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In a landmark deal that could accelerate wide-scale deployment of self-driving cars, General Motors said on Thursday that Japan's SoftBank Group will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings, the carmaker's autonomous vehicle unit. GM shares jumped more than 10 percent in pre-market trade. It is one of the largest investments to date in self-driving cars. In a media briefing early Thursday at GM headquarters in Detroit, President Dan Ammann said the investment by SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund will enable GM to deploy self-driving vehicles "at massive scale." Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said the company is still "on track" to begin deploying its Cruise AVs in commercial ride sharing fleets in 2019. GM will also invest $1.1 billion in the unit after the deal closes, the company said. SoftBank Vision Fund will own a 19.6 percent stake in GM Cruise once the transaction is completed. The partners agreed not to cash out their investments in Cruise for at least seven years, … [Read more...] about SoftBank makes $2.2B investment in GM Cruise to speed self-driving cars

A little over a week after Consumer Reports announced it wouldn't recommend the Tesla Model 3 electric car, in part because of seriously long stopping distances (and other things), Tesla has made good on its promise that the braking would improve with an over-the-air update. Consumer Reports announced it retested its Model 3 with the update, and stopping distances dropped from 152 feet to 130 feet. Consumer Reports will also be renting a second Model 3 from Tesla to do further testing. It will also be interesting to see if Car and Driver, another publication that experienced braking issues, will see improvements with an updated car. According to Consumer Reports, the update included adjustments to ABS software. Musk also noted that user interface updates have also been included, which Consumer Reports also touched on, and also production line changes have been made to improve interior noise and ride quality. According to Musk, new Model 3s will use a different windshield design and … [Read more...] about Consumer Reports says Model 3 update fixed brakes, now recommended

Yet another big, free update for Gran Turismo Sport, the PlayStation 4-exclusive driving simulator, and it adds a track that, frankly, should have been there from the start: Circuit de la Sarthe. The track is the enormous course used for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And while we complain that it should have been there from the beginning, we can't be too upset when it has been added back for free. On top of the addition of the track, nine new cars become available, some of which include Le Mans greats from the late '80s and early '90s. Among those are the 1988 Jaguar XJR-9, 1989 Sauber Mercedes C9, and 1992 Nissan R92CP. A couple of Italian classics make an appearance in the form of the 1968 Fiat 500 F and 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone prototype, plus some more modern vehicles such as the 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, 2015 Subaru BRZ, 2016 Renault Sport Clio RS 220 EDC Trophy, and the 2011 Renault Sport Megane Trophy Gr. 4 race car. Rounding out the update are three new … [Read more...] about Gran Turismo Sport update adds 9 more cars and Circuit de la Sarthe for free

Not long ago, we learned that Edd China would be leaving the British TV show "Wheeler Dealers," which aired in the U.S. on Velocity. For those unfamiliar, China was the man responsible for fixing up the cars purchased on the show so they could be resold for a profit. The show was popular in part because of clear and calm examples of car repair from China. Since his departure from the show, we've wondered what's next, and now we know: a YouTube series on car restoration. China announced his participation in the new series via Twitter. It's called "Built by Many." According to the company behind the show, it will feature many videos on just one car, unlike the single hour-long episodes for one car on "Wheeler Dealers." The series, according to the company behind the project, will include "a wealth of 'how to' videos, plus a backstory on the car and the history of the legendary marque." Apparently throughout the series the team will be looking at audience feedback for the development … [Read more...] about ‘Wheeler Dealers’’ Edd China is back with new YouTube car restoration show

It's finally happening. After decades of cameras replacing boring old side mirrors on concept cars, Audi will bring the feature into production on the Audi E-Tron electric crossover SUV. They're shown on the prototype above. The optional cameras are mounted to little winglets where the standard side mirrors would have been. As for where you see the cameras' views, there will be an additional screen in the area to the left of the instrument cluster for at least the left camera. Audi wasn't totally clear about the screen for the right-hand camera. While it is cool to see a long-teased feature actually reach production, we're not entirely sure the feature is going to be that great to use. We've found the rear-view screen mirrors from Cadillac and later Nissan require some adjustment to get used to, at minimum, since the screens show a fixed angle, and they don't provide any depth perception. Audi does say the cameras improve drag, though, which can be very important for cars. Audi says … [Read more...] about Audi E-Tron EV gets side cameras instead of mirrors for aerodynamics