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NHTSA investigates 1.7 million GM SUVs for windshield wiper failures

WASHINGTON - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday it is investigating whether General Motors should recall an additional 1.7 million sport utility vehicles due to an issue with windshield wiper failures. GM in August 2016 recalled 367,800 2013 GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox SUVs in the United States to address the problem. But after receiving 249 complaints about similar problems, the federal agency said it is probing whether the recall should be expanded to include an additional 1.7 million vehicles from the 2010-2016 model years. The automaker said it is cooperating with the NHTSA review. GM said it recalled the 2013 GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox SUVs "because warranty data showed a higher-than-expected failure rate," adding it has continued to monitor field data on other model years of those vehicles. GM noted that no crashes or injuries related to the issue have been reported. The Detroit-based automaker said the recalls were prompted after a GM Canada brand quality manager reported a potential safety issue relating to reports of windshield wiper failures in Canada through GM's "Speak Up For Safety," program in late 2015. The data showed significantly higher field incidents in parts of Canada, which prompted a June 2016 recall there. Over the next two months, a higher number of U.S. reports prompted a U.S. recall, the company added. In the 2016 recall, GM said the front-wiper module would be replaced with a module that has a water deflector and, if needed, dealers would fill the water management hole and drill a new small hole in a different location.(Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by G Crosse)Related Video: Government/Legal Recalls Chevrolet GM GMC SUV

GMC Hummer EV pickup reveal postponed

We’re pretty excited about the all-electric Hummer pickup coming from the GMC brand. GM is too, enough to spend Super Bowl money on an ad teasing it. Today, we received an update from GM about the Hummer EV, with good news and bad news. The bad news: GM has announced that it is postponing the May 20 reveal for the Hummer. With the coronavirus throwing the proverbial wrench into a number of vehicle operations, including reveals, we canÂ’t say weÂ’re surprised at all. The good news, GM assures us, is that development continues “undeterred.” GM understandably hasnÂ’t provided a new debut date for the GMC Hummer EV, but it did provide us with the new short teaser video above. WeÂ’ve seen other details in previous teasers, as well. We were lucky enough to see the Hummer EV in person last month just before the pandemic began causing the world to grind to a halt. At GMÂ’s EV Day at its Warren, Mich., campus, the Hummer pickupÂ’s exterior was on full display. ItÂ’s a big, off-road-ready pickup complete with giant all-terrain rubber and tow hooks. It features removable roof panels for access to the open sky, which appears to be depicted in the teaser above. It features sail panels behind the C-pillars, similar to those on the Chevy Avalanche and Honda Ridgeline. Its bed was concealed with a tonneau cover, but it sported GMCÂ’s MultiPro tailgate that we first saw on the Sierra Denali. Interior photos showed a spacious interior with blocky shapes, squared hourglass vents that mirror the look of the taillights and a lunar theme that incorporates the topography of the Sea of Tranquility into things like the floor mats and speaker covers. It also has a large infotainment screen as well as a digital instrument panel. The Hummer pickup will be offered with a number of electric powertrain options, the most powerful of which will provide 1,000 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of less than three seconds. Like the rest of the next generation of GM EVs, it will use the automakerÂ’s new Ultium modular battery and powertrain technology. While we donÂ’t have further details about a potential reveal date, we also know a Hummer electric SUV based on the pickup will follow at some point. It, too was on display at GMÂ’s EV Day. It looks exactly like the Hummer pickup from the rear doors forward, but with a shorter wheelbase and enclosed cargo area in the rear. It also sported a liftgate-mounted spare.

Meet Alex Archer, the engineer behind GM's power-sliding center console

In 2009, a GM manager complained to a 59-year-old GM technician about the hassle of retrieving items from a pickup truck bed after driving shifted the cargo. In two days, the tech had come up with the ideas that, ten years later, would debut as the MultiPro tailgate. The engineering teams kept the tailgate secret in part by hiding mock-ups in a locked storage closet in GM's Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren Michigan for two years. A piece in the Detroit Free Press reveals that another storage closet in Warren would play the same role in a different cloak-and-dagger operation, this time for the power-sliding center console in GM's new full-sized SUVs. During a meeting in early 2017, bosses gave the job of the console's creation to 24-year-old design release engineer Alex Archer, just two years out of Stanford University with a degree in engineering and product design.  This time, the catalyst for the feature was an internal GM think tank called co:lab, where employees suggest ideas. Execs gave Archer the task because "They needed someone willing to ask a lot of questions," her 36-month mandate to produce a six-way console that could be a standard cubby or a gaping maw able to swallow four gallon jugs or hide a secret compartment. Clearly, she succeeded. It took Archer and the team nine months to devise a prototype, another six months to get the green light for production. As with the tailgate, the team working on the console grew to include designers, production engineers, and suppliers. Archer, now 26, shepherded the process, and her name is on the patent. "It took a ton of people, I'm just somebody who stuck with it the whole time," she said. GM like her work well enough to produce the "Day in the Life" segment above, five months before the world would hear about the console. Archer's path to engineering was as unlikely as getting the job for the console. She had entered Stanford with plans to be a doctor. But an innovation class during her freshman year, and a sophomore summer spent helping her grandfather rebuild a 1937 MG engine recharted her course. Her grandfather told her, "You know, you could be an engineer for a car company." Consumer reaction to Archer's work won't be far off, the SUVs slated to hit dealerships soon. Meanwhile, she's busy on something that could be just as intense as the console: Restoring a 1955 Packard Clipper in her garage. Head to Freep to check out the story of Archer and the console. Related Video: