When Nissan created the original Nissan Armada, its first full-size sport-utility vehicle, it did so in the traditional way, using the platform of its full-size pickup. That pickup, the Titan, had been introduced in 2003, and Nissan's big ute, the Pathfinder Armada, arrived that same year, as a 2004 model. The Pathfinder label was supposed to leverage the name recognition of the brand's popular mid-size SUV, but eventually it was jettisoned, and the vehicle became simply the Armada. READ MORE ››
-Sunday, July 31, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
Mercedes-Benz and Tesla See a Future in Electric Self-Driving Buses
People are moving toward the urban cores of our cities in record numbers. And while cities are pushing inward, it's becoming harder than ever to have a car-or multiple cars-in a household. Meanwhile, new subways and rail lines require deep pockets and often controversial funding sources. The solution, as some see it, is the automated (or semi-automated) city bus. A bus ticket is hardly an aspirational purchase for middle-class American consumers, yet two aspirational brands-Mercedes-Benz and Tesla-both recently mentioned bus projects intended to address the urban mass-transit dilemma.
-It makes sense. Moving people on buses networked with the traffic signals might ease gridlock without making other (far costlier) changes such as building new subways or light-rail lines, or adding politically loaded policies like urban-area tolling for private vehicles. According to the Union Internationale des Transports Publica (UITP), an international organization for transport authorities and operators, a single, large articulated bus could replace 40 personal vehicles and take up just one-eighth of the road space.
-The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, a semi-automated city bus with a technology suite called CityPilot, is a front-runner in this field. It can journey up to 12.4 miles (20 km) without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal. With a dozen cameras plus long- and short-range radar systems monitoring the route ahead, the Future Bus can spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, employing networked data about traffic and signals along the route.
-That Mercedes-Benz system requires a driver on board (a press of a button puts it in semi-automated mode). It's also fully functioning today, and being tested on a route in the Netherlands, to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Meanwhile, looking many more years into the future, Tesla recently announced a plan that sounds, in some respects, complementary to solutions like the Future Bus.
-Tesla Sees Future for Smaller Semi-Autonomous Buses
-Over the long term, Tesla says it intends not only to enter the bus business, but to produce a pilotless bus. As part of the much-discussed Tesla Master Plan Part Deux for the company to expand and “cover the major forms of terrestrial transport,” CEO Elon Musk said: “In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicles needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport.”
-Musk suggested that a fleet of smaller semi-autonomous buses could transition the role of the bus driver to that of a fleet manager. In the Tesla scenario, you'd arrange to ride these buses via a cellphone app, although Musk also suggested placing fixed summon buttons at existing bus stops.
-Tesla says its bus design would have car-like performance, so as not to impede traffic flow, and would include a flexible seating layout that could accommodate wheelchairs, strollers, and bicycles.
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- Elon Musk's Tesla Master Plan, Part Deux: Semis and Pickups, Solar Roofs, and Car Sharing -
- 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris First Driver Review -
- Tesla Model X: Reviews, Pricing, Specs -
The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, as it stands, is diesel-powered, but the company has announced an all-electric propulsion system for its buses on the way for 2018; that should beat Tesla by many years. Would getting the Tesla name, or Mercedes-Benz's active-safety reputation, into city buses make Americans more likely to ride them? It's too early to say, but with these two names involved, the future of public transit now looks not only safer but a little more glamorous.
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Thursday, July 28, 2016
2017 Audi Q7 e-tron: Green Cred for a Diesel?
As a diesel-powered plug-in-hybrid SUV, the Audi Q7 e-tron occupies a niche within a niche within a niche. It could be seen as evidence that Audi's product planners are determined to find the least-populated space in the great automotive Venn diagram. There have been diesel hybrids before in Europe (notably Volvo's V60 PHEV) but never one this large offering quite this much all-electric range. READ MORE ››
-Wednesday, July 27, 2016
2016 Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4MATIC Tested: A Four-Season Warm Hatch for the Materialist
We can't imagine that many buyers feel torn between a performance hatchback and a compact-crossover SUV, but if you're one of these indecisive individuals, you'll want to know about the Mercedes-Benz GLA250, which inexplicably merges these segments into one handsome package. READ MORE ››
-Off-Roading Crash Course For Dummies: What you Need to Know Before you go Wheeling
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
2016 Ram 1500 Pickup Review: One Truck, Many Flavors
Overview: That the Ram 1500 trailed the Ford and Chevy half-ton full-size pickup trucks in our most recent comparison test doesn't make it a bad choice. It actually has several things going for it that the others don't, the most evident being the availability of a diesel engine, something Ford and General Motors still don't offer in this light-duty segment. READ MORE ››
-Monday, July 25, 2016
2016 Toyota Camry Quick-Take Review: Good Enough Sells Well
-Overview: Competent and mostly inoffensive, the Toyota Camry was the go-to driving appliance for 429,355 buyers in 2015, making it once again the bestselling car in the United States. Despite its lack of verve on the road-which contributed to the Camry finishing last in our latest comparison test of family sedans-this is a sensible machine with lots of space for people and cargo, decent manners, plenty of available technology, and an optional hybrid powertrain that makes it an upstanding four-wheeled citizen for the environmentally conscious. A significant update for 2015 brought more aggressive styling, among numerous other tweaks aimed at honing its on-road character. A gaping maw with chrome grille slats dominates the front of most models, while the sportier SE and XSE trim levels call out their stiffened chassis underpinnings with a blackened mesh grille. READ MORE ››
Friday, July 22, 2016
2017 BMW 740e Plug-In Hybrid Driven: This Is the Future?
Regulators have left carmakers little choice but to embrace plug-in-hybrid technology: In Europe, for example, ultra-aggressive fuel-consumption standards, coupled with testing methods heavily favoring plug-ins, give such models a big advantage. In China, they're favored by legislation at both the municipal and national levels. Here in the U.S., CAFE requirements, environmental concerns, and more are putting pressure on manufacturers to pursue alternatives to conventional powertrains. Sales of reasonably priced plug-ins have begun to increase globally-especially in China-but sales of premium hybrids typically have been abysmal. Witness BMW's struggles with its ActiveHybrid line of vehicles, most of which have been discontinued. READ MORE ››
-Thursday, July 21, 2016
2017 Infiniti QX30 Sport Driven: The Euro-Hatch Version
-Another cushy compact crossover may or may not be what the world needs now, but it's exactly what Infiniti needs. Enter the swoopy, stub-tailed QX30-which Infiniti is pitching as a “premium active crossover”-to give the brand an entrant in a segment poised for explosive growth. We tested an all-wheel-drive QX30 and found it does a reasonable job of being a cushy compact crossover, with its 8.0 inches of ground clearance, skid plates, and roof rails joining the creature comforts and chrome that come with being an Infiniti. READ MORE ››
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Elon Musk's Tesla Master Plan, Part Deux: Semis and Pickups, Solar Roofs, and Car Sharing
Ten years ago, members of the press gathered in a hangar at California's Santa Monica airport for the public debut of a Silicon Valley company's new car. Pre-reveal rumors suggested that Tesla's machine was little more than an electrified Lotus Elise. Prior to the event, the company sent out an e-mail denying this was the case. When the tarp was removed, the car was not an electrified Elise in the way that a Pontiac Firebird is not a Chevy Camaro. It's not, but y'know, it really is. Perhaps more interesting than the Roadster-which was never going to be more than a plaything, despite its claimed-at-the-time 250-mile range-was the company's plan for its future. It suggested that the funds garnered from starting with an expensive vehicle would allow Tesla to build a car for the masses down the line. A decade and a few swirls 'round the drain later, Tesla now sells a critically acclaimed sedan beloved by its wealthy owners, offers an overly complex crossover based on the same platform, and has taken hundreds of thousands in deposits for its forthcoming mid-priced Model 3 sedan. Now, CEO Elon Musk is rolling out the second phase of his master plan for the company.
-In a blog post entitled “Master Plan, Part Deux” (we were pulling for “Master Plan 2: Electric Boogaloo”), Musk makes the case for Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity, outlines when and why Autopilot will emerge from beta testing, suggests that Tesla will move into the heavy-truck segment, and outlines a plan that will seemingly have the company squaring off against Uber.
-People of the Sun
-Musk's stated rationale for combining Tesla with SolarCity-a solar-cell company founded at his suggestion by his cousins-is fairly simple. “One ordering experience, one installation, one service contact, one phone app,” he writes. A Tesla app would allow you to control both your home and your car, and the systems would be designed to work together seamlessly. More cynically, Elon's selling you the car. He also now happens to own the fuel generators you'll put on your roof.
-Truckin'
-Beyond the Model 3, Elon suggests a CUV will follow it to market, as well as some form of pickup truck. Given the clamor for crossovers in this country, a Model 3–based ute is a no-brainer proposition, and we doubt the company will make the same complexity-for-complexity's sake mistakes it made with the Model X. As for the pickup? Out on the West Coast, at least, there are plenty of ecologically minded folks who drive Toyota Tacomas. Most of them are drummers or windsurfers. It makes sense to go for a slice of their pie, not to mention the light-duty urban-delivery market.
-But the big revelation is that Tesla's looking to muscle in on bus and truck titans like Gillig and PACCAR. Musk states, “Both [a heavy truck and a bus] are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.” A fun-to-operate semi? Might it offer a “mow-down-parked-choppers” mode?
-Musk further suggests that future bus service could be handled by smaller vehicles operating in more of an on-demand mode, with “summon” buttons mounted at stops for those without access to smartphones.
-Virtual Key Parties
-For those with access to smartphones, however, Musk is offering a tantalizing bit of future steak. Those fortunate enough to own a Tesla vehicle in the fully autonomous future will be able to loan it out as an Uber-style ride to those in need of momentary transport. In his own inimitable Barnum-esque fashion, Musk proclaims that a future Tesla could “generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost. This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla.” In the future, for just pennies a day, green luxury could be all yours! This, of course, is dependent on full autonomy being both foolproof and legal.
-Terror of the Autons
-Finally, on the subject of autonomy, Musk continued to defend Autopilot, asserting that it would be “morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability.” Regarding its future, he says once Autopilot becomes “approximately 10 times safer than the U.S. vehicle average” Tesla will do away with the “beta” appellation. As for the target number, Musk cites in his post a 2015 NHTSA fatality report that says that “automotive fatalities increased by 8% to one death every 89 million miles” that year.
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- Lowercase x: Tesla Launches Lower-Priced Model X 60D -
- Semi-Autonomous Cars Compared! Tesla vs. BMW, Infiniti, and Mercedes-Benz -
- Tesla Full Coverage: News, Reviews, Photos, and More -
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It's an audacious outline, and who knows how much of it will actually come to pass beyond the SolarCity merger, the Model 3–based CUV, and the light pickup, all of which seem like pretty safe bets and smart business. On one hand, it took Tesla a decade to get from the initial showing of the Roadster to begin pulling in orders for the car Musk has always wanted to build. On the other hand, that the company did manage to pull it off in 10 years can be seen as a minor miracle. Every major Tesla announcement seems to be accompanied by eye-rolls and delighted wonder in equal measure, and this one is no exception.
-Tuesday, July 19, 2016
2016 Hyundai Tucson Eco Tested: More Efficient and Also Quicker
We have lavished praise upon Hyundai's current-generation Tucson compact crossover, which manages to do most things well. Looks are subjective, we know, but the wagonoid vehicle is fairly handsome; the interior is a model of ergonomic simplicity; and the quality feel is evident. We even found plenty to like in our drive of a front-drive base-model Tucson SE. The Tucson nails the basics and fails to offend in any major way, and that stays true with the latest version to pass through our hands, the Eco model. READ MORE ››
-Center for Pet Safety Certifies Four Sleepypod Pet Carriers
CARS.COM - Nearly a year after doing well in the Center for Pet Safety's 2015 Crate and Carrier Crashworthiness Studies, pet product manufacturer Sleepypod has achieved CPS certification for four of its carriers.
CPS, a nonprofit pet-safety research and advocacy organization, recently published its test protocols and ratings guidelines for certifying pet travel carriers; participation in the program is voluntary and Sleepypod is the first manufacturer to earn pet carrier certification.
Related: Make Traveling With Your Pet Easier, and Safe
Three of the tested carriers - the Sleepypod with the Pet Passenger Restraint System Handilock, the Sleepypod Mini with PPRS Handilock and the Sleepypod Atom - earned five stars. The Sleepypod Air carrier earned four stars. CPS awards ratings of five stars, four stars or not recommended.
"The test evidence indicates that Sleepypod has completed ample research and development on its entire line of travel carriers to achieve the highest crash test ratings from Center for Pet Safety," said CPS founder and CEO Lindsey Wolko in a statement. "Sleepypod consistently outperforms other pet product manufacturers who struggle to even attempt to meet our rigorous testing and performance requirements. There is a level of commitment here that we simply don't see from the rest of the industry."
In an email, Wolko explained that CPS ratings are based on carrier excursion (including connection integrity); retention of the test dog before, during and after the test; overall construction integrity (materials, stitching and closures); and carrier lift (vertical movement of the carrier during the test).
When it comes to lift, Wolko wrote, CPS would "like the carrier to remain as stable as possible on the seat ... so carriers that meet all other requirements will be downgraded if they exceed a vertical limit."
Lift is the reason the Air carrier received four stars rather than five, she added.
"Sleepypod carriers have transformed how pet owners travel with their pets," Sleepypod co-founder Michael Leung said in a statement. "As more pet owners take their pets with them on vacation, errands and to work, Sleepypod carriers offer ease of use, maximum comfort and proven safety when traveling in cars."
Sleepypod also earned CPS certification for its small, medium and large Clickit Sport pet travel harness in 2014 and the extra-large Clickit Sport in 2015.
2016 Chrysler 300 Quick Take: Hip to be square
-Like Steve McQueen in a turtleneck, the 2016 Chrysler 300 is old-school cool. Credit its blocky but suave styling, which gives the 300 a look that stands out from its peers, even though its basic shape launched more than a decade ago. Sure, the mechanically similar Dodge Charger possesses a comparably imposing stance, but it doesn't exude the class of its glitzier cousin-in this sense, the two are as different as Sinatra and the Stones. READ MORE ››
Software Update Delivers Apple CarPlay, Android Auto to More Kia Vehicles
CARS.COM - Kia is expanding the availability of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to more of its lineup via a software update. Eligible models include current and previous model-year vehicles equipped with either with a compatible AVN 4.0 navigation system or the latest version of Kia's multimedia system, UVO3.
Related: Which 2016 Cars Have Apple CarPlay?
Related: Which 2016 Cars Have Android Auto?
Kia said that customers will be notified by the end of July via email to go to myuvo.com for vehicle eligibility and step-by-step instructions on the software download.
Eligible vehicles include:
- 2017 Forte sedans and hatchbacks
- 2015-16 Optima sedans and Optima Hybrids
- 2015-16 Sedona minivans
- 2014-16 Kia Soul hatchbacks and 2015-16 Soul EV electric vehicles
- 2016 Sorento SUVs
- 2017 Sportage SUVs
Apple CarPlay and Google's Android Auto are smartphone integration systems that allow users to access the apps and functions of their mobile device using the vehicle's multimedia system with greater convenience and - ideally - less distraction from the road.