattle (Source: @aPowerTrip)

In any event, be sure to look out for lots of videos I’ll be publishing on my YouTube channel when I return from my summer-long road trip. If you already have a Tesla, congrats, but if you’re buying or leasing, please use my referral code — Jonathan96658 — which provides me with free charging and will help get me home in September. In the meantime, feel free to follow my ongoing Tesla Model 3 adventures with Indy via @aPowerTrip on Instagram.

Video: Fox Rochester.

About the Author

Guest Contributor is many, many people. We publish a number of guest posts from experts in a large variety of fields. This is our contributor account for those special people. 😀

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