According to a new Japanese study, driving a manual-transmission car will help keep your brain healthy. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.
Today’s headlines:
+ EV maker Rivian boosted its delivery outlook for the year to a range of 65,000 to 70,000 vehicles after beating the second-quarter projections of Wall Street analysts. More at CNBC.
+ A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter after authorities alleged his Tesla, which he said was on Autopilot, crashed into a home last month, killing a 76-year-old woman. More at Fox News.
+ BMW has completed a $1.7 billion investment in Plant Spartanburg and the new Plant Woodruff, with the two South Carolina facilities expected to launch six new EVs by 2030. More at CBT News.
+ The FIA says a software error made it appear that there would be a late race restart at the British Grand Prix, while protocol followed that saw the race end under a safety car. More at Racer.
+ In Russia, demand for electric vehicles from China has spiked in reaction to a severe fuel shortage caused by escalating Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. More at World Auto Forum.
+ A division of General Motors has filed a patent application for a communications system that would allow vehicles to directly trade insurance information after a collision. More at Autoblog.
+ A joint analysis by E-Mobility Europe and Ember found that the European Union’s 2030 goals for electric vehicles could avoid 190 million barrels of oil imports annually. More at Automotive World.
+ Record sales of 76,936 vehicles in the second quarter have placed the Ford Bronco within striking distance of the perennial segment-leading Jeep Wrangler with 86,254 sales. More at The Drive.
+ According to a Japanese study, driving a manual-transmission car will keep your brain healthy by stimulating the prefrontal cortex, with daily stick-shift driving especially beneficial. More at Car and Driver.
+ Chicagoland Speedway, which hadn’t hosted a NASCAR Cup race since pre-COVID 2019, announced that this past weekend’s 400-mile Cup event was officially sold out. More at Jayski.
Photo courtesy of Honda.
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>> system that would allow vehicles to directly trade insurance information
The Pelosi family sends their regrets
Yeah, I can’t imagine how much worse the “Dad, we think it’s time for you to give up driving” conversation would be with internet randos like us chiming in, in places where it’s not really relevant.
Not to mention ambulance-chasing attorneys…
More beneficial would be software that shut the vehicle down if it wasn’t insured.
FYI, Ford Motor Co. recently recalled another 741,195 vehicles: ’20-’21 F-150, ’18-’21 Expedition, ’20-21 Explorer, ’18-’21 Lincoln Navigator, ’20-’21 Lincoln Aviator, due to a transmission defect that risks damaging the vehicle’s parking lock system. This mechanical issue stems from models equipped with park-by-wire functionality and 10-speed transmissions (10R80 or 10R60). The NHTSA notes that “specific shift commands executed while the vehicle is in motion” can “cause the transmission parking pawl to temporarily engage, grinding and compromising the park feature’s ability to keep the car securely stationary.”
Description of the defect or noncompliance: “Affected vehicles may experience temporary engagement of their transmission parking pawl while the vehicle is in motion when certain shifts are commanded by the transmission, potentially damaging park system components.”
“The CCRG’s investigation determined that while all affected vehicles have “roll away detection”, which will automatically apply the EPB if vehicle movement is detected while the vehicle is in Park, the vehicle’s Powertrain Control Module (PCM) may not be awake in some instances after the vehicle has been powered down after a period of time and unable to detect movement.”
NHTSA Campaign / Part 573 Number: 26V-402. Visit your friendly Ford dealer again for more free repairs…
Use your parking brakes, folks!
Ford recently admitted that over-reliance on artificial intelligence at the expense of human quality control is the major factor in its historical surge of safety defects and NHTSA recalls. Replacing “Gray Beards” with a.i. over the last few years, Ford aggressively shifted vehicle testing and manufacturing validation to software and automated simulations. The goal was to cut costs and speed up production.
This strategy has backfired “significantly”, Ford paid a brutal price- over $5 billion in warranty expenses in a single year! But the $5 billion only captures the baseline warranty repairs. When factoring in the broader operational costs, massive safety reserves, and structural losses, the total financial impact easily climbs over the $10 billion mark, before even trying to calculate the priceless destruction of consumer trust.
According to mr.internet, FoMoCo has put an estimated 10 million park-by-wire vehicles on American roads over the past decade. While the latest headline targets 741,195 trucks and SUVs, Ford has actually quietly issued six separate park-related recalls since 2018, dragging 6 million vehicles back to dealerships for rolling away or failing to hold Park. Ford’s rollaway crisis isn’t limited to gas-powered 10-speed transmissions. Ford recently recalled 272,645 electric and hybrid vehicles including the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning for a completely separate digital park-module failure. This proves the defect isn’t just a bad gear or glitch- it is a completely broken philosophy at Ford.
Knowing first-hand of
NHTSA’s dark history of covering up blatant transmission safety defects to prioritize corporate and political liability management over human lives, it is plausible that all 10 million Ford “park by wire” computer controlled transmissions are defective…
In case you missed it :
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973564687/elaine-chao-used-dot-resources-for-personal-errands-family-business-inspector-sa