Prosecutors raid Volkswagen inspection center in South Korea

Prosecutors raided an inspection center of the local unit of Volkswagen, officials said Friday, in the latest raid at the German carmaker's unit over its poor execution of recall orders on its emissions-faked vehicles.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said computer hard drives and documents on Volkswagen vehicles' emissions results have been confiscated from its pre-delivery inspection center in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul.

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Nissan Leaf electric motor vehicle to Race in Australia

while some individuals who power the electric-powered Nissan Leaf consistently sing its praises, they would be tough-pressed to call it a racy, excessive-efficiency vehicle. however the sluggish sedan’s picture may get an upgrade when the Leaf Nismo RC competes towards gasoline-powered vehicles on Australia’s famous Adelaide Parklands circuit.

The automobile’s look is a part of the run-up to Sunday’s Clipsal 500 race, an experience within the V8 Supercars collection that is slightly similar to Nascar stock-car racing within the U.S.

Its construction is massive to racing fanatics as a result of a couple of motor vehicle makers including Porsche, Audi and Toyota have begun using electric powered vigour in hybrid race vehicles, and racing suggestions increasingly reward gas efficiency. A turning out to be “green” move in appropriate-tier racing may outcomes in more electric powered-powered competition in the next a number of years.

The exceptionally designed Leaf race motor vehicle will compete against a Nissan Altima V8 Supercar and a Nissan GT-R road vehicle within the Nissan Time assault, an event intended to show off the electric car’s efficiency.

whereas the racer looks a whole lot like the street edition of the Leaf, it's really a pure race car, constructed largely of carbon fiber. it's lessen and wider than the road mannequin and has an adjustable rear wing that helps push the vehicle onto the song for more desirable grip at high racing speeds.

The Leaf racer is a component of a vast growth of Nissan’s racing courses that includes building of the Zeod RC fuel-electric powered hybrid that allows you to compete on the Le Mans 24 Hours race in June and the enterprise’s recent entry into V8 Supercars competitors.

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Toyota launches hydrogen automobile amid VW emissions scandal

 

A Toyota employee checks a Mirai gasoline-cellphone car on the production line of the business's Motomachi plant

Toyota has unveiled its imaginative and prescient of a “hydrogen society” at an experience in Germany, because the scandal over diesel emissions engulfs Volkswagen, its biggest international rival.

The eastern carmaker — the realm’s largest by means of 2014 earnings — on Thursday invited the realm’s media to Hamburg for the european launch of its Mirai gasoline-phone powered vehicle.

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This £60,000 hydrogen-powered saloon varieties a key part of the plans that Toyota announced this week to reduce ninety per cent of its automobiles’ carbon dioxide emissions between 2010 and 2050.

Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief engineer of the Mirai — which potential “future” in japanese — noted the vehicle provided “a pathway to a stronger, safer and cleaner future”.

He introduced: “it is the hybrid experience taken to the next level” — a reference to the Prius petrol-electric model that helped burnish Toyota’s eco-friendly credentials when it became launched in 1997.

Carmakers international were looking afresh at a way to cut back vehicle emissions in the wake of the VW look at various-manipulation scandal. ultimate month, the German company admitted to the usage of application in US checks to masks the extent of damaging nitrogen oxides produced by using its diesel vehicles.

Henri Winand, chief govt of British hydrogen gasoline-mobilephone know-how company intelligent energy, stated there had been a rush of inquiries from world producers within the wake of the scandal.

“if in case you have an adventure that brings the charge home to the boardroom — the true charge of emissions and cleaning up these emissions — then it is no shock the producers are more exercised as to how they take care of that,” he observed.

Hydrogen gas-phone cars such as the Mirai are seen by way of some as an development on pure electric powered cars, as they offer latitude and refuelling time that is aggressive with petrol and diesel models. Toyota’s gas cellphone vehicle can go back and forth 550km on its two hydrogen tanks, and can refuel in as little as three minutes.

but critics say that the expertise is high priced and lacks aiding infrastructure — in spite of commitments from governments including Germany’s — which raises questions over its viability as a mass-market choice. Analysts at Goldman Sachs say that, even by using 2025, fuel-phone cars will account for just 0.5 per cent of global revenue.

Toyota — along with Hyundai, maker of the ix35 hydrogen car — has been on the forefront of the nascent technology, having begun research on the project within the early Nineteen Nineties.

Its Mirai automobile stores hydrogen in two carbon fibre gasoline tanks. Oxygen, drawn in via gigantic air intakes on the front of the car, meets the hydrogen because the gases pass over a stack of fuel cells, causing a chemical reaction that produces electrical energy to power the motor. Water is the best byproduct and it's expelled through the exhaust.

Toyota says the zero-emission Mirai can achieve an normal CO2 discount — together with factory creation — of between 50 per cent and 70 per cent versus generic petrol and diesel models. Its CO2 discount depends upon no matter if the hydrogen is created from renewable sources, such as wind and photo voltaic, as is the case at four refuelling stations in Hamburg.

Toyota will begin by way of providing Mirai models to environmentally mindful businesses, enterprise leaders and public bodies in Germany, Denmark and the united kingdom. Early purchasers include Transport for London.

It says its aim is to just about eliminate the inside combustion engine from its line-up by using the middle of this century.

“There can be just about no fuel and diesel automobiles as we strategy 2050,” talked about Kiyotaka Ise, a senior managing officer at Toyota, talking in Tokyo on Wednesday.

to fulfill that goal, it plans to promote greater than 30,000 hydrogen-powered automobiles annually worldwide by about 2020, 10 times its revenue goal for 2017.

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Germany Orders Volkswagen to recall 2.4 Million cars

 

BERLIN — Germany’s automobile regulator on Thursday ordered Volkswagen to remember 2.four million vehicles with diesel motors carrying software supposed to control emissions check results.

it's the first executive-ordered don't forget anyplace since Volkswagen admitted the deception remaining month and noted it affected eleven million automobiles international. The government rejected the automaker’s inspiration to restore the automobiles as inadequate.

Germany’s transportation minister, Alexander Dobrindt, referred to that the obligatory do not forget would start in 2016 and could be overseen by the regulator, the Federal Motor Transport Authority, accepted through its German initials k.B.A.

“The ok.B.A. believes that the software used in the diesel engines constitutes an unlawful defeat equipment,” Mr. Dobrindt pointed out. “The authority has demanded that Volkswagen eliminate the software and take all steps indispensable to be sure that the emissions regulations are met.”

“we have the affect that Volkswagen is technically capable of conducting the technically imperative measures,” he stated.
continue studying the leading story photo: How Volkswagen bought Away With Diesel Deception

The crackdown by using the German govt offers a blow to the business in a single of its most essential markets.

Volkswagen talked about that it had acquired a response from the transport authority early on Thursday, however that it mandatory time to assessment it earlier than commenting on it.

The German automaker has been below expanding drive because admitting remaining month to American environmental authorities that it had installed a line of code in utility in its diesel engines meant to manipulate the effects of emissions trying out.

The transport authority last week demanded that Volkswagen put up a notion to cure the difficulty. although the enterprise had provided fixes, the regulator as an alternative ordered the recall.

In its suggestion, Volkswagen had provided to update utility on cars with 1.2- and 2-liter diesel engines beginning subsequent year to override the code that American environmental authorities found out constrained the amount of noxious gasses emitted right through lab checking out, however not all through typical using.

Mr. Dobrindt referred to the regulator believed the software was additionally active in vehicles in Germany and anticipated the business to existing a fix for the two-liter motors, with the solutions for the 1.2- and 1.6-liter engines to be presented by the conclusion of November.

The 1.6-liter fashions will definitely require additional hardware to remedy the problem that could not be able except September of next year, Mr. Dobrindt pointed out.

This week, Volkswagen noted that it will boost electric automobiles, an providing the enterprise has been gradual to adopt, despite a pledge by way of the German govt to get 1000000 electric powered cars on the road through 2020.

Barbara Hendricks, the German minister for the environment, observed the govt should still trust scrapping a tax wreck for diesel engines, moving it in its place to electric powered automobiles to motivate extra environmentally friendly expertise.

Volkswagen’s newly appointed chief govt, Matthias Müller, is scheduled to fulfill with the enterprise’s right executives on Thursday. It can be Mr. Müller’s first such meeting when you consider that taking over from his predecessor, Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down closing month, taking accountability for the scandal.

On Oct. 12, Volkswagen said it will don't recall 1,950 diesel motors in China. however whereas China is a huge automobile market for the company, it has bought only a few diesels there. And there turned into no public indication that Beijing had ordered the remember

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Driverless Audi RS7 To handle Hockenheim

This weekend Audi will follow through on current plans to address a race music with an autonomous version of its Audi RS7 sans driver.
Greater than sedately piloting a road route, Audi will try to flip a hot lap in the a hundred and fifty-mph high-performance vehicle without a human at the wheel.

The up to now stated aim of around two minutes is a pace quicker than most americans studying this are seemingly capable of, and even sooner than some professional drivers might do.

The publicity stunt to exhibit robotic superiority is scheduled Sunday, Oct. 19, and if the automobile can do the lap within the hoped-for time, it'll prove very competitive certainly.

The automobile is expected to hit the music at 6:50 a.m. EDT (12:50 CEST) before the finale of the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters).

Audi MediaTV will broadcast the run reside and provide an unique appear at the back of the scenes at 6:45 am EDT (12:forty five CEST).

The Hockenheimring is a race track found in the Rhine valley close town of Hockenheim. The music, opened in may additionally of 1932, is now constructed from 17 turns over four.574 kilometers (2.842 miles).

here is now not Audi’s first project in autonomous driving checking out. The business changed into the first enterprise to acquire a newly based self reliant riding allow issued with the aid of California.

Audi delivered it has conducted research over tens of heaps of miles in Europe and a number of U.S. states, where such trying out is authorized. The analysis, defined the German business, is geared toward getting ready a particularly automated Piloted driving device for limited-access highway traffic conditions.

Audi envisions this know-how could be capable for purchaser introduction within five years.

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Leonardo DiCaprio Is Making A film about the Volkswagen Scandal

Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t become a enormous megastar through taking part in it safe, and his artful choices between industrial fare and more indie-minded area matter has paid off with Oscar nominations and large field workplace.

So it’s no shock that his Appian method creation enterprise has optioned a ebook idea related to the present Volkswagen emissions scandal. And whereas that may additionally now not sound like top fabric for a compelling film, be aware that DiCaprio’s contemporary hit The Wolf of Wall street turned into adapted from a booklet in regards to the seemingly dry world of high finance.

What’s most likely most wonderful about this information is that the movie is being according to a booklet that hasn’t even been written yet.

The approaching e-book via The long island instances’ columnist Jack Ewing particulars the Volkswagen scandal during which the celebrated auto maker rigged its cars to discover emission assessments, in order that the readings would be lessen. but when the emission exams were completed, the programmed cars would unlock tons larger emissions once they were lower back on the street.

The scandal has rocked Volkswagen and ruined the business’s popularity for exceptional and reliability.

It’s no shock that DiCaprio, a noted environmentalist, can be brief to soar on such a scandal and adapt it to the massive monitor.

No note on what attitude DiCaprio’s creation enterprise will take as a writer has yet to be employed, nevertheless it’s clear that given the actor’s lengthy checklist of videos taken from true activities, if a movie is made, it could be annoying, unique and a possible awards-season contender.

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AP analysis: VW evasion likely led to dozens of deaths

Clamps hold probes in the tailpipes of a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. The car belongs to environmental engineering student, who was allowing North Carolina State University engineering professor Chris Frey to test the car's emissions. Frey has been testing the VW diesels in real world conditions, driving more than 100 miles with monitors in the car tailpipes. He found pollution 10 times higher than the federal standard, and noticed that the worst pollution came as he got on to highways and in stop-and-go traffic. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Volkswagen's pollution-control chicanery has not just been victimless tinkering, killing between five and 20 people in the United States annually in recent years, according to an Associated Press statistical and computer analysis.

The software that the company admitted using to get around government emissions limits allowed VWs to spew enough pollution to cause somewhere between 16 and 94 deaths over seven years, with the annual count increasing more recently as more of the diesels were on the road. The total cost has been well over $100 million.

That's just in the United States. It's likely far deadlier and costlier in Europe, where more VW diesels were sold, engineers said. Scientists and experts said the death toll in Europe could be as high as hundreds each year, though they caution that it is hard to take American health and air quality computer models and translate them to a more densely populated Europe.

"Statistically, we can't point out who died because of this policy, but some people have died or likely died as a result of this," said Carnegie Mellon environmental engineer professor Peter Adams. He calculates the cost of air pollution with a sophisticated computer model that he and the AP used in its analysis.

Computer software allowed VW diesel cars to spew between 10 to 40 times more nitrogen oxides (NOx) than allowed by regulation, making this "clearly a concern for air quality and public health," said Janet McCabe, acting air quality chief for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Nitrogen oxides mostly form smog — that murky, dirty air that makes it hard to see and for some people to breathe — but also amplify a deadlier, larger problem: tiny particles of soot. Numerous medical studies show those tiny particles cause about 50,000 deaths a year in the United States, mostly from heart problems.

Nitrogen oxides can travel hundreds of miles, so pollution spewed in Pittsburgh can be felt on the East Coast, Adams said.

Experts calculate how much pollution costs society by looking at the value of lost lives. In this case, Adams and other said the lost lives — valued at $8.6 million apiece — overwhelm other costs such as lost work days or hospital costs. The overall annual cost of the extra pollutants from the VW diesels ranged from $40 million to $170 million, environmental engineering professors calculated.

"Even the small increase in NOx from VW diesel emissions is likely to have worsened pollution along the roadways where they have traveled, and affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," said Dan Greenbaum, president of the Health Effects Institute in Boston.

"To say millions of people of people are breathing poor air as the result of that is not off the mark," said Greenbaum, who runs the institute that is funded by both the EPA and the auto industry to serve as an independent arbiter of the science.

In a response Saturday night to an earlier request for comment, Volkswagen said the EPA has noted that the affected vehicles do not present a safety hazard and are legal to drive. "General allegations regarding links between NOX emissions from these affected vehicles and specific health effects are unverified. We have received no confirmed reports that the emissions from such vehicles caused any actual health problem," the company said in a statement.

The calculations should be put in context of air that is getting dramatically cleaner in the United States, experts said. Also, the deaths from extra pollution are dwarfed by the 35,000 people in the U.S. a year who die in auto accidents and are closer to the annual U.S. death toll of spider or snake bites.

The AP calculated how much pollution was spewed year by year, starting with that broad 10 times to 40 times emissions level estimate from the EPA, then factoring in mileage and car number totals from EPA, the car company and Kelley Blue Book.

The results show an upper and lower limit of extra nitrogen oxides pollution allowed by VW's subterfuge. The AP took those figures to scientists who previously created a sophisticated computer program that looks at air movement and numerous epidemiological studies on the health effects of pollutants. The result was a rough estimate on deaths and costs to society based on a certain amount of pollution triggering each death.

The EPA has its own open source computer model that calculates death and social costs of emissions, roughly finding it takes nearly 1,300 tons of nitrogen oxides to cause one death. Using that calculation and AP's emission totals, the total death figures over the past seven years range from 12 to 69, slightly lower than the AP calculations.

The AP ran its calculations and results by more than a dozen experts in emissions, risk and public health. They all confirmed the calculations and results seemed right. One scientist had even done a statistical analysis on his own and came independently to the same conclusion. The experts were mostly university professors or from research institutes. They were not environmental advocates or representatives of auto companies.

But engineers caution that these figures come with many caveats and are ballpark estimates. They rely on many assumptions and a range of potential emissions per car. Air pollution impacts on people are usually calculated on a local level because that's where it is felt, and it changes from place to place. But these calculations were broadened to a national level, which adds more uncertainty.

The computer simulation that made the death calculations use conservative medical studies as their baseline. Other epidemiological studies would more than double the deaths and health costs, said Adams and model co-creator Jinhyok Heo of Cornell University.

Chris Frey, an engineering professor at North Carolina State University, has been testing the VW diesels in real world conditions, driving more than 100 miles with monitors in the car tailpipes. He found pollution 10 times higher than the federal standard, and noticed that the worst pollution came as he got on to highways and in stop-and-go traffic. Those less desirable areas are where poorer people live, Greenbaum and other experts said.

Since 2008, VW sold more than 10 million VW diesel cars in Europe, compared with less than half a million in the United States. In Europe, the population is more densely packed in urban areas, making people more vulnerable to added air pollution, several experts said.

"Assuming most of the cars are in Europe, it's pretty simple to estimate that it could go as high as hundreds," said Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the Berkeley Earth team that has estimated death tolls of air pollution in the past.

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Uber is making an attempt to legalize its fame in China

U.S. firm Uber technologies Inc and chinese language rival Didi Kuaidi are taking steps to operate legally in China, a key marketplace for each organizations however the place their vehicle hailing capabilities at the moment operate in a regulatory prey zone.

Uber China noted in an announcement on Thursday it become "actively preparing" documents to follow for a license to function a web automobile-hailing platform to satisfy new regulations governing the sector which are anticipated to be announced quickly.

Didi Kuaidi, a $16 billion valued firm backed by means of chinese language web giants Alibaba neighborhood maintaining Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd , also referred to on Thursday it had got a vehicle booking license for its operations in Shanghai and that it become in quest of extra licenses from different cities.

"This license is a key milestone for the official cognizance and the criminal repute of inner most car-hailing capabilities in China," Didi Kuaidi pointed out within the observation.
Uber and Didi Kuaidi are locked in a turf struggle in China, investing billions of dollars to lure in riders with steep coupon codes and to subsidize the cash earned by way of drivers.
but like in lots of nations across the world, the legality of those vehicle hailing features has vexed regulators in China where the authorities say drivers who lack the relevant licenses are working backyard the legislations.

Didi Kuaidi is the dominant experience-hailing app in China, despite the fact Uber recently closed a $1.2 billion deal to enter 100 extra chinese language cities within the subsequent twelve months.

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China Tightens Oversight of deepest vehicle-Hailing features

SHANGHAI—China plans to tighten oversight of online inner most-vehicle-hailing capabilities, a market in which Uber technologies Inc. and its chinese language competitors plan to spend billions of bucks to generate knowledge boom.

If strictly enforced, the rules could deal a blow to such organizations, crimping their carpooling functions in China and requiring them to function in a more robust-can charge, regulated fashion equivalent to normal taxis.

An Uber spokeswoman observed the company is in close communication with chinese regulators and would comply with all new guidelines.

One draft measure forbidding drivers from working for dissimilar experience-hailing app providers on the equal time also raises the probability the rules can be used to tip the balance towards a well-liked issuer in China.

but the agencies had been upbeat about the guidelines, saying they will carry regulatory readability. it's unclear how strictly the suggestions can be enforced or what they are going to appear to be of their remaining form.

In draft suggestions posted on Saturday, the Ministry of Transport stated online deepest-motor vehicle-hailing app suppliers should place their servers in China, share their information with native transport authorities, register their cars as taxi capabilities, sign labor contracts with their drivers and insure their vehicles and passengers.

in addition, foreign organizations should achieve a license to perform telecommunications business in China and are discipline to national safety checks, the ministry pointed out. It didn’t mention Uber by way of name within the lengthy document.

The guidelines, that are open to public opinion within the subsequent month, current a path for legalization in China for Uber and chinese language deepest-motor vehicle-hailing app provider Didi Kuaidi Joint Co. both were locked in a turf warfare in the past 12 months and foresee a market of more than 700 million skills urban commuters and a growing to be center type that can more and more have the funds for upgrading from ordinary taxis.

A Didi Kuaidi spokeswoman talked about the company welcomed rules and would examine the document, however she declined to touch upon any specifics.
Such agencies presently operate in China, but in a grey area. to this point, inner most taxis had been unlawful in many of the nation, as in lots of different countries. in keeping with a document by way of China’s reliable Xinhua information company in July, more than 1,200 inner most drivers from Didi Kuaidi and a hundred and seventy from Uber were caught by using Beijing authorities this year on suspicion of operating unlawful taxi services and evading taxes.

Didi Kuaidi and Uber have invested closely in deepest-vehicle-hailing functions, which an expanding number of chinese language use via smartphone apps. Didi Kuaidi has raised $three billion, and Uber has earmarked greater than $1 billion for the chinese language market.

whereas regulators had been slow to catch up with tendencies in this hot market, they are gaining floor. On Thursday, the transport authority within the metropolis of Shanghai stated it had granted Didi Kuaidi, which has an estimated value of $16 billion and is backed by means of chinese internet giants Alibaba community conserving Ltd. BABA 1.49 % and Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY -0.fifty four % , a license to function an internet automobile-reserving platform in that metropolis.
Didi mentioned the license became the first of its variety in China and that it is in search of more licenses from other cities. Uber is also in quest of licenses from chinese cities

while the suggestions published by way of the transport ministry legalize journey-hailing nationwide for the first time, Uber and Didi Kuaidi would ought to alternate their businesses if the suggestions are adopted of their existing form.

as an example, the proposed laws require all drivers engaged in deepest taxis to have three years of journey in riding, to limit the number of seats in a automobile to no greater than seven and that they ban carpooling and experience-sharing features provided by private drivers and not using a taxi license.

Uber noted that to localize its chinese company, Uber China has formally registered in Shanghai as a separate entity known as Shanghai Wubo counsel technology, run by means of chinese managers. It has got the requisite licenses and qualifications as an online business and placed its servers in China, the business brought.

And Uber in December tapped China’s suitable search-engine operator Baidu Inc. BIDU 2.10 % as a strategic partner.
still, as of the end of June, Didi Kuaidi controlled more than eighty% of the chinese deepest-vehicle-hailing market with the aid of experience quantity, in line with market research firm Analysys foreign, compared with 15% for Uber. but Uber has declared China as its most important foreign places market and has set out a plan to extend to one hundred chinese cities in the subsequent 12 months from about one-fifth of that total at present.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk: 'I do not hate Apple'

Yo, let's just be clear: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk says he does not hate Apple. but given previous comments wherein he referred to the tech massive as a "Tesla graveyard," you have got acquired to wonder.

Sounding extra like he is a native of South Philly than South Africa, Musk tweeted Friday: "Yo, I do not hate Apple. or not it's a pretty good enterprise with a lot of proficient individuals. i love their items and that i'm comfortable they're doing an EV."

Of route, simply as a result of he doesn't hate Apple does not imply he loves Apple either.
The tech billionaire's air kiss to Apple came after a fist shake in an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt during which Musk portrayed Apple as home to his own enterprise's dropouts and former second-stringers. Apple, he says, is the "Tesla graveyard" because "in case you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple."

Requested no matter if he feared an Apple electric powered vehicle, or EV, Musk took a swipe at its newest tech wearable, which has bought mixed reports.
"Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?" he asked.

When notice spread about the interview, Musk curiously got here to his senses and went into harm-handle mode together with his clarifying tweet. come what may, we suspect that in Apple's eyes, the Elon-gram that concerns are the remarks for the newspaper, now not the tweet.
The winner of this filth up?: exact Tesla engineers who can be showered with clean offers to move to work at Apple.

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Elon Musk Ridicules Apple For Hiring employees That had been Fired through Tesla – The Race To Make Driverless vehicles Heating Up?

Elon Musk ridiculed Apple Inc. for hiring Tesla’s rejects. He certainly cited that Apple is considered a “Tesla graveyard,” where the employees that were fired with the aid of the Musk’s company emerge as.

All over an interview with German enterprise newspaper Handelsblatt on Thursday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk launched a scathing attack on Apple Inc.

He did not dilute his sentiments towards the iPhone maker by using asserting, “they have employed people we’ve fired. We always jokingly name Apple the ‘Tesla Graveyard’. in case you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”

Musk answered with the direct answer when asked if he become worried that Apple Inc. had hired a senior engineer from his electric vehicle making company Tesla Motors Inc. moreover, when asked his opinions on Apple’s new-found ambition to make driverless automobiles, his response was even more scathing.

Mocking Apple Inc. Elon Musk remarking, “Did you ever take a glance on the Apple Watch? No, significantly: It’s respectable that Apple is relocating and investing during this route. but cars are very advanced in comparison to phones or smartwatches. that you could’t just go to a agency like Foxconn and say: build me a vehicle.”

For sure, Apple has at all times relied on Taiwanese subcontractor Foxconn to make the products that engineers back at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino conjure up. Musk stressed out that not like small electronics like MP3 avid gamers (iPod), smartphones (iPhones), and now smarthwatches (Apple Watch), cars require a very different technique.

Apple Inc. can also not have overtly declared that it is keenly interested in making no longer just vehicles of the future and that these cars would include automatic navigation. besides the fact that children, it has been continuously hiring consultants in the field. a few months returned, the company hired Doug Betts, who led international high-quality at Fiat Chrysler automobiles, stated MSN. Speculations are rife that the Apple’s secret assignment on driverless automobiles is referred to as ‘undertaking Titan’.

Dissimilar companies are trying to make cars of the future, which might obviously possess the ability to autonomously pressure itself. while tech giants like Apple Inc. and Google, which recently offered a prototype of its driverless cars, have the expertise, organizations like regularly occurring Motors have greater than a century’s value of adventure making cars that promote like hot cakes and appear first rate whereas being driven.

There is no affirmation that Apple automobile would be autonomous or be driven by means of electrical vigor. despite the fact, just about all those who are making these futuristic motors have been favoring the all-electric drivetrain with the skill to lead without any human assistance.
curiously, while Elon Musk did categorical his dissent about Apple Inc.’s hiring practices, he did admit that Apple establishing a car made experience.

“however for Apple, the motor vehicle is the subsequent logical component to eventually offer a big innovation. a brand new pencil or a bigger iPad on my own have been no longer vital satisfactory.”
incidentally, Musk was in Germany to talk with government representatives in regards to the way forward for mobility and electric powered motors in the country, suggested Engadget. He tried to intent with the regional transportation authorities that electric powered automobiles need special incentives to be able to increase their acceptance. He counseled that electrical motors be allowed to use the bus lanes and individuals paying for these cars may still be prolonged economic incentives like tax rebates.

interestingly, Elon Musk didn’t try to sugarcoat his observations when he was asked what the German automakers have been doing incorrect. He strongly advised the carmakers to “believe past fuel as we have reached the limit of what gas can do.” Unabashedly, he even put forth the illustration of Volkswagen, the company that recently admitted to rigging its vehicles so that they handed emissions handle tests.

“You see what’s took place with the latest diesel scandal at Volkswagen. in order to make development, they apparently had to cheat. I believe in case you intentionally deceive governments all over the world with software that's designed to only be useful at the look at various stand, this is a very aware motion.”

Elon Musk may additionally not have liked how Apple Inc. employed Tesla’s rejected employees, but does he does have a sound aspect about gas-powered automobiles outliving their time?

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Lyft announces specific Pay; Will associate with Hertz global (HTZ) on condo car Initiative

Lyft observed to associate with Hertz global (NYSE: HTZ) on vehicle leases, in response to the WSJ.
update - Lyft posted here to its blog on Thursday:

these days at Lyft HQ in San Francisco, we announced unique new initiatives for our extraordinary group together with the first-of-its-form specific Pay product, and new partnerships with Shell and Hertz.
we are turning out to be our ecosystem of partnerships and courses that provide Lyft drivers with more equipment to achieve their own goals and dreams. On the heels of Starbucks and Didi Kuaidi announcements, we’re overjoyed about greater unique relationships that improvement the whole Lyft group.

Categorical Pay instant deposits

one of the most characteristics drivers like most about using for Lyft is the pliability to create your own schedules. Now, we’re giving you the power to receive your income faster than ever when you want to get paid.
express Pay, accessible in November, empowers drivers to receives a commission the equal day they drive. when you reach $50 in experience profits, which you can quite simply faucet the “money out” button present in the app on the driving force Stats page, and dollars will be deposited straight.*
We built this new characteristic with our pals at Stripe – who share our dedication to always enrich your experience, together with with payments. We’re the first Stripe consumer to unveil this product, and the first and handiest ridesharing business to bring instant payouts, providing you with the top of the line flexibility. we can’t think of a stronger way to treat you superior than letting you get your funds quicker.
Retailer at Shell with fuel rewards

We’re introducing an exclusive partnership with Shell gasoline Rewards so that it will greatly reduce the sum of money Lyft drivers pay for fuel at participating Shell stations.
With Lyft’s Shell gasoline Rewards, the more you power, the greater you keep. according to the variety of rides you supply in every week, you’ll earn a discount – any place from 3 cents per gallon, to a few free tanks per week!

We might be piloting this in a a number of markets over the coming months, and predict to rollout nationally to 12,500 Shell stations throughout the united states early next year. Like other partnerships in the speed up driver rewards software, reminiscent of Allstate Roadside counsel and Verizon preferred prices, we’ve chosen partners and classes that superior match your true wants and priorities.

Employ and power with Hertz

Now you don’t even ought to own a automobile to be a Lyft driver. today, we announced a Hertz pilot application. Already live in Las Vegas, Hertz automobiles can be found to Lyft drivers at special economical daily, weekly, and month-to-month quotes. approved drivers can promptly appoint cars on-demand and earn money as a Lyft driver with out a long-term lease commitment.
The partner ecosystem we’ve extended today is a large step forward in bringing people and communities collectively via improved transportation. We’re constructing the most fulfilling adventure for fun, flexibility and empowerment the place that you may rent a motor vehicle, fill it with discounted gasoline, meet new americans, cease for a Starbucks espresso, and have your earnings deposited into your bank account all in the equal day.
*counting on drivers’ banking associations; most drivers will receive instant deposits, some banks received’t allow funds to appear until subsequent day; transaction rate per deposit is $0.50, paid via the driving force.

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All variants off market: Volkswagen stops sale of Polo in India, cites technical considerations

Volkswagen India produced 20,030 contraptions of Polo between April and August this year.
German auto fundamental Volkswagen on Wednesday asked its purchasers in India to briefly cease selling its top class hatchback Polo, citing a technical challenge. The company, besides the fact that children, talked about the measure is not concerning the emissions scandal that has hit the enterprise in the US and in Europe. both the petrol as well as the diesel variations of the hatchback has been taken off the marketplace for now.

A spokesperson at Volkswagen Passenger vehicles India, mentioned, “Volkswagen India has demonstrated a short lived cling on deliveries of its carline Polo because of a technical purpose which is at present under contrast.” The technical difficulty and the ongoing evaluation subject a restrained number of vehicles out of a particular production period.

The spokesperson clarified that the assessment underway in India isn't regarding the emissions controversy the business is at the moment facing in the united states. He said, “Volkswagen would want to make clear that the temporary cling on deliveries isn't involving the ongoing EA 189 diesel engine subject matter.”

prior in the day, in a letter, signed with the aid of Ashish Gupta, head of after income operations, Volkswagen Passenger automobiles and Pankaj Sharma, head of sales operations, despatched to the ‘broking partners’, the enterprise asked them “not to bodily deliver any Polo car (all variations) with instant impact until extra notice from VW.”

VW India produced 20,030 instruments of Polo between April and August this yr. The company sold 13,827 gadgets within the domestic market and exported a further 6,052 units. in the 12 months to march end 2015, the enterprise bought forty five,000 devices in India, almost two-thirds of which were Polo.

previous this week, the business had mentioned that it is still evaluating the influence of the emissions scandal on Indian operations, and a recollect of automobiles will depend on findings of the continuing investigations.

The business is in communique with testing company automobile analysis affiliation of India (ARAI), which has been asked by the government to probe if Volkswagen manipulated emissions tests in India as it did in the US and Europe.

ARAI has asked Volkswagen India to latest the particulars of the entire automobiles offered in India with the EA189 engine and the enterprise is in verbal exchange with them on the remember.
The EA189 diesel engines had been geared up with utility that enabled manipulation of emissions tests. VW has already introduced that globally round 11 million cars were affected. The enterprise faces high-quality of over $18 billion within the US over the problem.

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American VW buyers working out of vehicles to sell as emissions scandal deepens

Volkswagen purchasers across the USA face not having any new diesel-powered cars to promote as the scandal engulfing Europe’s largest car maker deepens.

VW on Wednesday withdrew applications to the Environmental insurance policy company for emissions certifications for the 2016 versions of its diesel-pushed Jettas, Golfs, Passats and Beetles.
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The circulate raises the probability that an emissions-rigging device akin to past models is additionally protected in its new automobiles.

VW has admitted that 4-cylinder diesel automobiles from the 2009 to 2015 mannequin years had application that helped the vehicles cheat on emissions assessments. The admission came after the business was confronted through the EPA and California regulators, touching off a global scandal that comprises eleven million automobiles.

via withdrawing the purposes for the 2016 models, VW is leaving thousands of diesel motors stranded at ports nationwide, giving dealers no new diesel-powered cars to sell.
The utility withdrawal became revealed on Wednesday in written testimony submitted by way of Volkswagen’s US chief, Michael Horn, to a congressional subcommittee. It says VW became pulling its software because the automobiles have software that should still were disclosed to the EPA, which need to certify them for sale in the country.

Horn’s testimony said the business become working with regulators to achieve certification.
however, it was doubtful on Wednesday exactly what the device does. EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia mentioned VW these days gave the company guidance on an “auxiliary emissions handle gadget”. The EPA and California’s Air substances Board had been investigating “the nature and goal” of the equipment, she pointed out.

A Volkswagen spokesman in the US referred to he didn't be aware of what the machine did, but the company mentioned that such contraptions gauge engine performance, highway speed “and any other parameter for activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating” emissions controls.
Horn is scheduled to seem earlier than the condo panel on Thursday, and witnesses are typically required to provide a duplicate of their organized remarks a day in enhance.
the lack of certification is bad news for American VW dealers, who had been hoping to position the new models on sale quickly within the wake of closing month’s admission that the enterprise had put in on-board computing device utility designed to cheat on govt emissions assessments in well-nigh 500,000 “clear diesel” vehicles.

For some VW dealers, the diesel models accounted for approximately a third of income. Tom Backer, established supervisor of Lash Volkswagen in White Plains, ny, pointed out his dealership had already misplaced three offers with capabilities patrons because he could not get the new vehicles.
“It’s no longer respectable,” mentioned Backer, who observed he typically sells only a small number of diesels. “It’s definitely a stain on the manufacturer’s image.”

Thursday’s look might be the first on Capitol Hill by using Horn, a 51-year-historic German and veteran VW manager who took the reins of the company’s American subsidiary remaining 12 months. he is anticipated to face blistering questions on when good executives at the company first realized of the scheme.

Horn will inform Congress he simplest discovered about the dishonest software “during the last several weeks”, VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan told associated Press.
he'll also echo apologies from VW’s world executives as the company continues to return under power to determine these in charge, to claim how motors with unlawful software could be fastened and even if it additionally cheated in Europe.

New chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch observed in Germany on Wednesday that it could take time to get to the bottom of the scandal.
“no person is served via speculation or vague, preliminary development studies,” Poetsch instructed a news convention. “therefore it will make the effort except we have factual and respectable results and might provide you with comprehensive advice,” he introduced, declining to take any questions.
additionally scheduled to testify within the US on Thursday are two officials on the EPA who oversee emissions trying out and compliance with clean air rules.

VW first confessed the deception to U.S. regulators on 3 September, more than a 12 months after researchers at West Virginia university first published a examine displaying the true-world emissions of the business’s Jetta and Passat fashions have been a ways bigger than allowed. The same vehicles had met emissions specifications when tested in the lab.

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