SUV demand could negate environmental benefit of EVs, study suggests

2019 Nissan KicksNissan With federal elections on the horizon, the issue of climate change is top of mind for many Canadians. Well, here’s a bit of news for those climate change activists driving SUVs. A new analysis performed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that environmental progress made by the shift to electric vehicles may be offset by the rising demand for SUVs. Commentary on the study notes even with major automakers projecting a tenfold increase in annual EV sales by 2030, and a general slackening of sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles, the rise of SUVs alone, which consume on average a quarter more energy than smaller cars, is enough to cancel out the benefits of the other shifts. For perspective, there were over 200 million SUVs on the planet in 2018; in 2010, there were only 35 million. That means, over those eight years, SUVs accounted for some 60 per cent of the increase in the world’s cars.The author calls this move a “silent structural change,” claiming the SUV sector was the second-largest contributor to all CO2 emissions from 2010-2018. Better than the power sector, but worse than iron, steel, trucks or aviation. “If consumers’ appetite for SUVs continues to grow at a similar pace seen in the last decade, SUVs would add nearly 2 million barrels a day in global oil demand by 2040, offsetting the savings from nearly 150 million electric cars,” says the study.Kind of puts a new perspective on your Toyota 4Runner, doesn’t
Origin: SUV demand could negate environmental benefit of EVs, study suggests

Pedestrian avoidance technology much less effective at higher speeds: study

Clip from a AAA video of a pedestrian detection emergency braking system testAAA Cars equipped with pedestrian avoidance technology are a step in the right direction, but much more development is needed for them to be truly effective, a new AAA study, covered by Consumer Reports, shows.The systems in the four cars the group tested struggled, and ultimately failed, to find pedestrians at night, or upon executing right-hand turns at low speed. They also failed to avert disaster when at speeds of 48 km/h or higher.It’s a signal to manufacturers, and a reminder to consumers, that while technology to reduce pedestrian deaths is needed and being implemented, it has some severe limitations. You cannot hand over control of your car and disengage from the complex task of driving, no matter how many systems are being touted. Pedestrian detection is used in combination with automatic emergency braking systems; if the car detects a pedestrian the driver doesn’t, it will alert the driver and start to take action to slow or stop the car. It uses cameras, radar and sensors that allow the car to “see” a pedestrian, and should be very effective in urban areas at speed limits of up to 30 km/h. The AAA study is alarming because the four different vehicles they tested – Tesla Model 3, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Malibu – delivered underwhelming results.In daylight, at 32 km/h, the cars hit an adult pedestrian 60 per cent of the time. Even worse, “none of the test vehicles avoided a collision (or even mitigated the impact speed) with a pedestrian crossing the road immediately after the test vehicle, traveling at 15 mph (24 km/h), made a right-hand turn.”If you’re a little one, forget it: “If the test vehicles came across a child darting into traffic from in between two cars, with the test vehicle traveling at 20 mph (32 km/h), a collision occurred 89 per cent of the time; at 30 mph (48 km/h), none of the test vehicles avoided a collision.”Are we there yet? Nope. Don’t take your eyes from the road, be aware of your surroundings and don’t count on your car to save those around you — just
Origin: Pedestrian avoidance technology much less effective at higher speeds: study

These are the top ten cars owners keep the longest: study

Rain or shine, cars like the Corvette Stingray form some of the strongest bonds among fellow gear heads and friends. In today’s era of breakneck-speed technological development, it’s rare for people to hold onto anything mechanized for longer than a few years. Imagine using a cell phone from ten years ago? But according to a study performed by online used car search engine iSeeCars, there are many who keep their vehicles for a good number of years before selling them. Mostly Toyota owners—The research looked at over 5 million vehicles sold by their original owners to come up with a list of the top ten longest-kept vehicles. The ranking includes five sports cars – more than any other type of vehicle – including the second-place Chevrolet Corvette, third-place Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and fourth-ranked Audi TT, all of which were kept by their original owners for an average of just over 10 years. The Ford Mustang and Porsche 911 also make the list in sixth and eighth place, respectively, at right around 10 years of average ownership. The top spot goes to one of Toyota’s most trusted nameplates, the Land Cruiser. The average length of ownership for that popular SUV is 11.4 years, almost a full year longer than the second-place ‘Vette. Three other SUVs landed on the list: Ford Expedition, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Sequoia. The fourth Toyota to make the cut was also the only sedan. The brand’s North American flagship full-size car, the Toyota Avalon, snuck into the tenth spot with an average of 9.7 years. Are you bringing the ownership period average up or down? Let us know how long you owned your last car in the
Origin: These are the top ten cars owners keep the longest: study

Ford study suggests most Americans don’t know nothin’ about EVs

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFord As Ford amps up its electric-vehicle campaign in advance of the launch of the electric F-150, it has been trying to get an idea of where people are in terms of acceptance and understanding of the EV market. As part of the brand’s research into the emerging market, it funded a study that polled drivers across international car markets to see just how much or little they understood about EVs. You can see for yourself in the published results on Medium, but it doesn’t exactly tally up to a vote of confidence for the electric future. In fact, it exposes a pretty crucial gap in our societies’ EV education. Perhaps the most startling figure is the percentage of people who believe electric vehicles require gas to run. Forty-two percent of Americans polled believed that to be true. It isn’t, except in a hybrid. It’s also not true that EVs suck at towing, but 67 per cent of people still believe that. Ford recently attempted to correct some of the misconceptions on this front when it used an electric F-150 prototype to tow a 1-million-pound train. Some 90 per cent think EVs can’t keep up off the starting line, believing them to be inferior at accelerating. (They obviously haven’t seen this.) Sixty-five per cent of people who identified as being on the hunt for an AWD said they wouldn’t go with an EV, which might be explained by the gap in understanding of how the batteries function in different weather conditions. The study found that 80 per cent of Americans figure winter cold or summer heat would defeat EVs, which is also not true — well, not entirely, anyway. The point is, collectively speaking, we don’t know squat about electric vehicles. Or at least Americans don’t. Do you think a poll of Canadians would have us fare any
Origin: Ford study suggests most Americans don’t know nothin’ about EVs

BMW, Chevrolet and Kia models top their segments in 2019 J.D. Power study

2020 Kia Forte GT The strange trio of BMW, Chevrolet and Kia took home most of the hardware in this years annual J.D. Power Initial Quality Study awards, with American and Korean brands generally making quite the sweep.The J.D. Power quality ratings and awards are based on feedback from more than 75,000 verified vehicle owners who have owned or leased their new rig for a minimum of 90 days.This rating focuses on problems experienced by these verified owners and has, over the years, been a good predictor of long-term durability.Rankings are easy to decipher: the fewer the problems, the better the score. Some folks rag on this award saying that 90 day-old cars are supposed to be trouble-free. However, anyone whos bought or leased a new car only to have it spend days and weeks in the shop know thats not always what happens.This year, there were 22 segment award recipients, listed alphabetically here by J.D. Power. Would it surprise you to learn that over one-third of them are brands from the Detroit Three automakers? Its true.The Ford Fusion, for example, continues to garner accolades despite currently residing in deaths nursery. It tied with the Chevy Malibu to rank highest in the midsize car segment. Youll notice the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are nowhere to be found.The large-and-in-charge full-size SUVs from General Motors also took home awards in their respective categories, with the Chevy Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade being singled out by J.D. Power for IQS greatness. Lexus GX? Mercedes G-Wagen? Nope.However, Lexus did appear as winner in the midsize premium SUV class, expressive face and all.In addition, more than a quarter of the segment award winners were cars from Korean brands. Hyundais popular Sante Fe earned a gold sticker for initial quality in midsize SUVs, boding well for the utility given it is newly packed with gee-whiz tech such as advanced safety systems.Kias Sedona, Forte, Rio and Sportage were all champs in their respective classes. Toss in a win by Genesis for top premium compact car with its G70 and the Koreans certainly have something to boast
Origin: BMW, Chevrolet and Kia models top their segments in 2019 J.D. Power study

Waymo to study driverless services with Renault-Nissan alliance

Autonomous Nissan Leaf Waymo agreed to explore driverless services with Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, pairing a leader in self-driving technology with the worlds largest automotive alliance.The three carmakers and Alphabet Inc.s autonomous-vehicle unit will study market opportunities and research legal and safety issues related to driverless transportation services in France and Japan, the companies said in a statement Thursday.The deal doesnt extend to cooperation producing robo-vehicles.Were convinced that with this added expertise, well be able to position ourselves for autonomous services that are viable for customers, Hadi Zablit, senior vice-president for business development at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, told reporters in Paris.When it comes to implementation, the three automakers wont necessarily offer services in common with Waymo, he said.The French-Japanese alliance produced more than 10 million vehicles last yearon a par with the biggest carmakers: Volkswagen and Toyota.Unlike Waymos previously announced deals with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Tata Motors Jaguar Land Rover, the partnership with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi doesnt include supplying any cars.Waymos parent company, Alphabet, struck a separate deal with the three-way partnership last September, giving its Google Android operating system access to their vehicle dashboards starting in 2021.The new agreement marks a first step toward developing long-term, profitable driverless-vehicle services for passengers and deliveries, the companies said. While the analysis will take place first in France and Japan, they said it may expand to other markets excluding China in the
Origin: Waymo to study driverless services with Renault-Nissan alliance

People are ready for self-driving cars, study suggests

BMW announced early 2015 it would team up with FCA and Intel to put 40 self-driving test vehicles on the road by the end of 2017.BMW Driving is so yesterday. That’s the sentiment drawn from a recent study by a French agency that suggests most buyers are ready to embrace the self-driving car revolution. Capgemini, a digital consulting agency based in Paris, France, has found many people are keen to start using autonomous cars. The study, which polled 5,500 people around the world, including drivers and automotive execs, suggests most folks are looking forward to the extra time they’ll gain from using a self-driving car. Sixty-three per cent of people say they’d spend that new-found time socializing with family and friends, be it digitally on FaceTime or in real life inside of the car, while 45 per cent said they’d spend the time snoozing. Of course, there are even more, ahem, activities one could engage in inside a self-driving vehicle (we’re talking about sex, shhhh). It’s not just safety and the technical aspects of autonomous cars that will determine their adoption rate—it’s also the consumer experience, Markus Winkler, the director of the global automotive sector at Capgemini, told Automotive News. The study also found that consumers are willing to increase their spend, with 56 per cent saying they’d fork out up to 20 per cent more to have a self-driving car. Half of the people polled also felt that in the future, they’d trust their self-driving car to make safe decisions during unexpected situations, pick-up family and friends (like minors) who don’t have a license, and even run errands. The Chinese respondents were most welcoming of an autonomous future, while the British were most wary. Interestingly, the layman (a.k.a. the public) proved to be more optimistic about the potential for a self-driving future than the automotive executives interviewed, perhaps due to a general misunderstanding of the challenges facing the technology. The study also showed when it comes to accepting self-driving tech, buyers are more trusting of the bigger and more established automakers than they are of the start-ups in the field.
Origin: People are ready for self-driving cars, study suggests

Even light rain increases your risk of a deadly car crash: study

In this file photo, umbrellas provide some rain protection along Lakeshore Blvd. in Etobicoke on July 9, 2010.Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun Even light rain significantly increases your risk of a fatal car crash, a new study out of the U.S. finds. The wetter the roads, the deadlier they become, with rain, snow and ice increasing the risk of deadly car crashes by 34 per cent, according to a study published April in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Light rain – “We’re talking a drizzle, just at the point where you might consider taking an umbrella out,” said study lead author Scott Stevens – increased the fatal crash risk by 27 per cent. Stevens, a data analyst and meteorologist at the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, and colleagues looked at 125,012 fatal car crashes in the Lower 48 states from 2006 to 2011, factoring in how many cars are on the road, to calculate the risk of a fatal accident. While other studies have used police reports and the nearest weather station to calculate rain and snow conditions, Stevens said his is the first study to use more precise weather radar data. It was able to distinguish how hard the rain or snow was falling to come up with results showing an increase in fatal crashes even in rain of less than one-tenth of an inch per hour. “People slow down when it starts to rain heavily, but I think they under-appreciate the risk of light rain,” Stevens said Tuesday. With moderate rain the risk of fatal car crashes is 75 per cent more than in nice weather, Stevens said, and with heavy rain it’s nearly two-and-a-half times more risky. The Northern Rockies and Upper Midwest had the highest risk of fatal crashes with rainy and snowy weather, while the risks were lowest in the Northeast and Southeast. Stevens thinks that’s because the east is more urban and people aren’t driving fast enough for fatal
Origin: Even light rain increases your risk of a deadly car crash: study