Motor News

Audi’s head of design, Marc Lichte, says the upcoming autonomous vehicle that will come out of the automaker’s Project Artemis effort will be a “revolution.”
The vehicle, rumored to be code-named Landjet, will be built on the PPE architecture that will underpin high-end electric vehicles from Audi, Porsche, and Bentley.
It is expected to be unveiled in 2024 and is targeting offerings from Tesla with a focus on long-distance traveling.
We asked Audi design chief Marc Lichte in an interview how the company’s future vehicle designs will evolve thanks to electric powertrains. In response, he shared a few more bits of information about the automaker’s Project Artemis, its effort to build an autonomous vehicle. The upcoming car “will be a revolution,” he said.
The vehicle in question is in a super-high-premium segment, according to the designer, and its use case is long-distance traveling. “We will come up with a radical new concept. This car looks completely different,” Lichte said. At its core, it will be an autonomous vehicle that would remove any need for controls, and that gives the designers at Audi the ability to pursue a new approach to how a car should look.

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Rumors have circulated that the vehicle being developed under Project Artemis, which is being helmed by former Porsche race-car engineer Alexander Hitzinger, is code-named Landjet. Whatever the internal name, the vehicle is expected to be unveiled in 2024 and will be based on the modular PPE EV architecture developed by Audi to be used in Audi, Porsche, and Bentley vehicles.
Lichte’s comments line up with what we’ve already learned about Project Artemis, the automaker and VW Group’s future weapon to take on Tesla. Volkswagen wants to address Tesla’s EV market dominance and also to have a self-driving car on the road as a competitor to its Autopilot.
The car is currently in progress in Lichte’s design studio. He tells us that Audi will completely change the layout of the interior, while the exterior will be equally different than what we’re used to seeing from the automaker. We’ll look forward to seeing it.
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Audi added door handles and removed the glowing badge, but design chief Marc Lichte says the car coming in the spring is 99 percent the same as the show car. More

The ride-sharing company is asking the feds to consider its drivers as essential workers for purposes of the vaccine. More

Unlike most of the challenges we face as Window Shoppers, this week’s contest has less to do with cars than it does what powers them. We set out to find the most iconic engines, engines that helped define a brand, made a mark in history, or were just spectacular. The car is important, but the engine is king. If you watch, you may wonder why no one chose a Chevy small-block V-8 or a Mopar Hemi. That’s a fair question, and the answer is that each of us incorrectly assumed someone else would pick them.
Instead, we presented slightly less obvious choices. Contributing editor Brett Berk found a sedan with the engine from the 1950s Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Deputy testing director K.C. Colwell also found a transplant job, selecting a four-door with the heart of an Audi R8. Contributor Jonathon Ramsey decided that infamy could make an engine iconic and put up a 2011 Volkswagen diesel for judgement. And we couldn’t argue with that logic, particularly when you consider how far-reaching the media coverage and consequences of Dieselgate were.In addition to engines, we discuss car phones, German chancellors, the ideal buyer for a car with fold-flat front seats, Ford Aerostar crash-test results, and things that can go wrong on the last of Porsche’s air-cooled flat-sixes. We even dig into why Colwell hates sunroofs. Clearly, this episode goes off the rails, but you’re used to that by now, right?
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Here Comes the Sun
As we’re writing this, the FDA seems likely to approve a coronavirus vaccine, and Ford isn’t taking any chances when it comes to distribution. The company announced last month that it had purchased 12 ultra-cold freezers capable of storing Pfizer’s thermophobic vaccine. It’s the first step in a plan to eventually distribute the vaccine to workers (yes, this news is a little old, but we missed it in the Thanksgiving lull ). Conspiracy theorists stand down: the company said the shots would be available on a strictly voluntary basis.
This Week in Sheetmetal

Cadillac

Cadillac gave us the tiniest tease of the 2022 CT5-V and CT4-V Blackwing when it released a single photo of the manual shift knob. We look forward to more meaningful revelations in the lead-up to the cars going on sale in summer 2021.
Leaked photos of a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander reveal a blockier exterior design that is mostly normal except for a totally unhinged front grille/fog light layout. We suspect the new car will share a platform and powertrain with the Nissan Rogue.
Toyota announced it would show us a Europe-bound electric crossover early next year, with a separate EV headed for the United States later. Perhaps those first EVs will bear some resemblance to the camouflaged Lexuses we got a glimpse of two days after the EVs were first announced?
Honda answered our prayers when it confirmed that the 11th-generation Civic Type R will be available in the United States, that it will still come standard with a manual transmission, and that, based on all current evidence, it will finally look like a car an adult would drive.

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Ford knows we’re waiting impatiently for the next generation of the F-150 Raptor, so they announced an off-road Tremor package for the F-series trucks to tide us over. The package will provide an upgraded suspension, a rear locking differential, and a transfer case borrowed from the current Raptor.
Catastrophic Failure
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news of the capsized Golden Ray cargo ship, don’t deprive yourself any longer. The ship capsized last fall and, after a series of delays, is now being slowly and fascinatingly dismantled off the coast of Georgia. The cargo ship was carrying thousands of vehicles from Mexico to various ports in the US when it rolled over in the St. Simons Sound. Now there’s reason to believe that when a load of compact crossovers was swapped for taller, heavier Kia Tellurides, the balance of the cargo was upset. When the ship made a sharp turn out to sea, disaster struck. Et tu, Kia?

Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press

The Life-Changing Magic of Giving Up
Uber, still suffering a huge ridership loss due to the ongoing pandemic, is moving on from some dreams. On Monday, the company announced that it is handing over its self-driving arm to Aurora Innovation, an autonomous driving start-up. On Tuesday, Uber gave its flying car unit to start-up Joby Aviation. Details on the deals are slim, but reporting suggests that neither company paid Uber, but that the company will work in partnership with each start-up to continue developing the technologies while taking some pressure off a suffering bottom line.
Further Reading
According to a lot of the junk in our inbox, the clock is winding down on Christmas shopping. If you’ve been procrastinating, now is the time to check out our gift guide for car lovers. Or, if you’re the only car lover in your life, consider forwarding the link to your friends and loved ones as a helpful hint.
ExxonMobil has had a tough year. It lost billions in the first three quarters of the year, struggling with the effects of the pandemic and with its refusal to pivot to alternative fuels, as several of its competitors have done. The New York Times has been diligently reporting on the oil giant’s stumbles and the struggles facing the industry. Let this serve as a reminder that the car business is never just about cars.
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EV startup Bollinger unveiled production-intent images of its electric pickup and SUV.
The largest design changes are the movement of the B-pillar, the switch from two radiators to a single radiator behind the bumper, and more headroom.
The B1 and B2 are slated to start production in late 2021.

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Years before the Cybertruck and Hummer EV appeared, Bollinger was showing off its own vision of electric pickup truck and SUV models. Since then, the automotive startup’s B1 SUV and B2 truck have been making the rounds at auto shows clad in black and generally looking like Lego versions of the electrified future.
Today Bollinger revealed renderings of the production-intent versions of the two EVs. The changes between these and the earlier prototypes are typical for show cars transitioning to production models. And of course, the vehicles in the renderings are white instead of the intimidating black we’ve come to expect from the company.
When asked about the design changes, CEO Robert Bollinger told C/D, “the largest difference is that the entire body has been re-engineered for production. It’s all truly body-on-frame now and optimized for manufacturing.”

The most noticeable changes are to the front fascia and headlights. On the initial prototype, the headlight area also served as an air intake for the dual radiators. Bollinger says due to improved thermal management, it has now placed a single radiator behind the bumper. The result is that the headlights look slightly smaller and less intimidating.
On the side, the B-pillar has been moved forward to make it easier for passengers to enter the vehicles. The vehicles are now two inches taller, resulting in more headroom, and the sliding glass windows have been replaced with regular windows operated with a manual crank. On the B2 truck, the bed is now independent of the cab, which Bollinger says will make commercial chassis cab applications, repairs, and replacement easier. Oh, and the three wipers on the windshield have been replaced with the less awesome but more traditional two-wiper setup.
Bollinger may have made some changes to the design of the vehicles, but the claimed specs remain the same. Both vehicles are targeting 200 miles of range and a powertrain capable of delivering 614 hp and 668 foot-pounds of torque. The starting price for the B1 and B2 is $125,000 and both are said to go into production near the end of 2021.
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Porsche’s performance SUV was initially quite controversial, but it’s now solidly established and in its third generation. We take a look back. More

Chevrolet won’t be able to sell the Camaro SS, 1LE, and ZL1 in California and Washington beginning next year due to the copper content of the brake pads.
California and Washington both enacted laws in 2010 saying that by 2021, brake pads had to have less than 5 percent copper content due to the toxicity of copper when it reaches waterways.
Those Camaros will return to the California and Washington markets in 2022, but it’s unclear why Chevy didn’t change the brakes prior to the 2021 model year.
Back in 2010, California and Washington enacted laws declaring that beginning in 2021, the brake pads sold in their respective states couldn’t have more than 5 percent copper by weight. By 2025, the brakes had to have less than 0.5 percent copper by weight. It’s because of this rule that starting on January 1, Chevrolet won’t be able to sell the 2021 Camaro SS, 1LE, and ZL1 in those states due to the copper content of the Brembo brakes, which exceeds 5 percent.

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Sales for those versions of the Camaro will resume in California and Washington for the 2022 model year once the brakes are replaced, a Chevrolet spokesperson told C/D. And, since the law goes into effect beginning on January 1 of next year, 2021 models that are currently in dealer inventory can still be sold in the new year.
The Chevy spokesperson wouldn’t clarify why the brakes weren’t replaced in advance for the 2021 model year, rather than the 2022 model year. The states gave automakers and other brake pad manufacturers ten years to find new technologies and replace the brake pads with high levels of copper content.
The copper from the brake pads, it was found, turns to dust and finds its way into waterways. Once it’s there, it becomes toxic to many water-dwelling creatures, including fish, plants, and amphibians. The copper is used in the brake pads because it’s able to quickly and effectively dissipate heat and allow for smooth braking.

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Although the rule was put in place in only two states, California and Washington, trade groups representing the auto industry and automakers signed an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015 to phase out the use of copper in brake pads. The groups signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)—and a non-binding agreement—saying that the auto industry would implement the “Copper-Free Brake Initiative.” At the time of the signing, General Motors was a member of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group which has since merged with others but signed the MOU.
A spokesperson for Brembo, the supplier of the brakes on the affected 2021 Camaros, told C/D in an email that although Brembo has copper-free brake pads, it does still make pads with copper and it’s up to the automakers to comply with regulations. “Brembo has accordingly been developing copper-free materials for its brake systems supplied to our customers worldwide who have been preparing for enactment of this legislation,” the spokesperson said.
General Motors doesn’t have any other vehicles that are affected by the legislation going into place, according to the Chevrolet spokesperson, and it’s unclear whether there are vehicles from manufacturers besides GM which can’t be sold beginning next year due to their brakes.
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