Deliveries of Tesla's newest sedan, the Model 3, have been slow to pick up. The reason why wasn't known at first, but it turns out many of the pieces were being made by hand. Tim Higgins reports: FREMONT, Calif.— Tesla Inc. TSLA +0.37% blamed “production bottlenecks” for having made only a fraction of the promised 1,500 Model 3s, the $35,000 sedan designed to propel the luxury electric-car maker into the mainstream. Unknown to analysts, investors and the hundreds of thousands of customers who signed up to buy it, as recently as early September major portions of the Model 3 were still being … [Read more...]
Are the Chinese Jumping Ahead on Electric Cars?
If you have ignored the electrification of the global auto fleet and marked up sales of electric cars to date simply to overzealous environmentalists and idealistic northern Europeans, this report from the WSJ should catch you attention. The Chinese government’s heavy hand in all economic matters in China is now driving electric vehicle sales in the country. China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market and it is poised to get bigger. The question now for investors isn’t whether the global auto market goes electric, but which companies will profit from the trend. If you are … [Read more...]
Daimler to Go Electric in Alabama
Daimler will invest $1 billion in its Alabama manufacturing plant to begin production of a fully electric sport-utility vehicle there. Chester Dawson reports in The Wall Street Journal: Daimler said it would begin production of an electric SUV early next decade at the Tuscaloosa plant and in 2018 begin construction nearby of a facility to assemble battery systems for use in those and other vehicles. Combined, the new plans are expected to create as many as 600 jobs, it said. The new SUV will be sold under the Mercedes-Benz EQ electric vehicle subbrand, but the company didn’t specify its … [Read more...]
How Will Autonomous Cars Deal With Aggressive Drivers?
One of the biggest questions facing companies developing self-driving cars is what to do about living drivers who don't obey the rules. How does a car, pre-programmed to follow all the rules, negotiate with a driver who is breaking them? Ford is working around such problems by adding signals and communications to its vehicles to negotiate such encounters. The Washington Post reports: Andy Schaudt is an invisible man. He is wearing a “seat suit” to make it look like his Ford Transit Connect van is driving itself. His bespectacled face is obscured by a fake headrest hood. His torso is … [Read more...]
Car and Driver: When Will You be Able to Buy an Autonomous Car?
I thought this was interesting from the September issue of Car and Driver "Upfront" section: Automakers define “autonomy” according to a scale established by SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers). The scale tops out with control-free pods at Level 5, but even adaptive cruise control counts as Level 1. What most people think of as full autonomy begins with Level 4, in which a car can handle the complete driving task without needing to defer to a human driver—in certain cases. Think of a car that can drive on the highway but may need a human to take over at the … [Read more...]
What Happens When Your Self-Driving Car Gets Hacked?
It's terrifying to find out that your personal computer has been compromised by a hacker. You instantly begin a damage assessment. What personal information is contained in the compromised machine? How long have you been monitored by spyware? These questions race through your mind. But what happens when the computer being compromised is your car? There are surely security measures built in to every autonomous vehicle, but the vulnerability that may be hardest to control is one hackers can exploit without even knowing your car exists. Because autonomous vehicles operate in response to inputs … [Read more...]
Automakers are Gaining on Tech Titans in the Race for Robot Cars
Self driving cars are usually considered the realm of tech titans like Google, Uber and more secretly, Apple. But traditional automakers have not been sitting idly on their hands waiting for Silicon Valley upstarts to eat their lunch. No, Detroit, Munich, Yokohama, Gothenburg and other centers of automobile innovation have been working rapidly to develop their own self-driving vehicles. In WIRED, Jack Stewart writes about how Ford is using real world tests like delivering pizza with its self-driving research vehicles to better understand the future of autonomous driving. “Society is, in … [Read more...]
Can You Pick the Massive Energy Winners and Losers?
Electric vehicles are poised to take over the roads as regulatory, innovation, and cost hurdles are surmounted. Here The Economist explains the prospects for electric vehicles. The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world Roughly 85% of American workers commute by car. There are now about 1bn cars on the road, almost all powered by fossil fuels. But electrification has thrown the car industry into turmoil. Its best brands are founded … [Read more...]
Toyota’s New America First Policy
After lowering its American exposure in response to a scandal involving sticky accelerators, Toyota is coming back to the U.S. in response to the new administration. Between market fundamentals and prodding from the Trump administration, Toyota is taking a new look at its U.S. operations. The auto maker recently signed a deal with Mazda to increase U.S. production by building a $1.6 billion plant in the U.S. The plant had been planned for Mexico, but plans changed after the president tweeted negatively about the idea. Chester Dawson and Sean McLain report: The company’s decision to open a … [Read more...]
Can You Drive a Car With Only One Pedal?
With more big auto companies announcing each week that their future production will be all electric, it's a good bet you'll own an electric vehicle someday. But there are inherent differences in electric vehicles when compared to vehicles running internal combustion engines. You don't really need a break pedal on an electric vehicle (EV). Most EVs employ regenerative breaking, so when you take your foot off the accelerator, the car dumps its excess energy into regenerating electricity for future use. At WIRED, Jack Stewart explains the one-pedal future. To get the maximum benefit out … [Read more...]