Tag: Cars

Regardless of COVID-19 lockdowns, American roads are getting a lot deadlier

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Car crash on major highway during rainfall at night. Ambulance in foreground and police car in background.

Enlarge / The three months between July and September 2020 noticed an enormous rise in highway deaths in the USA. (credit score: Getty Photos)

American roads turned considerably deadlier in 2020, in keeping with the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration. Though figures for the complete yr will not be obtainable for a while, the NHTSA has calculated the demise toll on our roads for the primary 9 months of 2020, and the information is grim. Between the start of January and the top of September final yr, 28,190 individuals had been killed in crashes, which is a rise of 4.6 %—or 1,249 extra deaths—over the identical 9 months in 2019. (The complete statistics for 2020 will not be obtainable till later this yr.)

What makes this improve even worse information is the truth that 2019 really noticed a lower in highway deaths, which declined by two % in comparison with 2018. In truth, when the NHTSA launched the 2019 statistics in late December of final yr, it included a preliminary evaluation of the primary half of 2020 and located that in these six months, the site visitors quantity decreased by 16 %, and highway deaths declined by 3.Three % over the identical time interval.

(Because the lower in car miles traveled was better than the lower in deaths, the fatality charge per 100 million car miles traveled really elevated from 1.06 to 1.25 when evaluating 1H 2019 and 1H 2020.)

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The Acura TLX Advance hits the luxurious notes, misses the sporting ones

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  • The 2021 Acura TLX Advance is an all-new mannequin. It is distinctive to North America, not only a rebadged Honda. [credit: Acura ]

The SUV could also be ascendant today, however some automobile makers nonetheless have room of their hearts, or extra precisely their product portfolios, for the four-door sedan. Amongst them is Acura, the high-end arm of Honda in North America, which not too long ago debuted its second-generation TLX. However do not assume it is a case of badge engineering; the second-gen TLX is exclusive to Acura—you will not discover it carrying a Honda brand in Japan or Europe.

Acura is usually generally known as a luxurious model, competing for patrons with Lexus and Infiniti, however the firm’s roots are literally way more sporty than plush. Acura desires to reconnect with that heritage as a approach of differentiating itself from these rivals, and to that finish, it says the brand new $40,000 2021 TLX is probably the most performance-focused sedan it is ever made. It begins with a monocoque chassis that is 50 p.c stiffer general, with even increased rigidity on the bits the place the suspension is connected. There are braces for the underbody, extra inflexible mounts for the entrance dampers, and really stiff middle tunnel. However on the similar time, there’s in depth use of aluminum even in a few of these high-stiffness areas to chop weight over the previous mannequin.

Additional to its sporting intentions, Acura opted for a double-wishbone association for the entrance suspension, which it says has 85 p.c extra lateral stiffness than the MacPherson struts on the first-generation TLX. Meaning the tires’ contact patches do not shrink an excessive amount of below cornering.

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Rolling out driverless automobiles is “extraordinary grind” says Waymo boss

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Rolling out driverless cars is “extraordinary grind” says Waymo boss

Enlarge (credit score: Waymo)

Final yr was probably the most vital but in Waymo’s 11-year effort to develop a driverless automotive.

The Google sister firm raised $3.2 billion, signed offers with a number of companions and launched the world’s first actually driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona.

Even so, the widespread rollout of totally autonomous automobiles stays sluggish, staggered, and dear.

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My inexperienced house: $90,000 in clear tech upgrades, $20,000 in tax breaks

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My green home: $90,000 in clean tech upgrades, $20,000 in tax breaks

Enlarge (credit score: Aurich Lawson / Getty Pictures)

Just a few years in the past I began writing usually about electrical vehicles and the batteries that energy them—applied sciences which can be serving to humanity transition away from reliance on fossil fuels. And as dangerous information continued to pile up in regards to the harms brought on by local weather change, I began to suppose more durable about my very own carbon footprint.

So final 12 months, my spouse and I bought photo voltaic panels for our roof. Then we changed our air conditioner, getting a mannequin with a warmth pump functionality. Shortly after that, our boiler sprang a leak and we bought a brand new high-efficiency boiler. Then we bought a battery electrical automobile.

We’ve not but achieved a carbon-free way of life. The brand new boiler burns pure fuel and we’re conserving our previous gasoline-powered automobile. We even have an oven and hearth that run on pure fuel. Nonetheless, our carbon emissions in 2021 will likely be far decrease than they have been in 2019. And we’re on a path to radically cut back our carbon emissions over the subsequent decade.

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Tesla delivered a report 500,000 autos in 2020

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The parking lot of Tesla's Shanghai factory was full of new cars in October 2020.

Enlarge / The car parking zone of Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing unit was full of latest automobiles in October 2020. (credit score: Costfoto/Barcroft Media by way of Getty Pictures)

Tesla smashed earlier manufacturing and supply data within the fourth quarter of 2020, delivery greater than 180,000 autos to clients during the last three months. That is 30 p.c greater than Tesla’s Q3 deliveries, which itself was a report determine for the corporate.

For 2020 as a complete, Tesla delivered 499,550 autos to clients. That is 36 p.c greater than the 367,500 autos Tesla delivered to clients in 2019.

Tesla did not fairly hit the corporate’s self-imposed goal of half one million deliveries for the yr. However the miss is actually a rounding error and Tesla’s 2020 efficiency remains to be fairly spectacular. The pandemic made 2020 an unusually difficult yr for the auto business. Tesla’s Fremont manufacturing unit—like these of most opponents within the US—was closed between late March and mid-Could.

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Vehicles Technica’s greatest drives in 2020

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Cars Technica’s best drives in 2020

Enlarge (credit score: Collage by Aurich Lawson)

Like most of us, 2020 turned out fairly in another way than we would have anticipated again in January. By the top of February, it was clear that COVID-19 was going to be a major problem as auto reveals and drive occasions began being cancelled en masse. However our native press fleets have remained in operation, and a calendar freed from journey has meant extra time to check automobiles right here at dwelling. Fortunately, sitting in a automobile by one’s self meets the necessities for social distancing, and a automobile inside could be a welcome change from spending all day each day at dwelling.

All meaning we have managed to check drive a good quantity of recent autos regardless of the brand new realities. These are the highlights of a yr spent behind the wheel.

Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs

Slightly below half (15 out of 32) of the automobiles I reviewed this yr had been hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or battery electrical autos. I logged probably the most miles in one of many extra unique hybrids on the record—the Acura NSX supercar. Ohio to Florida in three days stays a memorable journey, however it was arduous work. Runner-up could be the Toyota Venza that took us to Cooperstown, New York and again in a day. Not like the NSX, the Venza had very snug seats and adaptive cruise management. This plush crossover was certainly one of my sudden delights of the yr.

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Nikola inventory craters after cancellation of main rubbish truck order

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The garbage truck was supposed to be based on the same platform as the forthcoming Nikola Tre battery electric semi truck.

Enlarge / The rubbish truck was purported to be primarily based on the identical platform because the forthcoming Nikola Tre battery electrical semi truck. (credit score: Nikola)

One other established firm has backed away from struggling electrical truck maker Nikola, sending the latter’s inventory worth down by 18 % over two days of buying and selling. Nikola’s inventory worth is down greater than 80 % from its all-time peak in June.

Again in August, trash firm Republic Providers positioned an order with Nikola for two,500 electrical rubbish vans with an choice to take 5,000 extra. On the time, Nikola was flying excessive, having simply entered public markets in June. Based on the Arizona Republic, the vans had been slated to have a spread of 150 miles and capability for 1,200 cans of rubbish.

The rubbish vans had been purported to be variants of the Nikola Tre, a battery electrical truck that Nikola is constructing with assist from Italian truckmaker Iveco. Testing of the rubbish vans was supposed to start in 2022, with the primary vans delivered a yr later.

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Musk says Apple handed on Tesla acquisition three years in the past

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A Tesla Model 3 is seen in the general assembly line at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, in July 2018.

Enlarge / A Tesla Mannequin three is seen within the common meeting line on the Tesla manufacturing unit in Fremont, California, in July 2018. (credit score: Mason Trinca for The Washington Publish by way of Getty Pictures)

A number of years in the past, Elon Musk tried to curiosity Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner in shopping for Tesla, Musk stated in a Tuesday tweet. “He refused to take the assembly,” Musk added.

In keeping with Musk, this occurred within the “darkest days of the Mannequin three program”—probably a while in late 2017 or early 2018. Musk lately revealed that at one level early within the Mannequin three manufacturing course of, Tesla was “a few month” away from chapter

“The Mannequin three ramp was excessive stress & ache for a very long time — from mid 2017 to mid 2019,” Musk wrote in November. “Manufacturing & logistics hell.”

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Apple is allegedly engaged on a passenger automobile, breakthrough battery tech

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An Apple logo has been photoshopped onto an empty road at night.

Enlarge (credit score: Aurich Lawson / Getty Photographs)

Apple could begin constructing and promoting a automobile throughout the subsequent 4 years. In line with Reuters, the automobile could (or could not) use self-driving expertise developed by Apple, and it could (or could not) contain a “breakthrough” battery design that might be cheaper and supply longer vary than present expertise.

Reuters says that Apple is engaged on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, which is cheaper than battery cells that use nickel manganese cobalt chemistry. In July of this 12 months, Tesla introduced it will swap to this chemistry for Chinese language-built Tesla Mannequin 3s by the tip of 2020.

Reuters additionally says that Apple’s battery design “bulks up the person cells within the battery and frees up house contained in the battery pack by eliminating pouches and modules that maintain battery supplies.”

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These tires work higher in snow due to 3D printing

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A closeup of Bridgestone's latest Blizzak tire in its natural environment.

Enlarge / A closeup of Bridgestone’s newest Blizzak tire in its pure surroundings. (credit score: Bridgestone)

Monday marks the official begin of winter right here within the US. Not that the climate wants the calendar’s permission; many components of the nation began seeing snow weeks in the past. And, in fact, you needn’t look forward to December 21 to swap over to winter tires. For one factor, the sticky compounds utilized in summer time efficiency tires aren’t designed to work when the mercury drops beneath 45 levels Fahrenheit (7.2°C), and that may occur effectively earlier than the bottom disappears beneath a layer of snow.

“That has to do with the glass transition temperature of the compounds. The compounds get more durable because the ambient temperatures get cooler, and winter tires are designed for a a lot decrease vary and temperature,” defined Dale Harrigle, chief engineer at Bridgestone.

That is partly all the way down to the combination that makes up a winter tire. “We’re utilizing silica tread compounds in our devoted winter merchandise. We will tune the devoted winter merchandise to have good grip at decrease temperatures with out considerably affecting the rolling resistance we might have 20 years in the past. So I consider plenty of the compound and materials expertise is what’s enabled a few of these leaps in efficiency,” Harrigle advised me.

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