Featured Threads Archive

Interesting and wide ranging interview with Ford's CEO regarding technology, future cars, EVs, autonomous driving, etc.:

Meet the new Ford, a Silicon Valley software company | The Verge

"Ford recently spun off its next-generation mobility initiatives into a wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Smart Mobility LLC, with operations centered in Palo Alto. That’s a long, long way from Ford headquarters in Dearborn. (2,421 miles, to be exact.) We sat down with Fields to discuss the spin-off, the state of his business, and what it means for the 113-year-old Ford Motor Company to exist in a post-car world."

This week, Tony, Paul, Patrick, Mark, Evan and Russell take a look at: Post Oil Saudi Arabia March 2016 Plug-In Electric Vehicle Sales In US Hit All-Time Record High BMW EV's attempt a record at Formula E Race in Long Beach Faraday Future loves the Model 3 China’s Companies Poised to Take Leap in Developing a Driverless Car

Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us

Hi. I'm looking at doing rideshare with a 2007 Prius, and I'm told it has no less than 403701 miles on it. Should I be aware of such high miles on a 10 year old hybrid? What are acceptable mileage (ranges) for a 2007 Prius? Thanks

As always, an excellent report from Jeff Cobb:
March 2016 Dashboard

	Model	16_03	16_02	16_01	15_12
1	Prius Liftback	8130	7169	6333	10153
2	Ram Pickup Diesel	4729	4153	3193	4531
3	RAV4	3073	2462	1973	1430
4	Model S	3000	1900	1300	3202
5	Prius C	2607	2263	1763	2861
6	Fusion Hybrid	2057	1764	1373	1960
7	Sonata	1884	1588	964	1138
8	Volt	1865	1126	996	2114
9	Camry Hybrid	1746	1599	1256	1861
10	Model X	1500	500	400	177
11	Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon)	1331	1112	1205	2040
12	Leaf	1246	930	755	1347
13	Fusion Energi	1238	932	581	1058
14	C-Max Hybrid	1092	880	637	837
15	CT200h	972	762	622	1464
16	ES Hybrid	894	633	622	1443
17	RX 400 / 450 h	886	752	790	1493
18	Avalon Hybrid	776	590	583	933
19	C-Max Energi	610	490	350	579
20	MKZ	608	585	491	867
21	Colorado Diesel	578	403	108
22	Highlander Hybrid	492	396	375	516
23	Optima Hybrid	436	386	469	870
24	Range Rover Sport	408	308	272	417
25	500e	373	195	217
26	Grand Cherokee Diesel	370	308	263	420
27	Q50...

ORNL surges forward with 20-kilowatt wireless charging for vehicles | ORNL

For the demonstration, researchers integrated the single-converter system into an electric Toyota RAV4 equipped with an additional 10-kilowatt hour battery.

The researchers are already looking ahead to their next target of 50-kilowatt wireless charging, which would match the power levels of commercially available plug-in quick chargers. Providing the same speed with the convenience of wireless charging could increase consumer acceptance of electric vehicles and is considered a key enabler for hands-free, autonomous vehicles. Higher power levels are also essential for powering larger vehicles such as trucks and buses.

I also found this interesting: Toyota provided several vehicles for the research, including RAV4s, a Scion and a Plug-in Prius.

A Scion?

Burning Electrons: Toyota Unveils The 10-Second Prius TRD SS | Best Ride Blog

Is this an April fools joke? The article doesn't say it is but I cant imagine it's real.

48k is pretty cheap for a 10 second car.....

That would be so fun except for the hood scoop.

What a night! In a very special live, almost two hours long What Drives Us episode, Danny Cooper, Russell Frost, Tony Schaefer, Evan Fusco, Mark Coughlan and Chelsea Sexton witness and explain the Tesla Model 3 debut as it unfolded on 3/31/16.

Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us

Not sure how much is new, airing tonight at 8pm in Canada, on CBC tv:

How thieves use electronic devices to steal cars - Business - CBC News

This week we dig down deep on the 2016 New York Auto Show. We tackle and take apart the new Prius Prime, the Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivan, the Hyundai Ioniq in all its forms, the Chevy Bolt and talk about Tesla reservations for the Model 3 as well as their proposed valet supercharger system. All that and more, tonight...

Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us

Huge lines are forming around the world to order a Tesla Model 3, sight unseen | The Verge

Yep ... sight unseen.


.

The podcast will be available Friday but I'm watching the livecast:
Source: Autoline After Hours

• Pacifica minivan - both gas and plug-in
• Tesla - including an option to go from 3.1 to 2.8 seconds, 0-60
• Survey about alternate energy attitudes
  
• Hybrids - finally acknowledging the Prius is solid sales
• VW - the eGolf but also FTC suit
• IIHS headlight study
• viewer questions

An excellent collection of shorts, well worth listening.

Bob Wilson

Tesla Model 3 exclusive leaked specs: 0-60 under 4 sec fast and 300+ mile range options | Electrek

"According to a source who has seen the design that will be shown off tomorrow, it looks like a smaller hybrid of the Model X and S. It is a bit taller sedan with a unique front that looks more like a Model X than a Model S. The car is shorter and narrower than either the model X or S but is described as “sexy and sporty”...

One of the standout specs Tesla will tout is that it will be able to travel from 0-60 in under 4 seconds. We weren’t told if this is for the base model or a more premium edition with bigger battery and AWD...

Besides autonomous driving on the level of the Model S and X, Tesla will also offer the aforementioned AWD option. In addition, a battery pack that we’re estimating in the ~80kWh range will take the Model 3 to over 300 miles in range."

Wowza. If true, I may not be able to...

EDIT: My apologies -- if this post is more appropriate for the "Local Clubs, Events, and Road Trips" section then could a Mod move it please?

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Got this in my email, thought I would share:


World Record Prius Parade | Home

Many of us are familiar with www.fueleconomy.gov that has been a ready resource to compare cars. But it was limited to four car comparisons. Several years ago, I stumbled across the "Test Car Database" at EPA.gov which is very technical. But there is a new resource (to me):

It provides similar data but across the fleet. Not as technical as the "Test Car Database," is provides an easy way to do fleet-wide comparisons. It also looks to be fairly current, March 2016 updates.

Bob Wilson

Prius Prime has been unveiled today. It can go 22 miles on a full charge before switching over to a gasoline engine and can drive at speeds up to 84 miles per hour without leaving EV mode. Ave 120mpg. Wow.

Update 4:45pm: There will not be an opportunity to do any additional walkthroughs of the Prime this week, unfortunately. But we should have a chance to drive it pretty soon and of course will have video available of that. Here is the recorded version of the Periscope video from this morning (the Periscope links will go to video archive heaven soon):



Update 3/23 12pm: We have 2 Periscope videos for replay so far: A walkaround with Nathan Kokes from Toyota's Prius Team, and a quick chat with the Chief Engineer. This afternoon we'll have a full walkthrough of the car. Keep an eye on Periscope/Twitter for that.

PriusChat on Periscope

Walk Around: PriusChat on Periscope: "Untitled"
Chat with Chief: PriusChat on Periscope: "Untitled"

Just like in Vegas for...

Source: Volkswagen XL3: new hybrid and electric car to target Prius | Auto Express