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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

The Hyundai Ioniq lineup of electrified vehicles is being updated for 2019 with new safety technologies, more voice-recognition features and standard remote charge management for electric and plug-in hybrid models. Models equipped with navigation capabilities will get an enhanced, natural-language, server-based voice-recognition with a new point-of-interest search database that can suss out locations of charging stations. Driver attention alert and high-beam assist are new available features, along with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, which is standard for the SEL trim along with lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control. Hyundai says it's working with ChargePoint, which operates more than 32,000 electric-vehicle charging stations, to provide Ioniq owners with access cards and the ability to locate charging stations through the MyHyundai/Blue Link mobile app. Ioniq Electric and PHEV models come with Blue Link-, Google- or Alexa-enabled capability to manage … [Read more...] about 2019 Hyundai Ioniq gets new safety, infotainment tech

TOKYO — Tesla's battery cell supplier Panasonic said on Wednesday it is aiming to develop automotive batteries without using cobalt in the near future, amid soaring prices of the key battery ingredient. Top battery makers are scrambling to reduce cobalt content in lithium-ion batteries as prices of the mineral have multiplied over the recent years and the spread of electric vehicles is expected to result in cobalt shortages eventually. "We have already cut down cobalt usage substantially," Kenji Tamura, who is in charge of Panasonic's automotive battery business, said at a meeting with analysts. "We are aiming to achieve zero usage in the near future, and development is underway." Panasonic is the exclusive battery cell supplier for Tesla's mass-market Model 3 sedan, producing the cells at their joint Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada. Tesla said early this month that battery cells used in Model 3 have achieved the highest energy density while "significantly reducing cobalt … [Read more...] about Panasonic plans to eliminate cobalt in EV batteries

Hyundai says it is investing $388 million to build a new plant in Alabama to manufacturing engine heads and update technology in an existing engine plant to support production of new Sonata and Elantra sedans and the Santa Fe crossover. The investment will also include 50 new jobs at its manufacturing complex in Montgomery. About $40 million will go toward constructing a new 260,000-square-foot engine-head machining plant, which is expected to be completed in November and operational by mid-2019. Hyundai says the project will free up space to expand engine assembly lines in two existing engine plants in Alabama. Hyundai plans to begin producing the Theta III engine, likely a 2.5-liter four-cylinder (though Hyundai won't confirm the specs yet), in April 2019 for the Sonata and Santa Fe crossover. It will continue to build the 2.0-liter Nu engine for the Elantra at its plant in Montgomery. Together, the engine plants build about 700,000 engineers per year to support vehicle production … [Read more...] about Hyundai plans $388 million expansion at engine plant in Alabama

While we wait for augmented reality to come to our windshields, Porsche is putting the technology to work behind the scenes in dealership repair bays. The carmaker's Tech Live Look system establishes a video call between dealer service technicians and Atlanta-based Porsche tech experts through a set of glasses equipped with HD video and a small screen — think Google Glass meets a PowerPoint presentation. When the dealer tech at any of Porsche's 189 U.S. dealers has a problem, he can call the experts at Porsche HQ in Atlanta. When the tech puts on his ODG R-7 smart glasses and hooks into the AiR Enterprise software, the Atlanta-based expert gets high-def video of everything the tech looks at. In Atlanta, the expert can make notations on his screen, or take a screenshot and enlarge it, then superimpose those notations and detail snapshots on one of the R-7 lenses. The Atlanta support can also project tech bulletins, schematics, and documents onto the R-7 lens so the dealer tech … [Read more...] about Porsche’s Tech Live Look uses augmented reality to fix cars faster

MILAN/LONDON — Fiat Chrysler (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne is expected to outline new plans for electric and hybrid cars in a strategy presentation on Friday, aiming to ensure the world's seventh-largest carmaker remains in the race in the absence of a merger. The 65-year-old will present FCA's strategy to 2022, his final contribution to the company he turned around and multiplied in value through 14 years of canny dealmaking. After failing to secure a tie-up he said was necessary to manage the costs of producing cleaner vehicles, Marchionne needs to show the group can keep churning out profits on its own, even as emissions rules tighten, SUV competition intensifies and worries around his succession abound. Marchionne had long refused to jump on the electrification bandwagon, saying he would only do so if selling battery-powered cars could be done at a profit. He even urged customers not to buy FCA's Fiat 500e, its only battery-powered model, because he was losing money on each … [Read more...] about For his last act, Marchionne will outline an EV/hybrid roadmap this week