I can instantly make you a better driver

Just for Fun, Tips and HInts

Imagine this: You’re cruising along on in three lanes of traffic. The speed limit is 70. You’re in the middle lane and closing the gap to the car in front of you. There’s slower traffic to your right and a clear lane to the left. You signal and start moving into the passing lane, but halfway there, you spot a cop in the median, clearly hunting speeders. What do you do?

‘Do you know how fast you were going?’

That rarely ends well. If you’re hearing it, you’re on the side of the road, mirrors reflecting blue and red — and perhaps a spotlight. Maybe you’ll talk your way out of it and maybe you won’t. But the question looms large, right up there with, “Do you know where your kids are?” It’s loaded. “Yes” means you know you were speeding. “No” is tempting; ignorance always feels better than admitting guilt, right?

But what’s frightening is just how many drivers truly have no clue. I don’t have stats and I don’t need them. We all see it play out every time we hit the road: drivers holding up traffic in the passing lane, slamming on the brakes for speed traps and cutting people off — all because they’re unapologetically unaware of their own pace of travel. Neither driving fast nor driving slow automatically makes somebody a bad driver, but not knowing where you land on that spectrum at any given time makes you little more than a rolling safety hazard. 

This critical variable informs everything else we do behind the wheel, and leaving it out of your mental calculations means that every action you’re performing is based on unreliable information. The data science shorthand is GIGO, for “garbage in, garbage out.” Observe traffic long enough and you’ll spot countless people driving like, well, garbage. 

Take out the trash

This danger is easily remedied: All you need to do is know how fast you’re going. That’s it, my one-step plan. The resources to do it are already right in front of you, and it will cost you nothing — not even time. But knowing this critical bit of information will improve every decision you make behind the wheel. 

Let’s revisit the scenario from above. You’re in the middle lane and gaining on traffic, the speed limit is 70, and you have the opportunity to pass. But this time, you know for a fact you’re already doing 74. Does knowing your speed alter your guilt in this scenario? No, but it allows you to make an informed decision rather than relying on guesswork— or worse, blindly panic-braking when you see the cop, which is an incredibly dangerous thing to do at speed. If I were to make a split-second judgment call in this scenario, I’d roll the dice on 74 in a 70 and complete the pass as if the cop wasn’t even there. 

Yes, that’s me openly acknowledging that I’d flagrantly violate the law in the presence of a police officer. Is that the smartest thing in the world? No, but consistent and predictable behavior is the topsoil from which good traffic flow naturally sprouts. By committing to my maneuver and maintaining speed, I’m one less obstacle for others, plus I’m contributing positively to the flow by not slowing down while completing a pass — something many drivers are guilty of even without an overt threat of intervention from law enforcement. Of course, another choice would be to simply ease back to the limit and not execute the pass in the first place.

Use your cruise

Let’s look at this another way: Every piece of critical information you know is one less that you have to acquire, calculate or outright guess. The advantages are convenient under the best of circumstances and potentially life-saving under the worst, and all you need to do is keep tabs on the one piece of information cars are universally required to provide. But even if you can’t be bothered, your car is likely built with advanced technology that will help.

Yes, by “advanced technology,” I mean cruise control — a feature found on pretty much anything nicer than a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. How better to know how fast you’re going than by dictating that speed yourself? Cruise has been around in some form or another since the 1950s, and despite its ability to reduce mental and physical fatigue and smooth out traffic, it remains criminally underutilized.

I’ll be the first to admit that a bad cruise control (adaptive or otherwise) system can betray you. Wild speed variations on grades and other odd behavior can be maddening to the fastidious driver, but even a bad system can do some good with a little human intervention. If your car struggles going up hills, don’t pass on them. If it runs away on the descent, shift down a gear or two to bring compression braking into the mix. Learn the quirks so they become predictable, and compensating either becomes unnecessary or second-nature. 

Your journey is just beginning

I saved this bit for last. Think of it as a post-credits scene in a superhero film. Attention is a gateway driving skill. We are organic computers trying to tell a ton or more of machinery what to do. Like any other processor, the human mind has finite bandwidth. Remember what I said above: Every piece of critical information you know is one less that you have to acquire, calculate or outright guess. Every input you can safely ignore frees up bandwidth for the things you have no choice but to process in real time — whether that be a fellow driver losing control on the racetrack or a cop appearing in the median.

In time, awareness will seamlessly integrate with muscle memory. You’ll learn how your car feels taking a curve at any given speed, start to anticipate the weight shift and unconsciously adjust your line to smooth it out. You’ll find yourself naturally looking farther ahead because you know your situation without looking down. Maybe next time, you’ll see that trooper in the median much sooner because your eyes were up, seeking new information. Maybe you give a pleasant wave as you pass, and nobody in that cruiser can hear you say, “Spotted you two exits back, sucker.”

Because you knew how fast you were going. And nobody had to pull you over and ask. 

Related video:

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You see a pet trapped in a hot car: What are you allowed to do?

Tips and HInts

Massachusetts State Police conducted a demonstration in 2021 to show how quickly temperatures soar inside a sealed vehicle. On an 80-degree day, this thermometer reading shot to 120 degrees in just 9 minutes. (Boston Herald/Getty Images)

Warm weather is here again, and by now the dangers of leaving a child or a pet in a hot car are — or should be — common knowledge. Obviously children should never be left unattended, and many states have seen the need to specifically outlaw this practice with pets.

Remember, even on a mild 70-degree day, temperatures inside a sealed car can reach 115 degrees, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, particularly if the car is a dark color. And cracking the windows has been proven not to make enough of a difference.

The National Safety Council says 33 children died from heat stroke in cars in 2022 — and two have died so far this year. And the American Veterinary Medical Association says that hundreds of pets die each year in hot cars. in warm weather, leave your pets at home.

Of course, some newer EV models like Tesla and Rivian have a Pet Mode that keeps climate controls on and pets cool while parked. Here’s an explanation of how Tesla’s feature works. Ford is working to patent a similar function. Some newer cars, such as certain models from Hyundai, Subaru, and Nissan, have a rear occupant alert that will sound audible alarms if it detects movement inside after the driver locks the car. This was originally designed to protect children, but it could apply to pets as well. But most cars on the road don’t have these failsafes.

Thirty-one states have some kind of law meant to protect animals in vehicles. In at least 19 states (plus Washington D.C.), there are laws specifying it’s illegal to leave a pet unattended in a vehicle in extreme temperatures or other life-threatening conditions, and violators can be charged with animal cruelty. Those states are:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Delaware
  • Illinois
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Rhode Island
  • South Dakota
  • Vermont
  • Washington
  • West Virginia

In 21 states (plus D.C.), authorities such as police, firefighters or animal control are allowed to forcibly open a car in order to rescue an animal. This typically involves breaking a window. 

Additionally, many states have Good Samaritan laws that shield passers-by from liability when helping someone in distress. In the following 13 states, those laws include rescuing a pet from a hot car:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Tennessee
  • Vermont
  • Wisconsin

Indiana has a similar law — but requires the Good Samaritan to pay for half of the damages incurred to the vehicle. 

If you encounter a pet in distress inside a vehicle …

Keep in mind that:

  • It’s required that you notify the authorities first before attempting the rescue yourself.
  • In many cases the laws are written in language that says the rescuer must have a “reasonable belief” the animal is in imminent danger, so there’s some subjectivity there. It might be wise to take a quick video of the situation with your phone in case you need to explain your actions.
  • Some laws say a rescuer should use no more force or do no more damage than is necessary.
  • And some states have different considerations for what kinds of animals can be rescued. Some cover only dogs and cats, while others refer to animals more broadly. Other states exclude livestock.

For a full list of what’s allowed in all 50 states, and what your state’s laws say, see this list from Michigan State University’s Animal Legal & Historical Center. Ironically, many of the states that have no laws addressing this issue are in the hot South and Midwest, though those states likely have general animal cruelty statutes.

Finally, the two major groups of automakers serving the U.S. market have agreed to make rear occupant alerts standard on new cars by 2025. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers includes the BMW Group, FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America and Volvo. The Association of Global Automakers includes Aston Martin, Bosch, Byton, Denso, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Isuzu, Local Motors, Maserati, McLaren, Nissan, PSA North America, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota.

An Exclusive Special Edition: 2024 GMC HUMMER EV Omega Edition Has Landed

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An Exclusive Special Edition: 2024 GMC HUMMER EV Omega Edition Has Landed

2023-05-05

  • Elevating one of the most desired vehicles on the market with a limited edition
    Neptune Blue Matte1 exterior color and blacked-out accents, inspired by the Blue Planet
  • Omega Edition will be a limited run and exclusively available on
    the 2024 HUMMER EV 3X Pickup and SUV

MIAMI – The world’s first all-electric supertruck will soon include an exclusive special edition set to send desirability into orbit. Today, GMC revealed the 2024 HUMMER EV Omega Edition, a limited edition vehicle with interstellar style to stand out on city streets and capability to conquer extreme off-road trails. Further elevating the HUMMER EV lineup, the eye-catching Omega Edition features a limited Neptune Blue Matte1 exterior paint color that sets HUMMER EV among the stars.  

“The HUMMER EV is one of the hottest vehicles on the market today, and it just got even more desirable with the striking and strictly limited Omega Edition,” said Duncan Aldred, global vice president, Buick-GMC. “With traffic-stopping design provided by the exclusive, space inspired Neptune Blue Matte1 exterior color with premium blacked-out details, the HUMMER EV Omega Edition will be a standout on every city street while continuing to deliver the capability and groundbreaking performance our customers expect from GMC.”

The Omega Edition will be available exclusively on the 3X trim for both the 2024 HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV. Features standard on the special edition include:

  • Limited edition Neptune Blue Matte1 exterior paint color
  • Extreme Off-Road Package
  • Black exterior badges
  • Transparent Sky Panels
  • Exclusive 18-inch gloss black beadlock-capable wheels with Carbon Flash trim ring
  • Exclusive high lux carpet flooring insert
  • MultiPro tailgate audio speaker system by Kicker (Pickup only)
  • Black beadlock mounted spare wheel (SUV only)
  • Exclusive Neptune Blue Matte1 spare tire cover (SUV only)

The Omega Edition evolves the HUMMER EV story and its space-themed inspiration. A theme that influenced the HUMMER EV’s design and engineering teams from inception to production as they created this ‘moonshot’ vehicle, with the endless expanses of space reflecting the boundless inspiration for what was possible with the world’s first electric supertruck. Now with Omega Edition, designers took inspiration from deep into the solar system; the Blue Planet, to create the stunning and unique Neptune Blue Matte1 paint that sets this latest HUMMER EV apart.  

In terms of hardware, the Extreme Off-Road Package for both the HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV includes UltraVision with underbody camera views2, additional skid plates and rocker protection with built-in assist steps, 18-inch wheels and 35-inch Mud Terrain tires.

The SUV will be offered with a standard 20-module battery. The Pickup will be offered with a 24-module battery option.

Pricing for the HUMMER EV Omega Edition Pickup starts at $149,9953 for the 24-module battery. The SUV with 20-module battery will start at $139,995 3. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in the first half of 2024. The Omega Edition will initially be available for current HUMMER EV 3X Pickup and SUV reservation holders.

The GMC HUMMER EV Omega Edition SUV will be on display at the upcoming “HUMMER House” activation in the Design District during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. Invited attendees will experience 0-60 mph sprints in about 3.5 seconds4 through Watts to Freedom5 runs in the SUV on a closed course.

The 2023 GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and 2024 GMC HUMMER EV SUV are built at GM’s Factory ZERO Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center6 — a nearly 40-year-old facility repurposed and retooled with a $2.2 billion investment devoted to EV production. Factory ZERO will also build the GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 17.

1Special care required for matte paint. See owner’s manual for more details.
2Safety or driver assistance features are no substitute for the driver’s responsibility to operate the vehicle in a safe manner. Read the vehicle’s owner’s manual for important feature limitations and information.
3The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price excludes, tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment. Dealer sets final price.
4Based on GM-estimates.
5Watts to Freedom is intended for use only on a closed course and should not be used on public roads.  Read the vehicle Owner’s Manual for important feature limitations and information.
6From globally sourced parts
7Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 available early 2024, by reservation only.

About GMC

GMC offers a range of premium trucks and SUVs designed and engineered to the highest standard. With vehicles like the compact Terrain and full-size Yukon, all-new Canyon and Sierra light-duty, as well as the world’s first all-electric supertruck the GMC HUMMER EV, our trucks and SUVs deliver GMC’s signature combination of intuitive technologies, precise engineering and premium execution. Built on a strong foundation of manufacturing trucks since 1902, GMC now sells in a dozen countries across the world. Details on all models are available at www.gmc.com, Instagram at @GMC, Twitter at @GMC or at www.facebook.com/gmc.

Why electric car buyers need to weigh the pros and cons of all-wheel drive

Going Green
All-wheel-drive in an EV means better performance but less range.
Ford
  • All-wheel drive has different advantages and disadvantages in electric cars. 
  • AWD EVs have an extra motor, which consumes more energy and decreases range. 
  • For some buyers, AWD capability may not be worth the reduced driving range. 

The new wave of electric vehicles is shaking up the way people think about buying cars. Instead of miles per gallon, EV shoppers are thinking hard about range. On top of size and price, buyers also need to consider things like charging speed.

It can all get a little confusing for people who have bought combustion-engine cars for decades. And there’s another key decision that electrification has turned on its head: all-wheel drive or not?

AWD provides many of the same benefits in an EV as in a gas car. Two extra drive wheels help increase traction and mean an AWD EV will be more capable and confident in snow and other slippery conditions. But they also necessitate an extra motor sucking additional energy from the battery pack and making the car heavier, dealing a blow to range.

A two-wheel-drive EV will generally have one motor mounted to its front or rear axle. An AWD model usually has two motors, so there’s one driving the front wheels and another turning the rears. Thanks to that boost in horsepower and torque, AWD EVs tend to accelerate much quicker than ones with front- or rear-wheel drive. 

The fun doesn’t stop at two motors. Companies like Rivian, Tesla, and GMC, sell EVs with three or four motors, dialing up performance even more. 

Take a closer look at the specs for some of the country’s most popular electric models, and you’ll see the impact AWD has on efficiency and range. 

With RWD, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 SUV earns an EPA range rating of up to 303 miles. Add on AWD for $3,500 and your estimated range drops to 266 miles. Ford rates the entry-level Mustang Mach-E at 250 miles for RWD models and 226 miles for AWD ones. 

The disparity gets starker the more power and performance you inject. The RWD Kia EV6 is rated at 310 miles of range. The new souped-up EV6 GT, which comes with two mighty motors driving all four wheels, can travel a paltry 206. 

Of course, you still can find EVs that offer the best of both worlds. For example, the Tesla Model Y Long Range delivers 330 miles of range and AWD. 

AWD gas vehicles are also less fuel efficient than their 2WD counterparts, but it isn’t a big deal beyond the added emissions and gas costs. 

In an EV, though, you need to think hard about whether the extra capability of AWD is worth the hit to range — particularly if you can get by without it. Charging stations aren’t nearly as common as gas pumps, and EVs are already limited in how far they can travel in one go. So those extra couple-dozen miles could make a big difference when you need them most. 

Read the original article on
Business Insider

Trucks are more likely to last 250,000 miles than other vehicles

GMC, Tips and HInts

While it seems like people are buying new cars all the time, the vehicles on America’s roads are far from new. The average age of cars on our roads was 12.2 years in 2022, but a new study from iSeeCars shows that some vehicles are better able to stand the test of time, especially trucks.

The Toyota Land Cruiser nabbed the top spot on the iSeeCars list, but trucks dominated the top 10. Several models had a more than 40 percent chance of lasting 250,000 miles, and many were over 20 percent. The list of trucks most likely to last includes:

It’s not surprising to see so many heavy-duty trucks on the list, as their rugged construction and high initial price make them more likely to be maintained and kept in service for the long haul. Many HD trucks also have diesel engines, which frequently outlast their gas counterparts, especially after years of work duty. The Toyota Tundra just recently got a complete overhaul after more than a decade, so the automaker had plenty of time to work out wrinkles in its reliability.

All trucks in the study outperformed the overall vehicle average of a 11.8 percent chance of lasting 250,000 miles. iSeeCars looked at more than 260 million cars from between 2012 and 2022 to create its model. But, as the firm’s executive analyst, Karl Brauer, pointed out, vehicle lifespans are increasing. Most people considered 100,000 miles to be the upper limit of mileage, but with new vehicle costs on the rise, people are compelled to hold onto their old cars longer.

Of course, owner behavior has a significant impact on vehicles’ lifespans. People who care for their cars and take care of routine maintenance tend to get more life out of them in return, while abuse and neglect can drastically shorten a car’s life.