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Impala crashes into Land Cruiser... to hide from a cheetah

What would you do if a wild animal jumped into your vehicle through an open window during an African safari? What if said animal was an impala being chased by cheetahs? Though the scenario seems unbelievable, that's just what happened to a group of tourists in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and it was all caught on video.
With the tour groups stopped, a motorist with a video camera handy happens to catch the unlikely sight of a herd of impalas (not that kind of Impala) jumping over the tarmac while being followed, quickly of course, by two cheetahs. The feline predators thought they had cornered one impala and were closing in for the kill when it jumped through the open window of a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - South Africa's version of the Lexus GX. Fortunately for the occupants of said vehicle, the cheetahs did not follow.
A short while later, one of the occupants in the Toyota fearlessly opens a door to let the poor animal out. It must have been its lucky day, because the cheetahs didn't take pursuit. Check out the circle life get interrupted by this traffic jam in the video below.

Recharge Wrap-up: Automakers talk connected cars, Toyota's CNG hauler

Tesla, Toyota and General Motors addressed the House Subcommittee on Information Technology about the security and benefits of "The Internet of Cars." Tesla put forth four suggested security principles for the security of connected cars. Those include standard cryptography ("signing") used by automakers, measures to prohibit direct connection over the internet, isolation of a car's networked systems from its mechanical systems and standard encrypted communications protocols. Tesla VP of Business Development Diarmuid O'Connell also urged against "overly restrictive regulation." O'Connell says, "Regulation at a time of rapid innovation runs the risk of limiting the realization of the full extent of safety advances." See the hearing in the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Details over the rollout of new DC fast chargers by NRG eVgo and BMW leave some i3 owners disappointed. The partners will add 500 fast-charging sites to the eVgo network in 25 cities by the end of 2015. The "Fast Combo" chargers will be available to use for free for BMW i3 customers for 24 months. The free charging only applies to new buyers, though, leaving behind some 15,000 current i3 owners. Still, many EV drivers – not just BMW owners – will benefit from the ability to charge quickly in more places. Read more at Green Car Reports. Toyota has announced its first CNG car hauler. The automaker's in-house transport company, Toyota Transport, will operate the truck out of Long Beach, California. The truck, which Toyota says emits 85 percent less particulate matter and 10 percent less CO2, will drive about 7,000 to 8,000 miles per month. "We started exploring the CNG option more than three years ago, and it has been worth the wait," say Toyota Transport Compliance Senior Analyst Kirk Welch. "Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and will help Toyota advance our environmental efforts to reduce fleet emissions." Read more in the press release below. Making Your New Toyota Run Cleaner Before You Even Start It Toyota's Latest Car Hauler Runs on Compressed Natural Gas November 23, 2015 TORRANCE, Calif. (Nov. 23, 2015) – Toyota Transport, the automaker's in-house vehicle transportation trucking company, now has its first car hauler that runs on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The Long Beach, CA based truck/trailer does what any other car hauler can do, except it does it while emitting 85 percent less overall particulate matter and 10 percent less carbon dioxide.

Toyota recalls power window switches for 6.5 million vehicles [UPDATE]

UPDATE: There was one incident of someone in the US getting a burn to the hand from this issue Toyota spokesperson Cindy Knight tells Autoblog that. "We have 11 reports where part of the door trim and/or switch was burnt," she said. The company isn't aware of any crashes from the problem, though. Because of a potential short circuit in the driver's side power window switch, Toyota is recalling 6.5 million vehicles worldwide, Reuters reports. Of those, the automaker says around 2 million are in the US. The affected models here are: 2007 and 2009 Camry and Camry Hybrid 2009-2011 Corolla 2008-2011 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid 2009-2011 Matrix 2006-2011 RAV4 2009-2011 Sequoia 2009-2011 Tundra 2006-2010 Yaris 2009-2011 Scion xB 2009-2010 Scion xD According to Toyota, the switch might not have received adequate lubricant grease during manufacturing, and over time this could lead to a short circuit. In a worst-case scenario, the part might even overheat, melt and cause a fire. As a fix, dealers will inspect the component on these vehicles and apply heat-resistant grease to it, and any broken examples will have an internal circuit board replaced. Toyota already issued one recall for this problem in 2012 when it had to repair 7.5 million vehicles globally from the 2007-2009 model years, including 2.5 million in the US. These latest models had the grease applied in a different way. Related Video: Toyota Recalls Certain Vehicles for Power Window Master Switch October 21, 2015 TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 20, 2015 – Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. today announced that it is conducting a safety recall of approximately 2,000,000 vehicles related to the driver's side Power Window Master Switch. The involved vehicles include certain: 2007 and 2009 Camry and Camry Hybrid 2009-2011 Corolla 2008-2011 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid 2009-2011 Matrix 2006-2011 RAV4 2009-2011 Sequoia 2009-2011 Tundra 2006-2010 Yaris 2009-2011 Scion xB 2009-2010 Scion xD The Power Window Master Switch in the involved vehicles may have been manufactured with insufficient lubricant grease. If not enough grease is applied, under certain conditions the switch may develop a short circuit that can cause the switch assembly to overheat and melt. A melting switch can produce smoke and potentially lead to a fire. Toyota previously recalled certain 2007-2009 model year vehicles for a similar condition.