Since electric cars contain huge batteries, there is that fear of it potentially exploding and catching on fire, similar to what we’ve seen in the past with smartphones. Fortunately, for the most part, we haven’t really heard about exploding cars, at least until recently where it seems that a video making its rounds in China has Tesla a bit worried.
In response to the tragic murder of a college student who entered a vehicle she mistakenly thought to be her Uber, the ride-hailing company is now rolling out a set of safety features aimed to improve campus safety for riders. Uber’s Campus Safety Initiative has been launched in partnership with the University of South Carolina. It’s a national effort aimed at helping students learn how to avoid fake rideshare drivers.
New York Times analyst Alice Fung tweeted a photo recently which shows a rather large monitor with the words “Please Pay Your Fare” and the warning “RECORDING IN PROGRESS” on a video feed of subway commuters. Fund asked if the MTA was sharing this recording with anyone, prompting concerns that it was doing real-time facial recognition of commuters. The MTA has now clarified that this isn’t the case.
According to a new report, battery shortages have forced Audi to delay the delivery of the E-tron, its first flagship fully electric vehicle. The company has apparently not been able to source enough batteries from LG Chem, the company that’s supplying this crucial component for its electric vehicles.
In an effort to reduce fraud, Amazon is now having its delivery drivers take selfies. The company will then use facial recognition to verify the drivers’ identities to ensure that they really are who they say they are. This new requirement has already appeared on the Amazon Flex app for drivers, it notifies them that they need to take a selfie before they can continue to work.
The Boeing 737 Max jets remained grounded across the globe following two fatal crashes involving the plane in Indonesia and Ethiopia just five months apart. The jet’s new MCAS anti-stall system was reportedly the common denominator in both incidents and Boeing has since been working on a software fix which would make the system less aggressive and provide pilots with more control over it. The Federal Aviation Administration has been […]
All-electric vehicles are gradually becoming more popular among consumers even though they still account for a small percentage of the total market in the United States. The latest analysis by IHS Markit shows that new registrations for electric vehicles have doubled in the United States since last year.
Waymo is part of the same parent company now as Google even though it started out as a self-driving car project at Google’s moonshot division. It was spun off as a separate company as it geared up to launch its self-driving taxi service. The service isn’t available to everyone as yet but it’s in semi-open trials in the Pheonix area. The testers in that area can now get the Waymo […]
Sony has launched a taxi-hailing service in the Japanese capital of Tokyo as part of a joint venture that it’s leading. The ride-hailing landscape is a bit different in Japan compared to other countries across the globe where services like Uber reign supreme. S.Ride is a major entry into this landscape and is available for use starting today.
It has been almost four years since Aston Martin confirmed that it was building an all-electric sports car. It has now unveiled the Aston Martin Rapide E at the Shanghai Auto Show. The vehicle is based on the Aston Martin Rapide sedan, the existing combustion engine-powered sports car. Availability will be extremely limited.
Last year, Toyota announced the recall of over a million of their hybrid vehicles which included the Prius. This was due to a potential fire hazard due to its electrical system. Unfortunately, it seems that despite it being more than half a year later, Toyota is still struggling to get the issue under control.
Lyft is pulling thousands of its e-bikes out of service temporarily in three U.S. cities due to braking malfunctions. It follows after dozens of injuries were reported due to the brake issues. Lyft has thus removed its fleet of pedal-assist electric bikes in New York city. The systems affected by this include Citi Bike in New York City, Ford GoBike in San Francisco, and Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C.
Tesla rolled out the Sentry Mode for its electric cars so that the vehicle can keep an eye out for itself when the owner is away. It utilizes the onboard cameras to record any potential threat or damage and also notifies the owner of the same. A suspected car thief has now been arrested after evidence collected by Sentry Mode was turned over to the police.
Potholes are the bane of drivers all over the world, where not only do they scratch the underneath of our cars, but in some situations, if the pothole is deep enough or filled with sharp rocks, can result in our tires getting punctured. Of course, the best thing to do is to avoid them, and this is something that Tesla could be building into its cars.