Toyota Accelerates Automated-Driving Push
Through the acquisition of the U.S. high-tech mapping company Carmera Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. expects to get a boost in its pursuit of higher-level autonomous capabilities in the next several years.
Toyota’s in-house automated-driving subsidiary Woven Planet and Carmera have been working on projects together since 2018. Those collaborations laid the groundwork for the acquisition. Carmera’s technology melds existing inexpensive camera technologies to automatically record and upload changes to the highways and byways as vehicles drive by.
Read the article at The Car Gossip.
The Power of the ‘Word’ On the Street!
By Steve Bender, CEO, Fleet Street Remarketing
Heading into 2021, everyone here at Fleet Street – and most likely many of you reading this – was feeling the unfortunate effects of the Covid pandemic.
From devastating business interruptions to uncertainty about the well-being of friends and family, 2020 was a roller coaster full of wild ups and downs. Perhaps worst of all, most of us were forced to go without the vital human connections we all covet as important industry gatherings and trade shows were canceled, business travel curtailed, and the world hunkered down in hopes of staying safe, healthy and Covid free.
And while a year that started out with so much promise ultimately turned out to be an incredible challenge, it appears as though we’ve turned the corner and life is returning to normal.
Rivian Delays First Electric Pickup Deliveries to September
Rivian has delayed the first deliveries of its long-awaited electric pickup truck again, this time until September. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe broke the news to buyers in an email sent Friday morning.
The Amazon and Ford-backed EV startup originally planned to start delivering its electric pickup, the R1T, and its SUV, the R1S, in 2020. But it scuttled those plans at the beginning of the pandemic and said at the time that it would start deliveries in 2021 instead. Rivian eventually settled on starting deliveries of the R1T in June of this year, only to push that back to July, and now to September.
“We know you can’t wait to get behind the wheel of your vehicle,” Scaringe wrote in the email. “Earlier this summer, we announced that deliveries would begin in July; however, the timing for the first deliveries of the R1T has shifted to September, with the R1S shortly thereafter in the fall. I wanted to be sure you heard this from me directly.”
Read the article at The Verge.
Longest Range Plug-In Hybrids For 2021
In 2021, automakers are producing more plug-in hybrids than ever. With a highly saturated market, there's plenty of options available.
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime: Electric Range 42 Miles. The Prime can go 42 miles on a single charge, making it the longest range PHEV crossover. It also has a 302 horsepower total output, which can get the Prime to sixty 5.7 seconds. Plus, it's AWD as standard, and overall, the RAV4 Prime is the most solid option for plug-in hybrid crossovers.
2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid: Electric Range 32 Mile. A plug-in hybrid minivan is excellent for many reasons, but the most evident is that most in-town driving will be on electric power, and road trips can be on gasoline. With a 520-mile range and the versatility of utilizing both gasoline and electric propulsion, the Pacifica Hybrid may be one of the best new minivan options.
Read the article at InsideEVs.
Presenting Car and Driver’s 2021 EV of the Year
If an automaker wanted to convert people from EV skeptics to EV evangelists, it's hard to imagine a better vehicle for the job than the Ford Mustang Mach-E. It arrives in the familiar shape and size of the crossovers Americans love, at a price that competes with gas-powered alternatives, and with a design that gets noticed.
The Mach-E has the range and charging speed to wave off the most common EV criticisms, and thanks to Electrify America's recent work, there's a nationwide charging network that makes long interstate trips not just possible but tolerable.
Best of all, the Mach-E is fun. It moves us past the argument that we should drive EVs because they're better for the environment and proposes a simpler, more fundamental truth: EVs can be as rewarding to drive as their gas counterparts.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
