1965 Ford Galaxie 500 Ltd 4 Door Hardtop 88k Miles And A 390 Cool Interior on 2040-cars

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Android Auto to add vehicle-integrated EV route planner for Google Maps

Google just dropped all of its CES news, and there are a whole lot of new features for Android Auto and vehicles with Google Built-In infotainment systems to parse through. Starting with Android Auto, electric vehicles will have much deeper integration with Google Maps when you’re navigating. Google Maps will know your current state of charge, predict a state of charge level for your destination, suggest charging stops along the way for the most efficient route and even tell you how long each charge stop will take depending on your vehicle. ThatÂ’s a level of integration we havenÂ’t seen before from using Android Auto in an EV and should make route planning a much more streamlined process. Of course, the caveat here is that Google will need to work with the manufacturers to have access to the kind of vehicle data required to make such a holistic EV navigation system work without hiccups. Google says that the feature will be rolling out to both the Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning “in the coming months, with others to follow.” WeÂ’ll be impatiently waiting to try it out. As for Google Built-In news, Google says that as of today, youÂ’ll be able to send a trip that youÂ’ve planned on your phone to your car via the Google Maps app. Despite Google Maps being the native navigation system for many cars these days, itÂ’s still easier to plan a multi-destination route on your phone than tapping through the motions on the carÂ’s screen, but should no longer be an issue with this update. Additional apps are coming online in the Google Play Store that you can download to your car, too. Volvo and Polestar cars will be able to download the Google Chrome browser later this year so you can browse the web directly from your infotainment system. Both PBS Kids and Crunchyroll are being added for your streaming convenience (while charging or parked), and The Weather Channel app is available, too. ThatÂ’s all Google revealed today, but it also hinted that Digital car key support will be expanding support to more vehicles and more Android phones in the future. Plus, it says even more OEMs will continue to launch infotainment systems with Google Built-In. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green CES Ford Volvo Technology Infotainment Smartphone Truck Crossover Electric Luxury Performance Polestar

Ford to add Android Auto and CarPlay to 2016 SYNC 3 cars via update

Ford is updating a large number of 2016 model year cars equipped with SYNC 3 infotainment software, adding Android Auto and CarPlay to the vehicles with a free, over-the-air update via Wi-Fi, or using either USB or going through their dealer. The upgrade will be available for around 800,000 vehicles in total, giving a huge number of Ford car owners the chance to get big infotainment improvements without having to buy a newer model car. The OTA update option is also a big step for Ford – it's the company's first for software ever, and it's one of the major reasons that Ford recently hired around 400 new mobile smartphone engineers, the company tells me. For CarPlay, users will still also need to upgrade their vehicle's USB hub to make this work (which will also incur a dealer visit and a cost), but for those on Android, all that's required is a simple software installation. The USB install method is also faster, but the Wi-Fi update option is the start of the company's efforts to really increase its OTA update program, which will be used for security improvements as well as infotainment bumps. Even with a dealer visit and hardware upgrade for CarPlay, this sounds like a worthwhile thing for 2016 vehicle owners to do. CarPlay and Android Auto are huge upgrades vs. most in-car software, offering navigation and entertainment options that follow you from your phone to your car. Retroactively offering this kind of thing to car owners is a definite change in tone for carmakers, since they typically use these kinds of things as incentives to get people interested in vehicle model updates. But as data becomes increasingly important to automakers as a business, it makes sense to encourage greater in-car use of devices.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunchRelated Video: Auto News Ford Lincoln Technology Infotainment android

Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.