Hasta La Gadget!

Another day, another round of recalls it seems. Yesterday we heard that Subaru was recalling more than 600,000 vehicles due to a potential problem with accessory lights short circuiting and catching fire, but today it’s GM‘s turn. The company is recalling right around 69,000 trucks, vans, and SUVs due to a steering column defect that could potentially allow the cars to roll away after being put in park.

That is obviously no good, and specifically, the problem centers around faulty park lock cables and warped steering column lock actuator gears. If your car is affected by the issue, it means you could potentially shift your car from park without the key in the ignition or without pressing the brake pedal while the key is in the off position. This in turn could lead to a very bad day, and to make matters worse, this problem seems to affect a number of different models.

The 2013 Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT are the cars from Cadillac that could potentially be affected by this flaw. For Chevrolet, we’re looking at the 2013 Avalanche, Express, Silverado HD, Silverado LD, Suburban, and Tahoe. Finally, GMC cars affected by this defect include the Savana, Sierra HD, Sierra LD, Yukon, and Yukon XL. A total of 55,000 of these vehicles are currently in the US, while 6,310 are in Canada, 670 are in Mexico, and the remaining 7,084 are exports.

Despite this potentially dangerous flaw, there is some good news in that GM hasn’t had any reports of injuries or crashes. The company also says that only 1 in 1,000 of the recalled cars are believed to be affected by this issue, and that most of them are still on dealer lots or on the way to dealers. Affected cars that are still with dealers will be fixed before being sold off, while GM will be sending out letters to owners starting January 22. GM will replace the flawed steering columns at no cost to the owners.

[via Reuters]

Steering column issues force GM to recall nearly 70k trucks, SUVs, and vans is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Chevrolet released a new trailer today that teases our senses even more about Chevrolet’s upcoming 2014 Corvette. The video focuses on “calibration” and that the car “is a new level of electronic integration.” However, what got us mostly intrigued were the split-second glimpses at the new Corvette’s digital instrument panel.

We mostly just see the Corvette’s tachometer in the picture, which maxes out at a little over 7,000 RPM, although the video showed the Corvette revving up to about 6,250 RPM with little effort. The panel seems to be all digital, and in the middle of display is a 3D layout of the Corvette that most likely displays information such as tire pressure and other status info about the exterior of the car, although, some of that info is displayed to the right of the tachometer as well. Also, in one of the shots, we get a very vague look at the speedometer, which tops out at 200 MPH.

What’s perhaps most entertaining is that Chevrolet used a current-gen Corvette for the 3D layout of the car, so as to not reveal what the 2014 Corvette actually looks like. Overall, we’re not too surprised by car manufacturers going all digital for their instrument panels. A lot of newer cars already have them installed, so it’ll be a welcomed addition to the Corvette come next year.

The 2014 Corvette will be officially unveiled on January 13th at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI — Motor City, as it’s nicknamed. Until then, we get to wait in anticipation for what Corvette fans will soon get to drive off the dealer lots come mid-2013. We’re pretty excited to say the least.

2014 Corvette trailer teases digital instrument panel is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With Apple designing Siri to be our voice assistant, iOS users are able to create messages, make phone calls, create reminders, set alarms, perform searches and the likes just by using their voice. With that in mind, it is not surprising that Apple has seen potential use for Siri in cars as a means to interact with our phone without having to look at it or touch it which could lead to less accidents. This feature is also known as “Eyes Free” which was announced at the WWDC keynote and was part of Siri’s update in iOS 6. The good news is that automaker GM has announced that they will be the first of nine automakers to incorporate Siri’s Eyes Free feature into its vehicles come 2013 – the Chevrolet Spark and the Sonic LTZ and RS to be exact.

Basically what the Eyes Free feature does is that it integrates a button into automobiles in which drivers simply have to press in order to activate Siri without having to reach for their phone. Once Siri has been launched, users will be able to perform the same tasks that they normally are able to even without Eyes Free. If GM’s fleet of cars aren’t your thing, the remaining eight partners expected to introduce Eyes Free to their vehicles include BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple discussed about building a car, Siri’s Eyes Free feature will be arriving in the Chevy Spark and Sonic,

GM has already released an OnStar app that extends smartphone control to a range of vehicles, but it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it has bigger mobile plans than that. It’s now announced two new apps designed for EV owners — one that will let you help find EV chargers on your route, and another that will let you pay for the charge with your phone. The first of those is an update to OnStar’s existing RemoteLink app (presumably for both iOS and Android), which will be getting a new Spark EV Waypoint tab that’ll let you enter a destination and then have a route configured that ensures you won’t be stuck miles from the nearest charging station. GM says it will be available in time for the launch of the 2014 Spark EV. The second app, dubbed Park-Tap-Charge at the moment, is apparently still in the prototype stage, but GM promises that it will let you use your NFC-equipped smartphone to pay directly at the charging station, and also check information like the hourly rate of charging or the estimated time for a full charge before you pay. No word yet on when it will be available, though.

Continue reading GM promises two new smartphone apps to help keep your EV charged

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

GM promises two new smartphone apps to help keep your EV charged originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the biggest concerns many automotive manufacturers has with electric vehicles, and hybrids is what to do with the batteries once they are no longer appropriate for automotive use. General Motors has been conducting an investigation into what to do with the batteries from its Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle once those batteries are removed from the vehicles. GM announced a partnership with ABB today to reuse those Volt batteries.

ABB and GM will repackage five used Volt batteries into a modular unit capable of providing two hours of electricity to 3 to 5 average American homes in the event of a power outage. The uninterruptible power supply and power balancing system was demonstrated during GM’s Electrification Experience recently. The prototype unit provides 20 kW of power and 50 kWh of energy to power off support lighting and audiovisual equipment used for the event.

During the GM event, the energy storage system was run in its remote power backup mode providing 100% of the power for the facility. The power from the battery packs was ran through the ABB Energy Storage Inverter system. GM and ABB say that similar application could be used to power a group of homes or small commercial buildings during a power outage.

The system is designed to allow for the storage of power during inexpensive periods for use during more expensive times of peak demand. Battery packs can also be used to make up for gaps in production from solar, wind, or other renewable power generation systems. There is no indication of exactly how much this uninterruptible power supply using five batteries would cost or when it would be available at this time.

GM partners with ABB to create backup power storage units with old Volt batteries is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.