NTSB says Autopilot engaged in 2018 California Tesla crash

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday a Tesla Model S was in Autopilot mode when it struck a fire truck in Culver City, California — one of a series of crashes the board is investigating involving Tesla’s driver assistance system.

The safety board said in documents posted Tuesday that the 2014 Model S Autopilot system was engaged continuously for the final 13 minutes 48 seconds of the trip before the vehicle struck a fire truck parked on Interstate-405 in January 2018. read more »

Volkswagen overstated fuel economy on 98,000 U.S. vehicles, will repay consumers

Volkswagen AG must forfeit greenhouse gas emissions credits and is lowering the fuel economy ratings on 98,000 vehicles after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said auto software overstated real-world performance.

Volkswagen said Friday it had agreed to a $96.5 million court settlement, with no fine, to reimburse affected customers.

The software was on roughly 1 million 2013-2017 model year Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles, the agency said. It caused the transmission to shift gears in a manner that sometimes optimizes fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions during the EPA-prescribed emissions test, but not under normal driving conditions, the agency said. read more »  

Faulty Tesla App Resulted in Owners Being Locked out of Their Own Cars

Technology linked to apps has become the norm nowadays, where you most likely use an app on a daily basis. Now imagine that you own a Tesla, which you typically open through the Tesla app.

Next, imagine that for some technological update or fault, the app goes down, and you're unable to open your car's doors, and drive to your meeting, family gathering, or flight!

That's exactly what happened to some Tesla owners this week. read more »