Take charge
There’s an app for everything today – including one for electric vehicle owners looking for the closest charging station. Tesla now offers updates, which can be wirelessly downloaded to current Model S sedans, scan the locations of all Tesla charging stations, tell drivers how far it is to the one most conveniently located, and recommend the best route there. The company also promises that the current Model S cars will be able to tell drivers exactly how much battery power is left, and what they should do about it. Better yet, for those purchasing a new Model S, they reportedly can expect their new vehicle to steer itself, park itself and brake in the case of emergency. What’s left to do but enjoy the ride? Source: Chicago Tribune
Stay put!
Attention California drivers: You need to remain in your vehicle when driving on the freeway, or any other roads for that matter. Consumer Watchdog recently warned the California Department of Motor Vehicles that it must not allow Google and others with a vested interest in developing driverless vehicles to push the DMV into issuing rules regulating the public use of robot cars on highways that are inadequate to protect public safety.
Consumer Watchdog’s letter listed a number of shortcomings of Google’s driverless car technology, including its ability to respond to:
- Heavy precipitation interferes with the vehicle’s sensors and they don’t work in the snow or heavy rain.
- Human hand signals. The robot cars can’t interact reliably with hand signals given by the human driver of another vehicle, or a policeman using only hand signals to direct traffic.
- If the sun is behind a traffic light, it can interfere with the driverless car’s ability to determine the traffic light’s color.
- Changing road conditions. The sensors don’t recognize large potholes or open manholes. Also, if a traffic light were installed overnight, as in the case of a road construction site, the car’s driverless navigation system would not expect it.
- Pre-mapped roads. Google’s robot cars rely on detailed sensor mapping of routes before the robot car hits the road. If a Google driverless car tried a route that had not been specially mapped, possibly including a large parking lot, it wouldn’t know what to do.
- The driverless cars’ video sensors can’t reliably distinguish between a tree branch blowing in the wind and a pedestrian.
The decision regarding whether to allow a particular manufacturer’s driverless cars to be offered to the public should be informed by the results of safety testing that is being done under the DMV testing regulations now in effect, according to Consumer Watchdog. DMV regulations governing the testing of driverless cars on California highways took effect on Sept. 16, 2014. A key safety provision of the testing regulations is the requirement that there must be a test driver in the driver’s seat who is capable of assuming control of the car. Safety issues have not been the only concern about driverless cars. The DMV’s autonomous vehicle regulations should provide that driverless cars gather only the data necessary to operate the vehicle and retain that data only as long as necessary for the vehicle’s operation, Consumer Watchdog said. The regulations should provide that the data must not be used for any additional purpose, such as marketing or advertising, without the consumer’s explicit opt-in consent.
Coming clean
Gas prices reportedly dropped in the second half of 2014, but perhaps not enough. The registrations of fuel-efficient clean diesel and hybrid cars and SUVs showed double-digit increases in vehicle registrations in 2014, according to data compiled by IHS Automotive for the Diesel Technology Forum. Clean diesel cars and SUVs showed an increase of 13.5 percent from 2013 to 2014, and hybrid cars and SUVs increased by 15.1 percent. The leaders of the pack showing the fastest growth in diesel car registrations include California, Massachusetts and Nevada, according to the IHS Automotive data. Texas, California and Florida are reported to have the most diesel vehicles. Over 7 million diesel and over 3 million hybrid passenger vehicles are currently registered in the United States.
Clean diesel
The Diesel Technology Forum offers the following list of clean diesel cars, trucks and SUVs available in the U.S.
2015 Diesel Vehicles
- Audi A3 Sportback TDI
- Audi A4 TDI
- Golf SportWagen TDI
- Porsche Macan Diesel
- Audi A3 2.0 TDI Premium
- BMW 328d Sedan
- BMW 328d xDrive Sports Wagon
- BMW 535d Sedan
- BMW 740Ld xDrive Sedan
- BMW X3 xDrive28d
- BMW X5 xDrive35d
- Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel
- Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel
- Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTEC
- Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTEC
- Mercedes-Benz GLK250 BlueTEC
- Mercedes-Benz ML250 BlueTEC SUV
- Porsche Cayenne Diesel
- Volkswagen Beetle Convertible TDI Clean Diesel
- Volkswagen Beetle TDI Clean Diesel
- Volkswagen Golf TDI Clean Diesel
- Volkswagen Jetta SportsWagen TDI
- Volkswagen Jetta TDI Clean Diesel
- Volkswagen Passat TDI Clean Diesel
- Volkswagen Touareg TDI Sport
2016 Diesel Vehicles
- Audi Q7 Plug-In Hybrid TDI
- Jeep Wrangler
- Mazda6 SKYACTIV-D
- Mercedes Benz GLE 350d
- Range Rover HSE Td6
- Range Rover Sport HSE Td6
- Volkswagen CrossBlue Plug-In Hybrid TDI
2017 Diesel Vehicles
- Audi R8 TDI
- Bentley Bentayga
- Volkswagen Golf GTD
2015 Kelley Blue Book picks
Looking for a new car that works well for work and (family) play? Kelley Blue Book recommends the following, based on comfort, safety, child safety, cargo space, rear-seat entertainment and more. At a glance, the 15 Best Family Cars of 2015 include:
- Chevrolet Impala
- Chevrolet Tahoe
- Ford F-150
- Honda Accord
- Honda Civic
- Honda CR-V
- Honda Odyssey
- Hyundai Sonata
- Kia Soul
- Nissan Pathfinder
- Ram 1500
- Subaru Outback
- Toyota Camry
- Toyota Highlander
- Toyota Sienna