Berlin artist Simon Weckert found a way to turn green streets into red on the Google Maps app to discourage app users from going there, thereby sharply reducing traffic on those streets at will. Weckert pulled it off using 99 smartphones running the app. This sort of hack has been around since as early as […] More

Roberto BaldwinCar and Driver Alameda County has ordered Tesla to halt production at its Fremont, California, factory according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Tesla restarted production this past weekend in violation of local shelter-in-place rules, and although Elon Musk volunteered via Twitter to be arrested, so far he hasn’t been. The Guardian published the text […] More

General Motors is starting up a new EV First Responder Training program to go along with its expanding lineup of electric vehicles that includes the Chevrolet Bolt EV, GMC Hummer EV, and Cadillac Lyriq. The new training materials are being made available online as well as through in-person sessions throughout the U.S. and Canada. Anyone who works as a first responder will be able to get a completion certificate from the Illinois Fire Service Institute when they pass the session.The National Fire Protection Association, which is assisting GM in this new project, already has EV and alternative-fuel safety materials from more than 60 vehicle manufacturers available on its website. And Tesla also has emergency-response manuals for all of its models. Much has been made of the massive battery pack in the GMC Hummer EV. After all, that pack weighs 2923 pounds, nearly as much as an entire small car—say, a 2018 Honda Fit, which has a curb weight of 2595 pounds. With that kind of heft, the amount of energy potentially contained in the Hummer’s battery pack could be a source of concern for first responders approaching the scene of an incident involving one of these new electric vehicles. GM says its OnStar system already has the ability to tell first responders know if an EV is involved in an incident. To give those first responders confidence that they know how to handle such a situation, General Motors announced this week that it is expanding efforts to train emergency personnel in the U.S. and Canada to better deal with EV emergencies.

Illustration of battery pack in the Chevrolet Bolt EV, from emergency guide.
General Motors

GM has released a new EV First Responder Training program that not only provides vital information on the technology inside of an electric vehicle but also details industry best practices for dealing with EVs—and electrified vehicles like hybrids—in all kinds of potentially difficult situations. GM will train people using the program not only with live presentations but also presentations from experts, videos, and virtual demonstrations, the company said. GM is scheduling four-hour safety presentations in various cities through its gmEVFirstResponderTraining.com website and is offering certificates through the Illinois Fire Service Institute to those who successfully complete the sessions.

“The best way for the public and private vehicle fleet owners to rapidly adopt EVs is to train firefighters and emergency responders on how to handle incidents involving battery powered vehicles,” Andrew Klock of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) said in a statement. “The fire service has had more than 100 years to gain the knowledge needed to respond to internal-combustion engine fires, and it is critical that they are now educated on EV safety.”

From the GMC Hummer EV emergency guide.
General Motors

Guides for EV EmergenciesGM is, of course, not the first or only automaker to provide these kinds of educational materials to first responders. Tesla has a website devoted to “helping fire departments and first responders safely handle emergency situations involving all Tesla products,” including all of the company’s EVs as well as Superchargers and solar roof panels. The NFPA hosts a collection of Emergency Response Guides from more than 60 alternative-fuel-vehicle manufacturers, ranging from small companies like Lucid to large truck builders like Freightliner. The NFPA has been working with alternative-fuel automakers since 2010 on making these kinds of guides free and easy to access.

From the Tesla Model S emergency guide.
Tesla

In announcing its new program, GM said learning about safe ways to deal with an EV in an emergency situation can also benefit owners. If you’re an EV owner, it might be worth clicking around to find a first responder guide for your own car and think of it as beach reading this summer.
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Cadillac is making some tweaks to the CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing for 2024.There are new colors available, plus 20th anniversary graphics that celebrate two decades of V-series vehicles.These tweaks also apply to the lower-powered CT4-V and CT5-V models for 2024.Cadillac’s V badge first arrived 20 years ago on the 2004 CTS-V, which was powered by a 400-hp 5.7-liter V-8 engine and got the V-series performance division started with a bang. To celebrate this anniversary, Cadillac is offering a few commemorative tweaks for the 2024 CT4-V and CT5-V models, plus newly available colors and a few other tweaks.Cadillac V Models of the PastAll 2024 CT4-V and CT5-V sedans, including the top-dog Blackwing models, will have a 20th Anniversary graphic on the grille and rocker panels, plus a special startup animation in the digital gauge cluster. Newly available colors include Velocity Red, Cyber Yellow Metallic (pictured at top), Coastal Blue Metallic, and Black Diamond Tricoat. For the 472-hp CT4-V Blackwing and 668-hp CT5-V Blackwing, Cadillac is also adding a “Blackwing” badge below the V logo to further differentiate these more powerful variants from their lesser brethren.CadillacPrices are only up slightly compared with last year. The CT4-V starts at $48,490 and the 360-hp CT5-V at $52,890. The CT4-V Blackwing costs $62,890 to start and the CT5-V Blackwing starts at $94,890. Cadillac’s Super Cruise hands-free driving tech is a new option for the CT5-V Blackwing, and it costs $6785 in total because it requires adding the optional ten-speed automatic transmission plus two driver-assist packages.Our Long-Term BlackwingsSenior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

The addresses have now disappeared, but for a while this week, Tesla’s website showed the specific location of over 340 new Supercharger locations in the U.S., and many more around the world.It’s not in any way surprising that Tesla would be working on new locations, given the increase in EV demand and the company’s slow-moving road to opening up its DC fast-chargers to electric vehicles from other brands.Supercharger expansion isn’t just important for Model S and Model Y drivers. Tesla started a non-Tesla Supercharger pilot program in Europe last year. It is not yet available in the U.S.Tesla is getting ready to add almost 350 Supercharger stations in the United States and dozens more around the world. The company didn’t make any official announcement about its plan, but astute watchers of the electric vehicle company noticed a slew of “coming soon” additions that briefly appeared on the company website’s official list of locations.This content is imported from twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Tesla has since removed the specific addresses from its site, adding to the suggestions that were made when the list was first posted that this might have been an accidental leak. Whatever the reason, we can now say there are 342 new locations on Tesla’s U.S. list, including Dothan, Alabama, and Lagrangeville, New York. Tesla operates more than 35,000 Supercharger units around the world.The since-removed new Supercharger locations were first spotted by Twitter user MarcoRPTesla, who calls his feed there “unofficially the best account for Supercharger updates in North America.” It’s certainly full of interesting details about the company’s DC fast-charging network. Speculation about why Tesla might want to publicize where it’s about to install new fast-charging locations for its users ranges from building up interest in EVs in a particular area to providing people in that area confidence that they’ll be able to fast-charge when driving around. making Tesla charging stations available to other brandsSupercharger station expansion can be important information to electric-vehicle drivers who don’t own a Tesla. Since the first Superchargers were installed in 2012, the stations have only officially worked with Tesla EVs because they had a proprietary connector. The company took the first steps toward last year by adding a standard CCS connector to a small number of units in Europe. CEO Elon Musk has said since at least June 2021 that the Supercharger network will be opened to other automakers, and Tesla launched its non-Tesla Supercharger pilot program in November 2021. This program is not yet available in the U.S. but a White House fact sheet issued in June said, “Tesla will begin production of new Supercharger equipment that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use Tesla Superchargers” before the end of 2022. This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More