As much as we talk about autonomous cars, electric cars, and the future of the automotive industry in regards to future cityscapes, one thing we may have overlooked in our crystal ball is the non-inclusion of privately-owned motorized vehicles in certain cities, or city centers altogether.  The benefits to the municipalities and folks who may one day live in towns that adopt such drastic anti-auto measures, may be far more substantial than one would ever expect.  Pontevedra, Spain is one existing example of such an experiment, and it works just fine for all that live there. (DealershipNews.com)

Full Guardian Article (https://bit.ly/2Ozr3jV ): People don’t shout in Pontevedra – or they shout less. With all but the most essential traffic banished, there are no revving engines or honking horns, no metallic snarl of motorbikes or the roar of people trying make themselves heard above the din – none of the usual soundtrack of a Spanish city.

What you hear in the street instead are the tweeting of birds in the camellias, the tinkle of coffee spoons and the sound of human voices. Teachers herd crocodiles of small children across town without the constant fear that one of them will stray into traffic.

“Listen,” says the mayor, opening the windows of his office. From the street below rises the sound of human voices. “Before I became mayor 14,000 cars passed along this street every day. More cars passed through the city in a day than there are people living here.”

Miguel Auxo Fernández Lores has been mayor of the Galician city since 1999. His philosophy is simple: owning a car doesn’t give you the right to occupy the public space.

“How can it be that the elderly or children aren’t able to use the street because of cars?” asks César Mosquera, the city’s head of infrastructures. “How can it be that private property – the car – occupies the public space?”

Lores became mayor after 12 years in opposition, and within a month had pedestrianized all 300,000 sq. meters of the medieval center, paving the streets with granite flagstones. “The historical center was dead,” he says. “There were a lot of drugs, it was full of cars – it was a marginal zone. It was a city in decline, polluted, and there were a lot of traffic accidents. It was stagnant. Most people who had a chance to leave did so. At first, we thought of improving traffic conditions but couldn’t come up with a workable plan. Instead we decided to take back the public space for the residents and to do this we decided to get rid of cars.”

They stopped cars crossing the city and got rid of street parking, as people looking for a place to park is what causes the most congestion. They closed all surface car parks in the city center and opened underground ones and others on the periphery, with 1,686 free places. They got rid of traffic lights in favour of roundabouts, extended the car-free zone from the old city to the 18th-century area, and used traffic calming in the outer zones to bring the speed limit down to 30km/h.

The benefits are numerous. On the same streets where 30 people died in traffic accidents from 1996 to 2006, only three died in the subsequent 10 years, and none since 2009. CO2 emissions are down 70%, nearly three-quarters of what were car journeys are now made on foot or by bicycle, and, while other towns in the region are shrinking, central Pontevedra has gained 12,000 new inhabitants. Also, withholding planning permission for big shopping centers has meant that small businesses – which elsewhere have been unable to withstand Spain’s prolonged economic crisis – have managed to stay.

Lores, a member of the leftwing Galician Nationalist Bloc, is a rarity in the solidly conservative northwestern region. Pontevedra, population 80,000, is the birthplace of Mariano Rajoy, the former Spanish prime minister and leader of the rightwing People’s party. However, the mayor says Rajoy has never shown any interest in an urban scheme that has earned his native city numerous awards. Naturally, it hasn’t all gone off without a hitch. People don’t like being told they can’t drive wherever they want, but Lores says that while people claim it as a right, in fact what they want are privileges.

“If someone wants to get married in the car-free zone, the bride and groom can come in a car, but everyone else walks,” he says. “Same with funerals.”

The main grumble is that the scheme has led to congestion on the periphery of the zone and that there aren’t enough parking spaces.

 “The city is the perfect size for pedestrianization,” says local architect Rogelio Carballo Soler. “You can cross the entire city in 25 minutes. There are things you could criticize, but there’s nothing that would make you reject this model.”

Later, at a children’s birthday party, a group of parents discuss the pros and cons of the car-free city. “The problem is first thing in the morning in the few streets where cars are permitted there are traffic jams,” says Ramiro Armesto. “There’s no public transport from the peripheral car parks into the center. On the other hand, I’ve lived in Valencia and Toledo but I’ve never lived in a city as easy to live in as this one.”

Raquel García says: “I’ve lived in Madrid and many other places and for me this is paradise. Even if it’s raining, I walk everywhere. And the same shopkeepers who complain are the ones who have survived in spite of the crisis. It’s also a great place to have kids.”

“What’s needed is more areas where you can park for five minutes so that you can take the kids to school when it’s raining,” says Víctor Prieto. “Here, if it’s raining – and it rains a lot – people get in their car to buy bread. They do it less now. I hardly use my car at all now.”

The works were all financed locally and received no aid from regional or central government.

“In effect, these are everyday public works that have been carried out in the context of a global project, but they cost the same or even less,” says Lores. “We’ve haven’t undertaken grand projects. We’ve done what was within our grasp.”  #GuardianWalking

Is there a town near you here in the USA or Canada that this model would work in?  It wouldn’t have to be an entire city, rather as in this example, it could be in a central gathering area of any decided size, accessible by shuttle services adjacent to a huge parking lot(s). The boon to local businesses, cafes, and sight-seeing destinations by drastically changing the ambience, and eliminating the unnatural clang, clatter, and congestion caused by cars would be welcome to many looking for a return to a more organic urban way of life. (DealershipNews.com)

A Swedish meta-study, which analyzes and summarizes studies completed  in the EV field, found that around 150 to 200 kgs of CO2 equivalents (environmental impact equivalent to that of the release of CO2) are produced for every kilowatt hour (kWh) storage capacity of electric car batteries.

The impact isn’t due to any kind of vehicle emissions, and doesn’t even taken into consideration the incremental pollution to landfills from dead batteries. Rather, it’s all about the source of extraction of raw materials including lithium from mines, the processing of raw materials, and production of lithium-ion batteries in factories.

Ironically, a gas powered engine can run for 8 years until it has the same environmental impact as a Tesla Model X. Since the Nissan Leaf has a smaller battery, it takes 3 years to have equivalent impact. That’s the ugly truth folks. For those of us who proudly drive our hybrids and EVs due to environmental concerns (sorry Larry David), we’re driving an illusion. My chosen illusion is that I’m sticking it to OPEC by using less gas.

According to Mia Romare, one of the researchers; “Unnecessarily large batteries weigh more on the environment. One should therefore consider whether one can manage with smaller batteries.”

Even Toyota admits it’s production of the Prius Hybrid emits more CO2 than it’s conventional models due to more advanced componentry which includes a smaller gas engine, and large lithium battery packs.

A 2013 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment program concluded that batteries using nickel and cobalt, (lithium-ion batteries), have the “highest potential for environmental impacts”.  It cited negative consequences like mining, global warming (conflicting data here), environmental pollution and human health impacts.

Although lithium-ion batteries are considered non-hazardous waste, would you be willing to filter drinking water through a funnel consisting of 1,000 lithium-ion batteries and not fear for your life?

The reason why more lithium ion batteries aren't recycled boils down to simple economics: the scrap value of batteries fails the economy of scale test - at $100 per ton, Conversely, the cost of collecting, sorting and shipping used batteries to a recycling center is greater than the scrap value (BRP>SV), so batteries are classified as garbage by you and I. What’s sadly overlooked is that the industry does not factor in the fact that recycling battery metal material like cobalt has a much lower economic and environmental impact than mining raw materials.

The reality is that there will never be a fully environmentally safe technology to replace the combustion engine until either free energy is harnessed or solar energy moves a quantum leap forward. 120 years ago, the streets were covered in horse crap. It was a huge issue as cities stunk to high heaven from road apples and dead horses. The car was supposed to alleviate the issue of such “pollution”, and it did...for a while. The ironic twist is that our green solution - to our green solution of 120 years ago isn’t green at all, regardless of how the media labels it as such.

Kelly Kleinman

DN: What are your thoughts about the direction dealers are taking these days in regards to the ever-changing digital marketplace?

BW: These days, you see a mixture of dealers going with what they know. There are still some old dinosaurs out there, but in this industry, if you don’t reinvent yourselves every couple years you’re going to get left behind. Many of the old school dealers I know have been able to reinvent themselves, and it’s amazing how many have adapted. The dealers that are doing the best are those that have become very good at figuring out where the attributions are from a digital standpoint.

DN: Are dealers hiring young kids right out of college to handle digital or are they nurturing the expertise from within?

BW: The dealers that do it the best are developing that position from within their own dealerships, but I’ve seen a mixture of both. The best dealers have first educated themselves. Lower-performing dealers seem to be hiring from outside sources, but they have no way to be able to monitor and track their internet results, especially if they don’t know what’s going on in the first place.

DN: How do you train dealerships to properly follow up leads considering the fact that only 19% of internet leads are ever responded to according to a number of sources.

BW: The first thing is there is no such thing as an internet department anymore -- all leads should be worked from the cradle to the grave. It should be like a shark tank where the person who grabs the lead first gets to work that lead. Consumers expect more information, and they expect it quicker. Provide the information they want but don't make email love to them - get them on the phone. Don’t get tied up with email templates and auto-responses, etc. Having that one-owner accountability would help on the tremendous amount of leads that go without proper follow-up.

DN: How do you suggest a dealership deal with an Internet sales department and the physical lot staff and should there be a difference?

BW: Every person who comes onto the lot has searched online at some point, as well as on that dealership’s website. The setup to have a split deal between the two salespeople is probably ludicrous at this point. First, managers have no idea where the lead originally came from, and now they have unhealthy and frictional competition. We should give the customer a much smoother one-person (salesman) experience throughout the transaction. The more people they get handed off to, the greater the chance of miscommunication. At this point, it makes no sense to have a separation between the two salespeople in different divisions.

DN: What is your opinion on full transparency regarding giving information such as inventory availability and price for those who really don’t want to be dragged into the dealership?

BW: My philosophy has stayed the same today as it was ten years ago - the consumer must wonder if the dealer isn't giving them the information they want now, then how will it be when they get to the dealership? You have to give the customer the information they want in a timely manner and be authentic and genuine. If you have the inventory, great. If not, here is a resolution, but be trustworthy and honest. Don’t put pressure on the customer to come in even if you do have the inventory they want. Give them the opportunity to do the transaction in their own time frame, and they’ll be much more likely to want to deal with you.

DN: Where will our industry be in 25 years when most of the vehicles will be autonomous?

BW: The one great thing about this industry is that it always finds a way to hit curve balls thrown at it. Whether we look at the post 9/11 economy or the post-2008 economy (etc.), we can go through a litany of catastrophic changes that hit the industry, and we’ve always found a way around it.

Autonomous vehicle technology is still well into the future. There are still a lot of details to be figured out, such as insurance, laws, and the many obstacles that we'll have to overcome first. From a business standpoint, the major manufacturers will lead the movement, and most likely go through the same dealership channels they do now. There’s always something about everybody wanting the latest and greatest shiny object, and it will have a lot to do with what features are available. You may even be able to do a monthly car rental deal like a few companies already offer now. Either way, dealers are going to have to keep up with the technology and advent changes. http://www.ELEAD1ONE.com

Kelly Kleinman/ Content Director/ DealershipNews.com

YouTube automotive enthusiasts/ wildmen Alejandro, Buddy and Farshad have apparently uncovered an issue with Tesla security in the Tesla X model.  Their channel is Salomondrin and it’s loaded with fun-loving, potty-mouthed, narcissistic, automotive hijinx.  At some point Buddy discovered a flaw that may indeed compromise all Tesla models, although we do know for sure the Tesla X is clearly affected.

The flaw allows thieves to break into the trunk of the vehicle with very little effort via a small, access panel in the lower, far left part of the bumper on the driver side. The access panel is easily popped off by a screwdriver. Two canvass wires attached to a release mechanism are housed in the exposed compartment and when firmly pulled, pop the trunk. Granted, it will trigger the alarm, but it takes seconds to grab the goods in the trunk and shut it, leaving the owner to wonder why his or her alarm was triggered, never even thinking to check the trunk compartment to see if anything was absconded with!  The breach can take as little as one minute!

It’s important that Tesla becomes aware of its security issues and that it provides vehicles that are secure and safe. It seems as though they never thought this would be discovered as easily as it was.  QC is priority one with any consumer product let alone a company like Tesla.  WTS, it’s not like the automotive industry hasn’t had its share of incompetencies, poorly planned concepts, and risky mechanical issues.  On a scale from 1-10, this is a 1.  But, it’s still “a thing”.

Somehow, some way, humans always find the weak link in any security system and then exploit it.  The guys from Salomondrin are no exception.  Perhaps Tesla should have cut the crew a check for their silence, but hindsight is foresight that happens too late, and now we know.  At the very least, Tesla owners now know that a mysteriously triggered alarm may have a more nefarious cause.

If you don’t mind a millennial stew of me-me’s, and expletive-bombs reaching saturation point, the Salomondrin YouTube channel is entertaining and educational for car and truck enthusiasts. These guys have a lot of friends and like all of us, like to have a great time.  We at Dealership News consider them the Three Stooges of automotive hijinx with Alejandro playing Moe.  Good hearted, knowledgeable guys, with absolutely no filters...except for maybe Buddy (LOL)...and some valuable info for everyone.

On day one of the 2018 CES Show, an enthusiastic crowd of 400+ media gathered at Mandalay Bay to hear Akio Toyoda’s vision of the future.  Akio is the grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, son of Sakichi, and is the 3rd generation of visionary Toyoda’s who have systematically lifted Toyota to the top of the automotive world.  Toyota was originally in the business of making agricultural equipment (looms) before they sensed an opportunity to gain some ground in the fledgling Japanese automotive industry.  The company spelling was changed due to superstitious belief based on the number 8, which is how many strokes it takes to write the name Toyota - 8 is luckier.

Akio’s vision of the future is a vehicle concept that that he brands “e-Palette”, is bolstered by his historical recount that Toyota didn’t start out in the automotive industry, hence, is an adaptive company, and that “mobility” would be a better single word definition used to describe Toyota as it moves into the future.  His goal is to have 5.5 million EVS on the road by 2030 and 1 million hydrogen fueled vehicles by the same date.  

Toyoda wants to be fully electric by 2025 and is working on new, less expensive solid state battery technology to outperform the current lithium-ion battery they have in production.  Akio Toyoda has a big vision of the future and the muscle to push it.

Developing relationships with other industry leaders to shape the future, Toyoda hopes to materialize his vision of a clean, new, automated world.  He has already teamed with Servco Pacific to test a new car sharing app, as well as Amazon, Pizza Hut, and Microsoft to create his e-Palette vision which is a fleet of autonomous delivery vehicles to serve consumers in a number of ways from delivering food, to providing mobile offices, and transporting the handicapped.

The Toyota e-Palette is a primary component of a comprehensive vision of a future “smart city” whereby autonomous vehicles scurry about delivering goods & services, and providing transportation for all who need it.  All the vehicles will be fully loaded with radar and lidar, and connected to not only the customers mobile devices, but the city infrastructure as well.  It’s a vision where all technology is clean, everything runs on-time, and folks have more time to be productive or simply relax if that’s what they choose.  

Toyota as a company is already well on its way designing it’s e-Palette fleet. The completion of a fleet of concept vehicles is probably the easiest part of the plan to initiate. Obstacles and potholes along the road to success will include dealing with city planners, state transportation officials, insurers, lawyers, state and city officials looking for ways to extract tax dollars, construction of necessary infrastructure, labor unions, criminal syndicates, and issues that include repair and maintenance of technologies that are completely new.

Ford’s Smart Mobility LLC also includes fleets of autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles/bikes, fully wired “smart cities” and zero emission transportation. The issues to get from dream to material are the same in Ford’s vision as they are in Toyota’s. The question is where to fully execute a POC on a large scale?  Singapore comes to mind as the perfect location whereby something this visionary would be readily accepted and easily tested. The population is young, forward thinking, well educated, and relatively crime-free.

New York City has created a smart city advisory council with technology leaders from Google, Microsoft, IBM and others to “advance NYCx's mission to test new technologies, "from drones to blockchain," (according to the city) in different zones of the city and develop smart city tools.  Meanwhile, if we can get past the bureaucracy and hands in coffers issues as is entirely unlikely, we may just see some movement forward.  It’s always us dang humans that get in the way of progress.  

Although the inclimate weather delayed tens of thousands of CES goers at various airports across the Midwest and east coast, the international automotive collective is pushing forward at full speed to deliver us into a world of autonomous vehicles and “connected, smart cities”.

In fact, the term “automotive” is effectively being replaced with the term “mobility”.  The automotive industry is now transitioning into the mobility industry and change on a grand scale is afoot if you take what you see at the CES show at face value.  The combustion engine is an endangered species as visionary engineers are burning the midnight oil trying to extend the range of EVs, perfect electric drive trains, while festooning the roadways with charging and hydrogen fill up stations.

Companies are challenged to reinvent themselves so they don’t become irrelevant in perhaps the fastest moving “mobility revolution” we’ve seen since the car was introduced.  The race is on  to see who can create the most effective and cost efficient radar and lidar systems, autonomously driven vehicles, and integrations of “human with car” reminiscent of the Borg in Star Trek.  Everyone is redefining themselves in this new market.  Companies that worked in avionics specializing in integrating and securing complex operational systems in fighter and commercial jets are now competing to offer OEMs the same service as embedding technology becomes more complicated during this transitional period.

Even Continental Tires is bouncing out of its 150 year history of selling tires by entering into the autonomous vehicle race. Ford is waxing excitedly about fully connected “smart cities”, and Toyota is in full future mode with e-palette which has fleets of electric “minibuses” cruising around town delivering cuisine, consumer goods, and necessary services.  Both Ford and Toyota base their visions of the future on a yet to be built utopia where city councils,

bureaucracies, tax sucking politicians, and criminal syndicates, and labor unions don’t exist.  I suggest they try setting up at Universal Studios City Walk or Disneyland, two of the more popular locations where fantasy is competently put on display.

Truth be told, CES is a true automotive spectacle.  Giant audio suppliers, mod gods, wheel manufacturers, entertainment integration, and concept designs are all there in spades.  There is something fascinating in the “mobility” industry in virtually every mobility-related booth at CES it just depends on how deep you want to dig, and then correlate the information.  Still, the prevailing buzz is that the future is going to be gasoline free.

Ultimately, if all of this technology can be affordably integrated en masse into the new cars of the future, the entire automotive landscape as we know it will change.  Car accidents will be rare and far less fatal, automotive exhaust pollutants will be replaced by 99.9% pure water, streets will be far quieter, there will be little need for expensive auto insurance, body shops and lube joints will go the way of the blacksmith, and stealing cars will be near impossible.  I like that future.

The 2017 Ghoul Pool is complete. We have compiled the list of vehicles that will no longer be continued in 2018. If you bought any one of these phase outs at any point in the last few years, be assured that you’ll still be able to get parts for them should you need repair for the next several years. You’ll just have a heck of a hard time finding buyers when it’s time to.

Here is the list of our 4-wheeled friends who will go the way of such infamous clunkers as the AMC Pacer, the Gremlin, and the VW Dasher of yesteryear.

Volkswagen CC. YTD Sales down 76%. This 4-door sedan will be replaced by the Arteon in 2018 which looks like a fantastic style upgrade over the CC.

Chrysler 200. YTD Sales down 82.4%. The 200 will now follow its former stable mate the “Sebring” into history. Fiat/Chrysler went hard trying to promote this model but lo and behold, t’was not to be.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV. YTD Sales non-existent. Tiny electric car that never had a chance.

Jeep Patriot. YTD Sales down 87%. Meanwhile, it’s more successful semi-twin brother the Compass, is experiencing an 81% increase in sales. The two relatively cheap SUVs were just too similar for both to survive, hence the Patriot was given a 21 gun salute.

Smart ForTwo. YTD Sales down 66%. Easily the smallest car on the market will keep the electric version on the market.

Dodge Viper. YTD Sales down 73%. For a good long time this muscle car had serious bite, and invenimated Dodge with some great numbers, but eventually the venom ran out. The factory will be closed as well.

Hyundai Azera. YTD Sales down 55%. This vehicle was actually a beautiful sedan and provided a lot of bang for the buck for those 162 people who actually invested in one . Sadly, it was a lost soul, confused and out of place in the Hyundai lineup when it seemed best suited to be on the esteemed Genesis roster.

Chevrolet SS. YTD sales down 73% in the US. The muscle laden SS was hamstrung by bad sales in the US and the closing of its factory in Oz. Worldwide sales were up but US sales were anemic.

Infiniti QX70. YTD Sales down 59%. At some point Farrah Fawcett hair became outdated. So did the QX70 “look”. It was hot at one point, but the thrill is gone, as is the QX70 from the 2018 lineup. "We have an all-new QX50 midsize crossover … that goes on sale in early 2018, and we also have a significantly updated QX80 full-size luxury SUV" which is arriving into Infiniti dealers, spokesman Kyle Bazemore said.

Nissan Quest. YTD Sales down 98%. There are 3 mini-vans in the marketplace; Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna and Chrysler Pacifica. Everyone else buys an SUV.

Buick Verano. YTD sales down 85%. General Motors announced that it was eliminating the compact Verano but still has the larger LaCrosse and the Regal for 2018.

Lexus CT 200h. YTD Sales down 98%. Hybrid hatchbacks do well when they’re a Prius. Only 10 people bought this vehicle last year. Enough said.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class. YTD Sales up 1.7%. This car was introduced to So. Cal only as a compact hydrogen-powered vehicle, called the B-Class F-CELL. An electric version came next but frankly, special order cars aren’t really long-lived, rather failed experiments. Unless your name is the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen powered electric car up 142% in So. Cal only sales.

Mitsubishi Lancer. YTD Sales down 33%. Car and Driver gave the AMC Pacer a better review.

Volkswagen Touareg. YTD Sales down 7%. TBT, I drive a VW Tiguan and love it. VW focus is with new crossover models now, such as its three-row Atlas SUV and a new Tiguan that seats 7 with a lot more storage space.

Kelly Kleinman

Dealership News

www.dealershipnews.com

Office: 818-817-6343

Autonomous vehicles aren’t nearly as safe as the manufacturers would lead you to believe.  As the amount of AVs increase, so will issues involving the jamming and interference of radar technologies meant to keep the consumer safe from harm. A solution may have already been invented and was put on display at the LA Automobility show this past week.

In December 2016, the Microwave Journal published this piece of advice to autonomous vehicle manufacturers everywhere: “Automotive radar sensors will need to cope with mutual interference mitigation techniques”

In 2105, a report to the FCC stated: “If two radars operating in overlapping bands are within the same vicinity, then some mutual interference will occur.”

There are expected to be 10 million cars on the road by 2020 with a self-driving feature. Current radars used in the automotive industry are not protected from “jamming” or being interfered with by other electrical devices within a radar’s region of coverage.  Hackers with mischief or disruptive intent could produce a signal capable of incapacitating the vehicle’s radar, making the autonomous systems useless.

Likewise, even during normal operation, radar-based sensors are highly susceptible to interfere with or be interfered with by other electrical devices!  This can lead to malfunction, disablement of sensors impacting safety, traffic flow, and driving convenience, especially in high-traffic areas.  For those folks currently driving Teslas or other AVs, this doesn’t increase consumer confidence in a vehicle they took a leap of faith to buy in the first place.

Most sensors can only detect an object and its distance and alert the driver if they are getting close.  Systems that rely on sound waves have difficulty in rainy conditions.  Cameras do not detect objects or alert the driver in poor visibility.

The solution to this very real problem was developed by The Ohio State University which owns four patents for radar-based systems and deal with RF noise and radar that identifies and classifies obstacles.  It breaks the issue down into two categories; RF Noise Radar and Vehicle Obstacle Radar.

RF Noise Radar: This is a small, low power stealthy radar that cannot be easily detected and is less susceptible to interference from other electronic devices.  It also optimizes the signal to clutter ratio and adapts to identify and/or classify specific targets, which means it’s less likely to be impeded by other vehicles signals or electronic hijinks.

Vehicle Obstruction Radar:  VOR combines a radar array with a unique algorithm and uses a single continuous wave frequency, (very narrow band) and cannot interfere with signals at other frequencies. The beauty of this technology is that can accurately detect distance, angle, position, and the size and shape of objects, thus discriminating between “high priority” and “low priority” objects.

The technology was licensed by Mr. Dean Zody, CEO of GhostWave from the Ohio State University.  GhostWave has partnered with Eric Walton PH.D, a retired professor at OSU and the inventor of this crucial technology in an effort to equip tomorrow’s autonomous vehicles with the necessary safety features to provide consumers with peace of mind and a safe, enjoyable driving experience.

Kelly Kleinman

Kelly@DealershipNews.com

www.Dealershipnews.com