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From the puerile to the racist, thousands of offensive license plates were rejected by DMVs across the country last year, just as they do every year.Don’t look for LATE AF or WEED42O on any cars on the road, because vulgar phrases and drug and sex references were all caught and weeded out last year.We don’t mind the authorities making sure offensive internet meme jokes stay away from license plates, but we’re not as sure about rejected plates like GRLBOSS or EWWW G4S.There are limits, people. More than 750 car owners in Ohio submitted personalized license plates that the authorities at the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles denied. Hundreds more were attempted in Oregon. Down in Texas, over 5000 people tried last year to slip a few naughty words past the poor people at the DMV.The rules about what phrases or letter combinations are allowed or not allowed vary from state to state, but KHOU in Texas explains that the general rule is not to permit anything that could be considered indecent, vulgar or derogatory. Texas also states that plates referring to “race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation are also not allowed, whether they are derogatory or not.”You’re likely reading this with some curiosity about the potentially inappropriate and offensive language people tried to put on their plates, but we’re still going to issue a content warning for, well, potentially inappropriate and offensive language. So, be prepared, this list may get inappropriate AF.Speaking of which, the Cincinnati City Beat notes that one of the most commonly denied phrases in Ohio was people putting “AF” at the end of their plates, as in LATE AF, SALTY AF, and FINE AF. One Oregonian attempted MILFAF.Some of the rejected plates were a little too obvious—DOOKIE and POO BUTT, for example —but others must have given the submissions people at state DMVs a bit of a challenge to understand what the intended message was. Only the terminally online among us would understand why LIGMA is a problem, but the Oregon DOT caught it and labeled it “alarming, threatening, offending, or misleading.” We won’t reprint some of the racist labels, but you can believe they were attempted.PL8 Stories Oregon also said noTexas Department of Motor Vehicles does allow some symbols to be used on license plates, but it did not approve MAMACIT@, Y2*SLOW or BYE@H8RZ.Drug references were routinely caught, with BLAZIT, EM0420, and PHATT1 all making the lists. Turns out, using an “o” instead of a zero isn’t the foolproof plan that the person who submitted WEED42O thought it was. to R0LC0L as a configuration that refers to illegal acts.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.List: Personalized Texas license plates denied in 2022Watch onThere were a few rejected plates that would have made us smile in an unoffended way had they made their way to a driveway near you. GRLBOSS, for example, and EWWW G4S or L8YBUG, but the general attitude seems to be better safe than sorry. We’ll check back in a year from now to see what people tried to tell the world through government-issued metal plates in 2023.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. More

Tesla’s pulling a page from In-N-Out Burger’s playbook and giving Model Y buyers the chance to order a cheaper variant off a proverbial secret menu. Though the automaker’s website currently restricts Model Y orders to those of the $54,380 Long Range or $58,380 Performance variants, Tesla’s list of online inventory shows that a number of its stores are stocked with salable base Model Y EVs that wear a starting price $2000 less than that of the Long Range model. (As of this writing, however, it seems most of these entry-level Ys in inventory include at least $2000 worth of optional 20-inch wheels and tires, thus effectively negating the base model’s cost savings over its Long Range counterpart.)SUZANNE CORDEIRO|Getty ImagesUnlike the prior entry-level rear-drive Model Y, which Tesla stopped producing in 2021, this new base-level Model Y comes standard with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system. It also packs a greater EPA-rated range relative to its single-motor forebear. With up to 279 miles of driving range on a full charge, the cheapest Model Y variant betters the old Standard Range model’s range by 35 miles. That said, it falls short of the Model Y Long Range and Performance’s figures by up to 51 and 24 miles, respectively.SUZANNE CORDEIRO|Getty ImagesPowering the electric motors of this latest addition to the Model Y line is Tesla’s 4680 battery pack, which the company produces at its Texas plant. Though Tesla is mum on the pack’s rated capacity and other details, given the lesser range of Model Y’s equipped with this pack, it’s safe to assume the useable capacity of these batteries falls short of the 75.0-kWh pack that powered a 2020 Model Y Long Range we previously tested, which was EPA-rated to travel up to 316 miles on a full charge. We managed just 220 miles of range while testing the Model Y on our 75-mph highway test.Whether the range deficit of the base 2023 Model Y relative to its Long Range kin is worth its $2000 price reduction is a matter of personal preference. That said, the extra stacks in a base Model Y buyers’ pocket can go toward added options for their new EV or a lower monthly payment or paying off those gambling debts. Look, we’re not here to judge. We’re only here to let you know that Tesla offers its own version of an Animal Style burger for the Model Y.This content is imported from poll. 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. More

Four government agencies—the Departments of Energy and Transportation, plus HUD and the EPA—said last fall that they would work together to create more clean and accessible transportation across the nation by 2050. This week, they released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, with details on how this will happen.Redesigned cities and communities and better public transportation are part of the plan, but the biggest reductions in emissions will come from cleaning up the vehicle fleet.The agencies see three main fossil fuel alternatives in our future—electricity, hydrogen, and sustainable biofuels—but they have wildly different use cases.Last fall, the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced they will work together to create a “clean, safe, accessible, equitable, and decarbonized transportation system for all.” This week, the agencies released their promised blueprint that puts some details on those bones.Called the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, the first-of-its-kind document envisions three familiar technology solutions for net-zero travel by 2050: batteries, hydrogen, and sustainable liquid fuels. It’s how the blueprint predicts these three technologies will be used that is most interesting, if not exactly surprising, for drivers. The technology with the “greatest long-term opportunity” to decarbonize light-duty vehicles, for example, is battery power. For long-haul heavy trucks, hydrogen is at the top of the list. And sustainable liquid fuels are likely best for boats and planes.The More You KnowMore interesting, perhaps, is that the agencies do not see a place for hydrogen in the light-duty vehicle fleet. While hydrogen is considered to have limited opportunity to green up short-haul heavy trucks and off-road vehicles, the blueprint’s chart doesn’t even support that bit of optimism for passenger cars. Despite the fact that the blueprint lists establishing a clean hydrogen infrastructure as one of the research priorities for the country, it will not help clean up our daily drivers, apparently.U.S. Department of EnergyChanging the Way Cities Look?The 88-page National Blueprint addresses more than energy types, including rethinking how local communities are laid out so that “job centers, shopping, schools, entertainment, and essential services are strategically located near where people live. Communities like this will reduce the amount of time people spend commuting, among other benefits. Making public transportation and trains more reliable and affordable is also in the plan, but the biggest carbon reduction improvements will happen in cleaning up the transportation options themselves.”With this second major step in the decades-long decarbonization plan now complete, the four agencies also provided a general outline for that milestones that are planned for the coming decades as the U.S. moves to a net-zero economy. Between now and 2030, it’s research and investments to support deployment. In the 2030s, the clean transportation solutions will scale up, and in the 2040s, we will be “Completing the Transition.” That’s the plan, anyway.This content is imported from poll. 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. More

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 owner Marco Garcia hasn’t had an ideal experience with his mid-engine sports car thus far. After traveling just 52 miles in the car after taking delivery, the Z06’s 5.5-liter LT6 V-8 engine failed, leaving Garcia stuck on the side of the highway. After his initial videos related to the event caught the attention of fans online, GM has opted to make the situation right. Garcia says the car will be repaired free of charge.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.I ❤️ my C8 Z06 again, but she needs some TLC.Watch onThis Z06 fiasco began back on December 23, when Garcia purchased the black-over-black Z06 from Covina Hills Chevrolet in Covina, California. Garcia paid $182,457.38 for the car, a price bolstered by nearly $50,ooo in dealer markups. Following the purchase process, a dealership employee offered to follow Garcia back home in the C8 Stingray he arrived to purchase the Z06 in. The pair dropped the modified Stingray off at Garcia’s construction yard before the two jumped into the Z06 and headed back to the dealer. After returning the employee, Garcia began his trek home. That didn’t last long before the engine let go in a cacophony of smoke and stressed metallic sounds. Garcia walked into town to get some charge on his phone, which led to a calamity with OnStar. That continued on day two, as the Z06 was “too new” to appear in the OnStar warranty system. Good News and Bad NewsThe whole situation left Garcia with a bad taste in his mouth at first, with the new Z06 owner initially noting in now deleted YouTube videos that he was done with the car. Things changed once GM corporate stepped in and got in contact with Garcia. The automaker acknowledged the issue and gave Garcia three options. His choices were to get a full refund, have the car repaired for free, or spec an entirely new Z06 to replace his faulty unit. Garcia originally bought the car to enjoy and modify, and he wasn’t ready to let the LT6-powered car go after less than a day of proper ownership. A new Z06 would take about six months to build, and GM estimated a wait of just two months for the necessary parts to repair the car. Garcia ultimately opted for the repairs, which came with a Platinum Protection Plan from GM tossed in. That plan covers the car bumper to bumper for 100,000 miles, which should bring some peace of mind when the new engine is installed. Garcia chose to remove his earlier videos following the conversation with GM. It’s unclear if that was requested by the automaker. Nobody should have to go through the new-car experience that Garcia faced with his Z06. Let’s hope this particular LT6 engine gets a full teardown, so Z06 enthusiasts can get the full story on what happened with this faulty car.DW Burnett More