Category: Auto

If you bought an electric vehicle years ago thinking you would be ahead of the gasoline curve, a new study has some bad news for you. It turns out older EV models are worth less today than their gas-powered counterparts. Despite that financial bummer for long-time EV drivers, researchers from George Washington University do have some good news: newer EVs are closing the gap on gas cars, making them affordable options on the resale market going forward.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, analyzed over nine million used vehicle listings from 2016 to 2019 across the United States. Researchers compared how different types of vehicles depreciated by looking at their listing prices versus the original manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) when new.

They found that while conventional gas-powered vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles tended to hold their value reasonably well over time, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – the cars powered solely by rechargeable batteries – had historically experienced much faster depreciation rates.

For example, the study estimates that the average BEV lost around 16 percent of its value per year over its first eight years. In contrast, the average gas vehicle only lost around 10 percent annually.

However, a promising trend emerged. The newest BEVs and PHEVs were bucking that trend and depreciating at rates much closer to their gas-powered counterparts.

The researchers found that each model year, BEVs and PHEVs were retaining around five to 10 percent more of their original value than the previous model year. This held true even after accounting for factors like vehicle mileage, time on the dealer lot, fuel efficiency, and subsidies or tax credits that lowered the new vehicle price.

What’s driving this improvement?
According to the study’s authors, one key factor is the increasing range of newer BEV models. Longer driving ranges help alleviate consumer “range anxiety” concerns about running out of battery before reaching the next charger.

The study found that for every extra 10 miles of electric range, BEVs retained around 5.6 percent more of their resale value on average. So, a BEV with a 300-mile range could be worth over 15 percent more at resale than an otherwise identical model with just a 200-mile range.

The lone exception was Tesla’s luxury BEV models. While retaining their value extremely well initially compared to other BEVs, Tesla’s older models saw their residual values sliding recently as more models entered the market and new versions were released.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that federal tax credits and rebates offered on new EVs were effectively providing a small indirect subsidy that lowered prices in the used market by around three percent.

So, what does this mean for EV buyers?
The improving residual values suggest that automakers are alleviating some of the concerns around battery degradation and uncertain long-term reliability that have historically plagued the secondhand EV market.

As newer EVs with more advanced battery technologies and longer ranges hit the used market, consumers have more affordable options to choose from without worrying about dramatic depreciation. A lower risk of rapid devaluation helps make the upfront cost of an EV a bit easier to swallow

Of course, the used EV market was disrupted along with the rest of the auto industry by pandemic-related supply chain issues and shortages over the past couple of years. The study found that from January 2020 to March 2022, used EV prices surged by around 39 percent in real terms.

However, as supply constraints ease, those elevated prices should normalize and the improving residual values will help keep used EVs more affordable. Wider adoption of EVs among more budget-conscious buyers could then accelerate as secondhand options become increasingly viable.

John Paul Helveston, an assistant professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at George Washington University and the study’s corresponding author, calls this shift in EV value a “double-edged sword.”

Source: https://studyfinds.org/gas-wins-ev-drivers-resale-market/

Tesla’s long-delayed — and pricey — Cybertrucks are getting panned by furious owners for malfunctioning at an alarming rate just months after Elon Musk’s futuristic vehicle hit the road.

Tales of the stainless steel Cybertrucks dying after traveling just 1 mile, randomly hard-braking on a wide-open road and already showing rust spots, among other gripes, were shared in the Tesla Owners’ Club forum.

In a thread titled “Worst delivery in my life (truck died in 5 minutes),” a Southern California-based owner wrote that after taking his truck for a spin the same day it was delivered last month, the vehicle “made it 1 mile down road, started getting steering error, flashing red screen, pulled off side of highway now the truck is dead and I’m waiting for a tow truck.”

The owner received the vehicle, which starts at $80,000, one month after the highly-publicized trucks went on sale last December — two years behind schedule.

“Tesla really rushed these trucks out, what a nightmare,” the disappointed owner said.

Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Another user on the thread shared a photo of their Cybertruck flashing a red screen that warned, “Pull over safely. Critical steering issue detected.”

“A lot of trucks are having high-voltage issues…which makes the trucks unusable,” the user added.

A separate thread featured a “WTF moment” in which the owner said his Cybertruck’s auto-pilot feature seemingly malfunctioned as another truck approached in the other lane while both were driving on a highway.

“My Cybertruck suddenly made a hard brake stop when we both have a clear wide enough space between us,” the user, who goes only by Andrew, wrote.

“Luckily there is no vehicle at the back as it would have been a definite collision.”

“Note: The auto-pilot is simply a glorified reactive cruise control,” Andrew concluded his post.

On another discussion board, Tesla Motors Club, a Cybertruck owner wrote a review so critical of Tesla’s supposedly highest-tech vehicle that the user was barred from the Cybertruck Owners’ Forum.

“But people need to hear the truth,” the Canada-based owner, JPinaJeep, wrote on Tesla Motors Club, per Jalopnik.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/04/08/business/teslas-cybertrucks-were-rushed-out-are-malfunctioning-at-astounding-rate/

Tesla, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, will send a team to India this month to scout locations for a proposed $2 billion to $3 billion (about Rs 16,700 crore-Rs 25,000 crore) electric car plant, UK’s Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Last month, India reduced import taxes on certain electric vehicles produced by carmakers that commit to invest at least $500 million (over Rs 4,150 crore) and start domestic manufacturing within three years.

Tesla’s reported push into India comes at a time when EV demand is slowing and competition heats up in its main markets of the U.S. and China, causing the EV maker to report a drop in first-quarter deliveries and missing estimates.

The company will send a team from the United States by late April to study sites for the plant, with a focus on states that have automotive hubs such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The EV maker’s CEO Elon Musk has been trying to enter the Indian market for years but New Delhi wanted a commitment to local manufacturing.

Tesla officials have been in talks with government officials over the last year, with Musk meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June.

The company said in July last year that it was interested in building a factory in India to produce an EV priced at $24,000. It also called for lower taxes on more expensive models it wants to sell in India, Reuters has reported.

Source: https://www.news18.com/business/tesla-to-identify-sites-in-india-for-2-3-billion-ev-plant-report-8838673.html

Western policy on decarbonisation seems to be driven more by emotion and boosterism than by what is technologically feasible

Never was the old adage “don’t buy the prototype, buy the redesign” more appropriate. Motorists who bought an electric vehicle in the belief that it would hold its value better than a petrol or diesel must be feeling a little sore. According to the AA, the secondhand values of the 20 most popular electric and hybrid cars was down 12 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the first quarter of 2023. That is the drop in value of like-for-like cars, not what buyers can expect to lose in depreciation over the first year.

In some cases the fall has been far greater. According to a recent survey by Cap Hpi, the value of a one year old Peugeot e-2008 with 10,000 miles on the clock fell 38.7 per cent between January and December 2023.

The tide has turned for Tesla, too, as it runs out of well-off, eco-conscious motorists interested in buying its vehicles. In the three months to March it sold 386,810 vehicles, down from 422,875 in the same period in 2023. Tesla shares plunged seven per cent on the news – although given that the company’s market valuation is still nearly twice that of the world’s second most valuable carmaker, Toyota, no one should be confident of a rebound any time soon.

I have nothing against electric cars, which have already found a niche as city cars for people with the good fortune to have private driveways. If battery technology develops to the point at which electric cars can travel 500 miles on a single charge and take 10 minutes to recharge they will start to sell themselves, without motorists being forced to buy them through government mandates.

Indeed, that will be the point at which I will happily dump my diesel and go pure electric. But the promotion of electric cars over the past few years has been a triumph of hype over reality – which not even Elon Musk has been able to overcome.

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/03/not-even-elon-can-stop-ev-disaster/

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has launched its first electric vehicle (EV) and started taking orders.

At the event the technology giant’s chief executive Lei Jun said the standard SU7 model would be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,872; £23,663) and the Max version would cost 299,900 yuan.

The firm says it got over 50,000 orders within the first 27 minutes of sales.

Xiaomi’s entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war.

The move sees the technology giant taking on EV rivals including Tesla and BYD. The starting price in China for Tesla’s Model 3 is 245,900 yuan.

Mr Lei also said the SU7, which has drawn comparisons with Porsche’s Taycan and Panamera models, would have a minimum range of 700km (435 miles), beating the Tesla Model 3’s 567km.

The firm is hoping that the SU7’s shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers.

Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide with a market share of about 12%, according to research firm Counterpoint.

The SU7, which Xiaomi has been teasing since last year, has drawn comparisons to Porsche’s Taycan and Panamera sports car models.

It will be made by a unit of state-owned car manufacturer BAIC Group at a plant in Beijing that can produce as many as 200,000 vehicles a year.

“While getting this far is itself quite an achievement, the ultimate achievement would be to demonstrate that there is a consumer market for Xiaomi as a smart EVs brand,” Bill Russo of Automobility told the BBC.

In an indication of the challenges facing technology firms who want to make electric cars, iPhone maker Apple last month reportedly cancelled its plans to build an EV.

Mr Russo added that Xiaomi’s entry into the car market reflected its confidence “in the relevancy for their brand” in China while Apple did not see enough potential in the EV market outside of China.

Xiaomi has said it will invest $10bn (£7.9bn) in its vehicles business over the next 10 years.

“The Chinese EV market is very mature and creates a very stable ecosystem for the EV manufacturers,” said Abhishek Murali from research firm Rystad Energy.

“For example, the battery supply chain is very strong, and the charging network in the country is also growing to meet the growing EV feed.”

The launch of Xiaomi’s first car comes as a price war in China’s EV market has been intensifying.

Tesla, which is headed by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, has cut the cost of its cars in China by thousands of dollars in recent months as local rivals like the world’s top-selling EV maker BYD have slashed prices.

The world’s biggest car market is already crowded so Xiaomi is one of the few new prospective entrants to gain approval from authorities as officials try to curb a flood of new players.

Earlier this week, BYD posted record annual profits but said growth had slowed towards the end of last year.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68672192

BYD India has finally launched the Seal electric vehicle in the Indian market. The electric sedan was first showcased in India at Auto Expo 2023 but the launch got delayed. Now, that it is finally here, BYD will be selling it with two battery pack options. There is 61.44 kWh which will be offered only with the Dynamic Range variant and then there is an 82.56 kWh battery pack that will be offered in two variants – Premium Range and Performance. The bookings are open for a token amount of ₹1.25 lakh.

The Dynamic Range and Premium Range variants will be offered with a rear-wheel drive powertrain whereas the Performance variant comes with an all-wheel drive powertrain. All three variants produce different levels of power outputs. They are priced at ₹41 lakh, ₹45.55 lakh and ₹53 lakh respectively. All prices are ex-showroom.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/byd-seal-ev-launched-in-india-at-rs-41-lakh-gets-up-to-650-km-of-range-41709608885373.html

Fifteen to 20 teams carried out raids across five states, metaphorically shaking down every tobacco leaf linked to Banshidhar Tobacco Company.

A Rolls Royce, a Porsche, a Lamborghini – all bear ‘4018’ on the licence plates and in front of them poses a man with the flamboyance of Hrithik Roshan’s character in a hit song from ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’. He is Shivam Mishra, the scion of a tobacco company at the centre of multi-state raids by the income tax department.
The Income Tax department executed a series of raids on Banshidhar Tobacco Company, unearthing a complex web of financial manipulations that extend across various states and even overseas. The raids, spanning 20 locations including Kanpur, Delhi, Mumbai, and Gujarat, have exposed alleged discrepancies in the company’s reported turnover, with sources revealing a staggering difference between the declared income and the actual turnover.

Fifteen to 20 teams carried out raids across five states, metaphorically shaking down every tobacco leaf linked to Banshidhar Tobacco Company, to stumble upon a treasure trove of luxury cars worth a staggering ₹ 50 crore; among them, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, priced at a cool ₹ 16 crore, found at Shivam Mishra’s home in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar.

Other luxury cars recovered from Shivam Mishra’s home were a McLaren, a Porsche, and a Lamborghini. The IT teams have reportedly confiscated ₹ 4.5 crores in cash during the raids, along with several documents.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rolls-royce-lamborghini-crores-of-cash-seized-from-tobacco-barons-home-5155717

November 16, 2017—that’s when Tesla unveiled the second-generation Roadster. Fast forward to February 28, 2024, the electric sports car is still a no-show. But if we’re to believe Tesla supremo Elon Musk, the wait is almost over. The controversial CEO took to his X (formerly Twitter) social media platform to talk about the long overdue performance EV.

If there’s one executive in the automotive business who knows how to hype up a product, it’s certainly Musk. He made some rather bold statements to advertise the new Roadster, saying “there will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car.” Tesla’s head honcho also noted, “I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time.”

Oh, and apparently it will hit 60 mph in less than one second.

Tesla’s top brass went on to mention the design has been finalized and we’ll get to see the production model near the end of the year. The goal is to kick off customer deliveries at some point in 2025, but knowing the company’s modus operandi, one can never be too sure.

Considering roughly six and a half years have passed since the Roadster concept debuted, it’s time to revisit the technical specifications promised by Tesla. It was originally claimed to reach 60 mph in 1.9 seconds and do 0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds, with a quarter mile time of 8.8 seconds. The all-wheel-drive machine with four seats promises to exceed 250 mph and cover 620 miles on a single charge.

The next Tesla Roadster is supposed to have a removable glass roof that goes into the trunk when not in use. An old tweet—er, post by Musk in June 2018 talked about a SpaceX option with “10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car. These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly.” In May 2021, Musk claimed the car would do 0 to 60 mph in an unbelievable 1.1 seconds.

Because that wasn’t crazy enough, Musk now says it’ll do it in less than 1 second. We’re rather skeptical about this claim. The bonkers McMurtry Speirling can do it in 1.4 seconds with Avon slick tires and it’s not even road-legal whereas the Roadster will have a license plate. The Spéirling also weighs nothing, at 2,200 pounds, surely a lot less than whatever the much larger Roadster will weigh.

Source: https://www.motor1.com/news/710402/elon-musk-talks-new-tesla-roadster/

Apple has decided to call off its electric car development project after a decade, transferring some employees to the artificial intelligence department. According to a Bloomberg report, the decision comes after challenges in the automotive industry and market demand changes have put pressure on project development. The electric car project, known as Project Titan, was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the Silicon Valley–based tech giant known for its products like iPhone.

According to reports, the decision was shared among Apple’s Project Titan employees discreetly by some of the executives. At the time of the decision, the Apple electric car project employed around 2,000 people. CEO Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, vice president in charge of the project shared the decision on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg report. They informed the employees that the project will shut down and several members of the Apple electric car team will be shifted to focus on generative AI projects. The tech giant has not shared any official statement on the decision yet.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/iphonemaker-apple-stops-work-on-electric-car-tesla-ceo-reacts-41709091445445.html

The American carmaker has reportedly patented the new SUV design, currently not offered in any global markets and may compete in Hyundai Creta segment.

Two years after it left India, global auto major Ford Motor is reportedly working on a comeback with multiple new products, including a compact SUV.

The company, according to a Hindu Businessline report, may use its manufacturing facility in Chennai for producing hybrid and electric vehicles.

The American carmaker has reportedly patented the new SUV design, currently not offered in any global markets and may compete in Hyundai Creta segment.

Ford Motor may be keen to collaborate with a local manufacturing partner for its return.

The report claims the company is in talks with Tata Group for a possible joint venture. Business Today could not independently verify the report.

Ford’s Chennai plant had a capacity to manufacture 200,000 vehicles and 340,000 engines a year.

Under its current CEO, Jim Farley, Ford is focused on the electrification and digital transformation of core segments in which it is a leader, namely trucks, SUVs, commercial vehicles, and performance cars.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/auto/story/ford-eyeing-india-comeback-report-claims-firm-in-talks-with-tatas-for-jv-419032-2024-02-27

• Chinese automaker BYD this weekend unveiled a new electric supercar that can hit speeds similar to high-end models by industry giants like Ferrari.
• The U9 will be released as part of BYD’s luxury brand Yangwang, which was introduced last year.
• BYD is a key competitor for Tesla as competition in the global electrical vehicle market runs hot.

Chinese automaker BYD this weekend unveiled a new electric supercar that it says can hit speeds similar to high-end models produced by industry giants like Ferrari.

The U9 supercar will be part of BYD’s luxury brand Yangwang, which was only introduced last year and has launched two other vehicles.

According to BYD, the U9 will be able to reach a top speed of 309.19 kph, or 192.12 mph. It will also be able to accelerate to 100 kph within 2.36 seconds.

This is comparable to supercars produced by long-established brands like Ferrari, whose hybrid SF90 Stradale model can accelerate to 100 kph in 2.5 seconds, according to the company’s website.

Prices for the U9 will start from 1.68 million yuan ($233,424) and deliveries are due to begin this summer, BYD said in a press release.

The U9 will be powered by the so-called e4 Platform, as well as the BYD-developed DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System, according to the company.

As with previous BYD cars, the U9 will have a lithium iron phosphate battery, also known as an LFP — these types of power units have become increasingly popular among electric vehicle makers, as they do not require expensive metals like cobalt, making them cheaper. China is a key market for LFP production.

BYD in 2023 produced just over 3 million new-energy vehicles, it said earlier this year. Just more than half of these, or 1.6 million, were battery-only passenger cars, while 1.4. million were hybrid vehicles. A large proportion of BYD’s cars sat in a lower price range, with some of the company’s most popular cars starting as low as 73,800 yuan.

While BYD’s main production and sales focus lies in China, the company has set its sights on global expansion. Last year it said it would open its first factory in Europe, and the Hungarian government confirmed Monday that Prime Minister Viktor Orban had met with BYD leaders over the weekend to discuss plans for a production plant.

Questions remain over the scope for international expansion, as the European Union and the U.S. government want to boost their local electrical vehicle sectors.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/26/tesla-rival-byd-launches-electric-supercar-that-could-take-on-ferrari.html

PayTm FASTag owners will soon be required to issue new tags from other banks as last chance to turn around RBI’s order against PayTm Payments Bank is also gone. The central bank today has literally refused to review its order to stop PayTm Payments Bank from February 29. The RBI had ordered the payments bank subsidiary of One 97 Communications to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts from March this year. Among other things, the PayTm Payments Bank also issues FASTags to vehicle owners.

Shaktikanta Das, RBI Governor, has ruled out reviewing its action against PayTm on Monday. Speaking to reporters, Das said the central bank has ‘hardly any room’ to review its earlier order due to the digital payment app’s persistent non-compliance with RBI’s guidelines. This means that PayTm FASTag users will not be able to add money to the wallet to continue with its service. However, the PayTm FASTags will continue to work if it has sufficient balance and its KYC is completed.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had earlier issued a deadline to complete KYC details of FASTag accounts. NHAI had said FASTags with valid balances but with incomplete KYC will be deactivated after the deadline as part of its One Vehicle, One FASTag initiative. It aims to discourage use of same FASTag for multiple vehicles. The last date to update KYC of FASTags is February 29.

Here are the answers to some of the frequently asked questions regarding PayTm FASTags and its future:

Will PayTm FASTags work after February 29?

The answer is both yes and no. Yes for those who have sufficient balance in their PayTm FASTag accounts. The restrictions on PayTm Payments Bank will mean you will not be able to recharge PayTm FASTags after February 29 deadline. The RBI has said that one will not be able to top up or recharge FASTags or PayTm wallets from March this year.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/rbi-unlikely-to-review-action-against-paytm-end-of-road-for-its-fastags-41707735277276.html

India’s national highway network will be equivalent to the road network of the USA by the end of 2024, claims Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, reported ANI. Speaking about the infrastructure development of the country, the minister said that if India needs capital investment and development in the industry, the country should have good infrastructure. He also reiterated that the central government is giving the infrastructure development highest priority.

While speaking about the development strategy for the national highway road network of India, the minister said that the government aims to match the scale of the road network of the US by the end of this year. “At the end of 2024 our National Highway Road network will be equivalent to the road network of USA,” Gadkari added.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/indias-national-highway-network-to-be-equivalent-to-us-by-2024-end-gadkari-41707623974645.html

Kimbal Musk has provided a more conservative estimate on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving release.

Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal, who sits on Tesla’s board, has estimated the electric vehicle company won’t offer a finished version of its Full Self-Driving program for possibly five years — conflicting with his sibling’s target of a completed release this year.

It’s another blow to Musk, who was left red-faced when it emerged most Americans don’t trust Tesla after a slew of dangerous safety recalls.

Despite its name, Full Self-Driving currently sits at Level 2 autonomous capability — meaning a user must monitor all of the software’s tasks to regain control in an emergency. Tesla is working to get Full Self-Driving (FSD) to Level 4 or 5 autonomy, where a vehicle performs all tasks for a user.

Kimbal said during his interview with Graham Besinger: “I would say maybe five years.

“Definitely, in this decade. I think we might come out with the robotaxi before that, and it would have no steering wheel at all [stowable wheel].

Source: https://www.the-express.com/lifestyle/cars/127308/elon-musk-brother-kimbal-tesla-self-driving

Staying true to the Rolls-Royce tradition, the Spectre showcases bespoke design elements that evoke a sense of awe. The illuminated trademark Rolls-Royce grille at the front creates a delightful ambiance during nighttime drives.

The aerodynamically designed Spirit of Ecstasy ornament contributes to the Spectre’s remarkable drag coefficient of 0.25cd. The vehicle rides on impressive 23-inch alloy wheels and features subtle and neat vertical taillight elements.

Step inside the Spectre, and you’ll be greeted by a starlight liner on the door pads, adorned with a staggering 4,796 softly illuminated stars—an exclusive touch originally reserved for Rolls-Royce car roofs. The passenger-side dashboard panel includes an illuminated ‘Spectre’ nameplate, seamlessly disappearing when the car is not in use.

The interior of the Spectre boasts a fully digital driver’s display, utilizing Rolls-Royce’s latest ‘Spirit’ software platform. For the co-driver, a digital display presents the opportunity to showcase digitized art or a personalized welcome animation, as chosen by the owner. True to the Rolls-Royce ethos, customization is key, allowing owners to choose their preferred color theme, trim, and even have their name embroidered on the seats.

Positioned in the Indian market between the Cullinan and the Phantom, the Spectre has carved its niche with no direct rivals. It serves as an enticing electric alternative to other luxury cars like the Bentley Flying Spur and Bentley Continental.

Source: https://www.cartoq.com/rolls-royce-spectre-unveiling-opulent-electric-luxury-car-india/

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world around us. A key implementation of AI is being seen in smart city solutions, which include parking management and traffic management systems. Having one of the most complex traffic situations in the world, Indian cities too are increasingly adopting AI-powered traffic management systems to make the flow of people and vehicles smoother and safer.

Delhi seems to become the latest city to adopt an AI-driven traffic management system as the Delhi government is mulling the plan to install AI-powered cameras across the national capital to detect traffic violations by motorists. Other states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka have already adopted such technology for efficient traffic management systems and surveillance.

The Kerala government has revealed its plan to bring important roads in the state under the scanner of AI-based cameras to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent by the end of 2024. Bengaluru Traffic Police has introduced an AI-enabled traffic management system, which uses AI-enabled cameras to detect traffic violations and issue challans through SMS to the violators’ mobile phones. A similar

How AI-based traffic management system works

Traffic management systems across India were traditionally monitored manually and controlled by the government’s law enforcement officials. With the rise of AI and machine learning, traffic management systems across India are increasingly becoming automated. AI helps in analyzing huge volumes of real-time traffic data with the help of various cameras and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

Christened as the Integrated Traffic Enforcement Management System (ITMS), this system works with the help of several AI-powered cameras installed across the city. This system ensures better law enforcement through AI. With the ITMS, traffic rule violations like overspeeding violations, riding without a helmet, triple riding, driving without a seat belt, driving while on phone calls, uncovered good carriage, overloading of commercial vehicles, driving in the wrong lane, buses not moving in designated lanes, private vehicles parked on roads can be detected. The violators can be prosecuted accordingly. The ITMS can also detect vehicles that are plying without a valid pollution under control certificate (PUCC) or have been deregistered.

While the detection of these violations manually needs a large number of law enforcement officials posted in different parts of the city, it doesn’t promise an error-free detection and prosecution method. On the other hand, the AI-powered IRMS can do this work much more efficiently and smoothly, where the chance of error would be minimal as the system will continuously learn using its deep machine-learning capability.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/bengaluru-to-delhi-ai-increasingly-penetrating-indian-traffic-management-system-41704884147168.html

Tata Motors has unveiled its much-awaited Punch EV just a few days ago. The SUV is already available for booking at an amount of ₹21,000. Upon arrival, the Tata Punch EV is expected to boost the homegrown automaker’s presence in the Indian electric car space, where the company already holds about 85 per cent market share.

Tata Punch EV would go on sale in India sometime in the middle of February 2024 and it would be priced between ₹12 lakh and ₹14 lakh (ex-showroom). The automaker has already revealed the exterior colours, variants and a few more details about the upcoming electric SUV.

Here are all the details about the Tata Punch EV that we know so far.

Tata Punch EV: Price

Tata Punch EV is expected to come priced between ₹12 lakh and ₹14 lakh (ex-showroom). It is already available for booking online and offline at an amount of ₹21,000. The electric SUV is expected to be launched in the country in the middle of February 2024.

Tata Punch EV: Colours

Tata Punch EV will come available in four different exterior colour options, which are – Seaweed Dual Tone, Empowered Oxide Dual Tone, Fearless Red Dual Tone, Daytona Grey Dual Tone and Pristine White Dual Tone.

Tata Punch EV: Variants

Tata Punch EV will come available in two different variants based on range, which are – Punch.ev and Punch.ev Long Range. The Tata Punch EV will be available in five trim options – Smart, Smart+, Adventure, Empowered and Empowered+. The Punch EV Long Range model will be available in three different trim options, which are – Advnture, Empowered and Empowered+.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/tata-punch-ev-indias-smallest-electric-suv-to-launch-soon-what-we-know-so-far-41704946476279.html

Tesla has been dominating the electric vehicle (EV) scene across the world and has led the way for several years now. Even in the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla managed to deliver an impressive 484,507 vehicles. But this number was less than what China’s BYD delivered in the same time period. And yes, BYD is the same company that was laughed at by Elon Musk during a 2011 interview.

Headquartered in Shenzen, BYD has been taking mammoth strides in the world of electric cars and in the final quarter of 2023, delivered 526,409 vehicles across the globe. Not only was this higher than what Tesla had delivered but higher by a significant margin. Pressing down on Tesla’s pain point, BYD also manufactured more vehicles in the fourth quarter than the Musk-led company did.

Interestingly, BYD also manufactures hybrid vehicles while Tesla only offers fully battery-powered models. But BYD’s lead comes taking into account sales of its battery-only models alone. It sold another 400,000 hybrid electric models in the final 2023 quarter.

BYD vs Tesla: The biggest battle in world of EVs

Tesla enjoys a cult status in many markets where it offers its EVs. Led by Musk, the world’s wealthiest person at present, the company has managed to leave established auto brands far behind even though it still is only present in a handful of markets. Its major markets are China, the US and western European countries.

BYD, on the other hand, is the biggest player in the Chinese EV scene and has started to expand its footprint to European markets as well. Established in 1995 as a battery-manufacturing company, BYD started manufacturing cars in 2023. But it is its strategy to have only fully electric and hybrid models, a decision taken in March of 2022, helped it pool in all its efforts towards these new-energy vehicles.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/its-official-chinas-byd-overtakes-tesla-to-sell-more-electric-cars-41704251763414.html

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) today announced that they have onboarded Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone as their brand ambassador. This news comes ahead of the 2024 Creta unveil which is scheduled to happen on 16th January. Shah Rukh Khan is also the brand ambassador for Hyundai. In fact, he has been associated with the brand for over two decades now and recently took delivery of 1,100 unit of Ioniq 5.

Hyundai is currently working on launching the 2024 Creta on 16th January. Creta has been an incredibly successful proposition for the manufacturer as it set the benchmark for other mid-size SUVs. The 2024 Creta will get some significant cosmetic changes. There will be updates to the interior as well. Moreover, Hyundai will also end up adding Advanced Driver Aids System to the mid-size SUV. The price of Creta will also go up once the facelift is launched.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/hyundai-ropes-in-deepika-padukone-as-brand-ambassador-ahead-of-2024-creta-launch-41703827624962.html

Analysts expect BYD to launch its third-generation EVs next year offering more technology

China’s BYD Co. bills itself as the biggest car brand you’ve never heard of. It might need a different tagline soon.

The automaker is poised to surpass Tesla Inc. as the new worldwide leader in fully electric vehicle sales. When it does “- likely in the current quarter “- it will be both a symbolic turning point for the EV market and further confirmation of China’s growing clout in the global automotive industry.

In a sector still dominated by more familiar names like Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co., Chinese manufacturers including BYD and SAIC Motor Corp. are making serious inroads. After leapfrogging the US, South Korea and Germany over the past few years, China now rivals Japan for the global lead in passenger car exports. Some 1.3 million of the 3.6 million vehicles shipped from the mainland as of October this year were electric.

“The competitive landscape of the auto industry has changed,” said Bridget McCarthy, head of China operations for Shenzhen-based hedge fund Snow Bull Capital, which has invested in both BYD and Tesla. “It’s no longer about the size and legacy of auto companies; it’s about the speed at which they can innovate and iterate. BYD began preparing long ago to be able to do this faster than anyone thought possible, and now the rest of the industry has to race to catch up.”

The passing of the EV sales crown also reflects the shift in competitive dynamics between Tesla’s Elon Musk, the world’s richest executive, and BYD’s billionaire founder Wang Chuanfu.

Whereas Musk has been warning that not enough consumers can afford his EVs with such high interest rates, Wang is firmly on the offensive. His company offers half a dozen higher-volume models that cost much less than what Tesla charges for its cheapest Model 3 sedan in China.

When a Tesla owners’ club shared a clip in May of Musk snickering at BYD’s cars during a 2011 appearance on Bloomberg Television, Musk wrote back that BYD’s vehicles are “highly competitive these days.”

The likely change in the global EV pecking order marks the realization of a goal that Wang, 57, set back when China was just starting to foster its now world-beating electric car industry. While BYD continues to pull away from Tesla and all other auto brands at home, replicating its runaway success abroad is proving tricky.

Europe looks poised to join the US in slapping Chinese car imports with higher tariffs to shield thousands of manufacturing jobs. Other countries’ EV markets are still in their infancy and aren’t nearly as lucrative. Management views the US as virtually off-limits due to the escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Wang is no Musk “- he eschews social media and largely steers clear of the limelight. But in an uncharacteristically brash address delivered weeks before the European Union opened an investigation into how China has subsidized its EV industry, Wang declared the time had come for Chinese brands to “demolish the old legends” of the auto world.

While many car buyers outside of China are still only dimly aware of BYD, Warren Buffett surely isn’t. In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. invested about $230 million for an almost 10% stake in the Chinese automaker. When Berkshire started paring its holding last year “- BYD shares were trading near their all-time high “- the value of its stake had soared roughly 35-fold to around $8 billion.

Source: https://gulfnews.com/auto/chinese-carmaker-byd-overtakes-tesla-as-worlds-most-popular-ev-maker-1.1703645369243

Willie Hall loves to browse and buy cars online, but he wants more options. Soon, he may turn to Amazon.com.

“I’m already a Prime member,” said Hall, who lives in Colorado and bought a used Fiat 500 Abarth on Carvana in 2021. “I’ve been with Amazon for God knows how long and know the way they operate.”

Amazon is eager to see just how many Willie Halls there are in the U.S. The company last month said shoppers next year will be able to browse, finance and complete a purchase of Hyundai vehicles on Amazon. Shoppers will only have to visit a dealership to pick up their car; the company is also working on delivering the vehicles.

Car sales represent Amazon’s next bet in e-commerce dominance and come after the Covid-19 pandemic made online car purchases more popular. Amazon executives want to make buying vehicles through its website as simple as purchasing toilet paper or dog food, and the company is looking to strike broad partnerships with carmakers.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/amazon-sellings-cars-dc5f0669?st=br25m6ugbyriunp

Ola Electric, the e-scooter manufacturer supported by SoftBank Group, submitted its initial draft papers to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to initiate an initial public offering (IPO) aimed at raising ₹5,500 crore, on Friday, December 22.

This marks the inaugural IPO from an Indian electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer and is notably the first IPO by a two-wheeler maker in India since the introduction of Bajaj Auto in 2008. With backing from Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s investment firm Temasek, the Bengaluru-based EV manufacturer achieved a valuation of $5.4 billion in a recent funding round.

The matter pertains to a new equity share issuance amounting to ₹5,500 crore and a simultaneous offer for sale (OFS) of 95,191,195 equity shares with a nominal value of ₹10 each. As per the preliminary documents dated December 22, Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of Ola Electric, intends to divest up to 47.4 million shares. It’s worth noting that Aggarwal had previously made a ₹45 lakh investment in the Pune-based electric vehicle startup, Tork Motorcycles.

The company is yet to disclose the opening and closing dates for subscription for the IPO. Although the official announcement is pending, various media reports suggest that the public offering is expected to commence in early 2024. Additionally, details regarding the offer price and IPO price band remain undisclosed at this time.

Here are top 10 key risks involved in the upcoming public offer —

1. The company has a limited operating history and has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations.
2. Ola Electric could experience defects, quality issues or disruptions in the supply or increase in prices of components used in its electric vehicles thus increasing material costs and the price of its electric vehicles and impacting projected manufacturing and delivery timelines.
3. If the electric vehicles contain defects, do not perform as per industry standards and/or fail to meet the performance levels advertised, our brand and reputation and the ability to develop, market and sell its electric vehicles could be adversely impacted, and it may be compelled to undertake product recalls or similar corrective actions and have legal actions taken against the company.
4. The company may face various risks that could hinder its in-house cell manufacturing capabilities at the Ola Gigafactory.
5. It may not be able to compete successfully in the highly competitive and fast evolving automotive market.
6. The company’s business depends substantially on the continued efforts of its key managerial personnel, Senior Management and other qualified personnel, and our operations may be disrupted if it loses their services.
7. If the company is not able to attract and retain customers, the business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would be materially harmed.
8. Inadequate access to public charger guns for consumers could materially and adversely affect demand for the electric vehicles.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/market/ipo/ola-electric-ipo-checkout-top-10-key-risk-factors-from-the-draft-papers-11703392002226.html

India’s largest electric two-wheeler company by sales Ola Electric Mobility has filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offer (IPO). Here are top 10 things to know

It will be the first Indian EV maker to raise funds from public investors and the IPO will be a first by an automobile company in two decades.

The IPO comprises fresh issues and an offer for sale. The company plans to raise Rs 5,500 crore via the issue of fresh equity shares. In the OFS, up to 95,191,195 equity shares will be on offer by promoters and existing investors

Wheels falling off cars at speed. Suspensions collapsing on brand-new vehicles. Axles breaking under acceleration. Tens of thousands of customers told Tesla about a host of part failures on low-mileage cars. The automaker sought to blame drivers for vehicle ‘abuse,’ but Tesla documents show it had tracked the chronic ‘flaws’ and ‘failures’ for years.

Shreyansh Jain was ecstatic in March when he picked up his first electric vehicle, a brand-new 2023 Tesla Model Y. He used a sizable chunk of family savings to buy it with cash.

“We were over the moon!” said Jain, an electronics engineer in Cambridge, England.

His exuberance came to a “grinding halt” one day later, with 115 miles on the odometer, Jain told Reuters. As he drove with his wife and three-year-old daughter, he suddenly lost steering control as he made a slow turn into their neighborhood. The vehicle’s front-right suspension had collapsed, and parts of the car loudly scraped the road as it came to a stop.

“They were absolutely petrified,” Jain said of his wife and daughter. “If we were on a 70-mile-per-hour highway, and this would have happened, that would have been catastrophic.”

The complex repair required nearly 40 hours of labor to rebuild the suspension and replace the steering column, among other fixes, according to a detailed repair estimate. The cost: more than $14,000. Tesla refused to cover the repairs, blaming the accident on “prior” suspension damage.

Jain is one of tens of thousands of Tesla owners who have experienced premature failures of suspension or steering parts, according to a Reuters review of thousands of Tesla documents. The chronic failures, many in relatively new vehicles, date back at least seven years and stretch across Tesla’s model lineup and across the globe, from China to the United States to Europe, according to the records and interviews with more than 20 customers and nine former Tesla managers or service technicians.

Individual suspension or steering issues with Teslas have been discussed online and in news accounts for years. But the documents, which have not been previously reported, offer the most comprehensive view to date into the scope of the problems and how Tesla handled what its engineers have internally called part “flaws” and “failures.” The records and interviews reveal for the first time that the automaker has long known far more about the frequency and extent of the defects than it has disclosed to consumers and safety regulators.

The documents, dated between 2016 and 2022, include repair reports from Tesla service centers globally; analyses and data reviews by engineers on parts with high failure rates; and memos sent to technicians globally, instructing them to tell consumers that broken parts on their cars were not faulty.

Neither Tesla nor top executive Elon Musk responded to detailed questions for this article. Musk has acknowledged some build-quality problems with Teslas in the past, particularly the entry-level Model 3. But he also says his cars have no peer.

“We make the best cars,” he said of Tesla at a New York Times event last month. “Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?”

Tesla’s handling of suspension and steering complaints reflects a pattern across Musk’s corporate empire of dismissing concerns about safety or other harms raised by customers, workers and others as he rushes to roll out new products or expand sales, Reuters has found.

A Reuters investigation in November documented at least 600 injuries at rocket-builder SpaceX, where employees described a culture of rushing dangerous projects with little regard for workers’ safety worries. In July, the news agency revealed how Tesla had created a secret team to suppress thousands of customer complaints about poor driving range. The report, which found that Tesla rigged an algorithm to inflate its cars’ in-dash range estimates, sparked a federal investigation. Late last year, Reuters exposed how hurried experiments at Musk’s brain-chip startup, Neuralink, resulted in the unnecessary suffering and deaths of laboratory animals, despite objections from workers seeking to protect them.

Neither Musk nor any of his companies commented for these reports. But he recently lashed out at critics of his social-media company, X, formerly Twitter, which has seen its revenue and market value plummet since Musk bought the firm for $44 billion about a year ago. At the live Times event, he went after advertisers who boycotted X over Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic post on the social-media site. “Go fuck yourself,” the billionaire told companies who pulled their business.

Unlike traditional automakers, which use independent dealers to sell and repair vehicles, Tesla sells directly to customers and owns and operates a large portion of its service centers. That gives the automaker extraordinarily detailed real-time visibility into parts failures, repairs and warranty claims, which Tesla engineers meticulously tracked and analyzed for years, the company records show.

Yet the company has denied some of the suspension and steering problems in statements to U.S. regulators and the public– and, according to Tesla records, sought to shift some of the resulting repair costs to customers.

Tesla has blamed frequent failures of several parts on Tesla owners, alleging they abused the cars, according to interviews with former service managers, company records and a 2020 Tesla letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In other cases, the automaker charged customers with out-of-warranty cars to replace parts that Tesla engineers internally called flawed or that they knew had high failure rates. Engineers ordered repeated redesigns for several parts and discussed seeking money back from suppliers because of the defects.

The records reveal persistent problems with low-tech suspension connections, such as upper and lower control arms, and fore and aft links. These parts are relatively inexpensive for Tesla and largely invisible to most consumers. But they play a critical role in safely connecting a car’s axle and wheels to its body and steering apparatus.

Two more complex and expensive parts also frequently failed: half shafts – the left and right drive axles – and steering racks, which often needed replacing after sudden power-steering outages that some Tesla owners said nearly caused accidents. One driver said in an interview that his brand-new 2023 Model Y jerked to the right when the power-steering suddenly failed at speed, nearly putting the vehicle into a ditch.

At least 11 drivers told Tesla a crash was caused by a failure in the suspension, steering or wheel assembly, company records show. Those accident claims, which have not been previously reported by the media, were recorded by Tesla staff between 2018 and 2021 and assigned to engineers or technicians for review.

In April 2021, the owner of a 2020 Model 3 with less than 15,000 miles on the odometer, went to a Tesla repair center in Brooklyn, New York, after an accident. The technician’s summary: “Front wheel fell off while driving on Autopilot at 60 mph,” referring to Tesla’s automated driving system. The wrecked car was sold, without the front wheel, in November 2021, auction records show.

The following month, another owner of a 2020 Model X in Madrid reported a wheel falling off while driving, the records show. Neither driver is identified in the records, which also do not detail how Tesla responded.

The suspension collapse in Jain’s car fortunately occurred at low speed. It was nonetheless shocking in a car he had owned for less than 24 hours. The automaker told him the suspension collapse was caused by the separation of a lower control arm from the steering knuckle, which connects to the wheel assembly. Jain expected Tesla to cover the damage.

A Tesla Service representative had texted Jain that an initial inspection found “no evidence of any external damage” that caused the incident and implied Tesla would pay for the repairs, according to a copy of the text Jain provided to Reuters.

About a week later, Tesla sent Jain a letter denying responsibility, saying it had inspected the vehicle and determined that the cause was “a prior external influenced damage to the front-right suspension.”

Jain said he was the only driver of the car during the one day he owned it and hadn’t had an accident before the suspension failure. “I was like, ‘Bloody hell, how can metal just snap like that when I know for sure the car has not hit anything?’” he said.

The repair took about three months. Jain paid a deductible of about $1,250 to have the work covered by his insurance company, which after the claim hiked his rates sharply on another car he owned, he said.

Fed up with the ordeal, Jain sold the repaired Tesla – for about $10,000 less than the $55,000 he paid for it.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-musk-steering-suspension/

At the brand centre of Maruti Suzuki India’s headquarters in South Delhi, among the many modern vehicles on display a tiny 40-year-old white car occupies a prominent space. It is no ordinary car but the first customer unit of the popularly known ‘Maruti 800’ or the M800 model that revolutionised personal mobility in India.

Launched on December 14, 1983 when India was still under the licence raj, M800 was also a witness as well a beneficiary of the economic liberalisation when the country’s economy was opened up in 1991, thus serving as a link between the old and new journey that India undertook.

Lovingly referred to as the ‘people’s car’, M800 shook up then sleepy passenger vehicles market in India, challenging the duopoly of Hindustan Motor’s Ambassador car and Premier Padmini. It soon became the symbol of aspiration for millions of middle class Indians.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/forty-years-on-memories-of-m800-linger-as-the-car-that-altered-personal-mobility-in-india-41702784606318.html

Gadkari firmly stated his opposition to the introduction of driverless cars in India, expressing concerns about job losses for drivers.

Addressing road safety concerns, Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways in India, outlined several measures taken by the government to mitigate road accidents during the Zero Mile Samvad hosted by IIM Nagpur.

Gadkari emphasised changes in automobile engineering, such as incorporating six airbags in cars, reducing black spots on roads, and increasing fines through the Electric Motors Act.

“We have increased fines via the Electric Motors Act, kept ambulances and cranes so that things only become better from here. We also raise awareness every year,” Gadkari told Business Today TV’s Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi.

However, Gadkari firmly stated his opposition to the introduction of driverless cars in India, expressing concerns about job losses for drivers. Gadkari said, “I will never allow driverless cars to come into India because it will take away the jobs of several drivers and I will not let that happen.”

He also specified that while Tesla is welcome in India, manufacturing in China for sales in India is not acceptable. “We will allow Tesla to come to India but they cannot manufacture in China and sell it in India. That is an impossible thing to happen,” Gadkari told Business Today.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/auto/story/exclusive-driverless-cars-will-never-come-to-india-nitin-gadkari-at-zero-mile-samvad-409765-2023-12-16

Mahindra is gearing up to launch an updated version of the XUV300, its compact SUV model.

The XUV300 competes with other vehicles in its segment such as the Tata Nexon, Maruti Brezza, and Hyundai Venue.

Recent sightings of test mules indicate ongoing testing and development of the upgraded subcompact SUV. Autocar India suggests that Mahindra is likely to introduce the new XUV300 in February 2024, with pricing details to be revealed around the same time. It’s worth noting that the launch of the updated XUV400 EV is set to precede the release of the redesigned XUV300, with the former hitting the market in January 2024.

MAHINDRA XUV300 FACELIFT: DETAILS ON LAUNCH
There is fierce competition in the subcompact SUV market, and it appears that the XUV300 is falling behind. Tata Motors gave the Nexon a major facelift in September 2023, and Kia is set to give the Sonet a similar treatment later this month. Hyundai and Maruti have maintained the modernity of their corresponding subcompact SUVs.

Apart from styling changes, the XUV300 facelift will include features such as a segment-first panoramic sunroof and a larger 10.25-inch infotainment screen. Reports also state that there will be no ADAS or 360-degree camera available.

Source: https://www.news18.com/auto/mahindra-xuv300-facelift-expected-to-launch-in-february-2024-deets-inside-8700778.html

Tesla is recalling nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S., more than 2 million, to update software and fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when using Autopilot.

Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the update will increase warnings and alerts to drivers and even limit the areas where basic versions of Autopilot can operate.

The recall comes after a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into a series of crashes that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use. Some were deadly.

The agency says its investigation found Autopilot’s method of making sure that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and can lead to “foreseeable misuse of the system.”

The added controls and alerts will “further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility,” the documents said.

But safety experts said that, while the recall is a good step, it still makes the driver responsible and doesn’t fix the underlying problem that Tesla’s automated systems have with spotting and stopping for obstacles in their path.

The recall covers models Y, S, 3 and X produced between Oct. 5, 2012, and Dec. 7 of this year. The update was to be sent to certain affected vehicles on Tuesday, with the rest getting it later.

Shares of Tesla slid more than 3% in earlier trading Wednesday but recovered amid a broad stock market rally to end the day up 1%.

The attempt to address the flaws in Autopilot seemed like a case of too little, too late to Dillon Angulo, who was seriously injured in 2019 crash involving a Tesla that was using the technology along a rural stretch of Florida highway where the software isn’t supposed to be deployed.

“This technology is not safe, we have to get it off the road,” said Angulo, who is suing Tesla as he recovers from injuries that included brain trauma and broken bones. “The government has to do something about it. We can’t be experimenting like this.”

Autopilot includes features called Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control, with Autosteer intended for use on limited access freeways when it’s not operating with a more sophisticated feature called Autosteer on City Streets.

The software update will limit where Autosteer can be used. “If the driver attempts to engage Autosteer when conditions are not met for engagement, the feature will alert the driver it is unavailable through visual and audible alerts, and Autosteer will not engage,” the recall documents said.

Depending on a Tesla’s hardware, the added controls include “increasing prominence” of visual alerts, simplifying how Autosteer is turned on and off, and additional checks on whether Autosteer is being used outside of controlled access roads and when approaching traffic control devices. A driver could be suspended from using Autosteer if they repeatedly fail “to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility,” the documents say.

According to recall documents, agency investigators met with Tesla starting in October to explain “tentative conclusions” about the fixing the monitoring system. Tesla did not concur with NHTSA’s analysis but agreed to the recall on Dec. 5 in an effort to resolve the investigation.

Auto safety advocates for years have been calling for stronger regulation of the driver monitoring system, which mainly detects whether a driver’s hands are on the steering wheel. They have called for cameras to make sure a driver is paying attention, which are used by other automakers with similar systems.

Philip Koopman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who studies autonomous vehicle safety, called the software update a compromise that doesn’t address a lack of night vision cameras to watch drivers’ eyes, as well as Teslas failing to spot and stop for obstacles.

“The compromise is disappointing because it does not fix the problem that the older cars do not have adequate hardware for driver monitoring,” Koopman said.

Koopman and Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, contend that crashing into emergency vehicles is a safety defect that isn’t addressed. “It’s not digging at the root of what the investigation is looking at,” Brooks said. “It’s not answering the question of why are Teslas on Autopilot not detecting and responding to emergency activity?”

Koopman said NHTSA apparently decided that the software change was the most it could get from the company, “and the benefits of doing this now outweigh the costs of spending another year wrangling with Tesla.”

In its statement Wednesday, NHTSA said the investigation remains open “as we monitor the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies and continue to work with the automaker to ensure the highest level of safety.”

Autopilot can steer, accelerate and brake automatically in its lane, but is a driver-assist system and cannot drive itself, despite its name. Independent tests have found that the monitoring system is easy to fool, so much that drivers have been caught while driving drunk or even sitting in the back seat.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/tesla-autopilot-recall-driver-monitoring-system-8060508627a34e6af889feca46eb3002

At the Tesla Cybertruck Delivery Event, a cybertruck beat a Porsche 911. The truck won despite running from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. The truck won the drag race while towering another 911.

At the Tesla Cybertruck Delivery Event, the company’s newly launched cybertruck beat a Porsche 911. The cybertruck won despite running from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. The truck won the drag race while towering another 911.

Tesla shared the video of its Cybertruck beating a Porsche 911 on its official X handle.

Earlier during Tesla’s event on Thursday, the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, remarked, “Once in a long while, a product comes along that is rare.” Musk was speaking against the backdrop of the Cybertruck. Tesla has started delivery of its highly anticipated vehicle.

While emphasising that critics had called Tesla’s Cybertruck almost “impossible,” to achieve a successful launch, Musk remarked, “Once every five to 10 years, something really special, a really unusual product comes along. We all remember those special moments. But these things are rare.”

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/tesla-delivery-event-cybertruck-beat-porsche-while-towering-another-911-in-drag-race-video-article-105637143

Both companies are likely to steer two independent brands, while the M G brand will continue to build its presence with ICE and EV portfolio, a new brand steered by JSW Group will focus purely on EV and high-performance EVs.

As the negotiation between M G Motor and JSW Group reaches the final leg, a dual brand strategy is being mooted as part of the future growth prospects for the alliance.

Several people in the know say that M G Motor and JSW Group are exploring a twin-track approach – one to sustain with the M G brand which has established itself well in the Indian market – and the other is an all-new brand – which may be dedicated for EVs – something that JSW Group is keen on investing in.

Source: https://www.autocarpro.in/news/exclusive-jsw-and-mg-motor-explore-dual-brand-strategy-as-part-of-alliance-talk-118017

As many as sixteen flights to and from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport were affected after rain lashed parts of the national capital on Monday evening. Flights to and from Mumbai are also impacted due to bad weather and air traffic congestion.

IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet informed passengers on social media regarding delays and diversions of flights.

Vistara’s Guwahati-Delhi Flight (UK742) and nine other flights were diverted to Jaipur, three to Lucknow, two to Amritsar and one to Ahmedabad airport.

“We are facing ATC congestion at Delhi (DEL) due to bad weather. All departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might be affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status,” a statement by SpiceJet read.

ANGRY PASSENGERS SLAM AIRLINES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Passengers expressed their anger against airlines on social media platform X after delays and diversions of flights.

Source: https://www.news18.com/auto/flights-affected-rain-lashes-delhi-mumbai-bad-weather-check-flight-status-latest-news-8678811.html

The “Holy Grail” hypercar has a legendary status on the racing track and has been dubbed a “once-in-a-generation” chance acquisition.

A 1962 Ferrari has sold for a record $51.7m (£42m) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

The striking red 330 LM/250 GTO model, which is the only GTO Tipo 1962 to have been raced by Formula 1’s Scuderia Ferrari, has become the most valuable Ferrari and the second highest priced car to be sold at auction.

Dubbed a “once-in-a-generation” chance purchase, the iconic vehicle – which was given the chassis number 3765 – was claimed by its new owner after nearly four decades in private ownership.

Alongside making sales history, the model has a legendary status on the racing track having won second place at the 1962 Nürburgring 1,000km in Germany and was placed second in the GTO class at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The “Holy Grail” hypercar was previously owned by a chairman of the Ferrari Club of America.

It won an FCA Platinum Award, the Coppa Bella Macchina at the Cavallino Classic and received a Best of Show at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida.

Mike Parkes and Lorenzo Bandini piloted the car for Scuderia Ferrari at the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and it also secured the position of runner-up in the 1965 Sicilian Hillclimb Championship.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/iconic-1962-race-car-becomes-most-expensive-ferrari-ever-sold-at-auction-13008126

Piyush Goyal visited Tesla’s factory in California, however, the expected meeting with CEO Elon Musk did not take place.

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal visited Tesla’s California manufacturing factory on Tuesday. However, the much anticipated meet between Goyal and electric vehicle maker’s chief Elon Musk didn’t happen.

“Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers & finance professionals working at Senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s remarkable journey to transform mobility,” Goyal wrote on X after visiting the Tesla’s manufacturing facility at Fremont, California.

The minister lauded “growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain”.

“It is on its way to double its components imports from India,” he wrote.

Piyush Goyal is in San Francisco to attend the ministerial engagements of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer Musk was likely to meet Goyal to discuss the company’s plans to set up a factory in India. .

“Missed Elon Musk’s magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery,” Goyal wrote.

“It was an honor to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date,” Billionaire Musk replied to the post.

The government is planning to offer tax cuts on the imports of completely-built units of EVs, for a period of up to five years. It is seen as an attempt to woo likes of Tesla Inc. to sell and eventually make its cars in the country, where EV market is still in nascent stage.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/car-bike/piyush-goyal-tours-tesla-factory-in-us-elon-musk-says-sorry-for-his-absence-101699938394770.html

Japan’s carmakers are staging their first motor show in four years to make the case they’ll remain major global forces to be reckoned with in the electric-vehicle age.

The rebadged Japan Mobility Show will be counter-programming of sorts to worrisome trends: the host country may well lose its position as the world’s top car exporter to China, and third-largest economy to Germany this year. With their domestic market shrinking and parts of Europe and the US rapidly embracing EVs, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and their peers are under escalating pressure to transition from internal combustion engines.

Honda Takes on Air, Sea and Space

Honda is showing an electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, an avatar robot as well as its HondaJet business plane at the show.

“My dream is to create a world where people can move freely on the ground, sea and air, as well as outer space, in vehicles bearing the Honda logo, CEO Toshihiro Mibe said during a presentation.

The Prelude appears to be making a comeback. The popular two-door sports car, which was retired in 2001, is now under development as an electric vehicle.

“Honda has been focusing on sports cars in all eras,” Mibe said. “This is something that only Honda can do.”

Subaru Has a Motorsports EV and Flying Car

Subaru unveiled a motorsports EV concept as well as a flying car it said has already taken to the skies in preliminary tests. The key is figuring out how people will adapt to them.

“We believe air mobility will become a useful means of transportation in the future, but for that we need customers to appreciate how it might fit into their lifestyles,” CEO Atsushi Osaki told reporters. “That will take time.”

Mercedes Hoping to Double Japan EV Sales in 2023

Mercedes-Benz Japan CEO Kintaro Ueno said he’s hopeful the company will double its EV sales in the country this year, having sold about 1,000 in 2021 and twice as many in 2022.

The German automaker, which launched revamped versions of its GLE SUVs last month, is considering installing fast chargers in Japan in 2024 to help drivers efficiently power their vehicles, Ueno said.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/japan-auto-show-honda-goes-all-out-with-flying-car-toyota-reveals-new-ev-concept-41698208849303.html

The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings against two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp and its officials including chairman Pawan Munjal, in a case of alleged forgery, reported PTI. Delhi HC Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma has reportedly said that the stay on the proceedings based on the FIR as well as the trial court order will remain in force till December 6, which is the next date of hearing.

This move comes as a relief for India’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer and its key officials including chairman Pawan Munjal, against whom an FIR was filed with the Delhi Police on October 5 this year by one of the service providers of the automaker. The service provider named Brain Logistics accused the automaker of forgery and falsifying the accounts book. Hero MotoCorp too issued an official statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange immediately after that, saying that the auto company too had filed an FIR against the service provider in 2013. Hero MotoCorp also stated that the matter is ongoing before the court.

The latest order from the Delhi High Court stayed the proceedings based on the FIR filed against Hero MotoCorp and its key officials reportedly stayed the trial court order as well. Earlier, the trial court had reportedly directed the registration of an FIR against the named officials on a complaint alleging that Hero MotoCorp manufactured fake bills worth ₹5.9 crore and obtained tax credit of over ₹55 lakh. After that, the two-wheeler manufacturing company, its chairman and officials reportedly approached the high court challenging the trial court’s order.

The Delhi High Court, in the meantime, has reportedly asked the parties to explore the possibility of a settlement. “The operation of the (trial court) order and the proceedings in the FIR shall remain stayed. Parties to explore possibilities of a compromise. The counsel shall take instructions regarding compromise,” the Delhi High Court has reportedly said.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/relief-for-hero-motocorp-chairman-pawan-munjal-till-december-6-delhi-high-court-stays-proceedings-based-on-fir-41697167380791.html

Ford repeatedly defended the proposed billion-dollar factory despite its reliance on Chinese company for key technology

U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company announced Monday that it would pause construction of a billion-dollar plant in Michigan involving a Chinese electric vehicle battery company.

Ford said in a statement to FOX Business that work on the factory had been paused and spending would be limited, but declined to pinpoint the exact considerations that factored into the decision. The Detroit-based company also said it hadn’t made a final decision about the project despite repeatedly defending it for months.

“We’re pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall project until we’re confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant,” Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid told FOX Business. “We haven’t made any final decision about the planned investment there.”

Ford announced in a ceremony earlier this year that it would invest $3.5 billion to build the plant in Marshall, Michigan. As part of the announcement, the U.S. automaker said it had reached an agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a Ningde, China-based firm, to manufacture battery cells at the plant using services provided by the Chinese company.

While Democrats including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer applauded Ford’s announcement, since it was unveiled in February, Republicans and national security experts have blasted the company for teaming up with a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese Communist Party on such a major investment.

The plan had been considered for Virginia, though it never reached a final discussion stage. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin opposed the plant over China’s potential influence in the plan and argued that “CATL and the Chinese Communist Party would have full operational control over the technology.”

“We applaud that the construction of this reckless deal has been halted,” former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella, co-founders of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, said Monday. “From the outset, Ford Motor Company, the State of Michigan, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and all other parties to it have been irresponsible in advancing this deal.”

“There was zero strict scrutiny or due diligence, concerns of our intelligence and national security agencies were ignored and mocked,” they continued. “The halting of the construction is the natural result of the consent of the governed being ruptured by government and business elites. With citizen activists, we are not relenting or letting our guard down. We will keep fighting against the Ford-CATL and Gotion deals until they are no more.”

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/ford-suddenly-pauses-massive-ev-battery-project-republicans-probing-ccp-ties

The American SUV manufacturing giant, Jeep, has launched the all-new, more affordable variants of its popular compact SUV, the Jeep Compass. The company is now offering the Compass diesel with the 9-speed automatic transmission in the 4X2 variants as well. Prior to this, the Jeep Compass came with this transmission only in the top-spec 4X4 trims. The company has launched the new Jeep Compass 4X2 automatic variants with a starting price of Rs 23.99 lakh. Additionally, the company has lowered the pricing of the base variant of this car, and it now starts at Rs 20.49 lakh.

Jeep Compass: New AT 4X2 variants

For the new 2023 model year, the company has also introduced a new variant to the lineup of their popular SUV. Now the Jeep Compass will come available in 5 variants, namely the Sport, Longitude, Longitude+, Limited, and Model S. As mentioned, the pricing for the 2023 Compass has also been revised, and it now starts at a more affordable price of Rs 20.49 lakh. Prior to this, the Compass was only offered in three trims, and the price started at Rs 21.73 lakh (ex-showroom).

The biggest update for the 2023 Jeep Compass is that the 9-speed automatic transmission now becomes available starting from the newly launched Longitude variant. This variant has been priced at Rs 23.99 lakh, which is almost Rs 6 lakh lower than the previous Limited 4X4 automatic variant. According to the company, the Compass with the new 9-speed automatic transmission will be able to provide a fuel efficiency of around 16.2 kmpl. On a side note, the base-spec Compass in the Sport variant will come only with a manual transmission.

Source: https://www.cartoq.com/jeep-compass-4×2-at-lvariant-becomes-cheaper-by-rs-6-lakh/

India’s first large-scale gigafactory which will be a manufacturing facility for rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) will be up and functioning by next year, revealed Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a conversation with ETNow on Wednesday.

“By early next year, we will actually make the gigafactory operational and start using our own Indian-manufactured cells and that is going to be a very important initiative to reduce cost further,” said Aggarwal.

As per the CEO, the initial capacity of the Gigafactory will be 5 GWh. At full scale, the factory will have 100 GWh capacity, which will also be the world’s largest battery manufacturing unit.

While talking about the cost component of the EVs, he comments on the current situation where batteries for Indian consumption have to be imported.
“We import it from Korea. It makes up for almost one-third or sometimes even 40 per cent of the EV manufacturing cost,” said the founder.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/renewables/ola-electric-to-give-india-its-first-gigafactory-next-year-ceo-bhavish-aggarwal/articleshow/102774164.cms?from=mdr

Indian government officials suggested Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – currently discussing setting up a plant in India – partner with local firms to work with any Chinese suppliers the electric carmaker is currently involved with.

What Happened? Officials from Tesla told the Indian government that they’d like some of their Chinese suppliers to establish operations in India to bolster the supply chain.

According to sources speaking to Reuters, Indian authorities proposed that Tesla adopt Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) method, which involved gaining approvals for Chinese suppliers through local joint-venture partners. Direct approval for wholly-owned Chinese companies can prove challenging due to the intense scrutiny they’ve faced since the 2020 border disputes between India and China on their Himalayan border.

Why it matters? India’s tense relationship with China, following the 2020 border clashes, complicates Tesla’s plans to utilize crucial Chinese suppliers for parts that India lacks locally. This problem isn’t unique to Tesla; even the local Tata Motors sources battery cells from China.

In recent months, the Indian government has accepted some joint-venture partnerships between Chinese suppliers and Indian firms on a case-by-case basis. However, they remain cautious about Chinese companies expanding in India, particularly automakers.

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-blueprint-indian-government-suggests-075115445.html?guccounter=1

The car carrier on fire near the Netherlands coast has almost 500 electric cars on board, according to its operator, more than was previously reported.

The cause of the blaze on the Fremantle Highway is still unknown, according to the Dutch coast guard, which previously said the initial cargo list they received suggested just 25 EVs were on the ship. The coast guard has denied reports that it had been confirmed the fire broke out in a section of the carrier where electric cars were stored. Whether EVs had anything to do with precipitating the blaze, the number on board is relevant to what’s likely to be a days-long effort to put it out. Lithium-ion battery fires burn hotter and last longer than gasoline. They can also be difficult to extinguish, sometimes reigniting hours or days after seemingly having been put out.

The ship is carrying a total of 3,783 vehicles, including 498 electric cars, according to its charterer Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. The fire was still ablaze with the situation stable as of Friday. Dutch authorities have established a towing connection with the vessel, but haven’t been able to extinguish the fire because putting too much water on board would cause stability problems.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/over-500-electric-cars-from-bmw-mercedes-possibly-charred-on-board-burning-cargo-ship-off-dutch-coast-41690540316926.html 

Landslides In Himachal Pradesh: The ongoing heavy monsoon rains in Himachal Pradesh, North India, have resulted in devastating floods and landslides, causing significant damage to the local population. The region is experiencing one of its worst monsoons in recent times, with videos circulating on social media capturing the destruction caused by collapsing buildings, bridges, and vehicles being washed away.

Stay Informed Through Local News Channels and Radio Stations 

It is essential to stay updated with the latest weather information through local news channels and radio stations. Keeping track of weather forecasts can help you determine the exact condition of the region where you’re staying. By remaining informed, you can take necessary precautions and make informed decisions to safeguard your vehicle.

Avoid Parking in Dangerous Areas

One common cause of car damage during landslides is parking near dangerous spots. It is vital to avoid parking your vehicle near edges or cliffs, as these areas pose a higher risk of damage during landslides.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/auto/features/landslides-in-himachal-pradesh-tips-to-safeguard-vehicles-during-landslides-and-heavy-monsoons-article-101703310

The X440 will be available in three variants – Denim, Vivid and S.

Harley-Davidson has launched the X440 in India, with prices starting at Rs 2.29 lakh for the base Denim variant and going up to Rs 2.69 lakh for the top-spec S variant.

Harley-Davidson X440 engine, cycle parts

The beating heart of the X440 is an air-/oil-cooled, 440cc, single-cylinder engine that’s rated for 27hp at 6,000rpm and 38Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. Mated to this large thumper is a 6-speed gearbox. Nestling this engine is a steel trellis frame suspended by a 43mm USD fork and twin shock absorber setup. Braking duties are handled by a large 320mm front rotor and dual-channel ABS is standard.

Seat height is a very reasonable 805mm and the HD X440 tips the scaled at 190.5kg, with its 13.5-litre fuel tank fully brimmed. At 170mm, ground clearance is aplenty and the bike rolls on new MRF Zapper Hyke rubber, sized 100/90-18 (front) and 140/70-17 (rear).

Harley-Davidson X440 features, variants

The base Denim variant of the X440 comes with wire-spoke rims and minimal badging, while the mid-tier Vivid variant comes with alloy wheels and dual-tone paint options. The top-spec S variant comes with diamond-cut alloy wheels, machined engine cooling fins, 3D badging and a colour TFT dash with Bluetooth connectivity, enabling navigation and notification alerts.

The Denim variant is available in Mustard Yellow, essentially a yellow tank on a black bike. The Vivid variant can be had in either Metallic Thick Red or Metallic Dark Silver and the top-spec S variant is only available in a stealthy Matte Black colour. All variants get a USB charging port as standard.

Harley-Davidson X440 price, rivals

The Denim variant of the X440 costs Rs 2.29 lakh, with each subsequent variant adding Rs 20,000 to its price tag. Which means the Vivid costs Rs 2.49 lakh and the top-spec S costs Rs 2.69 lakh. At these prices, the Harley-Davidson X440 costs roughly Rs 35,000 more than the evergreen Royal Enfield Classic 350 (Rs 1.93 lakh-Rs 2.21 lakh).

Source: https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-news/suzuki-hayabusa-25th-anniversary-edition-revealed-428642

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/auto/ed-seizes-luxury-cars-worth-rs-60-crore-including-ferrari-lamborghini-and-bentley-belonging-to-ireo-and-m3m-real-estate-groups-article-100835169

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Self-driving cars contribute to traffic congestion and could potentially be hazardous due to their inability to comprehend human behavior. A new study indicates that these autonomous vehicles, often promoted as the transportation of the future, struggle to interpret the subtle human social signals that inform driving decisions.

A key example of this issue focuses on deciding whether to yield or proceed in traffic – a decision that humans typically make swiftly and intuitively. However, self-driving cars consistently fail to interpret human behavior in traffic. As a result, their reactions can lead to traffic congestion and aggravate other road users, according to the award-winning study from a team at the University of Copenhagen.

“The ability to navigate in traffic is based on much more than traffic rules. Social interactions, including body language, play a major role when we signal each other in traffic. This is where the programming of self-driving cars still falls short,” says Professor Barry Brown, from Copenhagen’s Department of Computer Science, who has been studying the evolution of self-driving car behavior on the road for the past five years, in a university release. “That is why it is difficult for them to consistently understand when to stop and when someone is stopping for them, which can be both annoying and dangerous.”

Various companies, such as Waymo and Cruise, have initiated taxi services employing self-driving cars in certain regions of the United States. Tesla has deployed their Full Self-Driving (FSD) model to approximately 100,000 volunteer drivers in the U.S. and Canada. Despite these advancements, Prof. Brown and his team note that the actual road performance of these vehicles is a closely guarded trade secret with limited public insight.

Videos capture autonomous cars endangering pedestrians
To address this knowledge gap, the researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of 18 hours of 70 different YouTube videos, captured by enthusiasts testing cars from the back seat. One of the videos features a family of four waiting to cross a residential street in the United States. Despite the absence of a pedestrian crosswalk, the family wishes to cross the road. As the driverless car approaches, it slows down, prompting the two adults in the family to gesture for the car to continue. However, the car stops next to them for 11 seconds. As the family starts to cross the road, the car begins to move again, causing them to leap back onto the sidewalk.

“The situation is similar to the main problem we found in our analysis and demonstrates the inability of self-driving cars to understand social interactions in traffic. The driverless vehicle stops so as to not hit pedestrians, but ends up driving into them anyway because it doesn’t understand the signals. Besides creating confusion and wasted time in traffic, it can also be downright dangerous,” says Prof. Brown.

In tech-focused San Francisco, autonomous vehicles have been deployed as buses and taxis in various parts of the city, negotiating the hilly streets amid people and other natural elements. These vehicles cause traffic issues and disruptions in San Francisco due to their inappropriate reactions to other road users.

“I think that part of the answer is that we take the social element for granted. We don’t think about it when we get into a car and drive – we just do it automatically. But when it comes to designing systems, you need to describe everything we take for granted and incorporate it into the design,” suggests Prof. Brown. “The car industry could learn from having a more sociological approach. Understanding social interactions that are part of traffic should be used to design self-driving cars’ interactions with other road users, similar to how research has helped improve the usability of mobile phones and technology more broadly.”

This study was recognized with the best paper award at the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and is published in the journal Association for Computing Machinery.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/self-driving-cars-human-behavior/

The much-awaited Maruti Suzuki Jimny has been officially launched in the Indian car market at a starting price of ₹12.74 lakh (ex-showroom). Available in six trim options, the price of this SUV goes up to ₹15.05 lakh (ex-showroom). The Jimny is part of Maruti’s strong push in the SUV segment and has a rich heritage spanning over five decades. Interestingly, India is the first market in the world to get the five-door version of Jimny.

The most populous U.S. city joined several other major cities that have sued Hyundai and Kia over the thefts, including Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Diego and Seattle.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, New York faulted the automakers’ failure from 2011 to 2022 to install anti-theft devices called immobilizers on most of their cars, making them “nearly unique” among automobile manufacturers.

New York said this has “opened the floodgates to vehicle theft, crime sprees, reckless driving, and public harm,” exacerbated by TikTok videos showing how to steal cars that lack push-button ignitions and immobilizers.

The city said the number of reported stolen Hyundais and Kias doubled last year, followed by a “virtual explosion of thefts” in the first four months of 2023 with 977 reported thefts, up from 148 in the same period in 2022.

In contrast, the city said thefts of BMW, Ford, Honda, Mercedes, Nissan and Toyota vehicles have fallen this year.

The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Hyundai said in a statement that it made immobilizers standard on all vehicles in November 2021, and has taken steps including a software upgrade to reduce the threat of thefts.

Kia in a statement also cited its anti-theft efforts, and said it is working with New York City law enforcement to combat car thefts. It also called the city’s lawsuit “without merit.”

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/new-york-city-sues-hyundai-kia-over-vehicle-thefts-2023-06-06/

The concept of autonomous cars is still at a very nascent stage in India. But an Indian startup has taken the lead and has unveiled the country’s first self-driving car. The Bengaluru-based AI startup Minus Zero has showcased zPod, which is shaped like a toaster like some of the other autonomous vehicles shown globally. The zPod self-driving car claims it can drive through all kinds of conditions and weather thanks to its camera-sensor suite.

Full-sized utility and multi-purpose vehicles are grabbing a disproportionate share of Indian roads, reflecting persistent upward mobility in personal-transport choices underpinned by higher disposable incomes and increasing availability of premium variants.

Sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) exceeding 4 metres in length now make up at least 10% in volume terms even at compact-car makers such as Maruti Suzuki. The share of sub-4 metre compact vehicles, which enjoy policy preference from a taxation standpoint to encourage car ownership, has shrunk 6 percentage points in three years to 72%.

By contrast, premium vehicles — usually large-sized SUVs and MPVs exceeding 4,500 mm in length — now account for 11% of the industry, up from 6% three years ago. The 4-4.5 metre passenger vehicle segment has seen its share stagnate at 16-17%.

Carmakers, therefore, are harnessing the rising affordability quotient to introduce new models in the above 4.5-metre mid- and upper-SUV and MPV segments. Previously, this segment was dominated — both in volume and value terms — by the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover and Audi.

Luxury carmakers continue value domination in this segment, but mass market players such as Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, VW and Toyota are also increasing volume presence.

Lifestyle Choices
India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki, known world over as the king of compact cars, said there is a trend toward bigger and lifestyle products.

“That explains why there is traction for three-row MPVs and SUVs. These vehicles support varied lifestyle needs of a modern, urban consumer, and also allow larger family groups or friends to travel together on occasions,” said Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki.

Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/cars-uvs/in-demand-race-big-cars-outpace-other-segments/articleshow/100733098.cms

More than 33 million people in the United States are driving vehicles that contain a potentially deadly threat: Airbag inflators that in rare cases can explode in a collision and spew shrapnel.

Few of them know it.

And because of a dispute between federal safety regulators and an airbag parts manufacturer, they aren’t likely to find out anytime soon.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is demanding that the manufacturer, ARC Automotive of Knoxville, Tennessee, recall 67 million inflators that could explode with such force as to blow apart a metal canister and expel shrapnel. But ARC is refusing to do so, setting up a possible court fight with the agency.

NHTSA argues that the recall is justified because two people have been killed in the United States and Canada and at least seven others have been injured by ARC’s inflators. The explosions, which first occurred in 2009, have continued as recently as this year.

One of those who died was Marlene Beaudoin, a 40-year-old mother of 10 from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who was struck by metal fragments when her 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV was involved in a minor crash in 2021. She and four of her sons had been on their way to get ice cream. The sons were not hurt.

ARC maintains that no safety defect exists, that NHTSA’s demand is based on a hypothesis rather than technical conclusions and that the agency has no authority to order a parts manufacturer to carry out recalls, which ARC contends are the responsibility of automakers.

In a letter to NHTSA, ARC said no automaker has found a defect common to all 67 million inflators, and no root cause has been identified in the inflator ruptures.

“ARC believes they resulted from random ‘one-off’ manufacturing anomalies that were properly addressed by vehicle manufacturers through lot-specific recalls,” the letter said.

In a statement, NHTSA indicated that both ARC and automakers are responsible for recalls and that it can seek a recall from a parts maker that supplies multiple automakers.

The next step is for NHTSA to issue a final ruling on whether the inflators are defective, then hold a public hearing. It potentially could take ARC to court to seek a recall order. NHTSA would not say when or whether any of this will happen.

In the meantime, owners of vehicles made by at least a dozen automakers — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai and Kia — are left to wonder anxiously whether their vehicles contain driver or front passenger inflators made by ARC. (Some vehicles have ARC inflators on both sides.)

Because ARC supplies inflators that are included in other manufacturers’ airbags, there’s no easy way for vehicle owners to determine whether their inflators are made by ARC. Neither NHTSA nor ARC nor the automakers have released a full list of affected models.

The standoff with ARC has sent automakers struggling to find out just how many of their vehicles contain the inflators. The auto manufacturers are also asking NHTSA whether they must start doing recalls. Automakers know many of the models affected. But many say they’re still gathering information from later model years to determine which vehicles contain the affected inflators.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/air-bag-deflators-explode-crash-arc-nhtsa-8393a55574147c712d11d62f50ff249f

According to sources, the Chinese auto giant SAIC-owned MG Motor may be trying to sell its majority position in the Indian auto industry. It has been reported that the Chinese-British automaker is in “advanced negotiations” for an equity sale with a number of interested parties, including Reliance Industries, Hero Group, Premji Invest, and JSW Group. Although it has not been reported which of these groups is interested, it has been stated that the company is looking to close the deal before the end of this year.

One source who is knowledgeable about the situation commented, “Hectic discussions are on with Indian companies, and MG Motor is looking to close a deal by the end of this year.” The source added that the talks have reached an advanced stage and the reason behind this move is that the company needs funds almost immediately to further increase its operations in the country. The company aims to expand its production and operations in the near future. The source further stated, “Negotiations are on, and the effort of MG management is to get a credible partner while managing attractive valuations.”

The company recently announced that it plans to sell a majority of its stake in the brand to Indian companies and high-net-worth individuals across the country because it wants to raise around Rs 5000 crore for its growth and expansion. Recently, while speaking to the media, MG Motor India CEO Rajeev Chaba stated that the company wants to “Indianise operation” by diluting the majority stake to financial institutions, partners, and high-net-worth individuals in the country. Chaba added, “We intend to Indianise shareholding, the company’s board, management, supply chain in the next two-four years.”

Source: https://www.cartoq.com/mg-motor-india-looking-to-sell-its-majority-stake-to-indian-companies-reliance-jsw-hero-and-premji-in-the-race/

Maruti Suzuki will commission 8 assembly lines with an annual production capacity of 2, 50,000 units each across 2 new facilities

MSI Chairman RC Bhargava told the publication in an interview the company received approval to add capacity of up to one million units at the Kharkhoda plant. Bhargava further said the company received in-principle approval for another one million units at a new site. Of the total 4 million planned, one million will be from exports and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) sales.

The remaining capacity planned will enable the automaker to achieve its 50 per cent market share, up from 41 per cent in 2022-23. RC Bhargava said: “Our intent is to get back our market share as close as possible to the 50 per cent we have had in the past”. The company is also planning a series of launches in the SUV and electric vehicle (EV) segments.

Maruti Suzuki was also the largest passenger vehicles (PVs) exporter from India for the second year in a row in FY23. The automaker is targeting 7,50,000 exports by the end of the decade, up from 2,59,000 units in the last fiscal.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/auto/story/maruti-suzuki-to-invest-55-bn-to-double-production-capacity-by-2030-380971-2023-05-12

Tesla has been identified as the most recalled car brand. A study by iSeeCars revealed that Tesla cars like Model 3, Model Y, Model S and ModeX are the top four most recalled car models. Porsche Panamera is the other model in the top four most recalled cars. On the other hand, the study claims that Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota are the least recalled car brands globally. The research claims to have consulted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) list of recalls between 2014 and 2023.

Among other car manufacturers, Porsche has four of its models among the most recalled cars. The goal of the study was to check what are the most and least recalled car models throughout an expected 30-year lifespan.

The study also revealed that the cars with the fewest recalls have one of fewer predicted recalls over a 30-year lifespan. On the contrary, the most recalled models are predicted to be recalled at least ten times during the same lifespan. These factors should be considered while purchasing a vehicle, stated the study.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/tesla-is-the-most-recalled-car-brand-mercedes-benz-and-toyota-least-41681880036184.html

After stopping FAME-2 subsidy to electric two-wheeler (E2W) companies for almost one year due to allegations of breach in guidelines, the government has issued show-cause notices to several leading firms, including TVS, Hero Motocorp, Ola Electric and Ather Energy, said sources close to the development.

After stopping FAME-2 subsidy to electric two-wheeler (E2W) companies for almost one year due to allegations of breach in guidelines, the government has issued show-cause notices to several leading firms, including TVS, Hero Motocorp, Ola Electric and Ather Energy, said sources close to the development.

The notices have been issued asking why action should not be taken for their alleged involvement in price manipulation and failure to adhere to the guidelines over localisation of components leading to flouting of norms under the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP). The notices were issued 10 days ago and company representatives have held dialogues with government officials to explain their stand.

There are around 50 E2W companies/brands in India and around 20-21 are certified to get subsidies under the FAME-2 scheme. And subsidies have been halted for 16-18 companies currently.

Sources said that other companies might also be issued show-cause notices in the future.

When contacted, Ather Energy did not comment. Mails sent to TVS Motor Company, Hero MotoCorp and Ola Electric remained unanswered at the time of going to press. These four companies control 40-45% of the domestic E2W market.

The names of the four premier EV companies were mentioned by an alleged whistle-blower in a mail sent in February to Hanif Qureshi, joint secretary, heavy industries ministry.

“The show-cause notice has been issued to almost everybody. We will get it shortly too. Executives from various companies such as Ola Electric, Ather Energy and TVS, who never spoke before about the issue with us, have now started to discuss ways to tackle this issue,” a top executive of an EV startup said to FE.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/express-mobility/industry-express-mobility/two-wheeler-ev-leaders-get-show-cause-notices/3044836/

Russia today formally charged Wall Street Journal journalist, Evan Gershkovich, with espionage after he was detained on Wednesday, March 29

Russia has today officially charged American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich with spying.

Mr Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, on March 29 and was today formally charged the US journalist with espionage.

He was accused of “acting on the instructions of the American side” and collecting information “constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex”.

The Wall Street Journal reporter is widely seen as a victim of repression by Vladimir Putin’s regime and “categorically denies” all allegations.

He was engaged in legitimate journalism when he was detained by the FSB security service, according to colleagues. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in jail.

Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. The Journal has denied the accusations.

State-run TASS news agency reported that Mr Gershkovich has denied the charge. Mr Gershkovich was ordered held behind bars for two months in Russia pending an investigation.

The US ambassador to Russia, Lynne T. Tracy, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkovand met on Thursday to discuss his case, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

In a statement afterwards, the Russian side said: “It was emphasized that he was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret information, using his journalistic status as a cover for illegal actions.”

The ministry added that “the hype in the United States around this case, which is aimed at putting pressure on the Russian authorities and the court, which should decide the fate of Gershkovich, is hopeless and senseless.”

Mr Gershkovich is the first US correspondent since the Cold War to be detained for alleged spying.

Lawyers representing Mr Gershkovich met with him on Tuesday for the first time since his detention, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/breaking-russia-officially-charges-wall-29656781

The recall said the front passenger seat shouldn’t be used until the issue gets fixed

A recall issued by the Volkswagen Group of America for over 143,000 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) is underway, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Tuesday.

The consumer alert put out by the NHTSA said the passenger occupant detection systems in the SUVS subject to the recall could “deactivate the front passenger air bag even when the seat is occupied.” Such deactivation could occur if certain wiring that connects to the system “has a contact fault,” a recall report published in the NHTSA website said.

That could make the injury risk of any person sitting in the seat higher because a deactivated airbag “will not deploy” in a wreck, according to the NHTSA.

The recall report said over 143,000 Atlas models from 2018 to 2021 and Atlas Cross Sport models from 2020 are potentially impacted by the problem. The recall was issued in late March.

Until the issue has been remedied, the front passenger seat should not be used by people, according to the report.

Mail notification of the recall will kick off in May for owners, with another planned to be sent “once the remedy becomes available,” the notice on the NHTSA website said. It is currently being developed.

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/over-143k-volkswagen-suvs-recalled-issue-could-affect-front-passenger-airbag-deployment

Maserati first launched the MC20 supercar back in 2020 globally. Now, the brand has finally decided to launch the MC20 in the Indian market. It is priced at ₹3.69 Crore ex-showroom. This price is before the customer chooses any options. The MC20 can be considered a spiritual successor to the MC12. Unlike the MC12, which was based on the Ferrari Enzo, the MC20 is an all-new model.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/maserati-mc20-with-630-hp-launched-at-rs-3-69-crore-41680239696210.html

Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday announced that it has achieved a production milestone of 100,000 units for that latest generation Thar in less than 2.5 years. The SUV was launched in its latest form factor in October of 2020 with various updates such as a petrol engine, automatic transmission, new styling updates on the outside and a more connected and upmarket cabin. The SUV has won multiple awards and accolades for its performance and design.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/2020-mahindra-thar-achieves-production-milestone-of-100-000-units-41680082066680.html

A self-driving robotaxi developed by Chinese search provider and artificial intelligence (AI) heavyweight Baidu and Chinese carmaker FAW Hongqi participates in a test ride for seed passengers in Changsha, central China’s Hunan Province, Dec. 6, 2019. Driverless taxis are now available for hire in suburban Beijing, marking a new chapter in intelligent transport, China Daily reported Monday.
Beijing earlier in March granted licenses to Chinese tech giant Baidu and autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai to run fully driverless robotaxi services, according to the news report. This is the first time that a fully autonomous fleet of vehicles has been granted permission to operate in a world-class metropolis, the report added.

Maruti Suzuki India expects that the shortage of the semiconductor chips will last for the next few quarters, leading to further increase in order backlog of certain models. The country’s largest carmaker has pending bookings stretching to 3.69 lakh units with Ertiga having the highest number of bookings, close to 94,000.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/maruti-suzuki-says-chip-shortage-could-continue-for-few-more-quarters-41677999611456.html

MG Motor India is working on a new compact electric vehicle for the Indian market. It will be launched in India sometime later this year. Now, the brand has announced that the new electric vehicle will be called Comet. The name derives inspiration from the iconic 1934 British airplane which participated in the England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/mg-motor-s-upcoming-electric-car-for-india-named-comet-to-debut-soon-41677742583721.html

Tiago NRG is a more rugged version of the Tiago. It comes with a host of cosmetic changes to the exterior.

Tata Motors has teased a new variant of the Tiago NRG. It is expected that the new variant will be the XT variant. As of now, the Tiago NRG is only offered with the top-spec XZ. The upcoming XT variant of Tiago NRG will be more affordable than the top-spec variant and will sit below it. We are expecting Tata Motors to launch the Tiago NRG in the coming weeks.

The NRG version of the Tiago gets only cosmetic changes. The additional body cladding does give a rugged stance to the Tiago NRG. When compared, the Tiago NRG is 37 mm longer than the regular Tiago. There are no changes to the underpinnings, the additional length comes from the added body cladding in the front and back.

Source: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/renault-to-carry-on-with-separating-electric-and-combustion-engine-businesses-41659248180135.html