News Roundup: Schwarzenegger sets teenage activist up with Tesla, Chevy unveils C8 convertible and more

Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.When Arnold met GretaWhen Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg at a European environmental summit earlier this year, he was thoroughly impressed. (Join the club, Arnold.) And then, when he learned she’d be making a North American tour, he offered to set his new friend up with one of the greenest ways to get around: a Tesla Model 3. Thunberg travelled to Montreal to participate in the climate strike along with approximately 500,000 others, and is continuing on to other events elsewhere in North America. 70-year-old B.C. driver given ticket for having cell phone in cup holderWhere do you keep your cell phone when you’re driving? Obviously, it’s illegal to hold it in your hand and use it – that’s distracted driving – but one senior citizen in B.C. was shocked to receive a ticket this week for having her smartphone charging in a cup holder. Randi Kramer, who’s had a clean driving record for the last 50 years or so, was issued a $368 ticket for distracted driving, despite not being distracted by her phone at all. Kramer plans to fight the ticket and her story has already got the attention of a local lawyer. The new C8 convertible arrives with folding hardtopThe 2020 Chevy Corvette Stingray was unveiled this week, and unlike the initial C8 launch that nearly broke the internet earlier this summer, there’s not so much to report on. The new model will be available with a folding hardtop only, and be powered by the same plant as the coupe: a 6.2-litre 490-horsepower V8. Chevy chose to reveal the convertible at the Kennedy Space Center’s Rocket Garden in Orlando, Florida as a nod to all the astronauts who’ve driven ‘Vettes over the years. The 2020 Corvette convertible will start at $78,998 when it arrives in Canada next spring. Watch Tesla owners damage their cars using the new Smart Summon featureA new software update downloaded into Teslas around the world last weekend, teaching the electric vehicles a highly anticipated new trick. Smart Summon automatically pilots empty cars across parking lots or driveways to their drivers, who summon them with the press of a button on an app. But despite the word “Smart” being right there in the name, and Tesla officially reminding driver they “are still responsible for (their) car and must monitor it and its surroundings at all times,” the new feature has occasionally hit a few snags. Or, more accurately, other vehicles and garage doors. Check out some of the Smart Summon fails caught on camera and already making the rounds online. Russian YouTuber tests how many spokes your car wheel actually needsHow many spokes is enough spokes? Sure, all of them would be ideal, but when push came to shove, how many could you still drive with? Like, if you literally pushed and shoved (or cut) the spokes off the wheels, like this Russian YouTuber did, how far would you get? Turns out, pretty far! The Garage 54 YouTube channel, which is dedicated to these kind of automotive “torture tests,” fits an old car with a bunch of tires with a varying number of the alloy spokes removed, and basically drives around on them until they break. The language dubbing is bearable, but the video itself is highly
Origin: News Roundup: Schwarzenegger sets teenage activist up with Tesla, Chevy unveils C8 convertible and more

Schwarzenegger sets Greta Thunberg up with Tesla Model 3 to Montreal

Tesla Model 3Tesla Climate activist and scolder of world leaders Greta Thunberg will be travelling to various North American events this month including one in Montreal in a Tesla Model 3, courtesy of none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.The actor-turned-politician apparently made the offer after learning of her travel plans in Canada and the States during this leg of her climate crusade.While your author and many others associate Terminator and Predator movies with the former California governor, Schwarzenegger has lately been using his influence as a call to action on environmental issues. This friendship between Schwarzenegger and Thunberg may seem random, but the two have been on the same climate page for ages. The muscle-bound actor said he was starstruck after meeting the young activist earlier this year at an environmental summit in Vienna. Given his willingness to help her with her efforts right now on this side of the pond, its safe to say the sixteen-year-old made quite an impression on him.Schwarzenegger isnt new to the electric car scene, having had a Hummer H1 converted to electric power by an outfit called Kreisel Electric. Those of us with long memories will recall the actor was one of the first (if not the first) to take delivery of a civilian Humvee when they were released to the general public back in the 1990s. An electric conversion, then, ties the mans then-and-now interests together very well.After taking the world to task in a speech delivered at the UN last week, Thunberg continued to Montreal where she lead an estimated 500,000 people on that days climate strike. These events, held around the world, are intended to highlight climate change and spur people into taking real
Origin: Schwarzenegger sets Greta Thunberg up with Tesla Model 3 to Montreal

News Roundup: Schwarzenegger masquerades as a used-car salesman, Chevy (maybe) cancels the Camaro, and Genesis takes on the EV market

Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Watch Schwarzenegger annoy customers as a used-car salesmanIn film, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s characters usually use bicep strength or Gatling guns to impose their will. But in a new YouTube video, the former Governator relies upon his skills of annoyance to push customers at a used car lot toward electric vehicles. The bit, which appeared on the Austrian-American star’s YouTube page, was a plug for ElectricForAll.org, featuring Arnold as used car salesman overly keen for the gas-guzzling ways of old. Karma, baby! Vancouver driver gets new McLaren impounded minutes after driving it off the lotAh, don’t you just love stories like this, where the idiot driver gets his comeuppance almost immediately? A Vancouver driver recently took possession of a brand-new quarter-million-dollar McLaren 600LT and decided to test its limits on the drive home, accelerating to 161 km/h in a 90-km/h zone before being stopped by police. The $368 ticket probably won’t be such a problem for the obviously wealthy driver, but at least the reckless dummy won’t have his new ride for a week. J.D. Power ranks the best and worst car brands of the yearMarketing information services company J.D. Power has released its Initial Quality Study for 2019, which ranks car brands based on the number of issues experienced by new owners. At the bottom of the pile were British brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which managed to improve their scores from last year but not enough to inch past Mitsubishi, which was ranked third-worse. The top of the list, on the other hand, was dominated by South Korean marques, with Genesis, Kia and Hyundai taking the top three spots, respectively. The highest-ranking North American brand was Ford, which clinched fourth position despite slipping by a couple points from last year. Chevrolet might halt Camaro production after sixth gen Will the sixth-generation Camaro be the last? Rumours of the impending cancellation of the Chevrolet Camaro that started with “multiple sources within GM” speaking to Muscle Cars Trucks suggest so, though later we heard from other sources that the next gen was just “delayed until further notice.” The news has some Camaro fans experiencing deja-vu as the popular muscle car was discontinued once already, back in 2002, only to be resurrected in 2009. GM has neither confirmed nor denied the rumours, telling Motor Authority, “While we will not engage in speculation, we will remind you of our recently announced updates coming to the Camaro lineup this fall.” So we wait…Opinion: The “carpocalypse” is pure BS! Motor Mouth David Booth touched a nerve this week by asking a simple question: “When did we get so f-ing stupid?” OK, so it’s not so difficult to see why some might be offended. In this week’s editorial, our unabashed columnist takes on the idea of the “carpocalypse,” which predicts the forthcoming demise of the auto industry. Despite increased messaging from car sharing companies like Lyft and Car2Go claiming drivership is down – as well plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting Millennials aren’t buying the same way their parents did – Booth insists it’s all a bunch of hogwash. Do you agree? Join the conversation by commenting on his latest Motor Mouth column. Will another 400 Series Highway improve Toronto traffic conditions? The powers that be in the GTA are studying the idea of connecting Highway 400 in Vaughan to Highway 407 in Milton with another major route in order to reduce congestion. Demand to improve commute times, which rose 8 per cent since 2013, is strong, but as Driving’s Steven Bochenek points out, adding more roads doesn’t necessarily lead to less traffic. In fact, according to a well-researched concept called “induced demand,” more roads often simply lead to more drivers. Well, there’s always the GO Train, I guess. Genesis sets sights on the electric market with announcement of upcoming EVNew kid on the block Genesis has been making waves for a few years now, with its internationally acclaimed vehicles displacing demand for the luxury marquees that have dominated the industry for what seems like forever. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have felt the Genesis pinch, and soon, according to reports from Australia’s Drive, so will Tesla. The publication says the South Korean automaker will release its first fully electric offerings in 2021, in the form of a sedan and an SUV. Genesis claims to be “moving very fast on this,” so expect to hear more (official) news on this
Origin: News Roundup: Schwarzenegger masquerades as a used-car salesman, Chevy (maybe) cancels the Camaro, and Genesis takes on the EV market

Schwarzenegger pranks new car shoppers into buying electric vehicles

A video posted to Arnold Schwarzeneggers YouTube channel late June shows the famous actor and former California governor dressing up as a used car salesman and pranking people on the lot.The goal? Annoy them with his pro-gasoline schtick so much theyll consider nothing but an electric car.The spot, which the actor pulled off with California EV non-profit Veloz, starts off with an action movie-style intro, with Arnie getting into character as Howard Kleiner, a dealer rep set on selling people gas-guzzling muscle cars instead of new, greener tech.The character is perfect for Schwarzenegger, who is known for mercilessly killing bad guys and driving a Hummer in movies, we mean, but probably in real life, too.Schwarzenegger goes on to talk people out of buying electric cars, and without explaining every joke in the video, well just say he goes a little over-the-top with the benefits gas cars provide, and throws in a few of his own movie quotes.Honestly, if these are real people and not actors, its pretty incredible none of them picked up Arnies thick accent immediately. From the moment we hear his voice over the PA system, its pretty much obvious who it is.In the end, besides being good for a laugh, the ad serves a purpose: encouraging people to consider alternative-fuel vehicles. Schwarzenegger himself has a few electric cars for daily use, saving the Humvees for special occasions (though hes got an electric example of one of those,
Origin: Schwarzenegger pranks new car shoppers into buying electric vehicles