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What's the deal with comedians and their cars?

'Round about the time in his life when it should happen for all of us, Jerry Seinfeld's ship came in with a force that almost split the dock. He'd been doing pretty well with his observational style ("There's a cereal now that's just cookies. Have you seen this? Cookies for breakfast. It's called Cookie Crisp. Cookies for breakfast! They oughta just call it 'To Hell With Everything!'"). But he showed no signs of setting the world on fire until he got cast in a show that was either about – depending on the level of comedy geek you ask – the average New Yorker, the very worst people in the world, or nothing. Suddenly Jerry Seinfeld was pretty much the center of the comedy universe. And while his comedy was at once both brilliantly innovative and rooted in the mundane, his next move was a predictable grab at something exotic – he went out and bought his dream car. A rather nice 911, actually. As almost everyone knows, it didn't stop there, and the man put together one of the most enviable collections of iconic Porsches we're likely to see. So what's the connection, if there is one, between cars and comedy? As far as Jerry Seinfeld (the man) is concerned, he's probably not the same guy as the Jerry on Seinfeld (the show) although it's hard to say for sure; his public persona is almost unnervingly well managed. But cars and comedy were the constants in his life then, and, well, just look at what the guy does now; Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a cultural constant, and we're certainly seeing Seinfeld the man in that one, and cars are obviously still central to his life. And it's been that way with a lot of very, very good comedy guys. Cars seem to round out their lives, to become the yin to their comedy yang. Ernie Kovacs might not have invented visual gags or surreal humor, but he got them both to kill on television in the 1950s, so he's a comedy hero. He died behind the wheel of his beloved Corvair wagon, so he's absolutely some kind of car-guy hero as well. Bill Cosby, the hottest name in comedy for a good long while, had Ferraris, one of two fire-breathing supercharged big-block Cobras (pictured below), and a BMW 2002tii – none of which either contributed to or in any way make up for the profoundly sociopathic creature he turned out to be, but it's still a data point. The Smothers Brothers, who defied the networks and the norms by getting blatantly political before that sort of thing was cool, went sports car racing.

New electric Volvo crossover on the way, to be built in the U.S.

Automotive News reports that Volvo has a new electric crossover coming, the intel relayed by "two sources familiar with the plans." Said to be codenamed V546 at the moment, the new product is said to slot in between the XC60 and XC90. If size is a factor in its tweener placement, the XC60 is 185 inches long, the XC90 195 inches long, so the V546 could be about the length of the 189-inch Ford Edge. The sources claim it will ride on a new electric platform, which could be SPA2 bones that will support the coming electric XC90 and that the Concept Recharge electric crossover study (pictured) sits on. The Swedish automaker debuted the Concept Recharge in June last year as a template of future styling cues, sustainable materials, and advanced infotainment and autonomous technology. The AN piece says we'll see that some design and tech transfer into the V546. Out of a global production of about 100,000 units, 40% will be allotted to Volvo's plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, to serve the North American market, starting in early 2025. That leaves an available capacity of 110,000 units out of the plant's 150,000-unit annual cap. The four-year-old plant builds just the S60 sedan at the moment — turning out roughly 23,000 units last year — but is transitioning to an all-EV assembly operation. Before the V546 arrives in three years, the Ridgeville facility will add the battery-electric version of the next-generation XC90, thought to be called the Embla, and the battery-electric Polestar 3, both hitting the market in 2023. Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson has said Ridgeville will "be the only plant in the [Volvo Cars Group] which only makes full-electric cars."  And although it's fallen off the radar, we're still anticipating the new flagship XC100 to debut in 2023 as well. AN's Future Product Pipeline says the top model will come in six- and seven-seat layouts akin to what BMW and Range Rover do, with the six-seater bolting up captain's chairs in the second row. Ridgeville also gets the nod for this one, production said to begin in early 2023.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 C40 Recharge crossover

Chip maker Nvidia adds Volvo to list of self-driving partners

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp announced on Monday it was partnering with Volvo Cars and Swedish auto supplier Autoliv to develop self-driving car technology for vehicles due to hit the market by 2021. Volvo is owned by China's Geely Automobile Holdings. Silicon Valley-based Nvidia also announced a non-exclusive partnership with German automotive suppliers ZF and Hella for artificial intelligence technology for autonomous driving. Nvidia came to prominence in the gaming industry for designing graphics processing chips, but in recent years has been a key player in the automotive sector for providing the so-called "brain" of the autonomous vehicle. The company, whose many partners already include Tesla, Toyota, Ford, Audi, BMW, and tier one supplier Robert Bosch, announced its latest deals at an automotive electronics show in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Nvidia's Drive PX artificial intelligence platform is used by Tesla in its Models S and X and upcoming Model 3 electric vehicles. Volkswagen AG's Audi is also using the system to reach full autonomous driving by 2020. In a call with reporters, Nvidia's senior automotive director Danny Shapiro said carmakers and their main suppliers are now moving away from the research and development phase of autonomous vehicles and into concrete production plans. The system developed jointly by ZF and Hella, and using Nvidia's Drive PX platform, will combine front cameras with radar and software to create technology meeting the Euro NCAP safety certification for so-called "Level 3" driving, in which some, but not all, driving is performed by the car. Volvo is already using the Drive PX for the self-driving cars in its "Drive Me" autonomous pilot program. Volvo's production vehicles built on Nvidia's platform, as announced on Monday, are planned for sale by 2021.Reporting By Alexandria SageRelated Video: Auto News Green Tesla Toyota Volvo Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles nvidia autoliv