Cars

yes,-you-get-used-to-the-grille:-the-2025-bmw-430i-gran-coupe-review

Yes, you get used to the grille: The 2025 BMW 430i Gran Coupe review

Back in 1995, a 430i badge would have meant that BMW had a 3.0 L engine. But this 430i makes do with just 2.0 L and four cylinders under the hood, albeit with a turbocharger. Output is 255 hp (190 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), which in this case is sent to all the wheels—xDrive in BMW-speak—via an eight-speed transmission.

In the frosty and below-freezing winter temperatures, I averaged 28 mpg (8.4 L/100 km), one down on the car’s official EPA combined economy. Perhaps the engine’s 48 V mild hybrid system helped minimize the loss due to cold weather, which, yes, affects gasoline-powered cars, too.

Another downside to a diet that’s mostly electric cars is that you very quickly get used to that immediate throttle response. Even the best naturally aspirated engines can’t quite replicate that—not even the ones BMW has made in the past. Even though the turbocharger’s torque plateau arrives at just 1,600 rpm, it’s better to just be a bit relaxed about the whole thing. I found the automatic eight-speed a little too jerky in Sport mode, anyway.

A BMW 430i Gran Coupe seen from behind

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

Among other minor grumbles, the brake pedal had too little bite for the first half-inch of travel and then too much bite for the next. And the steering wheel rim is too fat, a problem that has afflicted BMW for far too long. But they are minor complaints, and ones that hardly ruin the driving experience. While it’s more of a cruiser than a canyon carver, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. No one said that “ultimate driving machine” had to mean the fastest thing around a track, and for day-to-day driving, being in the 430i was a pleasant place to have to sit.

At $51,200, the 430i xDrive Gran Coupe looks relatively well-priced by the standards of 2025. But unlike the Korean or Japanese luxury brands, you will be expected to pay more if you want all the bells and whistles—our test car came in at $61,125 with options and delivery fee. Some might be superfluous—I’m not sure I’d spend $1,700 on the driving assists, or $2,500 on the M Sport package, but the top-down, 360-degree parking cameras are worth the $700 option, and the driver and infotainment display (part of the $1,650 premium package) lifts the in-car experience.

If all that sounds interesting but the internal combustion engine is a deal-breaker, check back tomorrow when we review the very closely related and even longer-named BMW i4 xDrive40 Gran Coupe (19-inch wheels).

Yes, you get used to the grille: The 2025 BMW 430i Gran Coupe review Read More »

maserati-kills-electric-version-of-mc20-supercar-for-lack-of-demand

Maserati kills electric version of MC20 supercar for lack of demand

Electric motors are, in so many ways, much better than internal combustion engines. They don’t waste most of the energy you put into them as heat and sound, they’re easy to control, and they make huge amounts of torque almost instantly. Having recently driven BMW’s 430i and i4 back to back over the course of two weeks, the electric version was easier in traffic and more responsive on a twisty road. Electric wins, then. Except at the very high end, it seems.

Because even though electric motors can pack a punch, people paying big money for super- and hypercars are increasingly disinterested in those cars being electrified. So much so that Maserati has canceled the all-electric version of the MC20.

The MC20 debuted in 2020. No longer associated with Ferrari after that brand was spun out and IPO’d, the MC20 could offer a full carbon-fiber monocoque and an engine with very clever F1-derived combustion technology, undercutting its now-independent Italian competitor to the tune of more than $100,000 in the process.

Maserati kills electric version of MC20 supercar for lack of demand Read More »

volkswagen-gets-the-message:-cheap,-stylish-evs-coming-from-2026

Volkswagen gets the message: Cheap, stylish EVs coming from 2026

A surprise find in my inbox this morning: news from Volkswagen about a pair of new electric vehicles it has in the works. Even better, they’re both small and affordable, bucking the supersized, overpriced trend of the past few years. But before we get too excited, there’s currently no guarantee either will go on sale in North America.

Next year sees the European debut of the ID. 2all, a small electric hatchback that VW wants to sell for less than 25,000 euros ($26,671). But the ID. 2all isn’t really news: VW showed off the concept, as well as a GTI version, back in September 2023.

What is new is the ID. EVERY1, an all-electric entry-level car that, if the concept is anything to go by, is high on style and charm. It does not have a retro shape like a Mini or Fiat 500—VW could easily have succumbed to a retread of the Giugiaro-styled Golf from 1976 but opted for something new instead. The design language involves three pillars: stability, likability, and surprise elements, or “secret sauce,” according to VW’s description.

The ID. EVERY1 is the antithesis of the giant SUVs and trucks that have come out of Detroit these past few years.

“The widely flared wheelarches over the large 19-inch wheels and the athletic and clearly designed surfaces of the silhouette ensure stability,” said VW head of design Andreas Mindt, confirming the inability of modern designers to stay away from huge wheels.

“The slightly cheeky smile at the front is a particularly likable feature. A secret sauce element is the roof drawn in the middle, usually seen on sports cars. All these design elements lend the ID. EVERY1 a charismatic identity with which people can identify,” Mindt said.

It really is a small car—at 152.8 inches (3,880 mm) long, it’s much shorter than the smallest car VW sells here in the US, the Golf GTI, which is a still-diminutive 168.8 inches (4,288 mm) in length. Like the slightly bigger ID. 2all—which is still much shorter than a Golf), the ID. EVERY1 will use a new front-wheel drive version of VW’s modular MEB platform. (Initially introduced for rear- or all-wheel-drive EVs, MEB underpins cars like the ID.4 crossover and ID. Buzz bus.)

Volkswagen gets the message: Cheap, stylish EVs coming from 2026 Read More »

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The 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe proves to be a real crowd-pleaser

The 27-inch OLED screen combines the main instrument display and an infotainment screen. It’s a big improvement on what you’ll find in older GV80s (and G80s and GV70s), and the native system is by no means unpleasant to use. Although with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, most drivers will probably just cast their phones. That will require a wire—while there is a Qi wireless charging pad, I was not able to wirelessly cast my iPhone using CarPlay; I had to plug into the USB-C port. (The press specs say it should have wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, for what it’s worth.)

Having a jog dial to interact with the infotainment is a plus in terms of driver distraction, but that’s immediately negated by having to use a touchscreen for the climate controls.

Beyond those gripes, the dark leather and contrast stitching look and feel good, and I appreciate the way the driver’s seat side bolsters hug you a little tighter when you switch into Sport mode or accelerate hard in one of the other modes. Our week with the Genesis GV80 coincided with some below-freezing weather, and I was glad to find that the seat heaters got warm very quickly—within a block of leaving the house, in fact.

I was also grateful for the fact that the center console armrest warms up when you turn on your seat heater—I’m not sure I’ve come across that feature in a car until now.

Tempting the former boss of BMW’s M division, Albert Biermann, away to set up Genesis’ vehicle dynamics department was also a good move. Biermann has been retired for a while now, but he evidently passed on some skills before that happened. The GV80 Coupe is particularly well-damped and won’t bounce you around in your seat over low-speed obstacles like potholes or speed bumps that, in other SUVs, can result in the occupants being shaken from side to side in their seats.

The 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupe proves to be a real crowd-pleaser Read More »

driving-an-ev-restomod-that-costs-as-much-as-a-house—the-jia-chieftain

Driving an EV restomod that costs as much as a house—the JIA Chieftain

The Chieftain Range Rover is a fascinating thing—a refitted, reskinned, restored classic Range Rover is no new thing, nor is one with a ludicrous American V8 stuffed under the hood. But one that can be had as a gas car, plug-in hybrid, or as an EV? It can be all of those things depending on which boxes you tick. Ars Technica went for a spin in the EV to see how it stacks up.

The UK is something of an EV restomod hub. It’s been throwing electricity in things that didn’t come off the line electrified in the first place for years. Businesses like Electrogenic, Lunaz, and Everrati will, for a price, make an old car feel a little more peppy—depending on who you go to, it’ll come back restored as well. The Chieftain isn’t quite like them. Developed by Oxfordshire, UK, based Jensen International Automotive (the company’s bread ‘n butter is Jensen Interceptors), the Chieftain is an old Range Rover turned up to VERY LOUD. Or, actually, not loud at all.

Of course, these things come at a cost. A Chieftain EV Range Rover conversion, today, will set you back at least $568,000 should you choose to order one. This one was a private commission, and at that price there won’t be any built on spec on the off chance someone wants to buy one “off the peg.” By any stretch of the imagination it is a huge amount for an old car, but they’re custom-built from start to finish.

The Range Rover has aged well. Alex Goy

Yours will be made to your specification, have CarPlay/Android Auto, and the sort of mod cons one would expect in the 2020s. Under its perfectly painted shell—the color is your choice, of course—lives a 120 kWh battery. It’s made of packs mounted under the hood and in the rear, firing power to all four wheels via three motors: one at the front, and two at the rear. The tri-motor setup can theoretically produce around 650 hp (485 kW), but it’s paired back to a smidge over 405 hp (302 kW), so it doesn’t eat its tires on a spirited launch. There’s a 60: 40 rear-to-front torque split to keep things exciting if that’s your jam. Air suspension keeps occupants comfortable and insulated from the world around them.

Driving an EV restomod that costs as much as a house—the JIA Chieftain Read More »

yes,-it-turns-out-you-can-make-a-tesla-cybertruck-even-uglier

Yes, it turns out you can make a Tesla Cybertruck even uglier

There’s a saying about putting lipstick on a pig, but what if it’s not lipstick? That’s the question the universe set out to answer when it aligned in such a way that famed (or perhaps infamous) car customizer Mansory got itself a Tesla Cybertruck. The Mansory Elongation—a name that must have taken ages to think of—offers exterior, interior, and wheel and tire upgrades for the straight-edged stainless steel-wrapped pickup.

Among those who mod cars, there are the tuners, who focus on adding power and (one hopes) performance, and then there are the customizers, who concentrate more on aesthetics. Once upon a time, the entire luxury car industry worked like that—a client would buy a rolling chassis from Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, or Talbot and then have bodywork added by coachbuilders like Gurney Nutting, Touring, or Figoni et Falaschi.

The rear 3/4 view of a modified Cybertruck

At least the rear winglets don’t entirely compromise access to the bed. Credit: Mansory

Modern homologation requirements have mostly put an end to that level of coachbuilding, but for the ultra-wealthy prepared to spend telephone numbers on cars, brands like Rolls-Royce will still occasionally oblige. More common now are those aftermarket shops that spiff up already luxurious cars, changing normal doors for gullwing versions, adding flaring fenders and bulging wheel arches, and plastering the interior in any hue of leather one might imagine.

Mansory has been on the scene since the end of the 1980s and has made a name for itself festooning Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and even Bugattis with extra bits that their original designers surely did not want added. Now it’s the Tesla Cybertruck’s turn.

Yes, it turns out you can make a Tesla Cybertruck even uglier Read More »

donut-lab-and-the-electric-motors-everyone-has-been-talking-about

Donut Lab and the electric motors everyone has been talking about

“The set of benefits is different to each application or each size,” Piippo said. “In small things, you’re very price conscious, and you need to kind of optimize for the cost. And then the bigger you go, the more performance you can get or the more performance increase compared to the conventional setup you can get.”

“But then there’s also the kind of unlocked new industries where nobody has been that capable making a heavy lift… drone—like lifting shipping containers or something like this—until now. Because we have a very compact shape and very lightweight design, we can do quite a bit of performance in everything that flies because we can play with the cooling in a smart way with this design,” Piippo said.

For a compact EV crossover, Donut Lab thinks its tech could reduce the number of components in a powertrain by three-quarters, saving weight and assembly time—and therefore money. For a semi-truck, the savings could be an order of magnitude higher, according to the company’s case study.

Credit: Donut Labs

In fact, the first use has been for motorcycles. The Verge TS Pro electric motorcycle we tested last summer was created to show off the motor technology.

The reaction at CES was positive—”we had maybe 10 to 20 times more business than we anticipated, and we were aiming quite high,” Lehtimäki said.

“Major OEMs have understood for decades that in-wheel motors would be the golden solution if they could get the weight down,” he said. “But I feel that there’s been some education going on in the last few years because it felt to us that everybody we spoke to, you just show the graph of torque and power per kilogram, and they’re like, ‘OK, when can we have it?'”

Plenty can happen between an OEM testing parts for proving and a product appearing in the showroom that uses that technology. But if all goes well, we might see vehicles with Donut Lab’s motors in a couple of years. They may show up elsewhere, too. Lehtimäki told me that interest has come in from outside the automotive and mobility sectors, including applications like wind turbines and washing machines.

That last one has some charming history to it—when inventors were tinkering with electric cars in the 1970s, they often turned to washing machines for a source of torquey electric motors.

Donut Lab and the electric motors everyone has been talking about Read More »

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The Acura ZDX is an example of badge engineering for the software age

Acura is gearing up to build its first entirely in-house battery-electric vehicles, but it has gotten a head start with the ZDX SUV. Built in collaboration with General Motors, the ZDX is a comfortable and competent luxury EV. More than that, it’s a shining example of what badge engineering looks like in the digital age.

Automakers have long collaborated with each other. Sometimes that means working together on a powertrain or vehicle platform for use in quite different products. Sometimes, it’s a little less involved—the Dodge Hornet differs very little from the Alfa Romeo Tonale, for example.

In the case of the Acura ZDX, the vehicle platform and the battery-electric powertrain are all thoroughly GM, what used to be called Ultium, until the American automaker retired that branding. It is, in essence, Acura’s take on the Cadillac Lyriq and is similar, if not identical, in terms of power output and pricing.

Although the range starts with the rear-wheel drive $64,500 ZDX A-Spec, our test car was the range-topping all-wheel drive ZDX Type-S, which costs $73,500 before the $7,500 clean vehicle tax credit. It has an output of 499 hp (372 kW) and 544 lb-ft (738 Nm), and it has an EPA range of 278 miles (447 km) on a full charge of the 102 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

Despite winter temperatures and 22-inch tires (a $600 option), that range estimate seems spot-on—over the course of a week, we averaged 2.7 miles/kWh (23 kWh/100 km).

The next Acura EV to launch will have a NACS port, but ZDXs feature CCS1 for now. Adapters, and access to Tesla’s Supercharger network, should happen in this spring. Jonathan Gitlin

Fast charging wasn’t particularly impressive, especially compared to other luxury SUVs in this price bracket. Acura quotes 42 minutes to go from 20–80 percent state of charge; in practice, I plugged in with 38 percent SoC showing on the dash and had to wait 45 minutes to get to 80 percent. Charging peaked at 91 kW but had dropped to 69 kW by 50 percent SoC.

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this-ev-could-reboot-medium-duty-trucking-by-not-reinventing-the-wheel

This EV could reboot medium-duty trucking by not reinventing the wheel


Modest goals and keeping within the lines have done this startup well.

A rolling medium-duty truck chassis in a factory

Harbinger’s rolling chassis, at the company’s factory in Garden Grove, California. Credit: Tim Stevens

Harbinger’s rolling chassis, at the company’s factory in Garden Grove, California. Credit: Tim Stevens

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—There’s no shortage of companies looking to reinvent the delivery experience using everything from sidewalk drones to electric vans. Some are succeeding, but many more have failed by trying to radically rethink the simple, age-old task of getting stuff from one place to another.

Harbinger likewise wants to shake up part of that industry but in a decidedly understated way. If you found yourself stuck in traffic behind one of the company’s all-electric vehicles, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t even notice. The only difference? The lack of diesel smoke and clatter.

From the outside, Harbinger’s pre-production machine looks identical to the standard flat-sided, vinyl-wrapped delivery vehicles that seemingly haven’t changed in decades. That’s because they really haven’t. Those familiar UPS and FedEx machines are built on common chassis like Ford’s F-59 or Freightliner’s MT45, with ladder chassis and leaf spring designs dating back to the earliest days of trucking.

Rather than discarding decades of learning and optimization, Harbinger is keeping its focus narrow, changing only what’s required to move the industry away from expensive and ugly combustion to cleaner and cheaper electric drive.

Harbinger is exclusively focused on medium-duty options right now, trucks that are significantly larger than the Rivians or Mercedes eSprinters of the world. “That’s basically everything 5 through 15 tons or thereabouts,” co-founder and Harbinger CTO Phillip Weicker said, “the dominant product for what’s called a strip chassis, essentially what in the passenger market is called a skateboard.”

Yes, Harbinger just builds the chassis. Everything on top comes from somewhere else.

“Most medium-duty vehicles are built by one company building the chassis [and] another company installing the body,” Weicker said. “So this made the perfect sense for our first product because we’re going to be focused almost entirely on the differentiated aspects. We don’t have to deal with the high capital investments for body in white, paint shop, [and] a lot of the things that have cost EV startups lots of money just to get to a table-stakes position with their incoming competitors.”

If you’re a company that wants a medium-duty vehicle like this, your dealer sources the chassis for you and then coordinates sending it to a company called an upfitter. The upfitter then builds the entire body on top of the chassis to your exact specifications.

Designs from upfitters have been defined and refined over decades of experience by the companies that operate them. Those giant white or brown delivery vans might look very similar from the outside, but there’s a lot of nuance to their design.

“The door handles work slightly differently. The locking logic works differently. The vehicles are about 2 inches narrower for one of those companies than the other,” Harbinger co-founder and CEO John Harris said. “These are all designed to get the driver in and out of the door one second faster at every stop, to get in and out of the depot and load the vehicle two or three minutes faster.”

A man drives a delivery van

Harbinger CTO Phillip Weicker demoing the delivery van. Credit: Tim Stevens

Harbinger’s solution fits the same template but operates in a very different way. It’s still a big, long ladder-frame, and it uses a leaf-spring rear suspension. But rather than slapping a big engine up front, Harbinger relies on a 330-kW (443 hp) electric motor that’s wound in-house and mounted between the rear wheels. It uses a De Dion arrangement, which isolates the heavy motor from the rear suspension.

The idea was to keep the whole thing simple and familiar so that any company that wanted to get off diesel could start ordering vehicles with a Harbinger chassis without radically changing its fleet management or driver training.

I got a chance to see just how familiar the two things are during my visit to Harbinger’s 5,000-square-foot headquarters in Garden Grove, California. I wish I could say driving the Harbinger was an evocative, world-changing experience, but the company’s ethos of not reinventing the wheel very much continues through to the experience of sitting behind the wheel that steers the thing.

I started by taking a lap of the Harbinger parking lot in a Ford F-59-based machine, a former delivery truck that had already lived a hard life before it was put out to pasture, becoming something of a test mule for Harbinger. I’d never driven anything exactly like this before, but I have spent many hours droning down the highway in various abused U-Haul trucks, and the experience is much the same.

The same, but louder. Yes, the 6.7-liter diesel certainly makes a lot of noise, but the creaking and crashing of the boxy body built on top of that aged ladder-frame chassis is deafening. The automatic transmission has a leisurely approach to its job, delivering the next gear only when absolutely needed. The throttle delivers the kind of precision response that had me slamming my foot to the floor just to get around the parking lot. Doing so made a lot more noise but not much more acceleration.

That part, at least, is radically different in the Harbinger. While the throttle pedal has the same long throw, you needn’t dip nearly so far into it. A light pedal brush had the empty Harbinger delivery truck leaping forward. It’s hardly a Lucid Air Sapphire, but it still surged forward with the sort of instant acceleration that makes EVs so addictive.

Braking, too, is far more sharp. I lurched against the racy orange seatbelt the first time I stepped on the left pedal, and the combination of regenerative braking and fresh disc brakes made for a far more effective slowing solution.

There’s no transmission to worry about here, either. Instead of slinging a giant column shifter downward, in the Harbinger, you just hit the D button and pull away.

Harbinger truck interior

It’s not the most stylish cabin we’ve sat in. Credit: Tim Stevens

In motion, though, the experience is much the same. You’re seated up high, deafened by the clatter and bangs from the empty, boxy body, which, again, is exactly like that built on a traditional truck. The feedback is so harsh that it’s actually difficult to separate the overall ride quality of the truck. Still, even unladen, and thus at its harshest, it’s a far smoother drive than the Ford.

It’s easier to turn, too. The Harbinger offers 50 degrees of steering angle at the front. I pulled off my first U-turn on a narrow, suburban LA street quickly enough to not get honked at by even a single impatient Angelino.

It ultimately wasn’t the plush, hushed experience offered by your average electric sedan, but that’s not the point. By keeping everything familiar, Harbinger CEO John Harris told me Harbinger can offer a product with price parity to those aged, diesel-powered machines. Harris declined to provide formal pricing, but its affordability is at least partially dependent on federal incentives.

Currently, alternatively fueled medium-duty vehicles like Harbinger’s are eligible for the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit 45W, which provides incentives of up to $40,000, depending on vehicle size and propulsion type.

A shelf of battery cell assemblies

Battery modules. Credit: Tim Stevens

“Where we’re pricing the vehicles, we need that 45 W if we want to undercut diesel, and that’s what we’re doing,” Harris said. “With 45 W, we can undercut the typical diesel vehicle by a few thousand dollars.”

But even if that credit goes away under the current administration, Harbinger has some price flexibility to remain competitive, he added.

That’s doubly true if you factor in operating costs. Harris says the average cost to operate a medium-duty vehicle like this is $0.50 per mile for fuel, or $0.85 if you factor in all costs relating to the vehicle itself. Harbinger is aiming to halve that, targeting $0.40 per mile. But, Harris says, Harbinger doesn’t need to lean on that total cost of ownership (TCO) logic.

“On a TCO basis, it’s easy: We blow diesel trucks away. But the whole point is to have the right acquisition cost from day one, and then the simpler operating costs deliver savings every day,” he said.

A cast EV battery case

The cast battery pack enclosure. Credit: Tim Stevens

Still, that’s potentially a huge savings when you consider the hundreds of thousands of miles a machine will cover over its lifespan, which is expected to be measured in decades, not years. Many of the medium-duty delivery vehicles you see on the road today date from the last century. Harbinger’s chassis has been designed to last just as long, including its custom-made, gigacast battery packs, which were designed for durability.

“If you took the battery pack out of a Tesla Model 3, and you put it in a commercial truck, and you tried to operate it in that environment, even if the cells lasted, I think the rest of the battery system would kind of shake itself to pieces,” Weicker said.

Harbinger customers can specify their desired pack size, and there’s even a hybrid model with an onboard generator for extended running. Harris, Harbinger’s CEO, declined to say when the company’s chassis will be in full production other than “very soon.” The company has 4,000 preorders on the books, and it has already delivered pre-production models to customers like Thor.

It’s a modest start for the company, which today counts 330 employees, but in an age of EV startups promising the moon and delivering little more than hype, the Harbinger’s focus on the basics is refreshing—and encouraging.

This EV could reboot medium-duty trucking by not reinventing the wheel Read More »

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Nissan’s latest desperate gamble—see if Tesla will buy the company

Senior politicians in Japan are not going to let Nissan die easily. The automaker has been struggling for some time now, with an outdated product portfolio, ongoing quarterly losses, and soon, the closure of factories and thousands of layoffs. The Japanese government has been trying to find a suitor and had hoped that Honda would do its patriotic duty and save its rival from extinction.

That deal—one branded “a desperate move” by former Nissan CEO and fugitive from Japanese justice Carlos Ghosn—fell apart last week after Renault demanded a price premium for its shares in Nissan, and Nissan demanded a merger of equals with Honda. In reality, it was always going to be a takeover, with very little in it for Honda in the way of complimentary product lines or access to new technologies.

Today, we learned of yet another desperate move—the former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is among a group that is trying to get Tesla to invest in Nissan instead.

Such a merger seems exceedingly far from likely, even if Tesla CEO Elon Musk wasn’t completely distracted dismantling the federal government and its workforce. While the company still maintains a ludicrous market capitalization thanks to retail investors who believe it is poised to sell billions of humanoid robots to every human on earth, as an automaker, it may well be struggling almost as much as Nissan.

As experts told us last year, Tesla is not a well-run enterprise. Its product range suffers, like Nissan’s, from being outdated compared to the competition. It appears that consumers have turned against the brand in Europe and increasingly the US, and its quarterly financial results have been more than disappointing of late. Tesla’s free cash flow fell by 18 percent in 2024 to $3.6 billion, although such is the value of Tesla stock that, were a Tesla-Nissan deal to happen, the former could pay for the latter with equity, should it entertain the idea seriously.

Nissan’s latest desperate gamble—see if Tesla will buy the company Read More »

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F1 may ditch hybrids for V10s and sustainable fuels

High-revving naturally aspirated engines and their associated screaming soundtracks might be on their way back to Formula 1. Not with next year’s rule changes—that will see even bigger lithium-ion batteries and an even more powerful electric motor, paired with a turbocharged V6. But the sport is starting to think more seriously about the technical rules that will go into effect in 2030, and in an Instagram post yesterday, the man in charge of those rules signaled that he’s open to cars that might be louder, lighter, and less complicated.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s tenure as president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile has been packed with controversy. The former rally driver has alienated many F1 drivers with clampdowns on jewelry and, most recently, swearing, as well as a refusal to explain what happens to the money the FIA collects as fines.

He also ruffled feathers when the FIA opened up the entry process for new teams into the sport and then approved an entry by Andretti Global. While the FIA said yes, the commercial side (which is owned by Liberty Media) and the teams wanted nothing to do with an 11th team—at least until the $200 million anti-dilution fee was more than doubled and Michael Andretti stepped aside.

This time, Ben Sulayem is saying all the right things, to this author at least. “While we look forward to the introduction of the 2026 regulations on chassis and power unit, we must lead the way on future technological motorsport trends. We should consider a range of directions including the roaring sound of the V10 running on sustainable fuel,” he wrote.

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See a garbage truck’s CNG cylinders explode after lithium-ion battery fire

When firefighters arrived on scene, they asked the driver to dump his load in the street, which would reduce the risk of anything on the truck itself—gasoline, CNG, etc.—catching fire. Then the firefighters could put out the blaze easily, treating it like a normal trash fire, and have Groot haul away the debris afterward. But this didn’t work either. The flames had spread far enough by this point to put the truck’s dumping mechanism out of commission.

So, firefighters unrolled hoses and hooked up to a nearby fire hydrant. They recognized that the truck was CNG-powered, as were many Groot vehicles. CNG offers a lower maintenance cost, uses less fuel, and creates less pollution than diesel, but best practices currently suggest not spraying CNG cylinders directly with water. Firefighters instead tried to aim water right into the back of the garbage truck without wetting the CNG cylinders nearby on the roof.

They were waiting for the telltale hiss of the pressure relief system to trigger. These valves typically open within two to five minutes, depending on fire conditions, and they should be capable of venting all their natural gas some minutes before the CNG canisters would otherwise be in danger of exploding. But the hiss never came, and as Fire Chief Lance Harris and his crew worked to secure the scene and put water onto the burning load, the CNG canisters exploded catastrophically instead.

A photo of the explosion, as captured by a bodycam.

The explosion, as captured by a bodycam.

In a board of trustees meeting this week in Arlington Heights, Harris recounted the incident, noting that he felt lucky to be alive—and thankful that no township personnel or residents sustained serious injuries.

“We can’t prove it,” he said, but after two months of investigating the situation, his department had concluded with high probability that the fire had been caused by a lithium-ion battery discarded into a recycling container. This suspicion was based on the amount of fire and the heat and speed with which it burned; lithium-ion batteries that enter “thermal runaway” can burn hot, at around 750° Fahrenheit (399° C).

Harris’ takeaway was clear: recycle even small lithium-ion batteries responsibly, as they can cause real hazards if placed into the waste system, where they are often impacted or compressed.

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