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The 2023 Nissan Versa has been given a refresh, showing off a new grille with silver trim pieces accenting the main blacked-out element.The highest trim level now offers an 8.0-inch touchscreen and a WiFi hotspot, and a wireless charging pad is also now available.The Versa still comes with a 122-horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder, which can be mated to five-speed manual transmission on the base S model.Sales of Nissan’s subcompact Versa sedan have tanked so far in 2022. Through the end of the third quarter, just 9335 Versas found homes, a huge drop compared with the 50,569 units sold during the same time period last year. Nonetheless, Nissan isn’t getting rid of this small sedan like many other automakers have, and is actually refreshing the tiny sedan for the 2023 model year. The updated Versa gets a revised front end and more standard features than before.The most noticeable change is the new grille, which has a black hexagonal piece sandwiched by a cascading column of rectangular silver trim pieces. Nissan’s updated logo now adorns the Versa, and while the rear remains unaltered, the SR model gets a new 17-inch wheel design and a new Gray Sky Pearl paint is offered on the SV and SR. The base S trim now offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the newly optional S Plus package, which also includes a 60/40 split-folding rear seat. For 2023, the SV gains a center console with an armrest, a wireless charging pad, and a new interior color. While the standard 7.0-inch touchscreen remains, buyers can now upgrade to an 8.0-inch screen by selecting the SR model, which also adds a WiFi hotspot, automatic climate control, and adaptive cruise control. More Nissan NewsThe Versa still packs plenty of standard safety features, including automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and rear automatic braking. Power still comes from a 1.6-liter four-cylinder producing 122 horsepower, routed through either a CVT or a five-speed manual; the stick-shift is available only on the base S model.The 2023 Versa goes on sale this fall, offered in the same S, SV, and SR trims as the outgoing model. Pricing has yet to be released, but the 2023 model shouldn’t be much more expensive than the 2022 model’s $16,675 starting price. 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

The addresses have now disappeared, but for a while this week, Tesla’s website showed the specific location of over 340 new Supercharger locations in the U.S., and many more around the world.It’s not in any way surprising that Tesla would be working on new locations, given the increase in EV demand and the company’s slow-moving road to opening up its DC fast-chargers to electric vehicles from other brands.Supercharger expansion isn’t just important for Model S and Model Y drivers. Tesla started a non-Tesla Supercharger pilot program in Europe last year. It is not yet available in the U.S.Tesla is getting ready to add almost 350 Supercharger stations in the United States and dozens more around the world. The company didn’t make any official announcement about its plan, but astute watchers of the electric vehicle company noticed a slew of “coming soon” additions that briefly appeared on the company website’s official list of locations.This content is imported from twitter. 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.Tesla has since removed the specific addresses from its site, adding to the suggestions that were made when the list was first posted that this might have been an accidental leak. Whatever the reason, we can now say there are 342 new locations on Tesla’s U.S. list, including Dothan, Alabama, and Lagrangeville, New York. Tesla operates more than 35,000 Supercharger units around the world.The since-removed new Supercharger locations were first spotted by Twitter user MarcoRPTesla, who calls his feed there “unofficially the best account for Supercharger updates in North America.” It’s certainly full of interesting details about the company’s DC fast-charging network. Speculation about why Tesla might want to publicize where it’s about to install new fast-charging locations for its users ranges from building up interest in EVs in a particular area to providing people in that area confidence that they’ll be able to fast-charge when driving around. making Tesla charging stations available to other brandsSupercharger station expansion can be important information to electric-vehicle drivers who don’t own a Tesla. Since the first Superchargers were installed in 2012, the stations have only officially worked with Tesla EVs because they had a proprietary connector. The company took the first steps toward last year by adding a standard CCS connector to a small number of units in Europe. CEO Elon Musk has said since at least June 2021 that the Supercharger network will be opened to other automakers, and Tesla launched its non-Tesla Supercharger pilot program in November 2021. This program is not yet available in the U.S. but a White House fact sheet issued in June said, “Tesla will begin production of new Supercharger equipment that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use Tesla Superchargers” before the end of 2022. 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

Electric-vehicle startup Rivian has announced that it will recall 12,212 of its 2022 R1S SUVs, R1T pickups, and EDV commercial vehicles to fix an improperly tightened fastener.The fastener connects the vehicles’ front upper control arm and the steering knuckle, and there have been two reports of the fastener coming loose, according to documents filed with NHTSA. Rivian will begin notifying owners by November 24.EV startup Rivian, responding to reports of an insufficiently torqued fastener that could cause excessive noise, vibration, and harshness, will recall more than 12,000 R1S, R1T, and EDV commercial vehicles built between December 2021 and the end of September 2022. The company called it a potential safety issue in its filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and said it will notify owners to arrange the fix by November 24.The problem is described as an improperly tightened fastener that connects the front upper control arm and the steering knuckle. Rivian reported that its engineering staff reviewed one problematic vehicle on August 13 and listed six additional reports of problems with the fastener received by the end of September, including two where the steering knuckle “had become loose or separated.” The automaker said “a safety-related defect exists related to this matter” and added that the problem could affect a driver’s ability to control the steering, although the NHTSA filings do not describe any accidents or injuries as a result of it.The recall may be for a relatively simple fix, but the number of vehicles being recalled also represents a large percentage of the total production from this young company. A Rivian spokesperson told Car and Driver that the company has built a total of 15,332 vehicles since it started production, including 14,327 so far in 2022, so a recall of 12,212 is a majority of all EVs it has built so far. The spokesperson would not comment on how many of those recalled are R1T pickups and how many are R1S SUVs or EDV commercial models.Rivian has had production delays caused by supply-chain issues, in which it’s not alone as this is an industry-wide issue. Rivian said earlier this month that it is still on target to meet its goal of manufacturing 25,000 vehicles in 2022.Other recalls for the new products have included one for an airbag sensor that did not work to deactivate the safety system if an infant seat was in the front passenger position, and another for an improperly attached seatbelt anchor. Both of those recalls were for only a few hundred vehicles.While waiting to be notified, owners can check the NHTSA recalls site for more information and to see if their vehicle is affected.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

It’s been almost a decade since California first considered digital license plates, and now anyone in the state can get one.There’s only one company that’s selling digital plates. Reviver offers two versions of its RPlate: a battery-powered model that requires a $20/month subscription fee or a hard-wired model for commercial vehicles for $25/month.Digital license plates are currently allowed in just three states—California, Michigan, Arizona—and can be used on commercial vehicles in Texas. Another 10 or so states are considering approving the devices.Anyone in California can now legally put a digital license plate on their car. High-tech license plates have been allowed in limited numbers since 2018, but now the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will allow any vehicle owner to use digital plates. California first started thinking about alternatives to standard metal license plates in 2013 with the passage of SB 806.Reviver, the only company that sells digital plates today, announced the passage this week of a new bill that it helped shepherd through the California legislature. The Motor Vehicle Digital Number Plates bill (AB-984) increases the number of people who will be allowed to use a digital plate on their car from the one-half of one percent of the state’s automobiles— around 175,000 vehicles that the original pilot program allowed—to all 40 million vehicles registered in the state. With the passage of AB 984, digital license plates are now legal for passenger cars in three states—California, Michigan, Arizona—and they can be installed on commercial vehicles in Texas.More on License PlatesOne of Reviver’s selling points for connected, digital license plates is that they can be immediately updated to display Amber Alerts or an “I’m Stolen” message if needed. Reviver said at least another 10 states are in some way considering adoption of digital license plates. Colorado, Georgia and Illinois have approved the plates, but details about integrating them with the state DMVs has not been completed. Reviver said Pennsylvania and New Jersey are likely to approve digital plates soon.Reviver has been pushing forward with its digital plate plans, touting benefits like the ability to renew the plates without using a sticker and the fact that the plates have built-in tracking technology that can be used in case the vehicle is stolen. The company said around 10,000 people in California have installed its digital plates, called RPlate, under the current rules.Technically, the new law doesn’t just help Reviver. AB-984 establishes general requirements for “piloting and adopting new alternative devices for vehicle licensing,” the company said. It’s just that Reviver is currently the only one offering any kind of alternative. The company offers a battery-powered RPlate that can be installed on any vehicle and, since the digital plates need to connect to a cellular network to operate, subscription costs run $19.95 a month. A hard-wired RPlate is available for commercial vehicles and requires professional installation. The hard-wired models offer more integrated telematics features and their displays are backlit. Subscriptions for the hard-wired model cost $24.95 a month. Commercial customers can sign their RPlates up for Reviver’s RFleet Software Dashboard. Reviver touts RFleet as a way to streamline some of the mundane parts of a fleet manager’s job: automated vehicle registration, batch registration renewal and a way to track every vehicle in the fleet through the RPlate if the vehicle doesn’t have built-in telematics for this purpose. 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