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Continue reading Best Large SUVs of 2024
Best Large SUVs of 2024 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Dec 2023 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Using your smartphone while driving isn’t a great idea, and we’ve seen historically that telling people not to do it and even threatening them with big tickets hasn’t stopped them. Since people won’t stop interacting with their phones in the car, in 2014 Apple came up with a way to connect an iPhone (Android users can use Google’s Android Auto in a similar manner) to a car to keep your eyes on the road while still staying connected, and it’s a method that’s both safer and more convenient due to its hands-free driving usability. It’s called Apple CarPlay and it will do everything from read your texts for you to help you get where you’re going. Here’s a simple beginners guide to Apple CarPlay with all the information you need to stay hands-free while driving.
Apple CarPlay was announced to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in 2014 with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo signed on as the first manufacturers to adopt the standard. The first vehicle to hit the market with a full implementation of CarPlay was the 2014 Ferrari FF. From there, it spread to more affordable models from a whole host of manufacturers such as Hyundai, VW, Chevrolet, Honda and Ford.
As of November 2023, all car brands sold in the U.S. offer CarPlay except for two: Rivian and Tesla.
General Motors, meanwhile, announced plans to phase out CarPlay in its EVs, which we’re seeing first in the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV. General Motors claims that vehicles which shipped with CarPlay from new won’t have it disabled by future vehicle updates.
As to what older cars use CarPlay, Apple has a handy list that will tell you definitively if your specific model of vehicle came with Apple CarPlay integration.
To get a little technical, Apple CarPlay is a standard created by Apple that allows a vehicle’s infotainment system to mirror your phone. This means that many apps that you know and use every day like Maps, Podcasts, Spotify, Messages can be used without needing to touch your actual phone and it also means you’re not at the mercy of factory systems which can vary considerably in ease of use and general responsiveness.
As of 2023, CarPlay comes in two flavors: wired and wireless. The difference between these is fairly self-explanatory, but both have advantages and disadvantages. Wired CarPlay allows you to charge your phone while driving and also provides a higher standard of audio, if that’s something you’re into.
Wireless CarPlay uses Bluetooth, so once you do the initial pairing and activation of wireless CarPlay by following the prompts on your phone, you shouldn’t have to touch it again. Anyone with an iPhone 5 or later running iOS 9 or later can use either wired or wireless Carplay. CarPlay does not work with iPods or iPads, so don’t even try.
Many native Apple apps have built-in CarPlay equivalents, but third-party apps like Spotify or Google Maps, for example, require direct permission from Apple to add CarPlay functionality. Examples of popular third party apps include IHeartRadio, Waze, Overcast, Zoom and WhatsApp.
Aside from the safety factor and the familiarity of using apps you already know and trust, one big benefit of CarPlay is that it’s always the same, regardless of what car you get into. For example, if you get out of your 2022 Honda Civic daily driver and want to load up your 2019 Ford F-150 for a weekend of camping, you’ll have the same seamless infotainment experience in both vehicles. It’s also extremely handy if you and a significant other share a car.
So, now you’re convinced that Apple CarPlay is a good thing and you’ve got an iPhone that works with it, but your older car sadly doesn’t. What can you do to remedy this? Thankfully, this doesn’t mean that you necessarily need to go car shopping. Many aftermarket car stereos now come with Apple CarPlay integration that works as seamlessly as it would on a factory system.
Many of these systems are what’s known as “double DIN” which refers to the size of the opening needed in the dash to fit them, but most cars have this already. Depending on how handy you are, you can typically install one of these aftermarket stereos yourself, though it’s usually best to have a professional do the install for you. Prices for these start at around $170 before installation.
If adding CarPlay to an older car seems like too much trouble, or if you’re already in the market for a new car, this list of the cheapest vehicle models that you can buy in 2023 that have Apple CarPlay should be a big help. None of these vehicles will cost you much more than $23,000, and that’s not bad.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration announced this week that its “Advanced Impaired Driving Prevention Technology” proposal has entered the public comment phase, meaning now is your chance to voice your feelings about new tech designed to passively monitor the blood alcohol content of drivers. If the new rules are adopted, the tech could become mandatory in all cars sold in the United States, Reuters reported Tuesday.
“Between 2011 and 2020, an average of almost 10,500 people died each year in alcohol-impaired driving crashes,” NHTSA’s report said. “The agency has seen record increases in overall traffic fatalities over the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, likely reflecting increases in alcohol- and drug-impaired driving.”
“Concerted efforts by NHTSA, states, and other partners to implement proven strategies generated significant reductions in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities since the 1970s when NHTSA records began; but progress has stalled. While the causes of the recent fatality increases require further study, and NHTSA continues to support strategies to change driver behavior, more must be done to reach our goal of zero traffic fatalities,” the report said.
NHTSA’s recent push to make the tech mandatory stems from a report released following a fatal two-car accident that occurred in California in 2021.
The tech at the center of this push is not new, strictly speaking. In fact, it has been in development for at least the better part of a decade. The preferred system utilizes two detection methods. The first is a device similar to a standard breathalyzer mounted on the steering wheel, which can passively monitor the driver’s breath; the second is a near-infrared light scanner installed in the ignition switch that can detect alcohol via the user’s skin.
NHTSA also acknowledged that the tests must not only be effective, but reliable. Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson told Reuters that there are close to 1 billion separate daily driving journeys in the United States.
“We are trying to see, can we get it done, does the technology exist in a way that is going to work every time,” Carlson said. “If it’s 99.9% accurate, you could have a million false positives,” Carlson said. “Those false positives could be somebody trying to get to the hospital for an emergency.”
Members of the public will be able to comment on the proposed rules via http://www.regulations.gov/ (Docket # NHTSA-2022-0079). NHTSA’s instructions for submitting comments are pasted below. They don’t make it easy:
How do I submit a comment on Regulations.gov?
The “Comment” button can be found on the following pages:
- Docket Details page when a document within the docket is open for comment,
- Document Details page when the document is open for comment, and
- Document Search Tab with all search results open for comment displaying a “Comment” button.
Clicking “Comment” on any of the above pages will display the comment form. You can enter your comment on the form, attach files (maximum of 20 files up to 10MB each), and choose whether to identify yourself as an individual, an organization, or anonymously. Be sure to complete all required fields depending on which identity you have chosen. Please note that information entered on the web form may be viewable publicly. Once you have completed all required fields and chosen an identity, the “Submit Comment” button is enabled.
Upon completion, you will receive a Comment Tracking Number for your comment.
Some agencies also accept comments by mail, fax, or email. To find out if you can use one of these alternate methods, visit the document’s section labelled “Addresses.”
Users cannot submit comments on documents published by Non-Participating Agencies.
For step by step instructions, please see the Submit a Comment article.
Note: The comment due date on Regulations.gov is based on Eastern Time. For example, if the comment due date is 02/05/2019, then you have until 02/05/2019 11:59PM ET to complete your comment on Regulations.gov.
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Continue reading Autoblog’s Editors’ Picks: The Complete List
Autoblog’s Editors’ Picks: The Complete List originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 1 Nov 2023 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Autoblog’s Editors’ Picks: The Complete List
Autoblog’s Editors’ Picks: The Complete List originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 1 Nov 2023 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tesla on Tuesday won the first U.S. trial over allegations that its Autopilot driver assistant feature led to a death, a major victory for the automaker as it faces several other lawsuits and federal investigations related to the same technology.
The verdict represents Tesla’s second big win this year, in which juries have declined to find that its software was defective. Tesla has been testing and rolling out its Autopilot and more advanced Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, which Chief Executive Elon Musk has touted as crucial to his company’s future but which has drawn regulatory and legal scrutiny.
The outcome in civil court shows Tesla’s arguments are gaining traction: when something goes wrong on the road, the ultimate responsibility rests with drivers.
The civil lawsuit filed in Riverside County Superior Court alleged the Autopilot system caused owner Micah Lee’s Model 3 to suddenly veer off a highway east of Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour (105 km per hour), strike a palm tree and burst into flames, all in the span of seconds.
The 2019 crash killed Lee and seriously injured his two passengers, including a then-8-year-old boy who was disemboweled, court documents show. The trial involved gruesome testimony about the passengers’ injuries, and the plaintiffs asked the jury for $400 million plus punitive damages.
Tesla denied liability, saying Lee consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel. The electric-vehicle maker also argued it was unclear whether Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
The 12-member jury announced they found the vehicle did not have a manufacturing defect. The verdict came on the fourth day of deliberations, and the vote was 9-3.
Jonathan Michaels, an attorney for the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment in the verdict but said in a statement that Tesla was “pushed to its limits” during the trial.
“The jury’s prolonged deliberation suggests that the verdict still casts a shadow of uncertainty,” he said.
Tesla said its cars are well designed and make the roads safer. “The jury’s conclusion was the right one,” the company said in a statement.
Tesla won an earlier trial in Los Angeles in April with a strategy of saying it tells drivers that its technology requires human monitoring, despite the “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” names.
That case was about an accident where a Model S swerved into the curb and injured its driver, and jurors told Reuters after the verdict that they believed Tesla warned drivers about its system and driver distraction was to blame.
Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor, said the outcome in both cases show “our juries are still really focused on the idea of a human in the driver’s seat being where the buck stops.”
At the same time, the Riverside case had unique steering issues, said Matthew Wansley, a former general counsel of nuTonomy, an automated driving startup, and associate professor at Cardozo School of Law.
In other lawsuits, plaintiffs have alleged Autopilot is defectively designed, leading drivers to misuse the system. The jury in Riverside, however, was only asked to evaluate whether a manufacturing defect impacted the steering.
“If I were a juror, I would find this confusing,” Wansley said.
Tesla shares closed up 1.76% after rising more than 2%.
During the Riverside trial, an attorney for the plaintiffs showed jurors a 2017 internal Tesla safety analysis identifying “incorrect steering command” as a defect, involving an “excessive” steering wheel angle.
A Tesla lawyer said the safety analysis did not identify a defect, but rather was intended to help the company address any issue that could theoretically arise with the vehicle. The automaker subsequently engineered a system that prevents Autopilot from executing the turn which caused the crash.
On the stand, Tesla engineer Eloy Rubio Blanco rejected a plaintiff lawyer’s suggestion that the company named its driver-assistant feature “Full Self-Driving” because it wanted people to believe that its systems had more abilities than was really the case.
“Do I think our drivers think that our vehicles are autonomous? No,” Rubio said, according to a trial transcript seen by Reuters.
Tesla is facing a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice over claims its vehicles can drive themselves. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the performance of Autopilot after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles hit stationary emergency vehicles.
Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid said Tesla’s disclaimers give the company powerful defenses in a civil case.
“I think that anyone is going to have a hard time beating Tesla in court on a liability claim,” he said. “This is something that needs to be addressed by regulators.”
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Continue reading Best cheap SUVs: You don’t have to pay a lot to get a lot
Best cheap SUVs: You don’t have to pay a lot to get a lot originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Oct 2023 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Best cheap SUVs: You don’t have to pay a lot to get a lot
Best cheap SUVs: You don’t have to pay a lot to get a lot originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Oct 2023 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading GMC and AEV reveal Sierra Grande upfit SEMA concept
GMC and AEV reveal Sierra Grande upfit SEMA concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Don’t leave home without it.
That’s one of the meaningful recommendations delivered to drivers in a new study on tire pressure by the American Automobile Association: Keep “a dependable old-school manual” tire pressure gauge in the glove box.
Since 2008, Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems have been federally-mandated equipment in all passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds sold in the U.S. The systems — there are two types — are generally accurate in determining if the air pressure in a specific tire is dangerous low, the study confirmed, finding that “no significant error in displayed tire pressure readings was noted for any vehicles evaluated within the study.’’
But AAA engineers still encourage drivers to “check tire pressure manually. They are the only part of your car in contact with the road, and proper inflation is the key to safety and better gas mileage.”
A handheld pressure gauge is a relatively modest investment, with many selling for $10 to $22 on Amazon.
The AAA said that it evaluated 11 randomly selected passenger vehicles, 2022-2024 models including sedans, pickups, and SUVs, with “direct” TPMS, which uses air pressure sensors mounted in each wheel. According to the AAA study, the average percentage difference between displayed and actual tire pressure was between 1.2 percent and minus-1.5 percent, depending on tire location.
Additionally, on five of 11 test vehicles, the amber warning TPMS light illuminated when tires were underinflated to 75 percent of the posted pressure (located on the sticker inside the door jam). Five of the six remaining test vehicles illuminated the TPMS warning dashboard light when tires were deflated to 70.3 to 72.9 percent of posted pressure, depending on the test vehicle.
The study warned that the TPMS lights only illuminate when one or more tires are severely underinflated, “so drivers should regularly check the displayed tire pressure at each corner. In addition, not all vehicle TPMS systems provide pressure readings. Some systems, especially on older vehicles, only have a warning light if one or more tires are low.”
“Tires are the unsung heroes of your car,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of automotive engineering. “They are designed to work best when properly inflated. Our research found that the pressure monitoring systems that provide data for instrument displays or trigger the amber dashboard warning worked as intended. But we recommend always having a dependable old-school manual pressure gauge to check them once a month.”
Read the full report for methodology details, including specific vehicle makes/models, tire brands and specifications, and testing equipment.