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Toyota Supra, Rolls-Royces, dozens of BMWs recalled for backup camera issue

Weeks after Nissan and Infiniti recalled more than 1.2 million vehicles for a potentially dangerous programming oversight in the backup camera settings, BMW has issued a recall for similar problems. The recall, which covers 257,481 vehicles, includes numerous BMWs, as well as two Rolls-Royce models, and the 2020 Toyota Supra.  In total, the recall potentially affects 51 different products. This includes the 2018 BMW 540D, 2018–2019 BMW 640I, Rolls-Royce Phantom, 2018–2020 BMW 530e, 530i, 540i, M5, M550i, X3, 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan, 2019–2020 BMW 330I, 740Le, 740Li, 745Le, 750Li, 840i, M340i, M850i, X4, X5, X6, X7, Z4, and 2020 Toyota Supra. On certain BMW models, xDrive variants are also included. According to NHTSA campaign No. 19V684000, "The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rearview image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse." If there is no display image when backing up, drivers can't properly see, and the car no longer meets modern safety regulations. Specifically, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."  The recall was filed on September 27, 2019, and BMW plans to begin notifying affected owners in November. BMW, Toyota, and Rolls-Royce dealers will update the vehicles' software, which should fix the problem. 

Toyota throwing water on fast-charging EVs

Toyota is undoubtedly committed to moving beyond the internal combustion engine for future automobiles. But, while the company embraces hybrids with boosted production, new models and in motorsports, the automaker is more standoffish when it comes to pure electric models. This is especially true as the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell sedan comes to market. In the mind of Mirai chief engineer Yoshikazu Tanaka, even fast-charging electric vehicles don't have much of a future because of their strain on the power grid. "If you were to charge a car in 12 minutes for a range of 500 km (310 miles), for example, you're probably using up electricity required to power 1,000 houses," he said to Reuters. Tanaka admitted that EVs have a place in the market, but it was for short drives during the day after being charged each night. As one of the people responsible for bringing the Mirai to the road, it shouldn't be too shocking that Tanaka puts his faith in hydrogen. He feels that H2 is the better choice for long-distance driving because of the available range and speed of refueling. "Of course, there are technological hurdles that need to be cleared to make this commercially viable," he said to Reuters. One of the biggest of those obstacles is building a new refueling infrastructure. But, despite government subsidies, Japan looks set to miss its goal of opening 100 H2 stations by the end of March 2016. Toyota has thrown a lot of support behind hydrogen but has been accused of overstating some of the fuel's benefits and embellishing the current refueling infrastructure. Still, engineers at the automaker are working to bring the cost of the fuel cell vehicle down to the level of a diesel by 2022.

Toyota develops new pre-collision system with steering assist

A number of automakers are working on developing fully autonomous cars, but it looks like the groundwork for such technologies will likely show up first as semi-autonomous systems for both safety and convenience. Following recent announcements from Nissan and Ford in this area, Toyota has now released information for some of its advanced semi-autonomous technologies that could be offered in production cars over the next few years.
On the safety front, Toyota's new pre-collision system with pedestrian-avoidance steering assist is aimed at protecting the folks who aren't in the car. This system combines visual and audible alerts with automatic brake assist and automatic steering. If warnings don't get the driver to slow down, the brake assist kicks in if a collision is very likely, but if that is still not able to avoid the impending collision (and if there is enough room to do so), the car can automatically steer itself around the pedestrian. This sounds most beneficial for last-second dangers such as a person accidently stepping out into the road in front of a car. Toyota hopes to have this technology available to customers by 2015.
The Japanese automaker is also testing a suite of technologies called Automated Highway Driving Assist (AHDA). The key part of this is a new adaptive cruise control system that uses vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications rather than a radar-based system. This cooperative-adaptive cruise control allows vehicles to communicate their acceleration and deceleration data with other cars, which Toyota says this helps to improve fuel efficiency and traffic flow. Also a part of AHDA is the Lane Trace Control feature, which sounds like a next-gen lane keep assist. This system uses cameras, radar and a computer to keep the vehicle in a "smooth driving line" by being able to change steering angle, engine torque and braking force. Toyota says this technology could be in place by the "mid-2010s."