Should Chrysler Recall The Jeeps?

NHTSA wants Chrysler to recall 2.7 million vehicles to install some kind of crash mitigation hardware on the vehicle to reduce the likelihood of the fuel tank rupturing in a rear end crash.

Should they?

On one hand, according to the data, the Jeeps in question are about 2x more likely to leak fuel and catch fire in a rear end crash than other vehicles. NHTSA found that Jeeps were having rear crash fire deaths at a rate of 1 per million miles travelled, while the average for all vehicles is 0.5 fire deaths / million miles.

On the other hand, recalling that many vehicles and repairing them will be a very large task, and very expensive for Chrysler.

Chrysler rightly argues that its vehicles met all safety standards that were in force at the time they were certified. NHTSA is essentially asking for a retroactive safety recall.

I think a nice middle ground solution might be for Chrysler to develop a retrofit kit, and offer to repair customer vehicles on a request basis. Those who are concerned will get the fix, and those who aren't will not bother. Likely it will be much less than 2.7 million customers.

Fox News: Aptera Not Dead

The guy who bought Aptera's bones was trying to set up Chinese manufacturing for the chassis. That isn't going so well, so now he says he is going to build them here in the U.S.

Riiiiight.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/06/10/200-mpg-aptera-still-in-works-says-owner/

Tesla Legislative Defeat In Texas

The Texas legislature failed to advance bills sponsored by Tesla that would allow direct-to-consumer sales. This means that to sell in Texas, Tesla has to work through dealer franchises. Tesla won't be able to try again until the next session, not due to start until 2015.

You can read the Automotive News article here.

Google Calendar Update for Android: Custom Colors and More

One of the most requested features we�ve seen so far for Google Calendar on Android is the ability to customize event and calendar colors directly from your device. Today�s update allows you to do just that. Now you can highlight those super-urgent meetings and important birthdays, or just switch up the color of your calendar whenever your heart desires.

Adding events is now easier and more fun with our redesigned date and time pickers, which let you schedule your special dinner date or the start of your well-deserved vacation in a snap.

For all of you world travelers, our redesigned timezone picker makes it simpler to find the region that you�re looking for, whether you�re in San Francisco, Tokyo or Zurich.

Finally, it�s easier to schedule repeating events. You can now set events to repeat every Tuesday and Thursday, every month, or every 7 weeks, it�s completely up to you.

The latest version of Google Calendar is built for devices running Android 4.0.3 and above (Android 4.1 or higher for custom event colors). Get it on Google Play, rolling out over the course of the day, and let us know what you think.

Posted by James Kung, Software Engineer

Kudos to 2014 Impala

I took a look at a new Impala this morning, and I have to give GM props for the nice job they did on the body assembly. All of the panel gaps were small, the trim alignment was good, the doors shut tightly. The car looked expensive, even though it is a Chevrolet and not an Audi.

This car is a huge improvement over the car it replaces, the ancient w-body based 2006-2013 Impala. That car was so out of date, it was difficult for me to understand why anyone but fleets purchased it. And even the fleets had better choices.

The styling of the 2014 is clean, with a little sculpture and a little chrome, but a tasteful amount.

(Photo courtesy of Edmunds.com)

Tesla Market Craziness

Tesla's stock drive through $100/share this morning, giving the company a market value of around $11 billion. That is more than Fiat/Chrysler ($8b) and almost as much as Porsche ($12b)!

That's nuts. This is speculation, I think.

Sad News Down Under

Ford has announced that they will cease manufacturing operations in Australia in 2016. Product engineering will continue. However, this may be the end for the indigenous Falcon vehicles, which include RWD V8 sedans and Utes (cars with open pickup beds).

GM has followed a different strategy, using Australia as an export base for the Holden based Pontiac G8 (defunct) and later the Caprice PPV, based on the same platform.