2011 Honda Odyssey on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Eberhard helps Chinese EV maker in US, 'Hail a Honda' at Austin City Limits

Honda is partnering with nonprofit ridesharing service Ride Austin to provide "Hail A Honda" service during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. For both weekends of the festival (Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 and Oct. 7 – Oct. 9), attendees can ride to the event for free in a special liveried 2016 Honda CR-V. The Ride Austin app will feature a "Honda at ACL Festival" tab to hail rides, and users will get a free bandana and water. 2016 marks Honda's eighth year as an Austin City Limits sponsor, and the automaker hosts its own stage at the event. Read more from Honda. Tesla cofounder Martin Eberhard is helping a Chinese EV company enter the US market. Chongqing Sokon Industry Group says it has hired Eberhard as a consultant with a two-year contract. Sokon has created a US-based subsidiary called SF Motors, and Eberhard will manage "the integration of the world's top talent for new energy vehicles, to promote the company's product positioning, R&D, design, technical innovation, talent pool, marketing, in the United States." Since helping to found Tesla, Eberhard has worked on EVs with Volkswagen, Atieva, and as an investor in Alta Motors. Read more at Electrek. A supplier for the Tesla Model 3 describes the automaker's perfectionism. Fuji Technica, a die maker supplying aluminum dies for the Model 3, describes its relationship with Tesla in an article from the Nikkei Asian Review. The company calls Tesla a demanding customer, asking for very specific shapes despite the difficulty of working with aluminum. Fuji Technica must work some dies by hand to achieve Tesla's "meticulous specifications." The company is proud of its achievements, though, especially considering its turnaround after years of financial troubles. Read more from the Nikkei Asian Review, and at Inside EVs. Related Gallery Tesla Model 3 View 18 Photos News Source: Honda, Electrek, Inside EVs, Nikkei Asian Review Green Marketing/Advertising Honda Automakers Tesla Transportation Alternatives Electric recharge wrapup

Watch two Acura NSXs scorch the Nurburgring

Some intrepid spy shooter captured these two Acura NSXs blasting around the Nurburgring. Without being there in person with a decibel meter, it's hard to tell if they're necessarily louder than stock cars, but they sure seem quick. Why test the cars now, when they've been on sale for a while now? Rumors are swirling that this could be a hardcore variant. It's unclear if Honda would call it a Type R, but a midlife refresh with a bit more power or a special limited edition with some extra kick wouldn't be unprecedented. The original NSX had several such models, and recent sports cars like the S2000 had low-volume editions, like the Club Racer variant in the United States and the Type S in Japan. Watch the video and draw your own conclusions about what this is or isn't. One thing's for sure: It's not a pure-EV variant. In other things recent about the NSX, we learned last month that an NSX GT3 non-hybrid race car version will go on sale soon. And here's our first drive of the US Acura-badged NSX from back in 2015. And here's another video from inside the cockpit during an open track day back in June. Watch all the other cars get out of the way and get left behind: Motorsports Acura Honda Coupe Hybrid Racing Vehicles Performance Videos honda nsx

Honda recalling 405K vehicles over airbag issue

Honda is in hot water due to an airbag glitch that is causing it to recall 405,400 vehicles. According to the campaign, the supplemental restraints might fire for no apparent reason. 342,000 of the affected vehicles are 2003 and 2004 Odyssey minivans, which gels with a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation we reported on in June.
Joining the Odyssey in the recall is the Acura MDX, with 63,400 units covered from the 2003 model year. Unlike the van, though, the MDX's recall covers Japan and Australia, in addition to the US and Canada. Both vehicles are suffering from an airbag control unit that is prone to malfunction when exposed to electrical noise, a condition that can cause the airbags to deploy without warning. Although no crashes have been reported in such scenarios, there have been some injuries typical of airbag deployment - abrasions and such.
Honda will be mailing recall notices to owners near the end of October, asking them to bring their vehicles into the dealership for installation of an electrical noise filter. The repair will take about an hour and be free of charge. Scroll down for the official announcement from Honda.