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Recharge Wrap-up: meet the Luka EV project, VisibleTesla allows Model S hacking

Select Registry is partnering with Tesla to install chargers at many of its lodgings. More than 170 hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts will install Tesla High Power Wall Connectors for their guests to use. So far, 63 properties have installed the chargers. Eventually, Select Registry members in 34 states as well as Nova Scotia will offer charging on-site. Tesla's wall charger provides the Model S with 58 miles of range per hour. The hotels will rent you a room for the full night, as well. Read more in the press release below. Tesla Model S owners can hack their car with the VisibleTesla app. The free, open source app allows users to check on and control the status of the car and its subsystems, similar to Tesla's official apps. VisibleTesla can also be used to schedule certain automated commands. For example, its creator, Joe Pasqua, has his car send him a text message reminding him to bring his bags with him when he enters the grocery store parking lot. Other users have the car remind them if the car is not charging at a certain time, or schedule the car to turn on the heat before departure. Read more at TechWorm, or learn more at the VisibleTesla website. Georgia Power has added 32 Chevrolet Volts to its fleet. Employees, particularly the utility's energy efficiency experts, will use the cars to travel to customers' homes and businesses to conduct energy audits. "We are leading by example and demonstrating to our customers, and other Georgia businesses, that electric transportation works for all drivers," says Georgia Power Chairman, President & CEO Paul Bowers. Georgia Power also offers charger rebates and special rates for EV customers. Read more at Domestic Fuel. The Luka EV is a project to build an affordable, lightweight, retro-looking, road-legal electric car in one year. The team wants to get the car certified for use on EU roads by September 2015. They have goals of achieving a driving range of 300 kilometers (about 186 miles), keeping the cost under ˆ20,000 (about $22,280 US at current rates) and the weight under 750 kilograms (about 1,650 pounds). The builders recently completed their first range test of the working vehicle, which uses in-hub motors for propulsion. Learn more at the Luka EV project page on Hackaday. Select Registry Teams with Tesla Motors Both Tesla owners and their vehicles can recharge at more than 170 B&Bs, inns, and hotels throughout the U.S.

10 of 18 midsize SUVs earn 'good' IIHS side impact safety rating

It's not terribly surprising that midsize SUVs earned better safety ratings than small SUVs in the latest side-impact tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Just how much better they scored, on the other hand, certainly raises an eyebrow. Ten out of 18 midsize SUVs earned the highest rating of 'good' in the stringent new test, altered for vehicles starting with the 2020 model year with a heavier barrier (4,200 pounds) that moves at a higher speed (37 miles per hour) and is fitted with a hard honeycomb frontal structure. By way of contrast, just one out of of 20 small SUVs earned a 'good' score.  SUVs that receiving 'good' scores were the Ford Explorer, Infiniti QX60, Lincoln Aviator, Mazda CX-9, Nissan Pathfinder, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, Volkswagen Atlas, Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and Volkswagen ID.4. For EV fans, it's worth noting the ID.4 was the only electric vehicle included in the test. The Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse scraped away with 'acceptable' ratings while the Honda Passport, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Wrangler 4-door, Kia Telluride and Nissan Murano were deemed merely 'marginal' in the tough new test. Only two models — the Mazda CX-9 and Volkswagen ID.4 — earned a "Good" rating in every test category.  Interestingly, the Jeep Wrangler would have scored a 'good' rating if it were equipped with side airbags for the rear seating positions. It would likely be an engineering challenge to equip its removable top and/or doors with airbags, but the lack of that safety feature allowed the head of the rear passenger dummy to hit the vertical support of the top. Otherwise, the Wrangler scored good ratings across the board. The new Ford Bronco, which makes more allowances for side-impact safety, has not yet been tested.  The popular Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride SUVs stand out in the test with 'poor' ratings for driver pelvis injuries. The Nissan Murano, a vehicle last redesigned for the 2015 model year, was the only vehicle tested that received a 'poor' rating for its structure and safety cage. Videos of the tests of 12 of these 18 SUVs can be found on the IIHS' YouTube page. Related video: Green Buick Chevrolet Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jeep Kia Mazda Nissan Subaru Toyota Volkswagen Safety Crossover SUV IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Autonomous tech will drive motorheads off the road

While autonomous technology could make car travel much safer and more efficient — and automakers and marketers are salivating over the prospect of a "passenger economy" that could potentially generate $7 trillion by 2050 — those of us who enjoy driving are not so stoked. Experts have predicted that as autonomous vehicles are deployed in large numbers, human-driven cars eventually could be outlawed on public roads due to the carnage they create, which is currently more than 41,000 deaths a year in the U.S. alone and climbing. Such scenarios have driving enthusiasts envisioning a "Red Barchetta" style nightmare becoming reality, making Rush lyricist Neil Peart a clairvoyant as well as one of rock's most badass skin-pounders. But there could be a couple of refuges left for motorheads, and they won't be on public roads. As Popular Science's Joe Brown points out in a recent editorial, we're seeing a wave of vehicles being offered by legit mainstream automakers that aren't made for public roads. The poster child of this vanguard is the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, which comes with a crate full of goodies that lets you turn the already formidable street-legal muscle car into a drag-strip dominator. Brown also notes that two out of five of the Ford GT's driving modes are for use on the track, "catering to the $450,000 machine's club-racing clientele." We're also currently enjoying the heyday of production off-road-ready pickups that kicked off with the Ford Raptor in 2009. The latest salvo in this escalating war of overachieving trucks is the Chevy Colorado ZR2 that can take on the likes of California's Rubicon Trail without issue. Brown also gives a shout-out to his magazine's Grand Award Winner, the Alta Motors Redshift MX, which "isn't even allowed on public roads" and is "meant for bombing around motocross tracks, big backyards and single-track woods trails." If you follow Brown on Instagram, you know that he's also a two-wheel aficionado, and he points out that sales of off-road bikes are leaving street machines in the dust. Sales of off-highway motorcycles rose 29 percent between 2012 and 2016, according to the ­Motorcycle Industry Council — compared to 6 percent for road-bike sales during the same period. "That's a nearly 400-percent drubbing," Brown remarks.