Scott's USA-Newsletter: Neue Einsichten, Kritik und News nicht nur zu Tesla
While we wait for NHTSA to go after Tesla and Autopilot, California prosecutors have beaten the federal regulators to the punch.
You know what I am going to say
here. Elon Musk is just as guilty as Riad for the deaths of these two
innocent people. Worse, Musk is responsible for many more deaths because
of Autopilot. He knows it is flawed but keeps selling it anyway.
But rather than rail again at Musk, I am
going to applaud these California prosecutors for taking the first step.
Do we stop pursuing autonomy altogether? I should hope not. Let's not lose sight of why we are working so hard for this future. Imagine a world where 1.3 million people don't die in car crashes each year. Would it be utopia? Would that 1.3 million deaths fall immediately to zero? No, but there would be far fewer crashes.
My daughter and her boyfriend treated me
to a Michigan basketball game last night (a belated birthday gift and annual
tradition Erin and I have). Around the top of the scoreboard read this
quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
DETROIT (AP) — California prosecutors
have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla
on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two
people in 2019.
The defendant appears to be the first person to be charged with a felony in the
United States for a fatal crash involving a motorist who was using a partially
automated driving system. Los Angeles County prosecutors filed the charges in
October, but they came to light only last week.
The driver, Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, has pleaded not guilty. Riad, a
limousine service driver, is free on bail while the case is pending.
The misuse of Autopilot, which can control steering, speed and braking, has
occurred on numerous occasions and is the subject of investigations by two
federal agencies. The filing of charges in the California crash could serve
notice to drivers who use systems like Autopilot that they cannot rely on them
to control vehicles.
https://apnews.com/article/tesla-autopilot-fatal-crash-charges-91b4a0341e07244f3f03051b5c2462ae
Tavares says 'electrification is a
technology chosen by politicians, not by industry'
PARIS --The European Commission's
strategy to phase out combustion engines in favor of EVs is a political choice
that carries environmental and social risks, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said
in an interview with European newspapers.
Since merging Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot-maker PSA Group, Tavares has mapped out
a 30 billion euro ($34 billion) electrification plan that helped Stellantis
shares surge more than 60 percent in their first year.
"What is clear is that electrification is a technology chosen by
politicians, not by industry," he said in a joint interview with France's
Les Echos, Handelsblatt, Corriere della Sera and El Mundo.
New Clarios Smart Battery for EVs, Autonomous Vehicles
Clarios Smart AGM will be a “game
changer” for the industry, providing a reliable, safety-critical battery with
real-time communications, says CEO Mark Wallace.
Clarios announced a new safety critical battery for EVs that will debut in the
next two to three years. The company says it produces of one in three of the
world’s car batteries.
Clarios Smart AGM (absorbent glass mat) will monitor its performance in
real-time, deliver continuous low-voltage power to optimize performance of the
low-voltage power supply, anticipate the need for battery maintenance and
provide safety critical operations, the company says.
“The Clarios Smart AGM will be a game changer for the industry, providing a
reliable, safety-critical battery with real-time communications,” said Mark
Wallace, Clarios CEO. “It combines the proven reliability, inherent safe
chemistry and sustainability of AGM with the real-time intelligence of our
Smart technology. Also, it will extend our Clarios xEV portfolio, a range of
advanced low-voltage batteries specifically designed to maximize EV
performance, safety and reliability.”
Clarios says its AGM batteries are already used in OEM applications to handle
the increasing electrical loads of today’s vehicles, which must meet growing
consumer expectations for safety, comfort, and connectivity. EVs require an
advanced low-voltage battery as a key component of a multi-battery system to
help provide continuous low-voltage power and provide crucial safety
functionality in critical moments of emergency. As more autonomous features are
added to vehicles, there will be an even greater reliance on the low-voltage
battery.
“Smart AGM monitors its own performance in real time,” said Jason Searl,
Clarios vice president Product Management. “The battery system senses,
diagnoses and communicates the battery condition with the ability to support
safety critical functions as well as anticipate required maintenance or
replacement.”
As part of the “Startup Challenge”, Konnect and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
screened more than 30 Israeli startups. From the final round of ten
competitors, Adasky emerged as the winner with its innovative thermal sensor
technology. This means that the Israeli company can install its innovative
sensor technology in a Level 4 autonomously driving VW vehicle as part of a
paid proof-of-concept and demonstrate its practical functionality.
"The goal of the competition was to align the best Israeli technologies
with our Mobility-as-a-Service product portfolio," said Dr. Astrid
Wollenberg, Managing Director of Konnect - Volkswagen Group Innovation Hub Tel
Aviv. »Adasky's sensor is ready for the market, allowing us to offer our
customers safe and high-quality mobility services in all weather conditions.
"Compared with radar, LIDAR and other impressive technologies, this is
important validation of the life-saving impact of our thermal sensing
technology," said Yakov Shaharabani, CEO of Adasky.
Adasky's technology detects pedestrians even when they are partially obscured
and vulnerable road users at night and in inclement weather, conditions where
most other sensors fail to see. The thermal sensor from Adasky has been
upgraded with Time-To-Collision (TTC) software and enables automatic emergency
braking (AEB) and collision warning (FCW) through its thermal imaging
technology.
Ford Motor Co. appears to be working on
an answer to one of its rival's key selling points in the ongoing truck wars.
The automaker recently filed patents for a multifunction tailgate with a door,
easy-access steps and other features.
GMC popularized such features with its MultiPro tailgate, which has been
expanded to the Chevrolet brand as Multi-Flex. Ram also offers a similar
tailgate.
The most recent tailgate patent, reported last week by CarBuzz, was filed last
July and published this month.
Ford has patented other tailgate features, including partial openings to better
load cargo.
It's unclear if Ford will produce a
multifunction tailgate or when it would be offered.
New car registrations in Europe fell 1.5% in 2021, even further below the
previous record low of 2020 sales, industry data showed on Tuesday.
A global semiconductor shortage and other supply chain issues have dampened
deliveries of cars globally, with many carmakers sitting on half-finished goods
and unable to meet demand.
Germany was hardest hit among the major EU markets, ACEA's data showed,
registering a 10.1% sales dip in the year while others such as Italy, Spain and
France saw marginal growth.
What’s the most affordable EV you can
buy? If rumors out of Fiat are to be believed, the answer to that question will
soon be “the new Fiat Panda” as Stellantis targets the bottom end of the
booming electric car market.
Set to arrive as soon as this spring, the new Fiat Panda will be an EV-only
offering from Stellantis’ “entry” Italian brand, and is expected to slot in
below the ell-electric Fiat 500e, price-wise, in the company’s lineup. Its main
objective, as the brand’s President, Oliver Francois, told AutoExpress UK, is
to “awaken the sleeping giant” he believes Fiat to be. “That’s exactly my point
of view,” he says, when discussing new models. “We have not even started
awakening the giant.”
As a product, the upcoming Fiat Panda is believed to be heavily based on Fiat’s
2019 concept, the award-winning Fiat Centoventi. At the time, the company said
it would reduce the car’s build costs by adopting a spartan design with a
limited color palette that was at once “minimalist and fully customizable.”
Over half a dozen new Tesla Model Y
vehicles were spotted at Gigafactory Texas as production has been expected to
start soon.
Does that mean that production has started?
Tesla has been aiming to start Model Y production at Gigafactory Texas in
Austin by the end of 2021.
The start of Model Y production at Gigafactory Texas is not only critical to
the company’s growth, but it also marks the launch of a new version of the
electric SUV featuring Tesla’s new structural battery pack and 4680 battery
cells.
The idea is to produce large cylindrical cells and package them into a single
module battery pack that also acts as the structural platform on which you
install the vehicle’s body.
CEO Elon Musk has touted the technology as a “manufacturing revolution” in the
auto industry.
Link
Australian miner Fortescue Metals' (FMG.AX) newly-announced deal to
supply green hydrogen to Germany is just the start as the rest of the world
will catch up with Europe's lead, Fortescue's chairman told a Berlin industry
conference on Monday.
European policymakers and industry have been embracing hydrogen as a way to
meet an EU goal for net zero emissions by 2050, but critics say it serves to
prolong the use of fossil fuels when the aim should be to get rid of them
entirely and it requires large amounts of energy to produce.
Green hydrogen has the best environmental
credentials of the various shades of the clean-burning fuel because it is produced
by using renewable energy to electrolyse water, rather than relying on
carbon-based fuel.
Rescue teams have been sent to some of
the outlying islands, including one where all the houses were destroyed and
another where just two homes remain.
There have been three deaths in the disaster - two nationals and a woman from
Britain.
Aid efforts have been hampered by ash continuing to fall from the volcano.
Volunteers have been sweeping the runway of the main airport to allow planes
bringing drinking water and other supplies to land.
On Wednesday morning in Tonga, a UN representative for the region said that
while clearing the ash had proven more difficult than expected, good progress
had been made and it was hoped that flights might soon resume.
The new government website where people can order free Covid-19 at-home rapid
antigen tests is up and running. With just names and addresses, families can go
to COVIDtests.gov and request up to four free tests to be delivered to their
homes.
The website comes online as the Biden administration faces growing pressure to
fix the coronavirus testing shortage amid the Omicron surge. The White House
says it already has tens of millions of tests ready to go. It is spending $4
billion to deliver the first 500 million tests to homes across the US.
Have you tried to order free Covid-19 tests from the federal government? Tell
us about it.
The program passes the testing pressure to the US Postal Service, which says
it's prepared to deliver.
All Covid restrictions in England could end in March under No 10 plans
Plans to end most plan B Covid
restrictions in England, including working from home guidance and Covid
passports, are also set to be finalised and announced this week or early next
week. But ministers are expected to continue in the short term with rules
mandating mask-wearing in shops and on public transport.
“There’s a few legal powers still on the statute book, not least the
requirement to self-isolate. At some point we will have to address them,” the
source said.
Some scientists warned against downgrading laws to reduce the spread of Covid,
saying it could heap pressure on the NHS, but others said it was a logical next
step.
It comes as Johnson faces the greatest pressure of his premiership over the
Downing Street parties scandal. At the weekend it emerged that his fightback
strategy, dubbed Operation Red Meat, involves drawing up or expediting measures
to appease furious MPs and voters.
--
Scott Fosgard (at) House of Journalists)
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