Building on VW’s technology that lets its vehicles park into different kinds of parking spaces with one-button control, the Touareg can now do the same trick even if you’re outside the vehicle.
Instead of pushing the “drive” button in the car, the Touareg will now respond to someone holding the button down in a connected smartphone with the VW Remote Park Assist Plus app.
VW says the technology will be rolled out in the U.S., starting in 2022 with the ID.4.
Automakers have apparently come to the conclusion that people really don’t like parking. What used to be a mundane part of driving is now talked about like it’s a burden on our busy lives. Whatever your personal take on parking is, Volkswagen is about to make it easier.
All 2019 and newer Volkswagen models sold in the U.S. are available with a feature called Park Assist as part of some packages. Park Assist is a semi-automatic technology that allows a VW to maneuver in and out of parking spaces by controlling the steering wheel. Someone still needs to be in the driver seat to manipulate the pedals. The Touareg now ups the ante, becoming the first (and so far only) VW capable of assisted maneuvering without a driver on board. The Touareg is also capable of parking itself with a person in the driver’s seat. VW calls the upgraded tech Park Assist with remote control assist system. As the name implies, VW manages the “look mom, no hands” trick by connecting the Touareg to your smartphone.
The overall process is similar whether you’re inside or outside the vehicle. First, when you’re close to a parking space, you push the P button on the infotainment screen. Then, you let the SUV use its four cameras and twelve ultrasound sensors to identify available spaces and then you choose where you want the car to go. From there, whether you’re sitting in the car or outside looking at the VW Remote Park Assist Plus app, you push the Drive button and that tells the car to do its thing. If you remove your finger from the Drive button, the Touareg will stop moving. Otherwise, you keep holding it until the vehicle settles in for a rest.
The Touareg can also exit its space when it’s time to leave, with one minor difference to the process. Through the app, you first start the car and then choose one of six space exiting maneuvers (straight backwards, for example, or forward left). Then, you hold down the Drive button until the car has squeezed itself into position, get in and drive away.VW says the Touareg can now use they remote control system to park in “all types of parking spaces,” which shows how far the technology has come in the last few years.
In 2018, the Volkswagen Group said it was testing autonomous parking in Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche vehicles at the Hamburg airport in Germany. The vehicles could only maneuver in and out of spaces that had “simple pictorial markers” installed to give the vehicles a way to orient themselves. Everything is moving according to plan, as VW said then that it would offer autonomous parking in production vehicles in 2020.

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Marc UrbanoCar and Driver Thanks to dealer incentives, rebates, and a nationwide $2000 dealer bonus, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator is currently available with up to $9000 in discounts through February 3. The discounts can be found on all 2020 Gladiators except the highest-level Rubicon trim. We found the Gladiator Sport S at our local Jeep […] More

Audi has revealed an ultra-luxury version of the A8 L called Horch.It features an upgraded rear seat and some exterior differences.The A8L Horch is unlikely to come to the U.S. market but will be sold in China.Audi now has its own answer for Mercedes’ ultra-luxury Maybach subbrand, but this new posh version of the A8L called Horch appears unlikely to come to the U.S. anytime soon. Debuting for the China market, the Horch has a sumptuous rear-seat setup and some exclusive exterior styling cues, much like the Maybach version of the S-class.
The Horch name comes from deep in Audi’s history, as it refers to August Horch, one of the German automaker’s founders. The moniker is displayed prominently on this special A8 L’s fenders and inside on the seats and throw pillows. There’s also a special logo seen on the chunky wheels that are exclusive to this model and a small emblem on each of the rear doors.

Naturally, the Horch treatment is for the extended-wheelbase version of the A8, as the rewards are most obvious in the rear seat. The two-place setup features power seat adjustments, heating and cooling, massage, and a screen to control all sorts of climate functions. There are also two rear-seat entertainment screens. The front cabin appears mostly the same as the standard model but does feature diamond-stitched upholstery on the seats and door panels.
Audi hasn’t yet shared what’s under the hood of the A8L Horch, but we think it’s likely to have either a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 or a plug-in-hybrid powertrain. The full details will be released at the Guangzhou auto show this month.
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Toyota announced pricing for the 2022 Tundra full-size pickup equipped with the new twin-turbo V-6 engine. It starts at $37,645 for a base SR model with an extended cab, 6.5-foot bed, and rear-wheel drive. The new Tundras will arrive at dealerships by the end of the year, and the new hybrid models’ price will be announced closer to its on-sale date early next year. Toyota redesigned the Tundra full-size pickup after 15 years with the hopes of making it more competitive with American trucks from Chevy, Ford, and Ram, all of which currently outsell the Tundra. It added features like a new coil-spring rear suspension, which should improve its ride, and a 14.0-inch touchscreen, the largest in its class. Those upgrades come at a cost, though, because the new Tundra’s starting price comes in at $37,645, higher than the domestic pickups.

2022 Toyota Tundra SR.
Toyota

That starting price is for the SR work truck model (pictured above) in standard extended-cab configuration with a 6.5-foot bed and rear-wheel drive. Toyota Tundra buyers have the choice of an extended- or crew-cab configuration with either a 5.5-, 6.5, or 8.1-foot bed depending on model, and four-wheel drive is available for an additional $3000. The Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, and Ram 1500’s base work trucks all come in cheaper than the Tundra’s base price, but the Ford and Chevy have smaller regular cab options. The Ram, like the Tundra, is only available in extended- and crew-cab configurations. Comparing similar configurations, though, the Tundra is still more expensive, but the Ford reaches higher prices in its top-of-the-line trims.

The next step up from the base model is the Tundra SR5. It starts at $42,450 and comes standard with an 8.0-inch touchscreen, though the larger 14.0-inch unit is available, an analog gauge cluster, and cloth seats. The Limited model costs $50,595 and is distinguished by chrome trim and gets the 14.0-inch touchscreen standard with synthetic leather seats. The Platinum model adds dark chrome exterior trim and a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster along with a standard JBL sound system and leather seats and starts at $58,685. The 1794 model, which is available in Mesquite brown and either a cream or brown leather interior, starts at $59,385.
All of these starting prices are for Tundras powered by the new twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V-6 making 348 hp and 405 pound-feet of torque in the base SR and 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque in the higher trim levels. A new 437-hp hybrid i-Force MAX powertrain using the twin-turbo V-6 is available on the Limited model and above and standard on the off-road TRD Pro model. Toyota says it will announce pricing for the hybrid models closer to their on-sale date early next year. Various equipment packages are available on the 2022 Tundra. A TRD sport package, only available on the SR5 model for $2190, lowers the truck and equips a TRD grille, black 20-inch TRD wheels, and a TRD leather shift knob. The TRD Off-Road package is available on the SR5, Limited, and 1794 models, priced ranging from $1120 to $3085. It adds 20-inch wheels (18-inchers on the SR5), a TRD grille, Bilstein dampers, skid plates, mud guards, and the TRD shifter. Four-wheel-drive models with the TRD Off-Road package add an electronically controlled rear locking differential and Toyota’s Multi Terrain Select drive modes. An air suspension, which can raise or lower the bed of the truck, is available for $650. The 2022 Toyota Tundra will arrive at dealerships by the end of the year. Trucks equipped with the hybrid engine will arrive early next year.

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Four government agencies—the Departments of Energy and Transportation, plus HUD and the EPA—said last fall that they would work together to create more clean and accessible transportation across the nation by 2050. This week, they released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, with details on how this will happen.Redesigned cities and communities and better public transportation are part of the plan, but the biggest reductions in emissions will come from cleaning up the vehicle fleet.The agencies see three main fossil fuel alternatives in our future—electricity, hydrogen, and sustainable biofuels—but they have wildly different use cases.Last fall, the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced they will work together to create a “clean, safe, accessible, equitable, and decarbonized transportation system for all.” This week, the agencies released their promised blueprint that puts some details on those bones.Called the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, the first-of-its-kind document envisions three familiar technology solutions for net-zero travel by 2050: batteries, hydrogen, and sustainable liquid fuels. It’s how the blueprint predicts these three technologies will be used that is most interesting, if not exactly surprising, for drivers. The technology with the “greatest long-term opportunity” to decarbonize light-duty vehicles, for example, is battery power. For long-haul heavy trucks, hydrogen is at the top of the list. And sustainable liquid fuels are likely best for boats and planes.The More You KnowMore interesting, perhaps, is that the agencies do not see a place for hydrogen in the light-duty vehicle fleet. While hydrogen is considered to have limited opportunity to green up short-haul heavy trucks and off-road vehicles, the blueprint’s chart doesn’t even support that bit of optimism for passenger cars. Despite the fact that the blueprint lists establishing a clean hydrogen infrastructure as one of the research priorities for the country, it will not help clean up our daily drivers, apparently.U.S. Department of EnergyChanging the Way Cities Look?The 88-page National Blueprint addresses more than energy types, including rethinking how local communities are laid out so that “job centers, shopping, schools, entertainment, and essential services are strategically located near where people live. Communities like this will reduce the amount of time people spend commuting, among other benefits. Making public transportation and trains more reliable and affordable is also in the plan, but the biggest carbon reduction improvements will happen in cleaning up the transportation options themselves.”With this second major step in the decades-long decarbonization plan now complete, the four agencies also provided a general outline for that milestones that are planned for the coming decades as the U.S. moves to a net-zero economy. Between now and 2030, it’s research and investments to support deployment. In the 2030s, the clean transportation solutions will scale up, and in the 2040s, we will be “Completing the Transition.” That’s the plan, anyway.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. More