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Waymo opens its self-driving taxis to 'Trusted Testers' in San Francisco

Alphabet's fully autonomous driving unit Waymo is ready to offer rides to select passengers in San Francisco, the company announced on Tuesday. Starting later today, residents can sign up to become "Trusted Testers." With an invite to the program, you can use the Waymo One app to take rides in the fleet of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles Waymo will have stationed in the city.  Waymo describes the Trusted Tester program as a "research-focused" effort designed to help it collect feedback on its ride experience, with an emphasis on gathering information related to accessibility.    "We kicked off this program last week with a select few and are now expanding the program to all interested San Franciscans," the company said. "We’ll begin with an initial group and welcome more riders in the weeks to come." Much like it did in Arizona, Waymo won't let the cars drive without supervision right off the back. The company will have employees in the cars to ensure its fifth-generation Waymo Driver technology doesn't get lost on San Francisco's tricky one-way streets and hills. The company also told Bloomberg passengers will ride for free.   The expansion comes after Waymo recently announced CEO John Krafcik was leaving the company to pursue other projects. Some saw Krafcik as being too slow to push the company toward commercialization.  This article by I. Bonifacic originally appeared on Engadget. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2021 Jaguar XF gets new interior, down to four-cylinder engines and sedan body style

Just like the F-Pace, the 2021 Jaguar XF luxury sedan is getting a light refresh for the new model year. Unlike the F-Pace, the XF's new features are mostly limited to interior and exterior design. And it also loses an engine and body style option. From the outside, not much has changed with the XF. It has a fresh grille, new LED headlights and taillights, and fender vents with the "Leaper" Jaguar logo. It's inside where things have really changed. A completely new dashboard design has been added, which looks a lot like the F-Pace's. It has a full-width air vent motif at the top, and below it are panels with nice stitching and either open-pore or aluminum trim. Whether all this also includes a much-needed improvement in materials quality won't be known until we test one.  The focal point is the new 11.4-inch infotainment system screen made of glass with a magnesium frame. Powering it is the latest Pivi operating system with the capability for over-the-air updates. Jaguar has also added a number of standard features including proximity entry, wireless phone charging, active noise cancellation, a surround-view camera system and a 12-speaker Meridian sound system. While some new features have been added, Jaguar has also removed some options. The XF is now only available with four-cylinder engines, as the supercharged V6 has been discontinued with no direct successor. The base engine is the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. It's available with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. A version of this engine making 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque is optional, and it comes only with all-wheel drive. The other deletion is that of the Jaguar XF Sportbrake wagon, news first reported by CNET Roadshow, and then confirmed by Jaguar. This comes just as two new luxury wagons of its size have been introduced to the market: the Audi A6 Allroad and Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain. However, like the Volvo V90 Cross Country, they're of the mildly lifted and body-cladded wagon sub-segment, which the XF Sportbrake most definitely was not. The surviving un-cladded, un-lifted wagons in this segment are now the regular E-Class and V90, but the latter can only be special ordered in the United States.  The XF will go on sale around January. It should also be priced similarly to the current XF, which starts at $52,250. Update: Jaguar confirmed that the XF Sportbrake has been discontinued for the U.S.

Jaguar F-Type Checkered Flag edition marks 70 years of sports cars

Jaguar's first sports car, the XK 120, debuted in 1948, right in the midst of Britain's postwar recovery efforts. Since then, the company has had decades of success building everything from lightweight roadsters to record-setting supercars. Currently, the automaker's performance lineup is led by the Jaguar F-Type coupe and roadster. To celebrate 70 years of building performance cars, Jaguar is releasing a new special edition, the F-Type Checkered Flag. Most of the upgrades are visual and are available on both coupe and convertible models. In addition to badges and logos on the rear bumper, headrests, kick plates and steering wheel, the cars will be fitted with brushed aluminum trim and black leather. The steering wheel will have a red center marker at its top. There are additional red and white accents throughout the rest of the car. The F-Type Checkered Flag will be available in three colors: Caldera Red, Fuji White or Carpathian Grey, all with a contrasting black roof. Jaguar F-Type Checkered Flag View 18 Photos Somewhat surprisingly, the Checkered Flag upgrades will only be applied to four- and six-cylinder models paired with the eight-speed automatic. Turbocharged four-cylinder cars make 296 horsepower, while the supercharged V6 models make either 340 or 380 horsepower. The 380 horsepower model can be equipped with all-wheel drive. The F-Type R Dynamic package (not the same as the V8-powered F-Type R) packs revised dampers for a smoother ride. Other general changes for the 2020 model year include revised dampers on the F-Type R coupe and convertible. The F-Type R gets the SVR's rear upper ball joint, rear knuckle and rear control arm. A rear camera and parking sensors are standard across the board. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Jaguar Jaguar Convertible Coupe Luxury Performance