Motor News

Time Magazine has named Elon Musk its 2021 Person of the Year.The title is given to the most influential person over the previous year, and is not necessarily considered an award.Musk is not the first automotive executive to be named Person of the Year—the title was given to Walter Chrysler in 1928 and GM president Harlow Curtice in 1955.Time Magazine announced today that Elon Musk is the publication’s Person of the Year. The title is not necessarily an award, but rather is given to the person or persons who have had an outsize impact on the world and influence on the news over the previous year. Musk’s prominent role as the head of Tesla, his venture into space travel with SpaceX, and his current position as the world’s wealthiest person, has made him both a household name and a controversial presence in the automotive world and beyond.This year, Tesla became a trillion-dollar company and continued its reign over the growing electric-vehicle market. Musk’s SpaceX venture also had a monumental year, launching the first space mission with an all-civilian crew in September. But the Time article points out not only Musk’s business acumen, but also his outspoken personality, describing him as “a madcap hybrid of Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum, Andrew Carnegie, and Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan.” From his comical, snarky tweets—which can border on Internet trolling—to his appearance on Saturday Night Live in May, Musk manages almost always to find a way into the daily news cycle.The magazine also describes how Musk’s prominence “coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect.” Time points to the replacement of traditional institutions by influential individuals, the shifting of power from government to private corporations, and the growing divide between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of the population. There’s also space travel, previously the domain of powerful nations and now being undertaken by companies including Musk’s SpaceX.

Musk is not the first person in the automotive sector to be named Person of the Year. The second ever Person (then Man) of the Year was Walter Chrysler, founder of the eponymous automaker, named in 1928 as the company merged with Dodge and began construction of the Chrysler Building in New York City. The title was also given to Harlow Curtice, president of General Motors, in 1955 when GM sold five million vehicles and became the first corporation to earn $1 billion in a single year. And while Musk, Chrsyler, and Curtice were all accomplished businessmen, Musk has become a cultural force unlike any automotive executive before him. “Many people are described as larger than life, but few deserve it,” Time noted.
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Vehicles from both Tesla and Mercedes currently allow some video games to be played on the main touchscreen while the car is moving. But the way the companies are reacting shows a world of difference.Mercedes says it made a mistake in allowing the in-motion games—which happens in only a couple hundred vehicles—and has issued a voluntary recall to fix the problem.Tesla, which allowed the moving games through an over-the-air update this summer, has not taken any public steps to fix the problem, but NHTSA said this week it is aware of the situation.Tesla runs counter to the traditional auto industry in a lot of ways, from the tweets of CEO Elon Musk to starting as an all-electric automaker in the early 2000s. The latest example of Tesla’s different approach is the way it and Daimler have each responded to recent questions of safety and in-car entertainment. Specifically, both Tesla and Mercedes have permitted people to play video games on the car’s touchscreen while the vehicle is in motion, although Mercedes considers it a mistake and is recalling vehicles to remedy the problem, while Tesla has not yet done that. In the case of Tesla, the Associated Press video clip below shows that the driver can easily play while driving.
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Minimizing distracted driving has been at the forefront of the agenda for U.S. safety regulators for years now, even as cars get more connected and in-cabin screens multiply and continue to grow larger. The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee, for example, can have two rear-seat infotainment screens as well as a screen in the dashboard for the front-seat passenger to be able to interact with the navigation system the driver sees as well as do things like watch streaming Amazon Fire TV content. What’s important to know is that this screen was designed so that you can’t see a single lit-up pixel from the driver’s position.As for Mercedes, the German automaker issued a recall for four models—the 2021 S580 and the 2022 EQS450, EQS 580, and S500—when it discovered that some of those vehicles on the road had been programmed with an “incorrect configuration” on Mercedes-Benz’s back-end server and potentially on the MBUX infotainment system in these vehicles. The error allows “vehicle occupants to activate those functions [including TV and digital owner’s manual, as well as the games] while the vehicle is driving.” The problem covers only 227 vehicles, but Mercedes issued the recall for them because “if an occupant were to actively select the function or application while the vehicle is driving, then driver distraction might result which could increase the risk of a crash,” the company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). No crashes or accidents have been reported since the problem was discovered in mid-November and Mercedes has since updated its network server to fix the problem, according to The Hill.Tesla, on the other hand, has allowed video games to be played in some of its vehicles for years. That’s fine when the car is parked, but this summer, an over-the-air software update allowed three video games to be played even while the car was in motion. Tesla’s Autopilot system, which is not a full self-driving technology, does not have the driver-monitoring capability to tell Tesla whether it’s the front-seat passenger or the driver who’s playing those games.

AP via YouTube

Following media reports about Tesla’s drivable gaming setup, NHTSA released a statement about the situation this week: “We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer. The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety,” the statement said, according to Bloomberg. Tesla, for its part, is being characteristically silent.
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We might need a word to describe looking at excellent classic cars on auction sites during a pandemic. Something like doomscrolling, but without the negative connotation. (Or maybe: Window Shopping.)For example, how about this 1972 BMW 3.0CS that was originally sold in Germany and was imported to the U.S. in the ’80s? Sure, it’s been repainted, and who knows how many miles are actually on it. But it looks good and appears to be in excellent shape.The current bid is $50,000, and the auction ends Friday.Scrolling through classic car auction sites has become more popular than ever during the pandemic, if the prices of many recent auctions tell us anything. Our friends at Bring a Trailer continue to provide social media with plenty of “Can you believe this?” listings as final bids for these classics mimic the higher prices we’re seeing across the board for new and used cars. Today, we’ve got our eye on a 1972 BMW 3.0CS, listed for auction on BaT, with a 3.0-liter M30 straight-six engine and a four-speed manual transmission. This elegant example of an E9 series was purchased new in Germany and imported to the U.S. in 1984.

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As with any car that has this many years behind it, there are some quirks to be found. The seller, who regularly lists vehicles on the site and bought this vehicle in late 2021, says that the windows and gauges are functioning, but not the clock. The second owner repainted it in Metallic Green sometime after 2015, covering the original Taiga metallic green paint. The interior, with its beige cloth upholstery, is all original. The brake pads, calipers, springs, struts, exhaust, water pump, and fan clutch have all been replaced at some point since 2015, the owner says. Lowering springs and Bilstein struts were installed in April 2019.

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The 16-inch wheels are “Alpina style” and not original. The odometer shows around 10,000 miles, but the true mileage is unknown. Service records for the car, going back to the 1970s, are included, as are the owner’s manuals, importation documents, and a clean Connecticut title. The Panasonic AM/FM–cassette stereo knows nothing about your smartphone. The vehicle is located in North Salem, New York, and anyone in the area can schedule an appointment to see the car on December 17.

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Similar early-1970s BMW 3.0 CS models currently for sale over on Hemmings, in wildly different conditions, range from around $16,000 to over $100,000, which admittedly tells us little about what to expect for the final price here. The current bid is $50,000 and the auction ends Friday, December 17.
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The city of Milwaukee is experiencing a big uptick in car thefts, and Hyundai and Kia vehicles are the majority of vehicles stolen.To address the problem, Hyundai and Kia say they are working with the local police department, which is distributing free steering-wheel locks to Milwaukee Hyundai and Kia owners through the end of the year.Starting with the 2022 model year, Kia said, it will make immobilizers standard on all trim levels of all models, a spokesperson said. Hyundai told C/D that all its new vehicles at every trim level have the immobilizers now. These have a transponder in the key fob to prevent a vehicle from being started by someone without the right key.According to city police in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, car theft is an increasing problem during pandemic times—and it’s especially dangerous to own a Hyundai or Kia. Vehicles of these brands, in fact, represent two out of every three vehicles stolen during the first half of 2021 in Milwaukee. City officials, faced with police cuts and a record wave of violent crime, have called on the automakers to fix what they perceive as defects and have threatened to sue them.According to police and WISN-12, while total year-to-date car thefts have risen nearly 2.5 times since 2020, the number of stolen Hyundai and Kia models was 25 times higher in just the first six months. Milwaukee police reported nearly 10,000 motor vehicle thefts so far this year, compared to 4509 last year and 3487 in 2019. Fox 6 Milwaukee says it’s the highest in 11 years. When thieves successfully break into a car and start the engine without a key, the targeted vehicles are usually older, don’t have anti-theft devices, and have physical ignition cylinders that can be mechanically bypassed. But age apparently hasn’t been a factor in Milwaukee, where police say that thieves—many of them minors—are jacking late-model or brand-new Hyundai and Kia vehicles, and many are posting about it on social media.One car-repair facility owner was quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explaining that “Kia thieves know they can break the back window without setting off an alarm, unlock the door, quickly peel back the steering column, and either use a screwdriver or a USB port to crank the car and go.”City council members are blaming the automakers for allegedly not installing anti-theft devices such as engine immobilizers in their cars. Alderman Khalif Rainey said the automakers are “directly responsible” for the uptick in crime and that “it’s time to fix the problem they created.” In separate letters to the U.S. divisions of both automakers, Rainey alleged that their cars “can be stolen with nothing more than a USB cable.” The city “revealed it’s considering suing Kia and Hyundai under public nuisance laws,” according to WISN-12. No lawsuit has been filed. Spokespeople for Hyundai and Kia said in June that the companies were investigating and cooperating with police.

Hyundai and Kia spokespeople told Car and Driver that the company is currently “working closely with the Milwaukee Police Department and other local officials and departments.” The police are providing anti-theft steering-wheel locks to owners of Hyundai and Kia vehicles that don’t have an engine immobilizer, a transponder in the ignition key that communicates with electronic devices inside the vehicle to prevent theft. Hyundai said it is directly supplying the Milwaukee Police Department with these locks.Spokespeople for Hyundai and Kia told C/D that every new Hyundai now has standard engine immobilizers, and that all 2022 Kias across the lineup will also have the engine immobilizer fitted as standard equipment. The Kia spokesperson also said, “While we have seen the same public statements about the potential for a lawsuit to address a crime wave in Milwaukee, we are not aware of the basis for any legal claims against Kia America.”It’s not just Milwaukee and it’s not just Hyundai/Kia products, of course. Nationwide, more cars were stolen in 2020 than any year in the past decade, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the lead data source for vehicle thefts reported to insurance companies. A total of 880,595 vehicles were reported stolen, which was an 11 percent increase from 2019. Theft increases were reported in 41 states. Interestingly, no Hyundai or Kia model made the NICB’s top 10 most-stolen vehicles list for 2020.
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A Wall Street Journal report today, citing “people familiar with the matter,” says General Motors is planning to spend about $3 billion and add some 2700 jobs to produce EVs and batteries in Michigan.The paper noted that Ford and Toyota both announced big expenditures on EV and battery production recently, both in the southern U.S. rather than in Michigan.We have reached out to GM for details and will update this story when we know more.General Motors will reportedly invest around $3 billion to produce electric vehicles and batteries in Michigan, according to a report today by the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources. The automaker is set to update the Orion Assembly plant, which currently produces the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, to serve as a production facility for its electric pickups.

Additionally, GM is preparing to build a battery production facility in Lansing. This project will supposedly be done in partnership with LG Energy Solutions. Each project is estimated to cost approximately $2 billion, with the latter battery plant’s cost split evenly between GM and LG. The two investments are set to create more than 2700 jobs, with more than half of those new jobs reportedly earmarked for the updated Orion Assembly plant, according to the WSJ. We’ve reached out to GM for comment and will update this story with more information as it becomes available.

Ford announced earlier this year that it will make batteries for the upcoming F-150 Lightning electric pickup at a new plant under construction in Georgia. The automaker will also produce EVs and batteries in Tennessee and Kentucky and will develop batteries at the newly announced Ion Park in southeastern Michigan. Stellantis, parent company of Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, will produce battery cells for future vehicles in North America but has not yet said where. Toyota is opening an EV battery production “megasite” in North Carolina that will open in 2025.
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The next-generation Mini Cooper Hardtop has leaked in new spy shots that show an uncamouflaged prototype testing in China.The front end is similar to the current model, but the taillights now feature a sharp, triangular design and are missing the Union Jack motif.The next Cooper Hardtop is due in 2023 and will come with both electric and gas powertrains.Back in November, Mini showed off a camouflaged prototype of the next-generation Cooper Hardtop and told us that it would be offered with both internal combustion engines and an electric powertrain. Now the next Mini Cooper’s design has been leaked in full, thanks to journalist Greg Kable, who snapped photos of the future Cooper Hardtop undergoing testing with disguised prototypes in China.
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The front end isn’t a drastic departure from the current Cooper Hardtop, featuring the same bulldog-like face with big round headlights and a chunky grille. The grille looks mostly blocked off, with only a small opening in the lower third, and the prototype appears to lack exhaust pipes, leading us to believe this is the electric version of the next Mini. The interior includes a large circular screen in the center console and what appears to be a head-up display taking the place of a gauge cluster behind the steering wheel.

The most noticeable change is at the rear, where the rectangular taillights have been swapped out for triangular units that seem to have ditched the kitschy Union Jack motif. A gloss-black trim piece spans the width of the tailgate and links the taillights, while the bumper sports a simple, clean design. The next-generation Mini Cooper Hardtop is expected to arrive in 2023, when a new Countryman SUV will also debut. The electric version will ride on a platform jointly developed by BMW and Chinese automaker Great Wall and will be built in China, while the gas-powered Cooper will be built in Oxford, England, likely on an updated version of the current Cooper’s platform.
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Volkswagen has confirmed that a camper version of its ID.Buzz van will be made. No other details were released, but we can imagine such a vehicle would ride on the longer-wheelbase version of the ID.Buzz MEB electric platform, with front- or all-wheel drive offered. Range could possibly reach 342 miles. We in the U.S. haven’t been offered a VW camper since 2003, and they weren’t big sellers then.Buried deep inside a European press release, camouflaged under the headline “Electrification of more European plants,” was this little snippet: “Another vehicle derivative, the ID.California, has likewise been approved for the [Hanover, Germany] site.”Woo-hoo! That means ID.Buzz campers. Rejoice, hippies!

The release is the first acknowledgment from VW that the much-buzzed-about ID.Buzz will, indeed, get a camper variant. Used-car sale prices of past VW camper vans have been steadily increasing, and with good reason. As the pandemic got more people out on the road with their laptops to work remotely and anywhere they darn well pleased, the need for practical camper-style transport grew exponentially. A Westfalia camper van offers much of the same #VanLife practicality as a Sprinter or a full-fledged motorhome while being a lot easier to drive and park.

Here’s a more recent rendering of the coming VW ID.Buzz electric van. Imagine that with a pop top and swivel seats.
VW

Details of the ID. California are scant, but the regular ID.Buzz van is expected to come with a choice of 82.0- or 111.0-kWh batteries, good for a possible range of up to 342 miles. There should be two powertrain options in the ID.Buzz: single-motor rear-drive or front- and rear-motor all-wheel drive. Volkswagen has already announced that there would be a cargo version of the ID.Buzz called, cleverly, The ID.Buzz Cargo. It will be built on the longer-wheelbase version of the ID.Buzz. All will ride on the purpose-built MEB electric-car platform that sits under all of Volkswagen’s EVs. While Europe and other markets have been getting Volkswagen camper vans since the very beginning, we here in the States haven’t had the option since the T4 van (Type 4, the fourth-generation van) was last offered here in 2003. That one came in a pop-top version with sleeping for two upstairs and for another two down below when you folded all the seats flat. There was a flip-up table and a cute little refrigerator under the rear-facing seat, too. Winnebago offered a more fully equipped camper version. Problem was, even when the T4 Westfalias were being offered in American showrooms 20 years ago, few were buying them. Low sales combined with the cost of federalizing the T5 and T6 versions killed any business case anyone in Wolfsburg may have been trying to make for them. It’s still not clear from today’s “announcement” if U.S. sales will be part of the plan for what is being referred to as the ID.California. We got to spend a few days camping in a Euro-spec T6 California camper three years ago, glommed onto a larger worldwide press launch of that fine camper bus. We found that thing roughly 400 times better than the rickety 2003 T4 we actually own. But it was just cruel of VW to tease U.S. van lovers with that. Now, maybe, we’ll be getting our own. Maybe.”No word on anything at this point,” said a spokesperson when asked. “Let’s hope it comes here!!”Note the two exclamation marks. That’s gotta mean something, right?
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Mercedes will launch a new Level 3 autonomous driving system in Germany at the beginning of 2022.Called Drive Pilot, it will be available for the S-class and EQS models.The system is operable at up to 37 mph on designated highways in Germany.Mercedes says it has received regulatory approval in Germany for its latest Level 3 autonomous driving system, called Drive Pilot. This technology allows for hands-free driving under certain conditions and, unlike Level 2 systems such as Cadillac’s Super Cruise, does not require the driver to be looking at the road while the system is active. Audi had previously pioneered a similar system in the A8 but later gave up on seeking government approval in both Europe and the U.S. Honda launched Level 3 technology in Japan in a small batch of Legend sedans earlier this year.Drive Pilot will first be available in Germany for the S-class sedan starting in early 2022 and later for the electric EQS, and Mercedes says it is testing the system in the U.S. and China. So far it can only operate on designated highways in Germany, comprising a total of 8197 miles, and only works up to 37 mph. It uses the existing suite of sensors that enable other driver-assistance features and also includes additional LiDAR sensors, cameras, and a moisture sensor in the wheel well. There are also failsafes for the steering, braking, and electrical systems.

Mercedes-Benz

The Drive Pilot system will prompt the driver to take over control if certain conditions are not met. If the driver fails to do so, the system will bring the vehicle to a stop, start the hazard lights, and activate the emergency call function.

Drive Pilot’s potential availability in the U.S. will depend on how regulations and laws for autonomous driving develop on our shores. Earlier this year, NHTSA finalized and clarified the rules for vehicles with Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 autonomous systems. But Mercedes has not yet detailed how or if it plans to seek approval for Drive Pilot in America. We also don’t know how much the Drive Pilot option will cost for the S-class in Germany, so stay tuned for more information to come on this new feature.
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