Uber has come up with a relatively low-cost way of getting to and from a New York City airport: a shuttle bus. Starting today, the company is offering rides between LaGuardia Airport and transit hubs in Manhattan for $18 a pop. For the first month of the service, Uber is offering half-price rides for $9, The Wall Street Journal reports.
This would be far cheaper than a cab for a solo traveler. It's also more expensive, but perhaps less of a hassle, than taking public transit — there’s a free shuttle between the airport and the subway.
One route will take passengers between Penn Station and the airport, and the other will run between Port Authority, Grand Central Terminal and LaGuardia. If you're Manhattan-bound, you’ll still need to make your way to your home, hotel or Airbnb after you get to the drop-off point.
The vans can transport 14 passengers at a time. The service will run between 5AM and 10:45PM ET every day with trips leaving every half hour or so. You can book a spot in a shuttle up to seven days in advance and bring a personal item and a 50-pound bag on board. Before you get on the van, you'll need to show the driver a QR code and PIN that Uber sends you. An Uber shuttle-fleet partner called EPS is operating the rides, but the shuttles have Uber branding.
Uber shuttles have been available in various locations since 2019, but this is the first time the company is offering such trips to and from an airport. Earlier this year, Uber started running shuttles to and from concerts and sports games. It plans to offer shuttles to more airports in the coming months and years.
The company announced the service as part of its Go-Get Zero event, at which it highlighted some new sustainability efforts. Among those is a new EV-only option that will debut in 40 cities in which Uber has enough electric vehicle drivers available.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-starts-offering-18-shuttle-rides-between-manhattan-and-laguardia-airport-193520618.html?src=rss
The Vegas Loop, underground tunnels built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company that snake underneath Sin City, hasn’t been the traffic or even technological game changer the company promised it would become. It was supposed to be a futuristic, autonomous people mover that looked like public transit from the Tron universe. Instead, Las Vegas just got a bunch of underground tunnels where people are transported by ordinary Tesla vehicles that didn’t really solve any of the city’s traffic problems.
Apparently, it’s not just Tesla vehicles in the tunnels either. Fortunefiled a Freedom of Information Act request with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on incidents involving the Tesla tunnels going back to 2022. The records revealed that the tunnels have seen at least 67 trespassing reports going back to 2022 and 22 instances of vehicles following Teslas into the tunnels and stations.
Boring’s monthly reports to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority also showed several instances of “property damage, theft, technical issues, or injuries, near-misses and trespassing or intrusions,” according to Fortune.
The cars that wandered into the stations appear to mostly be just accidents in which drivers followed the Teslas into the unauthorized areas. The trespassing incidents are a bit more egregious and Fortune described them as “a headache for the Boring Company.”
Some of the more notable instances include a skateboarder who snuck into the tunnels through a passenger pickup station, two people who were spotted sleeping in one of the tunnel stations and a man who tried to remove a license plate reader at a station. In each case, Boring security escorted the trespassing out of the tunnels and stations but there are no records showing they were reported to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
Even the construction of the tunnels had more than a few sketchy moments but not nearly as amusing. Former Boring Company construction crew members spoke with Fortune back in February including one who said, “We have consistently flirted with death.” During a six month period last year, Boring reported 36 injuries to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials including heat exhaustion, contusions and crushed hands and elbows. One tip sent to OSHA’s Nevada field office reported that 15 to 20 employees were burned with accelerant chemicals while working in the tunnels.
Somehow, none of these incidents have stopped the city and Clark County’s desperate hope for the transit system that the Boring Company promised but never delivered. County commissioners approved a plan last May to expand the underground Tesla vehicle tunnels to 65 miles and add 69 passenger stations.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-boring-companys-vegas-loop-is-a-comedy-of-trespassing-errors-191025432.html?src=rss
Uber held its second Go-Get Zero event on Tuesday to highlight some of the company's sustainability efforts. First and foremost, it says that there are now enough EV drivers using the service to make an EV-only option available (the current Uber Green includes hybrids). The all-electric Uber Green option, which will cost about the same as an UberX, will initially be available in 40 cities and the company plans to expand this over time.
At the jump, US Uber users will be able to select an EV-only option in New York City, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Orange County, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. The option will soon be available in every city in France where Uber operates, as well as locales in Australia and New Zealand.
In addition, you'll be able to make EVs your preferred option for a ride. If you enable this and there's an EV available within a few minutes of a regular UberX, you'll be matched with an electric vehicle. If it's going to take much longer for an EV to pick up, Uber will send you a gas-powered vehicle instead.
You'll be able to specifically request certain premium EVs during pop up events, with riders in London having the chance to take a ride in a Lotus Eletre. Between October 14 and 21, those in Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami can select a Rivian option on the homescreen to try out an R1. These pop up offerings will cost the same as an Uber Black SUV trip with Reserve.
Meanwhile, the emissions savings feature is getting an update. So, when you take a ride on a bike, scooter or UberX Share, you'll see the level of emissions you've avoided.
On the Uber Eats front, you'll be able to order fresh produce from farmers markets starting today in New York City and Los Angeles. There's also a new spotlighted collection of what Uber describes as "climate-conscious products" from the brands such as Credo Beauty, Allbirds and L’Occitane. Elsewhere, the company says it's opening a marketplace to help Uber Eats restaurants all over the world use greener packaging.
On the other side of the equation, Uber is trying to help more drivers make the switch to an EV, after offering them a variety of EV incentives for years. Starting in the US early next year, drivers can ask an AI assistant in the Uber app for personalized advice about the EV that would work best for them and the city they operate in. The chatbot, which is powered by GPT-4o, can answer questions about things like the range of a certain model and where a driver can go to charge, Uber says.
Aligned with that is an EV mentorship program. Highly rated EV drivers will be able to share their experiences with those curious about switching to an electric car. They can receive cash rewards and incentives for helping out.
Uber claims that EV adoption among its drivers is at least five times higher than typical motorists in the US, Canada and Europe. The monthly average number of Uber drivers in North America and Europe who use EVs now sits at more than 180,000.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/uber-is-adding-an-ev-only-option-in-many-cities-100025988.html?src=rss
Tesla issued another recall for more than 27,000 Cybertrucks. This is the fifth time the electric truck has been recalled in the last year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the recall due to an image delay from the rear-view camera. The delayed rear-view camera failed to produce an image to the driver of what’s driving behind them within the legally required two seconds, “increasing the risk of a crash,” according to the official recall notice.
Reuters reports that the camera display is caused by a software glitch in the Cybertruck’s system. Some vehicles failed to complete the shutdown process before booting up again, causing a noticeable delay in the rear-view camera of up to eight seconds. So far, no crashes or injuries have occurred as a result of the software issue. Tesla is issuing a software update to address the rear-camera display delays.
This recall is just the latest in a string of notices and hiccups for the D-minus geometry project on wheels just this year. Tesla announced in April that it had to delay deliveries of the Cybertruck because of accelerator issues, a problem that prompted one of its most infamous recalls later that month due to sticky accelerator pedals.
Delivery delays led to another recall for the Cybertruck in June due to safety issues with the windshield wiper motor and trim. Several Cybertruck owners including some who just picked up their vehicle reported that the wipers failed to work.
Even virtual versions of the Cybertruck had to undergo repairs shortly after its release. The Cybertruck made an appearance in Fortniteas part of the game’s Summer Road Trip promotion but several players reported a weird glitch when they tried to morph a vehicle into Tesla’s signature truck. Epic Games pushed out a fix for the bug sometime later.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-fifth-cybertruck-recall-is-due-to-a-rear-view-camera-glitch-214029747.html?src=rss
Uber has entered a new deal to offer customers in select cities an option for self-driving vehicles. The partnership is with Avride, which used to be the self-driving unit for Russian conglomerate Yandex.
The multi-year deal will begin by introducing Avride's self-driving robots as a delivery option for Uber Eats orders in Austin, Texas. Later this year, the robots are expected to become available for delivery orders in Dallas and Jersey City, New Jersey. Autonomous driving is slated to begin service for Uber ride requests in Dallas in 2025. It will only be an option for "qualifying orders" on either Uber or Uber Eats, but the company didn't specify what those qualifications are.
Before spinning out as a new business concern, Yandex landed a similar deal in 2021 for its self-driving robots to make Grubhub deliveries to college campuses in the US. That year its autonomous vehicles reached a milestone of 6 million miles logged under "challenging conditions," mostly traveled in and around Moscow.
Uber had its own department exploring self-driving vehicles. However, it sold the unit to Aurora, another autonomous vehicle company, in December 2020.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-teams-with-avride-to-offer-self-driving-vehicles-for-rides-and-food-deliveries-201622292.html?src=rss
Tesla's least expensive car is off the market: the Model 3 Standard Range Rear-Wheel Drive is no longer available in the online configurator. Electrek first reported on the absence of that Model 3 build. It was the cheapest option from the electric vehicle brand with a price tag of $39,000. Now the Model 3 Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive takes that title with a retail price of $42,500. Tesla unveiled a refresh to its Model 3 line in the US in January.
The company also posted numbers for the third quarter today, with 462,890 vehicles delivered between July and September. Sales were aided by price cuts and other incentives during the quarter, enough to reach a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year's deliveries. However, the figure fell short of analysts' predictions for more than 469,000 deliveries during the period. This quarterly result could also hamper CEO Elon Musk's projections for the company to surpass the 1.8 million vehicles it handed over in all of 2023.
Tesla has also been struggling with recalls this year. Most of those issues were fixed with over-the-air updates, but the scope and number of the issues may also be leaving customers with doubts. Recalls impacted 200,000 vehicles in January, 2 million in February, 125,000 in May, 12,000 in June, 1.8 million in July, and more than 9,000 in August.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-has-stopped-selling-its-cheapest-car-212756966.html?src=rss
Few brands have needed a car as badly as Polestar needs the Polestar 3. The Polestar 1 was cool in a wholly irrational and impractical way, more of a statement of intent than a viable product. The Polestar 2 was a much more serious market proposition and a legitimately great car. But a tall, sporty sedan was never going to be more than a niche contender. It certainly wasn’t something to build a brand upon.
The Polestar 3 was meant to be the thing that would really open doors — a mass-market machine to fill the needs and wants of buyers looking for an all-electric SUV with proper dimensions, avant-garde styling and bright yellow seatbelts. But it was supposed to be here in 2023. Now, as the clock starts to wind down on 2024, it's finally arriving at dealerships.
The good news is that it's great. But is it great enough?
The Polestar 3 can be cynically thought of as the five-passenger flavor of Volvo's three-row EX90. The EX90 has likewise had a troubled gestation. It’s almost a fraternal twin to the Polestar, similarly tangled up in a mire of software delays, then further complicated by an evolving set of international tariffs targeting Chinese-built EVs.
Tim Stevens for Engadget
The Polestar 3 shares the same platform, motors, basic layout and technology as the Volvo. Its specs are, therefore, quite similar: The EX90 makes 402 horsepower and 568 foot-pounds of torque on the base model, stepping up to 510 hp and 671 lb-ft of torque in the Twin Motor Performance trim.The Polestar 3, meanwhile, makes 489 hp and 620 lb-ft in the base, Long Range Dual Motor version, or 517 hp and 671 lb-ft when you add on the Performance Pack. While the Polestar 3's base has considerably more shove, on the top-shelf flavor, they're basically neck-and-neck.
The pricing is significantly different, though. Where the EX90 starts at $79,995 for a base Plus and goes up to $84,345 for the Plus trim with the Performance option, the Polestar 3 starts at $73,400 for the base Long range Dual motor model. When you factor in the Performance pack, that brings the starting price up to $79,400. You can also add on a few upgrades, including the Plus pack with a Dolby Atmos sound system from Bowers & Wilkins for $5,000.
I drove both models, starting with a non-Performance Launch Edition, which includes the Pilot and Plus options packages, all the active safety goodies and many other lifestyle features. Add on $2,300 for 22-inch wheels, and that SUV came to $82,800 after a $1,400 destination charge.
The Performance model that I drove had yet more options, including $1,300 for the metallic Thunder paint (an evocative name for dark gray). With a whopping $5,500 for the ventilated Nappa leather, the price goes up to $93,100 after the $1,400 destination charge.
Why the price difference for basically the same car as the Volvo? The primary difference is the Luminar Lidar pod on the roof of every EX90. That'll be an option on the Polestar 3 for those who really want to spend $5,000 more. Its absence makes for a considerable cost reduction despite having no loss in immediate functionality. On the Volvo, that sensor won't even be switched on until sometime next year, and who knows when it'll actually start feeding into the safety system.
Even without the Lidar, the Polestar 3 has a comprehensive set of sensors, including a 360-degree camera, ultrasonic sensors for parking and even active driver monitoring. The Pilot package, which comes standard, does a nice job of keeping the vehicle centered on roads of all sorts. It also includes active driver monitoring to ensure you stay focused on the road ahead and not the beauty of the Grand Tetons, which often distracted me on my day behind the wheel of this new SUV.
Polestar
The in-car experience is dominated by a 14.5-inch portrait touchscreen in the middle of the dash. The look and feel is quite similar to the current Polestar experience but with refreshed visuals and more comprehensive functionality. Thanks to Android Automotive, you have things like Google Maps, YouTube Music and Google Assistant baked right into the car. For the Android faithful, this is a boon. One sign-in means you have everything from your address book to your guilty pleasure music playlists at your fingertips, even if you forgot your phone in your office.
The UI refinements are subtle but welcome, making it easier to get to common controls, like increasing brake regen or cycling the heated and ventilated seats. There's also a small gauge cluster behind the wheel, which has a few different views, and thankfully now includes a proper navigation view. If that's not enough, a heads-up display is standard on the launch edition.
That's, again, all quite similar to the EX90. The most significant difference between the two is the look. While the Volvo has a clean and fresh exterior, which is a robust new face for the brand, its stately air won't resonate with everybody. The Polestar 3 is much more aggressive, from the cheeky wing on the hood to the pronounced fenders at the rear. Despite being roughly the same size, it looks far more svelte and offers a fair bit more character than the Volvo.
The Polestar 3 also feels much roomier inside. That's the benefit of shifting from three rows to two. Obviously, it won't do you much good if you need to haul more than five people, but if your shuttling duties are less demanding, the Polestar 3 offers more commodious seating.
It's also slightly more engaging to drive. While the throttle curve is surprisingly relaxed, requiring a deep application of the go pedal to get the car going, once you get in there the SUV leaps forward. The steering is wonderfully sharp, if a bit numb, paired with engaging handling for a machine of this stature.
Polestar
I have to say, though, that I didn't find the extra horsepower and torque of the Performance model particularly compelling. It definitely accelerates more quickly, but both models run out of steam at higher speeds, surging forward and then falling a bit flat. It was quick and fun when zipping through traffic though, or making the most of short passing zones.
The Polestar 3 is just as good at cruising calmly. It's quiet and smooth at speed, providing a great sound stage for the optional 25-speaker, 1,610-watt Bowers & Wilkins sound system with Dolby Atmos. The front seats are supportive yet comfortable. Heating and ventilation are great, and the ability to enable both simultaneously is a rare treat, giving a bit more intensity to the warmth. The heated steering wheel is also quite toasty, but annoyingly, it is not a standard feature. It's part of the Plus pack.
Thankfully, a heat pump is standard fare, something that should help this SUV deliver better range in cold weather. In ideal conditions, the Polestar 3 will do up to 315 miles on a charge, per the EPA, out of its 111-kilowatt-hour (107 usable) battery.
Like on my first drive of the EX90, I did experience a few software glitches here. Early on in the drive, the Polestar 3 said it could not detect my hands despite them definitely being on the steering wheel. Thankfully, that issue righted itself quickly, but later in the day we got another, more troubling warning: "Driver support system fault. Book a service." That alert, too, disappeared a moment later.
As with the Volvo, I'm sure these issues will be fixed in short order. They'd better be, at least, because the first Polestar 3 SUVs are hitting dealerships any day now. The first shipment was built in China, but future models will come from Volvo's factory near Charleston, South Carolina, where they'll share a line with the EX90.
Which is the better of the two SUVs? It really comes down to how many seats you need and whether you're willing to spend more for a Lidar sensor that might, someday, provide more advanced driver assistance functionality. Both models are shaping up to be solid SUVs, and that's excellent news for Polestar. It desperately needed this car to be great, and minus those few software glitches, it is.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/polestar-3-first-drive-the-long-awaited-suv-is-finally-here-and-its-good-154552543.html?src=rss
Jeep's owner, Stellantis, has recalled about 194,000 plug-in hybrid SUVs from the brand due to a risk of fire. The recall impacts specific Jeep Wrangler 4xe models from 2020 to 2024 and some Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe SUVs from 2022 to 2024 — the company estimates about five percent of the vehicles will have the defect. It discovered the issue after 13 fires were reported, all when the vehicle was parked and off.
Despite the risk, Stellantis is not yet having customers bring their hybrids in for servicing. Instead, the company claims a "remedy is imminent," and owners will get notified when they can come in. For now, Stellantis states, "Vehicle risk is reduced when the battery charge level is depleted. Accordingly, owners are advised to refrain from recharging. Out of an abundance of caution, the company is also advising owners of these vehicles to park away from structures or other vehicles until the remedy is obtained." Basically, good luck if this is your mode of transportation because you really don't want to use it.
The recall has the greatest impact on US-based customers, with 154,032 vehicles recalled across the country. There are just over 14,000 affected vehicles in Canada, 673 in Mexico and 25,502 outside of North America.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/jeep-recalls-194000-plug-in-hybrids-due-to-fire-risks-150059282.html?src=rss
On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fined Cruise, GM’s self-driving vehicle division, $1.5 million. The penalty was imposed for omitting key details from an October 2023 accident in which one of the company’s autonomous vehicles struck and dragged a San Francisco pedestrian.
Cruise is being fined for initially submitting several incomplete reports. The NHTSA’s reports require pre-crash, crash and post-crash details, which the company gave to the agency without a critical detail: that the pedestrian was dragged by the vehicle for 20 feet at around 7 MPH, causing severe injuries. Eventually, the company released a 100-page report from a law firm detailing its failures surrounding the accident.
That report states that Cruise executives initially played a video of the accident during October 3 meetings with the San Francisco Mayor's Office, NHTSA, DMV and other officials. However, the video stream was “hampered by internet connectivity issues” that concealed the part where the vehicle dragged the victim. Executives, who the report stated knew about the dragging, also failed to verbally mention that crucial detail in the initial meetings because they wanted to let “the video speak for itself.”
Investigators finally found out about the dragging after the NHTSA asked the company to submit the full video. The government agency says Cruise also amended four other incomplete crash reports involving its vehicles to add additional details.
The NHTSA's new requirements for Cruise include submitting a corrective action plan, along with others covering its total number of vehicles, their miles traveled and whether they operated without a driver. It also has to summarize software updates that affect operation, report citations and observed violations of traffic laws and let the agency know how it will improve safety. Finally, Cruise will have to meet with the NHTSA quarterly to discuss the state of its operations while reviewing its reports and compliance.
The order lasts at least two years, and the NHTSA can extend it to a third year. Reutersreported on Monday that, despite the fine, the NHTSA’s investigation into whether Cruise is taking proper safety precautions to protect pedestrians is still open. Cruise still faces probes by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
To say the incident sparked shakeups at Cruise would be an understatement. The company halted its self-driving operations after the accident. Then, last November, the dominoes began to fall: Its CEO resigned, and GM said it would cut its Cruise investment by “hundreds of millions of dollars” and restructure its leadership. Nine more executives were dismissed in December.
Nonetheless, Cruise is trying to rebound under its new leadership. Vehicles with drivers returned to Arizona and Houston this year, and GM said it’s pouring an additional $850 million into it. Earlier this month, it began operating in California again, also with drivers — which, it’s safe to say, is a good thing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/gms-cruise-fined-15-million-for-omitting-details-about-its-gruesome-2023-crash-210559255.html?src=rss
Ford is looking to take some of the sting out of EV charging by offering a free home charger. The automaker will even send out a technician to install it at no cost to you if you buy or lease a retail Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit between October 1 and January 2. However, Ford may opt to extend the program if it proves successful. (Ford Pro fleet customers will get a $2,000 commercial charging cash incentive instead.)
According to Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal, those who take up the offer will get a Level 2 charger at home. This should save Ford EV buyers and lessees a pretty penny, since the Ford Charge Station Pro costs $1,310 and the company typically charges $2,000 for installation. Still, those who want to take up the deal may need to make sure their garage is wired up properly to fully take advantage of Level 2 charging.
The EV side of Ford's business has been struggling as of late — the company expects that division to lose as much as $5.5 billion this year. In January, it cut production of the F-150 Lightning due to lower than expected demand and shifted resources to make more Broncos and Rangers. A few months later, the company delayed some EV models, including a planned three-row SUV, and placed more focus on hybrids. But in August, the automaker killed the three-row SUV project entirely while further delaying some other EVs.
Incentivizing EV purchases and leases with a free home charger and installation is smart and it could pay off for Ford. However, it may turn out to be little more than a Band-Aid for the division's deeper-set problems.
Update 9/30 2:53PM ET: The headline has been updated to reflect that the offer is available for all new EV purchases and leases in the US.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ford-chucks-in-a-free-ev-home-charger-and-installation-with-some-models-160138994.html?src=rss