Free Republic

Greasing the skids for speed-limiting technology.. From tomorrow, all new vehicles sold in the EU will have mandatory black boxes fitted that record technical data and will be accessible by authorities, greasing the skids for surveillance-powered speed limiting technology. While for the time being, drivers can opt-out of using the feature, privacy advocates fear the technology will become mandatory once it is properly rolled out. Back in 2019, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) announced that July 6 would mark the day when all car manufacturers would be forced to fit new models with a system that keeps track of...

Ford Motor Co. will be suspending end-of-lease buyout options for customers driving all-electric vehicles, provided they took possession of the model after June 15, 2022. Those who nabbed their Mach-E beforehand will still have the option of purchasing the automobile once their lease ends. However, there are some states that won’t be abiding by the updated rules until the end of the year, not that it matters when customers are almost guaranteed to have to wait at least that long on a reserved vehicle. The change, made earlier in the month, cruised under our radar until a reader asked for...

A white Tesla Model S spontaneously burst into flames in a Rancho Cordova, California wrecking yard after the car had spent weeks sitting there after a collision. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said that firefighters arrived at the wrecking yard to find the Tesla fully engulfed in flames. Each time the firefighters attempted to extinguish the flames, the Tesla's battery would reignite the fire. The fire department posted an Instagram video of the ordeal, saying that even when firefighters moved the Tesla onto it's side to spray the battery directly, the car would burst into flames again 'due to the...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg might have to start biking to work again like a total nerd. That's because the Mexican-made electric SUV he purchased last year for his security detail is being recalled due to a safety defect that "could result in a loss of power [while driving], which could cause a crash," according to Consumer Reports. Ford announced Tuesday that it was instructing car dealers to stop selling the Mustang Mach-E in response to the safety concern affecting nearly 49,000 of the 100,000 vehicles manufactured at the automaker's Cuautitlan plant in Mexico between 2020 and 2022. The company decided...

JB Straubel has spent the past two years covering a hillside with solar panels and rigging them up to cryptocurrency projects in his Carson City, Nev., mansion. Much of the equipment is essentially junk—the panels were all but worthless when the 46-year-old Tesla co-founder got them from a Texas solar plant, after a hailstorm voided their warranties. He’ll work on them alone for whole weekend, spooling wire and rigging hardware in the rolling scrubland. Sometimes he thinks through his company’s latest engineering obstacles while he works. Other times he daydreams how best to divert cascades of photons from the sky,...

Tesla just filed its annual proxy statement with the SEC and revealed it plans a three-for-one stock split, and that board member Larry Ellison does not plan to stand for re-election. Shares of Tesla were up by more than 1% after-hours having closed at $696.69 on Friday. In the filing, the company wrote of the proposed stock split, “Our success depends on attracting and retaining excellent talent,” and that “highly competitive compensation packages,” offering every employee an option to receive equity, helped Tesla to do that. “We believe the Stock Split would help reset the market price of our common...

One of the myriad issues with hydrogen as a clean energy source is infrastructure, as it's very expensive to move around and store an extremely explosive gas. Toyota and its subsidiary Woven Planet believe they may have a solution with a new portable hydrogen cartridge prototype. The idea is that they can be filled up at a dedicated facility, transported where needed, then returned when you receive your next shipment. The cartridges would be relatively small at 16 inches long, 7 inches in diameter and about 11 pounds in weight. Toyota calls them "portable, affordable, and convenient energy that makes...

Ford will add 6,200 factory jobs in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio as it prepares to build more electric vehicles and roll out two redesigned combustion-engine models. The company says it will invest $3.7 billion in the three states between now and 2026. It also will convert about 3,000 temporary workers to full-time status with pay raises and benefits.

The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) reports that all new cars sold in the UK from July will be mandated to be fitted with speed-limiting software. The software, called Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), is already implemented by some car manufacturers, such as Ford, Mercedes, and Renault, according to the BMF, but will become mandatory for all new cars from July 2022. ISA limits the speed of the car to the prevailing limit on the road the car is currently on; so, if you’re driving in a 30mph zone, it will limit to 30mph. The software can be overridden by the driver,...

How commonly are 5-pin trailer (electrical) connectors used? I'm looking at a combo 7-pin to 4-pin and 5-pin adapter plug on Amazon. (Two in one.) No surprise: It is a few bucks costlier than a simpler 7-pin to 4-pin adapter plug. But, I can't recall ever seeing a 5-pin in the flesh /in use. Are they really very uncommon? Does one particular type of trailer typically use the 5 pin connectors? If very uncommon, I might as well save the few $$ and get a 7-pin to 4-pin (only) adapter. (I may be in the market for a 2nd used...

Out of touch as ever, President Biden celebrated record-high gas prices Monday, gushing that the pump pain was part of “an incredible transition” of the US economy away from fossil fuels. “[When] it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” Biden said during a press conference in Japan following his meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Car-buyers say they received temporary tags that ultimately expired ABERDEEN, Md. — A Harford County man bought a car online from Carvana, but the sweet deal turned sour when he couldn't get the car registered in Maryland. A tow truck repossessed Jo Riedel's SUV. He expected it to happen after he told the car dealer, "I'm not going to make any more payments on this vehicle." Riedel, of Aberdeen, said he couldn't legally drive his 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander because it was never properly registered. "It's been a full year of just needless headache and feeling of being ripped off and...

VIDEO AT LINK....................... V8 With Lawn Mower Carburetor The original Ford Maverick wasn't a small pickup truck. It also didn't have a hybrid four-cylinder engine, but that's not stopping this V8-powered 1974 Maverick sedan from getting a whopping 41 mpg from its 5.0-liter engine. That's considerably better than the brand-new hybrid version Ford offers today, which gets an EPA-combined rating of 37 mpg. But as you can imagine, there's more to this story than just a small carb on a big engine. The experiment comes from ThunderHead289 on YouTube, and it's actually well-thought-out. It starts by finding the smallest lawn...

One in four public electric vehicle charging stations in the San Francisco Bay Area does not work, according to a new study. The report, produced by David Rempel of the University of California at Berkeley, suggested that while California — especially the Bay Area — is trying to make the shift to electric vehicles in a hurry, the current infrastructure is not ready.

Catalytic converter thefts target of state bill by: Carly Moore Posted: May 7, 2022 DENVER (KDVR) — Countless catalytic converters are stolen in Colorado, behind many victims’ frustration and a call for change. The FOX31 Problem Solvers have been hearing these complaints for months. Auto thefts have risen by 5,100% in Colorado, according to the Colorado Independent Auto Dealers Association. And in the first three months of this year, the Denver Police Department said five catalytic converters are reported stolen on average each day. A new bill in the state legislature could soon become a law aimed at stopping this....

The chip shortage that ravaged the auto industry last year continues to terrorize vehicle production in 2022. BMW switched chip suppliers to keep production rolling, but the new semiconductors weren’t fully functional, lacking Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These made their way into new vehicles, but owners will receive an update with the features. BMW told Automotive News Europe that it would install the software features via an over-the-air update by the end of June. The chips also lack wi-fi capability. According to the publication, BMW didn’t specify the number of affected models or disclose where they were shipped. However,...

Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022. Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter. “A net loss of $3.1 billion was primarily attributable to a mark-to-market loss of $5.4 billion on the company’s investment in...

The owner of a Jeep became embroiled in a legal nightmare after he handed the keys of his vehicle to a Michigan dealership where a mechanic died while working on his car. The family of Jeffrey Hawkins, 42, is suing the Jeep owner, who has not been named, for $15million over the death of the veteran mechanic. Hawkins, a married father-of-four, was killed on March 13, 2020, while changing the Jeep's oil at Rochester Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership in Michigan. A 19-year-old fellow mechanic, who didn't know how to drive a shift stick and did not have a driver's...

As evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine mounts, the U.S. is once again grappling with our dependence on foreign oil. Although we produce more than we consume, we imported about 670,000 barrels per day from Russia last year — more than we imported from Saudi Arabia. At recent prices of $100 per barrel, that’s nearly $25 billion that fed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine. The U.S. ban on Russian oil helps, but is small compared to total Russian exports. So, how can we cut oil consumption and energy costs? President Biden wants electric vehicles (EVs) to comprise half of...

It was “Fast & Furious” in real life. A lead-footed Florida driver led stunned cops on one of the longest and most dangerous police pursuits in recent history, hitting speeds of up to 180 mph and spanning hundreds of miles through several counties. “The danger to innocent lives related to this crime cannot be overstated,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Tuesday. The chaos came to a halt after Richard St. Leger, 20, of Pompano Beach, finally ditched his stolen Mercedes SUV and fled into thick woods where he was tracked down by a police dog, officials...