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Roger Moore dies at 89; a look back at his automotive moments

According to Reuters, actor Roger Moore passed away this morning. The news source reports he died of cancer at age 89. Moore has a place in automotive enthusiasts' hearts thanks to his connection to some of the most famous onscreen cars in history. He portrayed James Bond in multiple films, perhaps most famously in The Spy Who Loved Me, in which his Bond piloted an amphibious Lotus Esprit. That car inspired many, even Elon Musk, who purchased the submarine version of the car. He also included it as an Easter egg in the Tesla Model S. That wasn't the only memorable Moore automotive moment. In two other Bond films, his character was involved in some remarkable stunts. In The Man with the Golden Gun, Moore's Bond drives an AMC Hornet over a ramp and does a barrel roll. Although cheesy, the stunt did happen. According to The Telegraph, a Cornell University aeronautical computer ran a simulation of the stunt and calculated the variables (such as the proper speed: 40 mph). Then British stuntman Loren "Bumps" Willard executed the roll on the first take, earning a GBP30,000 bonus. Which is a lot of money for a scene that uses a slide whistle as a sound effect. You can see the jump below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Moore is also associated with a great car thanks to his other famous role on the TV show The Saint. In that series, he drove the beautiful and unusual Volvo P1800 coupe. The car was enough of an icon that Jay Leno featured it on his Jay Leno's Garage series. Related Video:

Volvo to adopt NACS port, partners with Tesla for Supercharger access

Volvo is the next automaker to announce that it’s signed an agreement with Tesla with will allow its current and future electric vehicles use of the Supercharger network. Plus, just like Ford and GM, Volvo says its new EVs from 2025 on will be equipped with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) port instead of the Combined Charging System (CCS) port. This agreement makes Volvo the first European automaker to adopt TeslaÂ’s charge port and gain access to the 12,000-plus Superchargers across the U.S. Volvo says that owners of its EVs will be able to access Superchargers as early as the first half of 2024 with an adapter. For Volvo EVs built with the NACS port, Volvo says those vehicles will still be capable of charging on CCS chargers with an adapter provided by Volvo. Volvo didnÂ’t explicitly say that the Supercharger network would be integrated into its carsÂ’ native navigation system (which is just Google Maps these days), but it did say that folks will be able to use the Volvo Cars app to do so. Via the app, youÂ’ll be able to locate chargers, get real-time availability info and pay for charging sessions. “As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible,” said Jim Rowan, Volvo CEO. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving – a key step in making transportation more sustainable – is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, weÂ’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.” Stay tuned, as itÂ’s only a matter of time until more and more automakers make a similar decision as Ford, GM and Volvo just made. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Volvo demos autonomous self-parking car concept

A number of companies are developing autonomous vehicle technology - Google and Audi come to mind - but Volvo is applying its work in the area to a particular usage case: parking. The Swedish automaker has the technology up and running in a concept vehicle, which it says can be dropped off at the curb by its owner and left to its own devices to enter and navigate a car park, then find and park in an available parking spot. Volvo says the process can even be reversed when the owner is ready to go, with the car leaving the car park on its own to meet its key-holder again at the curb.
The vehicle first interacts with Vehicle 2 Infrastructure technology, which places transmitters in the road itself to inform the car (and driver) if the self-parking service is available. The driver then hops out, activates the Self Parking function on his or her smartphone and then leaves the car to do its work. The car uses sensors, all seemingly hidden from view (an advancement of its own in this field), to autonomously navigate the car park, which includes interacting and adjusting to other cars, people and objects.
The technology used here builds off of Volvo's other work in autonomous vehicle research, namely the Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) project in which the company managed to create a train of four cars autonomously following a lead truck at speeds up 56 miles per hour. Volvo says the first application of its autonomous research in a production vehicle will happen at the end of 2014 with some level of autonomous steering available in the next-generation XC90. See the system in action by watching the video below.