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☆ How the EV era is challenging leading engine maker Honda
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-22 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Honda is the world's largest engine manufacturer, powering about 27 million cars, motorcycles, generators, yard tools, airplanes, and other items. But it is struggling in some key regions, especially China, and it's challenged by the era of electric vehicles. Honda has been relatively slow to release models, and it has depended heavily on partners to keep up. Honda does have an in-house EV plan and its own platform. It's sinking $65 billion into EVs and software globally, including $11 billion in Canada and $3.5 billion for upgrades to facilities in the United States.

Persons: it's, Karl Brauer, they'd, Jake Fisher, Honda's, Gregory Noble Organizations: Honda, Acura, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, McLaren, Consumer, U.S, General Motors, Detroit, Toyota, University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science Locations: U.S, China, Canada, United States

Hybrid vehicles led the 2024 top vehicle rankings released Tuesday by influential product testing organization Consumer Reports. Such "electrified" vehicles, including plug-in hybrid models, represented six of the top 10 picks by the nonprofit consumer organization. Toyota's four vehicles in the top 10 rankings were all hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Both hybrids and plug-in hybrids have a traditional engine combined with EV technologies. Plug-in hybrids typically have a larger battery to provide for all-electric driving for a certain number of miles until an engine is needed to power the vehicle or electric motors.

Persons: Jake Fisher Organizations: Tesla, Consumer, Toyota Motor, Subaru, Ford Motor, Mazda, BMW, CNBC, EV, Toyota Prius

☆ Electric cars are having more problems, but not because they’re electric
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Electric vehicles have 79% more problems than other vehicles, according to Consumer Reports’ latest annual auto reliability survey. The problems arise because electric cars are mostly new models, and recently-introduced car models generally tend to have more issues, regardless of what propels them. Besides that, electric vehicles tend to be higher priced models with more sophisticated technology features, from additional safety sensors to more gadgets and doo-dads. Electric pickup trucks, in particular, tended to fare the worst in Consumer Reports’ reliability survey. Not all electric vehicles are so unreliable, though, according to Consumer Reports’ survey data.

Persons: Jake Fisher, haven’t, ”, Fisher, that’s, It’s, That’s Organizations: New, New York CNN —, Consumer, EV, Tesla, Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Kia Locations: New York

☆ EVs struggle with reliability due to charging, battery issues - Consumer Reports survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Nathan Gomes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On average, new EVs had 79% more problems than gasoline-powered vehicles, Consumer Reports' 2023 Annual Auto Reliability survey showed. "For the legacy automakers, (EVs) are really new technologies, so they don't have a lot of experience with batteries, charging and motors." Jake Fisher, senior director of Auto Testing at Consumer Reports, said in an interview with Reuters. Consumer Reports survey covers 20 problem areas including engine, electric motors, transmission and in-car electronics. "Even with monumental shifts in the auto marketplace, what matters most to consumers remains the same: finding safe, reliable cars," said Marta Tellado, President and CEO of Consumer Reports.

Persons: Albert Gea, Jake Fisher, Fisher, Elon, Stellantis, Marta Tellado, Nathan Gomes, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: REUTERS, Electric, Consumer, Auto Testing, Reuters, U.S, General Motors, Buick, Benz, Chrysler, Lexus, Toyota, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, U.S, North America, Bengaluru

☆ ‘The federal government is not doing their job,’ NTSB chair says about automated driving tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy sharply criticized federal regulators Thursday for not doing enough to monitor and test automatic driving technologies. “The NTSB has called on regulators to set performance minimums for these features, to test vehicles rigorously against those standards and provide the results to consumers. That’s because the IIHS and Consumer Reports worked directly with automakers to get them to add it. “Consumer Reports and IIHS tried to get ahead of this because there was no movement from regulators,” she said. Consumer Reports test drivers will still use an actual interstate highway to test features that only function when the car recognizes that it’s on a divided highway.

☆ Why Tesla keeps making the Model S and X even as sales dwindle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Production ramped up slowly, but by 2017, Tesla was selling more than 100,000 a year of the Model S and its SUV sibling, the Model X. Similarly, pricing for the Model X SUV starts at about $98,000 but the smaller Model Y starts at just $47,000. Still, much like the S-class for Mercedes-Benz, the Model S remains Tesla’s flagship model, representing the brand. In fact, within its competitive class, the Tesla Model S and X are good sellers. By this point in their long lives, the Tesla Model S and X have become a stream of fairly steady profits, said Cox.

☆ Tesla's Autopilot is falling behind as other software catches up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Consumer Reports ranked the best advanced driver-assistance systems on the market. Mercedes-Benz's tech took third. Ford BlueCruise took the top spot, ahead of General Motors Super Cruise and Mercedes-Benz's system. That's because Elon Musk's automaker hasn't made significant changes to Autopilot's core functionality in years, Consumer Reports said. While other automakers have evolved their ACC and LCA systems, Tesla has simply fallen behind," Jake Fisher, the organization's senior director of auto testing, said in the report.

☆ Testing group says Tesla Autopilot slips in driver assistance ratings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA.O) advanced driver assistance system Autopilot fell in a ranking of 12 major systems, Consumer Reports said Wednesday. Tesla, which was second in Consumer Reports ratings in 2020 behind Super Cruise, fell to seventh, the group said. "After all this time, Autopilot still doesn’t allow collaborative steering and doesn’t have an effective driver monitoring system," said Consumer Reports Auto Testing director Jake Fisher in a statement. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot after a series of crashes with parked emergency vehicles. NHTSA is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.

☆ Hyundai's best years in the U.S. are set to be tested by the Inflation Reduction Act
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"I think what Hyundai, Kia and Genesis have done is they've really compressed that time frame. Sales of Hyundai and Kia vehicles have risen roughly 61% since 2010 to more than 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S. last year. LMC forecasts Hyundai's sales of all-electric vehicles are expected to represent 9.2% of the U.S. EV market this year. While sales are expected to grow that percentage is seen as the company's peak until at least 2024 or 2025, when the new Georgia plant is set to come online. Munoz said the new Georgia plant is expected to produce 300,000 vehicles annually, with the potential to reach 500,000 in the future.

Electric vehicles are among the least reliable cars and trucks in the automotive industry today, according to Consumer Reports rankings released Tuesday. When compared with hybrid and gas-powered cars and trucks, electric vehicles powered entirely by batteries were the worst performing segment, aside from traditional full-size pickup trucks, according to Consumer Reports. Reliability issues with electric vehicles were expected, since most automakers, with the exception of early EV-leader Tesla, launched fully electric models in recent years, said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports surveyed owners of more than 300,000 vehicles from model years 2000 to 2022 and used that data to make predictions about the reliability of 2023 model year vehicles. Electric vehicles can also become "greener" over time as power supplied from clean or renewable resources like nuclear, solar and wind increases.

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