Motor News

Subaru has announced a name for its new EV crossover: Solterra.It uses a new platform that is shared with the Toyota bZ4X and it has standard all-wheel drive.The Solterra will arrive in the U.S. in 2022.Subaru will soon be joining the EV crossover craze with a new model that we now know will be called Solterra. Combining the Latin words for “sun” and earth,” this new moniker is meant to emphasize the car’s environmentally friendly milieu. The Solterra will go on sale in the U.S. in 2022 and newly released teaser photos give us an idea of its overall shape and a few details.

The 2023 Subaru Solterra shares its platform with the recently revealed Toyota bZ4X as part of a joint venture between the two automakers. Its headlights look similar to the Toyota’s, and the Subaru version will likely be the same size as the Toyota, which fits into the compact-crossover segment alongside models such as the RAV4 and Forester.

Subaru

The only details we have about the powertrain so far is that the Solterra will have standard all-wheel drive. That likely means it will have front and rear electric motors. Battery capacity is also unknown but we figure it will need an estimated driving range of at least 250 miles to be competitive with other models in this segment such as the VW ID.4 and Ford Mustang Mach-E.Subaru has not yet announced a reveal date for the Solterra, but we expect to see it before the end of 2021 before it goes on sale next year.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report in its investigation into the fatal crash of a Tesla Model S in April near Houston.The report states that when the car started, security video shows the owner in the driver’s seat, contradicting reports at the time of the April 17 accident that the seat was empty when the car crashed. The NTSB also tested a similar Model S on the same road and found Autopilot could not have been in effect at that place. The government group said that the Autopilot technology onboard needed both Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer to be engaged in order to operate, and it was not possible to engage Autosteer in NTSB’s tests on the road where the crash occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report today in its investigation into the crash of a 2019 Tesla Model S near Houston, Texas, on April 17. Two noteworthy statements stood out in the report. First is that the car’s owner was seated in the driver’s seat, with his companion in the front passenger seat, which contradicts reports at the time that the wrecked car had one person in the front passenger seat and the other in the back seat, with no one behind the wheel. Second is that, although the Model S had Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assist technology equipped, it could not have been in effect at the time of the crash because it couldn’t be enabled in that location. This would seem to vindicate Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who insisted that Autopilot couldn’t have been in operation in the crash.

The accident involved a 59-year-old man who was taking a 69-year-old passenger for a ride in his Model S P100D EV. They started on a cul-de-sac and proceeded onto a two-lane concrete road in a residential neighborhood of Spring, Texas. The NTSB report describes it as “a concrete two-lane road with one westbound and one eastbound lane and mountable concrete curbs on either side,” and said it has no lane markings and is level, with a curve to the south, at the place where the Tesla crashed. The speed limit there is 30 mph, the agency said. The Tesla owner’s home security camera showed that he got into the car in the driver’s seat, while his companion got in the front passenger seat. From his home, the car traveled “about 550 feet” before going off the road at the curve and over the curb, NTSB said, then it hit a drainage culvert, a raised manhole, and finally a tree, where it caught fire.The report said the car’s lithium-ion battery case was damaged, and in the ensuing fire the infotainment system’s onboard storage device was destroyed. However, the “restraint control module,” which stores data such as whether seatbelts were in use, how fast the vehicle was going, acceleration information, and airbag deployment, although damaged by fire was recovered and turned over to the NTSB’s laboratory to evaluate.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk insisted that Autopilot would not have been able to work on the road where the crash occurred because it had no line markings. The report seems to bear this out, stating that two other driver-assist features, Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, must both be engaged for Autopilot to work. In a reconstruction using a similar Tesla, the agency found that Autosteer was not usable on that part of the road, meaning the Autopilot system couldn’t have worked. The NTSB investigation will continue, working alongside NHTSA and Tesla. They will be looking into such issues as as seatbelt use, crash dynamics, and “occupant egress”—which should let the agency conclude whether the driver was actually in the front or back of the car at time of impact—among other data such as postmortem toxicology test results. The NTSB investigates some 2500 accidents per year, with about 2000 related to aviation and the rest divided among rail, highway, marine and pipeline accidents. The agency said it has not yet decided on the probable cause of the accident but plans to issue “safety recommendations to prevent future crashes” once it does. Meanwhile, the local Texas Precinct 4 Constable’s Office is also investigating on its own.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

This content is imported from YouTube. 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.

Ford has announced that its upcoming electric pickup will be called the F-150 Lightning. It will be unveiled on Ford’s social media channels on Wednesday, May 19, at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Ford F-150 Lightning will go on sale in the middle of next year. Ford announced that its upcoming electric pickup will be called the F-150 Lightning, as we first reported at the end of last month. The electric F-150 will be fully unveiled next week on Wednesday, May 19 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Ford’s YouTube channel, and it will go on sale in mid-2022.

Ford

Ford CEO Jim Farley says that the F-150 Lightning will be able to power homes (similar to the Hummer EV SUV), accelerate quicker than the supercharged V-8–powered F-150 Lightnings of old, and improve with over-the-air updates. It will have a dual-motor setup providing all-wheel drive, and its battery pack should provide more than 300 miles of range given that the longest-range Mustang Mach-E is EPA-rated at 305 miles of driving range.

The F-150 Lightning should be similar in size and shape to the gas-powered trucks. It will have an illuminated light bar that stretches across the top of the grille and a new “Lightning” logo that will adorn the truck’s bedside panel. The interior should have plenty of screen real estate since the new F-150 debuted a large 12.0-inch screen and digital gauge cluster.

Ford

The new Ford F-150 Lightning will arrive in mid-2022 to compete against other upcoming electric pickups such as the GMC Hummer EV pickup, the electric Chevy Silverado, and the Tesla Cybertruck. Its batteries will be produced alongside it at a new electric vehicle facility at Ford’s Rouge Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Ford has announced official power figures for the 2021 Bronco, as spotted by the Bronco6G forum.Ford now says that the 2.3L engine makes 300 hp and 325 pound-feet of torque, and that the 2.7L engine makes 330 hp and 415 pound-feet of torque.Those are increases of 30 horsepower for the four-cylinder and 20 hp for the V-6 over the original estimates.The 2021 Ford Bronco will be more powerful than Ford’s initial estimates claimed. A new spec sheet reports official SAE-certified horsepower and torque figures that are higher by 20–30 horsepower and 5–15 pound-feet depending on engine.

The base turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four, initially estimated to have 270 hp and 310 pound-feet, is rated at 300 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. The optional twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6, which had initial estimates of 310 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque, is rated at 330 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. The four-cylinder Bronco offers the choice of either a seven-speed manual or a 10-speed automatic transmission, while the V-6 model comes only with the automatic.These numbers apply when running on premium fuel. Ford also provides slightly reduced SAE numbers that apply for when the Bronco is running on 87 octane regular fuel: 275 hp and 315 pound-feet for the 2.3L and 315 hp and 410 pound-feet for the 2.7L.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the 2013–2015 Honda Accord over reports of loss of steering control.Reuters reported today that NHTSA will carry out an engineering analysis after 107 complaints and two reports of injuries. The initial petition, from October 2020, said an Accord owner experienced deviation from the intended path of travel without warning or driver input.The investigation will cover more than 1.1 million Accord cars and could lead to a recall.The 2013–2015 Honda Accord is being investigated after 107 reports of loss of steering control during driving under normal conditions. The probe, which covers 1,120,470 Accord cars in the U.S., could culminate in a recall if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) decides it is warranted.NHTSA officially opened the investigation on May 6 based on an October 2020 petition from the owner of a 2013 Accord. This petition states that the driver lost steering control and the car deviated from its intended path of travel during normal driving and without warning. The owner describes it as a situation where “my vehicle repeatedly turned 90 degrees of its own volition,” which they said “was replicated by Honda dealership mechanics.”NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation will now open an engineering analysis to “assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety-related consequences” of the problem. We will update this story as more information becomes available. In the meantime, owners can check the NHTSA recalls site for more information.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Want to work for Rivian? The startup EV maker is looking to hire more than 1500 people, including Event Team workers, to promote the brand directly to potential buyers. An especially noteworthy perk for employees, the InsideEVs blog has reported, is a $1000-per-month incentive if they buy their own R1S SUV or R1T truck.Customers can have a Rivian Guide give a full tour of their new EV when they get it delivered, as well as buy insurance direct from Rivian that will give out rewards when they use the EV’s advanced safety technology.Rivian has already announced a massive 175,000-mile warranty and an “Adventure Network” of EV chargers, but clearly it’s going to do more to stand out.Startup electric-vehicle companies and ambitious plans seem to go hand in hand. Whether it’s Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Martian dreams or Nio building battery swap stations overseas, new automakers like to do things their own way. If you take a look at what Rivian is up to, you’ll see it fits the pattern quite well.We’ll start with some of the Rivian tidbits we already knew about, like a 175,000-mile warranty for the battery pack and electric drivetrain components in the company’s upcoming R1S SUVs and R1T pickup trucks, and the Adventure Network of 3500 proprietary DC fast chargers at 600 stations to charge up its electric vehicles.

But these are not the only way Rivian is trying to gets its electric truck and SUV to stand out in one of the busiest automotive segments: large electrified vehicles. The first customer vehicles are supposed to be delivered this summer (although placing a new order today means you have to wait until January 2022), and Rivian will not only bring your new vehicle direct to your home but will also either give you the keys as part of a “touchless experience,” or you can have a Rivian Guide give you a comprehensive tour of your new EV. And if you purchase a Rivian EV and then decide you actually don’t like it, you can return it within seven days or 1000 miles.
Rivian will offer its own financial services, which is common for an automaker, but it also plans to sell its own comprehensive vehicle insurance, which will also cover things such as Rivian accessories and off-roading. And, if you use your EV’s standard Driver+ Active Driving Assistance safety technology—which can automatically steer and adjust your speed on the highway, for example—the company says you can reduce your insurance costs by earning rewards at renewal. The full details on Rivian Insurance are not publicly available, but we do know that Rivian works with third-party insurance carriers, including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, for its coverage. Also, for starters, Rivian Insurance will only be available in 40 states.

As for actually producing its EVs, Rivian recently got approval to expand its manufacturing site in Normal, Illinois, by 380 acres. It plans to build a solar-powered charging canopy to power up new vehicles right when they come off the line. Of course, Rivian will need to hire people to fulfill these many ambitious goals. The company currently lists more than 1500 job openings, including a dozen or so Event Team Manager spots across the U.S. People hired for these customer service and event jobs will be spending four months on the road across the country (and maybe Canada) promoting Rivian’s EVs at demonstration drives with a tour team made up of more than 20 people.

Rivian employees who end up buying one of the company’s EVs could get more than a traditional automaker employee discount. InsideEVs reported on a thread on the Rivian Owners Forum where people with company connections posted about a 24-month, $1000-a-month payment discount for employees who buy a R1S or R1T. Rivian hasn’t yet replied to our request to confirm this deal. The R1S and R1T are priced starting in the $75,000 range.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

An electric Porsche Macan will arrive in 2023 alongside a new gasoline-powered version, which will debut later this year. It’ll be built on a new electric platform with a similar 800-volt architecture as the Taycan electric sedan, but it will have significantly more range, Porsche claims. The electric and gas-powered models will be differentiated by design, similar to the Taycan and Panamera. Porsche’s best-selling model will have an electric version arriving in 2023, and the company is currently testing prototypes. It’ll ride on a new electric platform, have significantly more range than the Taycan electric sedan, and be sold alongside the new gas-powered Macan that’ll arrive later this year. Porsche hasn’t announced what the electric model will be called or when the gas-powered model will go away. That’ll be decided based on how well it sells.
The electric Macan will be built on VW Group’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE) electric architecture that will be used on a range of future Audi and Porsche products. The new gas-powered model will use the Macan’s existing platform. The EV will borrow the Taycan’s 800-volt architecture, which allows for fast charging at a maximum of 270 kilowatts, and like the Taycan, Porsche is planning that the electric Macan will have two battery sizes available. However, Porsche says that the majority of North American customers thus far have chosen the larger battery pack, so we could have only one battery size in the States. The Macan is currently available as base, S, Turbo, and GTS models powered by turbo four-cylinder or turbo V-6 engines.

Porsche claims that the Macan EV will have “significantly” more range than the current Taycan. That means it should boast more than the 2021 Taycan 4S model’s 227 miles of EPA-estimated range, which is currently the highest in the lineup. This will be essential in order to make it competitive with other electric crossovers such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y, which both have variants with more than 300-mile EPA range ratings. Porsche is also planning to expand its partnership with the Electrify America charging network, possibly with destination chargers at hotels and dealerships. They’ll look different from the standard Macan, too. Michael Steiner, Porsche’s executive board member for development, made a reference to the Taycan and Panamera. Visual differences between the two Macans are hinted at in the photos, especially on the front end where Porsche has attempted to cover it with camouflage that blends in with the looks of the current Macan. These prototypes’ headlights are slimmer and of course don’t have a traditional grille like the gas-powered model. Other than that, they are similar in size and shape to the current crossover. And Porsche says they’ll have a similar propulsion sound to that of the Taycan. We should know more about the electric Macan once the new gas-powered model makes its debut by the end of the year.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

The engineering group SAE International has updated its Levels of Driving Automation chart with more definitions for the Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous systems, which are in the upper end toward fully self-driving in the famous chart.The basic framework remains the same, with six distinct levels from 0 to 5 between a car that can’t handle any self-driving tasks and one that’s fully capable of autonomous movement.New rules for remote driving—because that’s a thing that’s coming—were also updated.

SAE International

The way the auto industry officially defines the varying levels of driver assistance technology, from absolutely nothing to full self-driving cars, is getting an update. These six levels that the organizing bodies for these terms, SAE International and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), first started defining in 2014 are being changed to include remote technologies and other clarifications.

The six levels, which range from Level 0 to Level 5, are technically known as J3016 and can be slightly confusing because they are sometimes talked about as if they are simply different levels of actual autonomous vehicles. The extremes are easy to understand, with Level 0 meaning there is nothing in the car that will ever take control of any of the car’s movement functions and Level 5 meaning full autonomy. It’s the middle steps that are a bit more blurred. To help keep the levels defined, the SAE and ISO are making it clearer that the first three levels (L0, L1, and L2) should be referred to as “Driver Support Systems,” while L3, L4 and L5 are used for actual “Automated Driving Systems.”The new update doesn’t dramatically change the structure of the previous collection. In fact, the chart that the SAE uses as a bit of a cheat sheet for the different levels has remained exactly the same since it was last updated in 2019, but there are new clarifications for the industry to use.The biggest changes are in what defines the Level 3 and Level 4 systems. The definitions have been clarified to note that there might be some automated fallback at L3, while at L4 there is the possibility of some alerts to in-vehicle users.There are also changes when it comes to human-in-the-loop systems, with the new terminologies finding room for the remote technologies and naming the people who might be involved in controlling a vehicle from afar: remote assistant and remote driver. A remote driver, for example, could be someone who monitors the pathway of a vehicle trying to park remotely, and makes sure the car is “responsive to pedestrians and obstacles.” A remote assistant, on the other hand, could be someone who “provides remote assistance to an [automated driving system]-equipped vehicle in driverless operation.”The chairperson of the SAE J3016 Technical Standards Committee, Barbara Wendling, said this week’s updates are to be expected considering how fast autonomous vehicle technology is advancing. “As the development of automated driving technologies continues on a global scale, SAE J3016: Levels of Driving Automation has evolved to align with the developing technologies and deployment strategies,” she said in a statement. In other words, we won’t be surprised when the SAE updates these definitions once again in the future.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. 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 created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More