Regular Car Reviews

LOL, this guy is BRILLIANT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GavwFFJHot8

Tesla Model S and Carwashes

Did you know you are not supposed to take a Tesla S through a normal automatic carwash? And this is the car of the future?

The 2015 Mustang Design

Ford unwrapped the new 2015 Mustang today, and it is a very handsome car. Personally, I think they struck a good balance between retro styling and the Ford corporate styling, mixing classic Mustang bits with the new Fusion in reasonable proportions.

I did this quickie photoshop to compare the outline of the old and new. You can see the basic proportions are the same, with a long nose and a fastback roofline, and a stubby rear deck. There are some surprises here. The new car is noticeably more compact, which enhances the low-and-wide aspect of its stance. Notice how the hood line is very horizontal, and then has a pronounced curve downward towards the shoulder line, which includes the top edge of the headlamps. On the rear quarter, there is less pronounced of a curve to the shoulder, but the rear pillars seem to move inwards quickly, leaving pronounced horizontal shoulders, which reminds me a bit of the Camaro. Also notice the very vertical front nose profile. And the old "hockey-stick" curve near aft of the doors is gone.

Part of the reason for the pronounced curve of the nose and the very flat front, I think, is probably the aggressive Euro pedestrian protection regs, which require crush space so that pedestrian legs and heads take less damage from car-people collisions.

Overall, I think the 2015 Mustang is a very good design, which balances the needs of style, tradition, and all the other less obvious requirements such as aerodynamics and crash safety. It is more conservative than I personally would have liked, but fresh enough to not look like a rewarmed 2010 model.

The power of Search, now across apps

A task as simple as choosing a movie to see can actually be complex � and the information you want can be in several different places, often in apps. You might get your trivia from IMDb, the box office stats from Wikipedia and ratings from Rotten Tomatoes. Starting today, Google can save you the digging for information in the dozens of apps you use every day, and get you right where you need to go in those apps with a single search. Google Search can make your life a little easier by fetching the answer you need for you � whether it�s on the web, or buried in an app.

Getting you there faster
Let�s say you�re getting ready for the holidays but can�t remember the name of that classic Christmas movie you want to show your children. Now, you can use Google search to find the movie and learn more about it in one of your favorite apps.

Helping you find just the right app
Sometimes, the best answer for a search can be an app. Say you want to explore downhill skiing � now, you can just ask Google for downhill skiing apps and get a collection of useful apps.

These new features are rolling out now on Android (through the Google Search app or directly in Chrome and Android browsers). App listings for from Google Play will appear in search when they�re relevant. You�ll be able to search within a select number of apps initially (learn more). We�re working with developers to add more over the coming months (if you�re a developer, learn more). 

This is just one step toward bringing apps and the web together, making it even easier to get the right information, regardless of where it�s located.

Posted by Scott Huffman, VP of Engineering

The value of openness in Android security

If you use an Android phone or tablet, there are a lot of benefits that come from Android�s open nature--customization and choice are the most obvious. But an often overlooked benefit of openness is security: by developing in the open, anyone can check Android�s code to verify that it�s trustworthy or discover areas where it can be improved. Furthermore, the security community can even write code to make Android stronger and protect it against unrealized attacks.

Google has always worked closely with the security industry to make the products you use safer and more secure, and we wanted to highlight a few recent examples of that cooperation on Android:

• Android, now part of the Google Patch Reward Program: That�s right, Google actually pays developers when they contribute security-related patches to popular open source projects, and Android is now a part of this program. As a user, this means that you have the broader security community looking out for you and preventing possible threats, before they are acted upon. 
• Security improvements in Android 4.4, from the community: In Android 4.4, we reinforced the Android sandbox (which prevents applications from extending outside of their own area and damaging other parts of a device) by putting SELinux into enforcing mode, providing one of the strongest security systems available. The core of SELinux, as well as many of the Android specific extensions have been contributed by third-parties through open source, an example of real security improvements from the community you can use today. 
• Pwn2Own Mobile, with Android: Android was a contributor to the bounty in this year�s PacSec Security conference, where teams of security researchers tried to exploit popular mobile devices. And while no exploit was found in Android on the Nexus devices provided, we were ready and waiting to create a patch in the event of an exploit! 

The Android team works very closely with the security research community at large to foster public discussions and implement improvements such as the ones above. This openness has helped make the Android phone or tablet you carry with you everyday much more secure.

Posted by Adrian Ludwig, Android Security Engineer

NHTSA Is Not Investigating Tesla At Musks' Request

NHTSA does not initiate investigations on CEO request. NHTSA says they chose to investigate Tesla battery fires independently. Which means, in my view, that Musk was trying to spin in some damage control.

Detroit News:

But NHTSA Administrator David Strickland told a House panel Tuesday that Tesla didn't request an investigation and that the agency had made an independent decision to open an investigation into 13,100 Model S vehicles after two battery fires were reported since early October in the United States.

"Investigations are independent," Strickland told The Detroit News in an interview after the hearing. "We have never � in my recollection, before I got to NHTSA (as a Senate staffer) or as administrator � have actually had an automaker ask for a formal investigation, but it causes a couple of implications: If a manufacturer asks me or asks the agency for a formal investigation, you've already made a determination that you may have a defect that imposes an unreasonable risk to safety. ... I don't think that would ever happen."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131119/AUTO01/311190095#ixzz2lJ4MOIFP

Introducing Google Play Newsstand - one place for all your news

Staying up on the news can be a daunting task. You have to go to a different website or app for each of your favorite magazines, newspapers and blogs. One place to read and discover all of this would be a lot simpler.

Today we�re launching Google Play Newsstand, a new app for your Android phone or tablet which brings together all of your favorite news sources in one experience. Newsstand puts the news you care about most front and center and presents stories that interest you based on your tastes. The more you read the better it will get. You can subscribe to magazines, newspapers, blogs and news sites and we�ll format and optimize them all for reading on your tablet or phone. With the swipe of a finger, you can browse full length articles, with beautiful images, audio and video right inside the app. You can access these articles even when you�re offline or bookmark them to read later.

Google Play Newsstand offers more than 1,900 free and paid, full length publications that you can subscribe to or follow. Some of these include:

• Newspaper Subscriptions: Full-length content from some of the world�s top newspapers including The Australian, The Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, The National Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 
• Magazines: Hundreds of HD magazines like Better Homes & Gardens, The Economist, Esquire, Fast Company, Forbes, Game Informer, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Shape, TIME, Vanity Fair and WIRED, from publishers like American Media Inc., Cond� Nast, Hearst, Meredith, TIME Inc., and more. 
• Blogs: Your favorite blogs like Apartment Therapy, Colossal, Cool Hunting, Flavorpill, Saveur Daily, TMZ and The Verge. 
• News sites: Leading news sites like ABC News, The Atlantic, CBS Sports, CNET, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, The Guardian, NPR, Reuters, The Telegraph, and more.

If you�re in the US, Canada, UK or Australia, the Google Play Magazines app will be upgraded to Google Play Newsstand over the next few days. In all other countries, you can download the Play Newsstand app for your Android phone or tablet from Google Play. If you�re a Google Currents user, you can upgrade to Play Newsstand by downloading the new app. You�ll find all of your favorite news sources will be transferred and ready to read the minute you open it.

Google Play is all about bringing you great content on your phone and tablet. No matter what your interests, there�s something for everyone in Newsstand.

Posted by Mussie Shore, Product Manager for Google Play Newsstand

Tesla's Fire Problem

I think Tesla has a problem.

There are only about 17,000 Tesla Model S on the roads right now, but there have been 3 fires due to damage to the battery. In two of these cases, it looks like the damage was mostly to the underbelly, and not due to a severe impact to the frame of the car.

In the third case, in Tennessee, the car apparently hit some debris, which caused a fire to start in the front area of the vehicle. If you look at the photos, which I scraped off of the web, there does not appear to be frame damage. In other words, the guy didn't hit another car, or a large stationary object. He hit something small, but it destroyed his Tesla.

By comparison, a gasoline vehicle can run over pretty severe piece of road debris without catching fire.

I wish I had statistics for vehicle fires, caused by driving (not arson, forest fires, etc.), in vehicles less than 2 years old. That would really put the probabilities in focus. I am not sure where to get such data, it is possible that IIHS has it.

In each of these cases, the vehicle is basically destroyed. Even if driver safety is not necessarily an issue, the cost to insure against a battery fire is going to drive up Tesla owner's insurance costs.

If these incidents continue to mount, Tesla is going to have to do several things to protect their business and consumer confidence. They will likely have to add additional shielding to the underside of the car, adding cost and weight, and possibly reducing range. They may also have to increase ride height.

Android for all and the new Nexus 5

Just in time for Halloween, we have two new treats for Android fans. First, we're excited to unwrap our latest platform release, KitKat, which delivers a smarter, more immersive Android experience to even more people. And second, we're introducing Nexus 5�a new Nexus phone developed with LG.

The first thing you�ll notice about KitKat is we�ve made the experience much more engaging: the book you're reading, the game you're playing, or the movie you're watching�now all of these take center stage with the new immersive mode, which automatically hides everything except what you really want to see.

Bringing more Google smarts to Android 
Behind the polish on the screen is the power under the hood. Take the Phone app, which for most people hasn�t really changed since the days of flip phones. Now, we�re making calling easier than ever, by helping you search across your contacts, nearby places, or even Google Apps accounts (like your company�s directory), directly from within the app. And with the new Hangouts app, all of your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same place, alongside your other conversations and video calls, so you�ll never miss a message no matter how your friends send it. This is just a small taste of KitKat�learn more on our site.

Google has always focused on helping users get immediate access to the information they need, and we want to bring this same convenience and power to users on Android. With the new Nexus 5 launcher, Google smarts are deeply integrated into the phone you carry around with you, so getting to the information you need is simple, easy and fast. Swipe once from the home screen to get Google Now literally at your fingertips. Put Google to work for you by saying �OK, Google� to launch voice search, send a text, get directions or even play a song you want to hear. And in the coming weeks, we�re enhancing Now with important new card types that bring you information about contextual topics that interest you such as updates from a favorite website or blog.

Reaching the next 1 billion users 
Building a platform that makes mobile phones accessible for everyone has always been at the heart of Android. Until now, some lower-end Android phones couldn't benefit from more recent Android releases due to memory constraints. With KitKat, we've slimmed down Android�s memory footprint by doing things like removing unnecessary background services and reducing the memory consumption of features that you use all the time. We did this not only within Android but across Google services like Chrome and YouTube. RAM (or memory) is one of the most expensive parts of a phone, and now Android can run comfortably on the 512MB of RAM devices that are popular in much of the world, bringing the latest goodies in Android 4.4 within reach for the next billion smartphone users.

Introducing Nexus 5 
Along with our sweet naming tradition, we also introduce a new device with each platform release to showcase the latest Android innovations. For KitKat, we partnered with LG to develop Nexus 5 -- the slimmest and fastest Nexus phone ever made. Its design is simple and refined to showcase the 5� Full HD display. Nexus 5 also keeps you connected at blazing speeds with 4G/LTE and ultra fast wifi. The advanced new lens on Nexus 5 captures more light for brighter night and sharper action shots. And with optical image stabilization, you no longer have to worry about shaky hands and blurry pictures. A new HDR+ mode automatically snaps a rapid burst of photos and combines them to give you the best possible single shot. Learn more on our site.

Nexus 5 is available today, unlocked and without a contract, on Google Play in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea (and coming soon to India), starting at $349. Just in the time for the holidays, Nexus 5 will be available soon at the following retailers: Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack.

Android 4.4, KitKat, which comes on Nexus 5, will also soon be available on Nexus 4, 7, 10, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play edition devices in the coming weeks.

How�s that for a treat?

Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps

Tesla Valuation

I don't understand Tesla's stock price and valuation. TSLA is trading at about $175/share right now, with a market cap of $21 billion.

So the market is valuing Tesla at about half the value of GM ($52B), and 1.5x the value of Porsche ($13B)

Based on what?

Tesla is emphatically not Apple. Apple rose to become a top 3 player in mobile phones, the top player in tablet computers, and the top player in MP3 gadgets. Apple sells millions of units, and makes money on hardware, software, service, and content.

Tesla has to make money selling cars--a very highly regulated, capital intensive business. Tesla isn't able to sell direct to consumers in all states of the U.S.

Let's compare Tesla to Porsche.

2013 Sales (1st 2 quarters)

Porsche 81,000

Tesla: ~10,000

2013 Revenue:

Porsche: ~$10 billion

Tesla: ~$1 billion

The stock buyers apparently think that Tesla is a growth company, and are pricing in the expectation that it will grow to something quite a bit more profitable than Porsche. In 2012, Porsche recorded a profit of $2.7 billion. To reach those kinds of results, Tesla has to sell approximately 125,000 cars a year (at $80,000 each) if they are making a similar margin to Porsche. If Tesla goes down to an average price of $50,000/car, they have to sell about 200,000 cars/year.

That's about 8x their current capacity of 500 cars / week (25,000/year).

So, the market seems to think that within a few years, Tesla will be able to open several new plants, and successfully increase their sales and distribution network to rival Porsche, while moving downmarket enough to drive higher volumes.

I am doubtful.

EU Proposes Satellite Based Speed Limiters

A great demonstration of how the Europeans are not necessarily worth emulating. The EU has proposed ISA (intelligent speed adaptation) based on GPS or sign reading cameras, which would first warn a driver and then automatically slow a vehicle down, if they were exceeding local speed limits.

The scheme would work either using satellites, which would communicate limits to cars automatically, or using cameras to read road signs. Drivers can be given a warning of the speed limit, or their speed could be controlled automatically under the new measures.

Something like this would simply be laughed out of Congress in the States. But in Europe, the EU central regulatory agencies have a lot of power, and top-down regulation is a way of life.

Source: Telegraph

Diesels: Good MPG, Less So Carbon

I have heard man advocates of small diesels moan that we "just don't get it" here in the U.S. and we need to be more European, and somehow encourage light duty diesels.

What the compression ignition lovers don't realize is that the U.S. policy is very much now based around global warming and carbon reduction, whereas it used to be about reducing oil consumption for geopolitical reasons (OPEC etc.)

So, let's look at carbon emissions:

1 gallon of gasoline when burned will emit approximately 19.64 pounds of CO2.

1 gallon of diesel will emit approximately 22.38 pounds of CO2.

Diesel is about 14% more carbon emitting than gasoline.

But, a diesel engine is about 30% more fuel efficient than a similarly sized gasoline engine. So if we do the math, a similarly sized diesel powered car will emit about 14% less CO2 than a similar diesel car. Not bad, but not huge.

Meanwhile, diesel fuel offers no advantage in the U.S. in cost (it is more expensive than gasoline by about 30%), and the vehicles cost more due to the diesel hardware premium.

Tesla's Extra 0.4 Star

Tesla is trumpeting the Model S' excellent performance in NHTSA's safety tests. Tesla says that the model S has achieved a combined rating of "5.4 stars":

Palo Alto, CA � Independent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded the Tesla Model S a 5-star safety rating, not just overall, but in every subcategory without exception. Approximately one percent of all cars tested by the federal government achieve 5 stars across the board. NHTSA does not publish a star rating above 5, however safety levels better than 5 stars are captured in the overall Vehicle Safety Score (VSS) provided to manufacturers, where the Model S achieved a new combined record of 5.4 stars.

This is very odd publicity, to me. NHTSA awards star ratings as integers, and 5 stars is the most you can get. A 5 star rating means that you have less than a 10% chance of serious injury in a serious accident, according to NHTSA's statistical model.

You can't get more than 5 stars, awarded by NHTSA.

Tesla is just trying too hard, here, I think. A 5-star result is excellent, and they should proudly publicize it.

Here, there and everywhere: Google Keep reminds you at the right time

Notes are a good way to keep track of all you have to do, but most of us need a little nudge now and then. Google Keep can remind you of important tasks and errands at just the right time and place. For example, Keep works with Google Now to remind you of your grocery list when you walk into your favorite grocery store, and nudges you on Thursday night to take out the trash.

To get started, select the �Remind me� button from the bottom of any note and choose the type of reminder you want to add. You can add time-based reminders for a specific date and time, or a more general time of day, like tomorrow morning. Adding a location reminder is incredibly easy too�as soon as you start typing Google Keep suggests places nearby.

 ?

Of course, sometimes plans change. If you get a reminder you�re not ready to deal with, simply snooze it to a time or place that�s better for you.

 

It�s now even easier to get to all of your notes using the new navigation drawer, which includes a way to view all of your upcoming reminders in one place. And for people who want more separation between their home and work lives, the drawer also lets you easily switch between your accounts. 

And finally, we've made it easier to add your existing photos to a Google Keep note on Android. When you tap the camera icon you can choose between taking a new photo or adding one you already have from Gallery.

The new update is gradually rolling out in Google Play, and available now on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the Chrome App.

Posted by Erin Rosenthal, Product Manager

Ford's C-Max Debacle Explained

Ford yesterday announced that it was re-stating the fuel economy label of the C-Max hybrid, from 47 city / 47 highway /47 combined to a still very good but not as impressive 45city / 40highway / 43combined. Note the large decline in the highway number.

So what happened? Did Ford cheat the test? Not really.

What happened was that Ford used the Fusion Hybrid test results to certify the C-Max, which they are allowed to do according to EPA regulations. The EPA regs allow manufacturers to certify vehicles as a group if they are in the same weight class and share powertrains.

Here is the EPA's short report on the matter. An excerpt:

Ford based the 2013 Ford C-Max label on testing of the related Ford Fusion hybrid, which has the same engine, transmission and test weight as allowed under EPA regulations. For the vast majority of vehicles this approach would have yielded an appropriate label value for the car, but these new vehicles are more sensitive to small design differences than conventional vehicles because advanced highly efficient vehicles use so little fuel.

In this case, EPA's evaluation found that the C-Max's aerodynamic characteristics resulted in a significant difference in fuel economy from the Fusion hybrid.

Was this intentional, a case of Ford using the higher number for marketing purposes? Or was it a case of simply not knowing that the C-Max would test out so much differently? I have no idea. But I think in the future, Ford and other carmakers are going to be more careful about publishing fuel economy numbers based on assumptions, after this PR disaster.

Tesla Quality Checking

An interesting insight into Tesla's assembly and delivery process over at Wired, here.

Tesla is testing every car they build with a battery of tests which takes a whopping 5 hours to complete. This compares with the end-of-line testing of a true high volume mass production auto plant, which takes typically several minutes. At the end of the assembly line, the completed car is run on a rolls machine (chassis dyno) which takes the car through an automated test sequence which spot checks the engine, brakes, transmission, and other systems. There are also final visual inspections.

And that's it. In a modern plant, the quality checks and reliability are built into the assembly process and design itself. Most cars fire up at the end of the line and are ready for a consumer to drive them 150,000 miles.

If Toyota, for example, took 5 hours to test and quality check each Lexus they built, they would not be able to produce many cars, and the plant would not make money.

Is Tesla's extensive end-of-line testing due to a lack of confidence in upstream processes and parts?

If Tesla hopes to be a major player, they will need to increase throughput and reduce in-plant time. They won't be able to check each car for 5 hours.

Get ready for college with textbooks on Google Play

Heading to college? Be prepared for the typical rites of passage: decorating your dorm room, choosing your classes and buying textbooks. And when it comes to buying textbooks from the campus store, some things never change like long lines, limited supplies and heavy backpacks. Or do they?

Rolling out this week, you can now rent or purchase digital textbooks from the Books section on Google Play. We have a long list of publishing partners, and we�re launching with a comprehensive selection of higher education titles from science and mathematics to history and English, and everything in between.

All your textbooks, anywhere you go 
With digital textbooks, there�s no need to worry about which ones you have with you and which ones you left in your dorm room. Because your library is stored in the cloud, you have instant access to the titles you need�when you need them�on your Android tablet, phone, iOS device and on the web. Now an overstuffed backpack is a thing of the past with all your textbooks weighing as much as the device you�re reading them on.

Take great notes, stay organized 
With the Google Play Books app, you have convenient tools at hand to make studying simpler and faster. You can instantly search within a textbook for a particular word or phrase, bookmark chapters and pages, highlight and annotate key passages and get quick access to dictionaries, translation tools, Wikipedia and Google search.

Rent and save 
Need your textbooks for just a semester or two? You can rent any textbook on Google Play for six months and save up to 80% as compared to buying print textbooks.

Shop for textbooks today on Google Play, and learn more at our Google in Education site.

Posted by Scott Dougall, Director, Product Management

The Chicken Tax--Bad and Good

There is an interesting piece in the Detroit News today about the possible impact of the "Chicken Tax", the 25% import duty on foreign built (exa-NAFTA) pickup trucks. According to "analysts", pickup trucks in the U.S. may have a several thousand dollar premium compared to what they would cost without the protectionist tariff.

The average selling price of full-size pickups has grown at more than twice the rate of the overall industry � cars and trucks combined � since 2005. The average truck sells for more than $40,000, nearly $9,000 more than the average vehicle, according to automotive research firmEdmunds.com. Automakers in recent years have added more luxury items to pickup trucks � and cars, too � so it's difficult to pinpoint how much an uncompetitive market can be attributed to price.

But Jesse Toprak, an analyst for vehicle pricing website TrueCar.com, said in a telephone interview that weak competition in the truck segment results in a "couple-thousand-dollar premium" paid by consumers.

The Chicken Tax, like any other protection tariff, has both bad and good effects.

Bad Effects

• Less consumer choice--
  We can't have the globally built small/midsized pickups that are sold overseas because with a 25% tariff no one would buy them.
• Higher prices--
  local production is done in part by UAW labor, which is more expensive than overseas labor.
  
• Foreign retaliation

Good Effects

• Local production means more jobs, and more business in U.S (and NAFTA region). If you add up direct and indirect jobs, thousands of Americans (and Mexicans and Canadians) are employed because of local truck production. Some are unionized but many are not.
• Higher quality pickup trucks. Due to the high cost of entry, only large established players like Toyota and Nissan have the means to set up a local plant to build trucks--so they have to bring high quality, high margin products. Cheap junk won't fly. Marginal brands like Mahindra or Great Wall have a hard time making a business case for low cost products, due to the high barriers of local labor costs and the regulatory environment.
  

Judging by the sales numbers (number one selling vehicle is F150, followed by Chevrolet Silverado) the higher prices do not seem to hurt pickup truck sales. Trucks have become a luxury good, as much as a work tool, and people are willing to pay $40,000 for a loaded pickup truck.

Find your lost phone with Android Device Manager

Have you ever lost your phone in between the couch cushions or forgot it in a restaurant? Or maybe searching for your phone before you rush out the door is part of your morning routine? Let the new Android Device Manager help you out! It's one of a few simple features you can use to keep your device�and the data you store inside�safe and secure.

Locate and ring your misplaced device 
If you ended up dropping your phone between those couch cushions, Android Device Manager lets you quickly ring your phone at maximum volume so you can find it, even if it's been silenced. And in the event that your phone or tablet is out of earshot (say, at that restaurant you left it at last night), you can locate it on a map in real time.

You can also remotely add a screen lock to your device through the Android Device Manager. Whether you�re on a phone or a tablet, a screen lock is an important security step to protect the information stored on your device, in case it accidentally gets into the wrong hands. Being able to do this through the Android Device Manager means that even after you lose your phone, you�ll still be able to add a lock (or change an existing lock) to your device.

Protecting your personal information and data
While losing your phone can be stressful, Android Device Manager can help you keep your data from ending up in the wrong hands. If your phone can�t be recovered, or has been stolen, you can quickly and securely erase all of the data on your device.

Availability and getting started 
This service is now available on devices running Android 2.2 or above; to use it, you also will need to be signed into your Google Account. There will also be an Android app to allow you to easily find and manage your devices. Stay tuned!

Posted by Benjamin Poiesz, Product Manager, Android

Updated August 7 to reflect availability of Android Device Manager. Access it at www.android.com/devicemanager.

 Updated September 24 to reflect ability to remotely add screen lock through Android Device Manager.

Tesla's Hungry Doorhandles

Edmunds discovered that the Tesla S motorized door handles will not detect your fingers if you have them in the way when they want to close--they will pinch your hand.

Tesla, you might want to fix that. Some little kid is going to try it and get hurt.

Top 20 Vehicles June 2013

Here is a list of the top 20 best selling vehicles in the U.S. through JUne, 2013. Data table courtesy of Good Car Bad Car.

Rank	Vehicle	June 2013 YTD	% Change	June 2013	% Change
#1	Ford F-Series	367,486	+ 22.0%	68,009	+ 23.6%
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	242,586	+ 24.7%	43,259	+ 28.9%
#3	Toyota Camry	207,626	- 2.9%	35,870	+ 11.7%
#4	Honda Accord	186,860	+ 20.4%	31,677	+ 9.5%
#5	Dodge Ram	170,319	+ 22.9%	29,644	+ 23.8%
#6	Nissan Altima	167,787	+ 6.8%	26,904	+ 23.3%
#7	Ford Fusion	161,146	+ 17.8%	24,313	- 0.5%
#8	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	158,972	+ 4.8%	26,458	- 0.7%
#9	Honda Civic	158,704	- 2.4%	29,724	+ 8.1%
#10	Ford Escape	156,626	+ 23.2%	28,694	+ 0.7%
#11	Honda CR-V	145,763	- 0.6%	26,572	+ 14.1%
#12	Ford Focus	134,785	+ 2.6%	23,144	+ 9.2%
#13	Chevrolet Cruze	133,689	+ 17.4%	32,871	+ 73.2%
#14	Chevrolet Equinox	126,397	+ 14.0%	23,645	+ 13.7%
#15	Hyundai Elantra	126,244	+ 29.1%	22,163	+ 25.5%
#16	Chevrolet Malibu	111,100	- 21.4%	21,288	- 32.2%
#17	Hyundai Sonata	103,010	- 12.3%	19,454	- 7.1%
#18	Toyota RAV4	101,274	+ 13.2%	20,540	+ 35.8%
#19	Ford Explorer	101,243	+ 30.0%	16,597	+ 13.5%
#19.1	Ford Explorer	95,302	+ 25.9%	15,588	+ 11.2%
#19.2	Ford Explorer Police Interceptor	5941	+ 173%	1009	+ 67.3%
#20	GMC Sierra	87,633	+ 20.1%	16,568	+ 32.8%

Some interesting things going on here.

Full size trucks are still king -- Ford F-series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Dodge Ram are all in the top 5.

Camry, Accord and Altima are the beset selling sedans, but Camry sales are slowing, while Accord and Fusion are accelerating. Could Fusion overtake Altima and break into the top 3 sedans? Malibu is slipping badly, down 21% YTD.

The Ford Escape is charging up the chart, with a 23% YTD gain in sales, and has beat the CR-V, Equinox, and RAV4, the latter by a large margin.

In small cars, Corolla is still king, and Honda Civic seems to be wilting a little. Ford Focus is hanging on, but the big story is the Cruze, with a huge 17% increase.

Another impressive achievement for Ford, the Explorer has cracked the top 20 list (once upon a time it was one of the most popular nameplates in the country), racking up 95,000 retail sales YTD. The Explorer is the only larger SUV in the top 20.

Brands of the top 20: Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, GMC. Notable in its absence is Chrysler, which can't seem to crack the big-volume game.

Corporate prizes in the top 20:

• Ford: 5 vehicles (F-series, Fusion, Escape, Focus, Explorer)
• GM: 5 vehicles (Silverado, Cruze, Equinox, Malibu, Sierra)
• Toyota: 3 (Camry, Corolla, RAv4)
• Honda: 3 (Accord, Civic, CRV)
• Hyundai: 2 (Elantra, Sonata)
• Nissan: 1 (Altima)
• Dodge: 1 (Ram)

Conclusions: Ford and GM are doing great. Toyota is showing some weakness in sales numbers. Chrysler is MIA.

GM's eAssist: 25% improvement?

In a recent blog post, GM claims that their eAssist mild hybrid (starter/generator) system is good for an average 25% fuel economy improvement.

I'm not sure how they got this number, it doesn't pass the common sense test for me.

Here are the EPA ratings for the eAssist Malibu vs the 2.5L I4 gasoline Malibu, copied from the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov web site:

2014 Malibu eAssist

City: 25mpg

Highway: 36mpg
Combined: 29mpg

2014 Malibu 2.0L

City: 21mpg

Highway: 30mpg
Combined: 24mpg

So, comparing Malibu vs Malibu, by getting the eAssist system, you gain all of 5mpg for the EPA combined number, which is a 20% improvement, not 25%.

And these are EPA numbers! In real life, where people will drive faster than the EPA does, the benefit of eAssist will drop further.

Introducing Android 4.3, a sweeter Jelly Bean

Today we�re releasing Android 4.3 � an upgrade to Jelly Bean that introduces a number of new features, including restricted profiles. Android 4.3 also adds Bluetooth Smart support (a.k.a Bluetooth Low-Energy); the latest in 3D graphics through OpenGL ES 3.0; and more.

Restricted profiles for tablets
Lightweight and portable, tablets are perfect for sharing with others. Last October we added support for multiple users. Each person has a separate space and can freely customize the tablet experience, from lockscreen to wallpaper, apps and folders.

In Android 4.3, we're introducing restricted profiles, which let you manage per-user access to apps and content. Restricted profiles can be used in any number of situations. For example, restricted profiles enable parental controls, so certain family members are prevented from accessing mature content. Alternately, retail stores can use tablets as kiosks that show product information, or shops can use tablets as point of sale systems, all while limiting access to apps.

To set up restricted profiles on your tablet, go to the Users section under Settings. Learn more.

Bluetooth Smart support (a.k.a. Bluetooth Low-Energy)
Fitness sensors and other devices that use Bluetooth Smart technology open the door for a whole new class of mobile applications. Bluetooth Smart minimizes power usage while measuring and transmitting data, making both sensors and the phones or tablets connected to them more battery-efficient.

With Android 4.3, Nexus 4 can now connect to Bluetooth Smart sensors. Runtastic and many other developers are making Android apps compatible with these sensors.

Accelerated 3D graphics with OpenGL ES 3.0
Devices like the new Nexus 7 support OpenGL ES 3.0, the latest industry standard for accelerated 3D graphics. This brings photorealism to a whole new level in the games you're playing: blades of grass on the soccer field come alive, asphalt on the street looks real as you screech by, stubble on a villains' face almost pokes out of the screen. And with sophisticated effects like self-shadows, that villain looks even more menacing, casting a shadow on himself.

Dial pad autocomplete
With Android 4.3 we�ve introduced a new autocomplete feature in the dial pad. Just start touching numbers or letters and the dial pad will suggest phone numbers or names. To turn on this feature, open your phone app settings and enable �Dial pad autocomplete�.

Improved support for Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, and more

We�ve made major progress on enabling right-to-left layouts across the platform user interface: dialer, home and lock screens, settings, and more. This work builds on the support that we introduced for right-to-left layouts for Hebrew and Arabic speakers in Android 4.2. We�ve also added support for Hindi, Afrikaans, Amharic, Swahili, and Zulu.

There�s more to Android 4.3 than we can fit in this post, so for a detailed list of changes, click here.

Android 4.3 is now rolling out now to Nexus devices, and will be available on the new Nexus 7 and Google Play edition devices soon. Let us know what you think on our Google+ page for Android.

Posted by Dave Burke and Gabe Cohen, Android Platform team

From TVs to tablets: Everything you love, across all your screens

When I was growing up, my family had a single screen we huddled around every day: the television set in the living room. Nowadays, we �huddle� around multiple screens�laptops, smartphones and tablets�using them almost interchangeably as we navigate through our day. In a world of ubiquitous computing, life would be a lot simpler if we didn�t have to learn new behaviors and interfaces each time we switched screens�if we could have one consistent, intuitive experience no matter where we are or what we�re doing. Today, with the launch of Chromecast and the new Nexus 7 tablet, it�s even more effortless to enjoy content you care about�whether it�s video, music, movies, games�wherever you are, across your devices. Introducing ChromecastTo help make it easy to bring your favorite online entertainment to the biggest screen in your house�the TV�we�re introducing Chromecast. Chromecast is a small and affordable ($35) device that you simply plug in to your high-definition (HD) TV and it allows you to use your phone, tablet or laptop to "cast" online content to your TV screen. It works with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Play Music, with more apps like Pandora coming soon. With Chromecast, we wanted to create an easy solution that works for everyone, for every TV in the house.

 

Remote-freeOnce your Chromecast is set up, you can use your phone, tablet or laptop to browse and cast content to your TV, play and pause, control the volume, and more. But unlike other streaming solutions, you can still multitask�send emails or surf the web�while enjoying what�s on the TV screen. It works across platforms�Android tablets and smartphones, iPhones, iPads, Chrome for Mac and Windows (more to come), so your personal device is also now your remote control. Cast the web to your TVIn addition to apps like Netflix, you can use Chromecast to bring a broad range of content available on the web to your big screen, thanks to a new feature in the Chrome browser that allows you to project any browser tab to your TV. From sharing your family photos to enjoying a video clip from your favorite news site, it�s as simple as pressing a button. This feature is launching in beta, but we�re excited for people to try it out and give us their feedback.

 
Google Cast SDK preview for developersTo ensure a great Chromecast experience over time, we've built Google Cast, a technology that enables developers to build consistent, intuitive multi-screen experiences across mobile devices and TVs. Today, we�re launching a preview version of Google Cast with more information for developers on our Google Developers blog. A handful of early developers are already working on enabling Google Cast technology in their apps, so more supported apps are coming soon. And while the Chromecast device is the first instantiation of Google Cast, we expect the technology to be embedded in a range of hardware from our partners in the future.

The new Nexus 7�the sharpest 7� tablet screen everTogether with ASUS, we took what you loved about the original Nexus 7 and made it even better. The first thing you�ll notice is the sharpness of the screen: the 323 pixels packed into every inch of the screen makes it the world's highest-resolution 7-inch tablet. It�s lighter than ever, with more than nine hours of HD video playback and 10 hours of web browsing or reading. Nexus 7 now features stereo speakers and virtual surround sound from Fraunhofer (the inventors of the MP3 format), giving you rich and immersive audio. Android 4.3�a sweeter Jelly BeanNexus 7 is the first device to ship with Android 4.3, the newest version of Android. Tablets are perfect for sharing with others, so in Android 4.3, we're introducing restricted profiles, which let you limit access to apps and content. For example, restricted profiles enable parental controls, so certain family members are prevented from accessing mature content. Likewise, retail stores can use tablets to show off product information, and shops can use tablets as point of sale systems. Android 4.3 also now supports Bluetooth Smart technology, opening the door to mobile apps that connect to new devices like fitness sensors. Android 4.3 is rolling out to Nexus devices starting today. Ready to PlayThe new Google Play Games app brings your friends together with the games you love, where you can invite a friend and start challenging gamers around the world, compete for top achievements, and race to the top of the leaderboard. You can also enjoy the world�s largest collection of eBooks, listen to millions of music tracks and immerse yourself in thousands of movies, TV shows, magazines and apps on Google Play. Plus, Nexus 7 comes loaded with your favorite Google apps, like Chrome, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Google Now.

 
How to get Chromecast and the new Nexus 7Starting today, the Chromecast device is available for $35 on Google Play, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. It will be available in Best Buy stores across the U.S. starting July 28. For a limited time, you also get three months of Netflix included. More info available in Google Play. Nexus 7 starts at $229, and is available in the U.S. beginning July 30 (with more countries coming soon!). Buy Nexus 7 online on Google Play, or check it out at Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Amazon, Home Shopping Network, Radio Shack, J&R and B&H Photo. Nexus 7 (LTE) is coming soon with support for T-Mobile and Verizon in the coming weeks. Learn more on our Nexus site.

Musk: Batteries Are Expensive

"The biggest single challenge for electric vehicles is affordability." -- Elon Musk

This comment was made during a recent shareholder's meeting, reported by Inside EVs.

Musk thinks Tesla can produce in "three to four years" an EV which has sufficient range to be broadly practical, which is affordable to a large number of customers.

Which is probably something like a $30,000 vehicle which has a real world range of 200miles or better. Based on the sales numbers of the current crop of 100mile vehicles, which aren't great, I am guessing the range needs to double before the masses really take notice.

But doubling the range of a car like the Leaf will add approx. $10,000 to its price, at current battery costs of approx $500/kWh.

So the billion dollar question is, how will Tesla get ~45kWh of batteries for $10,000, leaving them $20,000 for the base vehicle and profit?

Spotted: 2014 Corvette Stingray

I saw this M-plate (GM test fleet car) 2014 Corvette Stingray at a local Lowe's.

The interior is a big improvement over the previous car. The exterior design leaves me a little cold--I think it is a bit busy for my taste.

NHTSA Delays Backup Camera Rule

The NHTSA has decided to delay the regulation requiring backup cameras until 2015, announced in a latter to Senator Jay Rockefeller from Ray Lahood. One reason stated was that NHTSA needed more time to study the cost/benefit equation for the backup cameras.

My issue with the proposal is that it will force carmakers to add expensive LCD displays to vehicles which may not already include them, driving up the price of the lower feature vehicles.

If rear ultrasonic sensors are cheaper, I would suggest that method as an acceptable alternative. The backup warning systems have the added benefit of reducing accidents that happen when people aren't careful when reversing the vehicle. In theory, a backup warning mandate would reduce insurance costs.

Source: Bloomberg

iOS For Your Car?

Apple's recent announcement that they would be working with automakers, including heavyweights GM, Honda, and Hyundia + Kia, to integrate an iOS interface into their dashboard infotainment systems.

Notable in their absence from the announcement were the major automakers Ford, VW, Toyota, Fiat + Chrysler.

I think the holdouts have the right idea. Getting married to Apple's iOS interface means giving up the branding of the infotainment system, and some control over how it behaves. A better approach is to use a system designed to integrate tightly with the vehicle, which has the right interfaces built into it to talk to any smart (or dumb) phone using open standards such as BlueTooth.

According to recent sales numbers, Android and iOS about the split the market in the U.S., and internationally, Android is the runaway winner. Any global automaker that embraces an iOS optimized infotainment system may be making a business error.

(Graph courtesy of Tech-Thoughts)