Take a first look at Formula E’s new Gen3 car in action

Formula E recently showed off its latest Gen3 car that it says is faster, more agile and “the world’s most efficient” racing vehicle to date. Now, we’re getting a first look at one on a track at England’s Goodwood in the form of the Mahinda M9 Electro with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel. 

On its Twitter account, Goodwood said that Heidfeld was “not holding back” and it looked like the car made a clean lap other than a few minor lockups. On track, the Gen3 design certainly looks more subdued and less dramatic than the Gen2, but it’s lighter (840kg compared to 920kg including driver) and quicker in every way.

The Gen3 model is very specifically designed for street circuit racing with high maneuverability and speeds up to 200 MPH. That’s not quite as fast as the 220-230 MPH top speeds for F1 cars, but the Formula E vehicles do that with less than half the power. They’re also highly efficient, with over double the regenerative braking capabilities of the Gen2 cars. Overall, they convert 90 percent of battery energy to mechanical power, compared to 52 percent for F1 cars. 

There are now 11 Gen3 teams confirmed with 22 cars, including DS Automobiles, Dragon/Penske, Envision, Mercedes-EQ, Avalanche Andretti, Jaguar, Maserati, NIO 333, Nissan and Porsche, along with Mahindra. The first season of Gen3 will kick off this winter with pre-season testing. 

Cruise begins charging fares for its driverless taxi service in San Francisco

GM’s Cruise has started charging passengers for fully driverless rides in San Francisco. The company secured a driverless deployment permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month, making it the first in the industry to do so. That allows Cruise to charge for rides with no safety driver behind the wheel, though its vehicles are limited to select streets in the city. In addition, the company’s paid passenger service can only operate from 10PM to 6AM, and its cars can only drive at a max speed of 30 mph.

Another limitation is that its driverless vehicles aren’t allowed on highways and can’t operate during times of heavy fog and rain. Still, it’s a major milestone, not just for Cruise, but for the nascent robotaxi industry as a whole. Cruise’s permit allows it to operate a commercial driverless ride—hailing service with a fleet of up to 30 vehicles. It previously said that it will roll out fared rides gradually, and it reiterated that plan in its latest announcement, where it noted that it’s “inviting more people” into its driverless vehicles every week. The goal is to eventually be able to offer fared rides all day across the entire city.

Cruise received permission to offer the public robotaxi rides last year, but it could only do so for free. The company, along with Waymo, was finally allowed to charge passengers this March, as long as they were rides with safety drivers behind the wheel. While Waymo can’t charge for fully autonomous rides yet, it’s still the only other company that’s been granted a drivered deployment permit, based on CPUC’s list.

Toyota recalls nearly 3,000 bZ4X EVs over potentially deadly wheel defect

Toyota’s US launch of the unpronounceable bZ4X EV is off to a rough start with the automaker announcing on Thursday a broad recall of the vehicle barely two months after its debut, due to a potentially deadly situation that could lead to the vehicle’s wheels separating while driving at speed.   

Some 2,700 of the electric crossovers are subject to the recall — 2,000 destined for the European market, 260 to the US, 110 to Japan and 20 to Canada. The company implores owners to park their vehicles immediately and not resume driving them until a more “permanent” solution can be devised.

“No one should drive these vehicles until the remedy is performed,” Toyota said in the Thursday notice. “After low-mileage use, all of the hub bolts on the wheel can loosen to the point where the wheel can detach from the vehicle. If a wheel detaches from the vehicle while driving, it could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash. The cause of the issue and the driving patterns under which this issue could occur are still under investigation.”

Subaru has issued a similar recall for about 2,600 Solterra EVs. These EVs are functionally identical to the bZ4X and are produced on the same lines at Toyota’s Motomachi facility. There’s no word yet on when Toyota engineers might have a solution for the issue.

The Polestar 5 will offer an 884 hp electric powertrain when it launches in 2024

The Polestar 5 is making its first public appearance at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England. A prototype of the upcoming four-door electric GT sports car will drive up the Goodwood hill twice daily during the event that takes place starting today, June 23rd, until June 26th as part of the “First Glance” group of vehicles. Polestar’s UK team developed a “unique bonded aluminum chassis” for the EV, which the company says is key to achieving “a driving experience that is as desirable as the design.”

The sports car’s new electric powertrain is still under development in Sweden, though, where Polestar’s sibling company Volvo is also based. Polestar 5 will have a dual electric motor setup, with a rear electric motor that uses an 800-Volt architecture. In all, the complete dual motor powertrain is expected to deliver up to 884 horsepower (650 kW) and 663 lb-ft (900 Nm) of torque.

Jörg Brandscheid, Polestar’s CTO and Head of R&D, says: 

“The new powertrain we are working on will set a new brand benchmark in our high-performing cars. Combining strong electric motor engineering ability with advances in light-weight platform technology is leading to truly stunning driver’s cars.”

Polestar 5 is the production version of a concept EV called Precept, which was introduced back in 2020. When the company announced that it was going to turn the concept into a real vehicle, it said it was going to manufacture the EV at a new carbon neutral facility in China. The new images of the Polestar 5 show that it still resembles the original concept, with its “shark-like” nose and geometric creasing, though the automaker could still make changes to its final version. If you want to see how Polestar created a real vehicle out of a concept, you can watch a short series about the process on YouTube. 

The company plans to launch Polestar 5 in 2024 after launching the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 electric SUVs. With all these vehicles in its lineup, including the Polestar 2, the brand is bound to become a veritable Tesla rival. Speaking of Polestar 2, the automaker is also debuting a high-performance limited edition version of the EV at Goodwood Festival, where attendees will have the opportunity to book it for a test drive.

Ferrari says 60 percent of its lineup will be electrified by 2026

Ferrari has announced at an investor presentation that it will 60 percent electrified by 2026, including the EV it promised last year. At that point, 40 percent of its cars will be combustion and 60 percent will be either hybrid or all electric. The eventual aim is to become carbon neutral by 2030, but even then, it will continue to develop internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. 

By 2026, Ferrari will offer “three powertrains with distinctive driving emotions,” it said. It’ll borrow hybrid powertrain tech from its F1 and other racing experience, while its electric engines will be “designed, handcrafted and assembled in Maranello to ensure a unique driving experience also derived from racing solutions.”

Ferrari unveiled its first production plug-in hybrid, the SF90 Stradale, back in 2019. It now has four separate model lineups with the Stradale and 296 GTB plug-in V6 hybrid, along with the pure ICE 812 Superfast V12 and Roma V8 models. So in effect, half its lineup is already electrified, as Autocar points out. That mix will soon change, though. The luxury automaker also confirmed that it’s much-anticipated Purosangue SUV will arrive in September as a pure ICE vehicle, to start with. 

As for the EV set to arrive in 2025, Ferrari is aiming to have “strong commonalities” with its current combustion engines. “The first electric Ferrari will be rooted in our racing heritage and will draw from a broader technical reservoir while preserving all its authenticity and consistency,” said CEO Benedetto Vigna, adding that it will be “really unique from many different points of view.” 

The batteries will also be assembled by Ferrari in Maranello in dedicated e-building facility “where electric engines, inverters, and batteries will be designed, handcrafted and assembled,” the company said. It also revealed that it would limit self-driving autonomy to “Level 2/2+” and that “connectivity is first and foremost provided to enhance the ownership experience and the relationship with the client.”

Uber expands its airport reservation service globally

Uber is rolling out its airport reservation service to more locations not only in the US, but also in other countries just as people are becoming more comfortable with traveling again. The service’s Reserve at Airports service rolled out to over 20 airports across the US in 2021, giving arriving passengers the power to reserve Uber Black and Uber Black SUV rides for up to 30 days in advance. Now, the service is available at 55 airports around the world, 39 of which are in the US (a full list is at the bottom of this article). 

Uber’s Reserve service has special tools ordinary rides don’t have access to. In addition to allowing customers to reserve a ride 30 days in advance, it can also track their flight information and automatically adjust their reservation time. That way, they can be sure a driver is waiting for them by the time they land, even if their flight gets delayed. Drivers can also wait for passengers for up 60 minutes without extra charge, giving them ample time to get their luggage or grab a bite before stepping out of the airport. Plus, passengers don’t have to lug around heavy suitcases for long, since their rides will pick them up at the curb.

The company originally launched its Reserve option back in 2020 to help customers “meet those moments that call for more assurance.” It matches passengers with drivers from the start, even if they reserve a month in advance, and it also presents them with an exact fare when they book. The service will certainly be more expensive than a bus ride, but it does sound like a great option for those who don’t want to have to worry about catching a cab the moment they arrive at their destination. 

The new additions to the list of airports where passengers can schedule pick-ups are: Austin (AUS), Burbank (BUR), Indianapolis (IND), Jacksonville (JAX), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Minneapolis – St. Paul (MSP), Milwaukee (MKE), Montreal (YUL), Oakland (OAK), Orange County (SNA), San Antonio (SAT), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), Tampa Bay (TPA), Vancouver (YVR), Bologna (BLQ), Cape Town (CPT), Johannesburg (JNB + HLA), Milan (LIN + MXP), Nice (NCE), Paris (CDG), Rome (CIA + FCO).

Sony Honda Mobility Inc. is the new name of Sony and Honda’s EV business

After Sony and Honda announced plans to form a separate company for their joint electric vehicle partnership, they’ve now given it a name. Yes, the new business is called Sony Honda Mobility Inc. and will be established in Tokyo before the end of 2022, with EV sales set to start in 2025, Sony said in a press release.

Each company holds an equal 50 percent share, with Honda executive Yasuhide Mizuno appointed chairman and CEO, and Sony EVP Izumi Kawanishi president and COO. As Sony detailed previously, the partnership will utilize “Honda’s cutting edge environmental and safety technologies, mobility development capabilities, vehicle body manufacturing technology, and after-sales service management experience.” Meanwhile, Sony will contribute “imaging, sensing, telecommunication, network and entertainment technologies.” 

Honda is far behind rivals in EV development, with its only electric car being the Honda E — but it’s accelerated its plans of late. Earlier this year it unveiled a partnership with GM to co-develop a series of affordable EVs using a global architecture and GM’s Ultium battery technology. The aim is to have Honda and Acura SUVs going on sale in North America by 2024. 

Honda also announced plans last year to shift its entire vehicle lineup to EVs and fuel-cell vehicles by 2040. As part of that, it’s going to invest $40 billion and launch 30 new EVs by 2030. Sony, meanwhile has already showed not just one but two electric vehicles of its own design, the Vision-S EV and Vision-S 02 electric SUV. It’s not clear how all Sony Honda Mobility fits into all these plans, but we should be learning more about it in the near future.

NHTSA: ‘Self-driving’ cars were linked to 392 crashes in 10 months

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its first batch of data for semi-autonomous driving technology. As The New York Timesexplains, the agency linked 392 crashes to partial self-driving and driver assistance systems in the 10 months between July 1st, 2021 and May 15th, 2022. About 70 percent of those, 273, were Tesla vehicles using Autopilot or the Full Self-Driving beta. Honda cars were tied to 90 incidents, while Subaru models were involved in 10. Other makes, including Ford, GM, VW and Toyota, had five incidents or less.

Out of the 98 crashes with injury reports, 11 resulted in serious injuries. Five of the Tesla incidents were fatal. The 130 total crashes for self-driving systems included 108 with other cars and 11 with “vulnerable” road users like cyclists and pedestrians.

The findings are a response to a Standing General Order requiring that car manufacturers and operators report crashes to the NHTSA when Level 2 or higher autonomy is active at the time of the incident. The transportation agency hopes the info will support a “more data-driven approach” to safely rolling out self-driving tech, including regulation and education.

As administration head Steven Cliff told the press, the data doesn’t offer any conclusions by itself. There are roughly 830,000 Autopilot-equipped Tesla vehicles in the US, for instance — they may dominate incident reports simply because they’re some of the most common semi-autonomous cars. Ford, GM and others have equivalents, but they’re frequently optional (Autopilot is standard on Teslas) and simply rarer on the road.

The statistics nonetheless draw attention to multiple investigations into crashes like these, including from the National Transportation Safety Board. One Tesla driver in California is also facing felony charges from state prosecutors over a deadly 2019 incident. While companies like Tesla have long argued that their driver assists are safer than exclusively human control, the NHTSA, NTSB and other bodies clearly want a better understanding of real-world safety issues before they embrace autonomous driving in earnest.

Ford voluntarily recalls 49,000 Mach-Es due to overheating batteries

Ford has announced a recall for 48,924 Mustang Mach-E EVs and asked dealers to pause deliveries of the vehicle. The company said there’s a possibility of the high-voltage battery connectors overheating, which could prevent the vehicle from starting or cause it to lose propulsion power while on the road.

According to Automotive News, Ford claims it should be able to fix the issue with an over-the-air software update, which will be rolled out next month. Alternatively, owners can take their Mach-E to a Ford or Lincoln dealer and have the update installed there. Affected vehicles were built between May 27th, 2020, and May 24th, 2022 at Ford’s factory in Cuautitlán, Mexico.

There’s no open National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into the problem, Ford says, which means this is a voluntary recall. Still, it’s not a great look for the company.