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New autonomous testing ground in Michigan will help battle bad weather

If one of the big weaknesses of autonomous vehicles is their ability to navigate in the snow, consider this a trial by fire. The American Center for Mobility says it has opened its $110 million driverless car testing facility on the site of a former General Motors assembly plant in Michigan, with Toyota and auto supplier Visteon the first to begin testing this week. The ACM proving ground is a 500-acre site at historic Willow Run in Ypsilanti Township, near Ann Arbor. It's one of 10 sites designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as pilot proving ground sites to test AV technologies. It features a variety of simulated environments to test driverless cars, including a 2.5-mile highway loop, two double overpasses, intersections, roundabouts and a 700-foot curved tunnel. It also opens just as the region experiences a series of snowstorms and the first frigid temperatures of the season. That ability to test autonomous vehicles in a wide variety of weather conditions is important, as autonomous vehicle sensors have struggled to handle cold, wet and snowy conditions. Google parent Alphabet in October said its Waymo division was expanding its winter testing operations to Michigan, making it the sixth state where it's testing its driverless car systems. In a Medium blog post, Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote that "This type of testing will give us the opportunity to assess the way our sensors perform in wet, cold conditions. And it will also build on the advanced driving skills we've developed over the last eight years by teaching our cars how to handle things like skidding on icy, unplowed roads." Waymo also opened a development center in suburban Detroit in 2016, working with Fiat Chrysler to integrate its autonomous technology into Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans. Visteon began testing and validating its DriveCore autonomous driving platform to evaluate algorithms, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology and other systems. Toyota used the facility Wednesday to begin orientation and driver training. ACM has so far secured $110 million to construct the first two phases from founders Ford, Hyundai America Technical Center, Toyota and Visteon, and says it expects to announce more investment soon.

UPDATE: GM, Ford, FCA, Honda shutting down all North America plants

Following an earlier report that General Motors, Ford and FCA would take action to curtail the potential spread of the Coronavirus, news comes today that the three American automakers will instead close all North American plants for an unknown period of time. Ford said in a statement that it "is temporarily suspending production at its manufacturing sites in North America to March 30 to thoroughly clean its facilities to protect its workforce and boost containment efforts for the COVID-19 Coronavirus." General Motors followed with a statement confirming that its suspension "will last until at least March 30," and adding that the situation will be reevaluated from week to week after that. FCA has not yet issued an official statement. Rory Gamble, president of the United Auto Workers union, praised the news. "This will give us time to review best practices and to prevent the spread of this disease," Gamble said in a statement. According to the Associated Press, around 150,000 workers are "likely to receive supplemental pay in addition to unemployment benefits." The United Auto Workers had asked the automakers to reconsider their position on Wednesday, a day after the parties agreed to slow production at U.S. plants and limit the number of workers on the job at one time to prevent the spread of the virus, a source who asked not to be identified told Reuters. The UAW’s new request for the closure of the Detroit Three automakersÂ’ U.S. plants came after Honda said on Wednesday it was temporarily shutting its North American plants for six days because of the anticipated decline in consumer demand. Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat Ford GM coronavirus

2022 Kia EV6 and Acura NSX Type S driven | Autoblog Podcast #715

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. The car chat begins this week with a review of the 2022 Kia EV6, followed by Zac's drive of the 2022 Acura NSX Type-S. Then they discuss Autoblog's new long-term loan, a 2022 BMW 330e xDrive. They've also been driving the Ford Explorer Timberline and Kia Sorento Hybrid. In the news, they discuss the soon-to-be-revealed Alfa Romeo Tonale, as well as the recently unveiled Aston Martin DBX707. Finally, Greg talks about a historical Detroit landmark, the old American Motors Company headquarters, which is set to be demolished. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #715 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2022 Kia EV6 2022 Acura NSX Type S 2022 BMW 330e xDrive 2022 Ford Explorer Timberline 2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid In the news 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale coming soon 2022 Aston Martin DBX707 revealed AMC headquarters to join rest of company in oblivion Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: