Car Safety
-
An obscure safety issue has led to a halt in sales of the BMW i3 electric car until further notice. The German maker announced a recall for every single i3 sold in the United States, covering 30,542 cars from the 2014 to 2018 model year. The safety issue that led to the recall and stop-sale follows recent testing by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. DON'T MISS: Chevy Bolt EV reviewed by BMW i3 driver: electric cars compared During recent tests, the NHTSA found that 5th-percentile women—female drivers more than 5 feet tall and weighing between 100 and 110...
-
Tesla Model S climbs back to top of Consumer Reports safety ratings
The Tesla Model S has retaken its spot as the luxury sedan that gets the highest ratings from Consumer Reports after the electric car gained back automatic emergency braking that works at all legal road speeds. Some may remember Tesla restored the automatic braking during an update to vehicles...
Sean Szymkowski -
Are Eco settings on cabin ventilation systems a safety hazard?
As corporate average fuel economy requirements that started in 2012 continue to tighten, automakers have turned to an entire arsenal of tactics to reduce the fuel their vehicles burn. Downsized and turbocharged engines, transmissions with many more gears, lighter-weight structures, better...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV rated a Top Safety Pick by IIHS
The Chevrolet Bolt EV has just been awarded a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This makes it the first electric car from the 2017 model year to receive an IIHS award. In order to qualify as an IIHS Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn the highest score of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Tesla driver killed in Autopilot crash ignored repeated warnings, NTSB says
The National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla Model X gets uniform 5-star safety ratings from NHTSA, first SUV to do so
Tesla's Model X has secured a major accomplishment: it is officially the first SUV to receive 5-star crash-test ratings in every single category. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Model X uniform 5-star ratings, which Tesla says is due to the design of the all-electric...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla had long been a darling of Consumer Reports magazine since the time the Model S electric car was first revealed, and it consistently scored well in the magazine's tests. However, when Tesla pulled its automatic emergency braking feature when it switched to all-new vehicle sensors and AutoPilot active-safety software—called Hardware 2—the respected consumer guide was less than impressed. Tesla saw the Model S's safety rating downgraded significantly, but now Consumer Reports has restored a few lost points after the automaker updated cars built since October to include the...
-
Lighter, more fuel-efficient cars are safer, study says, ignoring safety rules
It was one of several common tropes used 10 years ago against proposed regulations to boost average fuel economy. "More efficient cars will have to be lighter-weight, and they'll be unsafe because in accidents, they'll crumple up like Kleenex." Logical conclusion: if you require higher fuel economy...
John Voelcker -
Tesla recalls 53,000 Model S, Model X electric cars for parking-brake issue
Tesla has issued a voluntarily recall for roughly 53,000 of its Model S and Model X electric cars to address an issue in which the parking brake might stick in the engaged position. The recall was first reported yesterday by CNBC. The vehicles affected were built between February and October of...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius One: stripped-down hybrid added at lower price
It hasn't been the greatest of years for the Toyota Prius hybrid, the Japanese carmaker's flagship product. The fourth generation hybrid hatchback debuted as a 2016 model into the teeth of continued low gasoline prices, and its radical design language apparently turned off at least some potential...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 plug-in hybrid recall to fix fuel-vapor problem, fire concerns
BMW is recalling more than 19,000 i3 REx extended-range electric cars due to concerns over the potential for fires to be started by fuel vapors. The REx uses a small gasoline engine to charge its battery pack, offering a longer range than the all-electric i3 when both gasoline and electric power...
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Mirai update to fix output voltage on fuel cell electronics
Every Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car sold anywhere in the world will soon be recalled to address an issue with its onboard electronics. The problem lies with the output voltage generated by the cars' fuel-cell stacks. Under certain driving conditions, the amount of voltage generated by the...
Stephen Edelstein -
Like any consumer product, it's important to consider safety when buying a charging station for an electric car. While plugging the vehicle into a station is straightforward, the large amount of current carried over the cord from the power source to the car makes caution worthwhile. Even safety-conscious consumers may find choosing the best charging station difficult, however. DON'T MISS: How to buy an electric-car charging station: buyer's guide to EVSEs (Mar 2016) That's because not every home charging station on sale in the U.S. has received third-party safety certification. As with...
-
BMW i3, Tesla Model S electric cars miss top IIHS safety ratings
Two of the most prominent electric cars have missed out on the highest award given for vehicle safety by the influential IIHS: Top Safety Pick+. Funded by the insurance industry, the IIHS—which operates independently of the federal government—says that neither the BMW i3 nor the Tesla...
Andrew Ganz -
Tesla Autopilot investigation closed by NHTSA, will continue to monitor
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed its investigation into the fatal Florida crash last May of a Tesla using the company's Autopilot driver-assist system. The Model S in question collided with a tractor trailer that turned left in front of it, killing the driver, who...
Stephen Edelstein -
Probe into Smart ForTwo engine fires started by NHTSA
The NHTSA is investigating eight reported engine fires in 2008 and 2009 Smart ForTwo city cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Now Toyota can make electric cars: it's tamed lithium-ion batteries, it says
Toyota is one of the world's three largest carmakers, along with General Motors and Volkswagen Group. Having placed its bets for the future of zero-emission transport on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, it's by far the most resistant of the three to the notion of battery-electric cars. But a recent...
John Voelcker -
How safe is Tesla Autopilot? Parsing the statistics (as suggested by Elon Musk)
One of the tools Elon Musk and Tesla Motors have used to defend the safety of its Autopilot software is the dark and perplexing art of statistics. After a fatal Autopilot-related crash in May, a company blog post pointed out that the crash was “the first known fatality in just over 130...
David Noland -
Certain Toyota Prius models are being recalled because of potentially-faulty emergency brakes.
-
IIHS names 2017 Chevrolet Volt a Top Safety Pick+
The 2017 Chevrolet Volt is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Autopilot 8.0 upgrade would have averted fatal crash, Musk says
Elon Musk says the reconfigured Autopilot system announced over the weekend could have prevented the fatal crash that took place in May.
Stephen Edelstein -
How many different groups are investigating Tesla Autopilot crashes?
The NHTSA, NTSB, and SEC are investigating Tesla Autopilot crashes.
Stephen Edelstein -
2016 Nissan Leaf electric cars recalled for passenger airbag fault
Certain 2016 Nissan Leaf electric cars are being recalled to address an electrical fault in their airbag systems.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla Autopilot crash probe highlights NHTSA weakness in electronic systems
The Tesla Autopilot investigation will bring U.S. regulators into uncharted territory.
Stephen Edelstein