Every week, we get a few car photographs in our Shooting Challenges. I get it. You like cars. So for this week’s Shooting Challenge, take a really fantastic photograph of a car. More »
Drivers beware: new research from MIT’s Age Lab suggests that a badly chosen typeface for your dashboard can worsen distraction and increase your chance of crashing. More »
Sure, topping off a Model S in 30 minutes with a Supercharger is awfully handy, but production delays of the sedan will keep some future owners away from quick charge times — and most importantly — their cars for a little while longer. In a freshly published filing with the US Securities Exchange and Commission, Tesla revealed that it hasn’t reached its goal of producing 400 Model S vehicles a week, which places them four to five weeks behind their 2012 delivery expectations. To date, just 255 of the autos have rolled off the assembly line, 132 of which have made their way to new homes. According to the Palo Alto-based outfit, ramping up production has been slower than expected for a number of reasons, including supplier delays and taking a deliberately measured pace for quality assurance purposes.
Before the year draws to a close, Musk and Co. anticipate meeting their goal of churning out 400 cars each week, and a total of 20,000 by the end of 2013. Currently, the automaker has racked up around 13,000 reservations and thinks it’ll be working to fulfill even more throughout 2013. As a result of the manufacturing lag, the firm has slashed its revenue forecast by as much as $200 million, estimating it’ll rake in anywhere from $400 million to $440 million this year. In an effort to add cash to its coffers, the company is putting up roughly 5 million shares of stock for sale. Who’s buying, you say? Tesla mentioned its CEO Elon Musk is interested in putting down a cool million bucks.
Filed under: Transportation
Tesla behind on Model S production goals, aims for extra cash with stock sale originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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They say not to drink and drive, and obviously, alcohol is the offending chemical here, but nobody mentioned anything about your car clocking up additional mileage through shots of whisky infused into its fuel tank. We are referring to by-products of whisky being turned into biofuel, with a deal being signed recently for a Scottish distillery to perform this ‘miracle’. Touted to be the world’s first such procedure, the Tullibardine distillery in Perthshire has collaborated with a spin-out company from Napier University in Edinburgh, where the master plan includes using bacteria to feed on the “leftovers” from the whisky making process. In turn, this produces butanol that can then be used to keep your gas guzzler running.
It must be said that over 90% of the stuff that is churned out by a whisky distillery is not drinkable whisky, but rather, those leftovers such as draff and pot ales which are far higher in sugar content could be used for other more practical items, including fertilizer, cattle feed, and now, biofuel for vehicles.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Patent Talks About Syncing iPhone And Car, Gaming Technology Makes Car Crash Testing More Accurate,
Toyota’s just-arrived RAV4 EV will soon get a much smaller cousin — albeit a very elusive one. An electric version of the iQ city car will arrive in Japan (as the eQ) and the US (as the iQ EV) this December, but the automaker is significantly scaling back its 2010 promises of several thousand cars sold per year to just 100 fleet-oriented vehicles. The charging times, costs and range of EVs “do not meet society’s needs,” vice chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada says to explain the smaller ambitions. It’s easy to understand the cautious approach after seeing the car’s final details. While they’re not out of line with the specs of other EVs, the eQ’s 3-hour fast charge, 62-mile range and ¥3.6 million ($46,130) price wouldn’t have regular customers flocking to dealerships. Most of Toyota’s energy is instead being funneled into its tried-and-true hybrids, with 21 due on the market by 2015, as well as plans to deliver the company’s first hydrogen fuel cell car by the same year. Eco-conscious drivers may be disappointed that Toyota isn’t moving as aggressively into a pure electric realm as some of its rivals, but we’d rather see smartly planned baby steps than an overly risky plunge.
Filed under: Transportation
Toyota plans dialed-back launch of eQ and iQ EV city cars in December originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T’s already working on an app to keep folks from texting while driving, but earlier this month it gave folks at a Los Angeles hackathon the chance to develop their own solution. David Grau, a creative director and designer at an interactive agency, and 11-year-old Victoria Walker were awarded $20,000 by Big Blue to bring their smartphone application to the public. Dubbed Rode Dog, the prize-winning software allows friends and family to organize themselves into “packs” and monitor their text messaging habits. Watchful users can spot when a fellow group member is texting and initiate a barking noise on the offender’s phone. Much like squawking seat belt systems, the app is designed to remind drivers of their wrongdoing and doesn’t stop the ruckus until they acknowledge it. If you’d rather have a chicken or other animal grab your attention, the duo crafted an in-app shop that offers other wildlife sound sound effects. Rode Dog isn’t expected to hit iOS, Android and Windows Phone until its fully polished, but you can sign up to receive word of its launch at the second source link below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Mobile
11-year-old wins $20,000 at AT&T hackathon for creating app that discourages texting while driving originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 05:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It doesn’t take much driving to notice that many in-car infotainment systems are custom-built and locked down tight. The Linux Foundation sees it differently and wants our cars to embrace the same notions of common roots and open code that we’d find in an Ubuntu box. Its newly-formed Automotive Grade Linux Workgroup is transforming Tizen into a reference platform that car designers can use for the center stack, or even the instrument cluster. The promise is to both optimize a Linux variant for cars and provide the same kind of years-long support that we’d expect for the drivetrain. Technology heavy-hitters like Intel, Harman, NVIDIA, Samsung and TI form the core of the group, although there are already automakers who’ve signaled their intentions: Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota are all part of the initial membership. We don’t know how soon we’ll be booting into Tizen on the morning commute, but we’d expect in-car systems to take a step forward — just as long as we don’t have to recompile our car’s OS kernel.
Filed under: Transportation
Linux Foundation forms Automotive Grade Workgroup, aims to open-source your ride with Tizen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Toyota had said its all-electric RAV4 would be ready to tour the California streets at some point “late summer,” and with the warmest of seasons coming to an end, the Japanese company’s declared September 24th as the date the SUV will go on sale. What’s more, today’s press release reveals the RAV4 EV boasts a brilliant 103-mile range and 78 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), which, as Autoblog points out, makes this the first non-Tesla-branded EV with an EPA rating of 100-plus miles. If all that is still not enough for you to shell out the $50,000 (not counting rebates and tax credits, of course), Toyota dealers are expected to offer a 36-month lease option for anyone in The Golden State who prefers a shorter-term commitment.
Continue reading Toyota RAV4 EV hits California roads on September 24th with 103-mile range
Filed under: Transportation
Toyota RAV4 EV hits California roads on September 24th with 103-mile range originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Sep 2012 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Toyota announced its new all electric 2012 RAV4 SUV several months ago. The EV will go on sale in California to begin with through select dealers who focus on major metropolitan areas. Toyota has announced special financing and customer lease options for the RAV4 EV.
Toyota says that the vehicle will go on sale the week of September 24 at the previously announced MSRP of $49,800. Toyota is giving customers the option to purchase or lease with special purchase financing of 1.9% APR for qualified customers. A 36-month lease option will cost $599 per month with $3499 before driving off in the car.
Toyota plans to sell 2600 RAV4 EVs through 2014. Whether or not Toyota will be able to sell that many of the EVs remains to be seen. Toyota’s electric competition such as the Nissan Leaf has been unable to meet sales targets.
The EV is expected to qualify for the California $2500 Clean Vehicle Rebate Program and is eligible for the $7500 Federal Tax Credit. The electric SUV will also qualify for the California High Occupancy Vehicle lane white sticker program. The electric RAV4 is EPA rated for a driving range of 103 miles with 78 city MPGe and 76 combined MPGe.
Toyota RAV4 EV ready to roll into California is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Land Rover has previously shown off the new 2013 Range Rover, its top-of-the-line SUV, in Europe only. Land Rover has now gone official with the unveiling the event for the United States. The official US unveil for the high-end SUV was conducted at Stone Mansion in New Jersey.
Along with the official US unveil came the official US pricing for the SUV. The 2013 Range Rover will start at $83,500. We already know most of the details of the 2013 Range Rover, but I’ll run down all the important details again. The 2013 Range Rover went on a diet courtesy of an all aluminum unibody structure that is lighter and stronger than ever before.
Copious use of aluminum in the SUV allowed the new Range Rover to save about 700 pounds of weight compared to the previous generation. While the vehicle is lighter it has also been developed from the ground up to be an exceptionally capable off-road vehicle. The US version of the Range Rover will use a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 engine.
The Range Rover starts at $83,500, and a high-end Autobiography version of the SUV will sell for $130,950. The new Range Rover also gets special suspension for improved ride comfort and gains 4.7-inches of legroom in the backseat compared to previous models. The new SUV also gets Land Rover’s new Terrain Response 2 Auto system that automatically selects the appropriate driving mode for the conditions.
2013 Range Rover makes its US debut is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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