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Toyota Grand Highlander Could Be a Bigger Three-Row SUV
The new name, trademarked recently, could portend a stretched Highlander with a roomier third row of seats. More
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Michael Jordan's 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition Is for Sale
A 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition, once owned by six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, is for sale.
The SLR McLaren 722 Edition honors one of Stirling Moss’s wins in 1955 and has black wheels, a stiffer and lower suspension, added aero, carbon trim, and a more powerful supercharged V-8.
It’s listed for $695,750 by Crave Luxury Auto in Houston, Texas.
Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time (we won’t get into the MJ vs. LeBron debate), and the six-time NBA champion has owned some of the greatest cars as well. A handful of them were shown briefly in ESPN’s The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary about the final season of Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990s. One of his cars, an SLR McLaren, which wasn’t shown in the series, is up for sale with just over 1000 miles.Crave Luxury Auto
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren was a joint venture between McLaren’s Formula 1 team and Mercedes and was produced between 2003 and 2010. Jordan’s example is a 722 Edition, a limited edition introduced in 2006 that honors the late Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson’s victory in a 300 SLR with the starting number 722 at the Mille Miglia in 1955. It’s finished in Crystal Antimony Grey with black 19-inch wheels and has a stiffer suspension with a lower ride height plus larger front brakes and upgraded aero. There’s also red “722” badging and tinted head- and taillights, and the interior features carbon-fiber and Alcantara trim.
Michael Jordan’s Cars in ESPN’s The Last Dance
Michael Jordan’s Mercedes S600 Lorinser For Sale
A supercharged 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 is under the hood. In the 722 Edition, it spits out 641 horsepower and 605 pound-feet of torque, increases of 24 horsepower and 30 pound-feet over the standard SLR’s supercharged eight-cylinder engine. At launch, Mercedes touted a 3.6-second sprint to 60 mph in the more powerful 722 Edition, though in our testing, a standard SLR clocked in at the same time and raced through the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at 125 mph.
Crave Luxury Auto
An eBay auction for the car ended on January 3 without meeting the reserve; however, the selling dealer told Car and Driver that it’s going live on eBay again on January 4. The asking price is currently $695,750.
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Kia's Ultra-Luxury Minivan Has Curtains and an Air Purifier
Kia revealed a new ultra-luxury version of its minivan for the Korean market.
Called the Carnival Hi Limousine, it has a plush interior with special features including curtains and an air purifier.
The Carnival should arrive in the U.S. as the 2022 Sedona, but it’s not likely to offer a special version like this.
With #vanlife trending more than ever and luxury automakers like Lexus getting into the van game, it’s no wonder that Kia is going all-out for a new version of the Carnival (a.k.a. Sedona) minivan. The new ultra-luxury spinoff of the Korea-market Carnival is called the Hi Limousine, and we’re intrigued by its lounge-like interior with everything but the kitchen sink.2022 Kia Sedona Full Details Revealed
Lexus LM Minivan: We Can’t Stop Looking at It
How to Live Your Best #VanLife
The Hi Limousine is based on the recently redesigned version of the van, and it has a high-roof setup and appears to have extra chrome trim on the outside. But the real treats are inside, as it features recliner-style second-row seats, privacy curtains for the rear windows, an air purifier, entertainment screens, and even an LED lamp on the ceiling that’s meant to mimic a skylight.
Kia
When the Carnival eventually makes its way to the States as the new-generation 2022 Kia Sedona, we probably won’t get most of these niceties. But the recliner-style captain’s chairs are possible, as the current-generation Sedona offered them as an option on the top trim level in the past (the lounge seats disappeared from the U.S.-market van after the 2018 model year).
Even if Kia did offer such a van in the U.S., we can’t imagine too many American van shoppers would splurge for the full Hi Limousine package, which starts at the equivalent of around $56,000 in Korea. But every now and then it’s fun to see a van that’s nicer than your living room.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.
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2021 Royal Enfield 650cc Cruiser KX650 Near Production Ready Spy Shots
2021 Royal Enfield Cruiser 650
Royal Enfiled KX650 cruiser will be powered by the same 649cc engine powering the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650That Royal Enfield has been planning to extend its range of 650cc motorcycles has already been in news for a long time now. The Chennai-based bikemaker has been planning to utilise its 650cc unit in a proper cruiser bike next.
Royal Enfield had also presented its Concept KX bobber at EICMA in Milan in 2018. Post that, there were reports indicating that there would be a cruiser from the company in coming years. Although no official information has been shared by Royal Enfield regarding this till date. But recently, there were spy shots clicked of a RE test mule, which looks like their upcoming 650cc cruiser.
Design
After the first spy shots appeared, buzz over the upcoming 2021 Royal Enfield 650cc Cruiser has increased even more. Now, we have another set of spy images with us which gives few more details about the upcoming motorcycle. In this case, as well, the prototype was devoid of any camouflage.
KX650 features a low slung profile, circular headlamps, long wheelbase, slender fuel tank and alloy wheels. Unlike the KX Concept bobber, the KX650 cruiser gets split seats for pillion instead of a single-piece seat. From the parts seen on board, it is likely that this is a near-production ready test mule.
2021 Royal Enfield Cruiser 650
Other eye-grabbing highlights are twin pipe exhausts, a wide handlebar, round LED taillights and round turn indicators. The rear fender noticeably looks fatter than the front one. Overall the KX650 resembles a modern cruiser with retro classic design elements.
Hardware & Features
It rides on 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels with thick profile tyres. The Royal Enfield Cruiser is also expected to employ upside-down USD forks at front which is the first in the brand’s range of motorcycles.
2021 Royal Enfield Cruiser 650
At rear it has opted for conventional twin shock absorbers. Surprisingly it doesn’t get radially mounted brake calipers as shown in the image. It is expected to offer features like a slipper clutch with assist, dual-channel ABS and semi-digital instrument cluster with tripper navigation from Meteor 350.
Powertrain
The KX650 will be powered by a 649cc twin engine which is capable of generating 47 PS of power and 52 Nm of peak torque. It is likely to be paired with a six-speed gearbox. The same powertrain is also employed in Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650.
Launch of the new RE cruiser 650 is expected later this year, around Diwali 2021 period. Ahead of that, Royal Enfield will launch new gen Classic 350, Facelifted 650 Twins Int and Conti GT. When launched, the cruiser is expected to be priced around under Rs 4 lakh on road.
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Pure EV Electric Scooters To Get Lithium-Ion Batteries That Can Resolve Defects Automatically
Pure EV Electric Scooter
PURE EV’s ‘BaTRics Faraday’ System can address the issues in defective battery right from the customer’s residencePURE EV is a electric vehicle startup which was incubated at IIT Hyderabad. Now, it has come up with an Artificial Intelligence backed update that can address any issue of defects in the lithium-ion battery pack of electric vehicles. This system does not need to vehicle to be brought to any service center for rectification but can be done at the customer’s residence itself.
Called ‘BaTRics Faraday’ System, it remotely checks defects in a series of batteries using Artificial Intelligence with no need of any manual intervention. The team of researchers has designed Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based algorithms that can identify various series of batteries and rectify the defects to their best electro chemical potential of cells.
Next Gen AI Solution
The lithium-ion battery pack, which is the most vital component of any electric vehicle, consists of multiple lithium ion cells, welded together in series and parallel arrangements so as to comply with voltage and ampere hour capacities.
Any defect in any cell series in these batteries leads to downtime. It is also a mammoth task to detect which are the defective series of cells and to get them replaced. Hence via this new AI driven hardware, this task is made easy which allows for external detection and rectification thus saving man hours in the manual replacement of series of cells.
Pure EV Electric Scooter Batteries with next-gen AI tech
Testing of the ‘BaTRics Faraday’ system has been completed and can be used on all 5 electric scooters launched by PURE EV in India. These e-scooters are already in sale in India, these include the Epluto 7g, Etrance Neo, Etrance, Egnite and Etron+. The system will come into effect from Q1 2021.
As on date, ‘BaTRics Faraday’ System from PURE EV is based out of its factory. However, the company plans to set up company owned Battery Diagnostics and Repair workshops across many regions in India where demand is high. These workshops will ensure lower ‘Turn Around Time’ (TAT) for battery repair.
Pure EV Electric Scooter
PURE EV – CISR Collaboration
Earlier last month, PURE EV also announced collaboration with CSIR – Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), headquartered at Karaikudi, with an extension center in Chennai. Through this alliance, the company plans on indigenizing lithium-ion battery technology for electric vehicles and a MoU to this effect has also been signed. This will allow for indigenous Lithiou-Ion technology and will help in boosting electric vehicle demand along with stationary and storage applications.
The Hyderabad based PURE EV startup operates from a dedicated factory spread over an area of 70,000 sq ft. It manufactures high performance lithium batteries and has access to R&D facilities from IIT Hyderabad along with technological support. Funding was via Hyderabad-based pharmaceuticals visionary Shri V.C. Nannapaneni, Chairman and Managing Director, NATCO Pharma Ltd, and the startup currently has a valuation of USD 35 Million. More - in Bike
Bajaj Dec 2020 Sales Report – Highest Ever Exports; Pulsar, Boxer, Platina, CT
Bajaj Pulsar
Bajaj Auto has become the most valuable two-wheeler company in the world – with a market capitalization of Rs. 1 lakh croreThe Indian automobile industry struggled through the entire first half of 2020 due to the pandemic striking early in the year. However, it showed signs of recovery in the latter half after July/August and by the end of last year, sales improved substantially for almost every two and four wheeler in the country.
Bajaj Auto has announced an 11 percent increase in sales in December 2020. Positive sales were noted both in terms of domestic sales and exports and where the company range of two wheelers were concerned while commercial vehicles sales dipped substantially.
Bajaj Auto Domestic Sales and Exports
In domestic markets, Bajaj Auto sold 1,28,642 units in Dec 20, an increase of 4 percent as against 1,24,125 units sold in Dec 19. Pulsar, Platina and CT range were the highest sellers in domestic market. Exports in the past month were at their highest at 2,09,942 units, up 31 percent from 1,60,677 units exported in Dec 19. Leading the exports were Boxer, Pulsar range. This took total sales in this segment up 19 percent to 3,38,584 units, up from 2,84,802 units sold in the same month of the previous year.
Where commercial vehicles were concerned, domestic sales stood at 10,964 units in the past month, down by 62 percent, while exports increased marginally to 22,984 units up from 22,215 units exported in Dec 19. Total sales of commercial vehicles fell 34 percent to 33,948 units in Dec 20 down from 51,253 units sold in Dec 19.
Bajaj Sales Report Dec 2020 – Registers highest ever monthly exports
Year to Date Sales
FY 2020 opened on a dismal note. Hence YTD sales of Bajaj Auto also suffered both where two wheeler and commercial vehicle sales were concerned. Two wheeler sales dipped 21 percent to 13,21,644 units in the April to December 2020 period, down from 16,75,264 units sold in the same period of the previous year.
Exports fell 13 percent to 12,36,617 units thus taking total two wheeler sales down 17 percent to 25,58,261 units, down from 30,94,028 units sold in the April to December 2019 period. Domestic sales and exports of commercial vehicles dipped 54 percent to 2,44,989 units. Total two wheeler and commercial vehicle sales fell 23 percent to 28,03,250 units in the 9 month period, down from 36,23,251 units sold in the same period of the previous year.
Bajaj Sales Report – April – Dec 2020
Leading Two and Three Wheeler Maker
Bajaj Auto Limited, a leading two and three wheeler maker recently hit its 75th year of operations. Apart from being the largest two wheeler maker in India, the company has also become the most valuable two wheeler company globally having crossed market capitalization of Rs.1 lakh crores. Share price now stands at Rs.3,479 and market capitalization at Rs 100,670.76 crores.
The Bajaj Auto brands like the Pulsar, Boxer, Platina and RE are among the most popular across the globe. The recently launched Chetak eScooter has also found favour among buyers and the company has also made a major investment of Rs.450 crores in a 4th plant in Chakan, Maharashtra for the production of its premium range of motorcycles and e-scooters. Apart from this manufacturing facility, Bajaj also has its production units at Waluj near Aurangabad, and at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.
A successful partnership with KTM AG, Austria has also helped it on its journey to success and for KTM to become the largest manufacturer of premium sports motorcycles. Bajaj has also entered into an alliance with Triumph Motorcycles to develop budget friendly low capacity premium motorcycles. Plans are afoot to enter new global makers with entry to Thailand later this year and Brazil in early 2022. More - in Bike
Benelli India To Launch 7 New Motorcycles In 2021 – 250cc To 600cc Segment
Image for reference
Benelli discontinued all the models ever since BS6 emission norms kicked on April 1, 2020 and updated only offering in its portfolio- Imperiale 400Benelli has had a very quiet 2020 since the company hasn’t had much to celebrate about. It has only one product in its India lineup as of now, i.e., Imperiale 400. The Chinese-owned Italian bikemaker has now revealed its upcoming lineup for the Indian market which is going to comply with the latest BS6 emission norms.
The company will launch seven new motorcycles in the coming few months probably starting from next month and going up to August 2021. These updated BS6 models are expected to witness a considerable price hike in comparison to their discontinued BS4 models somewhere between the range of Rs 20,000 – Rs 30,000.
Benelli India Line-up for 2021
The 2021 model lineup will include Benelli TRK 502, TRK 502X, Leoncino 250, Leoncino 500, 302S, 302R and TNT 600i. TRK 502 and TRK 502X are adventure tourer motorcycles with the former being more adept in handling hardcore off-road trails.
The Leoncino brand is the Italian bikemaker’s range of scrambler motorcycles. Both models are similarly designed as street naked body styles with the smaller one equipped with a 250cc single-cylinder engine while the bigger one is powered by a 500c parallel-twin mill.
BS6 Benelli Imperiale 400 on display at company showroom.
Surprisingly Benelli has replaced TNT 300 with the new naked roadster 302S which will be powered by the same 300cc in-line two-cylinder engine which did its work in TNT 300. It will also be accompanied by its faired sibling- 302R which will be powered by a 300cc parallel-twin motor instead of an in-line two-cylinder unit.
The brand’s flagship product TNT 600i will probably be the last of the lot which will be launched around August this year. The naked streetfighter will be powered by a 600cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC in-line four-cylinder motor.
Other models in foray
That’s not all, Benelli is also expected to widen its portfolio by bringing in other models such as its entry-level adventure tourer TRK 251 and its flagship ADV TRK 802 sometime at a later stage.
TRK 802 was also stopped testing in foreign lands a few months ago. Retailed as SRB 750 in the Chinese market, TRK 802 will be powered by a 745cc, parallel-twin engine which is good enough for 76bhp and 67Nm of peak torque.
Honestly, we expected Benelli’s flagship faired motorcycle- 600RR to be included in the lineup as it has been spotted testing on numerous occasions overseas. The motorcycle was revealed as ‘QJ SRG600’ in the Chinese market a few months ago. It will be powered by a 600cc in-line four-cylinder unit which kicks out close to 84 bhp and 54.6 Nm of peak torque while being mated to a six-speed gearbox. More - in Bike
Mumbai Traffic Signal With LEDs On Traffic Pole – A First In The City
LED Traffic Lights on Poles in Worli, Mumbai
New traffic signal at Worli Sea Face is a BMC pilot projectA pilot project executed on Worli Sea Face in Mumbai, sees traffic lights in a new light. In essence, instead the usual setting of traffic signal lights, the current endeavour makes for improved traffic light visibility.
The light parameter covers larger surface area as the lighting pole itself has been reworked. Fitted with LED lights means for every light change, the complete pole lights up instead of the traditional light setting overhead at intersections.
The project was undertaken by BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). While the project is only visible as a single unit at present, plans are on to introduce more such lights. Apart from functional benefits, the new traffic signal design is being touted for its ‘aesthetic appeal’. Challenges faced included bending the LED lights as required, and synchronising it with the traffic signal system.
Novelty at traffic signals
Overall, the idea behind the project tries to touch upon quite a few birds with a stone. The project idea is still being fine-tuned. An attempt is being made to turn to solar signals to make this a sustainable and environment-friendly approach. The cost effective solution does in the meantime make a larger street area glow.
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Last year, in another independent project, Hyderabad’s KBR Park junction saw new LED speed breakers installed at traffic signals across the road itself. Sadly, there’s no current update regarding what the outcome of that project has been.
In its current stage, if the pilot proves to be successful, more such unidirectional traffic lights are expected to be introduced. Focus on Work Sea Face doesn’t end here.
Mumbai Police with Freego self balancing vehicle
In another development, self balancing vehicles have been introduced for area patrols in the promenade. Similar to what was earlier introduced at Marine Drive. The self balancing electric scooters have for long wowed audiences for its fun aspect. Current developments appear to be small steps being undertaken to modernise traditional practices.
Pedestrian and road traffic safety in India
Added visibility of the newly installed traffic lights in Mumbai would help motorists spot the signal from a distance, and thereby could improve pedestrian safety. If the theory can be backed by studies, it could provide insight into effectiveness of improved traffic signal visibility. For a nation that bears the burden of most road accident fatalities, every little bit helps.
While the country doesn’t report the highest number of traffic accidents in a year, it does account for most lives lost owing to accidents. The extremely high human cost points to an immediate need to remedy the problem. India accounts for less than 3 percent of all vehicles, but does account for 12 percent of the world’s road deaths. World Health Organization (WHO) estimated almost 300,000 road accident deaths in India in 2018. The number of underprivileged who suffer is disproportionately high. More
