Amazon in-car delivery
More than 7 million owners of eligible Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles in the United States can have their Amazon packages delivered inside their vehicle using Amazon Key. In-Car Delivery comes at no extra cost for Amazon Prime members with an active OnStar account, and is available in 37 U.S. cities and surrounding areas, with more cities to follow. Packages can be delivered to a vehicle when it’s parked in a publicly accessible area, such as on the street in front of an apartment building, at a workplace surface parking lot or in a home driveway. Delivery works with Same Day, Two-Day and Standard Shipping.
10 Best Interiors
The WardsAuto 10 Best Interiors list for 2018 recognized outstanding achievement in aesthetics, comfort, ergonomics, materials usage, fit-and-finish and user-friendly electronics. The 10 winners (in alphabetical order) were: Chevrolet Equinox, Hyundai Kona, Infiniti QX50, Kia Stinger, Lexus LS 500, Lincoln Navigator, Porsche Panamera, Ram 1500, Range Rover Velar and Toyota Camry.
Cars talk
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start selling U.S. vehicles that can talk to each other using short-range wireless technology in 2021, according to Automotive News. Talking vehicles, which have been tested in pilot projects and by U.S. carmakers for more than a decade, use dedicated short-range communications to transmit data up to 300 meters, including location, direction and speed, to nearby vehicles. The data is broadcast up to 10 times per second to nearby vehicles, which can identify risks and provide warnings to avoid imminent crashes, especially at intersections. Toyota has deployed the technology in Japan in more than 100,000 vehicles since 2015. The U.S. Transportation Department must decide whether to adopt a pending proposal that would require all future vehicles to have the advanced technology.
Congestion pricing: An idea whose time hasn’t come, apparently
Some time ago, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo set the stage for an ambitious congestion pricing plan when he declared that it was “an idea whose time has come,” reports the New York Times. But there was little about congestion pricing in the state budget negotiated March 30 by Cuomo and state lawmakers despite months of lobbying by advocates, a six-figure media campaign, and rallies by transit riders. The most significant development was a new surcharge that would be tacked on to every ride in for-hire vehicles in Manhattan south of 96th Street: $2.50 for yellow taxis; $2.75 for other for-hire vehicles, including Ubers and Lyfts; and 75 cents for car pool rides such as Via and UberPool.
Your next company car?
Is the leather in your automobile from cows raised at higher elevations, where mosquitoes can’t bite imperfections into hides? It is, if your car is a Rolls-Royce Phantom, reports the Chicago Tribune. Base price for a new Phantom is a modest $450,000, but with personalized touches, it climbs above $640,000. Example: An owner can commission one of a dozen Rolls-Royce artists to make a 3D-printed metal interpretation of his or her DNA. If that doesn’t make you want to own one of these beauties, the car’s lightweight, aluminum frame will. “The ride is so deadened and soft that even ubiquitous Chicago potholes went unnoticed” in a test drive.
Alcohol interlocks for DUI offenders
Laws requiring all impaired-driving offenders to install alcohol interlocks reduce the number of impaired drivers in fatal crashes by 16 percent, a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows. If all states without such laws adopted them, more than 500 additional lives could be saved each year. Alcohol interlocks are in-vehicle breath-testing units that require a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) below a certain level, typically somewhere between 0.02 and 0.04 percent, before the vehicle can be started. Forty-five states require interlocks for at least certain impaired-driving offenders. Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia and four California counties have some type of interlock requirement that applies to first-time offenders.
J.D. Power and NADAguides.com
J.D. Power consumer ratings, reviews and scores are now available on NADAguides.com, said to be the largest car-shopping site for vehicle pricing, deals and car-shopping tools. In the last 10 years, J.D. Power has surveyed more than 2 million vehicle owners, provided insights for nearly 2,000 vehicle models and awarded 555 awards. These comparisons are now available directly to car shoppers. NADAguides.com has also integrated Verified Owner Ratings and Reviews and clearly marked model award recipients.