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The first non-Apple products that will be able to play Apple Music with Spatial Audio will be select Mercedes-Benz models with the brand’s MBUX infotainment system.Spatial Audio offers the illusion that a sound is coming from a particular space, and it requires songs from Apple Music that have been remixed in this fashion to function.Sennheiser and Bang & Olufsen have introduced their versions of 3D audio systems for vehicles, opening a new front in the ongoing sound wars.Apple is diving another level deeper when it comes to vehicle infotainment integration. Mercedes-Benz announced today that Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is available in some of its vehicles for the first time. Until now, Apple’s version of spatial audio required Apple hardware, but the automaker’s vehicles have become the first ever non-Apple devices to natively feature Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos through the MBUX infotainment system.The first Mercedes vehicles to be able to play Apple Spatial Audio are the EQS, EQS SUV, EQE, EQE SUV, the S-class, and the Mercedes-Maybach S-class. Board member Markus Schäfer said the audio system now “perfectly [integrates] hardware and software.” Apple ReadyApple offers Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking for its AirPod and Beats headphone lines, which makes the music it plays sound like it’s coming from specific areas around the listener. Mercedes claims that Apple Spatial Audio provides “studio-quality sound better than in any concert hall” when listened to in a car. Listening to Apple Music with Spatial Audio in a compatible vehicle will require not just a subscription to that service, but also a personal Mercedes Me ID. Apple Music offers curated playlists that highlight songs from many genres that take advantage of the 3D listening experience, including one called Driving in Spatial Audio.Mercedes-Maybach designed by Virgil AblohMercedes has offered multidimensional sound systems in its vehicles before. The most extreme one in recent memory is the high-end, 1750-watt Burmester sound system in the limited-edition . That vehicle came with 31 speakers, including six 3D speakers in the ceiling and four speakers in each of the front seats. Mercedes said this advanced sound technology will come to other models soon.Sennheiser introduced a 3D automotive audio system in 2019 as a partnership with Karma Automotive. The AMBEO immersive audio solution also uses the vehicle headrests as speakers and can direct audio anywhere in the cabin using a specially designed multi-channel loudspeaker and a subwoofer. The system was first installed in a 2020 Karma Revero GT. Audi partnered with Bang & Olufsen on a 3D advanced sound system that used up to 23 speakers and offers up to 1920 Watts of power.This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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

Mercedes-Benz has revealed its answer to the Audi e-tron and BMW iX.The EQE SUV range will initially include three models, and an AMG model will launch in 2024.Built in Alabama, the EQE SUV will arrive in showrooms in 2023.Unveiled ahead of the 2022 Paris auto show, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV expands the German company’s presence in the fast-growing luxury EV segment. It’s characterized by a futuristic-looking exterior design and an interior brimming with tech features, and it will launch with three powertrains. Looking ahead, the EQE SUV will also spawn Mercedes-AMG’s first high-riding electric model.Much as the EQE is an electric alternative to the E-class, the EQE SUV lands as the GLE’s battery-powered counterpart. It measures 191.5 inches long, 76.4 inches wide, and 66.4 inches tall, slightly shorter and lower than its gasoline-burning sibling. Its weight hasn’t been published yet.Visually, the EQE SUV shares key styling cues including short overhangs, a long wheelbase, and a fluid overall design with the EQS SUV, from which it borrows its platform. It’s instantly recognizable as one of Mercedes-Benz’s electric cars. Many of the finer design details are EQS-like as well, including a black panel where you’d find a grille on a gasoline-powered SUV and an LED light bar that stretches across the rear end.While buyers can configure the GLE with seven seats, the EQE SUV is only available as a five-seater. It offers 18.4 cubic feet of trunk space with both rows of seats left up and 59.2 cubic feet with the rear bench folded flat. Mercedes-Benz claims it focused primarily on comfort when designing the seats.The dashboard mirrors the EQE sedan’s with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen for the familiar MBUX infotainment system, which includes a navigation software that takes charging stops and the driving style into account when calculating the fastest way to a given destination.Over-the-air technology promises to let owners configure an à la carte EQE SUV while allowing Mercedes-Benz to earn additional revenue. Motorists will have the option of paying to activate various features after taking delivery via the Mercedes Me store. For example, the Individualization Package that Mercedes-Benz can beam to the infotainment system adds a soundscape named Roaring Pulse, a selection of mini-games, additional coming-home and leaving-home animations, and an intriguing Romance Mode. The company will expand its digital aisle of post-delivery options in the coming years.EQs in DetailAt launch, buyers will have three EQE SUV flavors to choose from: 350+, 350 4Matic, and 500 4Matic. The base 350+ has a single electric motor that zaps the rear wheels with 288 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque. Selecting the 350 4Matic adds a motor to the front axle and increases torque to 564 pound-feet, though horsepower stays flat, while the range-topping 500 4Matic offers a dual-motor system rated at 536 horsepower and 633 pound-feet of torque. Hitting 60 mph from a stop takes 6.3, 6.2, and 4.6 seconds, respectively, according to Mercedes, while top speed is pegged at 130 mph regardless of the variant.Every EQE SUV is built on a 90.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Mercedes-Benz expects the SUV will earn a driving range rating of about 342 miles when tested using the WLTP cycle used in Europe, which tends to lean towards the optimistic side of the scale, and the EPA hasn’t put the model through its paces yet. Charging from 10 to 80 percent takes approximately 32 minutes when using a 170-kW quick charger, and the drivetrain can charge itself to an extent thanks to three levels of brake energy recuperation.View PhotosInterior of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz designed the EQE SUV as more of a soft-roader than a Moab-conquering off-roader, but all-wheel-drive models offer a driving profile labeled “Off-Road,” and the optional air suspension system lets the driver add about an inch of ground clearance at the push of a button. The list of options also includes a rear-axle steering system that turns the wheels up to 10 degrees for better maneuverability.Built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV will reach dealers nationwide in 2023. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but the model will have the BMW iX, the Audi e-tron, and the Polestar 3 in its crosshairs, so it’s not unreasonable to assume its base price will lie in the vicinity of $80,000.The CompetitionAMG’s First Electric SUVMercedes-Benz has already announced plans to expand the EQE SUV range. The model will morph into Mercedes-AMG’s first electric SUV for the 2024 model year by adopting a sportier exterior design, a number of interior changes, and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain available in two states of tune.The familiar Panamericana grille ensures you don’t need to be a seasoned car spotter to tell the AMG model apart from the Mercedes-Benz-branded version. Designers also added body-colored trim on the wheel arches and created specific 21- and 22-inch wheel designs, but there is a much smaller degree of differentiation between the two EQE SUVs than between the regular GLE and its AMG counterpart.Upholstered in MB-Tex or leather, the interior has a markedly sportier flavor characterized by an AMG Performance steering wheel with paddles used to select one of three brake energy recuperation levels, bright pedals, plus AMG-specific graphics in the digital instrument cluster and the touchscreen-based infotainment system. The AMG EQE SUV receives the same basic MBUX software as the standard EQE, but it’s optionally offered with the giant Hyperscreen setup that stretches across the entire dashboard.While AMG’s variant of the EQE SUV uses the same 90.6-kWh battery as the standard models, it posts a sub-four-second sprint from zero to 60 mph thanks to a pair of motors rated at 617 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque. If that’s not enough, buyers can order an optional AMG Dynamic Plus Package that increases those figures to 677 and 738, respectively. The powertrain remains compatible with 170-kW fast-charging, though Mercedes-AMG hasn’t released a range estimate for the American market. AMG also argues going electric doesn’t mean the end of triple-digit autobahn runs: the EQE SUV maxes out at 137 mph in its standard configuration and reaches 149 mph with the AMG Dynamic Plus Package.The through-the-road all-wheel-drive system’s torque split varies depending on the driving style, road conditions, and the driving mode selected. AMG notes the drivetrain becomes rear-biased in “Sport” and “Sport+” and configures itself for maximum efficiency when the driver selects the “Comfort” mode.Beyond the drivetrain, AMG ensured the EQE SUV is worthy of its logo by adding a firmer suspension system, active roll stabilization technology instead of anti-roll bars, and six-piston front brake calipers. It also made a rear-wheel-steering system that turns the back wheels by up to nine degrees standard. Pricing information will be released closer to the 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV’s on-sale date.This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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

Hyundai filed a recall with NHTSA over an issue with a fail-safe malfunction in the transmission oil pump.The recall affects 53,142 vehicles spread across six Hyundai models, all of which utilize a dual-clutch transmission (DCT): the 2021 and 2022 Santa Fe, Sonata, and Veloster N and the 2022 Elantra N, Kona N, and Santa Cruz.Hyundai will inspect and replace affected transmissions while reprogramming the controlling software. The automaker will begin mailing notification letters to owners by December 5. Hyundai issued a recall through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSHA) over a potential malfunction found in six models’ high-pressure transmission oil pump. Specifically, the recall affects models equipped with Hyundai’s eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). Filings with NHTSA detail improper fail-safe software logic when oil pump faults are detected, leading to total loss of drive power. The recall report says drivers may be alerted to the problem by “illumination of multiple warning lamps.” At that point, internal fault detection can put the vehicle into a limited-mobility “fail-safe” mode. This can be followed by total loss of motive ability as the transmission clutches and drive gears disengage after 20 to 30 seconds, Hyundai’s filing said. Hyundai’s documents filed with NHTSA say there have been 229 reported incidents in the United States from June 2021 through September 2022 but no confirmed accidents or injuries as a result of the problem. Michael Simari|Car and DriverAffected models include 2022 model year Elantra N, Kona N, and Santa Cruz vehicles and Santa Fe, Sonata, and Veloster N vehicles from both 2021 and 2022, with 53,142 total vehicles involved in the recall. Dealers will inspect the transmissions, replacing them free of charge when necessary. They will also reprogram the transmission control unit with updated software to fix the fail-safe driving capability.Hyundai issued a “stop sale” order of the affected vehicles on October 7 and will begin contacting owners by December 5. In the meantime, owners can check whether their vehicle is affected on the NHTSA recalls website.This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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

The Safer Streets Amendment Act of 2022, passed by the District of Columbia’s council in early October, is part of the Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities.D.C. has suffered an uptick in traffic fatalities and injuries recently. Three cyclists were killed in accidents with motor vehicles in July alone, Washingtonianmagazine reports.Right turns on red are considered dangerous to pedestrians because drivers are watching traffic coming from the left before making a turn, as walkers get the signal to proceed and step off the curb.Washington, D.C., will eliminate right turns at red traffic lights in “virtually all cases” beginning in 2025 in what could become a nationwide reversal of laws enacted across the country in the late 1970s. The Safer Streets Amendment Act of 2022, passed by the District of Columbia’s council in early October, is in a broader bundle of safety initiatives that is “part of a toolkit for the Vision Zero initiative,” says Colin Brooke, communications director for the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. On October 5, the same day the D.C. council approved the measure, the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council banned right turns on red at 50 downtown intersections, according to MLive.StatisticsEliminating right turns on red is more about pedestrians, Brooke says, while that broader bundle also includes partial adaptation of the so-called Idaho Stop for cyclists and electric scooter riders.Vision Zero, initiated in Sweden (naturally) in the 1990s, is “a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all,” according to the Vision Zero Network website..The Safer Streets Amendment was introduced by Mary Cheh, chair of the D.C. Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment. Her committee’s bill to increase registration fees for vehicles over 6000 pounds to $500 annually passed earlier this year.While D.C. has embraced Vision Zero for years, it has suffered an uptick in traffic fatalities and injuries recently. Three cyclists were killed in accidents with motor vehicles in July alone, Washingtonian magazine reports.The U.S. highway death rate spiked 10.5 percent to 42,915 in 2021, according to preliminary National Highway Traffic Safety Administration numbers. That’s up from 32,367 in 2011, and much of the increase comes from motor vehicles striking pedestrians and cyclists.The Idaho Stop was established in 1982, when the state enacted laws allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and to proceed through red lights, according to Bicycle Universe.Bicycle commuters head east on Market Street in San Francisco. San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images|Getty ImagesTen more states have adopted the Idaho Stop, though some, like D.C., do not allow the traffic rule’s full Monty (in some cases, cyclists may proceed through a red light when the stoplight system does not recognize the bike in the intersection).Because of the “hub and spoke” street design Pierre Charles L’Enfant drew up for the District of Columbia in the late 18th century, many streets meet intersections at acute angles rather than at 90 degrees, so bicycles and scooters will be allowed to roll through stop signs but must stop for red lights, WABA’s Browne says.The urban movement to add bike lanes and provide more deference in traffic to bicycles has added to the rift between motorists who believe too much space on urban and suburban streets has been given up for such sparsely used lanes, while cycling advocates counter that the reason bike lanes are often empty is because cars and trucks still are given priority on public roads.Right turns on red are considered dangerous to pedestrians because drivers are watching traffic coming from the left before making the turn, as people step off the curb, often when pedestrians get the signal to proceed while the light remains red.Councilwoman Cheh’s bill does not guarantee all rights on red in Washington will be gone after 2025, as it gives the District’s Transportation department authority to evaluate intersections where it might still be safer to retain right turns on red.”In negotiating the bill, the agency told us that it would be likely there would be [such] locations,” Cheh says. “However, I am not aware of any specific intersections.”Those of us old enough remember when the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 prompted U.S. states and D.C. to adopt traffic laws allowing right turns at red lights. They already were legal in western states, according to Wikipedia, and Massachusetts was last to the party, in 1980. They have been “severely restricted” in New York City but most prevalent on Staten Island with its relatively low traffic and pedestrian volumes, according to nyc.gov.”As the fuel savings argument for allowing right on red becomes less and less relevant with more efficient cars, hybrids, and EVs, and while traffic violence continues to rise across the country, I would imagine other jurisdictions will make the same common-sense decision we did in the District,” Cheh says. [“More efficient cars” includes the proliferation of mild-hybrid stop/start systems.]If this is the beginning of a reverse wave, it probably will be the result of a widespread movement begun years ago to de-car congested urban areas in favor of walkable city streets. A reverse wave would happen without the push from something like the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as “Individual traffic regulations are under the purview of local jurisdictions,” according to the Federal Highway Administration.The upshot? Any wave of such bans will start in congested cities, not in states. 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.This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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