Baidu’s latest robotaxi has a removable steering wheel

Automakers are frequently keen to show off self-driving concept cars without steering wheels, but Baidu is close to putting a vehicle like this on real-world roads. The tech giant has unveiled a new robotaxi, the Apollo RT6, with a removable steering wheel. The option lets ride hailing services offer more space for passengers — this can include extra seats, work desks or even game consoles.

The RT6 unsurprisingly includes Baidu’s newest autonomous driving tech. The Level 4 system (full self-driving under specific conditions) uses a total of 38 sensors, including eight LiDAR units and 12 cameras, to navigate dense urban environments. The company didn’t mention range for the all-electric design, but the flat floor, sliding doors and “interactive” lights should make your commute more enjoyable.

More importantly, the machine is production-ready. The car will cost businesses the equivalent of $37,000 in China, and it should first enter use with Baidu’s own Apollo Go service in 2023. The relatively modest price will make it practical for the company to roll out “tens of thousands” of vehicles across China, and it envisions a future where robotaxi fares cost half as much as those of conventional rides. While that’s not great news for taxi drivers, it suggests that driverless ride hailing could soon be relatively ubiquitous in the country.

OnStar expands emergency response and roadside assistance to motorcyclists

General Motors has been putting its OnStar in-vehicle safety and security suite into its vehicles since 1997 with the system having undergone numerous evolutions, upgrades and expansions in the last quarter century. Soon its roadside assistance and crash monitoring services will be available to two-wheeled motorists and homebodies as well, the company announced on Thursday.

As part of a modernizing redesign OnStar is making its Guardian crash monitoring and roadside assistance features available to motorcyclists. The service will rely on the accelerometer and other sensors in the rider’s cellphone to determine if a crash has occurred (rather than using the vehicle’s sensor suite as would happen in an automobile wreck) but otherwise is identical to the existing triage and response process. The roadside assistance will include jump starts, gas deliveries and flatbed tows.

The company is also expanding its Alexa integration, which GM began testing last year with select OnStar subscribers. Like having a red telephone to 911, this service will immediately connect members “to an OnStar Emergency Certified Advisor” through their Alexa-connected device, “in scenarios where Members need to call for help hands-free and time is of the essence.” Today, that Alexa skill is available to every US OnStar subscriber.

Ford will use new battery tech to help it build 600,000 EVs per year

Ford is refining its plans to expand EV production, and it will partly lean on new battery materials to achieve those goals. The automaker now expects to hit a global production rate of 600,000 EVs per year by late 2023 thanks in part to lithium iron phosphate battery packs in some of its vehicles, starting with Mustang Mach-Es sold in North America (in 2023) and F-150 Lightnings (in early 2024). The chemistry will expand Ford’s capacity, allow for “many years” of use with little range loss, cut manufacturing costs and reduce the dependence on shortage-prone materials like nickel.

At that 600,000-EV rate, nearly half (270,000) of the vehicles produced will be Mustang Mach-Es destined for China, Europe and North America. The F-150 Lightning in North America will account for 150,000 EVs, while the rest include 150,000 electric Transit vans and 30,000 units of a still-unnamed European SUV. Ford said it has secured all the yearly battery capacity it needs to make this target, and 70 percent of the capacity it needs to reach a more ambitious objective of 2 million EVs per year by late 2026.

The news comes just hours after a report that Ford may cut up to 8,000 jobs to help fund its EV plans. The brand recently split into combustion and EV divisions to help with the electric transition, and has committed to spending $50 billion on electrification.

Ford had floated the 600,000-EV production target before. However, the battery developments and narrower timeframe paint a clearer picture of how that growth will take place. As it stands, there’s mounting pressure on the company to ramp up its manufacturing. It only built 27,140 EVs in 2021, and has a significant backlog — you can’t even place a standard retail order for the 2022 Mach-E “due to high demand.” To some extent, the improved scale is as much about catching up as it is preparing for an all-electric future.

Ford is reportedly planning to cut 8,000 jobs to help fund its EV plans

Ford is reportedly planning to cut up to 8,000 jobs over the coming weeks in an effort to fund its plans to build EVs, according to Bloomberg. The layoffs would occur at its Ford Blue unit, recently created to develop vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE), and would affect other salaried positions in the company. The bulk of cuts are expected to occur in the US.

In March, Ford CEO Jim Farley restructured the company, dividing it into the Ford Blue and Model E divisions, with the latter dedicated to electric cars and pickups like the Mach E and F150 Lightning. As part of that, he announced plans to cut $3 billion in costs by 2026, with the aim of transforming Ford Blue into “the profit and cash engine” for the entire company.

“As part of this, we have laid out clear targets to lower our cost structure to ensure we are lean and fully competitive with the best in the industry,” Ford’s CCO Mark Truby told Bloomberg in a statement, without revealing more details about the cuts. Ford currently employees around 31,000 salaried US workers. 

In March, the automaker announced plans to boost electric vehicle spending to $50 billion and plan to build two million EVs by 2026. The company sold just 27,140 EVs stateside last year, but got a significant 76.6 percent boost last month as shipping commenced for the F-150 Lightning. 

Jury finds Tesla just ‘1%’ responsible for a Florida teen’s crash

Tesla is receiving minimal blame for a fiery 2018 crash in South Florida, which killed two teenagers and injured another. A jury today found Tesla just one percent responsible for the crash, reports the AP, which means it’s only responsible for paying $105,00 of the $10.5 million awarded to the teen’s family. 90 percent of the blame was placed on the teen driver, Barrett Riley, while his father James Riley received nine percent of the blame.

According to an NTSB investigation, Barrett Riley was driving at 116 mph in a 30 mph zone near Fort Lauderdale Beach. The agency concluded he most likely lost control of the vehicle. James Riley initially sued Tesla over the crash, claiming that it would have been survivable if the electric car’s lithium ion batteries hadn’t “burst into an uncontrollable and fatal fire.” He also noted that the company removed a speed limiter that was meant to keep the vehicle under 85 mph. An investigation later found that his son had asked a Tesla dealership to remove that limiter.

Tesla lawyers argued that Riley’s parents were negligent by allowing him to drive the car, despite his record of reckless driving and speeding. They denied negligence on the company’s part. After the crash in 2018, Tesla released an update allowing drivers to set their own speed limits, a feature initially dedicated to Barrett Riley.

US Postal Service to boost purchases of electric vehicles

WASHINGTON (AP) — The US Postal Service plans to substantially increase the number of electric-powered vehicles it’s buying to replace its fleet of aging delivery trucks, officials said Wednesday.

The Postal Service anticipates boosting electric vehicles from 20 percent to 50 percent in its initial purchase of 50,000 vehicles — with the first of them rolling onto delivery routes next year. It also proposes buying an additional 34,500 commercially available vehicles over two years, officials said.

The proposal, to be posted in the Federal Register on Thursday, came after 16 states, environmental groups and a labor union sued to halt purchases of next-generation delivery vehicles under the initial plan that was skewed heavily toward gas-powered trucks.

The new environmental proposal effectively pauses the purchases at 84,500 total vehicles — 40 percent electric — even as the Postal Service seek to buy up to 165,000 next-generation vehicles over the next decade to replace aging delivery trucks that went into service between 1987 and 1994.

Future purchases would focus on smaller amounts of vehicles in shorter intervals than the original 10-year environmental analysis, officials said. 

The goal is to be more responsive to the Postal Service’s evolving operational strategy, technology improvements and changing market conditions, the Postal Service said in a statement. A public hearing on the new proposal will be held next month.

The next-generation delivery vehicles are taller to make it easier for postal carriers to grab packages and parcels that make up a greater share of volume. They also have improved ergonomics and climate control. 

GM’s 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV will have a max range of 320 miles

GM previewed its 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV today in a variety of trims — including the SS performance model — adding the two-row mid-size crossover to its growing lineup of all-electric cars. As far as SUVs go, the Chevy Blazer hasn’t ever been the most eye-catching or highest rated. But the new Blazer EV could stand out as a solid, reasonably priced electric mid-sized SUV in a market filled with (way too many) options. The vehicles include a 11.5 kW AC charging module for at-home charging and charging capability of up to 190 kilowatts. Roughly 10 minutes of charging will add up to 78 miles of range. 

The 2024 Blazer EVs take things in a dramatically different direction than older models of the Blazer, at least design-wise. The exterior is a tad more aggressive and futuristic than older models of the Blazer. The RS model features 21-inch wheels and a black grille and accents and the SS features a black roof, ultra-thin 22-inch wheels. Depending on the size of the battery pack, the RS has a maximum range of 320 miles, while the SS can run for 290 miles. The SS model can produce up to 557 horsepower and has a high-performance mode known WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode that can enable 0-60 mph times of less than 4 seconds. Both the RS and SS models feature heated front and rear outboard seating (though on the RS it’s an additional charge) and a flat-bottom steering wheel and sculpted vents.

The most bare-bones option of the bunch, the LT (with two different trim levels), comes with 18-inch wheels and a monochromatic coat. The 2LT delivers an estimated range of 293 miles, while the 1LT can go for 247 miles on a single charge.  

The vehicles are all equipped with a 17.7-inch-diagonal screen and Chevy’s infotainment system. To top it off, the Blazer EV is built on GM’s Ultium EV platform, which kind of serves as a unified battery system for all of GM’s electric vehicles. The automaker believes that using just one battery — the Ultium — for all of its EVs will cut down production costs and allow it to easily convert to an all-electric lineup by 2035.

The new cars will arrive next year: The 2LT and RS will debut in the summer of 2023, and are priced starting around $47,595 and $51,995, respectively. The SS will arrive later next year, and starts at $65,995. Finally, the 1LT will debut sometime in the first quarter of 2024 and start at $44,995. You can reserve one starting today. 

Lucid’s Air Grand Touring EV delivers luxurious speed and range

We were impressed with the Lucid Air Dream Edition earlier this year, even though it was just a pre-production vehicle. Well, the automaker gave time behind the wheel of its latest top-of-the-line Grand Touring Performance model with all the proper pieces of hardware and software ready to go. This is a Lucid you can actually buy — although the starting price is $179,000. We have to say, it’s better than anticipated.

The Grand Touring and Grand Touring Performance deliver on the Lucid promise to take on the German sport sedans in an all-EV package. The newish automaker was so confident in the 1,050 horsepower Performance trim level that it took it to the Goodwood Festival hill climb and was victorious in the production vehicle category. The regular $154,000 Grand Touring model is a touch slower — it takes 3 seconds to hit 60MPH, rather than 2.6 in the Performance — but you’ll get another 70 miles of range (516 total, compared to the Performance’s 446). 

All of which is to say, the Lucid Air GT models are more than just fast electric sedans. Check out the video below for the full story.