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Google-Chrysler autonomous project will include ride-sharing

Google's new Waymo automobile-technology division might have just gotten "way mo" interesting, if you'll excuse the pun. Google, which this spring said it would work with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on the development of a self-driving Chrysler minivan prototype, is adding a ride-sharing component to the project, Bloomberg News says, citing people familiar with the process. Representatives with both Fiat Chrysler and Google parent Alphabet Inc. declined to comment to Bloomberg. The ride-sharing service, which would compete with fellow San Francisco Bay Area-based companies such as Uber and Lyft, may debut as soon as the end of next year. Uber continues to move forward with its own self-driving efforts, launching self-driving tests (with engineers behind the wheel) in Pittsburgh in September and announcing this week that it would start tests in San Francisco. Those efforts may be delayed, however, as the state of California requires special permitting for testing out self-driving technology, and while the state has granted those permits to automakers such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford, it hasn't for Uber. Google and Chrysler said earlier this year that it would develop about 100 autonomous-driving Pacifica prototypes, but the ride-sharing service would require more of those vehicles to be built. Google's auto-technology operations, now called Waymo, have been headed by former Hyundai executive John Krafcik since September 2015. The division has reportedly brought in more executive-level personnel to speed things along. Meanwhile, Chrysler is slated to unveil an all-electric prototype version of the Pacifica at Las Vegas's annual CES show next month. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Brand new cars are being sold with defective Takata airbags

If you just bought a 2016 Audi TT, 2017 Audi R8, 2016–17 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or 2016 Volkswagen CC, we have some unsettling news for you. A report provided to a US Senate committee that oversees the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and reported on by Automotive News claims these vehicles were sold with defective Takata airbags. And it gets worse. Toyota and FCA are called out in the report for continuing to build vehicles that will need to be recalled down the line for the same issue. That's not all. The report also states that of the airbags that have been replaced already in the Takata recall campaign, 2.1 million will need to eventually be replaced again. They don't have the drying agent that prevents the degradation of the ammonium nitrate, which can lead to explosions that can destroy the airbag housing and propel metal fragments at occupants. So these airbags are out there already. We're not done yet. There's also a stockpile of about 580,000 airbags waiting to be installed in cars coming in to have their defective airbags replaced. These 580k airbags also don't have the drying agent. They'll need to be replaced down the road, too. A new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time. If all this has you spinning around in a frustrated, agitated mess, there's a silver lining that is better than it sounds. So take a breath, run your fingers through your hair, and read on. Our best evidence right now demonstrates that defective Takata airbags – those without the drying agent that prevents humidity from degrading the ammonium nitrate propellant – aren't dangerous yet. It takes a long period of time combined with high humidity for them to reach the point where they can rupture their housing and cause serious injury. It's a matter of years, not days. So a new vehicle with a defective Takata airbag should be safe to drive, but that margin of safety decreases with time – and six years seems to be about as early as the degradation happens in the worst possible scenario. All this is small comfort for the millions of people who just realized their brand-new car has a time bomb installed in the wheel or dashboard, or the owners who waited patiently to have their airbags replaced only to discover that the new airbag is probably defective in the same way (although newer and safer!) as the old one.

Chrysler, Nissan looking into claim that their cars are industry's most hackable

A pair of cyber security experts have awarded the ignominious title of most hackable vehicles on American roads to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2014 Infiniti Q50 and 2015 Cadillac Escalade.
Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are set to release a report at the Black Hat hacking conference in Las Vegas, Automotive News reports. The two men found the Jeep, Caddy and Q50 were easiest to hack based not on actual tests with the vehicles, but a detailed analysis of systems like Bluetooth and wireless internet access - basically, anything that'd allow a hacker to remotely gain access to the vehicle's systems.
Considering this lack of hands-on testing, the pair acknowledge that "most hackable" could be a relative term - they point out that the vehicles may actually be quite secure.