Tesla targeted in another US safety investigation
Federal auto safety regulators have opened yet another investigation into Tesla’s so-called full-self driving technology after dozens of incidents in which the electric vehicle maker’s cars ran red lights or drove on the wrong side of the road, sometimes crashing into other vehicles and endangering drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing dated Tuesday that it has 58 incident reports of Tesla vehicles violating traffic safety laws while operating in full self-driving mode. In reports to regulators, many of the Tesla drivers said the cars gave them no warning about the unexpected behavior. The probe covers 2,882,566 vehicles, essentially all Teslas equipped with full self-driving technology
USPS debuts long-awaited new mail truck
The Postal Service’s new delivery vehicles aren’t going to win a beauty contest. They're tall and ungainly, with outsize windshields, thick bumpers and duck-bill hoods. But they're getting rave reviews from letter carriers accustomed to cantankerous older vehicles. The first handful of the so-called Next Generation Delivery Vehicles rolled out in August in Athens, Georgia. Within a few years, the fleet will have grown to 60,000, most of them electric models. The next-gen vehicles will serve as the Postal Service’s primary delivery truck on routes from Maine to Hawaii.
Amazon's self-driving robotaxi unit Zoox under investigation by US after 2 rear-end crashes
Amazon’s self-driving robotaxi unit is being investigated by the U.S. government’s highway safety agency after two of its vehicles braked suddenly and were rear-ended by motorcyclists. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted on its website Monday that it will evaluate the automated driving system developed by Zoox. Both crashes happened during the daytime hours. The agency confirmed that each vehicle was operating in autonomous mode before the crashes. In one crash a motorcyclist suffered minor injuries, and a Zoox driver reported minor injuries in the other. Zoox says it's cooperating in the investigation.
Governor signs bills creating electric vehicle charging station network across Wisconsin
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed bipartisan bills designed to create a statewide electric vehicles charging network. The new laws free up nearly $80 million in federal construction aid and makes it easier for businesses to operate the electric vehicle charging stations. The measures were backed by businesses and environmentalists alike and cheered as a way for Wisconsin to expand its electric vehicle charging network. A broad array of Wisconsin businesses and organizations supported the measures, which cleared the Legislature with broad bipartisan support. The federal money is intended to jump-start construction of stations along Wisconsin interstates and highways, with federal guidance calling for stations no more than 50 miles apart.
Toyota to invest $1.3B at Georgetown, Kentucky, factory to build battery packs and new electric SUV
Toyota says it will invest $1.3 billion at its huge factory complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, in part so it can build an all-new three-row electric SUV to be sold in the U.S. The company says the money will help with future electric vehicle production, including the addition of a line to assemble battery cells into packs for other EVs. But it won’t add any new jobs to the complex, which now employs nearly 9,400 workers. The investment brings to nearly $10 billion the amount of money that Toyota has spent at the plant, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Toyota wouldn’t give further details about the new SUV, including its price or when it would arrive in showrooms.
Crash tests indicate nation's guardrail system can't handle heavy electric vehicles
Preliminary tests by a University of Nebraska road safety research facility and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers point to concerns that the nation’s roadside guardrails are no match for new heavy electric vehicles. At a news conference Wednesday, a university official said a first-of-its-kind test crash of a nearly 4-ton EV pickup truck last fall showed the guardrail did almost nothing to slow the truck. Cody Stolle with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility says more extensive testing is planned. But he says tens of thousands of miles of guardrails along roads in the nation will likely need to be adapted as more electric vehicles populate the roads.
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