Free Republic

…JuiceBox purveyor Enel X Way North America announced Wednesday that it is shutting down its United States charger operations. Drivers will no longer be able to use their phones’ apps to access JuiceBox charger devices at homes or out in public. The news means the end of app-based tools like scheduling charges, which are particularly useful for Californians seeking off-peak electricity prices, and features for checking charging statuses and histories. In other words, they’re losing their “smart” status. JuiceBox customers took to Reddit’s r/electricvehicles forum to complain about the company and express their confusion. “My concern is how things like...

Governments are pushing the public to switch to smart vehicles to reduce fossil fuel consumption, but there is also a second motive – surveillance. This September, Ford filed a new patent to eavesdrop on riders. They plan to share this information with third-parties to personalize the advertisements riders hear. Ford will also take the driver’s destination into consideration to determine location-specific advertisements and suggestions. The technology will factor in the weather, traffic, and all external sensors to fine tune when and what to market to passengers. Advertisements are perhaps the least ominous use of voice data based on the plans...

Toyota has recalled more than 43,000 trucks in the US over defects that could increase the risk of a car crash. The Japanese automaker recalled 43,395 2023-2024 Sequoia Hybrids sold in the US after identifying a risk with the vehicles’ tow hitches. The tow hitch is a part located on the back of the truck that is used to connect the car to a trailer in order to be towed. The resin tow hitch on the Sequoia Hybrids is held in place on the rear bumper with molded clips, Toyota said in a recall report.

Normal Fire Department (NPD) crews battled a blaze at the Rivian plant parking lot Saturday night. NFD spokesperson Matt Swaney said fire crews were called to Rivian’s Normal plant just before 9:45 p.m. for a reported vehicle fire. He said there is an unspecified number of vehicles damaged by the incident. Witnesses outside the plant said they reportedly saw the fire as early as 9:50 p.m. The EV assembly plant was not affected by the fire, Swaney said.

The biggest European car market, Germany, saw the sales of electric vehicles plummet by 36.8% in July from a year earlier, as EV sales are softening worldwide and as Berlin ended subsidies at the end of 2023.New car registrations of battery vehicle vehicles (BEVs) in Germany slumped to 30,762 vehicles in July from the same month of 2023, the latest data rom the German Federal Motor Transport Authority showed on Monday. July marked the largest annual drop in EV sales since the government ended subsidies for EV acquisitions in December 2023. While BEV sales plunged, the overall car market held...

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and other House leaders on Wednesday, a right-leaning think tank encouraged “prompt House passage” of legislation protecting the installation of AM radios in all new vehicles. Numerous vehicle manufacturers—especially makers of electric vehicles—such as Ford, Tesla, and Volvo, have begun removing AM radios from their new models. The American Principles Project urged Johnson, R-La., as well as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., to bring the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act “to the House floor as soon as possible.” According to Rep. Josh Gottheimer,...

General Motors is trimming its expected sales and production of all-electric vehicles this year, as U.S. adoption of EVs occurs slower than expected. GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said the company now expects production of 200,000 to 250,000 EVs this year, down from a previously announced range of 200,000 to 300,000. ... Jacobson said GM expects EVs to make up 8% of U.S. sales industrywide this year. That’s lower than many other auto analyst forecasts, which expect EVs to represent around 10% of industry sales in 2024.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle. The scientists have hypothesized that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle as well as high pedestrian density in noisy urban areas could be major reasons. The study uncovered a pedestrian casualty rate of 5.16 per 100 million miles driven for electric and hybrid vehicles, more than double the 2.4 per 100 million miles recorded for traditional gasoline-powered cars.

Safety concerns around electric vehicles continue to mount with Australian fire and rescue services in New South Wales stating they might have to make a “tactical disengagement” of a trapped car accident victim if the battery is likely to explode. Australian journalist Jo Nova covered the story, which was first mentioned in the EV blog The Driven, and commented: “They say the first responders need more training as if this can be solved with a certificate, but the dark truth is they’re talking about training the firemen and the truck drivers to recognise when they have to abandon the rescue.”...

Joe Biden’s massive electric vehicle (EV) agenda will subsidize the lifestyles of America’s well-to-do while hitting average people the hardest.... The Biden administration is aggressively regulating the U.S. auto market to drastically increase the proportion of EVs sold over the coming decade, but consumer demand has not taken off as quickly as proponents had projected despite the subsidies made available by Biden’s flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Manufacturers are slashing prices of their EVs to make the vehicles more appealing to consumers, which will increase prices for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars to compensate; this dynamic will...

Tesla's price CUTS in Australia follow the company's decision on April 3 to announced 0% financing for new orders of the Model 3 and Model Y in China. The incentive runs through the end of April and is Tesla's first interest-free promotion for China, the world's biggest EV market.Meanwhile, Tesla INCREASED its U.S. prices for all Model Y trims on April 1. Tesla RAISED prices on Europe Model Y vehicles on March 22. In China, Tesla also HIKED prices on its entire Model Y line by around $690 on April 1, even as some incentives expired.

Being proved right isn't always fun. Just weeks after my warning in the March issue that our modern high-tech cars are tracking us and sharing data with manufacturers, cops, and parties unknown, came a report of soaring auto insurance premiums because of snitching vehicles. The consequences get worse from there. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your snoopy ride from contacting the mothership. Your Driving History May Be Transmitted and Stored "Car companies are collecting information directly from internet-connected vehicles for use by the insurance industry," Kashmir Hill reported this month for The New York Times. "Sometimes this is happening...

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed its ambition: to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). Incredibly, this announcement comes as we are flooded with overwhelming evidence that EVs are a market loser. Indeed, the artificial boom and then meltdown of the EV market is a modern industrial calamity. It was created by government, social media, wild disease frenzy, far-flung thinking, and the irrational chasing of utopia, followed by a rude awakening by facts and reality. CEO of Hertz Stephen Scherr has been booted out due to a vast purchase of an EV fleet...

As John Adams said:Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.Now, if Stephen Scherr had taken Adams’s observation into consideration, he might still have a job. (However, no sympathy from me; he’ll be employed in no time at all, making more bad decisions that inevitably cost me money, in one way or another.) From a report at the New York Post this afternoon:Hertz, one of the four largest car rental companies in the world, is replacing its CEO after the company...

Automakers from Ford Motor and General Motors to Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin are scaling back or delaying their electric vehicle plans.. consumer demand for EVs hasn’t shown up in the way executives had expected ... The buzz around electric vehicles is wearing off. For years, the automotive industry has been in a state of EV euphoria. Automakers trotted out optimistic sales forecasts for electric models and announced ambitious targets for EV growth. Wall Street boosted valuations for legacy automakers and startup entrants alike, based in part on their visions for an EV future. Now the hype...

Startling surveillance footage captured the moment a band of teens from the Chicago area broke into a Wisconsin Jaguar/Land Rover dealership and sped off with more than half a million dollars worth of high-end vehicles – later leading police on a dramatic 40-mile chase. In a coordinated heist, several black-clad individuals pulled up to the Waukesha dealership in the early hours of Feb. 18, pried open the key box and got into nine cars, the footage shared by FOX6 News showed. One of the thieves got into a Land Rover Velar and used the car “as a battering ram” to...

A provision in the 2021 "infrastructure" spending package, as it turns out, includes a provision that directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to come up with a way to stop you from driving your car or truck if the government doesn't want you to. The measure is sold as a way to keep people from driving while impaired, but the implications are chilling. "A provision in the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed in 2021 directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to come up with a rule by this year requiring new...

Electric vehicles that typically weigh more than gasoline-powered cars can easily crash through steel highway guardrails that are not designed to withstand the extra force, raising concerns about the nation’s roadside safety system, according to crash test data released Wednesday by the University of Nebraska. Electric vehicles typically weigh 20% to 50% more than gas-powered vehicles thanks to batteries that can weigh almost as much as a small gas-powered car. And they have lower centers of gravity. Because of these differences, guardrails can do little to stop electric vehicles from pushing through barriers typically made of steel. Last fall, engineers...

The fourth quarter of 2023 was not good for Electric Vehicles (EV). Multiple manufacturers decided to curb or halt production. Ford in particular decided to cut their F150 Lightening Truck series in half. Roughly 4,500 auto dealers signed on to a letter petitioning the Biden administration to “tap the breaks” on its aggressive EV push, on account of EVs stacking up on dealer lots. The new year is already off to a rough start and we’re not even through the first month. Hertz announced it will be selling off about one third of its EVs, which will amount to roughly...

Several cars had to be towed from a charging line in Evergreen Park on Monday as temperatures struggled to rise above freezing. Tests found that electric vehicles lose between 20% and 30% of their range when temperatures dip below freezing... Ice causing flooding concerns The frigid temperatures in Illinois are causing flooding concerns. Chunks of ice have built up along the Kankakee River near Wilmington, causing the water to rise in some areas. A flood warning was issued for the area for the remainder of the week. Flood waters have surrounded homes as river waters continue to flow beneath the...