4 minute read
RPM
from Swiftta35 magzus.org
by Thomas Swift
BY TORI TELLEM
EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS RPM
Advertisement
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
In the News
Q What color is your vehicle? Is it yellow? A study by iseecars.com looked at depreciation based on hue and yellow is currently the top shade for retaining its value. Brown? Well, it can’t be called No. 2 in this case. That and gold have the highest depreciation. As usual, silver, black, gray, and white are your safe bets. Q According to a study of Gen Z vehicle buyers via CDK Global, that age demo finds it more difficult to buy a vehicle online than any other generation. But … aren’t they the online generation? A shoutout to them via shrug emoji. Q 50 million vehicles currently whizzing around “are being driven with a known issue that should be repaired,” according to Carfax. California has the most open recalls (5.6 million), and it’s mostly sedans and SUVs. Q UPS is testing the Fernhay eQuad in the U.S.; trials already began in Europe. The “four-wheeled e-assist quadricycle” is designed for use in hightraffic areas. Oh yeah, it’s pedal-powered.
— J.D. POWER WHEN ANNOUNCING THE RESULTS OF ITS 2022 INITIAL QUALITY STUDY
Is It True?
• Is GM training even more first responders in EVs due to the increase in production of the vehicles, most notably in that they should indeed put out a battery fire with water—and lots of it? • Kanye West is getting into automotive manufacturing and his first vehicle will be a car made from … foam? • GM is eliminating the requirement for a 4-year degree for a bunch of its jobs? • Is Ford sniffing around the name “Thunder” for vehicles that include the F-150 and Ranger? • Time for a rousing rendition of “Candle in the Wind” for the Nissan Titan?
YOUR
GOVERNMENT AT WORK
• NHTSA released initial data on the state of the union of driver assistance/ automated safety tech. It’s the first time for this kind of gathering of info and we’ll let them state their findings: “Some initial observations from the data show that since reporting requirements began, one crash reported for an ADS-equipped vehicle resulted in serious injuries, and 108 of the crashes resulted in no injuries. Of the 130 reported crashes for ADS-equipped vehicles, 108 involved collisions with another vehicle, and 11 involved a vulnerable road user, such as a pedestrian or cyclist. For vehicles with SAE L2 ADAS, the data show that alleged serious injuries or a fatality occurred in 11 of the 98 crashes where information on injuries was reported. Of the reported crashes for SAE L2 ADAS, at least 116 of the collisions were with another vehicle, and at least four involved a vulnerable road user.” • As we went to press, Yellowstone National Park had historic flooding and mudslides, so if your overlanding or four-wheeling adventure will take you there this year, be sure not to wing it and instead first check the status of everything before you go. • Some ’22 Toyota Tundras are being recalled due to potential axleshaft separation. According to NHTSA, “the flange nuts on the axleshaft sub-assemblies can loosen over time and potentially cause one or both axleshaft sub-assemblies to separate from the axle housing.” • NHTSA is also involved in a recall for potential hood-latch malfunction on some 20132016 Nissan Pathfinders.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE INDUSTRY
■ Update your everything: Truck Hero is now rebranding as RealTruck. ■ And more: RealTruck partnered up with onX to get people to do June’s National Get Outdoors Day. And as such, RealTruck offered a chance to win a $10,000 “Off-The-Grid Coin” (aka digital code) for use on realtruck.com. Steven Simmons (above) was that someone while Get Outdoors Day-ing at the Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area. ■ The Rivian Adventure Network is plugging along, so to speak. The Level 3 fast-charging sites are popping up in California and Colorado, with an initial plan for 3,500 fast chargers at 600 sites across North America. ■ Cummins and Hyliion are working together to couple-up Cummins’s natural gas engines with Hyliion’s ERX electric powertrain. ■ The ’22 Jeep Compass got a Top Safety Pick title from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety “when equipped with specific headlights.” So, on that buildsheet is this listed as “Safe” and “Might as Well Just Close Your Eyes”? ■ Toyota scored a 2022 Car Design Award for its Concept Cruiser EV, thanks to an original design that looks, um, very little like an FJ? ■ The F-series is 75, so that naturally means a ’23 F-150 Heritage Edition (for clarity, the throwback is to 1970-1980s). In brief: logo, two-tone paint, XLT. ■ Export of the Ford Bronco has begun, Europe.
Ford Heritage Vault: Now Open to the Public
■ Ford has put together a collection of old brochures and photos covering 1903 (yup, the earliest of days) to 2003, and it’s all online at fordheritagevault.com. Perhaps the best part to our ears: It’s searchable (and filterable and downloadable). Dig through the archives, because we can attest to seeing the Bronco and F-series represent. When we searched “Bronco,” we got to peruse 108 brochures and, oh, the sign-ofthe-times cheesiness didn’t disappoint, including the taglines. FW
