2020 Lexus RX 450hHandout / Lexus Dozens of newer Toyota and Lexus vehicles are being stolen across Ontario with a simple trick that allows the thieves to just drive the vehicle away, CBC News reports.To steal the vehicles, the thieves use an amplifier to boost the signal of the cars key fob, assuming its within range of the vehicle. The signal is then captured, and the car can be driven without the fob nearby. More than 100 vehicles from across Canada have been stolen so far.While Toyota and Lexus vehicles seem to be targeted most often, its likely any vehicle with a key fob could be broken into using this system.Most of the stolen vehicles are destined for resale in Africa and the Middle East, explain authorities, which probably has more to do with why popular Toyota and Lexus vehicles are swiped most often.Toyota has suggested owners put their key fob in a Faraday pouch, which shields the device from radio signals. Some owners have also resorted to putting their fobs in the microwave or the freezer.Owners should also consider equipping more safeguards against the thefts, David Shum, Toyota spokesperson, said in an email to the CBC, such as an aftermarket alarm system, steering wheel lock and diagnostic-port lock.Also, if it doesnt go without saying, dont leave your key fob near the front door where thieves can easily steal the
Origin: Thieves stealing Toyota, Lexus vehicles using key fob ‘relay’, police warn
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Dubai’s now using supercars to build its ambulance fleet, too
Apparently Dubai is running out of things to do with all its supercars, because now its turning the darn things into ambulances.It seems like a skit out of Top Gear — we cant help but think of Jeremy Clarkson piloting a Porsche 944 to the aid of some poor schmuck with a severed artery, but the vehicles Dubais adding to its paramedics services fleet are obviously more capable than a 30-year-old four-cylinder Porsche.In fact, the three new vehicles doled out to the forces first responders will be a Chevrolet C7 Corvette, a Nissan GT-R and a Range Rover. No trims are specified for the vehicles, but the Range Rover will be a dedicated female responder, staffed by an all-female EMT team. (Some conservative families in the kingdom dont allow men to treat women patients.)Without thinking too hard about it, this seems like a great plan for first responders who need to get to the scene as quickly as possible. In a life-and-death situation, seconds really do count, and the launch control in the Nissan GT-R should help nicely with cutting back on those seconds. In reality, the vehicles wont be used too often for actual emergencies. Instead, theyll likely be carted around to special events and used as demonstration vehicles. Wed expect theyll be fully staffed by professionals should a problem arise, but theyre not a total solution.The ambulance fleets siblings in the Dubai police force include some even more serious performers, like a Bugatti Veyron, a LaFerrari and an Aston Martin
Origin: Dubai’s now using supercars to build its ambulance fleet, too
Watch two thieves effortlessly steal a Tesla using a homemade antenna
Gone in 33 seconds! A video of two men apparently stealing a Tesla from a driveway in a town near London demonstrates just how simple it may be to fool a car’s electronic security system. From the time the man with the backpack antenna-transmitter walks through the front gate to the time the Tesla backs out off the driveway, about 33 seconds pass.The video was shot by a doorbell camera and allegedly shows the two men stepping onto the property, one walking toward the door carrying a bag on his chest and holding a wire above his head, the other standing next to the drivers side of the electric car.The process they use to get the Tesla open and running in seconds is known as a Signal Amplification Relay Attack (SARA). It’s pretty simple and works the same on any car with a fob key, not just Teslas. Basically, the makeshift antenna (the wire) grabs the signal being emitted by the key fob, which likely sits inside the door, transmits it to a transceiver probably concealed in the bag on his chest, which spits it over to a second receiver being held by the accomplice next to the car.When the Tesla senses the signal, which it thinks is coming from the fob, being broadcast near the door, it pops open. Then the pair drives off with their shiny new EV, probably headed to a chop shop to remove all the pieces that won’t signal the car’s whereabouts back to Tesla and the authorities. Theres a lesson here, and were pretty sure its this: park in the garage whenever
Origin: Watch two thieves effortlessly steal a Tesla using a homemade antenna
Reminder: Your passenger has to be breathing if you’re using the HOV lane
An old hearse in front of a crumbling warehouse.Getty People have been trying to beat the High-Occupancy Lane rules since the light-traffic stretches of pavement were introduced, conniving all sorts of wacky carpooling schemes to try and get in front of the gridlock on their commute.According to the LA Times, the latest trick tried Stateside involved counting a corpse in a casket in the back of a hearse as a passenger, even if their destination may be a little more final.Trooper Travis Smaka of the Nevada Highway Patrol apparently pulled over a black Chrysler minivan July 1 that appeared to only have one person sitting in the front, without a passenger, zipping down the HOV.Smaka asked for the drivers license and registration, and then for an explanation as to how exactly he qualified for carpool-lane use; the driver nodded and motioned to the back of the van.Oh, you have a deceased in the back? the trooper replied. He did. Then the trooper had to tell the mortuary driver that, well, corpses dont count.Yes, its a person, but theyre not in a seat and theyre not living and breathing, another trooper, Jason Buratczuk, told the Times. What if the dead were in the passenger seat? quizzed the reporter on the story. Buratczuk shot back: Then the HOV violation is the least of your concerns.HOV lane enforcement is being tightened up in Nevada, the newspaper reports, and now carries a fine of US$250; monitoring now occurs all day, not just during morning and evening rush hour.Today we stopped a local funereal home hearse in the HOV lane. The driver had the dearly departed in the back, he thought the deceased could be counted as two people. I guess we should clarify this, living, breathing people count for the HOV lane. The driver was given a warning pic.twitter.com/OQms0ktl8t NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) July 1, 2019High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes are made to decrease fossil fuel usage and pollution by reducing the number of cars on the roads. If your passengers are instead on their way to becoming fossil fuels themselves? Were afraid you might just have to wait in traffic with the rest of the pre-deceased.Smaka ended up letting the hearse driver off with a warning. Smakas answer when the driver insisted he had a passenger on board? Hes not with us
Origin: Reminder: Your passenger has to be breathing if you’re using the HOV lane
Audi accused of using four defeat devices in V6 diesel
The German transport ministry has identified up to four different emission defeat devices in software code used by Audi’s V6 diesel engine, according to separate reports published by Germany’s Bayerischen Rundfunk and Handelsblatt. The various defeat devices are claimed to have been developed by Audi to provide models fitted with its turbocharged 3.0-litre engine with lower emission readings during government mandated tests on rolling roads under controlled conditions than actual results on public roads. The various defeat devices are said to have been used in vehicles produced up to the beginning of 2018, more than two years after US authorities made public findings that Audi parent company, Volkswagen, had used similar illegal software functions in various diesel models. The German transport ministry issued Audi with a forced recall of various models fitted with the V6 diesel engine in January 2019, confirming up to 200,000 vehicles in Germany were suspected of using an illegal software function the German car maker labelled as a “Motoraufwärmfunktion” or engine warm-up function. This so-called Motoraufwärmfunktion is, in fact, a secret defeat device used to manipulate emission results, say representatives of the German transport ministry. Models from Volkswagen and Porsche were also affected. Information in an addendum to the German transport ministry report obtained by Bayerischen Rundfunk and Handelsblatt identifies a further three defeat devices. Three additional defeat devices were not deemed illegal despite the report suggesting they facilitated functions leading to emission manipulation. In the report, the various defeat devices are listed as A, B, C and D, according to Bayerischen Rundfunk and Handelsblatt. However, the German transport ministry states only one can be identified as being illegal, suggesting Audi was free to voluntarily remove the other three functions from its software code as part of the recall announced earlier this year. Both Bayerischen Rundfunk and Handelsblatt report it is apparent from the report that the German transport ministry did not undertake testing leading to the discovery of the defeat devices but relied upon information provided by
Origin: Audi accused of using four defeat devices in V6 diesel
YouTuber videos himself using Tesla’s Autopilot from the back seat
2018 Tesla Model 3Peter Bleakney In a truly stupid video recently posted to Instagram, YouTuber Alex Choi attempted to make himself look cool by sitting in the back seat of a semi-autonomous Tesla Model 3 with nobody behind the wheel. Choi posted the eight-second clip to his Instagram Stories, clearly showing himself taking a video from the back seat of the car as it self-navigated heavy traffic, a friend in the front passenger seat and the driver’s seat completely empty, just like the part of his brain where the common sense is supposed to be. Needless to say, if something were to go wrong with the system, or even if it were turned off suddenly – it deactivates when someone turns the wheel or touches the brakes – he would have been totally screwed, and likely would’ve hurt somebody else on the road. meanwhile, YouTuber and new #TeslaModel3 Performance owner, Alex Choi is posted this video to his Instagram story last night. Its probably the most reckless thing that hes done and thats saying something. pic.twitter.com/TK5zwgRohX Det Ansinn (@detansinn) June 4, 2019 This isn’t the first time Choi has done something stupid that endangers other people’s lives. A video was posted a while back with him making an extremely ill-timed merge in a Lamborghini that almost ended a motorcycle rider’s life. Honestly, if you’re going to do something for the gram, at least make it cool or interesting; this is just stupid, and doesn’t help the reputation of the Autopilot system. Once again, Tesla’s Autopilot system is not some stupid toy to be played with. It’s a driver assistance aid aimed at making driving more comfortable, so quit pretending it’s your own personal chauffeur. It isn’t. Tesla is also partly to blame for this kind of behavior, since the automaker still uses language like “full self-driving capability” to describe Autopilot’s advantages, when that’s something it really doesn’t
Origin: YouTuber videos himself using Tesla’s Autopilot from the back seat
Mini teases electric Cooper SE by using it to—pull a cargo plane!?
The Cooper SE electric prototype might be Mini by nature, but it’s still got big power. Mini made a show of its new electric hatchback’s towing power, hoping to change the perception of small EVs as gutless, by using it to pull a Boeing 777F cargo plane down the runway at Frankfurt airport. The Lufthansa plane weighs approximately 136 tonnes, but the hot hatch’s instant electric torque has it rolling steadily in short order. The BMW Group put together a video of the stunt introducing the “muscle car,” showing it in a yellow-and-black camo wrap pulling the massive aircraft a short distance before being loaded into the plane’s cargo area. “Having been the epitome of thrilling mobility in the urban environment for 60 years, the MINI brand will in future combine locally emissions-free driving in city traffic with a unique emotional experience,” the brand wrote in a press release. “In this way, the MINI Electric will be a driving force for future drive technology. Helping the MINI Cooper SE perform its muscle car role, the performance characteristics of the electric motor combine spontaneous power delivery with a high level of torque available directly from standing.” It’s anticipated that Mini will borrow the BMW i3’s electric powertrain for the build. That makes 70 horsepower and 184 lb-ft. of torque in the BMW, using a 33-kWh battery with a range of around 160 km. The plane-pull stunt is the first of a series of videos amping up the car before it debuts in July, goes into production at the British plant in Oxford in November and lands in North American driveways by the end of the year.
Origin: Mini teases electric Cooper SE by using it to—pull a cargo plane!?
Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets to develop vehicles
Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets while test driving vehiclesVolvo Volvo’s RD department just got a little cooler. The Swedish automaker claims it’s found a way to use mixed-reality headsets to cut costs and improve efficiencies while developing new vehicles. In case you’re not up to speed on the nuances of the various digital realities, mixed reality places digital objects in the real world, allowing users to see things that aren’t really there. So, Volvo – in partnership with Finnish startup Varjo – has been strapping mixed-reality headsets to its developers and sending them out for drives in the real world. That sounds fun and also reckless, but the brand claims it’s mostly in the name of safety. According to the press release, the XR-1 goggles “allows Volvo Cars designers and engineers to ‘drive’ future cars and evaluate all features in a simulation environment many years before they exist, enabling the company to develop the safest cars with the most refined user experience possible.” Automotive News asked Varjo CEO Niko Eiden to provide some examples of the kinds of tasks developers are using the headsets for. “You can experiment with new dashboard layouts while driving an existing car because what you see blends perfectly into reality,” he told the publication. “We have also integrated eye tracking. So, for example, if a warning light is blinking in the right-hand side corner of the dashboard, we can immediately test how quickly the driver is actually reacting. That means we can automate a lot of the testing processes that were previously much more difficult to measure.” Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets while test driving vehicles Volvo Also, according to the press photos, it can also put a virtual moose on the highway. Volvo claims to be the first out of the gate with this tech, but starting this year, Varjo’s headsets will be fair game for other industry competitors.
Origin: Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets to develop vehicles
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Charged for using a phone while in a drive-thru
A McDonalds employee assists a customer at its drive-up window August 8, 2003 in Chicago, Illinois.Tim Boyle / Getty Images An RCMP officer in Surrey, B.C. is offering us up a nitpicky Judgy-Pants. It seems a driver at a McDonald’s drive-thru was using his phone when an officer issued him a warning about using a handheld device while behind the wheel, reports News 1130. Though the officer says he was in the area on an unrelated matter, when he spied a driver in the drive-thru using his phone, he approached him. The pushback against the incident only made the RCMP remind the public that parking lots and drive-thrus are considered part of the roadway, and are subject to enforcement of the BC Motor Vehicle Act, which prohibits the use of electronic devices while driving. Sure but—in a drive-thru? #RCMP is actually out here ticketing people for using their phones at a drive thru. Is this a joke? This is harassment. pic.twitter.com/N4i59bS7AP Tej Dhaliwal (@DrDangles87) May 8, 2019 I know where your brain is instantly going with this. Yes! Finally! Cell phone police to nab that idiot who has his face buried in his phone when it’s his turn to pull up to pay! That woman who is carrying on two conversations at once – one on her phone, one with the voice in the magic-speaker order-box – and confusing everyone! Charge them all! I’m kidding. Sort of. Mostly I’m thinking that if people were just more considerate in general, especially in their cars, our rage levels might be a little more subdued, and we certainly wouldn’t have cops wasting precious resources policing stupid things. McDonald’s wasn’t particularly helpful; their Twitter response was to parrot the law: We do not encourage the usage of our app while operating a vehicle. Driver’s responsibility is to operate the vehicle in a safe manner and obey all motor vehicle laws. Drivers should always switch off their vehicle’s engine and apply the handbrake when using a mobile device. Imagine every driver ahead of you now having to turn off their car – and apply the handbrake – in order to pay if they’re using their phone. Take Our
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Charged for using a phone while in a drive-thru
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