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Berlin demanding costly German recall of 12 million diesel cars

BERLIN - Germany's Transport Ministry is in talks with car manufacturers about updating the engine management software of up to 12 million diesel vehicles, people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Monday. The cost of updating cars could amount to as much as 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion to $2.8 billion), and the ministry is demanding that vehicles with engines conforming to the euro-4, euro-5 and euro-6 standards be part of the recall, government sources said. The German government has demanded that the auto industry shoulder the costs of the update and is pushing for a solution to be presented before German elections on Sept. 24. The ministry is in talks with German auto industry associations VDA and VDIK as well as representatives from local governments to try and cut nitrogen oxide pollution by about 25 percent, the sources said. The talks come amid growing opposition to diesel in the wake of an emissions cheating scandal at Volkswagen. Several European cities including Stuttgart and Munich have considered banning some diesel vehicles because of emissions of nitrogen oxides, which are blamed for causing respiratory disease. ($1 = 0.8942 euros) Reporting by Markus WacketRelated Video: Government/Legal Green Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz Porsche Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles dieselgate

How Audi will make roads friendlier to autonomous cars

Today, Audi announced some of the new projects it will be implementing on Germany's Digital Motorway Test Bed, which comprises a few sections of highway on which the government and industry can test autonomous and connected tech. Among Audi's projects is one specifically aimed at making roads easier for autonomous cars to navigate. Audi is looking to make the road and other objects more visible. The company has been researching materials that could make guardrails and road markers reflect radar waves more readily, and Audi will install test versions soon. The goal here is to help make these objects easier for the autonomous vehicle's sensors to see in inclement weather, and at greater distances in good weather. The company will also test additional road markings that will be easier to see for onboard cameras and will help the car place itself on the road. Audi will also try out new vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology that will be able to alert cars to speed limits, traffic conditions, ice patches and possibly allow for driving patterns such as platooning. This will be a significant step above the traffic light communication system Audi has released in select areas. The company will also be working on very detailed mapping of the area. Audi claims it will be accurate down to the centimeter. From what we've seen at MCity, the world as it stands presents all kinds of difficulties for autonomous vehicles, from worn-out signs to rough pavement. So any advances that make it easier for autonomous cars to see and communicate should help bring such vehicles to reality much sooner. Related Video: News Source: Audi Green Audi Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles v2v vehicle to vehicle communications vehicle to infrastructure technology connected cars v2i

Watch Audi's Emmy promo, starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

A lot of online videos try way too hard to be funny, but the promo from Audi for the 66th Emmy Awards on Monday, August 25, shows that if you put faith in a proven group of hilarious actors, you can strike comedy gold. The short film reunites Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as the proprietors of a pawnshop of rare and obscure items called Barely Legal Pawn. They have their own fictional reality show (which really needs to exist) that rips off Pawn Stars, and this segment has comedy veteran Julia Louis-Dreyfus coming in to sell her Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy as Elaine on Seinfeld. Louis-Dreyfus also pays the title sponsor's bills by subtly incorporating a 2015 S3 into the otherwise car-free gag.
It would ruin the video to spoil any of the jokes; you just need to watch it. Cranston actually bridges the gap here because way before he became famous as Walter White on Breaking Bad, he had a recurring guest role on Seinfeld as dentist Dr. Tim Whatley. If you're a fan of either show or just need a hearty chuckle for today, this one is definitely for you because all three former Emmy winners put in fantastic performances.