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More than 100 pink Cadillacs assemble for Aretha Franklin’s funeral today

Aretha Franklin's funeral service is under way today in Detroit, and plans call for a service of at least five hours featuring performances by stars including Stevie Wonder, Ariana Grande and Chaka Khan, speakers including former President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Al Sharpton, and at least 130 pink Cadillacs lining the road in front of the church. The gesture is a nod to Franklin's Grammy award-winning 1985 hit "Freeway of Love" and its lyrics about driving in a pink Cadillac. Crisette Ellis, the wife of Bishop Charles Ellis III of Detroit's Greater Grace Temple, said they were inspired by how police line up their cars during funerals for fallen officers. "My husband said, 'Wouldn't it be awesome if we could have a sea of pink Cadillacs parked on Seven Mile Road to greet Ms. Aretha Franklin as she arrives?'" she told NPR. Only in #Detroit. 130 pink Cadillacs drive in front of Greater Grace Temple ahead of #ArethaFranklin funeral. pic.twitter.com/qTTJtDXNvS— ROOP RAJ (@rooprajfox2) August 31, 2018 Ellis is an independent national sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics, which famously rewards top sellers with pink Cadillacs, so she had a built-in base of people to call on for the favor. "They're coming from everywhere," she said. "They are coming from as far as Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Florida; North Carolina; Maryland." The funeral, which officially kicked off at 10 a.m. EST at Greater Grace, caps a weeklong celebration of Franklin's life and songs, including a two-day visitation at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and concerts. Performers also include Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson and the Clark Sisters, while Tyler Perry and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are also scheduled to speak. HLN and the Word Network, plus several local Detroit television affiliates, plan to broadcast the funeral, and outlets including The Associated Press and USA Today plan to livestream it. Having sung at the inaugurations of three presidents — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — Franklin was an American institution. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President George W. Bush in 2005. Clinton entered the church with his wife, Hillary, to loud applause and stood quietly by Franklin's open casket before the service started. Franklin's body was dressed in a golden sequined outfit. The funeral was closed to the public, but crowds of fans gathered outside, many dressed in their church best.

GM recalls 3.8 million vehicles in North America due to braking issue

WASHINGTON — General Motors Co said Wednesday it was recalling 3.46 million U.S. pickup trucks and SUVs to address a vacuum pump issue that could make braking more difficult and that has been linked to 113 accidents and 13 injuries. The recall covers 2014-2018 model year vehicles, including some Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon vehicles. In late June, GM recalled 310,000 vehicles in Canada for the same issue. GM did not immediately explain why the Canadian recall occurred more than two months before it called back the vehicles in the United States. The recall was triggered because the amount of vacuum created by the vacuum pump may decrease over time, GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in documents posted on Wednesday. The NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation into the issue last November, and said it had reports of nine related crashes and two injuries. It provided GM in July with additional field reports that prompted the automaker to open an investigation. GM said it could affect braking in "rare circumstances." The NHTSA said in a statement the "vehicles may experience brake boost failure, which would require increased brake pedal effort, leading to a hard brake pedal feel, and potentially increased stopping distance." GM said dealers will reprogram the electronic brake control module to improve how the system utilizes the hydraulic brake boost assist function when vacuum assist is depleted. GM said the vacuum assist pump, which is lubricated with engine oil that flows into the pump through a filter screen, can in some cases lose effectiveness over time, as debris such as oil sludge can accumulate on the filter screen. GM told NHTSA that prior model years used a different brake assist system design, and vehicles manufactured after 2018 were not equipped with the affected pump design. Separately, GM said on Wednesday it is recalling 270,000 additional U.S. vehicles in three smaller recalls, including 177,000 2018 Chevrolet Malibu cars with 1.5L turbo engines because an error in the engine control module software may result in the fuel injectors being disabled.

Three automotive tech trends to watch in 2018 and beyond

Every year, technology plays a bigger and bigger role in the auto industry. To put things in perspective, 10 years ago iPod integration and Bluetooth were cutting-edge in-car innovations, and smartphones and apps weren't yet a thing since the first iPhone was only about six months old. And I can't recall anyone talking about autonomous cars. Compare that to today, with mainstream coverage of the auto industry dominated by autonomous technology, along with electrification and almost every move made by Tesla. These three topics were the most significant trends of car tech in 2017 and I believe they will continue to shape the auto industry in 2018 and beyond. Let's examine them. Full Autonomy Gets Closer to Reality While there were many developments this year that indicate we're inching closer to fully autonomous vehicles, I was behind the wheel for hours to witness one of them. In October I had the chance to test Cadillac Super Cruise on a 700-mile, 11-hour drive from Dallas to Santa Fe – and had my hands on the wheel for maybe 45 minutes max throughout the entire trip. Super Cruise is far from making the Cadillac CT6 or any GM vehicle fully autonomous, and has limitations such as functioning only on pre-mapped main highways. While it simply adds a layer of lane centering to adaptive cruise control, the technology will go a long way in making mainstream drivers more comfortable with letting machines take over. On a separate front, GM is pushing ahead with fully autonomous vehicles and announced last month that it plans to launch of fleets of self-driving robo-taxis in several urban areas in 2019. While most automakers are also in the race to make autonomous cars a reality, GM's turbocharging of its efforts appeared to be in response to Waymo, which announced just weeks earlier that its Early Rider Program in the Phoenix area would go completely driverless. The Early Rider Program launched last April, offering the public a chance to ride in Waymo's autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans. In this new phase of testing, Waymo is using its own employees as guinea pigs instead of the public while the vehicles operate without a human behind the wheel, and takes another giant step forward for fully autonomous driving.