The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened the door for self-driving vehicles to operate without manual controls under updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. While fully autonomous vehicles are likely several years away from going on sale, the new rule paves the way for automakers to remove the steering wheel and pedals.
“Through the 2020s, an important part of [the Department of Transportation’s] safety mission will be to ensure safety standards keep pace with the development of automated driving and driver assistance systems,” transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “This new rule is an important step, establishing robust safety standards for [Automated Driving Systems]-equipped vehicles.”
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regulate all elements of production cars, as Roadshow notes. The latest rule stipulates that whether or not they have a steering wheel and pedals, vehicles with automated driving systems need to offer the same level of protection to drivers and passengers as other cars.
Fully autonomous (Level 5) cars aren’t on the market yet. Teslas are at Level 2 (they have some autonomy, but a human driver needs to be ready to take control). Volkswagen is making a Level 4 version of its ID.Buzz EV, while pilot projects for robotaxis and self-driving shuttles are underway. At CES 2022, Cadillac showed off a luxury concept EV without a steering wheel or pedals.
NHTSA acknowledged uncertainty about the development and deployment of vehicles equipped with ADS. “Nevertheless, NHTSA believes it is appropriate to finalize this action at this time in anticipation of emerging ADS vehicle designs that NHTSA has seen in prototype form,” the agency said.
The Microbus is back, baby! Nearly 75 years since the first Volkswagen Type 2 rolled off its assembly line and into the annals of Americana as an icon of 1960s counterculture, VW is re-releasing the emblematic vehicle — this time as a full EV.
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VW executives took to the livestreaming stage on Wednesday ahead of SXSW 2022’s kickoff to debut the ID.Buzz, which will be available as both a people mover and a cargo van (dubbed the ID.Buzz Cargo) beginning this year. The ID.Buzz will appear in Europe first — arriving later in 2022 — and will be available with a number of options their American-market cousins will lack, including short-wheelbase and commercial-grade variants. There’s even a Level 4 self-driving version that will begin its Shared Riding Model pilot program in Hamburg in 2025. The American iterations will debut in 2023, Scott Keogh, CEO of VW America promised during the stream, and are slated to arrive in American showrooms in 2024.
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Volkswagen only had the European model to show off Wednesday, but Keogh noted that the US version would be “more stylized for the American marketplace” but has “no doubt that it will be worth the wait,” while teasing a California camper edition. The US version will have a slightly longer wheelbase and offer three rows of seating to the European version’s two. With its comparatively shorter wheelbase, the European model’s turning radius is a scant 11 meters, on par with the Ioniq 5 or the VW Golf.
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The ID.Buzz is built atop VW’s modular electric drive matrix (MEB if you say it in German), and is actually the largest model to date developed for the platform. MEB is the same base Ford plans to use for one of its European market vehicles in 2023.
The ID.buzz will come equipped with a 77-kWh battery pack (slightly smaller than the 82kWh pack in the ID.4, which is also MEB-based) with a 170 kw charging capacity powering a 150 kw rear motor. It will be capable of bidirectional charging, at least in the European model, enabling V2H (vehicle-to-home) energy transfers.
The passenger model will seat five with 1.21 cubic meters (39.5 cubic feet) of cargo space while the Cargo will offer 3.9 cubic meters (137.7 cubic feet) by replacing the rear seats with a partition behind the front row. For the interior, VW designers took inspiration from the aesthetics of the Microbus, pulling style elements from the T1 generation of vehicle and matching seat cushions, dash panels and the door trim to the vehicle’s exterior paint color of which buyers will have their pick of seven solid-color options and four two-tone schemes (white + another color).
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The European version showcased a number of impressive autonomous driving features including Active Lane-Change Assist and Park Assist Plus as well as V2X data sharing, meaning the ID.Buzz can share road hazard information with both the enabled vehicles around it and the surrounding traffic infrastructure. OTA updates will be standard on the Buzz as well.
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The Cargo version will offer a number of customizable aspects including the choice between bench and bucket seats, as well as a tailgate vs twin swing-out rear doors vs double sliding side doors. Furthermore, VW will be offering a number of conversion options for the Buzz, which should allow service providers of all stripes to customize the vehicle to their specific needs. In terms of carrying capacity, the Cargo can haul up to 600 kg of stuff inside with another 100 kg of gear affixed to its roof.
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VW also noted during the presentation the extensive work it put into lessening environmental impacts arising from the ID.Buzz’s production. The interior upholstery is made completely animal-free — the steering wheel may be made of polyurethane, but VW executives swear that it has the same look and feel as leather. The seat covers, floor coverings and headliner are all similarly composed of recycled goods like marine plastic and old water bottles. Using these materials emits 32 percent less carbon than similar products would, according to the company. Overall, VW hopes to cut its carbon emissions in Europe by 40 percent by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality as part of its Way to Zero plan by 2050.
While not nearly as much of a mess as Texas’ energy infrastructure, California’s power grid has seen its fair share of brownouts, rolling blackouts, and power outages caused by wildfires caused by PG&E. To help mitigate the economic impact of those disruptions, this summer General Motors and Northern California’s energy provider will team up to test out using the automaker’s electric vehicles as roving, backup battery packs for the state’s power grid.
The pilot program announced by GM CEO Mary Barra on CNBC Tuesday morning is premised on birectional charging technology, wherein power can both flow from the grid to a vehicle (G2V charging) and from a vehicle back to the grid (V2G), allowing the vehicle to act as an on-demand power source. GM plans to offer this capability as part of its Ultium battery platform on more than a million of its EVs by 2025. Currently the Nissan Leaf and the Nissan e-NV200 offer V2G charging, though Volkswagen announced in 2021 that its ID line will offer it later this year and the the Ford F-150 Lightning will as well.
This summer’s pilot will initially investigate, “the use of bidirectional hardware coupled with software-defined communications protocols that will enable power to flow from a charged EV into a customer’s home, automatically coordinating between the EV, home and PG&E’s electric supply,” according to a statement from the companies. Should the initial tests prove fruitful, the program will expand first to a small group of PG&E customers before scaling up to “larger customer trials” by the end of 2022.
“Imagine a future in which there’s an EV in every garage that functions as a backup power source whenever it’s needed,” GM spokesperson Rick Spina said during a press call on Monday.
“We see this expansion as being the catalyst for what could be the most transformative time for for two industries, both utilities and the auto automotive industry” PG&E spokesperson Aaron August added. “This is a huge shift in the way we’re thinking about electric vehicles, and personal vehicles overall. Really, it’s not just about getting from point A to point B anymore. It’s about getting from point A to point B with the ability to provide power.”
Technically, like from a hardware standpoint, GM vehicles can provide bidirectional charging as they are currently being sold, Spina noted during the call. The current challenge, and what this pilot program is designed to address, is developing the software and UX infrastructure needed to ensure that PG&E customers can easily use the system day-to-day. “The good news there is, it’s nothing different from what’s already industry standard for connectors, software protocols,” August said. “The industry is moving towards ISO 15118-20.”
The length of time that an EV will be able to run the household it’s tethered to will depend on a number of factors — from the size of the vehicle’s battery to the home’s power consumption to the prevailing weather — but August estimates that for an average California home using 20 kWh daily, a fully-charged Chevy Bolt would have enough juice to power the house for around 3 days. This pilot program comes as automakers and utilities alike work out how to most effectively respond to the state’s recent directive banning the sale of internal combustion vehicles starting in 2035.
If you’re looking for a capable mid-size SUV with a bit of plug-in hybrid pep, three rows of seats and don’t mind a slightly ho-hum aesthetic, Kia’s 2022 Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV) is made for you. It’s not nearly as flashy as Toyota’s RAV4 Prime, a car widely considered to be the pinnacle of affordable plug-in SUVs. But the Sorento is larger and in many ways more practical for families.
And yet, even though the 2022 Sorento PHEV offers a relatively posh experience, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed every time I passed a Telluride, Kia’s larger and far more fashionable family SUV. Where the Telluride raises the bar for affordable SUV designs with its aggressive front fascia, voluminous seating space and Land Rover-like styling, the Sorento is decidedly more basic. Sure, it has leather seats and plenty of great safety and entertainment technology, but looking at it just doesn’t stir my soul.
That’s a shame, because on paper the 2022 Sorento sounds like the ideal family PHEV for people who don’t want to make the leap to minivans like the Chrysler Pacifica plug-in or Toyota’s excellent hybrid Sienna. Its electric engine can keep things moving for up to 32 miles – more than enough to deal with many daily commutes. And in hybrid mode, which also taps into the 1.6-liter gas engine, the Sorento can run for up to 34 miles per gallon. It also offers standard all-wheel drive and up to 75.5 cubic feet of cargo space, more than double the RAV 4 Prime’s 33.5 cubic feet of storage. So you wouldn’t have to worry about hauling a large TV, or a full trunk of groceries alongside baby gear for two kids.
If all you care about are those specs, the Sorento will serve you nicely. But, like the middle child sandwiched between an over-achieving elder sibling (the Telluride) and a new baby (Kia’s adorable EV6), it almost feels like the Sorento PHEV is an afterthought for Kia. While having some pure EV driving is a nice thing to have, especially as gas prices continue to climb, its electric motor only spits out 90 horsepower. That’s enough to deal with street-level driving under 40 miles per hour, but it’ll need some serious help from the gas engine to deal with highway traffic. As Car and Driver found, the weak EV just holds back the overall driving experience. (It’s also unclear to me why the Sorrento still occasionally spun up its gasoline engine at low speeds.)
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During my week of testing, I drove the Sorrento PHEV around winding local roads, up highways that climbed along nearby mountains, and to visit family an hour away. The driving experience felt solid and never overtly floaty, but I was also constantly reminded that I was behind the wheel of a 4,537-pound SUV. (The gas variant weighs 3,794 pounds.) Large batteries always add more weight to PHEVs, but the Sorento felt bogged down as I I tried to reach 65MPH highway speeds in hybrid mode. Even so, I appreciated being able to force it to only use EV for local driving, something that Chrysler still doesn’t offer on the Pacifica. Though the Sorento’s EV motor is relatively weak, it gives a decent bit of electric torque off the line, making it well-suited for dealing with stop signs and traffic lights.
I typically saw around 30 miles of electric driving before the Sorento’s gas engine kicked on, but its hybrid efficiency was less impressive, typically clocking in around 32MPG. The RAV4 Prime gets around the same electric range, but it can reach up to 40MPG in hybrid mode. As with any PHEV, your efficiency with the Sorento is dependent on how often you plug it in to charge. It typically took around 12 hours to juice up completely on a standard 110-volt outlet. If you’ve got access to a Level 2 charger, you can top it off in around 2.5 hours.
Given the complexity involved with installing a Level 2 setup — that involves running a 220-volt outlet to your garage and installing a charger — many EV-curious shoppers may be better off with a PHEV like the Sorento. There’s no need to install any additional outlets, plus you don’t have to worry about EV range anxiety since PHEVs will automatically flip over to their gas engines when they’re out of electricity. That also makes them better suited for family road trips, since you won’t have to spend time hunting down EV chargers and waiting to get juiced up.
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I didn’t have much to complain about with the Sorento’s entertainment system. The 10.3-inch central display was bright, responsive and made it easy to deal with Apple CarPlay. I appreciated that it was a wide screen, since it didn’t cut into my view of the road and it didn’t prevent Kia from including buttons for climate control right below it. While large and tall screens might look more impressive at first, as we’ve seen on Teslas and the Prius Prime, I find them much more annoying to use while driving. I’ll always prefer physical buttons combined with an unobtrusive screen. Below the dash there’s a circular dial for changing gears (which feels as elegant as it does on cars twice as expensive), another dial to manage driving modes, and more buttons to turn on the heated steering wheel, parking camera view and other features.
I’ll give Kia credit for delivering an incredible level of comfort in a relatively affordable mid-size SUV. The Sorento’s leather seats were perfectly plush, and I appreciated having both heating and ventilation options. The two second-row captains chairs were less comfy, but still better than I’ve felt on some competitors. It was a bit tough for me to secure my daughter’s large car seat, but once I did (thanks to a bit of extra cushioning from a pool noodle), it was easy for me to lift her up and bring her down. And while the third-row seats were far too cramped for me to fit comfortably, they’re fine for kids. Most mid-size SUVs have cramped back rows, which is why minivans are still the better choice if you’re regularly carting around adults.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
There’s also a decent dose of safety features, including forward collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist protection, blind-spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera. I particularly appreciated the camera views whenever I hit the left or right indicators, which allowed me to see right beside the Sorento for any cars or cyclists in my blind spot. If you’re a nervous driver, it may be worth looking into the Sorento for those cameras alone.
The 2022 Sorento PHEV starts at $46,405, around $6,800 more than the AWD Sorento Hybrid EX model. Since it’s a plug-in hybrid, you can get a hefty $6,587 tax credit, which puts them on a slightly more level playing field. (You’ll still have to wait for your next tax filing before you can see that credit, though.) The Sorento has always been a budget-focused car — the gas-powered 2022 model starts around $30,000 — so the PHEV model feels particularly out of place as it nears $50,000.
Much like video cards, these prices are also purely theoretical. The global chip crunch, along with manufacturing delays and other issues, have pushed new and used car prices up considerably. So while you may see advertised figures close to MSRP, don’t be surprised if dealers end up tacking on extra fees once you’re ready to negotiate. (During my recent quest to buy a new Toyota Sienna, local dealers regularly added around $8,000 in “market adjustment” fees. I gave up and instead bought a used 2018 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid with a slight markup from Carvana.)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
There’s a lot to love about the Sorento PHEV, it’s just unfortunate it’s debuting as Kia’s Telluride is winning over reviewers and consumers alike. Still, it’s notable it exists at all, as there aren’t many plug-in hybrids with three rows of seats. It’s perfectly positioned as an upgrade from compact SUVs and sedans, especially for families that want to dabble with electric driving and rely less on gas. Personally, though, I can’t wait for Kia to take what it learned here and bring it over to the Telluride (which debuted as a PHEV concept car).
The Audi Avant RS6 wagon is quick, it handles magnificently and it’s a powerful wagon – it’s an enthusiast’s dream car. The RS E-Tron GT is an EV sports sedan that stays true to the automaker’s performance lineage. Audi offered both vehicles up for a day of performance ice driving and the big takeaway (besides that I need to work on drifting around corners) was that an EV makes for a more stable ride on ice.
Both vehicles have all-wheel drive systems but where the RS6 Avant is mechanical with a locking rear differential, the E-Tron GT is powered by two electric motors, one at each axle. The wheel control of those motors can’t be replicated by the mechanical system and the extra heft of the battery made for a drive experience that was equal parts exciting and also eye-opening. Watch the video above for the full story.
Sony and Honda have signed a memorandum of understanding to design and market electric vehicles together, the companies announced. The deal isn’t final, but the aim is to establish a joint venture this year and start selling vehicles by 2025.
Honda would design, manufacture and market the first model, with Sony creating the mobility service platform. The idea is to marry Honda’s car building and sales chops with Sony’s infotainment, mobile and image sensor expertise.
“Although Sony and Honda are companies that share many historical and cultural similarities, our areas of technological expertise are very different,” said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe. “Therefore, I believe this alliance which brings together the strengths of our two companies offers great possibilities for the future of mobility.”
For Honda, the joint venture might help it achieve its goal of shifting its entire lineup to EVs by 2040. As it stands now, the company has one of the sparsest EV lineups of any automaker, with its only true EV sold in the west being the nichey, Europe-only Honda E.
Sony pitched the partnership as a bid to “fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.” That likely means you can expect high-tech interiors and fancy entertainment systems designed to help you forget that you’re stuck in rush-hour traffic. It added that it wants to create a mobility system “centered around safety, entertainment and adaptability.”
The news doesn’t come as a complete shock, as Sony has already showed not just one but two electric vehicles of its own design, the Vision-S EV and Vision-S 02 electric SUV. When it first appeared, the Vision-S was a showcase for all of Sony’s strengths, packing 33 different sensors for 360 Reality Audio tech, wide-screen displays, autonomous driving and other features. Sony promised to debut a new company called Sony Mobility sometime this spring, but it looks like the Honda alliance will serve that purpose instead.
Volvo will put a wireless EV charging system through its paces as part of a program to test alternative charging options. A small fleet of electric Volvo XC40 Recharge cars will be used as taxis in Gothenburg, Sweden in a three-year pilot.
The cars are equipped with a wireless charging system from Momentum Dynamics. Charging pads will be embedded in the ground at two taxi ranks. Volvo will use 360-degree cameras to help drivers put the cars in the correct position and when they’re in the right spot, the taxis’ batteries will automatically topped up. An image shared by Momentum Dynamics showed an EV charging at a rate of 41kW.
The EVs will be on the road for more than 12 hours a day and are expected to be driven for upwards of 100,000 km (62,000 miles) per year. Volvo says this is the first durability test of its electric EVs in a commercial setting. Momentum Dynamics has also teamed up with Jaguar to test wireless charging in electric taxis in Norway.
The concept of building charging tech into roads is hardlynew, but it hasn’t exactly taken off yet. Still, researchers and engineers are working on other ways to charge EVs as they drive, so at some point in the future, drivers may never need to visit a typical charging station.
