In-n-out car rental
Avis Budget Group, Inc. is offering travelers in the Kansas City area a chance to test a completely mobile rent-a-car experience that features keyless entry and ignition. Under the agreement, selected vehicles in the Avis Car Rental fleet are enabled with Continental’s Key-as-a-Service (KaaS) technology, which allows Avis customers to use the Avis app to lock/unlock the car and start the engine.
Tires for Bitcoin
London-based Zenises announced it will be the first tire company in the world to accept Bitcoin for off-line and online transactions. Zenises has been working to develop the technology at its newly launched technology center in Madrid, and reports it has been working with several experts in the Blockchain world. CEO Harjeev Kandhari stated that “We have already received our first payment in Bitcoin and all systems are go! We are now working on the platforms to accept other cryptocurrencies in the near future.”
Brunch is dying!
Uber Eats – Uber’s standalone meal delivery app – released findings from its first-ever “How America Eats” survey. Some key takeaways include: 1) Brunch is dying, and eating supper – a late night meal – at least once a week is now nearly twice as common as brunch; 2) at least half of U.S. adults have at some point eaten food that they know is expired or food that has fallen on the floor; 3) nearly 90 percent of millennials admit to texting while dining out; and 4) 43 percent of Americans say they are picky eaters. The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Uber Eats within the United States between Oct. 26 and Nov. 6, 2017, among 1,019 US adults aged 18+.
Driverless choppers
Aurora Flight Sciences conducted a successful demonstration of the company’s autonomous helicopter system developed under the Office of Naval Research’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) program. Held at Marine Corps Base Quantico’s Urban Training Center, the AACUS-Enabled UH-1H (AEH-1) conducted multiple flights, showcasing its ability to autonomously execute re-supply missions in relevant and austere settings. AACUS is a hardware and software suite that enables a Marine on the ground to request a supply delivery via helicopter from a handheld tablet, requiring no advanced training to operate the system. AEH-1 is fitted with onboard lidar and camera sensors that enable it to detect and avoid obstacles and evaluate the landing zone.
Hang on tight
WardsAuto announced the winners of the annual Wards 10 Best Engines Award program, and for the first time, four electrified powertrains made the cut. The new list is also notable for its lack of winners from German automakers for the first time in the award’s 24-year history. And while luxury brands are typically well-represented on the Wards 10 Best Engines list each year, only two – Infiniti and Jaguar – made the cut for 2018. This year’s winners are:
- 150-kW Electric Propulsion System (Chevrolet Bolt EV)
- 3.6L Pentastar DOHC V-6/PHEV (Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid)
- 2.7L Twin Turbo DOHC V-6 (Ford F-150)
- 5.0L DOHC V-8 (Ford Mustang GT)
- 130-kW Fuel Cell/Electric Propulsion System (Honda Clarity)
- 2.0L VTEC Turbocharged DOHC 4-Cyl. (Honda Civic Type R)
- 3.0L Turbocharged DOHC V-6 (Infiniti Q50)
- 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC 4-Cyl. (Jaguar XF)
- 3.3L Turbocharged DOHC V-6 (Kia Stinger)
- 2.5L Atkinson DOHC 4-Cyl./HEV (Toyota Camry Hybrid)
Vehicles must have a base price no higher than $63,000.
DieHard on Amazon
The DieHard brand announced that it is celebrating 50 years of performance by launching DieHard products on Amazon.com. An assortment of DieHard jump starters, battery chargers and maintainers are available for purchase. Passenger car tires and automotive batteries will be added to Amazon.com in early 2018. “As we have previously stated, we want to diversify the revenue streams of our iconic brands, and launching on Amazon.com will significantly expand the distribution and availability of the DieHard brand in the U.S., building on the success of our recent Kenmore appliances launch on Amazon.com,” said Tom Park, President of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands at Sears Holdings,
Best family cars
Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com editors named their recommendations for the Best Family Cars of 2018, based on safety ratings, overall value, versatility, amenities, comfort, drivability and technology. Most of the SUVs and minivans on the list offer smart cruise control and automatic braking. A smaller number offer teen-driver monitoring, wireless phone charging and lane-keeping assist. Two models – the Honda Odyssey and Chrysler Pacifica minivans – offer built-in vacuum cleaners. In addition, more and more are protecting families with crash-avoidance and collision-mitigation intervention. Among the best cars: Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V and Subaru Outback (best two-row SUVs); Chevrolet Traverse, Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander and Volkswagen Atlas (best three-row mid-size SUVs); Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition (best three-row full-size SUVs); and Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna (best minivans).
Fully electric Toyota coming up
Twenty years after Toyota introduced the first Prius in Japan and 17 years after it arrived in the United States, hybrids are practically synonymous with Toyota, writes Motor Trend. But as demand for electrified vehicles increases, Toyota needs to be able to use newer, better batteries. To achieve this goal, the company announced plans to collaborate more closely with Panasonic, the company it has worked on batteries with for the past two decades. Bloomberg reports that Panasonic and Toyota are developing prismatic cell batteries, as well as solid-state batteries. Assuming that Toyota and Panasonic don’t experience significant setbacks in their development of solid-state batteries, expect to see a fully electric Toyota on the road in the early 2020s, says Toyota.
A silent, dark gray sedan…
“While the world’s most famous automakers were pulling the covers off their latest, shiniest offerings at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a dark gray sedan circled the convention center, almost silently,” Wired magazine recently reported. “Riding on 21-inch wheels, the Lucid Air cuts a muscular stance, its door handles flush with the body of the car, one thin bar of light bars stretching across its front, another along the slightly boxy rear. Fully electric, it offers a tempting vision of the future.” But a cool preproduction car does not necessarily make a practical production vehicle, points out the magazine. Ask Elon Musk. Still, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Lucid “has one big advantage Tesla didn’t have when it was getting started a decade ago: Electric cars are no longer an odd, ignored corner of the market.”