Motor News

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.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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Genesis Europe posted photos of a camouflaged wagon, the G70 Shooting Brake, on Instagram. The luxury Korean automaker will enter Europe this summer and has confirmed we won’t get the G70 wagon in the States, just the sedan.It’ll be powered by either a turbocharged four-cylinder or a twin-turbo V-6. Genesis will make its debut in the European market this summer, and with it will come a shooting brake, or wagon, model of the new G70, which will compete against other popular European wagons including the Audi A4 Avant and the BMW 3-series Touring. However, sadly, Genesis confirmed to Car and Driver that the G70 Shooting Brake won’t be available in the States—we’ll just get the new sedan.
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The G70 received a significant redesign for the 2022 model year, giving it a similar look as its larger G80 sibling. Genesis also welcomed the GV70 crossover to its lineup for 2022, which is based on the G70 sedan and will go on sale in the U.S. this year. The wagon version, the G70 Shooting Brake, looks just like the updated sedan but with a sloped roofline and more pronounced rear spoiler, similar to the design of the GV70 crossover. It retains the same dual oval exhaust tips as the sedan.

The 2022 G70 will use the same turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6 engines from the previous generation. They’ll be paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and either rear- or all-wheel drive. And in even more bad news, the optional six-speed manual transmission will be dropped for the 2022 model year. Genesis recently revealed its first electric vehicle, the Electrified G80, and says more are on the way. The 2022 G70 sedan, which will have a limited Launch Edition model in the U.S., will arrive this summer starting at $38,570.
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Hyundai has shared more details about the Santa Cruz pickup’s features, colors, and powertrains.The SE and SEL models have a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four, while the SEL Premium and Limited have a more powerful turbo version of that engine.Pricing has not yet been announced but the Santa Cruz is expected to go on sale this summer.Hyundai’s first pickup truck, the 2022 Santa Cruz, will come in four trim levels, six exterior colors, and with a choice of two available engines. Although we still don’t know how much it will cost, a configurator tool on Hyundai’s website provides some information on the four trims—SE, SEL, SEL Premium, and Limited—and what’s available for each model.

The SE and SEL models come standard with front-wheel drive, an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four engine with a claimed 190-plus horsepower. This provides 3500 pounds of towing capacity and a 1748-pound payload rating. An 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system is standard on the SE, while the SEL adds proximity-key entry, heated front seats, a power driver’s seat, and blind-spot monitoring. All-wheel drive is optional.The higher SEL Premium and Limited models come with a more powerful turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four that Hyundai says will make 275-plus horsepower. Hyundai claims a tow rating of up to 5000 pounds with this engine. This powertrain uses an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and also comes with either standard front-wheel drive or optional all-wheel drive. The SEL Premium includes features such as LED headlights and automatic climate control, while the loaded Limited adds a premium audio system, a 10.3-inch infotainment screen, and cooled front seats.
Exterior colors include Ice White, Phantom Black, Hampton Grey, Sage Gray, Blue Stone, and Desert Sand. So far we’ve only seen the Santa Cruz’s black interior color scheme but a light-colored interior is also likely to be offered.Hyundai is currently taking reservations for the Santa Cruz, which require a $100 deposit. More information, including pricing and EPA fuel-economy ratings, should be coming soon.
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One of 10 W Motors Lykan HyperSport stunt cars used in the Fast & Furious 7 film are being auctioned as a physical object and its non-fungible token, or NFT, together.Early bidding starts May 6 at $100,000.The Lykan HyperSport stunt car is drivable, but its 770-hp powertain has been replaced by a smaller Porsche flat-six with a manual transmission. The W Motors Lykan HyperSport seen jumping between Abu Dhabi skyscrapers in Fast & Furious 7 is headed to auction. The winner at auction will receive both the actual car and its non-fungible token (NFT), which is a type of digital cryptocurrency (sort of). The live auction starts on May 11 at RubiX. Pre-bidding starts today at $100,000. Of the 10 Lykans used in filming, this is the only one remaining, and it still has its battle wounds.

This particular Lykan, used as a stunt car, is of course not at all street legal. The steering-wheel airbag was removed for filming, as were the gauge cluster and the infotainment system. All that crazy Furious 7 stunt work wasn’t completely computer generated, and if you look closely, you’ll notice some bumps and bruises. Its mirrors, rear wheel center caps, and even part of the engine intake were all torn off during filming. If you think that’s crazy, you should see the Lykan they dropped from 60 feet. That one is also missing a few pieces.

W Motors

W Motors

The 780-hp twin-turbo flat-six tuned by RUF has been replaced by a smaller 245-hp flat-six, likely from a Porsche Boxster or Cayman. A manual transmission was also added. It’s still a pretty kickass piece of movie memorabilia, and creative minds could modify the actual car into one of the most unique sim-racing rigs ever. You can’t funge with the NFT, however.
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If you’re confused about NFTs, you aren’t alone. Think of an NFT like a digital Hot Wheels car. Say there’s just one. It’s packaged inside a proverbial encrypted box of sorts, you can only access it digitally, and no, you’ll never get to play with it. You aren’t given any physical object, just a code with a bunch of numbers. It’s part virtual art, part bragging chip, which can be sold later as cryptocurrency on a digital ledger, better known as a blockchain.

NFTs are similar to bitcoin, only the value of each NFT grows independently. So, while each bitcoin cryptocurrency is worth $57,500 as of this writing, the NFT that is the NBA highlight of Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry sinking a three-point shot is currently worth $45,000, whereas Chicago Bulls player Zach LaVine’s dunk on Oklahoma City is only worth $1000. Sorry, Zach. Sure, you can watch these clips on YouTube for free, but you’ll have to pay big to own the officially licensed NBA original. It all sounds crazy, but consider how much imagery and art you’ve already encountered today exists only in a virtual cloud.So why would anyone buy an NFT? For starters, an NFT of a car isn’t something you have to wash, gas, find replacement parts for, or worry about an Uber driver in a Kia Soul trading paint with. It never rots, but you’ll never drive it. And to be fair, there are plenty of car collectors that don’t daily-drive each car they own. Sure, Jay Leno has nearly enough cars to drive a different one each day for a year, but it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever catch Jeff Gordon’s 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Burger King drive-through. It’s sponsored by Pepsi, after all. That being said, we’d still take the car over the expensive GIF.Unlike most NFTs though, this auction wins both the actual car and the NFT together. Which one do you think will last longer, the internet or the stunt car?
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Buyers are paying more for new cars as average transaction prices rise. Ford cited an average transaction price of $43,600 in April.This is the result of low inventory and high demand for new vehicles causing automakers to reduce incentives.Price-conscious shoppers may want to find segments where supply is higher.The combination of strong demand for new cars and tight inventories is creating a perfect storm of high vehicle prices. Many buyers in 2021 are paying more for new vehicles compared with last year as incentive spending drops and average transaction prices (ATP) rise, and this trend could increase as the global microchip shortage continues to affect production for many models.

According to Cox Automotive, new-vehicle inventory was down 25 percent compared with this time last year at the start of April and could soon be down by as much as 40 percent. At the same time, nearly all automakers are reporting strong sales numbers through the first few months of 2021. With fewer vehicles on dealer lots but strong consumer appetites for new cars, automakers are rolling out fewer incentives; in other words, you won’t find much cash on the hood. Cox Automotive said that incentive spending fell by nearly 16 percent during the first quarter. Measured as a percentage of average transaction prices, incentives dipped below 10 percent for the first time since 2016.General Motors said that its transaction prices rose by an average of $3500 per vehicle in the first quarter of 2021. Ford claimed that its high average transaction price of $43,600 in April 2021 was driven by a greater mix of more expensive SUV and truck models, which now comprise 94 percent of its sales since the company dropped most of its passenger-car models. It used the example of the Bronco Sport compact SUV to show how this switch has benefitted the company, as the Bronco Sport’s average transaction price (ATP) of $31,800 in April was considerably higher than the out-of-production Fusion mid-size sedan’s $22,600 ATP.

While this shift may boost automakers’ bottom lines, it’s not so good for value-minded consumers. With used-car prices also on the rise, price-sensitive shoppers in need of a vehicle are facing a tough market. “It’s getting more difficult for shoppers to find excellent deals,” noted Charlie Chesbrough, Cox Automotive senior economist. “If price is the ultimate driver, shoppers might be wise to focus on segments of the market where inventory is healthier.” Cox’s data indicates that compact and mid-size cars and subcompact SUVs may have better supply, which means there could be better deals to be had.How long will these higher prices last? We don’t know, but surely not forever. Reuters reported that many auto executives, including GM CEO Mary Barra, believe that the chip shortage will worsen in the second quarter of 2021, which could further impact inventories and drive prices even higher. The bottleneck is expected to improve in the second half of the year, at which point the supply and demand could start to balance out. If you can hold off on your new-vehicle purchase for a few more months, your wallet might thank you.
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