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Teslas are also relatively costly...

Have you looked at the price of pickups lately?

https://www.ford.com/trucks/f1...

Cheapest F-150 starts at about $30k, and that's bare-bones. The most expensive one starts at $67k before you add in options.

If Tesla actually ever comes out with their $35k Model E variant, they then overlap pretty much the entire F-150 price-range, save for the $28k-$34k sliver.

And in case a delicate little F-150 isn't for you, if you want to go with the Super Duty Fords, top of the line there starts off at $86,500 before you add options. There's a reason Ford is dropping a lot of its automotive lines in favor of just pumping out F-Series. They're cheap to make, and they successfully sell them at ridiculous prices.

Fuck Ya!

But they left off one thing in their feature lists...Will Crush a Prius effortlessly.

Oh really? If others didn't call it Assist you might have a point. Pretty much EVERYONE else calls it Driver Assist; only Tesla is brash (and stupid) enough to call it "Autopilot".

I'm glad my non-electric car has a real park setting on the transmission. One where there is a physical cable attached to the selector that engages a pawl to lock the transmission.

Well, shit. There goes that argument.

There is no such thing as an infallible system. Doesn't exist. Period.

I've personally had the nut holding the shift linkage arm to the shaft come loose. Felt the detents as it shifted from drive to park, just happened to miss the last one where it didn't click from R to P because of the loose nut. Luckily I was on a flat surface. I didn't even find out till I went to leave the next day and the damn thing wouldn't shift.

They are actually planning to produce battery electric vehicles in large numbers by 2020. https://media.ford.com/content... This states that they making a full commitment to new propulsion choices. It seems they are investing in developing electric vehicles instead of new gas vehicles, while they make profits off trucks and SUVs.

The least capable F-Series will tow 6,000 pounds legally

Not according to Ford..

Meanwhile, that Tesla weighs at least 5,185 lb and has no more than 6,768 gvwr, which means it can legally tow only 1,600 lb

Please learn how GVWR limits work before talking about them. GVWR is the max for loaded vehicle weight plus tongue weight, not entire trailer weight. The tongue weight is generally 9-15% of the trailer weight. So for a 5000 pound trailer, that's 450 to 750 pounds, meaning that a tow vehicle with a 6768lb GVWR can weigh no more than 6018-6318 lbs. This means that for a curb weight of 5185 lbs the vehicle itself can be loaded with about 1000 lbs of passengers/payload, and tow a properly balanced 5000 pound trailer.

It might be able to handle 5,000 pounds if nothing bad ever happens

It's capable of towing a semi truck (see the above links), but that's of course not the topic of discussion here.

So you're saying they're all show? I absolutely agree. That's the selling point?

"I don't want a car that looks like it'll crumple like a tin can in a wreck."

Right up until the day you understand physics, crumple-zones, NCAP safety tests, and the reason so many more people survive crashes nowadays.

"If "designer" status means that I get a luxury sedan that looks like a luxury sedan, I'll buy all day long."

Yep. Looks.

Believe it or not, most people DON'T buy a car based on looks, or we'd all have those ridiculous "sporty" things which are incredibly impractical and you can barely get into. I want a car that I can put the shopping in the back, five people in the seats, and still be able to park it easily without the thing costing the end of the Earth to buy or run.

(Hint: For reference, I drive one of these:

https://www.fordeumedia-e.ford... )

The phone market is strange in that lots and lots of people want to have the "flagship" phone and you're not allowed to have a more expensive model in your lineup. I mean it's not like every Ford is a Ford GT or every guy with a Canon has a EOS-1D X Mark II. But if Apple wants to make a $999 phone, like actually spec-wise next level not just inlaid with gold and diamonds there's panic. Apple needs to stay out in front on the premium side, if people stop saying "if money was no object, I'd get an iPhone" that's when they should not worry not "damn I want an iPhone, but that last one is bloody expensive". People have been saying that for years and Apple has been making bank on it.

http://corporate.ford.com/ford-open-source.html

Ford has patents, but not many that matter.

Hah! And next you are going to tell me that you've actually looked when I know you haven't.

Tesla has crucial patents in self-driving tech, navigation, electric engines, and battery tech.

Which they've made available to everyone. Here's a little clue for you. Ford has crucial patents as well and a lot more of them than Tesla.

not so sure you can dismiss as not being influence by Trump's meeting with Ford

https://media.ford.com/content...

Ford Motor Company Statement on U.S. Manufacturing

We continue to engage with President-elect Trumpâ(TM)s team â" and the new Congress â" as they shape the policy agenda for 2017. We have shared our commitment to continue investing in the U.S. and creating American jobs â" building on the $12 billion we have invested in our U.S. plants and the nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs Ford has created in the past five years. Ford continues to employ more American autoworkers and produce more American made vehicles than anyone.

On Thursday, we confirmed with the President-elect that, with his support, our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly Plant will stay in Kentucky. We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States.

We will have more details to share on our future plans at the appropriate time.

Of course, the bottom line is the bottom line, but if Trump and the Republican Congress manage to give some huge tax breaks to American manufacturers, it could certainly sway the decision of whether to invest in a new facility out of country, or to refit an existing one and keep the jobs here in the meantime.

captcha:doubters

Worth mentioning that a pickup truck can also be awesome fun to drive in its own way. A lot of people don't realize that. At the extreme end you have the F-150 raptor, which clocks in at 450HP. But even a decent towing pickup feels good when you have the growl of power underneath the wheel.

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f15... suggests you're at best being disingenuous.

Most people spend a fuck of a lot less than $60k on a car.

I would say the probability of Ford producing an EV is 100%, because they already make them: http://www.ford.com/cars/focus... What they do not yet make is an extended range electric car that can compete directly against Tesla's cars or the upcoming Chevy Bolt. But it's a safe bet that the company is working on one.

Hi-rez proof

I see 11,000 lb tow capacity MAX!

Hi-rez proof

Ford has a video explaining the system. According to the video the call is placed THROUGH THE USERS CELLPHONE, and after providing a 10 second warning the call would be made, and giving the owner a chance to cancel the call prior to it being made.

I think that the ability for someone to cancel the call before its made is quite important with respect of privacy and "government spying", and somewhat changes the discussion.

https://media.ford.com/content...

Give me a call when one of these clever cars can back my boat down a crowded ramp.

Ok, in fairness, this isn't automatic, it is simply an assist feature, but give them a few years, and it'll be automatic.

It.s 120 meters. TFS and TFA are wrong.

From the actual press release:
"Spot Lighting – currently in the pre-development phase with Ford engineers in Aachen – uses an infra-red camera in the front grille to simultaneously locate and track up to eight people and bigger animals, including larger dogs, at a range of up to 120 metres." (my emphasis, source: http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn... )

..@ https://owner.ford.com/tools/a... basically says "All your base all belong to us."

By activating or using the Service you expressly agree to the collection, logging, storage, and sharing of your vehicle travel information and other call details for the purposes set forth above in these Terms and Conditions regardless of whether or not you have read them. Further, you agree to obtain the consent to the collection, logging, storage, and sharing of vehicle travel information and other call details for the purposes set forth above from any other person(s) to whom you provide access to and use of the Service via your cell phone. If you don't consent or wish to disclose this information, do not activate or use SYNC Services.

Ford's Service provider 24/7 Customer, Inc. ("24/7"), may record and retain user voice utterances ("recorded utterances"), which are recordings of sounds made when SYNC Services is in listen state and waiting for a user command or response. These recorded utterances may include all sounds in the vehicle, including the voice of the user and voices of other vehicle occupants, while the service is in listen state. 24/7 may also, at Ford's request, randomly record and assemble in sequence, all voice communications made from the time the Service is connected (by the user pressing the VOICE button) to the time the Service is disconnected. ("Whole call recordings (WCRs)"). WCRs will include voice utterances and may include any other sounds in the vehicle, including the voices of the user and other vehicle occupants, during the entire time the Service is connected. Both recorded utterances and WCRs may be associated with you or the cell phone number assigned to the Service. 24/7 records and retains recorded utterances, and WCRs (if Ford requests) for the purpose of improving the performance of voice recognition and to improve the overall design of the user interface. 24/7 Customer, Inc. may share recorded utterances and WCRs with Ford for this purpose, and Ford may use them for this purpose. If you request Operator Assistance, the operator may be provided with your cell phone number and SYNC Service request including your last utterance in order to assist you.

By activating or using the Service, you expressly agree to the recording and sharing of your utterances and WCRs as set forth above for the purposes set forth above in these Terms and Conditions regardless of whether or not you have read them. Further, you agree to obtain the consent to record utterances and WCRs from all vehicle occupants and any person(s) to whom you provide access to and use of the Service via your cell phone. If you don't consent or wish to disclose this information, do not activate or use SYNC Services.

The above and beyond shitty thing is to even find out how many miles you have til the system thinks you need an an oil change you have to upload god knows what info to them. If you don't use Sync services, you can't find out basic info about your car. Kind of stacked the deck, haven't they? Makes me never want to buy a Ford again.

THAT is what some clever hacker needs to do is to hop on the bluetooth stream between their Sync (Sink) and the user's cell phone and dump and decode all that's being sent. Be damned interesting, that's for sure.

Full of shit? In every case, I typed the model into Google, and took the lowest number. The rest of the weight are for options, so they are not relevant.

The ones I mentioned were because the Volt and CRV had already been discussed. I have an F-150, and it the best selling vehicle in the US for the past 32 years. (source: wikipedia) I chose the Tesla because some people cream their pants green whenever they hear that word.

Tough shit that Ford is making an aluminum F-150. Good for them. The Tesla is also aluminum, so it is an apples-vs-apples comparison.

That said, here are the numbers right from the manufacturers:

Ford F-150 4x2 = 4,050 LBS source: http://www.ford.com/trucks/f15...
(Note that even their tiny engine has 325 HP and 375 ft-lbs of torque, which is necessary for a truck)
-vs-
Tesla S = 4,647 LBS source: http://www.teslamotors.com/sup...
(If the Tesla has higher horsepower, it is only useful for making the owner's dick get hard.)

Honda CRV = 3358 lbs source: http://automobiles.honda.com/c...
-vs-
Chevy Volt Base Curb Weight = 3786 lbs source: http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-...

Despite what you want to believe, the numbers are what they are. And I just wasted a half-hour looking them up for you.

Why do people want to drive these things? They aren't attractive, they don't stop/go fast, they can't carry much stuff.

Can't speak for the pathfinder, but I have a 2015 Ford Explorer XLT & it rocks. We get a ton of snow in the winter, so AWD is a very nice convenience. Also, the height of the vehicle is helpful for seeing other traffic over snowbanks at intersections.

The EcoBoost V6 has plenty of spunk -- enough that the local sheriff's office & the state police have some in their fleet, and I have a ton of hauling space if I put down the 2nd & 3rd row seats. Right after we got it, we bought a new kitchen sink, cabinets & countertop, and were able to fit everything in one trip.

We also have the tow package so we can haul a pop-up camper we were given as a hand-me-down from my folks.

Finally, my dogs love it. We can fit our Dane's memory foam bed in the back with the 3rd row down, and he can sprawl out. Much easier for him when we go on long trips.

It really doesn't make sense to compare Norway to anything else because our car taxes heavily penalize muscle cars while EV cars are tax free, creating a unique environment where the Tesla is cheap-ish. For example in the US the cheapest Ford Mustang has a MSRP of $23,800 and the Tesla P85D is $98170 after the $7500 tax credit. In Norway the same Ford Mustang costs 739000 NOK = $97336 and the Tesla P85D 768200 NOK = $101182 at current exchange rates and due to additional incentives it's actually cheaper. And the biggest engine Mustang, a $41800 car in the US costs 1279000 NOK = $168461 before extras.

Everywhere but here the Telsa is a rich man's toy. Here a lot of the middle class who'd like a muscle car but has been put off by our insane car taxes settling for a normal family car in the $50-60k range have figured this is their one chance to own a sporty car on a normal budget and gone for a Tesla. I've even considered it myself because I know this is a political loophole - basically a very broad agreement long term agreement to push EV vehicles at a time when there was nearly none, running to 2017 that nobody wants to take the political fallout of backing out of even though it's been vastly more successful than anybody had anticipated.

I was told my clock can be fixed by having the dealership reinstall the OS. That would take about 6 hrs they say, which I can't really be without my work vehicle for that long so I've just lived with it.

My wife's car has an older version of Sync, and I can update it myself by downloading a file to a USB drive and plugging it into the car. It took less than an hour. For some reason, dealer mechanics can't do anything computer related in less than a day.

Ford has it available. Go to http://owner.ford.com/

Perhaps others do as well.

Even if you trust someone to fix a problem, why would you trust them with your password? Set a temporary password so they can fix something, then change it back when they are done fixing.

These days, common as not, you aren't allowed to set it back to what it was before. I think gmail, for example, now enforces password history for example. Pretty infuriating, because I DO generally change passwords before giving someone temporary access.

If you want a "proper" car analogy...

You would talk about those cars with the little number pad above the door handle?

http://support.ford.com/vehicl...

I have no idea why you would give someone the temptation, especially when there are simple safe alternatives.

a) You can't change the password from where you are. Happens all the time. Maybe you are giving the person the password precisely so they can help resolve the problem preventing you from logging in where you are.

Your buddy borrowed your truck, you lent him the keys, and he locked them in the cab... he's 500 miles from anywhere. Do you tell him the keypad code?

Best practices says if you do this, change the code when you get the truck back. No problem.

Maybe you have a whole fleet of trucks, and for simplicity you had the same code on all of them. Now your fucked and have to re-key the whole fleet...

b) Cases where changing the password creates rolling chaos. Think scenarios where the same password is on several devices. For example you want to let a guest onto your home wifi but don't want to give him the password -- changing it while he visits knocks everything else you have off the network. Other scenarios -- backups, where multiple computers backup to a service and all use the same key, or various file sync things, where changing the password will throw errors up all over the place.

My reality is that they only sell $45,000 suvs or much cheaper minivans that can fit my whole family

You can buy a Ford E-Series van or Ford Transit van that will seat more than any minivan, tow more and is available for as little as $30,000. Only real downside is that the MPG kind of sucks.

My reality is that they only sell $45,000 suvs or much cheaper minivans that can fit my whole family

You can buy a Ford E-Series van or Ford Transit van that will seat more than any minivan, tow more and is available for as little as $30,000. Only real downside is that the MPG kind of sucks.

Perhaps you should have told Ford this.

Yes and the 25 Ford plants located in the US make coconuts... http://corporate.ford.com/our-... In 2013 there were 4,540,985 cars made in the US which was good enough for 5th place in the world: http://www.statisticbrain.com/...

Ford made $35,900 million in sales in Q1 of 2014, they have 34 assembly plants. 34 plants * 90 days * 24 hours = 73,440 hours, so "only" $0.5M per hour, but that assumes that all hours are the same, they are not and like I said when they are selling all they can of a model it easily runs into the several million per hour.

Ford made $35,900 million in sales in Q1 of 2014, they have 34 assembly plants. 34 plants * 90 days * 24 hours = 73,440 hours, so "only" $0.5M per hour, but that assumes that all hours are the same, they are not and like I said when they are selling all they can of a model it easily runs into the several million per hour.

Oh the humanity. Having to hold a button for a second with your thumb. Without having to take it off the wheel. At all.

.

You might be surprised as to how much "road attention" you lose performing such a simple maneuver. Anecdotally, I once totaled a Buick because I took my eyes off the road for .5 seconds to check the clock. Long story (chock full of statistics and more anecdotes) short, while your brain is on pause waiting for Siri to respond to that button hold, it's not paying full attention to the task at hand, namely operating a ton-and-a-half of steel and glass at high rates of speed.

As opposed to every other navigation system...

Nonsense hyperbole, and smacks loudly of fanboy-ism.

My wife's VW has a single button on the steering wheel that activates the voice command system, and it's the same system VW has been using for half a decade. Oh, and BTW, you only have to press the button, not hold it. Works as well as one would expect a voice command system to. And I know VW can't be the only one with such a simple interface - Ford's Sync immediately comes to mind.

SYNC Services is available with SYNC-equipped vehicles and may require you to purchase a subscription. In order to access SYNC Services, you must add a mobile phone number – and select it as Active – when setting up your SYNC Owner account. The Active mobile phone associated with your SYNC account must be Bluetooth®-enabled, and you’ll need to turn it on, pair it, and connect it with SYNC before you can start using SYNC Services.

I could be wrong.

Well, until they show up with an NSL, in which case we'll supply the data forthwith. But don't worry, we'll still have to maintain we really don't.

NSL? Dude, why does everyone think it takes super secret letters from the government to get a corporation to whore on your personal data? I wasn't joking when I said cars these days have EULAs. To quote Ford's EULA covering this particular feature: Ford may use the vehicle information it collects, as well as information regarding individual access to Vehicle Health Reports at www.syncmyride.com for any purpose.

And similar verbiage likely exists in the EULA in the Garmin/Tom-Tom/other GPS unit suctioned to your windshield you use to find the next Starbucks on your road trip.

And your GPS software in your phone you use with free Google maps to drive anywhere and watch traffic.

And your GPS built into your tablet you use with the free weather app to make it highly accurate.

And your handheld GPS with WAAS you use for free and accurate 1-meter geocaching.

In other words, since the existence of GPS access for civilian use, every fucking company has captured and logged this data.

Logic says there's a good reason all those nice GPS services...are "free". Ford is right, they're not going to just hand over the data. They're going to wait until they can sell it to the highest bidder. And much like every other EULA you didn't read, there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

And the only thing Farley is doing is re-affirming the brash arrogance that the new breed of untouchable ruthless cocksuckers running too-big-to-fail companies are afforded...because they are in fact, untouchable. Like I trust Ford any more because they told me they won't give my data away for free? Fucking please. Companies don't spend six figures maintaining terabytes of data on millions of customers for fun or show. How ignorant are consumers anyway...

Customers don't generally report casual breakdowns, for example. Also, habit trends can help with designing newer models. You'll always get a better picture of your customers' habits with transparent metrics.

Let's not forget that a complete history of your driving habits can be sold to third parties for a nice profit. Oh, did I mention by third parties I mean anyone, ever? You don't need a search warrant... just pay the $5 to get a complete "enhanced driver profile". I know what you're thinking: Aren't there laws against this? Maybe, but you agreed to let them do whatever they want when you turned the key and drove it off the lot; says so in the small print.

When you run a Vehicle Health Report, Ford Motor Company may collect your cell phone number (to process your report request) and diagnostic information about your vehicle. Certain versions or updates to Vehicle Health Report may also collect additional vehicle information. Ford may use the vehicle information it collects, as well as information regarding individual access to Vehicle Health Reports at www.syncmyride.com for any purpose.

Well, until they show up with an NSL, in which case we'll supply the data forthwith. But don't worry, we'll still have to maintain we really don't.

NSL? Dude, why does everyone think it takes super secret letters from the government to get a corporation to whore on your personal data? I wasn't joking when I said cars these days have EULAs. To quote Ford's EULA covering this particular feature: Ford may use the vehicle information it collects, as well as information regarding individual access to Vehicle Health Reports at www.syncmyride.com for any purpose.

Ford offers a 1.0L Fiesta in the states.

When they first came out, that was true:

• F-150 == 1/2 ton
• F-250 == 3/4 ton
• F-350 == 1 ton

(And for my fine foreign friends, that's US ton, 2,000 lb, or 907 kg.)

However, that is no longer true, and the wide variety of sub models makes it even more complicated. Here's a payload capacity chart for the 2014 F-150.

The lowest is an SVT Raptor with only 980 lb payload capacity, while the highest is a staggering 3,120 lb for a regular cab, 4x2 with the heavy duty payload package and a v8 engine! That's a 1.5 ton capacity!

F-250's and F-350's have similar ranges.

An F-350 *is* a light truck. Here are Ford's medium-duty trucks:
http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/f650-f750/

Can we limit this to the US market, since that's the market that I'm referring to by "the market", since that's where I am and where I would be buying a car (sorry for not being clear on that). I'm well aware that the rest of the world gets non-shit fuel economy. As one example of why this matters, the Ford Fiesta available to YOU may get >50MPG (67.5MPG in the UK according to http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Fiesta), but the one sold in the US gets 33 (https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2013_Ford_Fiesta.shtml which seems to mostly agree with http://www.ford.com/cars/fiesta/). Also, if you're running straight gas where you are, remember to knock off 20% for the efficiency lost by adding 10% ethanol to fuel sold across most of the US.

Market matters; there really aren't many decent-mileage cars available in the US; and the ones that are available are hybrids that come with their own added expenses (battery replacement) and pollution (battery production and disposal). Even the Smart Fortwo only gets 38MPG (highway, the average is lower but not listed on the Smart website) in the US (http://www.smartusa.com/models/pure-coupe/overview.aspx); even just going up to Canada, you can get the same car in a 4.7l/100km (50MPG) flavor (http://www.thesmart.ca/products-fortwo-coup%C3%A9-engineering-engine/e0a1fb03-d93b-5af7-80ab-7c81f0ff63f2 - comparing highway economy since that's what's listed on the US site - apples to apples).

Your list is so much shorter in the US than you can even start to imagine.

Good riddance. These infotainment systems have historically been buggy and lead to animosity misdirected at the auto manufacturer rather than the software provider. Witness the story of Ford. On the rebound after the auto-crisis of 2007, Ford quality grew by leaps and bounds, outpacing the industry in 2008, and resulting in a top-5 JD Power and Associates ranking in 2009. That year, Ford added Microsoft SYNC to their vehicles and called it "MyFordTouch." The interface was so buggy and inconsistent that it lead to Ford dropping from number 5 in JD Power's quality 2010 quality rankings (despite no major overhalls and no new engines that year), to number 23 a year later, and then all the way to 33rd this year. Now Ford customers have launched a class-action lawsuit against Ford.

The sooner auto manufacturers standardize on a infotainment system, the better. The fact that this is open-source and based on Linux (specifically, Tizen) makes it even more likely that updates will be provided many years down the road. (even if not by the manufacturers themselves, by the community; think Cyanogenmod). This makes cars less like disposable toys and more worthy of being the second-largest expense that most households make.

If that's "a good example" I'd hate to see all the other ones. Ford and Toyota representatives were the only rational and reasonable voices, and absolutely correct that the "hacking" in this case, involved SITTING IN THE BACK SEAT AND PLUGGING IN TO THE CAR. What do we say around here about having physical access to someone else's computer?

Right. Until someone gets the bright idea of, say, hooking the car to tablets and phones via Bluetooth.

And brought to you by Ford ("not be a risk to customers"), in partnership with Microsoft (do I even need to find a quote?).

I don't think the Ford features are going to be sold soon, though the article wasn't clear

Looks like Ford's selling it now.

Ford has solved this with Sync: http://www.ford.com/technology/ Great system that leverages your ever changing smartphone.

You do realize you're doing acceptance testing of every driver around you all the time, right?

That's why I drive a dual-axle, 4 wheel drive, crew-cab Ford Super Duty F-450 pickup truck.

Nobody messes with me on the road, and they always get the heck out of my way promptly, especially with a blast of the Nathan P3L Airchime horn installed in the truck. :-D

If climate change is real and man-made, the human race isn't mature enough to react to it in time.

I guess I can understand the need to identify a cause for global warming - if we can arrest anthropogenic sources of change then it follows we can perhaps slow or stop climate changes induced by people.

If much of the change is related to us burning fossil fuels I think we're basically screwed. Fossil fuels accounts for about 85% of the United States's energy use (see EIA Renewable Energy). With a number that high can anyone imagine a social policy change or technological advance that would reduce the amount of CO2 we're dumping into the atmosphere? The US can't pass a bill to save it's postal service - what chance is there in something like the Manhatten Project or Apollo project were science and business collaborate to create something historic and game changing?

A 1930 Model A Ford owner reports getting 20 miles per gallon, for christ's sake. Today the Ford Explorer gets 20 - 28 miles per gallon. In almost 100 years we basically have the same thing in a more deadly model getting roughly the same mileage? Nah ... if that's the best we can do it's time to stock up on dry ice and sun screen.

Where did you hear that the Volt has two electric motors? That's one of the most bizarre claims I've heard yet. It has a single motor and a gasoline engine.

Don't like that site about the Volt? Here's some more. Good enough for you?

You act like there's a ton of Japanese manufacturers out there. Toyota is going induction. Nissan is going brushless. The other two, Mitsubishi and Subaru, are bit players in the EV field with really minimalist vehicles; I don't think Subaru even has anything that can go highway speeds. In the US, we have Tesla, GM, and Ford actually selling highway-speed EVs. Tesla: all induction. GM: induction on sale, with a prototype unveiled that uses a brushless. Ford: assuming it uses the same motor as their Focus FCV, the focus EV is induction (the EV transit connect definitely is). Others: Th!nk: induction. BMW: two "demonstration" EVs, one induction and one PM.

Yes, there were more permanent magnet ones out there than I realized. But the basic point is the same: the concept that rare earths are necessary to EVs is simply false.

Automotive technology has been moving toward autonomous driving since the advent of cruise control. Now we see features like automated lane keeping starting to appear. Navigation systems are more common, and are starting to provide information in something closer to real-time. Both of these developments bring more information into the car, which is what will enable the next generation of technology.

So far I think it is the case that people are more likely to have cruise control on the list of features they want in a new car, than to actually use it regularly. It is difficult to use it when traffic is even moderately congested and the speed of other people's cars is tied fairly directly into their hormone levels. But as autonomous cruise control becomes more widespread, it will be possible to use it in more situations. And note that that technology also adds more sensors to the car, bringing in more information.

This is how it will go. People who would rather let the car do the driving will be able to do it in a gradually increasing number of traffic situations. Even without help from the aging baby boomers, I believe there will soon come a time when most of the cars on the road will be under autonomous control for most of the time. There will remain some traffic situations or road conditions that the AI can't handle, and auto makers will compete intensely to overcome those.

The key to the liability issues is no fault insurance for the AI, which insurance companies will be happy to offer, once the technologies are proven to be reasonably reliable. Maybe consumers will buy it directly, or maybe it will be included in the price of the car. There will be "black boxes" in the cars to document who was controlling the car in the time leading up to an accident. And the AI will become increasingly able to detect when situations are out of its comfort zone, request human intervention, and if it is not forthcoming, take actions to safely remove the car from the situation. As long as risk levels can be quantified, insurance will be possible, and as long as risk levels are low, it will be affordable.

This whole process could be accelerated by the development of "road drones" that use the same technology and roads, but carry deliveries instead of people. These would be much smaller and much less powerful than cars, and much cheaper, once in mass production. The cost of the AI and its sensors would initially be a large part of the manufacturing cost, but mass production would drive that cost down for both drones and cars. Also, because the drones would be significantly cheaper than cars, they would serve as a platform for evolving the technology at a faster rate than would be possible with cars.

Since road drones wouldn't carry people, the liability issue would also be lessened. They would have to be designed not to create a hazard for manually operated vehicles. But there would be some political and liability issues to overcome. It may be that we see delivery drones in the air before they hit the roads.

There is only one real downside to where I see this technology headed. It's going to make a lot more jobs obsolete than it creates. But that's just one step on the way toward a day of reckoning that will soon be upon us.

Whoa guys! Ford has been allowing end user firmware upgrades since the SYNC system was rolled out. The salesman even told me how to do it when we bought my wife's car two years ago. I've even done it myself through the Ford website. Also note, that this upgrade does not change the ECU, only the SYNC system. Also note, that this mass USB stick mailing is for MyFordTouch, not SYNC (MyFordTouch is built on top of the SYNC system, but includes a touchscreen, and are commonly confused).

In summary:
User firmware upgrades !new
User firmware upgrades !experimental
Mass USB mailings !SYNC
The only thing experimental is the mass mailing of USB sticks.