Motor News

It’s still in the early stages, but Recurrent has a plan to provide used-car shoppers with independent, detailed information on the battery pack for the EV they have their eye on.
Recurrent is based in Seattle and currently limits EVs in its program to Washington State, but if the technology proves worthwhile, look for this “Carfax for batteries” when you’re shopping in a few years.
Recurrent raised $3.5 million in funding in December and is now opening up its user rolls to more Washington-based drivers.
Residual values for many electric vehicles drop at an alarming rate compared to those of traditional internal-combustion vehicles. There are a number of reasons for this, including lower overall supply, fewer people looking to buy an EV instead of ICE models, and a fair amount of uncertainty about just how long the battery will last.

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For the EV hesitant, there’s reason to look into Recurrent, the Seattle-based company that offers its own independent battery life reports for used EVs that provide detailed information on the EV a customer may be thinking about buying. As others have said, because it’s an easy way to understand what Recurrent offers, the service is like a Carfax report for EV batteries, giving buyers and sellers a verified way to know the shape a three-year-old Nissan Leaf battery, for example, is in. In September, Recurrent CEO Scott Case told Car and Driver that battery health is “the new odometer for electric cars.”
After announcing itself to the world last June, Recurrent raised $3.5 million in seed financing in December for its independent verification technology. The funding round included a number of venture capital firms as well as the Washington chapter of the American Automobile Association (AAA). This week, according to Green Car Reports, AAA Washington and Recurrent announced a new partnership in a pilot project that remotely monitors the battery health of subscribers’ EVs and then compares them to the live of batteries in similar vehicles.
People who sign up for the (for now) invite-only program will then get an alert if Recurrent determines their pack shows signs of “unusual wear and tear.” Participants also get tips on ways to keep their battery in top shape so that, when the time comes to sell, the EV will be able to command a premium compared to non-Recurrent EVs, Case wrote on the Recurrent company blog. Questions about battery health can block used-EV sales, which then “holds up the entire market in this really critical way,” Case told GCR.
Thanks to a partnership with Smartcar, which provides end-to-end 256-bit encryption, Recurrent’s algorithm downloads four data points from registered EVs up to three times a day: charging status, battery level, odometer, and the car computer’s own range estimate. Most modern EVs are eligible to participate, as long as the current owner or lessee has an active account with an automaker’s connected vehicle service (for instance, NissanConnect EV or FordPass). So far, just over 2600 drivers with 18 different makes and models have volunteered to have their electric vehicles added to Recurrent’s program and more drivers are getting their invites in mid-January.
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Amazon announces that Alexa can be customized by companies for their own use, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is the first automaker planning to use it.
The automaker’s custom voice assistant with its own custom features will work side by side with the Alexa voice assistant.
FCA hasn’t announced which vehicles will get the new Alexa/FCA voice assistant system first or how soon it will be available as part of the automaker’s Uconnect infotainment system.
Online retailer Amazon has announced it’s opening up its Alexa voice assistant so other companies can make their own customized versions for their devices and vehicles. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said this week that it will be the first automaker to create an Alexa Custom Assistant, with others sure to follow. That should be good news for those who have already become used to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant as an at-home helper. For tasks from controlling devices and checking on the weather to answering questions and reading books aloud, Alexa’s place in the home is well established at this point. Although Alexa is already available in some vehicles for tasks such as to pay for gas, but it’s usually alongside an automaker’s own voice assistant.

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Alexa, Start the Car

With this new solution, automakers can create their own in-car voice assistants like those we’ve seen in Mercedes’s MBUX and BMW’s Personal Intelligent Assistance without having to start from scratch or deal with the intense development of constantly having to update the voice assistant system themselves. And yes, this means that different automakers can create their own voice-assistant persona and wake word. So in addition to the ability to say, “Alexa, adjust the temperature,” FCA could set up one just for Jeep that would have its own voice and wake word so drivers could say, “Jeep, how far to Lake Tahoe?”
FCA and others could also create custom capabilities within the Alexa framework. For example, a Jeep could be told to turn on the front camera while driving off-road, or a Chrysler Pacifica minivan could have a voice command that opens all the sliding doors. It’s essentially two voice assistants working side by side inside the system: the one from Amazon and the automaker’s Alexa Custom Assistant, with the system directing queries to the correct digital helper.
FCA, while not giving a launch date or specifics on which vehicles will get this capability, confirmed that the technology will be built into its Uconnect infotainment system, where it will employ the two assistants side by side. FCA’s will “act as the product specialist with features and capabilities specific to the vehicle,” leaving Alexa to handle its usual duties such as taking music requests, answering questions about weather, and controlling smart-home features.
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This Amazon video demo shows a driver asking Alexa for parking and the Alexa voice deferring to a vehicle’s brand voice assistant, named Brandon (created specifically for the demo only), who answers the query for the driver.
As you would expect, either voice assistant will be able to order items from Amazon. The system will also be able to prompt the driver when the vehicle is low on, for instance, washer fluid to either schedule a trip to the service center or order more fluid with, of course, their Amazon account.
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Automakers are facing a supply shortage of semiconductors, the technology used to make microchips, and are being forced to pause production on certain vehicles.
In North America, Ford, FCA, Toyota, and Subaru have all had to adjust production schedules; outside North America, VW, Nissan, and Honda have had to do the same.
The supply disruption could ultimately impact the availability of the affected vehicles, industry analysts told C/D.
Even as automakers adapted to the restraints of a pandemic, the challenges faced by suppliers prevented a smooth return to production after the six-week shutdown in the spring. And although 2020 is now behind us, many of the challenges persist. Now a microchip shortage is forcing automakers to adjust production schedules and, in some cases, pause production once again.

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With the consumer electronics industry claiming more and more chips to fulfill increased demand for electronics, automakers are lacking one small but crucial component to build their cars. “Semiconductors are becoming much more important across the entire value chain for a vehicle, and such is the case in more expensive vehicles with more technology, but in particular for electric vehicles,” Gaurav Gupta, vice president analyst at consulting firm Gartner, told Car and Driver. The potential for a shortage of semiconductors—the technology from which a microchip is made—was first noticed in December, as warnings came from automotive suppliers Continental and Bosch.
“Some of these modern vehicles have thousands of semiconductors . . . and some of these things are probably a nickel a piece, and some are probably $150,” said Chris Richard, a principal at Deloitte Consulting who works in the semiconductor segment. “Different cost points, but any one of them can stop your production. A five-cent part can stop your production, or the $150 part.”
Ford, FCA, Toyota, Subaru, VW Having to Adjust
All automakers are feeling the supply crunch, and currently, not all have had to adjust production schedules to properly allocate the supply of microchips. Nonetheless, plenty of others have, including in North America. Ford paused production this month at its Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant where it builds the Escape and Lincoln Corsair. FCA delayed the restart of production at its plant in Toluca, Mexico, where the Jeep Compass is assembled, and also paused production at its Brampton, Ontario, plant, where the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger and Challenger are built.
For Toyota, the shortage of semiconductors has forced the automaker to reduce production of the Tundra, which is manufactured in Texas. A Subaru spokesperson said it has “modified” production at both its Gunma plant in Japan and its plant in Lafayette, Indiana, where the Ascent, Legacy, Outback, and Impreza are assembled but declined to saywhich models were specifically affected by the semiconductor shortage.

David Zalubowski via AP

A statement from the Volkswagen Group said that the company “needs to adapt production at its various Chinese, North American, and European locations to the current supply situation in the first quarter of 2021. Models based on the MQB platform of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Škoda, Seat, and, to a limited extent, Audi are affected.” Reports have said that the VW Golf is particularly affected, but a VW spokesperson said that this isn’t the case in North America.
These adjustments to production could ultimately impact the availability of vehicles on dealer lots, Kristin Dziczek, VP of research at the Center for Automotive Research, told Car and Driver. Nonetheless, Dziczek added, “Automakers are prioritizing the chips they have for the high-demand vehicles.”
Even those that haven’t had to curtail production in North America have taken those steps elsewhere, as is the case for Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Nissan. Nonetheless, the nature of the semiconductor shortage is that the situation is constantly changing, a reality the spokespeople from nearly all the automakers Car and Driver reached out to emphasized. Pauses to production can be short lived and can also be introduced rather suddenly, keeping some spokespeople from going into specifics.
Kinks in the Supply Chain
A convergence of macroeconomic and political events led to the semiconductor shortage, Gartner analyst Gupta said. In the spring, demand for cars fell. In response, automakers cut orders for microchips. At the same time, the demand for consumer electronics—notably the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as well as laptops and desktops for working from home—skyrocketed. Microchip suppliers adjusted production accordingly, and now that car demand has recovered much more quickly than expected, suppliers haven’t been ready to respond.
“With lead times of six to nine months, the semiconductor industry has not been able to scale up fast enough to meet this unexpected growth in automotive demand,” auto supplier Continental told Car and Driver in a statement. “The bottlenecks from the semiconductor industry are expected to continue well into 2021, causing major disruptions in Continental’s production.”

Comezora via Getty

Additionally, several moves by the Trump administration in the U.S.-China trade war resulted in fewer semiconductors coming into the marketplace, ultimately exacerbating the supply glut, Gupta said. And then, lastly, the older microchips that the auto industry relies on—commonly referred to as eight-inch wafers—can’t be produced quickly enough by automotive chip manufacturers such as NXP Semiconductors and Infineon due to manufacturing limitations.
Through the second half of last year, new-vehicle inventories were much lower than the industry prefers, and although inventories have made a recovery, they are still lower than where they were at this time last year. Automakers are attempting to taper back production of vehicles that have higher inventories. Still, to take one example, there is a less than 30-day supply of the Toyota Tundra, which has had production cut back, according to Cox Automotive.
Similar to the supply challenges the automotive industry faced in the second quarter of 2020, the full impact of this semiconductor shortage likely won’t be completely understood until it’s behind us. The same goes for the degree to which dealer inventories, and therefore consumers, are affected.
One thing is for certain, though: the impacts and challenges of the pandemic are far from behind the auto industry.
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Our trip through the week’s cars, including the 25th-anniversary Porsche Boxster, a bunch of Cadillac concepts, and continued global parts shortages. More

With a second round of stimulus checks putting $600 in the hands of people across the U.S., the Window Shop team decided to take a look at vehicles you could buy for that amount of money. Most of us prioritized reliability and ease of repair. We quickly discovered that the vast majority of cars being sold at this price point don’t have working engines or have some other immediate need. We also noticed that when the outlay dips this low, the for-sale postings often lack photos—something you need if you’re going to try to do a show about cars for sale on the internet. Fortunately, we’re—ahem—rather good at finding cars online.Senior editor Joey Capparella’s search skills pay off when he finds a very practical 1995 Toyota Corolla wagon. Judging from the condition of the paint, this Corolla has probably never seen the inside of a garage, spending its 26 years exposed to the elements. We can only guess at the condition of the interior because there are no photos. But we’re willing to look past these problems because of the five-speed manual transmission.Contributor John Pearley Huffman counters Capparella’s working Toyota with a 2002 Dodge Durango that may or may not run and that probably needs a new engine. Practicality is at the top of deputy testing director K.C. Colwell’s list, and he lands a 2002 Honda Odyssey that needs only a water pump. And searching for the definition of “normcore” leads contributor Jonathon Ramsey to a 2000 Saturn L-series.In addition to arguing the merits of one another’s finds, we question easily verifiable facts, discover what’s inside a 1996 Buick Riviera’s leather seat, and discuss why the panel gaps on a Saturn L-series are so incredibly large. The cars might not be great, but have a lot of laughs with this one. It’s possible you will, too.
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This is the first Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport to arrive in the United States.
It’s finished in Quartz White and powered by a 1479-hp quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W-16.
Only 60 will be made, and they cost $3.6 million each.
Bugatti recently decided that it wanted to develop a track-focused car, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to continue making some of the fastest straight line accelerating cars in the world as well. The Chiron Pur Sport is the result of Bugatti’s desire to crush apexes, and one of the 60 cars has now arrived on U.S. soil at Bugatti of Greenwich, Connecticut.

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Bugatti

The Chiron Pur Sport is 110 pounds lighter than the standard Chiron, and it has a 74.8-inch fixed rear spoiler, a lighter set of wheels wrapped in specially developed Michelin Sport Cup 2R tires, a stiffer suspension, and a 3D-printed lightweight titanium exhaust spitting out of a huge rear diffuser. The first example to arrive in the U.S. is finished in Quartz White with exposed carbon fiber and Gun Powder accents. Inside, there’s an optional glass roof, and the interior is finished in Italian Red leather.

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Bugatti

Bugatti’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W-16 engine is at the heart of the Pur Sport, and its output of 1500 horsepower is unchanged from the standard Chiron, though it has a 6900-rpm redline. Bugatti claims that it’ll help the Pur Sport reach 62 mph in 2.3 seconds. In our testing, a Chiron Sport reached 60 mph in 2.4 seconds on its way to a lightning quick 9.4-second quarter-mile at 158 mph, making it the quickest car we’ve ever tested.
This example was sold to a customer at Bugatti of Greenwich, Connecticut, for over $3 million. Only 60 Pur Sports will be built, and we hope to see a few more land on our shores.

Bugatti Chiron Is the Quickest Car We’ve Tested

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1500-HP Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Is an Apex Hunter

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Between 2005 and 2015, Toyota failed to follow proper reporting procedures for emission-related issues with its vehicles in the U.S. market, according to a settlement it just reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Toyota employees in Japan knew about the issues but failed to correct them, the federal government said in a civil lawsuit against the automaker.
Toyota has agreed to a record $180 million fine but says the issues resulted in “negligible” emissions impacts, “if any.”
Toyota has agreed to pay a $180 million fine to the United States government over violations of Clean Air Act protocol that went on for a decade between 2005 and 2015. The violation was related to timely reporting of defects that interfered with some cars’ tailpipe emission regulation systems. In a federal lawsuit, the EPA said that Toyota managers and other employees in Japan knew about the issues but systematically failed to report them as agreed between 2005 and 2015. More

The one-off supercar was built as an engineering showcase, and all these years later, its new American owner wants to see it prove how fast it could have been. More