In what was easily one of the most meme-able moments of 2019, Tesla revealed its highly hyped Cybertruck at an event in Los Angeles last week, badly damaging two windows in the process of demonstrating the durability of the transparent metal armoured glass.Of course, Tesla isnt the only automaker in history to blow it on a new models big night. Faraday Future and Acura (the latter with help from Ford) have also made some crucial mistakes when the whole world was watching.But the honour of worst new car presentation has to go to Infiniti for its QX reveal. Read on to learn what went wrong at each event, including some insight from Drivings own Jil McIntosh, who was on hand to witness some of the fails.Faraday Future FF91’s self-parking self-ownAll eyes were on California-based EV startup Faraday Future at CES 2017. The company was debuting its first production vehicle and flagship, the FF91, at the tech event, and expected to show off its self-parking abilities.The stunt went well outside the venue, but when the driverless valet button was pressed during the big presentation inside, the car just sat there. Eventually, after a Faraday tech jumped into the car and adjusted some settings, the car pulled itself into the designated spot, but it wasnt enough to stop the headlines from calling it a fail.Insiders later told Jalopnik the mistake was basically due to the demo model not being properly calibrated. Chalked up to technical difficulties, I guess, but maybe a run-through next time, Faraday? Acura NSX gets GT’dDespite Acuras best efforts, there was at least one moment during the big 2015 Acura NSX reveal at the Detroit auto show when those in attendance were more focused on the also-then-brand-new Ford GT supercar.Driving’s Jil McIntosh recalls the event.“Ford’s booth is right across from Acura, and as Acura was starting up the video for the debut, which had Jerry Seinfeld driving, Ford chose that moment to push the GT along the hall to its booth, behind the hundreds of writers who were waiting for the NSX — and who then turned around to look at the GT instead.” “I later asked a Ford rep (about it), who said the timing wasn’t coincidental.”Intiniti’s QX Inspiration fails to launchThere are bad starts, and then there are non-starts. With crowds building in anticipation of the reveal at the 2019 Detroit auto show, Nissan’s luxury brand couldn’t get its new concept started to get it on stage. Technicians were seen fussing around the electric SUV, which blew through its scheduled reveal time and left attendees instead watching janitors mopping the floor. The QX was eventually dragged on stage and revealed officially later that day, but by that time, a lot of the first-impression headlines had already been printed. Dodge Ram cows outChrysler pulled a brilliant stunt at the 2008 Detroit auto show, opening the event and unveiling its new Dodge Ram in the middle of a herd of cattle being pushed up the street by cowboys on horseback.amp;McIntosh, who was in the crowd once again, remembers one moment where the bovine presence backfired slightly. “The Dodge Ram cattle drive in front of Cobo Hall went well, until one steer decided to hump another in the middle of the road … the guy doing the announcing caught it beautifully and said, ‘Looks like someone’s really excited about the new Ram!’”“I was standing right at the barricade, looking to the right. Fortunately Lou Ann Gosselin from Chrysler Canada was beside me looking to the left, and saw a steer coming by. If she hadn’t grabbed me and pulled me back, I would have gotten a horn in the
Origin: These car debut fails were absolutely cringe-worthy
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Ford sold transmissions it knew were faulty, claims report
2016 Ford Fiesta SE Ford allegedly pressed on with the development and manufacture of its six-speed PowerShift automatic despite internal complaints and a cavalcade of repair issues, according to a new investigative report from the Detroit Free Press.The newspaper mid-July published a lengthy feature on its exploration of transmission problems experienced by owners of Ford Fiesta and Focus small cars.According to the report, problems with the transmission also called the DPS6 reared their ugly heads in testing, well before finding their way into the hands of unsuspecting customers.The PowerShift is a dual-clutch transmission that utilizes parts resembling a manual gearbox but is operated by the driver like a traditional automatic. Lighter than their conventional slushbox counterparts, they were intended to reduce weight and provide fuel economy advantages.They certainly achieved those goals, but it was apparently at the expense of smooth and reliable operation. Using a dry-clutch system, unlike modern dual-clutch units which use a wet-clutch system that bath the clutches in oil, the transmission quickly became notable for jerky shifts and the propensity to slip out of gear, even at highway speeds. Internally, this was apparently called an Unintended Neutral.The Freep reports:“As years wore on, Ford would make the case in emails, internal documents and an affidavit that if the steering, turn signals and other power worked in the car, then the situation couldn’t be considered dangerous. In theory, people could turn on a blinker and steer to the side of the highway if the car slipped into neutral at 70 mph.”Yikes. As costs and complaints piled up, Ford kept trying to find a fix while creating talking points for the poor souls unlucky enough to be in customer-facing positions and bearing the brunt of their complaints.Ford told the Detroit Free Press in a statement that conversations during development about challenges common to innovative new technology were normal exchanges.After the new transmission was on the road, other problems developed. We acted quickly and determinedly to investigate the problems, said the statement.While we eventually resolved the quality issues, the solutions were more complex and took longer than we expected. We regret the inconvenience and frustration that caused some consumers. Heres the kicker apparently, none of this was a total surprise to those on the dev teams. Six months before the 2012 Focus began shipping to dealers, a product development engineer expressed We also cannot achieve a driveable calibration that will get us to production, he wrote in an email to colleagues. The clutch torque delivery MUST BE IMPROVED.When a veteran engineer uses all caps in an email, you know theyre serious.Yet the company pressed on, producing cars equipped with a transmission that has been the catalyst for class-action lawsuits and countless hours of repair work. For many owners, there is still no resolution. Head over to The Freep for its entire
Origin: Ford sold transmissions it knew were faulty, claims report
Caddy says new V-Series’ horsepower is lower because drivers were ‘intimidated’
The 2020 Cadillac CT5-VGraeme Fletcher / Driving.ca As we recently covered, the new 2020 CT4-V and CT5-V have arrived with upgrades across the board, except for in the power department. That’s down, but why? According to statements made by GM president Mark Reuss and reported by Automotive News, people were scared of the gobs of horsepower in the last V-Series, so the company is pulling back a bit for this new generation to make them more appealing. There was, frankly, some people who were intimidated by the cars, Reuss said following the unveiling of the cars last week. When we did a V-Series, they were hammers. There’s some intimidation there. Those “hammers” included the CTS-V, which claimed 640 horsepower from its supercharged V8 and topped out at over 320 km/h; and the ATS-V, whose twin-turbo V6 made 464 horsepower and could push the car to 304 km/h. In contrast, the new V-Series CT4-V makes 320 horsepower from its turbocharged four-cylinder, while the CT5-V gets 355 from its turbo-six. So, yeah, they’re less intimidating now, perhaps hinting at a detuned CT6-V on the way, too (its 550 horsepower will no doubt be too scary for drivers, as well). Meanwhile, Cadillac has been testing a pair of track-ready V-Series prototypes that Reuss says “represent the next step in Cadillac’s V-Series performance legacy.” It’s expected the track-approved CT4-V will house a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 with 400-plus horsepower, and the matching CT5-V either a twin-turbo 4.2-litre V8 with 500-plus horsepower or the same 640-horsepower supercharged V8 that currently powers the CTS-V. Pricing for the now-less-intimidating V-Series cars hasn’t been announced, but Caddy says they’ll be the most accessible to date.
Origin: Caddy says new V-Series’ horsepower is lower because drivers were ‘intimidated’
James Dyson: why we’re building an electric car
James Dyson came up with his electric car idea in the 1990s, while experimenting with equipment to collect diesel particulates by centrifugal action. He knew exhaust pollution was harmful, but his attempts to sell clean-up technology were overtaken by official directives suggesting diesels were “clean and green”. Speaking here from his Singapore base, where his cars will be made from 2021, he discusses the car’s design. The latest on Dyson’s electric car What is your motivation for making an electric car? Nobody was interested in our original exhaust clean-up idea, but we had a bright team developing high-speed electric motors for other Dyson products, we were researching air purification, we had our own aerodynamicists and we were developing solid state batteries. Put those things together and you have the main elements of an electric car. What’s your view of the sales potential of electric cars? Seems to me the industry, and industry commentators, are under-egging the likely growth of the market. People will buy them for the right reasons, because they don’t want to cause pollution. It’s nothing to do with what the industry thinks. The public will decide it wants electric cars. Your new car looks big and expensive. Where will your car sit in the firmament? Is it a premium product? I guess it is. That’s how we generally operate. We’ll make several different versions — different car types, not longer or shorter models. We’re not announcing anything about price yet, but we’re not a mass producer yet. When you go into production for the first time you can’t be the cheapest. We’ll do our best with that but we’ll be making a big car with a lot of innovation in it, so it won’t be cheap. What led you to your car’s unique proportions? It’s all about efficiency. The high ground clearance and low roof cut the car’s frontal area, which is one of the keys to efficiency. We wanted a car with good ground clearance, and you get that with big wheels. They have low rolling resistance, they’re better in snow and the wet, you can have bigger brakes but you still get a big footprint. Your patents refer to hydrogen and hybrid power as well as battery propulsion. Will this car be battery only? And will it use solid state batteries? Yes, it will be battery-powered. As for battery type, we’re not revealing that yet. But at the moment we’re researching two different types of solid state battery in four locations — UK, USA, Japan and Singapore. How important is a long battery range? I believe the public wants electric cars to go as far as possible. You’ve seen our plans; the car has a big battery pack. But aerodynamics and frontal area are also key to having a good range. People don’t want to be filling their cars with electricity to find they’re inefficient. Having efficient motors means that as well as needing less electricity to propel yourself, you make regeneration more effective. You seem very interested in comfort, and your car’s ground clearance and big wheels suggest lots of wheel travel. Will you use air suspension, adjustable ride height and ride rates? Comfort is very important to us, and something we definitely want to deliver. It’s another thing you get from big wheels. The things you mention are on offer to us. I don’t want to reveal what we’re doing, but suspension is a very important area. Pitch is a good example: if you’ve got a long wheelbase it becomes more controllable. We’re having fun with all of this. It’s an interesting area. You’ve referred a lot to keeping you car’s weight down. I presume you won’t be making this car from steel? No, we’re not up at those sort of production numbers. But we also want to be able to produce in reasonable volume. We don’t think carbon fibre ready is yet ready for our sort of operation. It’s an interesting experiment, and okay for very small volume specialist cars. That just leaves one thing, really. I don’t think we have to be too revolutionary about the way we do the chassis. I can confirm the car will have an aluminium body, but that’s as much as I want to say. What’s your weight target? Everyone knows a battery is heavy, much heavier than an internal combustion engine. But if you do it our way you get a very low centre of gravity, much lower than an internal combustion car. There is certainly a weight penalty with batteries, but you mitigate it as much as you can, and in any case, and it helps you with regeneration. Once this car is on sale, could you imagine launching cheaper models to attract more people? I think that’s going to depend a lot on the progress of technology. If we’re successful with solid state batteries, that could be a possible moment… When will you reveal more about your car? When we launch it. We’re only talking about it now because our patents are going public. We don’t usually talk about products until we launch them. We’re a private company, getting on with our own
Origin: James Dyson: why we’re building an electric car
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